HELLOOO its me again, i wanted to ask what are your ideas what else the writers could add to certain characters or to vesuvia itself that you'd like to see? Any certain character traits you adore about some characters that you dont feel people talk about enough? Any certain merch you'd like to see? (I'll be honest i havent played the game in like 2 years so i dont actually know if we have gotten any new stories or if the app is abandoned can anyone fill me in? Also im out of the loop why did dorian buy the arcana like was it for the best or was it not a good decision at all? What do the former developers think of that change? So many questions....sorry for the barrage of questions)
@cyanide-rifle hi friend!! :D these are all such good questions omg okay here we go (dorian answers after the character stuff, feel free to skip that) -
Julian: I'd love to see his researching habits more expanded on, especially what aspect/type of research he likes. It's as integral to his backstory as his adventuresome spirit and love for dramatics, but I'd like to see the academic side of him shine more (e.g., what is it about the researching process that drives him? The thrill of the hunt for information? The satisfaction of solving a problem? The need to hoard knowledge for knowledge's sake?) Merch-wise, I think pieces of his outfit would be something fun to collect, specifically his gloves and big coat since those are also wearable.
Asra: Honestly, their day-to-day domestic habits. The unique thing about his route is that it's a chapter in an ongoing relationship between him and MC, so we get constant references to this established shared life with him without actually seeing much of it (even his epilogue and tales take place on a journey together, not at home in the shop). We know they're a good cook, but is there a meal they usually like to prepare? Does he compensate for being up at night by sleeping in late, or napping throughout the day? As for merch, I think his fringed shawl and necklaces would be great collectibles (his classic layered look, and the gold and green emerald).
Nadia: More of her when she's not being Countess, please! After a route about connecting with the outside world, I want to see her enjoying the Temple district, or taking a day out on her yacht, or finally getting a disguise that lets her move around Vesuvia and let her hair down. That, and her engineering skills having the time and resources to be indulged in. I just know she invented at least three everyday devices that revolutionized life in Vesuvia and I'm dying to know what they are :'). For merch, I think it would be really cool to be able to have her tea set! The design is lovely and it's something one could use and/or collect.
Muriel: His relationship with the docks and/or struggling Vesuvians. His connection to the Kokhuri is hugely important and it's a relief to see his preservation work already picking up in his upright ending, but the fact remains that he spent most of his life living in (or trying to escape) the roughest parts of Vesuvia. Now that he's established as a well-known city hero, with a soft spot for vulnerable children, it seems natural for him to be part of some kind of social work going forward. Merch-wise, I think a wooden bear carving/charm/pendant in his/the Kokhuri style would be awesome, especially if it was myrrh scented.
Portia: Days at sea with her!! We know she's already an experienced sailor, and traveling by boat for diplomacy is the kind of thing that takes literal months. What's her daily routine? What roles does she pick up on the ship? With how much sailing experience she already has, how does she interact with her crew? Does she spend her free time being more social with everyone, or reading books/researching the next country? What shenanigans does Pepi get up to? For merch, I'd love to see her maps of the Palace/Vesuvia complete with her secret shortcuts, as well as a Pepi/garden themed stationary set for her book loving self.
Lucio: Upright route logistics - seriously, all we know is that he and MC are adventurers/journeymen picking up odd jobs here and there, but nothing past that. Do they join a fantasy style guild? If there isn't one in the world of the Arcana, do he and MC start the first one? What happens when they're ready to do something a little more stable? Do they find a town they just keep coming back to, and eventually get a house there? Do they ever find community again? As for merch, his gauntlet is so iconic that the possibilities are endless, but I think a pen or eyeliner set with that theme could be a great start!
DORIAN ANSWERS HERE, FEEL FREE TO SKIP -
I should start by pointing you to the #dorian era tag. You'll see posts there from much more informed fans sharing their knowledge and thoughts, as well as firsthand accounts of what trying to work with them has been like for a lot of authors/artists.
Dorian bought the Arcana in the summer of 2022 when Nix Hydra went under (I think due to mismanagement? I could be remembering wrong there, but most of the devs had left by then). Because Dorian is a content platform and not a development studio, they were more interested in repurposing the Arcana's assets and the game's large following for content creation on its own platform than continuing to develop the Arcana game as an app/original piece of media for its fandom to enjoy and invest in. Because of that change in how the intellectual property is being used/profited off of, there was some intense friction between the original Arcana fandom and Dorian as a company for the next year or two:
Because Dorian was trying to make a profit off of fan-made Arcana content produced on their own platform, Arcana fanwork made on other platforms started to get struck down under copyright laws at their request, because (as it was explained to me) the product was too similar to what they were trying to sell. This included sprite edits, archival efforts to preserve the game, fanmade merch, playthroughs, and any fanmade tales not on the Dorian app. Since the takedowns happened without prior warning or explanation, it destroyed a lot of trust and goodwill between Arcana fans and Dorian as a company. Since then, the general situation has been one where Dorian doesn't touch the Arcana app beyond putting advertisements for its own platform on there, and Arcana fans (at least on tumblr) don't really engage with/acknowledge content on Dorian that was made using assets from the Arcana game.
It's also very important to me to mention the Arcana fans who did content creation on the Dorian platform. There was a series of intense recruitment campaigns that encouraged fanauthors and artists to make Arcana-style "stories" on their app, and a lot of the creators who gave it a try had really negative experiences. Those aren't my stories to tell, but you can find many of them under the #dorian era tag, and the real life impacts documented there are hugely significant to me when I do talk about the platform.
There are other matters like Dorian's stance on AI, creator treatment, recruiting practices, business model, payment methods, advertising style, and mature content management, but those are personal opinions I have on Dorian as company that aren't directly related to the Arcana game so I'm not going to get into them here lol.
I know this is relevant for like 3 people in the fandom who both use tumblr and posted anything on Dorian, but I opened the creator tools to look through the background files, and instead noticed this bullshit
Apparently it's been there since last summer, but I haven't used the thing in a few years so I had no clue. Of course it's an "opt-out" sort of implementation, and needs to be checked off on every posted work individually :|
Also you gotta love how the streaming settings, including the "stream-only access" button, are still there. They shut down streaming like 3 or 4 months ago btw. (Hey remember how they permanently fucked up character sprite placement just to fit the streamer window?) great job 10/10 creator-friendly platform right here
I had been really looking forward to your full review of Dorian. BUT I’m also happy if you’ve decided to take care of yourself by stepping away from the situation.
Incredibly sad that you deleted your blog again, though.
Thank you for being amazing, Spectral
The blog isn’t deleted. Just privated for a bit because I was tired.
I was going to post a review. I really was. Because I thought the concept was still useful. But Dorian’s been telling on themselves lately. Especially with that Instagram post. You know the one, where they try to use them being the shein of the gaming industry as a selling point and said (to paraphrase) “nix hydra bad, dorian good bc we release games FAST and CHEAP, unlike them.” I wanted do a page by page breakdown of how shitty they were with that post, but it really speaks for itself. They didn’t have to tear down the studio that gave them a huge moneymaker in order to advertise their own company.
After that, even the most minuscule redeeming quality they had in my mind is gone. It’s been a long time coming, I know. But at this point I think I’d rather just take the time to learn to code over what we dealt with.
They also went full MLM with their “bring in a new creator and get 100 hearts” thing. (That’s $5 btw)
At the end of the day, our experience was a nightmare we’re still recovering from. And they’re still showing everyone again and again they don’t actually care about anything other than money. Especially not the independent creators they want on their app so badly.
And they can call me a liar and a brat throwing a tantrum all they want, and send all the anonymous death threats they want (seemingly from dorian supporters), but that won’t change what happened, and that won’t magically make them a good company of good people.
I might un-private my other blog, might not. But it won’t be used anymore. This is the last time you’ll see me talking about dorian publicly, and the only time you’ll see a dorian post on this blog.
Because, yeah, we’d rather focus on our own stories and art. I have a Transformers/Arcana crossover universe I’m building. Rosie is rewriting Age Of Extinction and The Last Knight. And we still want to write our Arcana stories. And write them the way WE want to. No unnecessary sex scenes. No “you should probably take out that nightmare scene because it’s too depressing.” None of that. Period. They’re not taking away our joy again.
I am so fucking tired of the arcana, of dorian, of the fandom, of everything
It doesn't feel worth it to stay in this fandom anymore. I'm more stressed every time i open my phone and see that dorian did a new thing. I can't do it anymore. I am in fandoms so i can feel joy and connect with people who enjoy the things i do, but it isn't enjoyable anymore even when I'm talking to the people who agree with me.
The arcana is more trouble then it's worth. I might still post art or other content around the arcana but I'll try my best to move on from it as much as i can. Fuck Dorian, fuck anyone who says that Dorian didn't ruin The Arcana, it did and I'm tired of pretending that it didn't, I'm tired of trying to see the bright side. I'm just tired.
