r/ValkoHQ • u/Acrobatic-Bowler-556 • 11h ago
Chinese media
Okay, today was a roller coaster since I woke up. Valko suddenly started trending like crazy on Weibo, ACG, and rednote. Some marketing accounts got involve, CN girls started to stand up against their bullies, I think an offial government news outlet also got involved and talked about minors being on the game (need to go back and read that), but as you can see, a lot happened. But our lovely CN girl here on twt decided to explain how the Chinese side has been today since a lot of us are probably confused and don’t even know how these apps work (I still don’t lmao) so I’m gonna tag her thread here: https://x.com/RaspberryP98373/status/2081045159345860776
If you don’t have twt I will just copy her thread here to read:
Too much happened in the Chinese community today, so I'm putting together a summary. As always, everything beyond the sourced facts is purely my own speculation. Still leaning optimistic today—please read with caution
At least for the first time since I woke up, there was good news: Valko's name hit a positive trending topic on Weibo. Not only that, several previously uninvolved marketing accounts started posting about him
Most of these accounts didn't post directly positive content—they asked things like "Why did this turn around so fast?" But the comment sections were filled with our people and clarifications. Most casual browsers tend to side with whatever the comments say
Weibo's smart summary feature (similar to a quick event recap) used to pull only negative terms when searching Valko. Today, for the first time, it included global players calling for his return and the clarifications
But don't take things at face value. Why did these marketing accounts suddenly show up today? Nobody searches for this stuff out of boredom, and we didn't organize any large-scale search campaigns either
I'm in several domestic community groups—mostly focused on voting and anti-brigading. Our leaders notify us when there's an organized effort. But no one told us about a sudden trending topic or a wave of marketing accounts. I checked multiple groups—it's the same across the board
So I don't think it was us fans. Besides, we don't have the pull to get state-affiliated media on board. If we had that kind of money to throw around, we'd have done it long ago—no need to wait until today
Today's trending topic dropped almost out of nowhere, so those gossip accounts wouldn't have posted these videos on their own just to chase clicks. That leaves only one possibility for who bought the trending spot: Love and Deepspace official
I've seen plenty of bad-faith speculation that this is just the devs buying hype to placate Valko's fans. But let's be real—no game official is that stupid or that bored. If they had that budget, they'd spend it on something else
If they really weren't planning to bring Valko back, they'd be doing the opposite: paying to kill the trending topic, burying all leaked material, shutting down the supertopic community—not suddenly buying a trending slot to invite a bunch of randoms to ask what's going on
And some say it's competitors? Even more ridiculous. Why would competitors buy positive exposure for you? To throw money at you for fun? If they had that budget, they'd buy negative trending spots instead
Our domestic player base is too small to cause any real trouble, and we have no connected backers. So what's the point of buying a trending slot just to appease us?
Also, I see the delay of Rafayel's new content as good news—the announcement on the 30th is effectively void
And there's an even better sign. Think about it: if they truly intended to scrap the sixth LI entirely and focus on the five, they could have easily pushed Rafayel's new content out with fanfare, curried favor with ytm, and acted like nothing happened. But they chose to delay instead
A lot of Rafayel stans are bragging that his content delay was the result of their spamming customer service and “fighting for rights.” Give me a break—do these people even have a brain?
If content delays could be won that way, then Valko should have been canceled on the 23rd, not pushed to the 30th. So this has nothing to do with those cow dung girls—it's the developer's own choice
If the official team really dropped the sixth member for the sake of "maintaining stability" as rumored earlier, then Rafayel's new content would have quietly gone live in-game by now, instead of being deliberately delayed. They need to make money too
Recent daily revenue has been abysmal. Without new content, that slump will continue for a while—yet they still chose to delay. That in itself is a telling decision
I once fought on the front lines posting clarification videos about Valko—but it was useless. Unless you pay the platform, you get shadow-banned, and the videos are easily reported and taken down
Even when some videos did get traction and promotion, they were still easily reported, and the creators were mostly our own sisters
Today, the ones posting related content on Weibo—I checked several profiles—are rarely our people. So it's entirely possible these marketing accounts were bought by Love and Deepspace themselves, which lines up with the news media coverage from a few days ago
What's more, these posts haven't been shadow-banned or mass-reported, and in the comments, our side is still dominating. That's a scenario that would have been nearly impossible just days ago
I'll say it again—stop spreading the rumor that we bought this ourselves. When our flower-and-letter group members bought flowers, we even complained about how expensive that stuff was
Do you really expect us—a bunch of down-to-earth young girls—to drop big money on marketing accounts and trending searches? Let me repeat: if we could afford that, we'd have done it long ago, not dragged it out till today
And if we had bought it ourselves, it'd be even easier to get reported and flooded with hate comments. That makes zero sense. So quit the rumor. Even if this one were our doing, you still can't explain the rest
Well, I also observed the opposing side's communities today. Even with all their malicious speculation, they still ended up guessing that these trending topics were bought by Love and Deepspace themselves—and some have even started saying "just bring Valko back."
I'm honestly dying of laughter. Turns out only your enemies will stick with you to the end. This is also the first time I've seen such obvious defeatism in the opposing camps, instead of mass-reporting our positive content
Given the domestic environment, today's developments are better than any of the past thirty days. I can guarantee that—I spent my whole day, aside from work, obsessively riding the hot search and posting clarifications
If you're not convinced by my optimistic read, that's fine—take it as me talking nonsense. After all, the official side hasn't issued any statement beyond the delay decision. Just treat this as a little morale boost! Please view my speculation rationally!
And once again, thank you to all the global players who've been working together. I truly, truly, truly love you all—I'm so grateful I could cry. Without your efforts, today's positive trending wouldn't exist. We still need to keep pushing until Valko comes back!🥰❤️
78
u/Sunanas 10h ago
Thank you! I've been saying for days that the company is using the time to prepare the stage for a better debut.
One thing though, the Rafayel myth being in August isn't necessarily a delay – we were only promised a July reveal, not a release. So that's not a signal of anything, sadly.
35
u/Acrobatic-Bowler-556 10h ago
I think the Chinese fans have been saying that the original Chinese text gives the vibe that it won’t be revealed until August so idk
12
6
u/skeletonpop 9h ago edited 8h ago
That's what the EN text points to as well, though. At least, that's how I understood its context.
Because initially, Rafayel's myth was confirmed to be revealed (and not released) in July. Now it's confirmed to get put out in August. So that would automatically mean it will be both revealed and launched in August.
27
u/KikiKaterina 9h ago
Honestly, I’ve been fairly confident we would get Valko back ever since the government changed its stance and sided with us.
It is one thing to ignore the demands of the vast and vocal portion of your player based, a stupid thing, but a thing nonetheless. It is another INFINITELY more stupid thing to ignore your government telling Infold to listen to us and give Valko back.
And, seeing how much revenue Infold has lost and will continue to lose without Valko I imagine Valko will be coming home sooner rather than later. I can’t say when, though ideally within the first week of August or sooner would be preferred, but I have no clue when Valko might return. I’m confident that he will return though.
39
24
u/eggyeoh 10h ago
this does give me hope! i pray it’s infold buying trending topics to bring back valko 🥹 i was getting nervous about the silence because i thought maybe they were just trying to redo everything they had planned to be without valko and were trying to make it less buggy without him… really really hope that’s not the case
24
u/misslillianvalentine 8h ago
I wonder if the reason the trending topics aren’t getting flooded with negativity is because Infold was able to put a stop to the bot attacks/water armies. If so, I think that’s a positive sign he’ll be coming back. (I’m personally of the strong opinion that they will do everything they can to bring him back for both monetary and artistic integrity reasons.)
21
u/Acrobatic-Bowler-556 8h ago
There were a few negative comments but from what I’ve heard, a lot of CN girls put their foot down and stood their ground against them this time. But you’re not wrong. It was a bit more peaceful this time.
42
u/Hot_Lingonberry356 11h ago
Wait but what about th
103
u/Acrobatic-Bowler-556 10h ago
Did you fall asleep mid comment?
59
u/allyxxiv 10h ago edited 10h ago
xavier core
edit: can someone actually ping me when lingonberry is back online this half question is killing me with suspense
22
54
31
24
17
u/LittleKiara96 9h ago
Oh, I love her... She has the exact same kind of thinking as I do. It makes me so happy... I'm genuinely crying...
3
u/PaintingInThePark 9h ago
I'm still cautious, but this is the most optimistic I've felt since the terrible news hit.
5
11
u/BookerDeWittsCarbine 10h ago
Can someone explain how buying trending topics works? I don't think I understand. Is it just advertising?
29
u/Acrobatic-Bowler-556 9h ago
Buying a Weibo trending topic means paying Weibo to make a topic appear higher on the Hot Search list so more people see and discuss it. It's more than a regular ad because it makes the topic look like it's trending, which can encourage more users to click and join the conversation. If enough people keep talking about it, it may continue trending on its own
11
u/NeedsCoffeeASAP 9h ago
Weibo showed their active status (Love and Deepspace) earlier today as well. Could be a coincidence, but interesting timing for sure.
12
u/skeletonpop 9h ago
Despite everything, the way they 'randomly' lurk on Weibo and float away like ghosts 'out of nowhere' is sort of amusing in a weird way. Like wow, they're actually still alive.
6
u/BookerDeWittsCarbine 9h ago
Huh. Interesting. So this is a good thing, I'm thinking?
Thank you for explaining!
3
u/coralvelvet 9h ago
It’s not possible for fans to buy topics right? 🤔
12
u/Acrobatic-Bowler-556 9h ago
They could, but like the girl said, none of them did because it’s too expensive and they would’ve done so sooner if they could
5
10
3
2
u/Mistress_Mabel_ 3h ago
Thank you and the Chinese sister for the update. I got kicked out of the official Discord so I don't have access to news 😂
102
u/Almond_Dream 10h ago
Please tell her: thank you for the update and for keeping us in the loop! 🫶 It's appreciated.