Side blog

Franciszek Jan Nowotniak (header) gezuziryu (avatar) semi-hiatus non-binary

[wine-wings]

       river.

☼ A 30s french nonbinary person and use they/them pronouns.

☼ English is my second language, but writing is not really my strong point, so I might make mistakes. Hope to remain understandable nonetheless.

☼ semi-hiatus.

                                 [ masterlist | fic recs | resources ]

[dishoneykisses]

A Reminder!

1. If the Chinese government wanted to shut down Infold, it would have done so already, so everything is fine.

2. If there were any issues between the company and the government, they wouldn’t have held the event.

3. Infold won’t say anything during Anime Expo to avoid any problems

4. July 7 is a day of national mourning and respect. Holding large commercial events on that day is considered a very serious lack of respect.

5. Our friends around the world are speaking loud and clear: We want Valko back!

6. We must stand firm despite Infold’s silence until July 8–9. We can do it! 💪🏽

[leighsartworks216]

Valko being shown to like chocolate/chocolate milk in the same house as 100% Sugar Latte Zayne and sugar fiend ME would be an absolute disaster

Who drank the last of the chocolate milk? Could've been anyone

Who ate the last cookie? Could've been anyone

Who put three different flavors of ice cream on the grocery list? Could've been anyone

I just think that's hilarious

[lostparadis]

Lol, the way Sylus has to keep track of 3 sugar addicts... Maybe he'll even cause some discord by eating the last sweet thing himself and leaving no evidence behind

[leighsartworks216]

That one parks and rec scene where Ron Swanson's character asks who broke the coffee machine and everyone starts pointing fingers and arguing, but it's Sylus asking who ate the last chocolate macaron or smth

Cut to him smirking at the camera: "It was me. I ate it." 😈

[wine-wings]

Hm. All of this -this whole development- is starting to make me really uncomfortable.

The lexical field of the war.

Multiple signatures by the same person on the petitions, or signatures from non-players, even though the count is supposed to represent the real number of ppl who want Valko to return.

The sudden culte of Valko just because many ppl were exposed at his pictures/edits/trailer dozen of times even when they were not against him, but were not especially interested before all of that.

Ppl who refuse to believe rumors from credible sources simply because they don't align with their beliefs, or because "we need to believe anything, just keep fighting for Valko's return".

Ppl are literally making themselves sick -not eating or sleeping- over all this.

Sinophobia and ethocentrism.

Ppl who have become so attached to Valko that they'll spend far more than usual in the game if Valko comes back. Probably, he'll be the more popular LI, but not because ppl likes him from the beginning, but for the meaning, the action of these last days.

And many more.

And don't get me wrong : even though I main Xavier and Caleb, Valko is/was the kind of personality I wanted so so much, so I don't like this whole situation at all. BUT. It's an otome gacha. An otome gacha. A predatory game that’s after your money at all costs. It's not just "Pixels", I totally understand the emotionnal attach with virtual characters. It's a dangerous game that preys on ppl's loneliness or dissatisfaction with life. I think, with all these discussions these last days, we forgot what is the type of this game and how it's can be very dangerous. I'm seriously worried about how things will unfold, and especially if Valko comes back. You are expected to play this game with an awareness of predatory mechanics, knowing how to protect yourself against them (accounting and maximum cash limits !!) and keeping in mind the risks involved. And if you feel like you're starting to get too addicted to the game, you need to be able to step back and stop before doing things that could ruin your life. Please, and I say that with a lot of kindness : Go touch grass. REAL grass. Go outside. Go read a book, watch a movie, eat something, go out with friends irl or online. There's not FOMO. You can't do more than what is happening right now. If the government is truly involved -and the uncles on this are quite reliable- it is possible that, no matter the level of protest, nothing will happen. Nothing will change. And I know it's sad, I know you don't want your game to be missing a part of the main story, I know Valko seems to be an adorable and clingy LI. But, don't forget it's also a chinese game, with everything that entails. Maybe, we'll never know what's happenned behind the stage. (it's even 100% possible) And it's okay. Because at the end of the day, the only thing that truly matters, it's you and your mental state. (and maybe you need to put all that energy against the rise of fascism, we really need that type of energy)

[scapeghosty]

🍎 🩷 🌻

others: sylus | zayne

finally replaced my stylus so i could finish this 💔 i truly think caleb cursed me with terrible luck on the banners this year in revenge for taking so long... anyways, rafayel is supposed to be next... but valko 👀

[1stvalents]

Valko has entered the Villa 👀 (LADS SMAU)

Sooo, this is kinda based off of the trailer for Valko! Also, did everyone see the way he devoured that chocolate milk AND THREW IT ON THE FLOOR HELLO? 😭 Possibly ooc? Again, this is just for fun, hope you enjoy. :D

[qintten]

valko nuzzles ━ ✧ ₊˚ 🐺

f!mc and m!mc versions f2u gifs/stickers with or without cred! #bringbackvalko (╥ᆺ╥;) 🐺🍫

[thickness-protection-program]

Why is this heat so hot 😩

[fagapult]

It’s the heat

[thickness-protection-program]

Source?

[mamoswole]

[thickness-protection-program]

[pepsimansthickjuicymeatyschlong]

[mifluffy-thoughts]

Abt the whole Valko thing, I wrote something in the official server that I’m gonna post here as well jic something happens.

Honestly my main worry is the legal side of things as there was a VERY small but vocal group that got the Chinese state involved. I feel like the pressure was more political/legal than because of money.

Honestly this is messed up an all sides imo. This isn’t the first time that one of infold’s games got sent downhill due to political reasons. Lads’ predecessor (MLQC) had an issue in 2021 where one of the VAs was fired due to an accidental political message. I doubt he knew that what he said would result in him being fired, but Chinese laws would have destroyed the company had they not fired him. This drama resulted in a large percentage of people leaving the game and all of the VAs quitting the game (two in good graces with the company, two in bad graces) and being replaced. The game went steadily until they had to make the change to partial voice acting, but still did not make enough money. The game went EOS this March.

Right now, the issue, just like last time, is the lack of communication from infold. Rather than fully explaining their decision with something as simple as “Due to legal matters we cannot move forward with Valko” they try to keep it vague. Now the community is split between people blaming infold and people blaming the CN girlies when I feel like it’s more nuanced than that.

Yes infold is an greedy company but unlike most of their decisions this doesn’t feel like it was done purely because of money. Their office building was sent literal manure which is a huge health hazard and people were wishing death to them via the chrysanthemums. There were news reports on them, a detail in-game that was there for a while was suddenly the main point of attention. But they could and should have done more. Their PR team is shit

There are some CN girlies who are celebrating Valko’s removal, but others are grieving just like us. The people who harassed infold were very few, but even 10 can raise an eyebrow. Blaming all of them will be just as toxic and cruel when the vast majority are actual well adjusted people

Rather than placing the blame onto one group (CN Girlies, Infold, etc) it’s important for us to work together to try and solve this. Send emails, sign petitions, write posts, etc. Don’t spread hate.

But above ALL else make sure to focus on yourselves. I sincerely doubt this issue will be solved in the next 24h. If this really stresses you out then take a step back from social media (especially twt, it’s a dumpster fire over there. Saw one person call another brain dead for liking Valko and blamed both Valko and infold for all of this. I will not be including them in the sources to not cause unnecessary drama). Take care of yourselves, drink water, go to sleep, cry if you need to, engage in other hobbies, etc. Your mental health is more important than this game. If you can’t take action without worsening your own mental health then don’t

Lads will not reach EOS any time soon. They were able to keep MLQC running for 5 years, I know they’ll try their best to keep it alive from a functionality point of view.

Infold, if you’re somehow reading this, a small update could calm things down. Legally, idk how much you can say, but even a simple “Dear Hunters, We cannot discuss all of our reasons behind everything due to current legal matters. We apologize for any stress caused by our recent announcement. Here’s a code for (idk how much I personally think 50 pulls in dias in case ppl wanna spend it on something else)”. And if you can say more, PLEASE say more. The biggest issue right now is your vagueness tearing the community apart. We do not want a repeat of MLQC

Sources:

https://x.com/femvier/status/2071996190158155812?s=61

https://www.reddit.com/r/otomegames/comments/1rg7gnb/mr_love_queens_choice_end_of_service_announcement/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Love:_Queen%27s_Choice

https://x.com/poissoness_/status/2071969818702684221?s=61

https://x.com/wintercyra/status/2071935580171067764?s=61

https://x.com/bytestix/status/2071599339068170662?s=61

https://x.com/hypocd/status/2071953915185189367?s=61

https://x.com/syluslove/status/2071946921359392987?s=61

Oodles of Discourse (@HypocD) on X

So across Love and Deepspace history, the CN fandom have: - Mocked global players for concerns about darker skin lighting - Harassed LGBT

[syynon]

what to do to send our message

this is a compiled list from twt and lads official discord on ways you can send your message across to infold. please boost and reblog this post to get more attention on it thank you! you can do all or some of them

send an email to [email protected] with either of these templates i compiled here

uninstall the game

unfollow all official lads accounts

leave one star reviews and comment about the situation

[syynon]

here are some links to petitions to sign thank you @ameowrii for sending them!!!

petition 1

petition 2

petition 3

[beatricetonguedi]

Actionable Ideas for Challenging Infold Over Valko's Release

A lot of LADS fans are really upset over Infold's decision to shelve Valko. This is my attempt at creating action items for fans wanting to do something but are unsure where to start.

Here are some methods for giving Infold feedback:

Sign this petition and this petition

Reply to their posts on X (Twitter)

Comment on their Instagram posts

Comment on their Facebook posts

Comment on their YouTube videos

Join their official Discord Server and voice your dissatisfaction

Leave a 1-star review on the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store

Email Customer Service at [email protected]

Complete the survey in the Love and Deepspace app by selecting the box/pencil icon in the top right corner of the home screen

"Suggest" Valko's release in the Love and Deepspace app by going to Settings > More > Support, then select "Suggestion"

(If you want to be slightly passive-aggressive) On 9 July, go to Settings > More > Support, then select "Bug Report" and fill out the report stating that the promised Valko content is missing

Remember: if we want Infold to listen to us, we MUST remain civil and demonstrate our affection for the game. I highly doubt they will be intimidated by non-CN players, which means we are held to a different standard. What is effective for them will not be effective for us.

With that said, remember these do's and dont's:

Do repeatedly submit/post/send your feedback over the next few weeks. Email them today, in a few days, on 9 July, and in the weeks after. Post on their social media every day. Overwhelm them and show them this isn't going to go away over a few free Wishes.

Do prepare to CONTINUE submitting/posting/sending your feedback over the next few months. Infold needs to see that we won't let this issue go. Schedule emails to be sent to them over the next 3 months. Draft X posts today and copy and paste them to post in a few months time. Draft your long-form in-app feedback in preperation for the update and the upcoming banners. Create reminders to check and comment on their posts weekly. Don't let them get comfortable. Be a dog with a bone (lol).

Do maintain a polite tone in your feedback (even when you are issuing a threat like leaving the game).

Do specify your current disappointments, long-term criticisms, and expectations for the future of the game should you continue to play.

Do clearly isolate your long-term issues with the game from the current issue of Valko's release. Make it clear that those issues are not resolved by delaying or permanently canceling Valko's debut.

Do talk positively about whatever you can (ie. enjoying other LIs, enjoying the content of the Main Story itself, appreciating the worldbuilding, etc). This may feel difficult, but it demonstrates that you are a passionate player. Infold can assume that a player so invested in the game would need something drastic to push them to leave.

Don't use profanity.

Don't reference CN players.

Don't bring up Infold's past mistakes. We need to stay focused on the current issues.

Don't criticize anything about Valko's teased content. This one may be unpopular, I know. If Infold is pulling back Valko's release, I don't think it's likely that they will be willing to invest any more time and money into his development. If they continue to get more and more criticisms about him and don't care to change anything about him, they will never release him. I'm not minimizing any fan's concerns; I'm suggesting we choose a priority.

If you are unsure where to start, here are some talking points:

Express your excitement over Valko (bonus points if you give reasons why). Did you come back from a long hiatus for him?

Express your disappointment over not having Valko in the game. How will it impact your enjoyment of the game?

Describe how you prepared for his anticipated arrival. • In-game (farm for dias, bought packs, etc) • On your devices (created storage space, bought a new device, etc) • Financially (budgeted for buying packs upon his release, etc)

Describe how you engaged in fandom around Valko. Did you create fanart, fanfiction, or other fanworks? How much were you consuming fanworks showcasing him? Demonstrating how beloved he was before any real content of his being released indicates a warm reception if/when he is released.

What are the current issues you experience with the game? Be specific. Describe exactly how they impact your gameplay. Suggest a concrete way those issues could be resolved. Assert that Valko's release being postponed or canceled will not resolve these issues.

Express concern for the changes to their planned story arc his absence would create. Question if those changes would be as enjoyable as their original plan.

(If you're feeling up to it) Acknowledge the amount of time, effort, and money that must have gone into creating Valko. Let them know it would disappoint you to see it go to waste.

Infold made a terrible decision. We need to take action and let Infold know that a large portion of the LADS fanbase wants Valko to be released at some point. Let's try to remain positive where we can, engage in positive fandom, and do our best to make our voices heard by Infold.

[syynon]

what to do to send our message

this is a compiled list from twt and lads official discord on ways you can send your message across to infold. please boost and reblog this post to get more attention on it thank you! you can do all or some of them

send an email to [email protected] with either of these templates i compiled here

uninstall the game

unfollow all official lads accounts

leave one star reviews and comment about the situation

[lostparadis]

And also, hadn't they made a previous announcement where they said they'd move along with the 6th li no matter what? What the fuck happened to that? Why suddenly take it back?

[wine-wings]

(with a grain of salt)

After the 731 polemic from the WU, CN officials reportedly warned the CCP (Communist Party of China). And they are very serious about Chinese war history, so that could explain the sudden change of direction....

[amethystheartsx]

Here's the email : [email protected]

Feel free to copy this email

To Infold Games,

We are writing to you today as a deeply concerned and disappointed community regarding the official cancellation of Valko from Love and Deepspace. The news has sent shockwaves through the entire fandom, and we feel compelled to address the company directly because we refuse to sit back and watch such an incredible character be phased out. Valko brought a completely unique energy, a fascinating dark charm, and a thrilling dynamic to the universe you have built. The immediate and overwhelming outcry across social media proves just how amazing he was and how much the player base wants him back.

What makes this decision so incredibly difficult for us to accept is the way his character was promoted to the community. Infold spent significant time and resources featuring him in official livestreams and dedicated videos, naturally generating massive hype and encouraging the fandom to invest heavily in his presence. To abruptly pull the plug after using these platforms to integrate him into our experience feels like a complete disservice to player engagement. You cannot showcase a character so prominently, witness the fanbase rally behind him with such passion, and then simply take him away after we have already supported the content.

We are formally urging Infold Games to look at the unified response from your community and reconsider this decision. The players who log in every day, support your streams, and love this game are asking you to listen to our feedback. We want Valko back, and we expect a company that values its audience to respect the time and emotional investment we pour into your world. Please, do the right thing for your player base and bring Valko back to Love and Deepspace.

Sincerely,

The Deepspace Hunters Community

[cherimoyatea]

Spread the word! Let's try and show Infold that we are louder than bullies!!! 🗣️🗯️

[spacekittiesmeow]

Issues players had:

-no way to farm diamonds after you reach a certain level

-focusing more on home than anything else

-nothing for the battle girlies

-lack of communication

-lack of main story updates

Devs solution:

-cancel a LI 9 days before he comes out

considering everything, i can't help but feel valko ended up being the scapegoat to avoid addressing these issues.

rant/vent below the cut

many global players were attached to valko but apparently infold chose to cater to the cn playerbase instead. to me, it's a clear display of disregard for the non-cn players.

regardless, the cancellation hardly resolves the issues players have been raising for months! there's still no improvement to dia farming, no open fucking communication, there's still missing content for sy and caleb.

do we have a promise like "commit to no additional love interest introduced in future content plans" (quoting the official letter) or even a tentative roadmap for the missing content(bond stories, cards, etc)? no.

and finally, what really is the precedent they're setting here? if it really is possible to cancel an entire character who was this far into development, mere days before his release, who's to say that they won't be doing so with the existing 5 if they get hate on a similar scale??

and for players who were excited about Valko(including myself), this feels like they lost something without receiving any of the improvements they were asking for in return!

infold is extremely fickle, hasty, unprofessional and dare i say dramatic in handling the situation. the hate isn't new. they could have given valko a chance. there were so many players who were warming up to him. truly disappointing.

[rafayelkisses]

You’re 100% right about that this sets a dangerous precedent for the other LI. It’s more than possible that if people bitch enough about a LI they could pull the plug on that character too. This is so bad especially in a fandom known for fan wars between different LI mains.

[wine-wings]

Now, if there's anything that CN Girlies don't like, they know just how far to push to make Infold yield. This is truly bad news for the fandom, but also for everything Infold might want to tell and showcase in the future.

[littlebommetje]

The worst part is that them cancelling his release has no bearing on so many other valid criticisms like lighting for darker skin tones, missing content and ways to farm, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. All it means now is that they’ll have to rework the main story to remove all the Valko content and storyline,that devs put so much effort into, which will delay updates even more. And we aren’t even getting sylus and Caleb MS updates until September and November! Such a shitty response

This is exactly the problem, it’s an absolutely zero improvement ‘solution.’ Everyone just continues to be miserable, has their misery compounded, or is newly miserable. I don’t see them actually adding or deepening or (in the case of caleb) improving sylus or caleb’s content. We’re just back to nothing to look forward to.

[deepspacenova]

disappointed is an understatement for the fact that a vocal minority of parasocial liars essentially throwing a week long tantrum is what’s finally stuck.

im extra disappointed from a game standpoint because i know there was going to be a lot of lore added and explained with his introduction bc of his position that we’re now missing out on, and the potential delays in already long awaited updates that re-workshopping this change will cause.

also just genuinely surprised because at the very least, from a business standpoint, all the sunken cost for him alone feels like it should’ve been the last resort for them to do this and not the first solution, since they’ll never make any money back on him now.

last but most important, not only are the players impacted here, but this widespread tantrum and attempt to strong arm a company over a game is having real life impacts on the writing team that was hired for Valko, all the voice actors and cosplayers and motion capture actors for him, and an entire design and animation team I’m sure. so yay, you nuked the real world just to get your fake world to be exactly as you want it …