That stings man.. Sorry to hear that. I hope things go better for you in the future.
Good luck with the continued development of your games! ^^
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It's fine. I hope things get better for me in the future, but I kinda feel like the things that I want might have been reasonable in the past but aren't reasonable now. Like, what I'd like is for, say, a blog that talks about weird things online to discover one of my projects and write an article about it, then it would spread online like in the late 2000s/early-2010s. That's the culture I grew up in with stuff like Kanye Quest 3030. But, nowadays that culture is kinda dead.
I feel like the problem is that a lot of content creators are just lazy mainly because the culture on most websites encourages laziness, like Youtube rewarding creators for producing very similar content on a daily schedule and Twitch rewarding streamers for doing very little. I'm not expecting content creators to search for my games specifically to make videos about them necessarily, but I feel like in the past content creators used to search for Pokemon fan games to play for a quick video because they could say "This fan game has a PREGNANT PIKACHU," and that doesn't happen much anymore. I think there are a lot of reasons for it, but one that stuck out to me is a content creator saying: "Fan games don't matter, they're not official games," and that feels unintentionally revealing on a lot of levels, such as an admittance that apparently it's fine to make videos trashing Game Freak and the official Pokemon games because they're official, but it's not okay to do the same to a game like this because it's not official. I find it more offensive that my games aren't worth any time spent discussing outside of my own comment section than anything negative that someone might say about them in a video. Like "The story is crap, the art is garbage, and the creator is a loser," is far less offensive than "This game isn't even worth mentioning, and neither is the creator."
Anyways, thanks for your comments. Watch the space for my comic, which is nearly completed. I think it turned out pretty well, art-wise. The text is a bit rough, but I'll try to fix it.
as someone who was born in 2000 I can safely say that I understand your stance on all this. I remember the golden days of YouTube and it just furthered my love for dark humor and the absurd. I still think the quality of early 2000 tech is far superior to what we have now and most things these days are just lazy poor quality knock-offs of present day things, so when I hear about games like what you made I’m inclined to check it out since they tend to have the humor and nostalgia I seek. Seriously though, with all the BS and poor quality shit we have these days, I feel like a million year old fossil instead of a 25 year old dude who enjoys the funny
Stay true to yourself and don’t let the haters get to ya
Appreciate the comment after all the spam I've had to deal with the past few weeks. I'm working on an update at the moment, but, my job is taking up a lot of my time because of staffing issues which keeps delaying the update.
I do feel like the quality of the tech is objectively better than what we had in the 2000s, but the passion isn't there in the same way as it was back then. I could have a big discussion on why I think that's the case, but I do think part of it is that people live in a constant state of paranoia online where they believe that at any point if they express an opinion or share something they've made someone will step out of the shadows and say a mean thing to them. Everywhere online are the shadowy and sinister 'haters' that we need to be mindful of at all times. I feel like so much of modern internet culture makes a lot of sense if you look at it from that lens.
As for this project in particular, it definitely showcases my influences, which tends to be the weirder side of ComDotGames with stuff like Bunny Farm. I like to go into projects with the mindset that Grant Morrison said makes outsider art appealing, which is that there should be a 'whoa' factor in at least some of the work. Basically, I try to make certain things that make people say 'whoa' while going through the visual novel. As one comment pointed out, Jirachi and the Vaporeon are an example of a 'whoa' moment.
Thanks for the support and comment, it means a lot and I hope you have fun with this visual novel. I'd also probably recommend Adore The Doll since it's the Halloween month and people seem to really like that one, mainly for the TITular main character.
ah yes, comdotgame... that brings me back and i agree with you there.
also, haters on the internet are largely empowered by things like cancel culture and the ever increasing loopholes found in all the rules.
i am of the opinion that if you are being hated on for no reason then diss on them as a response. i enjoy using shakespearian insults and lesser known methods of counter dissing/linguistics lol
I feel like Cancel Culture is mostly fueled by the elites.
Think about it. They encourage people to 'cancel' rich and powerful people by basically saying: "Oh no, don't you dare be mean to me online, otherwise I'll give you validation by complaining about you in a very public way," which gets them a boost in every way that matters to them, from being given opportunities like appearing on podcasts, having articles written about the drama that paints them in a good light, and a flood of positive comments from white knights online.
But, it only works on the people with money and influence, of course. We're not supposed to 'harass' the poor people who don't have many followers, and you certainly wouldn't want to signal-boost them because it might attract the meanies that will say mean things to them. Only the elite can handle the tremendous burden of having mean comments directed at them.
Personally, if someone's being mean to me and sending me death threats, legal threats, or even just being annoying, I could absolutely make a big spectacle of it for fun because I find arguing with people, or just sensibly debating people, to be fun, but also... I could just block them, and I could report death threats. I dunno, I've always found it sus how people are always posting publicly like "OMG, I got so many death threats," because, like, death threats, specifically, are like the greatest gift a hater can give you because then you can get the police involved.
Like, I wish that I had people leaving comments being like "This is a piece of shit, and you suck," or "This is so cringe, lol," because it does give me the opportunity to change their minds if they're open to it, or just give me a morality boner as I can be like "It's okay, I forgive you for being mean to me." I'd obviously prefer to receive positive comments, but it's not like I'm going to cry if I receive a negative comment. What bothers me is mainly that if I release a project and the only comment it ever gets, or the only rating it ever gets, is negative that really hurts the project and getting a single positive comment/rating a month later doesn't really do anything to help. But, it's hard to explain why that's upsetting to other people without it coming across as "I'm butthurt because of a single mean comment and a 1-star rating."
It also doesn't help that on a site like Itch there are developers that just give 1-stars on everything they can to hurt the competition, but that's another issue.
jealousy truly is a fuel that is far mor plentiful than anything else in the world.
and i do agree with you, cancel culture only persists because the elite want it to... why do it youself when you can get the equivalent of an angry mob the size of half the worlds population to do it for you?
our society both craves and thrives off of drama and other peoples suffering afterall
I'm mainly saying that on the internet attention is the fuel on which everything on the internet runs. Sites that farm drama like Youtube, Reddit, and Twitter have been around for years at this point earning billions through clicks from dramas and controversies while the 'nicer' sites are always struggling unless they basically operate for free or have an 'enemy' that people can 'defeat' by giving them donations, like upcoming eviction, a mean person/group trying to cancel them, or something more abstract, and the same applies to content creators and influencers. Of course, there is a sphere of the internet that is drama-free and successful, but it's worth noting that it seems like the drama stuff is subsidising the normal stuff made by talented people. Basically, would someone wholesome like Markiplier be able to earn as much without guys like Logan Paul generating huge traffic on Youtube, or MatPat getting into arguments on with the creator of Five Nights At Freddys over his theories?
But, more relevantly, why is it that people like me are 'defended' from receiving attention from Cancel Culture? I get that warning all the time that I need to be defended from Cancel Culture, which is why developers won't signal-boost me on Twitter or video creators won't talk about me or my stuff, to protect me from internet trolls that would say mean things about me and apparently ruin my life. The thing is, I'm sure it isn't all fun and games, but, this is what I signed up for. I expect criticism, I expect that when I post Pokemon porn (for lack of a better word) or even just content where characters die (Adore The Doll) or characters pee on other characters (Crossing A Line) or even just weird stuff happens (Miltank Dating Simulator) that there will be controversy, that people will be confused or upset by it, that people will use my stuff for clickbait. It's partially why I do what I do, aside from finding it entertaining and enjoying being experimental, and it does bother me that I'm always being 'protected' from success because "There are bad things about success."
I'm sure there are bad things about being successful and I'd have to deal with a-holes. But, most days at my actual IRL job suck and I have to deal with a-holes at least once a week. If I want this to be a job, or to treat it like a job, I'm perfectly fine with dealing with bad stuff, and I find it kind of insulting to be told that I need to be insulated from the bad stuff.
If things get too bad, I'm perfectly capable of turning off my computer and going for a long walk to clear my head, or at least smoking some weed to chill out. Though, if I do lash out to the a-holes online or argue, I don't think that's a bad thing. I argue with my sister and my friends as well, and after we've cooled off we might not apologise because we did nothing wrong, but we don't take it too personally. That's what being an adult and having relationships is. By protecting people from Cancel Culture and demonising arguments and conversations, we're kinda denying people the opportunity to grow and mature.
honestly, if I had it my way I would be living off of making old school rpg games similar to things like of dragon quest and final fantasy as well as trying my hand at making a few goofy visual novels that I can pour my humor into. Since I’m considered too disabled to work due to bad genetics and injuries collected at crap jobs throughout my life… I would much prefer to live off of me love for making cool things that fit into fairly popular niches.
so, don’t let these feelings of being invalid stop you from making enjoyable content since from what I have gathered you seem to feel like your work isn’t being noticed much. I actually enjoy the vibes of VNs like this one and openly encourage their growth along with the skills of their creators.
take it from someone who spent his entire life having every achievement be either downplayed or ignored… your worth is decided by you and you alone, to hell with what anyone else thinks. I don’t vibe with the fakes and the suckups so I hope you stay true to yourself.
also, in regards to criticism and arguments, there is a difference between saying shit just because you disagree and want to start a wildfire, and actually having a non hostile debate or give constructive criticism. We all hold our one beliefs, opinions, and ideals and it’s quite frankly illogical and in many ways stupid to get stuck on that. I enjoy verbal fisticuffs as much as any guy but I also know that it doesn’t solve anything.
Idk, I guess I’m just tired of all the drama and other BS happening and it’s got me thinking about the how’s and why’s from the past that lead up to current events. I enjoy furry porn games that have humor that I don’t expect since it’s the only kind that makes me laugh these days so I appreciate people like you who can put jokes in their work that I can enjoy
anyways, I am just going off on another tangent so I apologize for that. I hope that you succeed in your endeavors, you deserve it
Totally fine. Thanks for chatting with me and giving me some additional perspective. I'm also disabled, so I know the struggle (disability payment arriving pretty soon, so, that's cool). I feel like we could go on talking for a lot longer, but this topic can get contentious and I feel like we've reached a good stopping point.
I appreciate your kind words and perspective, and I'm glad you've found something to enjoy in the stuff I create. Hope you have a good day, eat well, and are merry.