The Arkh Project
thanks to a mouse at wank_report for the write-up
So, the Arkh Project is a game in development, made by queer POC and focusing on queer characters of color. True, they've been targeted by bigots, but that's only served to bring more attention to the project. All good, right?

Well... maybe not so much. For starters, they're ultimately trying to fundraise $100K-250K to make this game, which seems a bit... ambitious for crowd-sourcing. It gets iffier when you find out that none of the people involved seem to have actually completed a game and that they explicitly chose IndieGoGo because it wouldn't require them to refund the money if the project goes bust. To make things even worse, all they have so far is some concept art; there's no concept or design document, and they plan to farm out all the art, design, and programming to other people (as detailed on their IndieGoGo campaign). They do plan to release a design document by the end of the month, but that's about it for now.

To make things worse, there's evidence that one of the main people behind the project, dumbthingswhitepplsay, is gisei_nashi_ni:
see this chain of links: Sf_drama

plus they were the only genderqueer person working for Kinou Games, last seen being hounded off various LJ communities for being a hypocritical, abrasive jerk (greatest hits at sf_d, trigger warning for racism and rape ).

Anyway, I hate linking to tumblr, but some notable posts (+notes) include:
anti/criticism posts:
http://ardeb.tumblr.com/post/16890249680/okay-ive-been-wanting-to-make-this-post-for-a
http://ardeb.tumblr.com/post/17144475360/alright-this-is-a-more-in-depth-post-about-the
http://privilegedenyingdude.tumblr.com/post/16599011960/image-courtesy-of-a-commenter-on-themarysue-com

pro posts:
http://dumbthingswhitepplsay.tumblr.com/post/16892324535/bay-sick-all-lee
http://clitt-tastic.tumblr.com/post/17116402049/reasons-why-i-say-fuck-all-of-you-that-are-boycotting
http://alexandraerin.tumblr.com/post/17183434038/anybody-who-thinks-that-when-people-are-offering-to

You can also look at the tag though not everything is tagged, of course.

There is also a new post at SF_D, with highlights in the comment including links to gnn talking in other communities on lj about working on a game that clearly is The Arkh Project, and possible tracing of some of the character art that The Arkh Project has posted.

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chikane
2012-02-09 10:53 pm UTC (link)

Definitely an awful, awful cocktail.

t's mainly been "baw haw what about teh straight white menz?"

I've seen this EVERYWHERE. It even hit some livejournal roleplaying community, and I had a link to 4chan(!)'s yaoi community where it was being bashed like this, so I can really understand people being distrustful of the news here.

Mostly I just feel had, and furious because Riley has a lot of really good and decent POC (particularly WOC) followers on tumblr that don't deserve this kind of shitty betrayal.

Worst part being: If it's this bad...what about the next project? What if people are so burned by this one they won't give a legitimate one a chance at all? :/ This really has potential for some pretty nasty fallout.

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	kylenne 2012-02-09 11:41 pm UTC (link)
	That's why I'm so angry about this. It'll make it that much easier for people to dismiss something legitimate. And this is just going to end in fighting and tears and people getting silenced for having legit concerns. As it stands I find myself questioning why the hell I bother giving a damn when this kind of thing seems to happen over and over again in fandom. (Reply to this)(Parent)

ekaterinv
2012-02-10 01:14 am UTC (link)

I'm hoping some indie game developers say, "oh wow, look at this untapped market", and run with it. I think you probably can make a good indie rpg on $250,000, just not a modern AAA 3D voice-acted extravaganza with brand-new everything. There's a market for enjoyable sprite-based RPGs with traditional gameplay; add great characters and story to that, and you can start something pretty awesome, I think.

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	seiberwing 2012-02-10 01:15 am UTC (link)
	Look at how popular mods of existing games can get. Nightmare House 2 is a Half-Life 2 mod and it's quite a good horror game. All in the design. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	cmdr_zoom 2012-02-10 11:56 pm UTC (link)
	Double Fine (an established studio with a good record, admittedly) just broke a record by getting 1 million on Kickstarter in less than 24 hours. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sandglass 2012-02-11 07:28 am UTC (link)
	Oh man, that's who the Arkh project people were complaining about! They've got a graphic complaining about only getting 5k for Arkh when Double Fine got way more. When, y'know, 5k is really respectable for a group with no history, no experience, and only a tiny bit of concept art. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	iris 2012-02-13 01:16 am UTC (link)
	Especially when compared to the history of amazing games that Tim Schafer has been behind. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sandglass 2012-02-13 08:34 am UTC (link)
	Tim Schafer, as I recall, doesn't exactly have the history of *isms that the rest of the industry does, either. But if you admit that the mainstream has some companies/games worth supporting (hell, Rockstar's Bully had gay options, even), it gets a lot harder to justify supporting a project based on just some basic outlines and concept art. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	seiberwing 2012-02-13 01:18 am UTC (link)
	For Psychonauts 2, as I recall? The long-desired sequel to a game we already know to be awesome? Yeah, I'd give money to that over people who have soulless character art and troubling gameplay and plot ideas. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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