Question (mostly to devs but really anyone)

[a]

CTRLC+V from a Steam Review:

"The thing that really angers me is how retrograde this game is. Under its progressive paint, Lake is at best tone-deaf, at worse completely misoginistic.
Let's start with the tone-deaf part : Lake is set in a rural American town, in the 80's. Lake also shoehorns a lesbian relationship, which feels... Completely hollow. Has any queer person worked on this game? I doubt that. But the worse thing is this game completely occults the homophobia a lesbian couple would have face in this setting... Honestly, this whole relationship seems like an attemps from the devs to make their game seem more progressive (spoiler: it's not).

Now, let's talk about how this game is... Really insulting toward women. Let me summarize it: a brilliant woman in her 40's, a pioneer in computer programming, accepts a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ job in a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ town, where *in real life* she would never have been able to be openly lesbian?
The protagonist seems like she never has agency of their own, and she kept being used by a bunch of rednecks. Presenting exploitation as a fantasy is just dangerous, and if I knew this was a faux-woke game, I would have skipped it.

So, yeah... This won't work. This game is basically about a good old time where Meredith would never have been able to live happily. It's bigotry covered in wokeness (something, unfortunately, more and more common), and I would have skipped it if I was aware of all these points. I'll make sure to be wary of Gamious' next games.

Sorry if my review is not well written and a bit messy. In my defense: I would have written a more polished review if those devs didn't make a game this offensive!"



What the BLOODY S--- is this reviewer talking about?!

A few thoughts:
First of all, is this person psychic? They appear to know all about the inner workings of your development team's intentions regarding progressiveness and portrayal?
Apparently, you're not allowed to make a fictional representation of a time period that acts fictitiously without it being bigotry.
Also, it's censored, but it seems in their anger they also felt the need to insult everyone in an occupation who I guess aren't brilliant enough, and then also use a derogatory term.

[Starbucaneer]

Where is the question mentioned in the title?

[Ricethin]

Hey there! Thank you for your question :)
We're used to a whole variety of reviews, some very good, some not.

We posted a response today to the review which we think summarizes our thoughts, pasted here for reference:

Hi there!

We're sorry you didn't enjoy the narrative presented by Lake. I want to absolutely assure you more than a dozen queer folk of various genders and backgrounds touched this game before completion, so we're legitimately sad you feel this way.

Here is an excerpt from GaymingMag re: Lake that we think captures what we were trying to present:

"Now to be plain, I don’t think this push towards Robert was a resentful decision from Gamious, but rather a decision that is abundantly real to reality for some queer people living in close-knit, rural places. A lot of people expect that just because you’re living in the same environment, you’ll reflect their own views, personality, and their very being. So with that in mind, why wouldn’t Meredith be into Robert? She’s a woman. He’s a man. From the perspective of a middle-aged individual who has lived in a heteronormative paradise their whole life, It just makes sense, right? It’s this thinking that, as Kenneth Shepard talks about in his piece ‘The Unspoken Queer Horror of Schitt’s Creek‘, perfectly describes the rural environment of Providence Oaks for a queer person."

Review here: https://gaymingmag.com/2021/09/lake-perfectly-captures-the-idyllic-town-and-the-hellscape-it-can-be-for-queer-people/

You also mention leaving a successful job for a **** job. Well, this ultimately comes down to definitions of success - certainly Meredith can return to her stressful city job if she so chooses, or not! We hope you'll give it another try.

[nëOQUETTE::v9.01 ツ]

im a lesbian, and i loved it. this seems like the person that sits on their computer and makes negative comments on youtube videos and reviews obscure amazon products not before spending hours on the review in ms word making sure the grammar is perfect. their steam name is yoshi69 and was somethingsomething666 before... LoL

[a]

Originally posted by LunA:

im a lesbian, and i loved it. this seems like the person that sits on their computer and makes negative comments on youtube videos and reviews obscure amazon products not before spending hours on the review in ms word making sure the grammar is perfect. their steam name is yoshi69 and was somethingsomething666 before... LoL

Thanks for your comment. I'm glad to hear that you loved the game. I was taken aback by the harshness of the review but I'm happy to hear that it was unfounded.

[bootrossbootross]

it is founded - this isn't a game, it is excruciatingly boring and looks like it was made a decade ago. Inability to skip dialogue is instazero imho, but the pacing of the "gameplay" is also awful. Im glad some people like it, but this aint a game.

[a]

Originally posted by bootrossbootross:

it is founded - this isn't a game, it is excruciatingly boring and looks like it was made a decade ago. Inability to skip dialogue is instazero imho, but the pacing of the "gameplay" is also awful. Im glad some people like it, but this aint a game.

I was specifically referring to the thematic material rather than the game itself, but thanks.