Finally caught some downtime again to reply. Thank you @Thfphen110 for such a detailed review! It’s a writer’s dream to get such thoughtful commentary on all the narrative threads and details I wasn’t sure anyone noticed. And it’s quite useful to hear the perspective of a reader with a different angle, who came into the story for the political/historic intrigue rather than for Tesla & co.
Here’s some of my thoughts on the issues you raised.
Summary
Ah, the Assassin’s Creed syndrome. 
I’ll admit I’m guilty there, as there are indeed so many historical figures I found interesting that I stretched things to make sure they’re all at the right place in the right time. And I wanted the Vanderbilt ball to feel populated and almost overwhelming in its high-society networking. But rest assured, that chapter is really the final one where characters are introduced. (I also really, really, really wanted to do a side mission regarding Trotsky’s stay in New York, but I couldn’t really find a natural spot to make it fit. Chapter 8 with its strike themes would have been a good time, but Trotsky was long gone from New York by then.)
To make all these characters and names a bit more digestible, I’ll add their short biographies to the stat screen if they will be returning to the story, like Stanford White and Viereck.
You’re right. If you are not the kind of player who takes an immediate liking to Nikola, you might find this allegiance puzzling. I’ll think about how to improve MC motivation.
(Significant spoiler alert on this one for endgame contents not included in the demo.)
Glad to hear you picked up on this. I was kind of surprised that nobody has mentioned their thoughts on it yet 
It might appear like an odd element to the story, but I was surprised to find that there is a well documented history of Nazi propagandists keeping a close eye on Tesla during his later years. Unlike some other American investors and bankers (like J.P. Morgan), he never offered to sell his inventions directly to Germany, but they still considered him to be one of the world’s most promising scientists way after the US let him fall into poverty. At that late stage in his life, completely bankrupt and lonely and mentally unsound, he had naively allowed them to come much closer to him than you’d expect. Look up Sylvester Viereck if you’re curious.
It seems you’re fairly versed in this topic, and I’d really love it if you would also provide feedback for the final two chapters once they are written, to let me know if you feel this subplot will have been wrapped up in a satisfying way.
I understand what you mean. And I agree it would be very interesting to also allow the MC a more stand-alone path. My worry here is really about managing the scope of the game. I feel like giving the MC an option to part ways with Tesla would split the game significantly. For me it’s really a question of, is this a game about being an inventor in the Gilded Age, or is it a game about being Tesla’s assistant? Although I’d love it to be the former and not just restricted to the latter, that would just require a much greater scope to properly execute. I am aware that this is going to make me lose out on a portion of my audience who really do not want to just be buddies with Tesla, and I’m afraid I’m going to have to find a way to live with that. I’m doing my best to try and give the player some leeway in how independent they want to be from Tesla, especially in the Individual/Loyal stat, which will help me form the endgame. And I am also hoping that putting the MC in the foreground with Tesla in the background for chapters 7, 8 and 9 will make the MC feel more like an independent person. I’ll keep your comments in mind.
I’m very glad to hear you say this. I indeed find the popular image of Tesla=good, Edison=bad overly simplistic, and although I do set up Edison as the early game antagonist, I want to make it clear that he too, in turn, gets eaten by the bigger fish. The belief that Edison was unpleasant is a misconception, and many of his “muckers” from Machine Works said they loved working with him, and that he felt more at home with the boys in overalls than the ones in suits. Historically, Tesla and Edison did indeed have a massive break over Edison refusing to pay out his bonus, but later in life they were actually on mutually respectful terms and spoke well of each other, at least in public. After Niagara Falls and before Wardenclyffe, Tesla actually enjoyed significant wealth and status for a solid decade. The story of the underdog doesn’t really hold there, because for a little while he was as present in the American consciousness as Edison, and was likewise effectively a millionaire. The conflict between the two really comes down to personality, as the two could not have been more different. Edison was brash, masculine, stubborn and completely self-made with next to no formal education. Tesla was a sharp-dressed dandy, academic, stiff, and highly theoretical. Edison valued experiment with no planning, and Tesla meditated over mental mathematics before building a single thing. Both were equally brilliant in their own way, but completely incompatible as collaborators. In Chapter 9, I really want to do a side mission showing Edison’s more human side to drive that point home.
Haha, I remember looking at this and thinking: “Is anyone else really going to notice this? I’ll leave it as it is for now.” I guess I’m fortunate to have such thorough and thoughtful readers. 
Good call, I’ll definitely change the flavor text there.
There is so much history to cover! Pretty daunting, but I look forward to it. And appreciate your interest so very much.
And a question for everyone: I haven’t seen anyone mention Proteus Steinmetz yet! Have you met him in the game? What did you think?
And in the meantime, through a series of unlikely events, the WIP made its way to some new friends in game dev 
