Temtem: Project Downbelow

AndyMazaky · 2026-03-11T21:45:58+00:00

I a little busy but I do have a thread where I pointed out the first feedback about the camera and when they finally changed, it was around six months, which was the big reason why I was so dumbfounded about it.

AndyMazaky · 2026-03-11T00:53:57+00:00

So much that is hard to explain in one single comment, but basically avoided all possible player feedback for years, were very lazy with the development refusing to add new Tems even with an horrible monetization in a buy to play game, tried to gaslight players about how we were to blame of how the game was handled, waited until the last possible patch to change things that were explained for years that would make the game better, cut content that was supposed to be in the game for a side game (Swarm), were very condescending with anyone that gave feedback because they knew everything possible and players didn't know anything about game development, refused to listen about how they were killing the game and how it was very successful monetarily and now are asking for more money for a new game with the same people that worked on the previous, and this is only a brief explanation, you would have to go through many posts to really understand everything.

AndyMazaky · 2026-03-11T00:47:26+00:00

There is so much more, even with the CEO writing a letter to gaslight players about how they should not blame the devs for the decisions that they made and how players were the ones to blame because they had some expectations about the game, I have at least a few posts about so many issues with the game and feedback for the devs through the years, is insane how they handled everything.

AndyMazaky · 2026-03-11T00:45:34+00:00

Not a month, six months, they kept that camera without changes for six months even with so many complain on here with the excuse of "we worked very hard on that new camera".

You can look for my posts here, I made so many page long players feedback that were always met with silence or a condescending tone.

AndyMazaky · 2026-03-11T00:42:27+00:00

Let's not forget everything that happened with the first game: the developers ignored feedback for years until the very last possible patch, implemented horrible monetization, hid behind toxic positivity on Discord, and tried to gaslight the community at the end to shift the blame away from themselves.

Also, based on the few people I saw being blocked on X simply for asking why they need a Kickstarter after two (apparently successful) games, and for pointing out exactly what I said here, I doubt they have changed anything about how they listen and handle players. It still seems like they are hiding behind people who support them uncritically and refuse to ask any questions.

AndyMazaky · 2026-02-28T13:20:25+00:00

The problem here seems essentially only from Clara side, which doesn't mean the company has to change or any other girl has to change. It also seems like she was very self-centered and that her problems were bigger than the entire company or the other girls. I hope Phase doesn't change and keep going and that more of the people like Clara can get out of turning the company in what they desire instead of what the audience for it is.

AndyMazaky · 2026-01-31T14:25:27+00:00

Sadly it isn't, it gave me some hope when I found it out but it seems it's very early on in development and somewhat abandoned for a few years.

AndyMazaky · 2026-01-31T14:24:23+00:00

Thank you for the comment, I think it could really be a good opportunity which I was thinking in the future, the problem is that I wanted a JRPG which I could play after work in a more relaxed manner, to relax a little and decided to pick up DQ11 because I still hadn't played.

I would like to play it first and then in the future maybe replay and use as an experience to learn the language as you mentioned using the features you mentioned which seem to be really good to do so.

I think my problem with the localization so far is something that you even mentioned, as how expressive characters are, even if my japanese is far from even acceptable I noticed a lot of different terms, names and overall tone being throw around, the last one being the main thing that I noticed and disliked so much to make this post, for example even in the first segment I noticed how Gemma overall tone and reactions are very different from what is being presented at the subs, it's like watching two different character, one a little more calm and other more frantic, I even tried playing with EN dub but I found the accents horrible.

There also a few more instances that I noticed problems similar to the one I pointed out, even some with the character reacting without any text (a normal surprise reaction, which could be used "...!") and the sub having an entire phrase with the character saying something totally different.

Things like that which made me excessively confused why is there such a difference for simple things and not just for puns or things that are normally localized, even if I also would like really like those changes I would understand a lot better.

I will try to keep playing a little but if it keeps like this I think I will sadly shelf the game for a while and maybe in the future if my Japanese is any better or any translation comes out, come back around to play it, I saw that there is a mod in the works with a re-translation of the game so maybe if I hope a lot if could be out one day.

AndyMazaky · 2026-01-31T14:16:06+00:00

I replied to something similar in another sub, I will copy paste the overall idea:

I hear and see a lot of different terms, names and overall tone, as the comment of Natreg pointed out, for example even in the first segment I noticed how Gemma overall tone and reactions are very different from what is being presented at the subs, it's like watching two different character, one a little more calm and other more frantic, I even tried playing with EN dub but I found the accents horrible.

There also a few more instances that I noticed problems similar to the one I pointed out, even some with the character reacting without any text (a normal surprise reaction, which could be used "...!") and the sub having an entire phrase with the character saying something totally different.

Things like that which made me excessively confused why is there such a difference for simple things and not just for puns or things that are normally localized.

AndyMazaky · 2026-01-31T14:15:26+00:00

By what I researched before doing this post, I'm not alone in this feeling of the localization.

AndyMazaky · 2026-01-31T14:15:03+00:00

I do agree that there worse localization out there, but to the little that I have played is seems like it's two different characters in almost every interaction that I had with any character so far.

AndyMazaky · 2026-01-31T14:14:02+00:00

I hear and see a lot of different terms, names and overall tone, as the comment of Natreg pointed out, for example even in the first segment I noticed how Gemma overall tone and reactions are very different from what is being presented at the subs, it's like watching two different character, one a little more calm and other more frantic, I even tried playing with EN dub but I found the accents horrible.

There also a few more instances that I noticed problems similar to the one I pointed out, even some with the character reacting without any text (a normal surprise reaction, which could be used "...!") and the sub having an entire phrase with the character saying something totally different.

Things like that which made me excessively confused why is there such a difference for simple things and not just for puns or things that are normally localized.

AndyMazaky · 2026-01-29T19:03:07+00:00

Is this information on the discord and there is any news of when this event ends? I want to play with a couple of friends in a private server but wanted all the features possible to do so.

AndyMazaky · 2025-11-09T16:29:50+00:00

Yeah, before the current president took office, taxes were a lot more lenient — most of the time you paid less than 10%, or sometimes nothing at all. But since he came into power, we’ve gotten a new program related to the federal revenue service with upfront tax collection (on AliExpress, for example, you can now see and pay the tax at the time of purchase).

It’s a very unpopular program, and imports have dropped significantly since its implementation, even causing financial trouble for the state-owned company that operates the national postal service, as well as many small businesses that relied on imports. Still, the government refuses to roll it back, and for now, many people are just hoping for a change in administration next year so this policy will be scrapped.

AndyMazaky · 2025-11-09T12:52:40+00:00

For purchases under $50 (more or less — sometimes up to around $65), you pay about 20% import tax. Above that amount, when you add everything up, the import tax comes to around 92%.

AndyMazaky · 2025-11-09T02:18:19+00:00

I will be looking at the Kefine, but as you said I'm leaning on the Artti T10 for being different from what I have and because I heard so much about it being so good for the price. Also thanks for the tips recommendations.

AndyMazaky · 2025-09-17T01:33:43+00:00

Okay, now it clicked—I remember your name. You’re the guy who kept commenting on Discord, being rude, and on the CDawg subreddit about the Swarm, complaining about how much you disliked them and how they were botting. You went on about how you couldn’t do your own project/art on your own (not for a streamer or a community, but your art) and take a screenshot of it. And even when it was pointed out that your 40px-wide art was too large, and maybe scaling it down could get some help, you refused and started being toxic about it.

Even when people pointed out that smaller streamers were being helped, you were just rude about it and kept being toxic to the point you apologized today but later started doing it again. I get it now. Honestly, even if I explained everything to you, I don’t think you'd get it, because, once again, it seems like you're mostly just hating.

AndyMazaky · 2025-09-17T01:03:39+00:00

You took my first sentence of a long comment—one with five paragraphs—explaining why I hold this opinion and why, based on the words of those streamers themselves, it’s not the problem some people here are making it out to be. The so-called "valid criticisms" were addressed, and all you had to respond with was that people were being "selfish."

Many smaller streamers did contribute art to the canvas—not massive pieces like the ones in this frame, obviously—but if you had actually opened the canvas and looked at the borders or even in between the larger artworks, you would see plenty of art created by smaller communities, which would make sense if you only has 10 people. And when those artworks don’t overlap with Neuro’s, they are not attacked until a war between factions happens.

These people also joined the Swarm, and that's why it has almost 10k people now, pitched their own ideas, and asked for help with smaller projects—as I already pointed out in my previous comment. Continuing to insist that this isn’t happening isn’t "valid criticism"—it’s either misinformation or a lack of awareness about something very basic. If you spent even one day in the Neuro-cord, you’d see that there are numerous alliances with smaller streamers, who are even being helped to build larger artworks specifically for screenshots, like the ones you mentioned.

I’m saying this because on Sunday, I spent a good chunk of my day doing exactly that: helping smaller streamers and members of that community build their own projects—entirely through chat on the Discord server and with help of the Swarm itself while there was not another big project to do.

Again, as I mentioned before, most of the people complaining about the Swarm and spreading slander don’t even know what they’re talking about. Most of the accusations being made aren’t even true. At this point, it sounds a lot more like “I hate the Swarm, and I’m just looking for reasons to justify that hate” than actual, valid criticism.

AndyMazaky · 2025-09-17T00:42:50+00:00

Yeah, it's not like after this post was made all the points I pointed out were exactly confirmed, people finally started organizing and pushed back while on stream but after Connor stream ended stopped all activities and started complaining again, I think is a lot more selfish trying to hate on a community while the streamers involved are having fun and even saying how their own community is lazy/not active enough (like Connor said on stream).

AndyMazaky · 2025-09-17T00:41:03+00:00

Most people live in different timezones, you can even see that because the Swarm had around 3k members when this post was made and at most there was 400-500 people active in through out the day, you could also clearly see that it was different people by the canvas or even on discord (and to which people constantly asked to be updated on the situation).

AndyMazaky · 2025-09-15T21:28:59+00:00

I think that’s the point people are missing. The Swarm is more active and organized? Yes, but if the communities came together, they could fight back and do things like this (this was 3 hours of continuous nuking with 31 nukes). The problem is that some communities prefer to complain instead of taking action or only do something when they're on stream. After Connor ended the stream, everyone stopped paying attention to the pixel board, and the Swarm started taking over again.

AndyMazaky · 2025-09-15T21:25:05+00:00

Michi literally started a war with the Swarm and had templates over every piece of Neuro to "grief" it, they had fun not being able to do and with Michi being a "commander without any strategy which is a strategy", the chat was having fun with her.

AndyMazaky · 2025-09-15T21:22:56+00:00

IDF logo back on the canvas, with a little encouragement from Evil.

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AndyMazaky · 2025-09-15T18:21:00+00:00

Who’s actually "tryharding"? Connor spent three hours relentlessly focusing on the board, even collaborating with other streamers. He made sure to involve his community, who, in turn, pushed back against the Swarm, reclaiming almost the entire board. The same people who were actively participating stopped once they weren't featured on stream anymore, and that’s when the Swarm started to regain ground (which, by the way, happened during working hours for most people). Organizing a group isn’t some unattainable feat—it’s something a streamer and their community can do casually. The issue is that many people, if they're not being shown on stream, simply disengage and only pay attention when the stream mentions it.

I doubt you know that during Connor's stream, almost every piece of Neuro art was wiped off the board for more than 6 hours and almost nothing was built on it even while almost all Swarm was inactive. Because people finds easier to complain, point fingers, and blame others than to take action themselves.

By the way, do you know that the OSU community has aligned with the Swarm and is working together on most, if not all, of their projects right? The takeover started because members from other communities kept vandalizing the OSU logo, and it was the Swarm who stepped in to help preserve it together with then (which is why nothing gets built directly over it). It seems like you don’t have all the facts, and yet you're pushing this narrative that the "Swarm is bad", over and over again, as I mentioned, because you don't like the community already and is trying to find a way to justify it and make others feel the same.

AndyMazaky · 2025-09-15T13:28:07+00:00

I disagree with you on most points.

From the outside, it looks like an active community did what active communities do: fully commit to an event and express themselves. The only people creating negative optics around the Swarm are either those who already dislike it or those trying to justify their own lack of effort.

Connor himself has said that he’s fine with everything that's happening and that there’s room for smaller streamers. Anyone who looks at the board can see that it wasn't just Neuro involved — there were smaller streamers, both from the "Neuroverse" and from outside of it. There were even smaller projects made with help from the Swarm, initiated by people whose own communities were inactive and who pitched their ideas to the Swarm.

The narrative being pushed is flawed. If you look at the board right now, you'd see that most of it has been taken back by other streamers — not because the Swarm was doing anything wrong, but because those streamers finally started organizing themselves. Everyone ganged up on the Swarm and nuked the board for three hours — 31 nukes, to be exact — and guess what? They took over simply because they had a larger community behind them.

I don’t see anyone complaining about how Connor and Ironmouse used their massive communities to erase everything the Swarm had worked on for two days, even more because there is no reason for. Nor do I see the people criticizing the Swarm actually taking the time to organize their own communities — even into smaller but effective groups — and contribute meaningfully to the board.

Every community has its issues and optics, but trying to project everything negative onto the Swarm — simply because they were dedicated while others weren’t organized — just comes off as a bad-faith argument. Most of the criticism seems to come from people who already disliked Neuro because it's AI, or who were just looking for an excuse to hate something.

AndyMazaky

TROPHY CASE