Del, they/them, old enough. I write almost criminally long posts about LaDS and LaDS-adjacent topics and in-between that I post or reblog random nonsense as I see fit.
Thank you for all your informative posts in the situation. It's been very helpful.
I have a question related to the Infinity Nikki situation, not sure if you would be able to answer. I saw someone on Tiktok saying when Infold retconned the story of IN, she knew it would be a matter of time before Infold screwed up LADS in a similar fashion. I know the girls had a boycott that lasted 4 months and the game is still ongoing. But I'm wondering, were there any results from that boycott? I couldn't find anything. Im wondering if it could turn into a similar result with LADS.
Hi Anon! It's my pelasure!
Actually, I do have some information on this! Here's a post with the information I'm about to share.
The fourth month boycott was actually for Love Nikki. Infinity Nikki had a four WEEK boycott.
Here's the timeline:
—End of April: 1.5 launch
—End of April to Mid-May: Girlcott phase
—May 16-18: Infold issues public statement & apology (three weeks later)
—Up to June - Extended in-game purchase strike until 1.6 update/fix
Girlcott code:
—Review bombing on all platforms
—Social media - Reddit, Twitter, Rednote, Discord
—Forced refunds and no purchases caused a 50% revenue drop
Here's another post with more information (pasted below):
List of problems that we had with the state of the game:
1. Bugs, crashes, unable to log in, lag, ongoing performance issues.
2. Implementation of excessive flashing lights but no warning for those with epilepsy.
3. Poor rewards for free-to-play players.
4. Our boycott was being blacklisted by Infold (allegedly), thus, that's where the term "girlcott" came from.
5. "Ballgown-gate" - complaints of similarity between paid banner outfits.
6. Arguably the worst one, and still a bone of contention to this day, the retcon of 1.0s story, due to the implementation of the co-op feature in 1.5. 7. Communication with the community.
8. Quality and/or quantity of in-game events.
9. They're likely some micro ones, that I personally cannot remember, but these were the most important ones at the time.
The "girlcott" - players stop logging in, mainly because, let's be honest, they couldn't. Players stop spending, complaints were sent (politely) into Infold both by email and social media. The girlcott was a CN & global one. The girlcott also lasted about 3-4 weeks. I think whilst everyone is bringing up the IN 1.5 issues that we had with the game, it's very important to remember what Infold have since done to rectify those problems, as I do not see a lot of people talking about this within the conversation.
1. All of these problems were fixed, the current patch was extended by a short amount of time to deal with the immediate issues, and ongoing fixes to the performance of the game have been completed in the year since 1.5. Players were compensated & given regular updates.
2. An epilepsy warning, whilst brief, has been added to the beginning of the game upon load up.
3. In my personal opinion, the rewards for free-to-play payers have improved to a reasonable level. This opinion is obviously going to vary player to player. We also received plenty of free outfits, but depending on the size of the patch, between 2-8+.
4. We were eventually listened to, apologized to, and given promises for the game to be fixed. It has been. And promised that this wouldn't happen again. It hasn't.
5. Now that the game is a year and a half old, there is a much higher variety of 5* paid banners.
6. Whilst we have not currently seen a resolution to this, and many players are still unhappy that the beginning of 1.0s story no longer exists within the game, the story team has done an excellent job over the past year of developing the story into something that we all enjoy & love, even if the original story is not there. The main crux of the problem seems to be with the release of the "threads of reunion outfit" shown at the start of the game - we have been promised that this will come at some point in the games development.
7. We now receive regular communication about updates, the state of the game, progress, what's coming next, and live streams for big patches a few days in advance. We're not happy that we're still getting previews for new banners 2-4 days before launch, but we highly doubt this will ever change as they do this across all their games.
8. Events have improved, it's still spotty within some patches, but for the most part we're happy with the events that we are getting.
Given that we're operating in a similar way with our protest, I would like to think that we are likely to see similar results. Gotta keep the revenue down!
Saw someone on twt say that Valko would have triplets and it's so true! In our minds, he'd have as many kids as he could with MC because wolves have litters. The amount can range from 4 to 6, but it start from either 1 to 14 pups per litter.
Man's is fertile asf.
He loves all his pups equally, making sure even his little runt gets what they need. And he'd never forget about his mate. MC would be pampered constantly, even on their groggier days. And forget about walking for them. Valko wouldn't dare let her take a step.
Of course for all packs, MC isn't taking care of the puppers alone. Everyone in the pack helps care for them. But Valko loves his role as a dad. Eager to take the load off of MC to watch and care for his little ones. So while MC rests, as they deserve to, he's cleaning and cooking and feeding. Playing cartoons for the pups to watch as he sleeps with one eye open, ears twitching for any sound of distress from either them or MC.
#1 Dad and Husband of the Year right here!
What makes him a perfect match in lads is that he encompasses everything a player could want in a li. This man has the looks, brains, body and nerdy aesthetic. I relate Valko too much with Wonho but I don't know if I could even find someone else to compare him to yet.
Please bring Valko back, we love him and we want to see how he will also share other cn traditions! And for sure he will also support women as he is close to his aunt and grandma💚
This is the weekend reminder that we ARE having an impact on infold and the entire valko situation.
Infold's app store ratings are HELLA LOW
Infold's revenu this month is abysmal
We broke one of their emails/filled that shit to capacity
There are articles about valko's cancelation and our reaction
We've also donated $20,000 to wolf conservation, notably in Mexico and Russia
Our movement is having positive real world impacts
And now time for some a reality check for the dormers:
With everything going on and the events prior to Valko's cancelation, infold was set on having him in the game. The reason he was 'canceled' was bc infold was reported to the Chinese consumer protections (or another branch). The government is likely breathing down their necks and they are likely under a gag order either by their legal team or the gov, only able to give only nessesary information online, such as events being canceled. We know they have been harassed snd even had someone livestream themselves walking into infold HQ with a knife. Infold is likely taking multiple legal actions against those responsible for the harassment campaign and those that threatened to do bodily harm to their employees, along with Chinese news sources that spread misinformation and inflammatory rumors against infold and valko. Yes, their PR is abysmal, along with their communication, however they can't exactly post 'hey give us a minute, the government is on our ass and we have 50 lawsuits and criminal cases against people going on rn.'
It has only been abt 2 weeks since shit hit the fan. Legal proceedings take time.
Government paperwork or review takes time.
I did not expect valko to be in the 6.0 update and, quite honestly given the situation, no one should have expected in the 6.0 update.
I know we're angry and upset and we want our puppy. We want answers and communication. However, none of us are in infold's offices. None of us know what legal or governmental issues they're dealing with.
((And no this doesn't mean we need to get off their ass about this. We keep the protest and boycot going until we get solid veritable answers. And even then infold best be coming back groveling for forgiveness))
Remember, it has been 12 days since the mess begin, with 2 major chinese holidays with infold also seeing legal action against the cyber smear campaign (technically just police cracking down on cyber bullying), editing the update in a panic, and likely seeking out other legal actions.
Let's not loose our heads and catastrophize the worst outcomes. If they wanted valko gone, they would have deleted everything about him. They haven't. The game breaking update was 10 gigs. The only way for thay nothing sandwich of an update to be 10 gigs is for his files to still be there. If the chinese gov wanted lads gone, it would be shut down. If they wanted paper games/infold shut down, it would be shut down.
I have faith that Valko will be released in a later update and I won't give up just bc we've had to wait.
I also reccomend checking out @cairoblair for the latest reports on the valko situation and actions we can take.
DISCLAIMER: These are not facts and should not be construed as such. The following is simply my own educated suspicions. I am NOT an expert in Chinese politics, history, or culture. These are simply my thoughts and speculations ONLY based on my education (BA in Political Science) as well as the information that has been verified by the lovely @cairoblair
As time goes on, we seem to be developing a better idea of how exactly this entire incident that led to the cancellation of Valko went down:
Corporate sabotage & misinformation campaign/use of 'water armies' against Infold/Valko -> Antis (who appear to skew very young/even minors) bandwagon based on the misinformation (and their own parasocial whatever) and amplify the lies -> Infold shits their pants and panics about drawing government attention (due to the 731 in WU, news outlets claiming anti-Chinese sentiments, etc) leading to them cancelling Valko impulsively -> The global boycott happens - unlike the antis, we have positivity and actually spend money in the game so we are able to both spread positive messages about Valko and the game as well as tank their revenue, social media numbers, and engagement -> State sanctioned media outlets start retracting their negative statements -> The Present (7/16/26)
WHERE WE ARE NOW & WHAT I THINK MAY HAPPEN
Note: This is not intended to be prediction but rather speculation.
To get it out of the way: Yes, I think we are going to get Valko back. I have zero idea about the timeline for this but the State Media shifting their stance is a Really Big Deal in a positive way.
(I plan on this post being one of many posts exploring some of the political, socio-economic, and historical context behind why the events since June 30th have popped off like they have. So yeah, follow me if you like reading the ramblings of a 30-something fandom elder who never gets to use her political science degree for anything anymore.)
My current speculation is that Infold may be under some form of voluntary media blackout. I do believe the CCP is involved but not in the way most people have assumed. My theory is that China may be planning on using The Valko Incident and Infold/PaperGames as a springboard to introduce even further restrictions on gaming and social media for minors.
Historically, China has viewed gaming (and eventually social media use) as a form of harmful addiction for minors. They introduced restrictions on the amount of time those under 18 could play video games daily back in 2019. Then proceeded to further amend these restrictions in 2021 and 2023 to increasingly limit the amount of time minors can game or be on social media. Based on those dates, it seems like they are potentially due for another amendment soon.
It is a known issue that, despite robust facial recognition and ID-based age verifications already in place, a significant majority of Chinese children and young adults are able to find workarounds involving using older relatives' accounts, using pictures of older relatives for face recognition, and even buying gaming accounts off the black market.
But why does this even matter, Faraday?
It matters because gaming companies are one of China's most robust sources of soft power globally as well as bringing in a large amount of revenue from global consumers.
As of right now, this entire Valko Incident has created a lot of negative publicity for Chinese gaming companies as a whole - not just for Infold/PaperGames. I have seen countless people across various social media platforms state that the cancellation of Valko is just another incident on a long list of similar incidents within China-based games that has soured them from ever engaging with another China-based game again. This has not fallen on deaf ears - it is my opinion that the CCP is very much aware of the radical shift in global sentiment. This is further strengthened by the fact that some state media outlets have run articles calling for balancing global concerns with domestic concerns by Chinese gaming companies as the global consumers have grown to be a significant portion of these companies' revenue. What I find most interesting about what the state media outlets have had to say? Their condemnation of misinformation campaigns, the weaponization of sensitive Chinese historical events, the use of 'water armies', and other underhanded tactics to harm a company's reputation and revenue stream.
Okay? Still with me?
So, to review, we have:
an aggressive misinformation campaign that may have been started or helped by a rival company/companies that was bandwagoned by Antis who skew young (with many of them being minors).
a country that believes gaming and social media are harmful addictions for youths.
a large amount of negative publicity for a sector of a country's economy that they value for economic, political, and cultural export reasons.
a gaming company that has provided almost no announcements or updates to their player base in over two weeks.
Now we are all on the same page with the background context.
My current theory regarding Infold's complete silence since Valko's cancellation is that the CCP has requested or 'suggested' a media blackout for Infold as they are planning on introducing new, stricter regulations on minors in gaming. They are investigating and getting pieces in place for this to happen and want to use Infold & The Valko Incident to do that.
The Valko Incident goes far beyond Chinese youths acting like entitled idiots and bullying Chinese gaming companies into kowtowing to their demands. This has broken containment. It has negatively impacted a very significant source of soft political power for their own government and made their country's gaming industry as a whole look untrustworthy to very profitable global markets.
It's clear that their current gaming restrictions are not actually working as intended. In an increasingly globalized and interconnected world, the Antis have shown they can do more than just bully a company to get what they want. They were able to actively impact an aspect of their own government's political influence abroad (gaming = soft power). I can't imagine the CCP not taking a stand about this.
To end this giant ramble: I think we will be getting Valko back but it might take a little time.
I have another half dozen or so (NOT) Fact post idea percolating in my head so let me know if you found this post interesting or informative.
(End Note: This is me looking at the situation from a political perspective and there is very little about how I feel PERSONALLY regarding the situation in this post. I'm pissed af at infold and I just want Valko back.)
my first bunch of valko hashtag gifs is available on google drive!! dl them, use them freely on the socmed of your choice! i will be adding more in the future! 🐺🖤
The News : We have positive chinese articles talking about our petition for Valko, the charity raised for the protection of grey wolves, cosplayers, videos and everything we did until now, they are acknowledging that the international community is showing a lot of love and support for Valko and that we associate positivity to it.
This comes in contradiction with the local controversies surrounding Valko from the beginning and now they can't ignore our voices because they notice that if a lot of people are loving him maybe he is not such a huge problem as it was first believed.
We have to keep going on like that, we can do it, we can bring Valko back and show that our love is stronger than hate !!!
Keep spreading love and positivity towards Valko, we are on the good path ! 💖🐺
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