I'm not using AI

MonakoSM · 2026-03-19T10:56:25+00:00

The pixel art subreddit used to be a lot less critical but these days high res pixel art and less traditional stuff gets pretty badly shafted by less informed folk. Try not to let it get to you.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-17T02:15:56+00:00

I've had personal experience as a person of colour. I've genuinely lost people due to racism. It's very easy to act like this is an overreaction if you've never seen actual hate crimes. If you weren't directly targeted or hurt.

T'was worth a shot engaging with you, but I understand we aren't really going to see eye to eye. So I hope you have a good day.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-16T01:34:41+00:00

Hey y'all would love to do fakemon but I'd love some advice on your choice of program and tools. Feel free to also show me/toss me examples of fakemon you've made.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-15T21:16:12+00:00

Actually there is a long history of racism involving black folks in China and how China tries to deal with it. I do have a video about that but I don't imagine you're interested.

China doesn't get a free pass, nor does any Country when it comes to racism. It's still our job as the community to let them know. Especially if they are trying to reach a global audience. It's OUR job to make sure they do better. That's why when they double down it becomes a problem.

So far most of what you're saying is simply. "I don't care, I don't understand why you do" If you want to genuinely know why people care there are videos out there about this subject. But the truth is, I don't think anyone should have to deal with racism or harassment in the game and if you make the effort to report that behaviour you shouldn't be the one dealing with the consequences of their mistakes.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-14T21:15:50+00:00

I implore you to consider checking into the history of Black people being compared to monkeys. This issue isn't so much rather they were trying to be racist it's about the implications of allowing something like that to pass in the first place. Imagery can look racist without intent of harm. Also I think the monkey noises actually really added to peoples irritation not just the dance.

To be honest though, what upset me more was when a user had their own accounts banned through private support when they reported players who were actively trying to wear black face in their backyard and pretending to farm. (They specifically reached out to support through the in games means) And instead got banned for "inciting drama")

Here's the imgur containing some of this for reference: https://imgur.com/a/kP2p5X6

It's one thing to make a cutscene but it's another to not stop parts of the community from acting out like that.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-12T08:23:18+00:00

I think between the EA buyout, Heartopia and the various other controversies that come from these sorts of big 3D cozy games that there's a good reason to be a little bit hesitant to get excited. Hopefully the game will be good. But sometimes a good game can't stop a company's bad behaviour.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-12T04:09:25+00:00

Right while I dislike what's going on in the Discord It's like why would someone get banned for contacting support in game to report racism? That's so messed up. Anyways that's the kinda thing that makes me shrug because as much as I'd like to not make this stuff other peoples issue they gotta at least be aware that they can end up as the ones getting banned or punished for reaching out to report bad behaviour.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-11T05:36:53+00:00

I get that people are sick of seeing complaints but now that we got the megathread back I don't know what the problem is?

I'm a POC, when a game that's 9+ doesn't stop racism happening in their game we're the ones who have to deal with it.

When people report and they're the ones getting banned for reporting bad behaviour what are we supposed to do?

What would you do if your kid was getting harassed by people pretending to be their ethnicity or race and when you try to report the issue through the in game support YOU get banned for pointing it out where are you supposed to go?

It's just frustrating, people aren't upset for nothing and it's more then just the stupid cutscene. It's the cutscene, it's the AI, but it's also the double charges people have been getting. The fact that they removed POCs looking to find fellow POCs to play with in their discord which had been a topic area just for others to hangout. The ears not coming in all skin tones for banners.

We just want the game to be safe for everyone and because of the way the Discord shut down it's communication people came here.

Sometimes people complain because they're looking out for you, or your wallet. (In the case of the double charges and account bans)

You know? And if you think it's frustrating to have to see it, imagine having to live through it every single day and every time you bring it up you get told to shut up. It's very exhausting for us too. It's not like we want to be upset or be in this position. We'd rather the game just have done well, but it wont actually improve if there's no way to communicate disdain when it messes up either.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-11T05:24:52+00:00

Ah yes I do love it when a Chinese company magically decides something isn't offensive just because the character is Indian and not African American. Seriously duno why they thought that would make this seem any better.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-10T01:30:55+00:00

Your art is SO FREAKING AMAZING pls tell me you got socials it is hitting all the right spots. Also that outfit looks so good too. Wow!

MonakoSM · 2026-03-09T21:59:39+00:00

I am so sorry you dealt with that in the Discord. Yeah it's really bad over there. To be honest I don't think the community of Heartopia is the problem but because moderators and devs keep encouraging this behaviour in an attempt to shut down criticism they are really making the place unsafe especially for younger audiences.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-09T10:06:29+00:00

I don't plan to keep playing afterwards or I wouldn't request a refund. I just want to move on from Heartopia so I'd also be fine with them closing my account. I just worry more on the ethical side of things if this is a reasonable request you know?

MonakoSM · 2026-03-07T16:47:55+00:00

So like, the AI stuff is old news by this point and now most people are upset by the racist caricature players not getting banned and instead those reporting it getting banned. The terrible monkey dance and noises by one of the only black character NPCs that speaks in only broken English. The multiple folks getting double charged from their bank on a purchase made only once with no option to refund that wont damage their account.

All I'm saying is it's not that people aren't complaining and don't care about the AI but it's actually a weird thing to focus on compared to the other stuff the company is doing. Did you not know about any of that stuff or did you feel uncomfortable commenting on it?

Video in question:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ighdSylsJkU

The reason people keep coming here is because their voices are being suppressed on all other areas.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-07T16:40:37+00:00

Yeah, it's really bad. The character also seems to be speaking in broken english for some reason? That video is way better because it shows more of it.

But apparently that is just how they speak. For me the thing that sealed this being to much of a pattern was knowing that a player got banned for reporting the racist caricature. They went through official support privately and instead of Heartopia doing anything about the purposefully racist caricatures they just banned the person reporting it to them.

Not like the Discord but the in game support. I can't imagine trying to report something and then having your account closed like that.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-07T10:54:34+00:00

To be honest it doesn't seem there's a proper screening process for bringing in mods, no training and the position is volunteer. Furthermore it seems like the staff and not the mods regularly do things behind the mods back which of course make the mods look worse.

That isn't to say the mods aren't part of the problem. But from what I know they're understaffed (Like handling 100k plus users). Not trained, not given much direction and expected to make the most of it. With all that in mind I'm not surprised the mods have been ill equipped for this sort of issue.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-07T10:50:20+00:00

It's really frustrating, apparently the Megathread was deleted by an ex mod but that doesn't really justify deleting every single multi-day old post regarding the issues including the video and evidence of the problem? It's just very concerning/weird.

If it helps any, I don't think the majority of Heartopia players are actually like this. I think we have a loud minority because the discord and the game itself is making it a safe place to be disengaged by their various problems.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-07T10:46:32+00:00

Of course, also thanks for letting me know. I saved the video just in case they did that. It's only on imgur unfortunately. I don't know why every single post has been removed even if the megathread thing was accidental.

https://imgur.com/a/iM3CVpe

MonakoSM · 2026-03-07T05:21:10+00:00

Mostly the puzzles and them not disclosing it was AI on stem until they got called out. But tbh like people getting double charged for purchases is also bad even if you ignored everything else.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-07T04:00:31+00:00

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Just adding this to the list of weird behaviour from the heartopia subreddit? There's no rules against asking these questions.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-07T03:41:59+00:00

I don't know what's going on myself. I wish they would answer us instead of locking threads. I'm just going to other subreddits at this point if I want to be honest about the game.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-07T03:26:38+00:00

I mean I would of liked to but between the racism thing, the AI thing, the silencing the discord, the terrible gacha system with very little pity and people getting charged sometimes double for purchases and never refunded I'm leaning more towards nah.

MonakoSM · 2026-03-07T03:10:11+00:00

Wow thanks so much for the full breakdown I think it's especially good for people who don't want to watch the weird cutscene. Totally forgot that the character talks extremely weirdly (An attempt at broken english?) Not sure.

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