We deserve closure + perspective.

Hello (this is going to be long fyi but I just wanna talk hah). This is the second time I'm posting here and it took me some days to figure out how I want to contribute to the conversation without getting emotional. I think I finally figured it out somewhat...

This situation is making a lot of the community unwell, anxious and even depressed. I've read many posts of peole struggling to sleep and eat. I'm not different. Despite the many critiques for the game, it has been consistently a safe space for me. While I might have gotten slightly burnt out, I knew a 6th LI was going to be announced this summer and was very excited to to meet Valko (4ears and all). Ever since the news I have struggled to focus on anything else and bothered my partner a lot about this whole thing trying to desparately rationalize.

After some thinking to myself over the days I thought that I should do the same thing that helps me when I'm anxious and try to lay out things in a rational and logical way. Only focusing on OFFICIAL statements and actions.

My main point is simply this - I wholeheartedly do not believe Infold wanted this or that they wanted to 'reward' certain behaviours.
Let's look at the facts:

• The first Valko teaser was both globally and in CN was met with mixed reception but still leaning more to positivity. This is NOT the first time. Infold tried to calm the situation fast about certain 'rumors' about the characters and their look.
• Even with the hate escalating rapidly, they stayed quiet UNTIL we got that first letter. I want to stress TWO things about it that to me are VERY (very) important - #1 Infold stated explicitly that Valko has been planned as a part of the LONGTERM NARRATIVE AND PRODUCTION and that it will not be compromised. Their default replies to demands of him getting deleted was met with bot replies as well in customer service. #2 this was said AFTER the hate escalated, so they already saw how severe it was and they stood behind the developers/product.

Now why does this matter so much to me?

• because the second letter not only had completely different structure but right of the bat is stated "We recognize we moved forward with the introduction of Valko before we were truly ready"...
  But that's not true is it? Because they already stated the truth - it's part of their roadmap. Sure WE don't get to see it, but they know, they aren't making things up as they go. They confirmed it themself. Even with the cancelation, the Sylus and Caleb stuff will still come late, him being removed doesn't do ANYTHING to make the rest have more content.
  To me and this is purely MY view on it is that this whole letter was a poorly thought out PR disaster. They specifically hit talking points that weren't critiques but were mostly emotionally charged hatred. It almost felt like they were being gaslight about the whole "he's rushed" and no I'm not trying to baby Infold, I'm saying how this reads. It just reads too personal, like they're talking to people too personally. Just very parasocial tldr.

There is a lot of hope in the community, a lot of speculation and also a lot of fear. What you choose to do personally about the game is up to you. I know that for me, being singled out or pushed away unfairly triggers my personal issues so I don't feel comfortable with the game for now.

At this point, I just want them to say something. I know a lot of people say global has no say, I won't lie...I agree. But! The momentum and dedication we have is admiriable and it's not like it's just global. We got allies in CN fanbase as well. I just want them not even apologize perhaps, but talk. That itself is quite parasocial but now I almost feel like the line between company and consumer has been blurred by the way they handled the situation. So I just hope that we will get closure.
We deserve it for all the money, time, love and effort we gave them unconditionally.