Cruel Serenade: GutterTrash
An important note on the current state of the world and explicit entertainment
A long, but important and informational rant follows. You have been warned.
Ever since I started sharing my work with a larger audience, I've made a firm and deliberate effort to avoid talking about anything "real world", and ESPECIALLY anything political. I wanted, and still want, my stuff to be accessible to as wide a range of people as possible, a bright spot in people's lives when other things might not be so great. But baked into this rule from the beginning was one clear exception: "Unless it's relevant to my art, or my audience." What I'm writing to discuss now is VERY relevant, and, though political, is I think actually very unifying, in a dark kind of way.
Things are bad.
I don't just mean in general, but specifically in the world of explicit art and expression. On March 15th, Gumroad pulled all support for adult works, kicking countless artists, modelers, voice actors and others to the curb. Patreon soon followed up, not with an outright ban but with tightening of their already severe restrictions.
On March 25th, Dlsite, the premiere location in Japan for explicit doujin, audio content, and games like the ones I make was forced to change a number of their "Problematic" search tags in an effort to placate US credit card companies, changes like "mindcontrol" to "trance/suggestion" and "slave" to "servant".
It wasn't enough.
On April 3, DLsite announced the "temporary" suspension of all processing of Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards on their platform, effectively cutting off commerce outside of Japan without jumping through numerous hoops and paying heavy markup. Anecdotally, some creators are saying this has sliced their income in half.
In 2022, Louisiana passed a "Porn ID" law, requiring all sites with at least a 3rd of their content being explicit to REQUIRE age verification via government ID or credit card, under threat of private, business-ruining lawsuit. The law effectively makes running non-profit porn sites impractical, and for-profit ones radically less profitable, possibly to the point of extinction, as no one wants to show an ID (that can later be hacked and leaked, remember Ashley Madison?) to look at porn. This kicked off a flurry of copycat legislation throughout the country: some form of the same is now the law in South Carolina, Texas, and soon will be in Arizona, home to everyone's favorite MSG-flavored porn site. Within a few years, it's likely to be on the books in nearly every state in the union.
It has been frustrating, watching this unfold, to see the same ignorance, shortsightedness and vindictiveness pop up again and again. Not from the politicians and activists creating this problem (that's expected), but from those effected by it. Even now, some of you reading this are probably thinking "God, those stupid right-wingers, those republicans, why can't those wacko bible thumpers get their paws off my porn?!"
No.
Bill Ackman is not a right-winger.
Gail Dines, the activist behind the porn ID push, is not a "bible thumper," though she is working with one:
"Dines is a self-described radical feminist, sociologist and anti-porn crusader from Manchester, England who has lived in the United States for 37 years. It’s a strange coupling, between an anti-abortion Louisiana Republican and a professor who says her radical feminism 'encompasses many socialist feminist principles.'"
These are the people whose agitation ultimately results in Paypal, Mastercard and Visa vanishing in a puff of smoke. Every time someone replies to a Reddit thread or a Twitter post "Why is this happening, why does Mastercard care what I'm wacking it to?"? This is why. These people are why. This is coming from BOTH sides. From ALL sides. Always under the same tired moral panics we know by heart. They ALL have zero concern for freedom of expression, or the livelihoods they're trampling on in an era where everyone is struggling to get by.
And the dark thing is this isn't just, or primarily about porn. That's just a minor side-effort in a much larger push. This is about total control, on a level that people who haven't lived under actual authoritarian regimes can't imagine. You will think what they say, you will say what they say, or you will suffer. And the sad, but predictable thing is that people cheer it on. "Ha, that creep got banned from Twitter! Finally!", "That wackjob got kicked off Youtube and Patreon! About time!" Never understanding. The muzzle may be going on your enemy's mouth today, but they've got one in your size too, and they'll be delivering it soon.
And all this stuff with the suppression of explicit content? That's a little taste of that, of the shoe on the other foot. More to follow, you can count on it. It's a re-assuring myth to keep telling ourselves that when bad things happen, it's the other side, "those people". But the reality is that those in power, as a group, aren't "right wing" or "left wing", at least as normal people understand it. They just like power: consolidating it, protecting it. And taking it from us, piece by piece.
So where does all that leave us? What's the point of this somewhat unhinged rant? Only to point out that Itch isn't much different from DLsite. What will save it? Obscurity? DLsite was far more obscure, from a western point of view. The lack of actual IRL porn? The vast majority, if not all of DLsite's content was illustration, not photos, video, or "photoreal" cg. How long until the grim, bony fingers of the moralists are knocking at Itch's door?
I know this post is long, dark and depressing. As I said, I make a point of avoiding politics, and will continue to do so going forward. But this is an existential matter, literally. It effects me deeply, and if you're here, reading this, playing these games, it effects you. I suspected this was coming, but I had hoped I had a few more years before it truly set in. It looks like I, like WE might not.
Thank you for all you've done, the support, the kind words, the help finding bugs, tweaking gameplay, all of it. It's made a huge difference in my life, and however long I have left, I am immensely grateful for what I've already been lucky enough to enjoy. I have no plans of leaving: I'll stay "on the air" as long as I can. But just know that things are rough (in many ways that go well beyond porn frustrations). Enjoy this stuff while you can. Backup and archive everything. And if there's a game, an art pack, a commission you've been putting off? Maybe get it sooner rather than later. We live in uncertain times. But you've been a light for me, and I hope, in some silly, dumb little way, I have for you too.
Now, back to drawing cocky bunnies getting railed.
Get Cruel Serenade: GutterTrash
Cruel Serenade: GutterTrash
| Status | Released |
| Author | bitshiftgames |
| Genre | Role Playing |
| Tags | 2D, Adult, Furry, Gay, hypnosis, NSFW |
More posts
- A Spooooky Update on Chapter 35 days ago
- Cruel Serenade: GutterTrash Now Available in Chinese!20 days ago
- 「Cruel Serenade - GutterTrash」日本語版発売中 - Cruel Serenade - Gutte...71 days ago
- Cruel Serenade: Gutter Trash 1.0.5 is up!71 days ago
- Plans for Chapter 388 days ago
- Just a quick note94 days ago
- Cruel Serenade: Gutter Trash 1.0.4 is up!Jul 24, 2024
- Guys, guys...Jul 23, 2024
- Third content pack now out on Itch!Jul 22, 2024
- Cruel Serenade Isn't Over!Jul 09, 2024
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Best of luck, I will be in the shadows hoping for the best, your projects rock. Also, thanks for the heads up.
Thanks, appreciate it!
whatever is going on the muck, the details of this matter with the tech people specifically, as who knows who is pressuring them or whatever (could be the threat of them being fully shut down if they don't comply, idk. ) what's happening is dumb, it shouldn't be happening. so long as it's private and not literally freaking stupid illegal, it should be fine, in most cases, and even if it is illegal, in most cases, it should be fine, just keep it to yourself, which is what gumroad and patreon and the like were. you wouldn't know about the site unless you've found it beforehand which you would usually do via adult means. it's not like patreon advertises random places you could go to next to donate to, with some algorithim picking ones they think are similar or something. and even if they did, they probably could've just age gated it. either way, it's dumb, and this really should not be happening, but stupider things have happened, so i'm not surprised. and the law about the internet shouldn't be constitutional due to it overreaching it's bounds, since it either breaks the privacy of people to see what is on their personal computers, or it blocks everyone registered from the state, who may not even be in the state anymore, in which case they'd be doing overreach in terms of going after something that's in another state's jurisdiction, so either way, shouldn't be allowed, but who knows who is paying the supreme court this time around, they do what they want, and the American public can't really do much about it.
some would argue that stuff with it would lead others to have fantasies about it and/or do it in real life, and it's better to not know about kinks like that at all, and it could be a slippery slope. others (like me) would say it can be an outlet for those who have those thoughts, and that if they are finding this stuff in the first place they already have these thoughts and know about these things, and it could lead to people doing it if they don't have an outlet for such things, like these things, and as such would help such matters. also it's kinda underestimating the people who watch/play these things, as people can be basically normal people for the most part and still be a part of these things. both sides are intrinsically opposed to the other in their argument, so it's unlikely an agreement can be reached, any time soon, as their perspectives on the matter are complete opposites, and even data might not be enough to convince one side of the facts of the matter.
has subscribestar remained staunch and not backed down to the anti NSFW sentiment?
Substar's whole reason for existence is catering to those kicked off Patreon. As long as what you're doing is legal, they'll work with it, and my content is incredibly tame compared to some they take risks on. The people ganging up on Pateron at the time (this was political stuff, not nsfw, though it grew to that as well) tried to "cancel" Substar, and failed. So nothing's perfect, but it is somewhat battle-hardened.
Yeah I gotta say, this doesn't seem to be a "both sides" thing. Gail Dines is a "trans-exclusionary radical feminist", or TERF as it's often abbreviated. She openly praises a radical feminist who cooperated with armband-wearing, Swastika flag-waving Neo-Nazis to push back on transgender rights. Bill Ackman frequently parrots anti-Palestine, anti-vaccine, anti-trans, and any other right wing culture war issue that's popular at the time. Both of these people seem to be some degree of right wing to me personally.
To some degree, it's a matter of perspective. It's possible to look at anyone and see them as right, or left, depending on your standards. See No True Scotsman, etc. And I'm sure some agree with you regarding the given examples. By most people's criteria, however, both are left wing. Dines is, again, a feminist and a socialist. Ackman supports the democratic party, and Planned Parenthood. This is sufficient to put them on the left for MOST people, though some certainly may disagree.
But also, is it relevant either way? As you go further to the left, to whatever degree would count as "true" left to you, is the problem solved? Do you arrive at people who would suddenly be fine with this kind of expression? It's my experience that you do not, that in fact the cries of moral panic demanding censorship only grow louder. To be sure, there are feminists, socialists and so on that advocate for sexual freedom including free expression, and if you're one of them, great! But as a percentage of the whole that's a vanishingly small group, especially in the real world, outside insulated internet communities.
Historically, censorship is not a right/left dichotomy. Tipper Gore was big into censorship and it definitely cost her husband votes in 2000.
However, let's look at the states that have passed laws effectively banning pornography: Montana, Utah, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina and Virginia, with Arizona and Kansas having bills coming up for vote.
Of these only Virginia had split control between parties in the legislature (at the time the law was passed). All the others had one particular party in control of both chambers.
Now, I don't mean to imply that this is an entirely one-sided issue - it isn't - But just because both sides are bad doesn't mean that both side are equally bad.
I think framing it as right/left is a bit... I don't know, it's not a good way to discuss it. What we are seeing is a rise in authoritarianism (worldwide) and, in the US at least, one party has gone all in on authoritarianism while the other just dabbles in it.
Clinton was also big on censorship in the 90s, as seen in her attack on rap music of the era. Left wing politicians were no fan of violent video games at that time, or GTA when it first started to make waves, etc, etc.
It is undeniable that right wing politicians and activists have long hated sexual freedom, and sexual expression. But look at that porn ID map I posted again. Yes, right wing states lead the charge, but California's up on the board too, along with a number of moderate states. What I'm trying to get across is that the left is no longer the safe haven for free expression that it used to be. The two sides may not be identically bad on this issue, but the difference is rapidly diminishing.
"What we are seeing is a rise in authoritarianism (worldwide) and, in the US at least, one party has gone all in on authoritarianism while the other just dabbles in it." I don't mean this as a personal attack, but it's naive to believe this, and it's exactly that naivety that I was trying to address in my post. Both sides seek power, for powers sake. Both sides will, and have abused that power once they get it. Both sides like to accuse each other of authoritarianism, and both are right. The DEGREE to which they are right mostly tends to come down to who happens to be in power at the moment.
But let's bring this back to the practical again. Imagine I had to defend this game, or any of the explicit content on Itch, to a right wing politician, and a left wing one. Would I have a slightly easier time on the left? Sure. Enough to matter? No. They'd take one look and have a laundry list of reasons it needed to be de-platformed RIGHT NOW. The only reason we're still able to enjoy the level of freedom we do on the Internet, sexual or otherwise, is that the things we love haven't cropped up on a politician's radar as a juicy target for self-promotion. And that's steadily changing.
Remember when Apple said they were "protecting" their users by banning explicit content? Or the time they destroyed Tumblr by temporarily pulling its app over explicit content, leading to panic and hasty censorship? Or the time they called the explicit content on Itch "Unspeakable"? Consider Apple: its leadership, workforce, typical customers and fans. Would you characterize them as "right wing"?
If one guy's gonna shoot you in the head, and another in the gut, is that different? Yes. But you die either way. That's why I'm treating it as equivalent. The difference, in my domain of making horny games on the internet, isn't enough to matter. If the left wing is ascendant, keeps the presidency, sweeps congress, gets a majority on the court, is that going to help protect me, or you, or anyone who enjoys this stuff? No. Because they need to get re-elected, and the way to do that is to whip up moral panic among "normies" by showing them something scary on the fringes and promising to destroy it. All you have to do is look at the left's reaction to Rapelay to see exactly how this would play out in real time. The right didn't even blink at that game, it was never on their radar. But the left, both in media and politics absolutely laid into it, transforming what was an obscure minor fetish game into an enduring internet bogeyman. In the end:
"These actions culminated in the restriction of the sale and production of RapeLay by the Ethics Organization of Computer Software (EOCS), an independent Japanese ratings organization for adult games, making it impossible to purchase the game even in Japan."
It's entirely reasonable to have issues with that game, even I think it may have gone a bit far in some places. But the fact remains that it was entirely fictional, and entirely legal to produce and sell under Japanese law. And it was utterly, ruthlessly destroyed by the left.
I'm sure we disagree on many things, but I hope I can get at least this across: we're a bunch of weirdos here. Weirdos have to look out for each other. So please take it to heart when I say that if you have any interests, any hobbies, any thoughts or feelings or inclinations outside the absolute mainstream, politicians and activists are not your friend. Not on the right, and not on the left. They will skin you alive as soon as it's expedient to do so.
So for those reasons, in my humble view, yes, it's an "equal" dichotomy.
I see what you're saying, but just to clarify, you need to drill down on this just a bit more on what the map says for the states not wholly controlled by the GOP:
CA - AB3080 - Introduced by Juan Alanis (R)
NJ - A4146 - Introduced by by Jay Webber (R)
NM - HB295 - Sponsors John Block (R), Rep. Alan Martinez (R), Rep. Harlan Vincent (R)
PA - HB2143 - Introduced by Jill Cooper (R)
DE - HB265 - 17 sponsors, 11R/7D
IL - HB4247 - 8 sponsors, all R
IA - HF2546 - Introduced by John Wills (R)
OH - SB212 - Sponsors Stephanie Kunze (R), William P. DeMora (D)
So, yeah, there's some bipartisan support, but let's not kid ourselves about 'both sides' here, this push is being done overwhelmingly by one party with some support from the other side. And I'm not seeing a lot of public crowing on this front from the D politicians, while the Ken Paxton's of the US won't shut up about the (imagined) dangers of pornography.
Regarding reaction to your specific work, from a content standpoint I think there's a big difference between fantasy scenarios (like CS) and realistic depictions of rape. Hypno-erotica has a pretty large following and it's relatively harmless because mind control isn't actually real. Games where realistic rape is emphasized and eroticized are going to be more objectionable to audiences across the political spectrum.
That being said, you're right. Most people would not understand the difference. Most people are reductionist and reactionary.
Courts would be a recourse for protection (see Larry Flynt), but not if they are stacked with justices who are willing to trample on free expression under the guise of protecting children, like the very conservative 5th circuit in their recent ruling. A progressive-minded judge is far more likely to consider the lack of harm in written or illustrated works or even artistic merit therein, rather than just object to it on moralistic grounds, and rule accordingly. There's a reason only one party objects to the work of the ACLU.
I think we probably agree on a lot of things. I am a life-long believer in free expression, I've sold books to people for everything from a how-to guide for fisting, to home methamphetamine manufacturing and everything in-between. If it is legal to sell it, people should be allowed to buy it, and the list of things illegal to sell should be limited to that which causes harm in its production. Free expression is the cornerstone to our society and I will fight tooth and nail (metaphorically speaking) to protect that expression, even if I disagree with it.
And to be completely honest - I don't think seeing a cartoon rabbit getting railed is all that weird. This world is way, way crazier than that.
Well, I think I've laid out the case for my position as best as I can, so as we're both mostly still unconvinced, I'll leave it at that. All I can say is to re-iterate that while I'm no fan of the right, a whole lot of the problems I have to deal with keep coming from the left, or at least a certain portion of it. I worry a lot less about Republicans these days (not because they've improved, but because they're a known quantity) and a lot more about those who run tech companies and payment processors, most of whom aren't big fans of the Bible or Family Values. It's obviously both. If we can't agree as to the PORTIONS of both, or who the "real" problem is, we'll just have to live with that. As long as I can bring up a person and say "Hey look, this guy's trying to squash sexual expression!" and your response is "Wow, what a fuckshit, fuck him", regardless of affiliation, that's enough common spirit to get by on.
I am glad we at least have common ground on "Most people would not understand the difference." That's mostly what I'm trying to get across here. Obviously what I make isn't as inflammatory or objectionable as a lot of content, and that's partially by design. But that's not going to be enough if this continues. Hypno, of any kind, is already banned on Patreon, RIGHT NOW. Non-con, of any kind, is already banned on Pateron, RIGHT NOW. Super-duper-extra-double-no-kidding banned (It's kind of darkly funny reading their terms as they have to spell out every "in minecraft" way people have tried to get around this). Hopefully I'm overreacting, and this will play out like it usually does: politicians "fix" something by making everything a little worse, but not SO much worse that it brings everything to a halt, and we all go on with our lives more or less the same, just with one more annoyance to deal with. I just felt, in some way, that people should be aware of this. I don't know if there's anything that can actually be done, usually there isn't. But if there is, even in some small way, people have to know in the first place.
I'd also like to say that I recognize and appreciate the patience and respect you've approached all this with, despite the gulf in perspective and opinion. I said some things that made you uncomfortable, and vise versa, but we were still mostly able to keep this on the rails. Extremely rare these days. Thank you.
Also:
"I've sold books to people for everything from a how-to guide for fisting, to home methamphetamine manufacturing and everything in-between."
That's one heck of a second-hand book store (Or publisher?) Any copies of a certain forbidden cookbook still floating around?
Oui. Lefties might be censoring a lot right now, but that's just because lefties happen to hold the reins on most social issues at the moment. We can see historically that righties like to censor just as much (and even more tbh).
Lefties will tell you you can't have fun and try to break your toys and call you names, righties will break into your house, tie you to your bed, and burn the house down.
Both sides are ridiculous and need to learn to live and let live, but... when the righties were in charge we couldn't even have a girl x (technically) girl kiss on Mass Effect without "bringing the downfall of American civilization" and making ME2 noticeably miss any same-sex option (RIP the planned bi-Garrus/Tali romances).
And even further back, we get "DND is Satanic", something my grandfather still believes...
Still, censorship is generally wrong no matter who's doing it. Needs to be called out regardless.
(And frankly with how radical everyone is getting, lefties might start burning people in their beds too)
Crypto then? Doge coin is cheap for transfer and payment.
Check what I said elsewhere in the thread. Crypto is too slow, too complicated, too slathered in middle-man fees and too reputationally ruined by the constant scams to ever be a viable option for the masses. It is genuinely easier to buy weed in many areas of the US than crypto. As much as people hate the idea, I think some kind of government backed digital currency is probably the only realistic option, as it would be stable, trustworthy, easy for the average moron to use, and while not anonymous, would at least avoid these stupid games where something is legal, but activists whine about it so it becomes difficult or impossible to actually do business in. It's worth noting that if you're paying for porn, no situation now is currently fully anonymous anyway, so it wouldn't really be a step backward there.
Can the government still reach into it and shut you down? Sure, but again, they'd have to actually go to the extent of making something illegal, rather than these constant games the credit card companies play. By virtue of being the government, the first amendment would also apply in a way it doesn't with private companies, and while the constitution is largely shredded at this point anyway, it does still hold SOME weight.
From all the news I've been following I don't agree with the "both sides" argument. We should hold politicians accountable for their action, I've always hated the party system when it came to politics and voting. I will leave it at that, or else I'll be here all day ranting.
Fair enough. But a rough situation regardless.
It is disheartening. Pornography has always been targeted by conservative groups as a form of control to impose their beliefs and silence those that don't align with their views. Sadly those kinds of people also use those payment services too, and a company would rather throw nsfw under the bus and ban it than lose customers over it. I really do hope thigs change for the better.
I hope maybe some how we figure out a way for change to fight back we have before ! degenerate monster punk weirdo these are the names of who saved us last time we stopped pushing back we gotta push back again and this time we can't stoop or slow down once we start I know its low to say this about porn but this is something of our private live and money and quite frankly we need to well push and shove correctly aim for the people who are doing this give real answers and solutions Im well aware Im shouting to a void but maybe there's a chance all strike a cord in the right person and they strike the right cord in someone else.
if you see this bitshift amazing work and I hope you find a way to not survive but thrive through whatever could happen also nice art
Ha, appreciated. I'll definitely try.
also you should totally make it so we can wear the ripped bunny suit instead of tossing it •\\\\\•
Nah, too much complexity there to deal with the programming. It is cute though.
fair enough Im admittedly surprised i get a response each time so uh hows your day?
I'm good. Keep the chatter to a minimum unless you have questions/feedback on the game though.
This was something I was worried about back when you posted the very first release. It's been disheartening to see payment processors slowly, but surely, police more and more content, and how few people seem to care at all. I am not American - I should not suffer American moral and ethical standards (nor should they, from the looks of things).
Good luck.
Thanks. Yeah, like another poster said, I'll do what I can, while I can.
yeah unfortunately most people have no idea who they vote for. they always vote for their party because their party is the good guys and the other party are bad guys. it doesn't have to be this way, you can hold your elected officials responsible. either during the primaries or the general election. no matter how you feel about your favored party, anything is better than someone who has already proven themselves to act against your interests.
politics ain't fun or exciting, but boy golly does it ever matter, especially when people keep giving more and more power to the government in general, and never vote to take that power away.
I mean it matters in a technical sense, but in all honesty this situation is proof positive that votes don't really matter, on the whole. The masses are always going to be swayed by opportunistic sociopaths and there's not much anyone can do about it, besides becoming a more convincing sociopath. It's not left, right, or any party. If we leveled all the existing institutions tomorrow and rebuilt from scratch, people could still pull "think of the children" and it would still be just as effective.
Im from the UK I was worried when our government had the idea of making citizen use their id to goto Lewd or 18+ websites (that never happened luckily) and also their weird situation with some kinks and posting content said kinks (supposedly and these were rather normal kinks?).
I feel like this new bit of pulling payment processors is just the next level of the failed experiments or propositions they did here. Ever since that scare I could see it developing into this.
I do find it rather funny or ironic that both sides are bashing each other for this situation while it seems like it has (for the moment) no political bias to one side.
It all just seems to be abuse of power as there's no actual alternatives to these payment processors unless you wanna go with crypto (good fucking luck). I feel like these company's (gumroad/patreon) must comply due to this. How else are they going to do payments?
Yeah, you guys lucked out. The UK made a crucial mistake: it planned for one comprehensive system, implemented in collaboration with the government. So the government planned on putting in an ID system...and then failed to do so because of wild bureaucratic incompetence, and had to postpone, and then again, and again, and it kinda fell apart. Unfortunately the laws are much leaner here in the states: the government's not doing jackshit on its own. It's just saying "Hey, do this yourself, or someone can sue you if they want." Which is devilishly smart, because it means the cost and hassle to the gov. is 0.
I firmly believe that the first place that should be censored should be the governement, any and all legislation in relation to control should be forbidden, on any level beyond local. Porn may or may not be bad for our health, but that is something we should decide for ourselves, not for others to demand. also The age restrictions are not for the protection of children, they leave more than enough loopholes in the laws for children to slip through, no it's about control, as you said. if anything lawmakers deciding on these policies should be arrested and removed from power for the abuse of it.
anyway thanks for making this great game, really looking forward to whenever the next chapter comes out.
Thanks! And will do.
it is so refreshing to read this, i've known there are no "sides" to this power-hoarding bs for years. people in power will work with whoever they can if it helps them flex their power over ALL others...
also i wish i knew how to start and run a secure payment processor for porn transactions so i could just pick up all this slack that's being dropped by all these major companies. SOMEONE will eventually capitalize on it... and that someone will probably be a shady-as-fuck company milking it for fees because they'll be the only option after everyone else bows out...
To be fair I'm no expert, but I'm fairly confident payment processing isn't really a field open to competition. There's a reason Visa and MC constitute most of the marketplace. And even if you COULD set up a new one, the same people I listed above, and dozens more like them, would come knocking on YOUR door, saying "Hey, bow to our pressure campaign or we'll put you out of business with bad PR." In order to "win" this fight, you either need to somehow make a payment processor that isn't vulnerable to people whining about it online/in the media, or you need to be able to tweak the public narrative, on a vast scale, which basically requires you to be a billionaire.
yeah, it would also be hard to keep something like that on the down-low from other financial institutions as well, so no sneaking in and cornering the porn-payment market either...
honestly it feels like it might be easier to do a corporate "hostile-takeover" of paypal and just forcibly change their policies rather than try to create one from scratch... but like you said, billionaire status required
one thing that is for certain though, people will always find workarounds, alternates, and loopholes. and i will proudly utilize whatever means are at my disposal to enjoy the content i like, including your game dude ❤️
Much appreciated. One way or another, I'll certainly try to find a way.
hostile takeover... now theres an option. if it could be "crowd funded" so to speak its an option of attack. paypals public after all and with enough share holders working together to force a board vote one could fire the board. not out of the relm of possability magnates media shown an example of this with his bannana vids aperently you can give people proxy votes to vote on your behalf and the disney mess showed you can buy votes too... the hard part is corodinating.
Your games are great, you're great!
In the 90s censorship was targeting music and video games, similarly from both the right and the left. Book bans - same thing. I worked in a bookstore in the 90s and we had to deal with calls to ban books from all sorts of groups, our history has been a constant struggle to push back against government overreach in order to protect free expression. The internet is simply the latest battleground and with new techniques to ban content without directly banning it, by going after payment processors and removing anonymity - we're not banning content, you just have to report all your purchases of it to the government, which of course effectively bans it.
Oh even now, we're far, far more free than we ever were in the 90s. But we seem to be steadily regressing back there, in all the worst ways. All the stifling social conformity, but none of the economic boom.
thank u ,u are my truly hero!(from one of the regions with the strictest regulations on pornography
Here in Germany we have laws to protect minors from online gambling, unfortunatley this has created a situation in which Steam in Germany doesn't allow us to acess adult only (USK18) because a lot of games with that rating contain gambling and Steam doesn't have a strict enough age verification system. I certainly agree that children shouldn't be viewing adult content, but i think it goes a little far when the government steps in and prevents us from acessing that stuff when we're of legal age. If you don't want your child seeing something, then be a parent and stop them from viewing that. I mostly use Itch for my adult games since Steam isn't a good option anymore, and if it's being threatened by American companies being full of weirdo boomer neoliberal-conservitives, then i really don't have much hope for porn artists in the future.
Love your work, always here to support it. I think it's worth saying that you should be political here. Political doesn't mean "this is my prefered old white guy", free speech (in this case porn) needs to be actively protected or else the state is going to do what it always does, take as many rights away from you as it can get away with. Companies get preferental treatment in our capitalist 'society' and it's screwing over people like you that sowed and reaped the fruits of their own labour. Avoiding politics is leading to a climate where corpos see a lovely 'apolitical' site like Itch or Gumroad and think it would be a lovely place to advertise, if only all the porn wasn't there. With Musk tanking twitter by letting it become a cesspit of reactionary brainrot, advertisers need somewhere new to flock to and they're colonising our spaces.
Oh you've got a ton of fun in Germany. Even long before Steam your country is a footnote in every discussion of game censorship because of how every game has to be hacked apart to take out even the slightest reference to the Reich (even if said references are derogatory, as they usually are). For a while I think you guys had really strict violence limits too, on blood and whatnot, though maybe that fell away after the 90s.
I'll re-iterate what I said: I have, and will continue to avoid politics for the most part, because this isn't the space for it, and commentary and activism isn't a job I want or am good at. People come to games to forget the real world, not be constantly subjected to it, and I despise the way modern media does just that. Obviously any creative work of sufficient complexity is going to have "politics" in the sense that it has characters, and characters interact with each other and the world and have personalities, opinions and preferences. But I want it to be organic. It's the same reason I don't have a "fursona", I see the whole thing as simplistic and egotistical. I have CHARACTERS. They come from me, but they're not JUST me. They have a life of their own. If you went to France in the 1400s, there would be politics, and you might recognize SOME of the ideas, but it would be very, VERY different from the discourse on Twitter. I think, to the extent they have politics at all, creative works should have them to serve THEM, to serve their own setting and worldbuilding, rather than the emotional needs of the author. So you see little bits, like Haven and the tower and whatnot. But the setting of the game isn't our world. It has its own problems, its own history. I try to give it space to breathe, rather than just telling it what it is.
Oh man...............
theres got to be some way to put this issue to bed for good. currently as i see it going to the tor network or similar would be a temporary repreve at best. denying them their more potent methiod of attacks... going crypto would just end in yet more crypto regulation effectively de-anonomizing it further, using another countrys banking system would just end up with that contrys laws getting in the way ( but it would be funny if zimbabwe or others see an economic stimulus due to this ) and potental aplications of money laundering laws. as bitter as it seems the only solution i see is accelerationism and i really dont like it, basicly forcing all fun to go away your entertainment is job now, by forcing the issue into a frame most normal people can not only understand but are impacted by it could be forced off for a long time, rember the sopa protests?. nimby in all its glory, i think theres a quote that went first they came for the jews i did not speak up because i was not a jew, then they came for the bankers i did not speak up because i was not a banker, then they came for me and there was no one to speak up for me.
edit, something came to mind, america has leagalized bribery in the form of lobbying. perhaps a bunch of affected parties can come together in the form of a super pac or similar to represent a slice of the adult entertainment industry.
I should be clear on one thing: Crypto is worthless here. A. It's way, way too slow and complicated for ordinary people to use. B. Its reputation has been ruined by constant scams and C. To use Crypto you have to GET crypto, and on and off ramping into it is nearly impossible these days, because, look at that, the government controls it! That's right, the entity you're trying to compete against controls whether people have access to your product! I'm sure that'll go well.
I will say that while pondering this I did have a (somewhat) tongue-in-cheek idea: Furries are disproportionately:
-Gay
-Rich
-Embedded in positions of power in major tech and infrastructure companies.
-Love cartoon porn
Maybe it's time they formed a lobby to protect their interests? Like the NRA, but for cartoon porn instead of guns. I don't know what the fuck the pitch to "normies" would look like though. Maybe broaden the focus so it's any kind of non-IRL artistic expression that's explicit. Like the old comic book protection fund, but on a much larger scale. Just a goofy idea.
on the pitch to normies... ive actually been thinking on that one was wondering how you think this would work, i think going the free speach route will yield a possable angle. most americans hate being stifled, myself included. a flashy ad showing someone getting censored by a commissar type with ever increasing nitpicks ending in their mouth duct taped, eyes blinded, and headphones applied with a recording playing, with a caption is this the future you want at the end with a blurb about the anti porn laws and that the slippery slope isnt a falicy but a practice they go after aceptible targets first to lay groundwork the internets/this is just the first stop. maybe if it could be worked in show fosta, pipa, sopa, acta, coppa and ttip flash on screen at some points with the caption they wrap it in sugar so you cant taste the bs. not sure how that could be condenced to run as say a youtube ad or such though.
While I live in Italy and may not fully understand American political priorities, focusing on banning pornography while homelessness, fentanyl addiction, immigration issues, rising housing costs, and gun violence are at an all-time high seems illogical. My country might lag behind on some social issues, this prioritization strikes me as absurd.
american here, not just you that finds it absurd. then again our representives only represent themselves these days. all those woes you mentioned are left there on purpose, hell they dont even fix the roads unless the mayor or simalir is up for election.
The last part about the roads made me chuckle because the same shit happens here in Italy, we have a say: " Tutto il mondo è paese" It means that every country in the world has the same problems, and the same mentality, more or less.
No offense, but from what I understand, as an Italian you should be no stranger to the fun, fun party that is corruption and how it works. But you're making the same basic categorization problem most people make. Politicians aren't people that solve problems. Politicians are people who PRETEND to solve problems, in order to obtain and maintain power, which they use to benefit themselves and their friends. Sometimes they accidentally DO actually solve problems, but that's not their profession, or their intention. You look at that long list, fentanyl, immigration, housing, etc, and you see a bunch of suffering that should be ameliorated. THEY look at it and see a meal ticket, an elevator to the top floor. And when they get there, all those issues will still be festering. They have to get re-elected after all!
It's a cynical way to see it, but it's true, we as a populace have lost the capability to understand who is trustworthy and who is not, politics is not for everyone, we should have a selection of prepared people who know what they are doing, but to discriminate prepared people from inept, you should have a logical mind, but we vote base on sympathy and personal interest. We in Italy have a long, long history of this kind shitty politician, the sad part is the world is slowly (but not so slowly) drifting into "our" direction when it comes to politics. My hope is, at a certain point in time, things will change for the better, who live will see
They've been trying to do stuff like this to the internet for decades now and every time they've tried, we've been saying "No" "Stop" "We don't want this" but they keep trying, trying to put the same bs in place but worded differently or named differently. Again and again and again.
The bottom line is this.
This is Rape.
The government keeps attempting to rape the internet, and we're running out of breath to blow on our rape whistle.
Very much so. The problem is, given the current climate, a whole lot more of this is going to start going through. The way people think has changed a LOT since the 90s. People are hurting, and they want something, anything to lash out at. Which empowers these people to take more, and more, and more power. And once it's gone, it never comes back.