In dating in general, the common seduction consensus is to escalate consistently to sex, within 3-5 dates, for someone pursuing a long-term relationship. Some people say sooner, as having sex with a girl essentially breaks past some of the awkwardness of early dating and prevents her using you for attention/validation. If I'm honest, I feel like this is just a form of lovebombing in reality, often resulting in remorse due to pursuing the goal of gaming the girl, and doesn't reflect the true emotional desires that take longer to settle in.

In online dating, it's much the same, but you know nothing about the other person from the outset, other than what they look like.

I (m32) feel I've personally grown out of desire to escalate with girls I know almost nothing about. I find I'm more desiring a deeper connection that can grow, with sex taking place along that journey - this seems at odd with the best way to get results in online dating and preventing flakiness.

So my question to the subreddit is, what does a slower style game look like in terms of online dating? How does one approach online dating without treating it as just another love-bombing scenario and leaving room to grow into the budding relationship, while simultaneously avoiding falling into the 'friend-zone' territory?