I want to know others’ opinions on choices not having an impact and whether it bothers you or not. I’m rather new here (although I’ve been reading on Episode for years), and if I make a story I want to know what readers like me think. 
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If the story is really amazing, I don’t care about the choices. But mostly I want to at least get the feeling of having a choice that changes something. Not every choice needs to have a big impact, but if all the choices don’t really matter, then I don’t get the reason why they are there.
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I don’t need them but I usually prefer them
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If the story is amazing then it doesn’t matter.
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I’m the same. Impactful or non-impactful choices don’t really bother me much 
The only problem I have with it is when it involves love triangles. If I choose to be with Love Interest B and you “automatically” pick Love Interest A for me then I might get a bit sour lol. If you don’t want your readers to choose, don’t give them choices 
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doesn’t bother me.
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They don’t bother me if the story is really nice but you know, when authors give us a choice, like punch him or don’t punch him and I choose don’t punch him and even then she punches him, that annoys me so much.
If my choice wasn’t going to affect what happens, why even let me choose at all?
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I love choices that matter. But as I’ve realised when writing and reading they can be hard to code and if everything has a impact, it can making playing intense as you’ll constantly want to choose the right thing. So I do like choices that matter, but it’s a welcome relief when there’s some little choices that don’t have an impact that you can use for fun.
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Like most of the people who replied here, I like the choices that matter but like you I am a new author and I know how hard it is to come up with choices that matter without going away from the story you have set out to write.
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It’s the small things that matter.
I’m okay with no choices in general (really, no choices, even outfit ones) but if you’re adding them, you might as well make it worth. I’m not expecting multiple endings from everyone, but something simple as “Red suits you, MC.” when you pick the red outfit is enough.
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I prefer stores that have choices with impact, but it’s not a must. If the story is amazing I’ll read it anyway.
Something that does bother me is when there’s a choice and the author doesn’t stick to that choice and goes with the other one anyway. Like, don’t put choices in there if you’re going to disregard my choice.
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No,not really.If a story is good,choices like outfits and hairstyles, responding to someone or doing things that don’t really affect the plot,don’t bother me.
Even though i kinda prefer choices that matter,even though i always mess up,doesn’t mean a story without them is not as good!
My thoughts are, if you have a story where the choices have no impact whatsoever, then yes, you could say it “bothers” me. Although, I just find it more pointless than anything. If you’re gonna write a story and just add choices for the sake of it, I’d say, just don’t put the choices in at all. There’s absolutley no point. For me, the whole point of a choice, is to give the reader something unique to that choice, no matter how small (But I don’t just mean a different reaction, like a happy animation or a sad animation and slightly different dialouge). A different scene, even a short one, or reference to that choice later down the line.
Just adding choices for the sake of adding them just wastes the writers and the readers time. In my opinion. X
I think for me, it depends on the genre. If I’m reading a comedy I don’t really mind if choices impact the story or not but if I’m reading fantasy I would prefer if choices do matter. But if the story is really good and has a mixture of both then I don’t really mind
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Unless there are too many trivial choices, not really. What does bother me is when it is way too obvious that the choice is there just for the sake of being there. For instance, you get 2 options as possible answers/reactions, and they are the same shit, but one of them is paraphrased or something. Just… do not put anything at all, it is fine. I would rather have no say in the matter. If something must happen, let it happen, do not try to fool me into thinking I actually have control over everything when it is pretty clear where the story is going.
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I don’t mind… for example, sometimes in comedy stories (or funny scenes) there’s a choice that lets you choose how to reply to someone, and all the answers have the same impact but they’re all funny. That doesn’t bother me at all.
What I don’t like is when you have to make a serious decision and you get the same outcome no matter what. Like ‘Drink at the party’ or ‘Don’t drink’… I choose ‘don’t drink’ but somehow the MC ends up drinking anyway. Now that is extremely annoying.
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I guess it depends on what defines “impact.” Things like choosing what kind of coffee you want, I enjoy some of those. It makes me a little more invested in the character. But I can see how those would get annoying if those are the only choices.
It depends on what kind of choice it is. If it’s a choice to establish the personality of the MC, I’m more than happy to have it not impact anything. If it’s framed as an important choice and it ends up meaning nothing, it gets on my nerves.