Clown Corner

Find all other reports here!

FULL BOYCOTT IN EFFECT. SEE DETAILS HERE.

ALERT: CHINESE MEDIA

DISCLAIMER: I cannot say with 100% certainty that this is true. However, there is enough credible evidence for me to believe it.

To put it in short, we're not just battling Infold. We're fighting the Chinese media.

Here is the post. I will outline the timeline here as well. This is directly from the thread:

As confirmed by a CN native. "state media commentary acts as a direct warning of incoming government bans." So, that's it, then. This is what caused it. Valko was being recognized by the state media. So why did Pro Valko ppl not go after the media for false reporting? On their socials? Why were we not instructed to? Timeline: June 22nd, Valko is announced. Fan Rioting pursues for 6 days straight. Company doesn't budge, continues to post normally. June 28, 1 AM: Apology, 20-pull compensation, and a promise: every male lead's story "will not change for any reason." It tops the overnight hot search marked 爆. Then watch the state media pressure. June 28, 9:08 AM: Beijing News "Six Questions" rejects that apology in print. It was 8 hours old. June 28, night: the Women's Federation's magazine — enters hours after the PV airs June 29: China Women's News named editorial June 29: China Women's News AGAIN, on the 0731 defense: "fails to convince" June 29, 8:20 PM: Guangming Daily. A central party paper. June 30: Ban Yue Tan. Xinhua-run. June 30, evening: Valko is cancelled. Permanently. With a promise to never add a male lead again. And still, to this day, they are STILL going after him, with Beijing News posting ANOTHER smear article on him JUST TODAY! Now look at PPG's attitude change. Anti's beginning riot? Didn't budge. Business as usual. Once the state media got involved? Silence. And knowing this... it makes sense. The marketing numbers didn't add up, a large portion of CN population really liked Valko. Obviously the rest of the world liked Valko.

Here is another post. I will include the screenshots from it below.

Here is a news clip posted to Weibo. THIS IS NOT FROM A GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT. On Weibo, the red V is a standard verified account. A gold V is for news, government and verified companies. This is just a random news channel, no government affiliation.

Here is a screenshot from a user on RedNote explaining the situation:

Here is a screenshot of every news outlet that has been running Anti-Valko campaigns (via this post):

So, what do we do?

Not to worry, friends! I never give info without a plan!

GET LOUD about false media in China. I mean LOUD. We have to change the narrative. Everything they are spreading is complete slander. This is where the sexual assault and predator allegations against Valko are stemming from. They're taking clips of his trailer fully out of context and changing the story entirely.

Contact US news outlets. Here is a link to the NYT. I will work on getting other resources for you.

Infold is fully capable of bringing a lawsuit against these media outlets. "Under the PRC Civil Code, companies have a legally protected reputation. If a news outlet, blogger, influencer, or another company publishes false statements that damage a company's reputation, the company can file a civil lawsuit." I am hoping that their current silence is because they are taking legal action. I'm not sure how likely that is, but my fingers are crossed.

Be louder than the media. Fight back. Change the narrative. This is vital if we want to bring Valko back.

This does not mean stop the boycott. We do not need to give any money or support to Infold. We're still posting #bringbackvalko, we're still going after them, and we are still NOT logging in.

Posting under #ValkoWasFramed, as far as I know. As soon as I have more information, you will be the first to know.

The main thing that a lot of people are disregarding is the involvement of the Chinese government in the whole situation. While it is true that we don't know the full extent of their involvement as none of us work at infold, I do have a possible perspective to share. Their government is very strict with their media and censorship, so after antis started reporting the game to them, they obviously started looking into the game and keeping an eye on it, I have no doubt about that. And considering how many lies were made up about Valko that could potentially have some consequences with the law, it is possible that infold had no choice but to (temporarily) remove Valko in order to be able to keep the game. I’m not saying canceling him the way they did was the *right* move but it may also have not been the wrong one. It is also important to consider that all of his content is still up on x, at least as of about 30 minutes ago it was, as well as some other snippets of him on other social media, including his song on Spotify.

I truly don’t think that anyone at infold and paper games *wants* to get rid of Valko, I’m sure many people spent countless hours of time and passion on developing his story and character so I firmly believe that they will continue to try to find a way to release him somehow. However as of right now with them being under a close eye they may not be able to. So what I suspect they are doing is rerunning a banner which has Chinese cultural representation in a positive manner in it, to show the positive aspects of the game, the fact that they’re showcasing Chinese culture on a global stage. They may be doing this to calm the waters and buy themselves time to change some things that need to be changed in order to be able to release everything they’ve worked on in a way that won’t cause any legal trouble for them. This is being reflected in some parts of Xavier’s story being temporary removed for a rework. This could also mean potentially changing some minor parts of Valkos story in the meantime (ie changing the balcony scene), and then releasing a slightly tweaked version of him a little later down the line.

If I am correct and this is what they’re trying to do in some constellation, it makes sense that they haven’t given us a statement, they can’t exactly say “hey, we’re calming the waters so they stop breathing down our necks so that we can then release him”, as that would kind of defeat the purpose of what they might be trying to do.

Now you might be asking, “if they’re trying to bring him back why get rid of the “coming soon” text”, and I do have a potential answer for you. I think that is because they’re *trying* to bring him back, but are not certain they can, so as to avoid further backlash due to false advertising it may be better to remove that text until they are sure they’re able to fulfill that promise. Like I said this is speculation, and I may be delusional but I don’t think that a company would throw away all that work and money in its entirety without trying to figure out a way to adjust it first, and I truly don’t think that just 9 days is enough to fully figure all that out. I’m not saying he’s coming back, I’m also not saying he’s not, but I’ve been seeing a lot of us at each others throats for the past 2 weeks when ultimately we’re supposed to be sisters, I think it’s time we start acting like it again.

The server is back up now and the "coming soon" is officially removed everywhere. The empty spaces that once promised a 6th LI are so much more prominent and heartbreaking.

Am I still somewhat hopeful that Infold/Paper Games silence and pulling ouy of BilibiliWorld last minute means that this isn't over? Yes. But that is only because despair is expensive and I have bills to pay.

I'm just looking at this from the macro now and thinking about how sad it is that one of Infold/Paper's selling points as a global game was to be an ambassador of Chinese culture. It was an incredible tool that built soft power. As Love and Deepspace threatens to sing its swan song, its final Chinese cultural export will be their weak will and weak mindedness.

The Valko-Anti's, that used valid critique to remove a planned love-interest, are inherently weak-minded. Yes, Infold/Paper carry most of the blame for this mess becayse they are greedy and flawed, but how weak minded must you be to believe that in-app purchases amounts to voting shares? Buying the same $120 in groceries every month, but doesn't give me the power to stop my local grocery store from selling kale just because I don't like it. Nor does bringing new food products to the store will somehow lessen my appreciation for the items that have always been and always will be on the shelves. But that is exactly how the Valko-Antis think and act. I would pity fools that cut off their nose to spite their face, but I simply don't. Their misery is self-inflicted and deserved.

Infold/Paper are just as pathetic as the vocal minority that they apeased with this move. It cannot be overstated that their management holds most of the blame as they are the ones who made the decision to sacrifice the hard work of the creative teams. Hard work that is/was the beating heart of this game.

They betrayed the core of what the story of Love and Deepspace was about by turning a hunter into a housewife. MC was multi-faceted, showing women that being powerful and being vulnerable are not mutually exclusive. That you can love stuffed animals, be clumsy, be a badass, and through it all be deserving of unconditional love. Now, with the tainted version of the 6.0 update, I only see how they want to put that beautiful complex character into the kitchen.

Maybe I'm falling for the sunk-cost fallacy, but I'm not giving up the fight just yet. I am going to do what I can to keep the faith and be louder than the weak-minded. I want to read the story the creative teams wanted to tell, I need to believe that change is still possible. And if it does course correct, I will bring my near-whale spending back to Linkon City.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for everyone and I understand. For many the trust has been broken, immersion is shattered, and even if Infold/Paper brings Valko back, their legacy is tainted.

your favorite people

your loved ones

your pets

animals

nature

the smell of rain

your favorite fictional characters

your favorite movies

your favorite tv shows

your favorite games

your favorite food

your favorite books

writing fanfics about your favorite fictional characters

reading fanfics about your favorite fictional characters

gay people

old man yaoi

Hey, who’s the giant salt lady?!

That’s the Queen Beast, Drake! THE QUEEN BEAST!

But, who could’ve broken all the seals to bring her about…

*both turn to face the camera*

MEGAN