Global is Doing Great Supporting Valko, But We Cannot Take the Foot Off the Gas

Feels weird doing a post like this because I don't really want to turn into some kind of "LADS influencer" but maybe it'll do something/help, or maybe it won't. I've been following global and CN (mostly through XHS and a friend I have that lives over there and plays on the CN server) and here's the most important things to note right now:

• CN supporters are very appreciative of global players with all of their efforts, the petitions, making Valko trend like crazy, getting some Fortnite streamer to mention it, etc. They actually believe global players are heavy hitters this time around and are very helpful to the cause, so please believe in yourselves.
• I will explain this more below, but they also think it's best that if you are going to promote Valko/LADS to focus on the positive things. I know right now we're all incredibly mad at Infold for playing us like this, but keep that between you and LADS CS if you must. The focus is getting Valko back and if that's the case, focusing on the negative may not be helpful at the moment.
• Do not let this momentum die down. Right now they think no news is good news, because both July 1 and July 7 are sensitive days (side tangent--which day is NOT sensitive???) so it seems to be in our best interest that we don't hear anything before July 8. It took a week for the haters to take it all away from us, so at the very least players should show they can outlast them. There's also speculations that maybe they'd wait until after the BW event ends too, which would be July 12.

So this part is all very speculative/rumors from XHS and my CN contact, so take with a HUGE grain of salt and I also am skeptical about some of it, but what it does do is provide helpful context as to why CN players are thinking this is the current strategy:

I know there's a lot of speculation that this was because of 731 or violence or whatnot but it seems the current speculations are moving away from that. Now the guess is that this was a smear campaign by possibly a joint effort between the company behind Silent Whispers, Netease, and Tencent, which all have stake in the otome space. They think this because it takes an incredible circumstance to have 100+ media outlets suddenly reporting on this all at once and then suddenly go quiet as soon as Infold announced that Valko was cancelled. Today another news outlet apparently suddenly tried to make something about LADS trend (in a negative way) and CN players have been doing their best to bury it, but it has been suspiciously stubborn on the trend rankings, so CN players suspect a lot of this was bought by the competitors. If the situation now had truly been because of 731, the game would flat out not exist anymore, so that's why the current thought is maybe that wasn't the case.

Here's my thoughts on this: If this speculation is true, then it might also make sense why Infold released that legal notice with the big red seal talking about specific rumors and noting that they would take legal action to find the perpetrators. And it might also be why they sent out the cancellation notice not too long after that, perhaps it was the metaphorical fire extinguisher for this situation, as the news media seemed to have generally stopped as soon as that happened. Perhaps Infold is still trying to investigate and figure out how best to re-release Valko without it blowing up again. I think this has much more to do with how competitors and haters who have no stake actually playing the game are trying really hard to use this opportunity to bury LADS and less to do with other things. However, the fact that the CN players even noticed one suspicious news media outlet still trying to start stuff today possibly means that the perpetrators (whether they're competitors or just haters) also don't think this is dead in the water, and CN players also seem to think this means negotiations are still on the table as well.

I also think regardless of whether or not this is fruitless in the end, I have nothing left to lose in regards to LADS so I might as well try to fight. I stand by my previous message that I don't intend to continue playing unless Valko comes back. Knowing that Valko was always meant to be in the game and seeing what he was like in the promo material, I cannot go back to boys without it feeling like something huge is missing. And I really do not want to play a retconned story that Infold had been working on long before the game even launched. I've sent emails and posted on XHS, which, side tangent and warning, if you want to do that (I would suggest asking more savvy ppl for advice on how to do so, but most importantly focus on the positive as I said above) and use the applicable tags, you might be met by an immediate wave of hate because it seems like the haters are camping the tags to try to discourage you. However, in XHS you have not only the block function, you can also delete comments from your post's comment section as well so use that at your liberty.

Don't give up guys. I usually don't get care about the usual LADS drama but this situation has made me the most upset I've ever been with this game. Even if it nothing changes in the end, I think for me it is better to know that I tried to make something happen than to do nothing at all and give this game zero chance of surviving. And also, to show the haters that it doesn't just take some bullying to bury us.