Posted February 14, 2022 by Andy Peng
#Announcement
Har, har, good timezone everyone, andeh here! It's been a while since I posted something on itch.io, and I wish you guys a good and enjoyable Valentine's day. Don't worry, I haven't neglected this project at all. I've been busy trying to catch up with life and work.
A lot of heated conversation has happened during my absent in the comment section and my DMs. I might not reply to each of them or at all, but trust me, I read them. I'm here to talk about piracy and unpackers, fasten your seatbelt, for this topic is one of many things that I don't want to touch, being a small game developer and also the one who does mostly everything for After Class.
I started making After Class thinking that I'll eventually release the game without any kind of copy protection or paywall; main reason is that I want this project (at least the main story) to be accessible for everyone because not everyone has the money to spend on some random furry game, (and that I don't know how to LOL.) It has always been that way and it will stay that way until it's done developing.
What I'm saying is that, if you are the one distributing the Patreon builds, especially the special episode, I don't know what you're benefiting from doing so, maybe popularity, maybe just because you want to that fat TikTok views, or even share your love with the world, I will never know. I won't blame you and try to put you in jail because of it. (I can't, anyway; what can a small game developer like me do?)
If you decide to download the pirated version of the game, that's okay. I don't like that you do it, but I can't fault you for wanting to access what you can't afford either. As someone who grew up not being able to afford even a $10 game, I can totally understand why you do what you are doing, but please, if like what you see, please consider supporting me on Patreon or share the link to either the Patreon on this itch.io page (NOT THE -> PIRATED LINK <- I'D SHRIVEL AND DIE), every bit helps!
What I'm asking is that, please don't unpack the assets and share the contents of it. Don't mess with the code and change/create a few dialogue lines and claiming that it's in the game. Absolutely don't claim that it's your game either.
I've seen a lot of piracy in other games, if they can pirate and unpack some triple A games, I imagine pirating mine is a piece of cake. I've also seen how they try fighting against it, but I've also seen how people always find a way to bypass the system. It's not a battle that I can win; but hear me out, I don't think this is a battle at all; we can help each other out.
I don't like you guys pirating or unpacking the assets, but I can't stop you from doing it. Just know that if too many people pirate the game and stop supporting me on Patreon or itch.io, it'll kill the game. 100% of the project's fund comes from you guys. You made this little project of mine happen, that also means you also have the power to shut this game down. Thank you for supporting me so far! For everyone who's RAGING because of the piracy situation, thank you guys. You guys are the MVPs, I love you guys!
In the end, this post was to address piracy and unpackers, but it ends up sounding like a marketing propaganda to pledge to my PATREON hint hint nudge nudge.
Oh also, happy new year and I'll update the game sometime within this month, bye bye!
Thanks for reading!