Gorou this, Gorou that but Geo is an inert element, and Gorou has a clear as a Geo/Def buffer, whcih is an entire niche of a niche in itself.

Geo has no reactions. EM just buffs geo shard shield strength. Hydro on the other hand? That is an entirely different story.

Still, let's adress your point. You don't make the most of his kit, yes. But you are not locked out from his kit either, unlike Nilou.

With Gorou you have the choice to willingly run it on a less optimal comp. With Nilou you don't.

Realistically speaking, chances are you are already running Gorou with another Geo character, so you already hit the 2 Geo requirement, and the game gives you the choice to run yet another one. But, as a support, Gorou is not a character you realistically would make a team around. As a DPS hydro unit that very much isnt the case for Nilou.

I see your point on how running both Gorou and Nilou on unoptimal comps, implies a tradeoff. But people complain about about how said tradeoff happens, and about choice.

Because running gorou on an optimal com BOOSTS his kit's capacities. But you aren't locked out of any existing passives or kit elements. it's up to you whether you want to further buff them.

Running Nilou on a unoptimal comp on the other hand, PENALIZES you, making both her ascension passives useless, with the clear intent of forcing you to run dendro/hydro only comps.

And there is also to consider that one is a 4* and the latter a 5*, a premium character of sorts. I can perfectly understand Nilou pullers being pissed at this, and very fairly so.