#SavePortia PSA
(Apologies in advance for how this is written, I'm very emotional about it)
For those of you both in and out of the Arcana Fandom who are up to date, you'll all have seen the announcement from Lynne, the writer at Nix Hydra behind Portia's route, that because it's not even breaking even, there is a real possibility that they will have to cancel it entirely from here on.
As soon as this announcement came out, I began to see some very troubling rhetoric spread across my social media. "They should have planned better financially" "They could take money from the other routes" "Portia's route is bad so I don't care", et cetera et cetera. While this is normally a Lucio-centric blog, I thought that I'd clear up a few misconceptions regarding these things, as well as encourage you to play it and give hopefully-compelling reasons why.
First and Foremost
Nix Hydra is, first and foremost a business, a company that the creators of The Arcana are subcontracted to to make their game. The original pitch for the game, if you didn't know, was made in an independent Kickstarter, as the brainchild of several individuals who felt that their characters and story would reach a lot of people. Nix Hydra took them on once they'd made enough money to get in the door. That can easily change.
How subcontracting works is that the main company gets a flat percentage of the income from the contracted party. In my mom's business, for example, the business giving them office space gets 10% of every dollar my mom's company makes. My mother is still solely responsible for paying all of the employees under her, and if she doesn't make enough money to pay to the main business, she not only loses her employees, but her position as subcontractee.
Regarding the Financial Aspect
Now here comes the bit about finances. It does not matter what The Arcana team made after producing Julian, Asra, and Nadia's routes. That money, apart from going as a percentage to Nix Hydra, collectively went to everyone on the team, as when these routes were being produced, everyone worked on every route. With Muriel, Lucio, and Portia, they are split into different teams that solely focus on one route at a time.
This is a double-edged sword. While it does mean that each team gets roughly a month to work on each chapter that comes out, it also means that that entire team can be dropped if it isn't making enough money. Sometimes these decisions are what big businesses have to make, and like I said, Nix Hydra is, first and foremost, a business.
There is no money to "take" from the other routes. That money belongs to Nix Hydra and the individual teams. If a main business feels like a smaller, subcontracted business isn't making enough money, they will give them ultimatums - in this case, sacrificing the least popular route so that people are more likely to spend cash on more popular ones, in this case, unfortunately, Portia.
Regarding the Story/Design Aspect
As I mentioned before, Portia (and all of the other characters in the game) were the brainchildren of just a few people, people who were so passionate (and remain passionate) about them and the story they take part in that they pitched to a big business, which takes more guts than I think any of you realize. They don't make bank by any means doing this. It's one of those jobs where you have to love what you do and the mission behind it. It's something they truly believe in, and as so many people have seen themselves in this unique and compelling cast and tale, there's plenty of evidence to that fact in and of itself.
While Portia isn't the most "attractive" romance candidate given that the majority of the fandom is more into the men (after all, most of the people who play dating sims are afab), Portia is a super compelling - and relatable - woman who I've found to resonate with the most people in the fandom that I've talked to. Whether you're plus-sized, stuck in an older sibling's shadow, or are in a position where you question your importance and can't find your true voice, while she's not the most forward about her insecurities in her route, Portia has come into her own by leaps and bounds, and in turn has inspired countless people to take steps to forge their own destiny and start their own adventure under their own power.
Portia's route is by no means less important than any of the others - in fact, it's arguably moreso, because of its unique structure and future unveiling of lore that the rest of the routes don't touch on in the slightest. Portia as a person prides herself on her ability to learn behind the scenes, and that's exactly the adventure that we're going to go on with her. Lynne has confided that in her route, we get to see what's under the City. It's such important lore that the development team even made those Vesuvia Daily News articles to drive up the hype. If you don't care if her route continues, that's your perogative, but in my opinion, you'd be a bigger fool than Lucio if you purposefully squandered an opportunity so vital to how we view the game universe as a whole.
Okay, so, now what?
We've discussed the financial reasons and story reasons for helping #SavePortia, but that begs the question. What can we all do? What if you don't have any coins, or already played her route, or aren't really even that invested in her story?
First and foremost, while being able to pay for the bonus content does help, that's not what Nix Hydra is looking for right now. What they're looking for is interest in this particular route - because that means more money potentially coming in, and more word of mouth to secure it - and that means physically playing that route.
Nix Hydra tracks what parts you play (it's how they know where you left off, for starters, as well as why your most recent choices matter). Playing though Portia's route, even if you've already played it and even if you just fast-tap your phone screen the entire way through, generates an activity log that shows people are interested. It doesn't matter if you get anything from it, and it doesn't matter if you pay for anything; they're looking for activity, particularly right now, which is why they've given us an infinity key weekend at such a crucial point. Everyone can play the entirety in one go, for free.
I don't think I need to mention again that there are things contained in her route alone that will benefit the entire fandom. I don't think I need to mention again that the team behind Portia and @thearcanagame are driven not by money but by their compassion for their story, characters, and the affect both have on the community. I don't think I need to mention again that right now is the most important time to play her route.
It's up to us to #SavePortia, and I know if we come together as a team, anything is possible.
