How do you find the will after unfair criticism?

[Red Levity]

I made a big mistake. I am mostly a musician, but also a creator on youtube, and most recently, creator of a Visual novel called Interloper - with animated characters, my own music, story, etc.

I was working intensely on the project for a month, being perpetually in a flow state, when my unfortunate need for validation led my to publish the first chapter of my story.

I am currently recovering from a big mental break 4 years ago, and will probably never work a normal job again. Im in the process of hopefully beeing given a pension, as I hate mentalt health issues that are severe. My creativity seems to be unlimited, and drives me into all sorts of endeavours. From expanding my small house - I physically built a new room that's now my music studio, to doing youtube sketches, making a boardgame the past 5 years, etc..

Anyway.. I used this project as an escape from difficult circumstances recently in my life,
and chose to publish the first chapter on Itch.io.
It has its weak points so far, but it's a work in progress. The beginning of the story is probably where it challenges the reader the most - to suspend their disbelief. I received some rather hateful critique, from a reader who felt it did not conform to their idea of a visual novel, along with annoyances about the interface, which admittedly are problems that should be fixed. I'm also using AI, which seems to be extremely divisive.
But.. I'm doing it, not because I don't want to collab with other artists, but because I'm really fascinated by where it can lead us. In my experimentations, I have seen some wild things, and this was what led me to start work on the project on the first place.

I confronted this person without getting too personal, responding to the things theiy wrote, and finally asked why they were being so hostile. Even then they did not relent. Basically half of the ratings are 1 star, and the other half are 5 stars.. And there were positive comments and ratings as well, but I feel I made a big mistake publishing in a public forum, and struggle to understand why someone would be this negative and unsensitive.
I admit I am incredibly sensitive - a snowflake perhaps, and that things are tough right now, making me cling to a project like this,
but I honestly felt like I didn't want to be here anymore.

How does one process this sort of thing?
I have made youtube videos since 2007, so I guess I should know, but I don't usually get hate out of nowhere.
I can't get back to my project and fear I will just end up drinking and smoking.

I guess I'll have to provide a link to the project for context..
https://red-levity.itch.io/interloper

/The Red Levity

[plastiekk]

Hi Red Levity,
I think you are referring to the user

Naho

(?). I have to mention that I haven't published a VN or story yet. However, that kind of criticism would terrify me too.

Quote: “Because I'm really tired seeing more and more ignorant and illiterate ‘writers’ trying to do something not only without understanding basic rules of storytellling, but also not even bothering doing the most basic research of modern trends in it.”
Wait, what? Ignorant and illiterate, not even bothering to do the most basic research of modern trends?

Oh yeah, hes tired of that and angry at the same time I suppose. (Joking aside) This person wants to vent and found the outlet for it in your game. It's very mean and unjustified to boot, so I would advise you not to put too much weight in the (subjective) opinions of some internet stranger, otherwise you'll damage your soul!

Ignore that kind of "criticism"!

[fleet]

I did not read the story, as I am not (with only one exception) interested in 'furries'. This is my personal preference, and is not a reflection on you or your story.

First off, I congratulate you on making a VN. It must have gotten the attention of the negative reviewer for that person to actually play your VN. That in itself is a good thing.

The reviewer's comment "Everything seems smaller then in other vns. . ." should receive serious consideration (which it looks like you are going to correct). Likewise their comment "When fox thing lead protagonist to a house, protagonist goes on the balcony by himself and states he was living here for a long time" should be corrected (which it looks like you are going to correct).

Regarding story inconsistencies like the balcony scene mentioned above, I'd recommend you have a friend read the story and ask them to specifically look for logic breaks (such as the above) and grammar and punctuation errors

Much of what the negative user complained about was personal preference. Some folks do not like AI; that's a personal preference, and you should not worry about changing their minds. I have zero skill when it comes to drawing, and I am not inclined to hire an artist. As such, VNs that I've made I used DAZ 3D. Some people don't like 3D art; once again, that's a personal preference, and you should not worry about changing their minds.

It is understandable about your being upset about the highly negative review. If It had been me responding to a similar negative review of my first work, I probably would have responded as you did. Now, instead of doing any in-depth response to the reviewer, I would have said "Thank you for playing my VN. I will make adjustments to the interface." Your asking the reviewer why they were being hostile gave them an opening to troll you, which they did, especially with their response when you said you didn't know what isekai meant.

Once again, I congratulate you on making a VN, especially one with music and animation. Don't give up.

[SupersizeMyHeart]

Just a heads up, this'll probably get moved out of Work in Progress and to Creator Discussion because of the subject of the post --

As regards the feedback, have to agree with what's already been said. Basically,

1. Take it as a compliment someone, even someone who may not have liked what you made, still took the time out of their day to play it. It's legit hard to get someone to look at your work, it's an achievement in and of itself.
2. Try and parse out the objective feedback you can use to improve from the clearly subjective feedback (i.e. they don't like AI art, that sort of thing)
3. It's a tough skill to learn, but try not to care as much about what people think. There will always be people that don't like what you make, even if it's literally perfect (they're called contrarians), and the more you put yourself out there, the more of them you'll bump into. Steel yourself!

You made something! That's amazing! It's more than a lot of people do! Just keep your head up and don't focus on the negatives too much

[Red Levity]

Thank you kindly, I have been very disheartened, and your replies mean a lot to me.

@plastiekk

I think you are referring to the user
Naho
That's the guy, yeah. And ratings are completely divisive. 2x 5 star ratings, 1x 4 stars, and 3x 1 star.
One of the 1-star ratins has a comment attached to it, quoting without correcting grammar, etc.;

"first it was made in ai (clearly) but the story & the music & even the way the MCs and everything else move will give you a headache, the size of the words (in the paragraph text box) is so small, if you can't draw that's fine just change your vn to be like the ones that only have special pics to show how the MCs looks like & the "special moments" if you go in their route "

It is true, the interface is too small. I was actually messing with it to correct this before release, but it seems my ADHD made me forget about it, and make it worse instead. I find that really annoying as well. I just wasn't ready for the hostility.
I don't want to change things into "special pics" or special moments. That's not what I want.

- And to comment on this Naho guy, I don't want to conform to his idea of what a Visual Novel should look like, how it should play, or how the story arc should progress. It causes me a lot of head scratching to hear how people want things to be the same. When I go looking for an experience, I look for the stuff that breaks the mould. I'm not a very mainstream guy either, I hardly even listen to pop music. When I was a kid in the 90's (I'm from 1986), I mostly listened to Bach and Elvis.

"I would advise you not to put too much weight in the (subjective) opinions of some internet stranger, otherwise you'll damage your soul!"
- You are so right. And I'm really uninterested in trends, as I stated, I don't see much value in them..


@fleet
I did not read the story, as I am not (with only one exception) interested in 'furries'. This is my personal preference, and is not a reflection on you or your story.
- That's fair.

First off, I congratulate you on making a VN. It must have gotten the attention of the negative reviewer for that person to actually play your VN. That in itself is a good thing.
Heh.. I guess.

The reviewer's comment "Everything seems smaller then in other vns. . ." should receive serious consideration (which it looks like you are going to correct). Likewise their comment "When fox thing lead protagonist to a house, protagonist goes on the balcony by himself and states he was living here for a long time" should be corrected (which it looks like you are going to correct).

Yeah that needs to be adressed, and I will.
Regarding the balcony scene, I see a possibility for misunderstand the MC's phrasing, and I will change it to make things clear and unambiguous.

Regarding story inconsistencies like the balcony scene mentioned above, I'd recommend you have a friend read the story and ask them to specifically look for logic breaks (such as the above) and grammar and punctuation errors

- I'm certainly not above that. As there's no spell checking in Ren Py, I need to run it through a spell check to catch things here and there, spelling mistakes or typos that I'm sure exist. And I do have a friend or two who might be interested in reading it. This was actually my second VN (furry VN with a fox).
The first one I never published, even if I made 4 music tracks, and a bunch of assets.. That's completely fine, this one is better.

Much of what the negative user complained about was personal preference. Some folks do not like AI; that's a personal preference, and you should not worry about changing their minds. I have zero skill when it comes to drawing, and I am not inclined to hire an artist. As such, VNs that I've made I used DAZ 3D. Some people don't like 3D art; once again, that's a personal preference, and you should not worry about changing their minds.

I can't really paint either My mother is a painter though..
I really want to use AI, I'm totally fascinated with it. I understand how some might see it as an invasion, or a threat to genuine human artists and their livelihood.
..I just hope some people might be able to see what I see as well. The vision of things that are possible.

When I find the strength, I will be changing the prologue, which decsribes how the MC meets the fox. I completely understand if people feel it's a little weak.
I was going to work with my original idea, deepening it throughout chapter 2. Now though, I am probably reworking it based on some feedback I got in a chat on an AI forum.

How it works right now:
The Fox has finally escaped the strange vortex where world meet, or collide. He knows this opening may not come again soon. The opening is one to the human world, which is why the story starts with the MC finding him anxiously waiting for a bus. The fox was going to try and live in the human world, even if he knew it might not work. ..That he might be captured/studied, and more. He was going to take that chance.
Yet, he changes his mind, cowers out of it, you could say. Instead he walks back to the zone/vortex/multiverse crossroads/hard to desccribe it completely at this point in time. There are feelings of guilt toward the MC, as the fox has basically roped him into the situation. Even if he tries to make it clear that the MC should not follow him any further, he still admits he wants him to.

How it may work in the reworked version:
The MC is waiting for the bus. It never comes. He starts walking toward his destination, but finds the road to be different from what he remembers. He is carried further and further out of the regular world, without even knowing it. He meets the fox somehow, as the fox is already an interloper in this world.


It is understandable about your being upset about the highly negative review. If It had been me responding to a similar negative review of my first work, I probably would have responded as you did. Now, instead of doing any in-depth response to the reviewer, I would have said "Thank you for playing my VN. I will make adjustments to the interface." Your asking the reviewer why they were being hostile gave them an opening to troll you, which they did, especially with their response when you said you didn't know what isekai meant.

Once again, I congratulate you on making a VN, especially one with music and animation. Don't give up.

Yeah you are probably right. I basically gave him a knife to stab me with. I guess I naively hoped he would be human, when instead I was given an ugly demonstration of human nature.

I will try to take your words to heart. I want to get back to this project, I need it.


SupersizeMyHeart
Just a heads up, this'll probably get moved out of Work in Progress and to Creator Discussion because of the subject of the post

- Understood.

As regards the feedback, have to agree with what's already been said. Basically,
1. Take it as a compliment someone, even someone who may not have liked what you made, still took the time out of their day to play it. It's legit hard to get someone to look at your work, it's an achievement in and of itself.

- I guess that is worth something. I don't find this persons time so valueable to me, when I see what he does with it, but I understand, and you're probably right.

2. Try and parse out the objective feedback you can use to improve from the clearly subjective feedback (i.e. they don't like AI art, that sort of thing)[/i

- I have a lot to learn here. It will take me a lot of practice, but I'm willing to try.

3. It's a tough skill to learn, but try not to care as much about what people think. There will always be people that don't like what you make, even if it's literally perfect (they're called contrarians), and the more you put yourself out there, the more of them you'll bump into. Steel yourself!

- It causes me a general resignation with the human species when I meet these people. You are definitely correct, they exist and it is a very tough skill to learn.
My project is not perfect at all, but I believe there's some value in what I am creating. I put my heart into it.

You made something! That's amazing! It's more than a lot of people do! Just keep your head up and don't focus on the negatives too much

Thank you so much. And thank you all. I will try.

[LolaPiaoliang]

Hey, I think a lot of developers here share your feelings. Negative reviews, especially for an indie game made by a solo dev, can be really tough to handle and often feel unfair. But I’ve also noticed that there are some people who are genuinely excited about your game—it’s clear from the comments on your page. Plus, there are likely far more people who have downloaded and enjoyed your game silently than those who leave feedback.

It’s worth mentioning that some people on Itch have strong opinions against AI, so you might encounter more comments reflecting that. That said, big companies are already using AI in all sorts of ways, and over time, I think people will naturally become more accepting of its role as it becomes more prevalent.

If it ever feels overwhelming, disabling the comment section on Itch is a completely valid option—many other developers have done the same, and it’s totally fine. Don’t let negative reviews discourage you. Focus on the positive feedback and, most importantly, the joy you find in creating your game.

[Red Levity]

Hey, I think a lot of developers here share your feelings. Negative reviews, especially for an indie game made by a solo dev, can be really tough to handle and often feel unfair. But I’ve also noticed that there are some people who are genuinely excited about your game—it’s clear from the comments on your page. Plus, there are likely far more people who have downloaded and enjoyed your game silently than those who leave feedback.

It’s worth mentioning that some people on Itch have strong opinions against AI, so you might encounter more comments reflecting that. That said, big companies are already using AI in all sorts of ways, and over time, I think people will naturally become more accepting of its role as it becomes more prevalent.

If it ever feels overwhelming, disabling the comment section on Itch is a completely valid option—many other developers have done the same, and it’s totally fine. Don’t let negative reviews discourage you. Focus on the positive feedback and, most importantly, the joy you find in creating your game.

It has been very hard.
There are nice comments for sure, and I think I simply focused on the negative, as people do.
At this point, just under 300 people have downloaded the game since Sunday. I don't know if that's good or bad for Itch.io, but it's cool that many people have been playing it.

If things spiral out of control with AI-haters or similar, yeah I'll consider disabling the comments, instead of just taking the project offline as I have felt like doing.

Again - thank you all for giving me the strength, I think I can continue my project now.

[kornercat]

Hey there, I can see that the negative criticism has really impacted you, and your feelings are valid. however I think what would be helpful to you is called discernment to take what is helpful and leave what is not.

It is his opinion that he did not like the game, and that's valid. Using discernment you can say "Oh this thing he said was valid and i'll fix it", but then leave whatever doesn't resonate. Other people have the opposite opinion, and it is also valid. You can use discernment to keep what this person really liked about their experience." There are a lot of different types of games because people like different things, and this is a wonderful.

From my perspective, you created something that you were really excited about and wanted to share it with someone. I think this is really cute and shows enthusiasm in your project. It's also a way to find people with common interests and connect with them.

I think what would help you in the future is to remember who you are creating for. If it's for you, then it only really matters that you like it, and other people who will like it is a bonus. If it's people who like action adventures then it only really matters if people who like action adventures like it, not romance mystery likers.

Anyway, creating and having fun and sharing is wonderful. And the best part of the creative process is that if you don't like it, you can change it. Like Bob Ross said, "Happy Mistakes."

[Fuseblower]

Forget about those AI haters. I handpainted hundreds of water colors (real ones, on paper) for my visual novels and I didn't even get a third of your downloads on my stuff in the years they were on itch.io. I didn't see those haters coming to my handcrafted work. They're just hating for the hating. Ignore them.

LittleTina.jpg (108 KiB) Viewed 15218 times

[Red Levity]

Forget about those AI haters. I handpainted hundreds of water colors (real ones, on paper) for my visual novels and I didn't even get a third of your downloads on my stuff in the years they were on itch.io. I didn't see those haters coming to my handcrafted work. They're just hating for the hating. Ignore them.

LittleTina.jpg

That is a beautiful painting!
I'm so sorry to hear about the downloads though. That seems very odd to me with art like that.
This painting you've got here - how long did it take to make?

[Red Levity]

Hey there, I can see that the negative criticism has really impacted you, and your feelings are valid. however I think what would be helpful to you is called discernment to take what is helpful and leave what is not.

It is his opinion that he did not like the game, and that's valid. Using discernment you can say "Oh this thing he said was valid and i'll fix it", but then leave whatever doesn't resonate. Other people have the opposite opinion, and it is also valid. You can use discernment to keep what this person really liked about their experience." There are a lot of different types of games because people like different things, and this is a wonderful.

From my perspective, you created something that you were really excited about and wanted to share it with someone. I think this is really cute and shows enthusiasm in your project. It's also a way to find people with common interests and connect with them.

I think what would help you in the future is to remember who you are creating for. If it's for you, then it only really matters that you like it, and other people who will like it is a bonus. If it's people who like action adventures then it only really matters if people who like action adventures like it, not romance mystery likers.

Anyway, creating and having fun and sharing is wonderful. And the best part of the creative process is that if you don't like it, you can change it. Like Bob Ross said, "Happy Mistakes."

It did. ...And I came here to vent and cry about it, because I was in a very low place.
I am thankful for the pick-me-up, and won't forget it.
This sort of compartmentalization you're talking about is super useful.
I need to learn some pragmatism. My challenge is that I'm too emotional.

Yeah I was really hoping to find similar-minded people to share my story with, and in time I think I will.
I can't stop making things... I would like to say I'm making them for me. But the truth is, that the greatest aspiration I have
is to make other people feel things that I feel, and to do that with things I have created.
I've actually never watched a Bob Ross video. I know who he was, I'm sure I would love him.

[mikey]

To help with the compartmentalization mindset it's also good to know that in your situation someone has had your game as their proverbial last straw of something that has been irritating them for some time. This also means that if it wasn't your game, it would almost certainly be a game similar to yours by a creator with similar motivations.

It's also been mentioned by SupersizeMyHeart in a similar context that it almost doesn't matter how great your game is, because even the most perfect work of art will at some point create a "thunderstorm" of feelings of fatigue, similarity or soullessness in people, if they are exposed to "perfect" games that follow all the generally accepted rules all the time. There is of course a path for a game to be more appealing to most people, and the feedback given to yours was (by your own admission, too) quite valid and some you can even incorporate, but it's not really a guarantee of future better reception. Because like a house, sometimes that thunderstorm comes in over your area and not only does your house get wet, sometimes it will even end up being the lightning rod for someone.

If you compartmentalize like this, you will likely avoid a big low that results from feedback that mocks or belittles your work, because the truth is that this is a normal reaction for any person if they are in a certain state of mind, and it's reflecting more on them than on you. At the same time though, if this approach works for you then praise or positive feedback also won't give you a high of positivity when you realize that you may just have caught the person in a state when your work fits their mood perfectly and as such your game seems "perfect" (for them). Similarly, empty praise like "this game was great" will (and should) feel empty, and ultimately a great review should also be compartmentalized as "just one person's opinion", rather than make you feel like that is a fair assessment of your work. It's often people's wish to accept the positive and ignore the negative, but that never really works - it's similar to the immovable object vs. the irresistible force. You can't have both at the same time, since the fact that one exists must mean that the other one doesn't.

Ultimately an artist will create because it is in their nature to express through art. For many however the feedback, especially if initially good, will make their art into an indicator for self-worth, and in the end make audience reception a kind of measure of it as well, and it creates a link that makes the artist's feeling ebb and flow as the opinions of players change. This is why among a 1000 great reviews that one bad one can send even the most accomplished artist into negativity - those 1000 good reviews are now recognized as mostly empty or pointing out the same positives for the n-th time so that they feel almost like a single opinion, one voice - while the other aggressively bad one has not yet been processed and brought down to a more neutral, factual level and it may even present a different viewpoint which ends up feeling like a second, currently stronger voice - and so it now feels like their game is awful because there are only two opinions, and the negative is so much more intense, beating the "single" positive voice merged together from those 1000 reviews.

It always helps, when you feel like you are allowing audience reception to dictate your feelings too much, to think back on why you create and that you really just need to express what you need to express, nothing more. In 20-30 years, when your VN still stands, the immediacy of trends, emotional opinions and hype will have died down, and people may pick it up and like it, or not like it, but it will matter more that it exists, as something that people can experience, or as a record of someone's feelings in a specific day and age. Art becomes history, it becomes memories. Something that can outlast an individual's life, regardless of its fame or accolades. It's what makes it so wonderful.

[Red Levity]

To help with the compartmentalization mindset it's also good to know that in your situation someone has had your game as their proverbial last straw of something that has been irritating them for some time. This also means that if it wasn't your game, it would almost certainly be a game similar to yours by a creator with similar motivations.

It's also been mentioned by SupersizeMyHeart in a similar context that it almost doesn't matter how great your game is, because even the most perfect work of art will at some point create a "thunderstorm" of feelings of fatigue, similarity or soullessness in people, if they are exposed to "perfect" games that follow all the generally accepted rules all the time. There is of course a path for a game to be more appealing to most people, and the feedback given to yours was (by your own admission, too) quite valid and some you can even incorporate, but it's not really a guarantee of future better reception. Because like a house, sometimes that thunderstorm comes in over your area and not only does your house get wet, sometimes it will even end up being the lightning rod for someone.

If you compartmentalize like this, you will likely avoid a big low that results from feedback that mocks or belittles your work, because the truth is that this is a normal reaction for any person if they are in a certain state of mind, and it's reflecting more on them than on you. At the same time though, if this approach works for you then praise or positive feedback also won't give you a high of positivity when you realize that you may just have caught the person in a state when your work fits their mood perfectly and as such your game seems "perfect" (for them). Similarly, empty praise like "this game was great" will (and should) feel empty, and ultimately a great review should also be compartmentalized as "just one person's opinion", rather than make you feel like that is a fair assessment of your work. It's often people's wish to accept the positive and ignore the negative, but that never really works - it's similar to the immovable object vs. the irresistible force. You can't have both at the same time, since the fact that one exists must mean that the other one doesn't.

Ultimately an artist will create because it is in their nature to express through art. For many however the feedback, especially if initially good, will make their art into an indicator for self-worth, and in the end make audience reception a kind of measure of it as well, and it creates a link that makes the artist's feeling ebb and flow as the opinions of players change. This is why among a 1000 great reviews that one bad one can send even the most accomplished artist into negativity - those 1000 good reviews are now recognized as mostly empty or pointing out the same positives for the n-th time so that they feel almost like a single opinion, one voice - while the other aggressively bad one has not yet been processed and brought down to a more neutral, factual level and it may even present a different viewpoint which ends up feeling like a second, currently stronger voice - and so it now feels like their game is awful because there are only two opinions, and the negative is so much more intense, beating the "single" positive voice merged together from those 1000 reviews.

It always helps, when you feel like you are allowing audience reception to dictate your feelings too much, to think back on why you create and that you really just need to express what you need to express, nothing more. In 20-30 years, when your VN still stands, the immediacy of trends, emotional opinions and hype will have died down, and people may pick it up and like it, or not like it, but it will matter more that it exists, as something that people can experience, or as a record of someone's feelings in a specific day and age. Art becomes history, it becomes memories. Something that can outlast an individual's life, regardless of its fame or accolades. It's what makes it so wonderful.

Hey Mikey
My game does not follow the standard format of a Visual Novel. One of the criticisms was that "I should just do what the others are doing" - to which I disagree 120%. I want to create something new, and I guess new things need to prove themselves before they are accepted.
I also made some mistakes that I might not have made, if I had read about the genre, if I'd had a more academic understanding of it.
I am changing a lot of things, and still working on the project every day. Taking the feedback I can use, and changing things accordingly.
People do not want moving backgrounds and moving characters all at the same time. I will partially mitigate this.

A part of me wants to work on this project and never release it on Itch.io, since I don't feel like they deserve it.
That's honestly how I feel. I probably will put it on itch after all, but I feel like a fork in the road has been met, and I find it genuinely impossible to understand the mindset of the general person downloading free games and stories on Itch.io. I feel completely unsympathetic to the person who has created nothing, yet finds it valid to throw abuse on a new creator giving away his project for free, in hopes that other people will find it interesting.

One of my favourite book series is The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss.
There are 2 books in the series - magnificently written fantasy books that speak to me like no others.
His third book may never come out. He has been working on it for over a decade, and it appears he has been struggling with mental health.
He has a youtube channel that I found the other day, and people are absolutely awful to him.
I find that it rings much too familiar to me..

You bring some very good observations, and I admit that I have been at the mercy of people's judgements over my works for the better part of my life, putting my sense of self entirely at other people's whims and opinions. If I had a partner, I suppose I would have more of a counterweight, or grounding, to not let it define me so much.

I was thinking back the other day, reminiscing about pieces of art I like, and what I like about them. Things do not need to be 'perfect' - that is a misconception I have spent entirely too many years having. Things with character, born of passion - these are the things that have value to me. Things that are thick with ambience and emotions. This is what I want to create. I appreciate the sentiment by the way - that whatever I create - it will likely still be here in 20-30 years. Whatever judgements were put on it here and now. Not to blow things out of proportion, or elevate my project unnecessarily.. But it is true.

Sorry about my late reply btw, and I hope you have a merry Christmas.
Thanks for the session man, appreciate it!

[Red Levity]

I also have to say, that you're absolutely right about latching on to negativity. It's human nature, after all.
I've stayed mostly away from the Itch.io page with my game, but I had a look again, and.. well it's mostly helpful people by now, with just a hater of two. This is also starting to reflect in the ratings that badly affected the "CTR" (click-through ratio), burying the game.

There are other people that do not get any eyes on their game at all - how unsatisfying that must be.
Also I see some projects here on the forum, that I think I'll make time to review soon.

[DeVNCraft]

As someone who personally just has an explosive conversation unintentionally with a friend in another forum about AI, after reading this I feel I should take that mistake I already made therr and try to even out my karma so to speak now that i'm not in a defensive position.

I am the hater, I despise AI, furries are not my thing either for the most part...although I deal with dress up, anything beyond that just isnt for ME, but I got my own kinks to make up for it so I have nothing against it in any way either.

AI on the other hand was the catalyst for my other explosive back and forth...don't be alarmed or anything, i'm not speaking with the intention of a repeat or I wouldnt have spoke at all. I am the hater...but not that hater, and I would never waste time to crush somebody else, I would say my part about it and you would never have seen me again, but I digress....

As somebody who passionately hates AI as one of my maybe three things in this world I wish never existed but will speak to you on a real level calmly (I didnt read the users posts, i'm not defending them, i'm not criticizing you or your work), let me just say this...

For some of us who have ate, slept, and breathed code for years, just for the love of it...it can be a bad trigger in conversations even if we don't intend any harm like what happened between me and my other friend (which I apologized for at the end of my hyperintensive rant), we see the effects AI could have LONG term differently, or at least I do, people doing nothing for themselves anymore, AI coding itself while programmers who actually know how the AI works slowly fade into history...until something goes wrong with the AI coding the AI and nobody has the skills to fix it...and well we've all the theoretical doomsday theories there.

My issue with AI is not what your using it for, its what the corporate giants are using it for or intending and trying to use it for that I can imagine--because I may have did it myself when I was a young pric if it was profitable...and thats exactly what they are, except rich and powerful

All that aside...what I really wanted to say here isnt coming out right...but I wanted you to be aware that there are alot of people who feel this way...not all of us will smash you into the ground like a stake and crush your hopes and dreams, but you should certainly steel yourself for AI hatred to some extent...and more, learn to brush it off and let the flames they have burning die out on their own without adding fuel to the fire

Alot of it won't have anything to do with you, until you respond and feed the pent up anger they have at the idea itself...personally I see it as a different type of problem, once where people get so dependent that we basiclly whither away in a computer fantasy world while automated machines do everything keeping us strong and healthy...like actual work. This clearly has nothing to do with AI generated art, since most artists sit at a desk most of the time anyways, just like most programmers...but it was the same conversation topic that had me ranting about AI elsewhere and even though I didn't attack the user I mentioned directly, my words seemed extreme and harsh just because of the passion I have for the topic itself...and I rarely let my emotions run my mouth so they took it as me arguing with them and not the idea of AI as its being handled by the corporate monster race track right now.

Again, what this user did is unacceptable and probably not even relevant to my comments meaning...but I thought it was worth typing anyways, in case you need to hear it now for down the road

I am also working on my first VN with another friend from those same forums, I'm in a bad place physically, mentally, and just lost an eviction case against a slumlord who pretty much destroyed everythong I own including my baby (my PC lol) while I slept in toxic fumes surrounded by bugs...and a jury threw my case out of court, pretty sure they took a bribe. I'm also extremely ADHD, have an anti-social anxiety disorder, and before all those popped up I was having grand mal seizures from being an alcoholic of nearly 10 years starting when I was left homeless by my parents without even a note. I crawled my way back up to where I am now...which is far from grand, but from living under a bridge in the snow to being able to afford my own apartment on disability from those issues--it was everything to me, and it was just stolen by a corrupt court and a heartless landlord so I feel your pain believe me and i'm spilling it here so you understand that fully

As the person who hates AI whos practically on your level in most other aspects of reality...and might've been a jerk myself, best advice I can give you is let them vent and don't even get into the conversations, being a dev doesn't mean your obligated to walk into problems with people and alot of them may not be looking for them but just have to say whats on their mind. Others, like this one I assume...belong with my landlord, far beneath the ocean waves with some new boots

Don't let anyone steal your dreams and passion...I may have to abandon my VN if I end up with nowhere to live...you want to know what I did as the dev?

I automated future addititions they would need so they could just drop things in place and it would work and built the entire interface top to bottom before a demo for the script writer/artist i'm working with. I worked non stop for 3 months day in and day out...and told them if the worst case happens I would give them the email accounts used for the project and sites as well as the rights to my part of the project...as long as they promised me they would finish it fully and without regrets. I didnt want them to lose the dream we both had if I couldnt continue...and I wouldnt want to see you either. Working on this project after not coding for a handful of years is what got me through this situatuon until now and I want to see it finished for the amount of joy and peace it did give me at any cost...and again, so should you.

Sorry...i'm terrible at this type of thing, and now i'm feeling all sappy myself. Tell them if they don't like it, you can have the AI draw a cliff for them to walk off...they don't have to like it, your not doing it for them, your doing it for you and for the project and people who will enjoy it.

By the way, I hope I get your numbers that fast when I drop my demo...I wouldn't be crushed, i'd be extremely proud if I were you

Sorry no preview or editing this one...i'm just going to go take a breath myself after this. I hope you understand the point I was trying to make and don't take this entirely wrong. Best lf luck...keep on keeping on. Cheers!

EDIT:

I lied, horrible typos corrected lmao.