F95zone has bullied me for the last time.

What you may lose will be outweighed by the benefits to your mental health and well-being. As with any toxic relationship it's best to get out when you can and not look back.

BearyBry

A very good and apt phrase, especially for that situation.

This inspired me to write five-star reviews of my two favourite games. And I really, /really/ dislike writing reviews of anything 😃

Harlequin

Thanks Adan - yes, I was happy there for a long time. I’m very surprised this is how they’ve chosen to behave too.

RanliLabz

Yes - it feels like you’ve been robbed. I’m the same with headspace - especially when it comes t9 the writing... although some of the anger may have helped me write the Bully and Dom scenes in the last update. Now got to put that behind me as I move onto cheerier scenes! Truly appreciate the support, btw Aaryn. 😍

RanliLabz

I´m sorry about what happened with you and the F95 staff. I really like the site. And I found your spacecorps and many other great games there. I don´t know why they decide to treat you that way.

Adán García

Well it’s easy to say don’t let it get you down but it does and I’ve struggled with that too. For me, I have to be in a certain emotional headspace and stuff like this derails me for all the wrong reasons. It’s sad when they ban you from your own creation

Aaryn

Lol - yeah, they're not exactly the Pharoahs of old 😂 Really disappointed with Sam, tho... he is not the guy I thought he was. I'd have thought they'd learn from what happened with you, but it seems they've just got worse... And apparently they really screwed over Luriel last year. It's an enormous stresser and waste of our time - we're there to make games and shoot the breeze with players, not to fend off some mod on a power trip. One of them [Ryahn] just contacted me actually - started off making nice, but then just made the same lying accusations against me. Bullies gonna bully, I guess.

RanliLabz

Bro, this is trash. I'm sorry you're having such a bad experience, too. They sorta left me alone again but seems there always has to be a target. Really sorry it had to be you. I'd had better hopes that interactions with Sam would be fruitful as he was more than reasonable when we spoke briefly months ago. For what it's worth, I've noticed that the site basically steers people towards the Patreon site or towards my Discord. Because of that, I'll offer some potentially hopeful reassurance that, in my experience, I have limited interactions with people over there anymore. Most have moved to sub or to the Discord. I still login because I want to keep active with fans but it's pretty rare I get many messages over there anymore as the population of other sites have gone up. In short, you may not take as much of a marketing hit as you think. I hope so anyway. Keep your head up and stay focused. My dev team can attest to me losing my mind a few times over the years and I just got fed up with random shit like this. It's distracting and disheartening and sometimes it's hard to come back from. Some people thrive on the illusion of power. But standing at the apex of moderation of a porn site really isn't that big of an accomplishment to be cocky about-- so fuck em.

Aaryn

Has it! 😍 Lol, well that's good [hopefully the mods won't delete those ones, at least while they know people are watching]. *Must resist temptation to go and read them* 😂

RanliLabz

sounds reasonable. (as a side note, I love that the game got five 5* reviews since yesterday)

LukaM

🤦‍♂️

Klinger

😂 Karma does have a habit of catching up with people. And yes, Patreon might hide adult content - but they do not tolerate bullying and are pretty light touch where it comes to modding.

RanliLabz

It’s a real shame to see it go bad - it genuinely was a good place until recent hiring decisions. Thanks Misamu! 🙂

RanliLabz

Thanks Ray 🙂 And that’s very principled of you! Unfortunately, there aren’t many good sites with proper a-game discussion boards (I think having no competition is the main reason for F95 going bad). itch.io is a good place to get games and comment on them (as are aggregators like FAP nation and Lewd zone, etc). If anyone else knows of a more community-based one, I’d be eager to join!

RanliLabz

Don't let the bastards grind you down Ranli. I first heard of Space Corps through Patreon, which would never stoop to that kind of harassment I believe. You have other avenues for building a fan base and contacting other devs. For your last consoling thought... Karma's a bitch! I hope they have kids so the kids get to pick their Nursing Home...

76 Yankee 10

It is sad when a good site goes toxic, I am sorry that it became too unpleasant to remain on. Still, I didn't discover your awesome game from F95, so I don't think it should hurt you too much.

Misumu

I'm sorry this happened to you @RanliLabz. I stumbled on F95 earlier this year because of another game that led me there and that led me to find you and some others. But, I won't support a site run by bullies. Do you have suggestions for other good sites for discussions around adult games?

Ray

Hey Luca! I won't be engaging with F95 anymore - I deleted my account and wasn't allowed to post anything on my game thread anyway. Since I post public builds of SpaceCorps on several sites, I'm not bothered if anyone reposts it on F95 - but I suspect the Staff would probably sabotage such efforts.

RanliLabz

OK, here's the thing: F95 is a great site in itself (pirate, but still), because it allows people to discover many adult games catering to all tastes and gives exposure to devs (of course, the people there know the devs need them, hence the relative impunity they enjoy). BUT, it has the problem that many similar popular sites have, which is giving almost no control to moderators, which (as I really believe happened in this case) they can target users or developers very easily, leading them to quitting by frustration, with basically no retaliation. So, even though I know you won't follow it 😛, I suggest that you will allow the latest public version to be updated there (directly by yourself or through some other person). You will get less exposure by not talking with the fans there -but you'll gain in mental health tenfold- but the updates will still keep people interested. You can try to see for a bunch of months to see what happens then you can reassess if it's worth continuing to update the game or not.

LukaM

Thank you so much, Jason! I am rather overwhelmed by how supportive everyone has been over this. I may be going back to Scotland with the same friends this summer - so you might have to give me a new recipe so I can pretend I’ve got more than one string to my culinary bow 😄

RanliLabz

The Russians have a phrase ‘the fish rots from the head’ - and I think we see it happening there. Most F95 users really are lovely, but the mods encourage and even reward bullying behaviour, sadly, and that attracts trolls.

RanliLabz

Cheers, JC - and glad to hear you’re fighting the good fight over there. I also appreciate knowing people will help take care of the thread now I’m gone 🙂

RanliLabz

Obviously this outpouring of love and support shows you that many of us are glad we have found our way into your world. It is sad when anyone has to cut connections because of toxicity, but it is becoming a common event unfortunately. You are an exceptional writer as well as a brilliant game designer. The positive word about your game will continue to spread through the actions and words of those of us who love what you do. I wish you the very best and let me know if I need to send more recipes your way ;)

Jason McDonald

That’s a very lovely thing to say, Vital - thank you! 😁

RanliLabz

I actually found your game through lewdzone but I do frequent F95. There are quite a few trolls on there and others who's expectation of their adult games is unreasonably high. There are also plenty of bigots on there as well. I hardly post anything anymore because few threads actually involve a real conversation.

Dan

So sad to hear it. Like many of us here it's where I found your game and the many other devs I support. I'm still on f95 pretty much daily, because - as has been said before - the community is good, but it's also increasingly threatened: so many threads turned into toxic shitstorms by neanderthals. So I'll stay there for now, trying to flame the trolls whenever they appear. But I have a lot of sympathy for your decision, many devs who used to be active gave up on the forum. Too much grief from too many angles. But well, I'll stay in your thread on there and try to police it a bit in the future as well. Can't do anything about the mods though.

Mr JC

The only important thing: Do not feel bad for yourself. There are people whose only purpose in life is to remember us there is evil in the world. We should be thankful that is not our purpose. You are great and please be happy.

Merci beaucoup, nathanael! 😍

RanliLabz

sorry to hear that, you did an awesome game and you are so available and fuck them, it's for that i use itchio ! Qu'ils aillent se faire foutre !!!

Nathanael Dugourd

I thought I hadn't seen you there for quite a while [I figured you were busy with work and studies!] But sometimes you've just got to walk away.

RanliLabz

Agreed. I stopped posting there quite a while ago as the toxicity there is horrid.

Azure

Sadly it’s been going on for quite some time - flaring up now and again. Thank you for the support - it means a lot - and I’m sure that SpaceCorps has a strong future ahead.

RanliLabz

Succinct and accurate 😂

RanliLabz

Thanks pilgrim. Yes, it’s obvs only my side, and there are always other views. I would say that I’ve been asking the Admin - Sam - to help me for over 5 weeks; and that helping me would have taken him less time than the posts he sent to say that he wouldn’t help me. I don’t regard him as an honest actor in this at all. For balance, there are other decent mods and staff, who are as cowed as many of the users by the new regime.

RanliLabz

Thanks Alex - and really good to hear from you again! 😃 I really am starting to feel much more positive now - that refreshed feeling when you cut a toxic person/organisation out of your life and wonder why you didn’t do it earlier!

RanliLabz

Yes - I can’t help but notice that 3 of the biggest m/m content Devs have all come under attack in the space of a year. I don’t want to make a homophobia accusation unless I’m certain (because it’s so serious and I only have correlation rather than causation evidence), but I’m *very* suspicious.

RanliLabz

Thanks Zeph3r 😁 Yes - the shame is that my thread there was generally a very nice place - until the Mods came in and wrecked it. I’ll miss it, but the future remains bright!

RanliLabz

Fuck em

Spencer1981

I didn't realize the nonsense there was still happening, I had hoped that maybe things got better :( But clearly you have a lot of deserved support here Ranli and I hope the game continues to do well regardless of the lack of exposure on f95zone, the quality speaks for itself! And I do believe your game will be looked at even more fondly as time goes on, what you're doing is not easy. Hopefully this positive energy can offset some of the negatives, keep your head up! Both of them :P

rogueremy

Hello everyone, I can confirm that the atmosphere on F95 became heavy and there is an awfull abuse of power, and Ranli suffered a lot. It is only fair to say, however, that the whole thing is not so black-and-white, and that, besides other thing, one of the chief admins promised to look upon the whole thing when he will got time (a vague promise, yes, I know, but still). Anyway, I am sure, dear Ranli, you can use your time and energy in much more efficient way, and you will receive a lot of support here and in other pages, including constructive criticism and advices, especially if you will be looking for them. Hugs :-)

Pilgrim

Wow. It's hard to understand why people behave like that. Hope you can start to feel better now that you aren't having to deal with those shit bags anymore 🥰

Alex

Not really surprised. If I understood it correctly, Aaryn went through something similar there with Str8! but got his trouble resolved somehow in the end. Now it is you, and just read above that Luriel had it like that as well. Seems to be a theme

Marco

This would probably be hard to do. F95 is a pirating site after all, and it'll only take 1 user to sub here on patreon to undo any changes RanliLabz does to try to combat them. If we look at the positives though, if the game continues to be updated on F95, it'll probably end up bringing new users to discover the game and possibly lead to more patrons as well.

Hey there! Hurts to hear what happened to you on F95, especially considering how positive the community feedback on SpaceCorps' thread is. Guess that's just what happens when you get a bad mod attracted to your thread. All the best to your continued ventures on Patreon and wherever else you plan to continue posting from here on!

I guess I’m a little surprised, though I’m not a developer so what do I know? I would’ve thought leadership would’ve been interested in fostering a productive relationship with creators. Still, the level of unchecked toxicity and bullying from average users should’ve probably clued me in. Really sorry you had to deal with that. Have you considered an embargo? I move that you change Patreon codes, and that way hopefully supporters of you will simply stand in solidarity by not providing those codes on F95. Thereby sending a retaliatory message to said clique. It’s not much but it’s something. Or I suppose you could be better and take the high road and not engage. But the former might be more fun than the latter.

Ryan Fox

Yes, probably worth getting in contact 👍

RanliLabz

I know Patreon no longer links to itchio. I am not sure why you don't show up. Maybe ask them

Solstorm

Thanks, Solstorm. 😁 I’m on itch (lol - but I never seem to appear in the new games section when I update. Doing something wrong, I think!) It does always feel good to take the power back, tho!

RanliLabz

Thanks Sugarcane. Yeah, I’m not the first they’ve driven off, unfortunately.

RanliLabz

I don't often visit F95. But do use itchio to find new dev/games/VNs. You might try them. I understand your anger/frustration... Don't give them the power over you wash your hands of them, and be positive.Your game IS FANTASTIC!

Solstorm

Aw man, that’s where I found you. Sorry to hear people are being so shitty. Though seeing the way they tore one dev apart for having a straight women/gay men focused yandere type game I’m not terribly surprised...

L. Sugarkane

Thanks Pecs! 😃 I’m still a bit down about it, but all your support is helping me feel better (better enough to get some sleep anyway!) 😍

RanliLabz

I'm sorry about that Ranli. You really don't deserve it, I'm sure you can tell by the writing style but I'm PecsDickAss. I've been supporting you and I'll always have your back. Your content is always amazing

Mike

Very much what I wanted to shout at them 😂

RanliLabz

Thanks Luriel! 😍 I didn't realise you'd been through that too, and I'm sorry to hear it. If you're fine talking about it, I'd be interested to know who came after you there and for what reason, because I'm now hearing an awful lot of stories about their bad behaviour! No pressure, obvs! PS m/m players should really check out Medieval Times, btw - the art is gorgeous! Just click Luriel's avatar to access it 👍🏻

RanliLabz

As far as I can tell, they actually just hate the users on the site - and particularly resent the most popular users. There aren't any good alternatives except itch.io that I can think of. If you do release on F95, make sure to keep your head down, never question a mod decision, & avoid any thread by your own game thread. However much a mod bullies you, never issue a Support Ticket against them. Support Tickets are not the appeal system they claim to be - they are a trap to uncover 'troublemakers' so that they can be banned from the site. Basically, think of it like a dictatorship and stay under the radar as much as possible. Oh, and please feel free to advertise your game in the renderclub of my Discord 🙂

RanliLabz

Jealous bitches are the worst. Also people. _What a bunch of basterds._

Maj'd

I'm sorry to read this Ranli, it's a shame what happens in F95Zone because it's a nice community, but because of the Staff and Moderators things like this happen, something similar happened to me with Medieval Times a year ago and I stopped posting on the site. It's really a shame, I'm with you in your anger. Hug

Luriel

Sadly, I don't think F95 is salvageable any more. I've always been told the Admins were reasonable - but Sam [very politely, of course] told me to go fuck myself when I begged for his help.

RanliLabz

You still have patreon. And who knows, once more people bail from it, maybe the admins will wake up..

Raejyn

Ah! I had no idea you were the same person! Thanks for supporting me there and here... it's great to know that you guys have my back - it makes the situation so much easier to deal with.

RanliLabz

Is there any way you can divulge in what way they felt it was justified to attack you and your friends? I will be releasing the demo for my first game soon and would be curious if you know of any reasonable alternatives to using their site for exposure if this becomes a common thing.

Tribe

Thanks uman - I really appreciate it. Bit raw right now, but I always bounce back.

RanliLabz

I’m the Gaystar252. I had to go on one person who trash a game that I love and I stood my ground on what I said those people can go fuck themselves for all I care about. I love your game and I will keep on sponsoring you

Darryl Griffin Jr.

Sorry to hear that. F95 is where I found your game. Wishing you better days.

uman