Why Winnie the Pooh as a theme?

[Pizzarugi]

This is mostly intended to strike up a conversation. This isn't so much a critique of the game as it is a discussion on theme.

So I had an interesting conversation with my boyfriend over this. I'll spare the details, but we discussed how it seems weird to twist a character from an otherwise wholesome cartoon and book series into a morbidly dark body horror. The theme of the game could've been anything, even a sci-fi story of some human explorer getting infected by an alien virus, but instead it took a different turn by using characters from a public domain.

What was the reasoning behind this? Was it a way to explore this theme from a much darker perspective? Was to explore an interesting "what if" scenario by turning a wholesome character into a monster, something akin to that weird slasher film with the same character?

I'm definitely down to trying it, because I love the idea of a roguelike game based around puzzles.

[KrummieX]

Winnie The Pooh is now in the public domain so anyone can use this property.

[Pizzarugi]

Originally posted by KrummieX:

Winnie The Pooh is now in the public domain so anyone can use this property.

Yes I understand that, I even mentioned that at the end of the first paragraph in the OP. :P

Is the reason for the theme choice purely because its entered public domain and now the internet is going to do what the internet does best?

[GalanOfTruth]

It's for attention, plain and simple. Whether the game is good or bad, people will talk about it and tbh it's unlikely anyone would be talking about it otherwise.

[DJDiceZ]

I didn't know it is public domain before checking here, i was gonna ask how the hell can they make this without disney absolutely demolishing them. Nonetheless, it looks interesting, and i trust the devs to nail the gameplay on this one. I feel pretty indifferent toward the choice of picking a Winnie based theme. I'd have preferred something fully original (especially since the studio/devs did a good job of creating a unique, interesting and creepy universe before), but it's whatever. Plus at least the creepy fairy tale feel is something they can pull off.

[Red Priest Rezo]

Originally posted by Pizzarugi:

it seems weird to twist a character from an otherwise wholesome cartoon and book series into a morbidly dark body horror.

That is THE WHOLE POINT. Contrast is a powerful tool. And turning something positive into twisted and horrible makes it affect people much stronger.

[Twice Different]

Multiple reasons:
Contrast (as people have mentioned) is a big one... but the less obvious factor here is that Winnie is a known character. This is hugely helpful for us especially in writing the game! The "why horror Winnie" question is often asked without realising how difficult it is to write and convey original characters quickly.

Being a known character means people already have a benchmark for their expectations and his interactions. We don't need to show people the kind of character he is before showing the premise, so we can get straight to showcasing the hooks of the game concept and people understand what we're subverting.

One huge assumption in a lot of vocal complaints is that we've made Winnie evil, so they think it's misaligned with the character. He's not evil in our game. He's becoming a monster, but he isn't a monster. He's infected and doesn't understand this, and that virus is responding to everyone else as a threat.

The other reason we chose Winnie is because it's hilarious, and I don't mean in a cheap "hur hur let's give Winnie tentacles" way (though that is also funny) but because of the story opportunities it affords:
His character personality works really well when contrasted against a powerful virus that thinks it's actually doing him a favour.

It's too early for us to showcase what we're actually doing so a lot of reactions are filling in details with assumptions, or ignoring details and projecting what they think it is.

Having said this, the game is still in alpha and being actively worked on.

We could have used an equivalent original character (still could if we really wanted to) but we'd lose the benefit of having people already primed with knowledge on what Winnie's about.

Thanks for the discussion, appreciate everyones good faith and curiosity

[NotABot]

Originally posted by Twice Different:

Multiple reasons:
Contrast (as people have mentioned) is a big one... but the less obvious factor here is that Winnie is a known character. This is hugely helpful for us especially in writing the game! The "why horror Winnie" question is often asked without realising how difficult it is to write and convey original characters quickly.

Being a known character means people already have a benchmark for their expectations and his interactions. We don't need to show people the kind of character he is before showing the premise, so we can get straight to showcasing the hooks of the game concept and people understand what we're subverting.

One huge assumption in a lot of vocal complaints is that we've made Winnie evil, so they think it's misaligned with the character. He's not evil in our game. He's becoming a monster, but he isn't a monster. He's infected and doesn't understand this, and that virus is responding to everyone else as a threat.

The other reason we chose Winnie is because it's hilarious, and I don't mean in a cheap "hur hur let's give Winnie tentacles" way (though that is also funny) but because of the story opportunities it affords:
His character personality works really well when contrasted against a powerful virus that thinks it's actually doing him a favour.

It's too early for us to showcase what we're actually doing so a lot of reactions are filling in details with assumptions, or ignoring details and projecting what they think it is.

Having said this, the game is still in alpha and being actively worked on.

We could have used an equivalent original character (still could if we really wanted to) but we'd lose the benefit of having people already primed with knowledge on what Winnie's about.

Thanks for the discussion, appreciate everyones good faith and curiosity :RoPFrog:

sounds like a fun premise, i just hope it doesnt devolve into stupid territory. i hope more info comes up soon

[BoJustBo]

"Why Winnie the Pooh as a theme?"
Because Garfield is still copyrighted.

[AcidSweat]

Creating a new succeful IP is much more risky than using an existing one. You'll get attention from people who's already familiar with the IP. And there's a chance that this IP in its original form was done to death so bringing a new twist might spark some interest.

I hope the game will be good. I enjoyed "Ring of Pain" a lot and I wish the dev team the succes. But I can't express how much I'm disappointed that they took this route.

[Apxangel]

Well, we already had a Wonnie. I see nothing wrong with another creep Pooh.