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All Discussions > Censorship > Topic Details
Kimchi Tea 6 Aug, 2018 @ 2:11pm
Aeon Dream Studios threatens legal action for "slander"
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/app/431510/discussions/0/1743342647557378237/

Backstory: Aeon Dreams Studios releases a popular and well-received VN, Mystic Destinies: Serendipity of Aeons, between 2016 and early 2018 (with each route as a separate DLC). There's a minor kerfuffle early on when they DMCA a YouTuber for Let's Playing part of the game, but after negative feedback they rescind the takedown and seem to have learned their lesson.

In January 2017, they launch a Kickstarter campaign for a spinoff project, Mystic Destinies: Echoes. At some point in 2017 they also start accepting preorders on itchio[aeondreamstudios.itch.io].

In March 2017, ADS releases a demo for To The Edge of the Sky, a real-person fanfiction visual novel based on the Kpop group BTS. They attempt to use this demo as a proof of concept to get an official license from BTS. They successfully fund a Kickstarter campaign for this project in October 2017 and are currently selling preorders on itchio[aeondreamstudios.itch.io]. As far as I am aware, the project is still unofficial fanfic -- this is a major point of criticism, so I assume if they had legal permission to make the game, ADS would have said so explicitly by now. EDIT: ADS got a cease & desist notice from the copyright owners regarding TTEOTS.[webcache.googleusercontent.com] Missed that since I wasn't following their social media, but people saying they should worry about getting sued was obviously what led to their concern about "slander."

At the end of 2017, after multiple delayed release dates, ADS announced that Mystic Destinies: Echoes would be released sometime in 2018 and offered refunds to Kickstarter backers.[docs.google.com] In January 2018, they emailed people who preordered MDE on itchio offering a refund. I have no personal knowledge about whether Kickstarter backers received their refunds or not, in a timely manner or otherwise. However, as discussed in this thread[itch.io] (my username is teatime), I did not receive a refund automatically, nor a response to my email asking about refunds. I was only able to get my refund in February by filing a PayPal dispute. Other users also reported that they did not receive refunds. At least one got their refund after I contacted itch.io customer support, which may have pushed things along.

ADS has received a lot of fair and legitimate criticism about how they have handled MDE and TTEOTS. Unfortunately, it seems they've interpreted it as fans wanting to force their vision on an artist, likening unsolicited criticism to assault in a June 2018 post[www.aeondreamstudios.com] and claiming fans are engaging in slander and defamation in the thread posted yesterday in their Steam forum.

And, well, here we are. If I've missed anything, please let me know and I'll update the post.
Last edited by Kimchi Tea; 6 Aug, 2018 @ 7:32pm
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Originally posted by talgaby:
So, if I understand correctly, short version:
VN studio is good at making artistic visual novel video games but they have roughly negative infinite financial and legal aptitude to handle the business side of game production, and after their own fumbling collapsed on top of them, like any real artiste, they have shown the sensitivity of a wallflower and now throw temper tantrums on the internet.
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Michel Baie 6 Aug, 2018 @ 2:54pm 
If anything guys, read their post about criticism linked near the bottom of OP's post.
It's worth it.
https://www.aeondreamstudios.com/news/criticism

To be fair, they do have one point :
"To listen to just anyone and everyone who may not understand their creative vision would leave a work directionless and bland - it would no longer be the creator’s, but work as dictated by the masses."

Too bad it's drown in all that whine.

If you don't want to read it, tho, here's their own

"TL;DR? The Creator/Entertainer-Fan relationship gives you absolutely no rights to anything. They share what they will, and you can take it or leave it. They do not owe you anything. And the Seller/Customer relationship only gives you rights to what you BOTH agreed upon at time of purchase."

As every successful youtuber will tell you, reminding your fanbase they can just STFU works wonders. Also applies to anybody selling you entertainment : if you go to a one-man show and it turns out that the guy suck, please don't leave any feedback anywhere, it'll be disastrous for him.

...

But hey, if AeonDreams don't want to learn anything from critique, that's their choice.
Too bad they also didn't learned about what happened last time some devs tried to sue customers on Steam.

Let's hope for everyone those threats will just stay as threats and won't result in somebody receiving a subpoena at some point.
Last edited by Michel Baie; 6 Aug, 2018 @ 2:58pm
#1
Mutant Overlord 6 Aug, 2018 @ 2:58pm 
So its another "you buy are products you better make a positive review" thingy?
boi, when they will learn?
#2
Michel Baie 6 Aug, 2018 @ 3:01pm 
No, it's more like "if you don't like it, take your money and leave, we're not interested in what you think of it".

They don't ask for positive feedback AFAIK.
Last edited by Michel Baie; 6 Aug, 2018 @ 3:01pm
#3
Kimchi Tea 6 Aug, 2018 @ 3:05pm 
Considering they may not have refunded everyone's preorders, it's more like "if you don't like it, stfu and we'll keep your money anyway."
#4
Mutant Overlord 6 Aug, 2018 @ 3:06pm 
One or another - they won't go far with thta kind of behaviour.
History tends to repeat itself, especially when so many idiots don't care about learning about the past.
#5
The author of this thread has indicated that this post answers the original topic.
talgaby 6 Aug, 2018 @ 10:19pm 
So, if I understand correctly, short version:
VN studio is good at making artistic visual novel video games but they have roughly negative infinite financial and legal aptitude to handle the business side of game production, and after their own fumbling collapsed on top of them, like any real artiste, they have shown the sensitivity of a wallflower and now throw temper tantrums on the internet.
#6
Kimchi Tea 6 Aug, 2018 @ 10:37pm 
Pretty much yeah, haha.

It bugs me more because their work is legitimately good. I'm more used to seeing this kind of behavior from low-effort scammers or talentless hacks.
#7
talgaby 6 Aug, 2018 @ 10:45pm 
There is a legitimate reason we keep large publishers around. As much shit they do and as much shit we throw at them, at least they know how to publish a video game. As in, how to handle all the financial, legal, and business aspects in a manner that turns profit.
It is another question that some of them keep a little too much of said profit and pay too little to the developers.

But this studio you write about, it is not the first set of developers with good skills in their chosen field who get into serious issues because they are creators first and tried to handle the business side with no real experience. The makers of Hydrophobia or Wolfe: The Red Hood Diaries spring into my mind as similar cases, where they had lot of potential but they vastly overshot their own financial limits and now ceased to exist as a game studio.
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Date Posted: 6 Aug, 2018 @ 2:11pm
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