Uhhhh I doubt it? That would entail pretty huge changes to the story, and I’m fairly sure in most cases Homestucks’ approach to this stuff should fall under fair use. If it was gonna be a huge issue for them I think they probably would never have taken on Homestuck to begin with, because changing all of that stuff would be way too labor intensive. Theres plenty of that in hiveswap, too, so if we’re worrying about corporate influence or w.e–thee wasn’t any there.
Even with stuff like Crockercorp/Guy Fieri and the juggalos on alpha earth, i think its so over the top and ridiculous it probably falls under parody/satire, so the most id expect to see is some kind of “Brands and people depicted are fictional” type message
I wont say its impossible but if it was gonna happen, like with the lgbt stuff, id have expected it while they were revamping the site. and im way more worried about the lgbt stuff than that going forward.
The absolute WORST case scenario on that front i can imagine is them like, changing references that are too blatant out for slightly more coy ones like Hiveswap did from production to release.
I am writing this on February 20th, 2013. I do not
know when, or if, I will ever post it. But since you’re reading it now, it can
only mean one thing: the MSPA Prophet is dead, and it is now safe for me to
tell the world how I knew when updates were coming.
A friendly reminder that some poor probably under paid people at VIZ had to deal with this kind of hilariously sloppy web management/coding during the switch from MSPA to the official homestuck website.
Can you imagine Hussie,a man with adegree in computer science, trying to explain to you all the pages of homestuck exist on a secret forum under the reign of a million porn bots? I wish i had been in the room honestly to see the 7 stages of grief flash through VIZ’s corporate eyes simuntaneously.
I know there has been a lot of worry about what this all means. I want you all to know that this was a layoff; we were not fired, we did not quit, there was no internal drama that we were reacting to. It was, as was mentioned by @whatpumpkin, a restructuring event. It happens sometimes, in the video game industry!
I’m sad about it, of course. This was some of the most fun I’ve had in my entire career. The project was a blast, I loved the work I got to do, and all my coworkers were incredible to a one. I also felt that I was treated very well by the company, in general. It supported me when I was going through some extremely difficult times last year, and in return, I poured everything I had into Hiveswap. I have absolutely no hard feelings about the layoff. Overall, I am honored that I got to work on this amazing project for as long as I did, and I treasure the experiences I had. I’m so proud of what we accomplished, and I’m still friends with the people I worked with. And I really hope I can work on Hiveswap again someday!
Even though some of us may not be on the project going forward, the work we’ve already done on Act 2 is SOLID and I can’t wait for you all to see it! Seriously, it’s so good. Everyone, please continue to support Hiveswap and Viz/What Pumpkin. It’s a really great collection of people who are working SO hard to make cool stuff for you, and I wish them all the best!
Until I find my next new thing, I’m throwing myself at my own projects that I haven’t had the time for, until now. I’m actually really excited about it! You’ll be able to see what I’m up to on ✨ my Patreon ✨…which is also my main source of income at the moment! So if you are worried about me (or any of the others who have been laid off) please consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-fi as we find our feet. Thanks!
Thank you for taking the time to communicate this, it is greatly appreciated. You’re all in my thoughts, and I hope you find something soon!
What Pumpkin Games is going through a transition period, which has involved restructuring the company, the way we develop games, and the types of projects we focus on. First, the most important thing to address is, Hiveswap’s development absolutely will continue. The approach to its development will evolve as this transition goes forward, but ensuring the release of the full Hiveswap series remains our priority. We should have more specific information about what exactly this means for Hiveswap in coming weeks.
In the more immediate future, WPG is shifting focus to making smaller, fun, lightweight games that can be produced more quickly. The type of content we can release along the way between acts, continuing to build upon the Hiveswap world, and give fans things they can enjoy while they wait. These games are somewhat in the vein of what we did with the Troll Call, but more engaging, providing more depth and background to the characters that were previewed.
The first such game will be available very soon. The format is a “Friendship Simulator”, much like dating sims or visual novels you may have played before. The idea is, instead of trying to date a character, you just try to befriend them, and in the process, you get to know them better, and ridiculous things happen along the way. The first volume features two trolls from the Troll Call, and was written by Andrew Hussie.
We hope you enjoy this type of game! If it’s well received by the fans, then there should be more of these to play in the future. We appreciate your patience and support as WPG makes this transition.
Interesting, and very welcome news. Note that Hussie seems to be writing the friendsim himself, meaning he’s still creatively involved. I’m glad we’re not looking at What Pumpkin being closed completely and Hiveswap is still going to get made sooner or later.
Mainly, I’m sad about the fine folks at WP who lost their jobs. I’m concerned about Hiveswap, too, but not the way most of the fandom seems to be.
Just to be clear, I don’t have any special insight or anything. Everything I’m about to say is wildly speculatory, but well, so is pretty much all of the doomsaying already out here. I don’t really think all is lost, so if I can provide any comfort, I may as well offer my perspective.
Let’s break this down, because a lot of facts are getting mixed in with people making assumptions. Here’s what happened yesterday:
1) Cohen and Shelby tweeted that they were looking for work. That’s not an official statement on anything, but combined with WP’s branding being removed from the Hiveswap website and Poinko and James leaving, things certainly look bad for WP.
2) On the same day, VIZ launched the new version of the Homestuck website, with a redesign meant to render the comic more accessible–particularly for mobile users–and start future proofing the parts of the comic made on technology that is soon being rendered obsolete and largely unusable, like Flash.
Even so, the overall look of the move has the fandom crying foul because they suspect VIZ is instigating some sort of corporate takeover. And while I think it’s good to be careful, I just don’t see the evidence for that yet.
I’m wary of corporate overlords, so I’ve sort of worried about VIZ along those lines before. And that is a risk I am continuing to look out for. But if I was worried about corporate censorship/manipulation of Homestuck, the only thing I’d immediately worry about is the LGBT stuff.
And for a corporation, Viz’s track record on LGBT stuff is fairly solid. They’re in charge of re-dubbing the Sailor Moon anime, and have garnered positive press for NOT censoring the LGBT stuff the original dub did. They’ve published some LGBT manga. They’re not an LGBT corporation or anything, but their track record veers positive, is all I’m saying.
I can’t really think of what else they’d mess with. I’ve heard of them censoring religious imagery, and Homestuck does deal in some heavy spiritual/mythological themes, but I definitely wouldnt say anything in the comic is overtly religious.
More to the point, if they were going to mess with the actual comic, I don’t see why they wouldn’t have done so now, while they were doing the redesign. And while we’re at it, I should mention its questionable that VIZ actually has control over Homestuck’s actual IP.
The Homestuck website is copyrighted to Viz *and* Homestuck itself, which is the legal entity I’d expect holds all the actual creative rights. That probably wouldn’t matter if VIZ wanted to just strongarm Hussie with lawyers, though– billion dollar corporations are dangerous that way.
I’m just saying, I don’t know that having partial control of the site at all implies Hussie just “handed off” creative control to VIZ. That seems like a wild assumption.
Also an assumption is the idea that VIZ “fired” WP so that they could develop the game themselves, which…I don’t really buy at all right now. Its not clear to me that VIZ has the expertise, manpower, or even interest in developing Hiveswap themselves.
Again, I am not claiming to have facts here. This is just an alternate line of fandom speculation. Please, for the love of fuck, don’t treat me like an expert. But here’s how things look from my perspective.
Because VIZ is largely a soulless corporation, the only motivation I can confidently ascribe to them is the one all companies have: making money. And Hiveswap doesn’t exactly seem like it sold gangbusters, honestly.
@sometipsygnostalgic has noted how lackluster the advertising for the game was, and its true they seemed to be relying on word of mouth and hype to get the game sold. That doesn’t seem to have happened.
I find it hard to believe VIZ would watch this commercial flop unfold, and come out of it thinking its best move is to invest MORE money in the endeavor. Corporations don’t typically respond to market failure by doubling down on their investments, just in general.
Rose City Games looks a lot like WP, staff-wise–it seems to be a small indie team of about a dozen and a half people, working on their first game. They’ve done some organizational work and stuff like that, but nothing that suggests to me that they’d be prepared or willing to just…take on Hiveswap in WP’s stead.
And there IS NO IN-HOUSE GAME DEV STUDIO at Viz. It doesn’t exist. Making Hiveswap themselves would mean building one, just like WP had to, and I don’t see why they’d want to take the risk with the less than promising results of Act 1.
While it’s possible this is some kind of takeover situation, that is a big IF to me right now. VIZ would be making some legit hard business decisions in pursuing that maneuver, and it’s not clear they’re going to. I think its at least as possible that development on the game is simply canceled, or ideally, frozen until there’s enough funds to actually pay people.
That last point is what I think fans should focus on. IF it’s a matter of simple lack of funs forcing What Pumpkin to close doors because there isn’t, uh, the money to friggin pay people, then…there’s probably hope.
Like I said, VIZ did just allude to more news coming. IF whatever they’re working on with Hussie is good/interesting enough to, say, get new people reading Homestuck, then all of a sudden the comic would be drawing new interest while also advertising to incoming readers about…Hiveswap, which is now advertised for on the web-site through pop up ads.
Kind of invasive? Sure. But word of mouth didn’t get the game sold, so if some old-fashioned advertising does and Hiveswap/Homestuck collectively start collecting enough hype and profit that the staff of WP can be rehired, I won’t complain.
All in all, I’ll just say we’ll have a much better idea of what this partnership between Hussie and VIZ looks like–and what VIZ’s intent is–once we see some actual content they’ve produced together. I suggest the fandom wait it out to see what this Epilogue is, and what kind of content might be coming after.
With any luck, that wait will only last until 4/13.
its literally a recolored rose signet from revolutionary girl utena. i guess it relates to homestuck in that both are works that dabble in gnostic symbolism/themes and are also both really gay.
everyone watch homestuck and also utena, thanks for coming to my ted talk
In this episode, we cover The Alpha Timeline–the anchor of Homestuck’s plot. The understated rules that guide Homestuck’s time flow tell us a lot about the way Homestuck’s story functions, and the stakes it involves. Let me know what you think in the comments! 😀
Flying through Storytelling 