hot take: if you seriously think FGO is against self insert pandering and is intentionally making Guda weak/a bad master to minimize their importance, you're more delusional than those self inserters you so haughtily think you're better than.
you're not better because you're here for "the story" when you can't even figure out Guda's not just a blank self insert
your pandering ships between boring servants aren't better or more sophisticated
and FGO doesn't disdain its primary customer base that pays it the most
what
there's a really popular thing that goes around, at least in the Reddit and rp community I'm around, where people who self insert/waifu are pathetic and deluded
and seeing any romance with the servants is either shallow pandering in the form of noncanon myroom lines or delusional nonsense
tl;Dr sigurdxbryn, kadocxana and yu x xiayu/lanling are the only real romances
it's gotten a lot of steam in part two, where they declare that Guda "isn't wanked anymore" and is weak and a bad master
and retroactively it means only the crazies like kiyo like you, and people like dantes actually want haydee and trying to see otherwise is deluded and wrong
well that's not completely- untrue
like
in cosmos story
there's no pandering at all.
would add ophelia's small harem
to self inserts, I guess.
but if you like it, and like the whole my room aspect, that's fine, it's just not part of the main story anymore.
this doesn't mean part 1 didn't have it, but part 2 certainly toned that down.
this doesn't remove you can have qin propose in my room, just it's not going to be part of the edgy main ruin billions storyline.
and how the crypters are becoming the main source of romance.
perhaps, but the reason for it is different
it's not treating the first part like porn in fate where it doesn't need that pandering anymore
it's more that the story is dark and full of despair so it needs this
to make Guda feel inferior and helpless
the romance and the cool moments in part one allowed for a lighter tone and more fun despite the dark overall plot
now in p 2 the one who brought levity to Chaldea is gone
everything is darker and grim even though the situation is less dire
so draining the cool moments and romance away helps convey that
it's not a statement against Guda though, as events are still full of the fanservice, just sent in the past