Should Bloom Be a Setting?

Throughout the process of creating Fragments of Ego I have been experimenting with several shaders and visual effects to liven up the game's atmosphere. Many of these visuals play with the dancing blend of lights and darks, some meant to draw the player's eye while others are more supplemental. For an abstract game like Fragments of Ego, unique visuals are an essential part of the experience. I mean, just look up "weirdcore" on Google Images and you'll see a variety of visual effects that are key aspects of the genre.

So, while adding post-processing effects to the game, I went about my usual approach of making the effects match the weird core visual style as much as possible. This meant adding an intense layer of bloom to emphasize the dreamlike state of the game. It's not blinding, but it's certainly noticeable. More importantly, it's an important element to the game's visual style.

Later that night, I was going through the vast advanced settings list in Team Fortress 2 where I was reminded of the importance of customization to the game. I remembered that some players despise certain visual effects, and bloom is a common culprit. Even TF2 has a setting to disable motion blur (another commonly hated effect), despite the fact that it can look really cool when rocket jumping around. At this point in time, I do not have a settings menu created for my game, but it will soon have to be done as the release date draws near. This caused a conundrum that I have yet to solve.

Should the bloom in Fragments of Ego be a toggle-able setting?

If I were to stick to my artistic vision, I would mandate that every player keep bloom enabled. The game not only looks better (in my opinion), but it better suits the thematic visual representations I have crafted thus far. However, I want people to enjoy the game however they want. If that includes ruining my desired look of the game, so be it, I suppose.

Art should follow the artist's intention, right? Or, could it be that art is created from the audience's interpretation?

It was at this point that I realized I would have to think harder about this. I did some research, thought hard about what I want my game to be, and have broken down the decision into a brief list of factors influencing my decision:

Pros of Making Visual Effects (e.g. Bloom) a Setting

• Enables player freedom through customization
• For purchased products, players should be allowed to modify the game to their liking
• Allows for unique combinations of visual styles based on what is toggled
• Bright visual effects may be difficult to view for some players

Pros of Not Making Visual Effects a Setting

• Maintains the desired artistic look for the game
• Enables the developer to purposefully design with these visual effects in mind
• Enforces a good look for the game; players won't accidentally make their game look worse 
• Development efforts can be diverted to other aspects of the game

Personally, I intend on making bloom, and other post-processing effects, a toggle-able setting because I know that as a player I would really appreciate the option. However, it's a task that I can save for last in case something more important comes up. I could always add it later in a patch. Even then, the desired settings would be automatically set on launch. Perhaps I can also add a little message that notifies players, "Hey, your custom settings don't really fit with the intended look of the game!"

But what do you think? If you’re a developer, do you find it worthwhile to add options like these to your game? If you’re a player, do you prefer when games give you this kind of customization?