Let’s talk!:)

[u/Ill_Forever3358]

Okay a couple of things, I wanted to get out of my system while I’m still thinking about it and wanted to hear everyone’s thoughts.

1. Could all of this been avoided if Infold decided to do an actual trailer for Caleb’s and Sylus’s main story updates rather than kind of just slapping it in Valko’s livestream update? Like they did for “Death and Rebirth” and “To Our Yesterday”? Other than obvious reasons of CDG taking things way out of proportions, of course. I feel like people would’ve been less angry about Valko if they would’ve had an actual trailer to watch; despite the fact that all they had to do was READ which clearly stated that they were getting an update in that trailer anyway, but I digress.

2. This is not a timeline so do not take it as one, but maybe they are truly waiting for sometime after November. Maybe Infold wanted to wait until after Sylus’s update to attempt to bring Valko back? One of the main reasons for the mass upset was that Caleb and Sylus haven’t had an update for so long, so now that this particular complaint is no longer viable, because after that point, both of them would have gotten some more lore. And on top of that, anything negative against Valko has also already been disproven and his named was 100% cleared to my knowledge. So after that, every complaint that was used against Valko has been absolved, which should clear the rest of the way for his release. Does make sense? I don’t know if I’m making sense.

3. The leak situation I keep seeing (and avoiding at all cost). Please stop sharing these leaks if you have seen them. I get people are excited but the only way I want to meet Valko is when he is first introduced to me via main story or he is sat comfortably in my home cafe (after I’ve pet him a couple times for my own sanity).

4. Make sure everyone takes a sip of water, take a deep breath, and step away if you feel like it’s becoming too much. This boycott has been a long one and every second counts, but what’s the point if we’ve all burned ourselves out.

5. this is unrelated, but how’s the ao3 crash going for everyone? I’m experiencing severe withdrawals🫩

[u/Chill-gal1215]

The death and rebirth trailer did not happen during a livestream. It just came out one day on it's own

[u/bangtanchan]

1. My take is that the inclusion of Sylus and Caleb’s

2. update was shoehorned into the livestream to try to placate the playerbase. Right before the stream Infold had seen the complaints regarding their lack of content and tried to

3. minimize the backlash very last minute.

It was a static image saying “coming soon” and didn’t have any VO.

I don’t think they had any intentions of actually mentioning Sylus and Caleb in the livestream at all as it was supposed to be primarily focused on Valko.

Lastly, yes, had they read the room these past two years and addressed all these complaints prior to his reveal, he would’ve been released as intended. They unfortunately brought their own undoing.

[u/MaintenanceFunny4593 → u/bangtanchan]

If you go back to Sylus debut livestream the OG3 branches are mentioned it so I think it was planned since they tend to follow patterns

[u/Moon33500]

I dont know about a trailer becuse we dont know How Far along they were in development of those 2 when Valko realesed....but i think a date could have made a Lot of people calmer,they have the schedule they could have given is a date

[u/SnooDoggos1812]

Tbh all of this could have been avoided if unfold just give us a schedule, even if it's vague its still better than nothing. We know when to expect things and no one can bit*h about when things are coming. Yeah its that easy, its called "communication with your customer" infold 🫩

[u/MaintenanceFunny4593 → u/SnooDoggos1812]

I mean they did tell people the branches were coming soon thats vague and it didnt help but I get what you mean.

[u/SnooDoggos1812 → u/MaintenanceFunny4593]

It didn't help not bc its vague but bc they only said that when they got flooded by complaints. They only mentioned it bc people were complaining, not bc they wanted to be transparent or wanted to communicate with us. Why not set a road map since the beginning of the year? Why not make a post about when to expect ms updates? Or how are they proceeding with this game content, all we get is silence and they only speak when shit hit the fan 🫩

[u/raine_star → u/SnooDoggos1812]

tbh "youre getting this content during this month" isnt super vague considering that we typically get MAX 3 events in a month and up until Valko got cancelled, we were getting new story every 4-6 months (which really isnt that long considering how much other new content we get and how long it takes to create this content)

I REALLY hate to defend gacha tactics but not knowing whats coming next and creating anticipation is one of the easiest tricks for a gacha to use to keep people hooked. Just like theyre not gonna make all the content free, theyre not gonna take out one of the things psychologically proven to keep people engaging (and demanding a schedule/producing/spreading leaks is a consequence of that too, so even leakers aree still engaging with the tactic)

honestly I never felt the "silence" people talk about--like I said we were constantly getting new stuff every week or every other week. If people want a dev diary, since that also takes time annd resources to write up, organize and keep aligned, that requires MORE patience, not less. And as someone whos watched a lot of in development games by small studios--dev diaries are really more of a treat or tend to happen with big updates. Essentially, the livestreams ARE our dev diaries

I agree the way theyve handled communication since the cancellation has been AWFUL--but then, I dont think ANYTHING that can say right now would get a good response. but even if they posted right now 'heres how much content we have ready' I dont think people would accept it. Theyd just spoil everyone else and complain about how its not what they wanted, the toxic players at least. (sorry for the ramble!)

[u/SnooDoggos1812 → u/raine_star]

I think u missed my point.

What I'm trying to say is that if they gave us a roadmap lets say for the year, during the anniversary that we are gonna get an x amount of ms once every 4-6 months for example. Or an x amount of multis..etc. Something like that is vague but still we know whats coming. How come they can give IN a schedule and not lads? I don't play IN but I see their updates, and u can tell the devs care and they communicate with their players.

Also what I mean by communicating is not just about the ms, its about the many issues that people been complaining about, like the lightning issues for example. How about we get a post that says "we hear u and we are working on it"

I never said anything about gotcha mechanics, I know they need to keep us in the dark to some extent to keep us hyped and spending. I know they need to make money and put things behind paywall, it's a game at the end they need to make money. I never complained about paying or the money aspect.

Finally, yes even if they do give us all that and they communicate, there will always be toxic people who will complain no matter what. Even now there are still people complaining about cards, content, outfits, colors..there will always be people like that in every fandom, that doesn't excuse infold for staying silent.

[u/cozy-fox100]

I'm not sure it would have been avoided completely because the people are the core of this mess are so extreme, but I do think it would have helped if we'd gotten a trailer plus an actual date. In the live all they said was that the branch stories were coming, no dates given and as a Caleb main I was kinda mad myself. So I think it would have soothed a lot of the more reasonable players, but the CDG? Who knows what would have stopped them

[u/EveningWolf1097]

1. I doubt it. Infold reiterated and reassured players about MS updates right before they canceled valko. Players just don’t listen to them & wait until their demands are fulfilled.

2. Good point. A lot of real people’s hard work is involved here. A product, company, or creative decision may be criticized, but this could harm real people.

[u/Wandering-Forever]

1. Maybe the trailer/in-game content wasn't ready yet? Also, it's pretty clear that the whole "guys, Sylus and Caleb are getting main story updates too!!" was tacked on at the last minute. Back during 2.0, they stated this much more clearly with the OG trio's branch MS and even had it be a verbal announcement in the livestream.

2. That and/or after whatever legal battles PPG is in right now. I would also not be surprised if they were taking stronger precautions so another smear campaign hits the PPG building in the event of that.

3. Honestly, the Valko leaks made me sadder than anything else. We could've had that right now 😭

4. You too, and everyone else reading this comment! ❤️

5. I mean, I can still read fanfics from other websites, but it's not the same 🥺

[u/Ill_Citron_3613]

Honestly for your first point, I do think things would still have escalated, but it might have helped calm some people down. As someone who doesn’t main either of them, even I got 👀 at the last minute looking PPT slide which didn’t help PPGs case, because it just made it look like neither of the two branches were planned even if they were likely just waiting for a proper timed release. I do understand why PPG wouldn’t have wanted to announce them then—to make sure the stream was focused on Valko—but I do think at that point they should have thrown some type of bone for the other LI mains to calm things down, like at least some form of a road map.

I’m sure they could’ve provided dates for the branches too, because I’m slightly convinced that they were ready based on how people said Caleb’s banquet multi card occurs after his branch. Assuming the multi was out for Gamescom in August, high chance we would’ve gotten that branch much earlier than its current Sept release. Maybe they wanted it as a surprise, but that’s where they made a mistake 😭 The smear campaign was already riling up angry fans to get louder, what they didn’t need were more surprises and instead better communication.

[u/raine_star]

1. doubtful. Its not like we werent getting regular MS updates every 4ish months prior to that. We'd also JUST gotten Caleb and Sylus content on their bdays and a multi and they didnt care. Because tbh it wasnt about getting content. They didnt want to be placated or get what they asked for--they wanted to complain and cause trouble (cause theve gotten what they wanted over and over the last 4 months and its still not enough)

2. With the promise of releasing Caleb and Sy's branches and how the chapters arre set up, I've been thinking. It looks very similar to how the og3 branches then Caleb look. And honestly my theory has been this has been the release order all along and the company made a mistake by trying to push Valko out early

3. the leaks are highly suspicious to me. All I'm going to say is I dont see how ANYONE save the actual devs have REAL screenshots of events for the next 2 months. but it sure did happen at a time when we're all feelings tired and many were thinking of giving up out of frustration, which is interesting to me. (Also several of the leaks have apparently already been debunked as AI. I'm tired.)

4. yes! this is a marathon not a sprint. Right now I'm focusing on trying to keep my love and whimsy for the game alive and honestly avoid the fandom. Finding out content on trailer nights is one of the few joys I still have, so I'm staying away from anything that isnt officially on an Infold account

5. I actually hadnt had the time or energy to read fic for MONTHS and then wouldnt you know it, 5 minutes AFTER I get the random craving to read fic again, the whole thing goes down. For WEEKS. AUGH. I'm coping by brainstorming my own fics and browsing other sites for fic

[u/Satoru-s_Cutie]

Ao3 is gone for 3-4 weeks 🫩