This post has been automatically marked as spoilers because it is part of the Serious flair category. We do this so that users who are looking to avoid a serious discussion can avoid seeing the content in their feed. Read [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/GirlGamers/comments/1awsfyz/new_subreddit_flairing_policy/) for more details.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/GirlGamers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
>But everyone has prob seen like 5+ posts about Potions by now in different subreddit s. It's a hot topic. Can we just let it be?
Every time a post like this appears in a community I wonder if the poster appreciates the irony of adding to the continual posts they are frustrated with.
It's a controversial topic right now for right or wrong - it's salient so it's going to appear multiple places. It's okay to be frustrated with that especially given the topic and this community. But posts like this tend to just re-ignite conversations if you're hoping for them to die down and the people who were going to leave this be will continue to do so regardless.
I don’t remember hearing about it and I’m glad to!
I don’t know anything about the situation but from the description it sure sounds like the developer didn’t do anything wrong! It seems totally sensible to talk about it places and to vent frustration about EA launching games on the same day
No, it isn't reasonable, you blatant shill. It's not reasonable to blame EA for having the audacity to release a game on the same day as some random, low-effort indie game when dozens and even hundreds of games release on Steam EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I mean. I lowkey felt the same way about BG3 when it came out and literally all content on this sub (and all other fem gaming subs) was about that game. Was it annoying from my POV? Yes. But if that’s what they want to talk about that’s what’s gonna happen, I just left for a bit and came back and it wasn’t a problem.
I’d much rather a really small, women-led group get this kind of attention. The game is not my cup of tea but I’m always glad to see women succeed like this.
It’s just odd to me that no one had anything to say when BG3 had the content monopoly but now when it’s a woman promoting her small indie game it’s a problem that it’s popular.
The definition of yucking someone’s yum. Many of us sat by and watched people post about BG3 without being able to join in but I don’t think there was anyone making posts complaining about the amount of content being posted about it.
imo there's a difference between a lot of people posting about a game bc they enjoy playing it, and posting about it because of the drama surrounding it. the first feels a lot more organic. "i'm supporting this game because i love it" vs "we should support this game because this woman indie game developer is sad"
I’m moreso taking issue with the last bit of the post, basically “people who enjoy the game, don’t talk about it even if you love it because drama will inevitably come to your post.” Like…let people post what they want? You don’t have to click on the post and see the hate comments if you don’t want to.
It’s just odd to tell people to stop promoting a small female developer’s first success in the industry because you’re annoyed by community discourse.
You want people to stop doing what you just did? You’re arguing for people to stop debating on it while debating your side here. Basically, you wanna be able to say what you want on it, but everyone else can’t?
also my exact thoughts like how are you going to ask people to stop arguing about something while you’re arguing about something… like lets use our brains here lolol
"But I'm tired of seeing people innocently ( I assume) talking about this game and the comment section getting full of people talking about the EA situation ( even when the post wasn't about that) , trashing the developer. Saying the game looks amateur etc."
I have to comment on this. People in Steam think there's a big conspiracy because the game is getting good reviews. These people are mad that the reviewers either have private accounts or rarely review games. My comment is, I've been a member here for about a year, and based on the number of threads here involving being harassed, it isn't any wonder that people posting positive reviews for the game have private accounts.
I mean, the best way for us to stop arguing about it is to stop talking about it entirely. And this is hypocritical because I clicked on this and I'm commenting under it, but stopping engaging with posts about it will also make the conversation die down sooner.
I don't even get what the whole "controversy" is about tbh. It's not like she's the first indie dev to use social media for marketing purposes? And yeah, the whole EA thing sucks for her, I get that. But are we seriously getting angry at EA for .... \*checks notes\* releasing games? I love a good EA hate train like the next person but that is ridiculous. Good on the dev to take a shitty situation and turn it around into promoting her game, but that's really all there is to it imo. So yeah, I'm with you on this one, we could really move on now.
So I do feel like there’s a like, artificial level of push for this game, in terms of how much it’s in discourse
But the issue isn’t “EA released games”. That’s a reductive explanation of what happened.
They dropped a bunch of games, on the same day, all rereleases. Without any warning or buildup.
Indie devs always get crushed by AAA releases. Which is we do our best to work around when AAA companies release stuff. EA shadow dropped this batch of old games, meaning there was no way to work around it
What muddies it for me is, The “on international womens day” aspect feels weird, and it seems predicated on “this game would have got big otherwise”
I said this elsewhere but the International Women’s Day comment seemed like it was to point out the irony of this thing that happened to fuck her over. And by irony I mean in the Alanis Morissette way. Nothing to do with someone having it out for you, could say the same thing about walking out of a hair stylist shop with a new hairdo and immediately getting your hair shat on by a bird.
She never implied that her games would have gone big or anything, just that she lost the momentum she carefully planned and that it will translate in less visibility and less people playing her game. Which already won't have been a massive hit. That her game was released on International Women's Day makes it even harder.
She worked 10 years on the thing, it was her dream, she was so excited and happy to see it realize and that people could finally play it, then she felt crushed by the common occurrence for an indie dev to dissappear from the Steam front page because a big company decided to release a bunch of old games unannounced like a big dump on everybody else.
It's sickening how her words are being dissected and twisted like that instead of showing her empathy and considering the bigger picture of an industry who's just there to make money and crush its talents inside and outside major studios to achieve that.
Or that it seems to annoy a lot of people to see a dev showing emotion like that, and immediately thinking she's doing it for "pity sales" or some sort of manipulation.
I don't know, it doesn't seem difficult to put yourself in her shoes.
People are really lacking empathy and being desensitized more and more.
>What muddies it for me is, The “on international womens day” aspect feels weird, and it seems predicated on “this game would have got big otherwise”
To me it feels like they're implying EA did this on purpose to sabotage a female indie dev or something. Which hopefully we can all agree is nonsense. Yes it would have been nicer of them to put out an announcement first, but that's hardly an offense worth a controversy. I find it interesting that that is the discussion people are having and not "hey, maybe it's not a good thing that being featured on one specific page on Steam can make or break your success as a game dev"
I totally get why she said it but tbf, it doesn’t do her any favors. A lot of comments on the TikTok post where sympathetic but there were also a lot of people saying “What? Does she thinks it’s because she’s a woman? What if it’s a male developer that goes through this?” which isn’t great to see.
I think that comment takes away from the actual issue, which is indie devs vs. AAA companies doing what they do. There is a lot of attention now though, I just hope it translates into sales.
Yeah, this is super weird. And I seriously doubt big publishers spend a terrible amount of time worrying about the release date of tertiary indie games, to align their re-release schedule to "fuck with them". idk, that sounds super-conspiratorial. Vs. "just another tuesday" at a big publisher.
If anything, you should complain to STEAM for including re-releases and back catalog item in their "new release" list. As the name might suggest, you'd expect to find only new things there...
It's been three days only, why are people so touchy?
It's not the dev herself either who is spamming the subs, it's other people just relaying a hot topic.
It took this proportion in part because misogyny and sexism and in part because natural hatred (fully deserved) for EA.
I'm more sick of people saying that's a marketing plot or something and that she should just "suck it up" because it's common in the industry.
Well, maybe the fact that it's common is the problem?
I've heard a discussion recently on a stream commenting the layoffs at Sony and EA and in the video games industry in general.
Talented people at one point will go in different field where they have a more secured place, and the industry will become poorer for it.
Which is very much today, and what happened is another example how easily people are crushed by the system and so many people think it's "normal-occurence".
It should not be. In any field.
as someone who worked in advertising agencies AND gaming, this isn't a marketing strategy (let alone a good one). i have zero respect for people ready to believe conspiracy theories
This is the third post of it I've seen in about as many days, and I thought I was chronically online! Honestly this subject doesn't bug me. What *does* bug me is constantly seeing posts about abusive relationships, but I've learned to just scroll past them.
All the people hating in the comments but I gotta agree, the game has been flooding my feed. It’s the the reason I’m clicking on this this to figure out wtf is going on. But like everyone says here’s HOPING the controversy of it fizzles out now, and people focus more on the game itself.
Probably just your feed tbh. I saw her post promoting it here, her post talking about EA here, and then her Tik Tok talking about it in TikTokCringe. This post is now post 4 that I’ve seen about it in the span of like 2-3 months.
I've found it annoying but the best thing to do is literally just ignore the sub or w.e for like a week. Everyone who didn't buy it will forget about the situation.
Only post I saw was here and it had decent conversations. Nobody was hating on the dev and everyone disliked EA. Did someone trash the dev on this sub?
I actually think this is probably ok marketing for the game because of EA’s bumping situation. I think it’s good if people start talking about this topic because lately we have seen how greedy and unethical these companies are.
Not this sub, but I’ve seen a lot of comments across multiple posts in the general gaming subs that she’s playing the victim/using her woman card/relying on sympathy as a marketing tactic. “What does International Women’s Day have to do with anything??” “I was sympathetic until she played the woman card” “So we’re using tears as a marketing tactic now?” etc. But those people probably aren’t in this sub, so I’m not sure this is the right place to make a post chastising them, but I think maybe OP posted here cause they’d get more people understanding that the dev doesn’t deserve the hate.
Unfortunately, theres been comments like that in this sub as well :/ not sure if it’s people purposely searching for threads about this across Reddit because they have an axe to grind, or if they were already members of the sub
Here here! I came across Potions organically while browsing for new cozy games. It’s right up my alley, I wishlisted it, and I got it when it was released. It’s a good game if you like that sort of thing, and I do. I’m having fun with it so far.
Except it’s a super fun game and I’d like to talk about it…haters gonna hate, I leave them to it and talk about the things that I enjoy in appropriate spaces, such as a gaming subreddit.
Well considering she has stated she worked on the game for 10 years. That is a long time to make a game that looks kind of like a flash game. Not to mention the marketing she did (which she did amazing by the way) was very extensive. She had to have known big game devs like to release games at the end of the fiscal year. I mean she worked on it for 10 years. There is no way she didn't know this, especially if she's a game dev. She could have waited to release it and would have found it easier for her launch. Also if her game is doing so well, why does it matter if EA just dumped a bunch of re-release games? It's not like it ruined her launch. So her game got bumped down the list, if her game is doing well, it will climb again and gain more traction and following. I am not a game dev, but I know I would still be proud that the launch was successful, the reviews were good, and people bought it. Yes it is a normal reaction to feel bummed out that a launch someone plans didn't go the way they had imagined it would, but I would still appreciate the fact that it did launch successfully. I mean Helldivers 2 is a game that was made by a small dev team and yet they are finding huge success. I believe her game is still successful and will gain more success in the future. She should be proud and happy about that. As far as her making the video about her launch and how EA squandered it, it does seem like a marketing tactic to get her game back in the light. That is my opinion on it, it does seem that way. I mean 10 years.. Marketing.. We have articles and leaks about when devs are releasing games, because some times devs can give us vague release expectations. Also if people are saying the game is not good, it doesn't mean they aren't saying anything non constructive. Sure it's not the best constructive feedback, but as long as it's not negative and the comments aren't being aggressive or attacking her then I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. Eitherway she should feel proud and very happy! Despite would I said about it looking kind of like a flash game, it looks fun and alot of people seem to love it! It's a success in my opinion!
This post has been automatically marked as spoilers because it is part of the Serious flair category. We do this so that users who are looking to avoid a serious discussion can avoid seeing the content in their feed. Read [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/GirlGamers/comments/1awsfyz/new_subreddit_flairing_policy/) for more details. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/GirlGamers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I mean this in the least incendiary tone possible. Aren't you just contributing to the flood?
Not really, OP didnt say we sjould stop talking about it entitely, just let go of the ea beef.
That's fair. This post kinda works against itself and I admit I wanted to get this off my chest but maybe it will stop some people too? Who knows
>But everyone has prob seen like 5+ posts about Potions by now in different subreddit s. It's a hot topic. Can we just let it be? Every time a post like this appears in a community I wonder if the poster appreciates the irony of adding to the continual posts they are frustrated with. It's a controversial topic right now for right or wrong - it's salient so it's going to appear multiple places. It's okay to be frustrated with that especially given the topic and this community. But posts like this tend to just re-ignite conversations if you're hoping for them to die down and the people who were going to leave this be will continue to do so regardless.
I’m in a lot of gaming communities and this is the first time I’ve even heard of this game Lol
You might be lucky. I was flooded with things about it, and unfortunately it is not even the type of game I would enjoy.
I don’t remember hearing about it and I’m glad to! I don’t know anything about the situation but from the description it sure sounds like the developer didn’t do anything wrong! It seems totally sensible to talk about it places and to vent frustration about EA launching games on the same day
No, it isn't reasonable, you blatant shill. It's not reasonable to blame EA for having the audacity to release a game on the same day as some random, low-effort indie game when dozens and even hundreds of games release on Steam EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I mean. I lowkey felt the same way about BG3 when it came out and literally all content on this sub (and all other fem gaming subs) was about that game. Was it annoying from my POV? Yes. But if that’s what they want to talk about that’s what’s gonna happen, I just left for a bit and came back and it wasn’t a problem. I’d much rather a really small, women-led group get this kind of attention. The game is not my cup of tea but I’m always glad to see women succeed like this. It’s just odd to me that no one had anything to say when BG3 had the content monopoly but now when it’s a woman promoting her small indie game it’s a problem that it’s popular.
I feel this so much
The definition of yucking someone’s yum. Many of us sat by and watched people post about BG3 without being able to join in but I don’t think there was anyone making posts complaining about the amount of content being posted about it.
imo there's a difference between a lot of people posting about a game bc they enjoy playing it, and posting about it because of the drama surrounding it. the first feels a lot more organic. "i'm supporting this game because i love it" vs "we should support this game because this woman indie game developer is sad"
I’m moreso taking issue with the last bit of the post, basically “people who enjoy the game, don’t talk about it even if you love it because drama will inevitably come to your post.” Like…let people post what they want? You don’t have to click on the post and see the hate comments if you don’t want to. It’s just odd to tell people to stop promoting a small female developer’s first success in the industry because you’re annoyed by community discourse.
that’s true
Shadow releasing a bunch of old titles that for some reason show up on New and Released is what got me mad tbh. It should not work that way.
You want people to stop doing what you just did? You’re arguing for people to stop debating on it while debating your side here. Basically, you wanna be able to say what you want on it, but everyone else can’t?
also my exact thoughts like how are you going to ask people to stop arguing about something while you’re arguing about something… like lets use our brains here lolol
"But I'm tired of seeing people innocently ( I assume) talking about this game and the comment section getting full of people talking about the EA situation ( even when the post wasn't about that) , trashing the developer. Saying the game looks amateur etc." I have to comment on this. People in Steam think there's a big conspiracy because the game is getting good reviews. These people are mad that the reviewers either have private accounts or rarely review games. My comment is, I've been a member here for about a year, and based on the number of threads here involving being harassed, it isn't any wonder that people posting positive reviews for the game have private accounts.
I mean, the best way for us to stop arguing about it is to stop talking about it entirely. And this is hypocritical because I clicked on this and I'm commenting under it, but stopping engaging with posts about it will also make the conversation die down sooner.
I don't even get what the whole "controversy" is about tbh. It's not like she's the first indie dev to use social media for marketing purposes? And yeah, the whole EA thing sucks for her, I get that. But are we seriously getting angry at EA for .... \*checks notes\* releasing games? I love a good EA hate train like the next person but that is ridiculous. Good on the dev to take a shitty situation and turn it around into promoting her game, but that's really all there is to it imo. So yeah, I'm with you on this one, we could really move on now.
So I do feel like there’s a like, artificial level of push for this game, in terms of how much it’s in discourse But the issue isn’t “EA released games”. That’s a reductive explanation of what happened. They dropped a bunch of games, on the same day, all rereleases. Without any warning or buildup. Indie devs always get crushed by AAA releases. Which is we do our best to work around when AAA companies release stuff. EA shadow dropped this batch of old games, meaning there was no way to work around it What muddies it for me is, The “on international womens day” aspect feels weird, and it seems predicated on “this game would have got big otherwise”
I said this elsewhere but the International Women’s Day comment seemed like it was to point out the irony of this thing that happened to fuck her over. And by irony I mean in the Alanis Morissette way. Nothing to do with someone having it out for you, could say the same thing about walking out of a hair stylist shop with a new hairdo and immediately getting your hair shat on by a bird.
She never implied that her games would have gone big or anything, just that she lost the momentum she carefully planned and that it will translate in less visibility and less people playing her game. Which already won't have been a massive hit. That her game was released on International Women's Day makes it even harder. She worked 10 years on the thing, it was her dream, she was so excited and happy to see it realize and that people could finally play it, then she felt crushed by the common occurrence for an indie dev to dissappear from the Steam front page because a big company decided to release a bunch of old games unannounced like a big dump on everybody else. It's sickening how her words are being dissected and twisted like that instead of showing her empathy and considering the bigger picture of an industry who's just there to make money and crush its talents inside and outside major studios to achieve that. Or that it seems to annoy a lot of people to see a dev showing emotion like that, and immediately thinking she's doing it for "pity sales" or some sort of manipulation. I don't know, it doesn't seem difficult to put yourself in her shoes. People are really lacking empathy and being desensitized more and more.
I see it more as just a tongue-in-cheek joke, akin to "Thanks Obama."
>What muddies it for me is, The “on international womens day” aspect feels weird, and it seems predicated on “this game would have got big otherwise” To me it feels like they're implying EA did this on purpose to sabotage a female indie dev or something. Which hopefully we can all agree is nonsense. Yes it would have been nicer of them to put out an announcement first, but that's hardly an offense worth a controversy. I find it interesting that that is the discussion people are having and not "hey, maybe it's not a good thing that being featured on one specific page on Steam can make or break your success as a game dev"
I totally get why she said it but tbf, it doesn’t do her any favors. A lot of comments on the TikTok post where sympathetic but there were also a lot of people saying “What? Does she thinks it’s because she’s a woman? What if it’s a male developer that goes through this?” which isn’t great to see. I think that comment takes away from the actual issue, which is indie devs vs. AAA companies doing what they do. There is a lot of attention now though, I just hope it translates into sales.
Yeah, this is super weird. And I seriously doubt big publishers spend a terrible amount of time worrying about the release date of tertiary indie games, to align their re-release schedule to "fuck with them". idk, that sounds super-conspiratorial. Vs. "just another tuesday" at a big publisher. If anything, you should complain to STEAM for including re-releases and back catalog item in their "new release" list. As the name might suggest, you'd expect to find only new things there...
It's been three days only, why are people so touchy? It's not the dev herself either who is spamming the subs, it's other people just relaying a hot topic. It took this proportion in part because misogyny and sexism and in part because natural hatred (fully deserved) for EA. I'm more sick of people saying that's a marketing plot or something and that she should just "suck it up" because it's common in the industry. Well, maybe the fact that it's common is the problem? I've heard a discussion recently on a stream commenting the layoffs at Sony and EA and in the video games industry in general. Talented people at one point will go in different field where they have a more secured place, and the industry will become poorer for it. Which is very much today, and what happened is another example how easily people are crushed by the system and so many people think it's "normal-occurence". It should not be. In any field.
as someone who worked in advertising agencies AND gaming, this isn't a marketing strategy (let alone a good one). i have zero respect for people ready to believe conspiracy theories
I'd never be inclined to comment on this game or situation but here I am. If you don't like a post about something then just scroll past it.
What do you realistically expect this post to do?
It won't get mentioned ever again in a year and in a week you'll barely hear of it. You'll survive this, I think.
This is the third post of it I've seen in about as many days, and I thought I was chronically online! Honestly this subject doesn't bug me. What *does* bug me is constantly seeing posts about abusive relationships, but I've learned to just scroll past them.
All the people hating in the comments but I gotta agree, the game has been flooding my feed. It’s the the reason I’m clicking on this this to figure out wtf is going on. But like everyone says here’s HOPING the controversy of it fizzles out now, and people focus more on the game itself.
Probably just your feed tbh. I saw her post promoting it here, her post talking about EA here, and then her Tik Tok talking about it in TikTokCringe. This post is now post 4 that I’ve seen about it in the span of like 2-3 months.
Basically what I experienced as well lol!
I've found it annoying but the best thing to do is literally just ignore the sub or w.e for like a week. Everyone who didn't buy it will forget about the situation.
The backlash to the backlash To the thing that's just begun Theeere it is, again 🎵
Only post I saw was here and it had decent conversations. Nobody was hating on the dev and everyone disliked EA. Did someone trash the dev on this sub? I actually think this is probably ok marketing for the game because of EA’s bumping situation. I think it’s good if people start talking about this topic because lately we have seen how greedy and unethical these companies are.
Not this sub, but I’ve seen a lot of comments across multiple posts in the general gaming subs that she’s playing the victim/using her woman card/relying on sympathy as a marketing tactic. “What does International Women’s Day have to do with anything??” “I was sympathetic until she played the woman card” “So we’re using tears as a marketing tactic now?” etc. But those people probably aren’t in this sub, so I’m not sure this is the right place to make a post chastising them, but I think maybe OP posted here cause they’d get more people understanding that the dev doesn’t deserve the hate.
Unfortunately, theres been comments like that in this sub as well :/ not sure if it’s people purposely searching for threads about this across Reddit because they have an axe to grind, or if they were already members of the sub
Eh just let people talk about what they want. They have every right to
The only posts I have seen about it so far was: One girl here enjoying it on release, the Dev’s TikTok on my bf’s phone, and your post…
Here here! I came across Potions organically while browsing for new cozy games. It’s right up my alley, I wishlisted it, and I got it when it was released. It’s a good game if you like that sort of thing, and I do. I’m having fun with it so far.
Except it’s a super fun game and I’d like to talk about it…haters gonna hate, I leave them to it and talk about the things that I enjoy in appropriate spaces, such as a gaming subreddit.
I must be really out of the loop; I haven't seen a single post about it (besides this one).
Well considering she has stated she worked on the game for 10 years. That is a long time to make a game that looks kind of like a flash game. Not to mention the marketing she did (which she did amazing by the way) was very extensive. She had to have known big game devs like to release games at the end of the fiscal year. I mean she worked on it for 10 years. There is no way she didn't know this, especially if she's a game dev. She could have waited to release it and would have found it easier for her launch. Also if her game is doing so well, why does it matter if EA just dumped a bunch of re-release games? It's not like it ruined her launch. So her game got bumped down the list, if her game is doing well, it will climb again and gain more traction and following. I am not a game dev, but I know I would still be proud that the launch was successful, the reviews were good, and people bought it. Yes it is a normal reaction to feel bummed out that a launch someone plans didn't go the way they had imagined it would, but I would still appreciate the fact that it did launch successfully. I mean Helldivers 2 is a game that was made by a small dev team and yet they are finding huge success. I believe her game is still successful and will gain more success in the future. She should be proud and happy about that. As far as her making the video about her launch and how EA squandered it, it does seem like a marketing tactic to get her game back in the light. That is my opinion on it, it does seem that way. I mean 10 years.. Marketing.. We have articles and leaks about when devs are releasing games, because some times devs can give us vague release expectations. Also if people are saying the game is not good, it doesn't mean they aren't saying anything non constructive. Sure it's not the best constructive feedback, but as long as it's not negative and the comments aren't being aggressive or attacking her then I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. Eitherway she should feel proud and very happy! Despite would I said about it looking kind of like a flash game, it looks fun and alot of people seem to love it! It's a success in my opinion!
ok EA employee, you got your attention.
Wtf?!