So you guys might have noticed that I've been going back to Replacemains a little. I decided I should probably take advantage of that and use it as an opportunity to explain what has been going on with my AUs all this time.
Starting first, Replacemains AU.
The reason why Replacemains went on a hiatus was that it was pretty much doomed from the start. When I first made it, it was mainly because I saw multiple content creators with their AUs and went 'I want to do that.' But instead of taking my time thinking of something, I just rushed to the first thing that came to my mind, which was the Replacemains AU. Now that I look back at it, I feel like I only made it for engagement. Don't get me wrong, I liked the concept, and I still do, but I realize that I didn't love it enough, which is why is slowly got detached from it.
Another problem I had was that my expectations for this AU was too high. I wanted to make some sort of ARG, be noticed by lots of people, have people engage with my posts and try to make theories, etc. Speaking of theories, I also made the og story/lore just so... complicated. It was messy and just overall made no sense other than just being a theory-begging narrative. (This is also why I made @connies-fan-mail, I wanted people to uncover lore about my AU, that didn't go the way I wanted it to lmao). And not to mention I didn't even (and I still don't) have the skills to make the content I wanted to make back then of the Replacemains.
And you know what made me realize all of this? Dandys Playplace.
First of all, I'm going to be honest with you all, this AU is actually just DW if I rewrote it, but I don't want it to be refered to that way, so I called it the Playplace AU. I took my time thinking of this AU, I thought of the setting and story thinking "Do *I* like it?" And spent an unbearable amount of time making the designs, hence why I keep changing them (like the one above). Sure, it's taking centuries, but I'm doing this under the impression that I want to expand the AU because *I* like it, not just because I want others to see it.
So what have I concluded from this?
First of all, Replacemains AU will get the recognition it deserves. I won't change that much from it, the main plot will still be the same, but I'm changing most of the lore to be simple and less overwhelming than whatever circus show I had back then. So the story will be short, there may be mini comics here and there, but this time I'll add passion into it and not have expectations beyond my abilities.
(Also, @connies-fan-mail will have it's asks permanently closed. I MIGHT reopen it as an ask blog of sorts, but that's highly unlikely.)
As for Dandy's Playplace, I'm currently halfway through the designs (shocker I know) and even started on a few intro cards. I may decide to do a new introduction post as the previous one is a bit old, but we'll have to wait and see.
And with a goodbye, thank you all! Remember to take care of yourselves :)
So the Easter Update is coming to an end. I'm... not gonna miss it.
Because I'm gonna be honest, this whole event just felt like this:
No offense, but this update has been, quite literally, disappointing, which sucks because the first time it came it was my favourite thing ever. I'd rather not go on a full tangent about it (as I have quite a lot of things to say that can't be expressed on text) but let's just say that it gave me a reality check on how much of a drag Dandy's World has been so far.
The gameplay is underwhelming, the skins are oversaturated, all of this clumped together into a mess of a game protected by the usual "The game's still in alpha" and "Be grateful."
Well yes. Maybe I am ungrateful. But no one asked for all these skins, all this grinding and waiting for lackluster updates with small in-game additions to make it pretty. That's just adding cherry on top of a cake entirely made of flour. Sure, it makes the cake look better, but in the end, it still tastes bland and dry.
I've seen a couple of people complain about fans caring more about the characters and ships more than the gameplay, but honestly, it's hard to blame them when the gameplay barely has anything to offer. It's stale and repetitive to the point where it feels like a chore more than a source of entertainment. It seems that fan service is more considered, and the devs pretty much surround themselves with said fans (cough cough BlushCrunch discord cough cough) who act like you've insulted their entire bloodline when you mention the game's flaws. From what I'm seeing, there seems to be a lack of consideration of what makes a game good to begin with- the literal gameplay itself.
This is more of a personal peeve, but the lore/story and writing itself is a bit nonsensical with multiple plot points that don't mix well together. Or maybe it's just the execution, idk. I know what it's like to have a story that doesn't make sense and wanting it to make sense, but the least you can do is sit down and figure it out first instead of just putting whatever you got in your story and hoping for the best.
We know sooo many things about the lore, yet we don't know how the toons are exactly made, what the ichor operation was about exactly, how they've managed to get themselves in the sticky situation of extracting machines and running from Twisteds to begin with. I've seen fan content elaborate these questions better than the game. I've tried ignoring this for a looong time, but I've seen more people point it out and figured I should acknowledge it myself. But who knows, maybe one day all of them will end up making sense, but that day definitely isn't today.
I'm not saying the game sucks and nothing in it is enjoyable. If that were the case, then I would not be a fan of DW. I like the game alot, i see the potential, what I don't like is how wasted said potential is. BlushCrunch can do better than this.
I'm probably gonna stop playing the game until the devs lock in and realize what their game ACTUALLY needs. Maybe I could try Dolly's Factory again, I played it a few times but struggled a bit with using items on mobile (I still don't know how to use them send help).
I bought a stylus today! It would probably be easier for me to draw now (although it's those flat plastic disk type stylus pens) so I'm gonna have to get used to it for a little while
Here's a drawing test with my sona (Ignore the theatre kids)
