Hello, my name is Sophie, and I suffer from crippling anxiety under the wrong circumstances.

The main one being alone in the dark and feeling I'm being followed.

Just like

this

and this

AND MOSTLY THIS ONE.

Subeta, I used to work 2pm to midnight, and right now, I work (at another job) from 4 to 9 pm, near a place that is notoriously known for criminality and violence. Someone was beaten up with a skateboard like ten minutes before I took the bus the other day.

You know what I absolutely hate? Feeling like I'm being followed when I'm in the dark. And, it's not an uncommon fear, a lot of people I know (mostly women) have the same issues and are super careful when being outside after night falls.

I got the random event around 2am last night, without knowing it's for an event, and I tried to take it as a joke. I tried to make my effort. But tonight, when I came back from shopping, I had the friggin jitters and looked over my shoulder every minute to make sure I was safe.

I seriously find this kind of event uncool. Had there be a warning (hello, what is Tits McGee for? or Rania Del Rey? Whatever her name is.), I probably would have been prepared and it might not have triggered my anxiety issues and my fear of being followed/assaulted/killed in the dark. But, I can say it's poorly handled, and I don't think I'm going to take part in an event that is already making me feel unsafe in real life.

But right now, I just feel like my fears are used as a cool plot starter.

And that doesn't fly with me.

I'm sorry this makes you feel uncomfortable, but I don't see how Subeta could run a plot that wouldnt have the potential to make at least soomeone feel that way. The murder plot for the Revolution a few years ago could be triggering. The zombie outbreak with the diseases. There's lots more but it's late and I can't think.

I don't think Subeta is going out of its way to make someone uncomfortable with this plot so far, but this sort of stalking and barely seeing someone is very typical of this genre.

Yeah, a murder plot could have been triggering to someone who lost a loved one. Yes, epidemics are scary.

HOWEVER, we weren't thrown a random event with OOPS HAVE A DEAD BODY WITH SOMEONE'S CRACKED SKULL without warning. We already were a few days into Masquerade when it happened. The zombie apocalypse was unexpected, but it was also progressive. We knew something was going on.

This time, we had no idea what is going on. We're just thrown a creepy as fuck random event without any justification. I can understand your point that everything can be triggering, but for me, it's all about the circumstances.

I appreciate the concern and I know that people are going to go and enjoy this code, but I think I'll be in a better space mentally if I just sit out and ignore what is going on. I had really good timing, I just bought a Wii U and I'm going to go and enjoy this puppy while you guys have all the fun.

Hopefully I'll feel better soon.

Besides, Subeta's so much cooler without me (and also you'll have all of the lifelike dolls for like 2 weeks, so Sophie to hog them all)

I am so sorry that this is so bad for you, I truly am. And I am sorry that you're in areas that make that feeling even worse. But should Subeta stop trying to do surprise events or events centered around "other" genres (zombies, horror, suspense, etc) because of this potentiality ? Should events be laid out before us so we can go "ah, nah, I don't like that aspect" ? The whole deal with plots and events during the summer is that they are unknown. Even yearly events have the possibility to be different. Things to be fun and bring in attention. Some of those things are going to really mess with people, and sorry, but that is just how it is sometimes. Zombies send some people into full on panic attacks or have nightmares. Some can't play games revolving around bugs because it makes them so sick. Some people faint from blood or gore, even if it's a small digital art piece. Some people can't deal with monsters (I have issues with aquatic-based ones sometimes, mostly when it's more real-life and I do love aquatic themed stuff even when it scares me a bit… but on occasion it can really get to me. I almost had to walk away from the computer when I watched jacksepticeye playing LEGO WORLD because there looked like glowing eyes in the water and at that moment I couldn't handle it; Hell, that picture of Merana taking Amy is freaky as shit and pays into my fear of open water).

Subeta doesn't warn us when there's going to be a zombie update of some sort (such as pets), or bloodied items (or pets), or bugs, or a sea monster that is perfectly timed to when my brain just simply cannot take it, or warn us of any number of other things. I'm sorry, but I don't want Subeta to warn us over every tiny thing.

I am so sorry that this has upset you so, but I just don't agree.

Would it have hurt to go and have Tits or Rana Del Rey make a newspost before , or shortly after this went live? A vague post telling us to be careful in night time or something.

We're nearly 24 hours after, and we got nothing.

We had posts for the Zombie Apocalypse/airborne flu and the Doctor Mask pretty fast. So, why not now?

I thought communication was supposed to be important. Apparently not that much.

we had some indirect communication from Keith. it wasn't in the news but it was under admin posts.

I'm sorry to say, but this doesn't seem like something that most users will have a negative reaction to. I know some users might, but you've said it yourself, "literally everything can be offensive, in the eyes of people who have been affected." in this case, it isn't so offensive, but it falls under the same general statement to me.

Oh, I'm not expecting the majority to agree, but I want to voice concerns I have. Even if my thoughts are in the minority, they're still existing

Which is exactly why this should have been in the news. Not everyone combs the forums like you and I! ;D

Voicing your concerns is understandable, I just didn't know if you expected this to be changed or not, but it sounds like you do not. I can understand where you're coming from though.

Yeah, I do agree the news reporter could have posted something random in the news to give more of a heads up, but at the same time, nothing has really happened yet other than HAs of a few lucky people fading. It would have avoided the various help and bug threads asking what's wrong with HAs though. I assume they didn't really want to officially kick it off with a news post until a certain day (later today maybe tomorrow so it's more of a weekend thing) and they just started this to drum up some hype.

If I had had a newspost when I logging in this afternoon, twelve hours after I got the event (which I got at circa 2am this morning), I think I would have managed better. Again, it's my anxiety that's the problem. I'm the one with the health issues there!

I was fine until I went outside tonight. When actually was in a situation where I could have been followed home, I was reminded of that random event and since there was no official justification, it worried more than it should.

Reading about things that could be stalking me scares me. This is why I avoid creepypastas and a lot of actual true stories where things like that happen. With a random event, unfortunately, I couldn't control in, and since it was not rationally explained, well, it made me panic in reality(tm) tonight.

So no, I'm not expecting something that was planned for months to be changed drastically. The problem lies with me first, and it's up to me to go and gauge my own comfort. However, I really, really think a newspost should have been done within the first twenty-four hours, and I think this is the only thing I can really fault on Subeta.

I have a lot of anxiety too, but nothing from this sort of thing. So I can sorta understand, but at the same not completely. I don't think any of staff would have realized that the REs could have impacted anyone in such a way though, but maybe in the future they will give it more thought and at least start things off with a vague news post. Even if it was just the reporter saying what he said on that thread, it would have let people know something was going on and to look out for it.

I really sympathize with you, and no, it wouldn't have hurt to post that up. But how much would it have honestly helped ? How much can you say with certainty that you would have been mentally prepared for such messages, and thus wouldn't have still made a board similar to this but more "it's still a tasteless scare tactic that messes with people with fears." (I am 100% not implying that you most certainly would, or that you'd word it that way, I am simply saying a possibility) There is a scene in 300: Rise of an Empire that I know has a sea monster that scared me half to death. Knowing this, it STILL makes me want to run. Says the man that can watch horror, suspense, gore, and monster flicks all night with no problems. Knowing does not change the outcome.

And those things did not tell us much. We didn't know zombies were the outcome. We knew something was up and something a bit odd was happening to our HA's, but we didn't know until later on what was happening. And I can assure you that people FREAKED over it. They still do, years later.

You are understandably freaked out over it. But Subeta doesn't have to post about everything in a plot, especially when it's meant to be a bit of a surprise.

News stories are typically a reaction to something, though. If we're worldbuilding here, don't you agree that it kinda kills some of the immersion for the news to be reporting on something that hasn't happened yet or that people aren't really widely talking about yet, and isn't like a planned event.

It seriously sucks that these events affected you out so much, though. :(

My sister is a journalist, and I can assure you they can make news out of nothing. I MEAN, I LOVE MY SISTER, BUT OUR NATIONAL MEDIA IS VERY SENSATIONALIST.

Thanks for your message, it's appreciated!

I am going to say some things,I'm not casting anyone's feeling aside or anything like that first off so let's be clear on that. I just want to say that I don't want the same repetitive starters for events like the news posts or things that have been done so much it's like beating a dead horse. I like the different and the unexplained,If subeta intends to bring in new faces and keep long time users they can't just continuously rely on the same ideas or way of doing things to accomplish that.

I was very excited that we had no clue this was coming,I like that it just started out with some RE's then went to the fading HA's,It's fresh and it's amazing. Do I understand how people can be affected like this? Sure I do but I want staff to be able to keep being creative and not have to limit themselves because of the potential "what if's".

The event hasn't even been announced yet and here we are faced with a wonderful person who unfortunately has an issue,There's been at least ONE person EVERY event that subeta has had that wasn't able to participate or has voiced their opinion because it triggered them somehow. This is going to be how it is until subeta no longer exists,I would love to see us all eating shiny rainbow cake until unicorns come jaunting merrily out our asses but it's not going to happen,It's just not.

Now this isn't to say that I don't sympathize or understand because I do and I feel horrible that such a kind and helpful user is experiencing this. Plus I can relate,The dark scares me and I make it a point to not go out alone in it but I will still enjoy this event and the main reason for that is because I learned through LOTS of therapy that I can't let fear dictate my life.

Ideally it'd be good if maybe staff could incorporate a way of opting out of sorts aside from leaving the site for the event duration (no idea if this is even possible). Whether it just be simply to turn off event notifications/whatever might pop up without a users control then switch them back on later if they do want to participate in the next one. I'm all for progress and solutions to help future events run smoother but seriously don't take away the excitement factor or the fresh ideas. Things like what is going on right now are what keep me coming back to subeta and I look forward to seeing how this event moves forward.

I'm sorry that this has been such a source of stress for you.

I think the way you're expressing your thoughts and dealing with this by keeping away from Subeta during the duration of the event is really mature. It's important that you can feel free to post your concerns, considering that people who suggest pet colors based on ethnicities and mental illnesses don't even bat an eyelash.

I remember being snapped at during a past Survival because another user and myself posted about the opt-out feature for a user who's distressed by zombie gore. She basically told us that she could read and wasn't stupid (i.e. that part's on the News post and I'm looking for a space to rant on the group event thread), and ended up throwing a hissy fit. She was also transphobic about a former staffer's pronouns so...

It sucks that something that should be fun and surprising has ended up being scary and distressing for you. This is coming from someone who has had problems with anxiety and agrees with , so I do see both sides.

I sympathize, if these events had come just last week when I was having serious sleep problems I would have felt the same. And I don't think a small news post is too much to ask for, I know people consider this catering to a small audience or whatever but a news post is not going out of the way of what subeta events do anyway.

If you're gonna try to irl-comparison this, it's more realistic to say Subeta has literally one reporter, and she's probably been out of town or something. If there's enough of a thing for people to talk about it on the forums, and this was in any way closer to the realities of news and reporting, there's more than enough to make a news post saying "Reports of strange events and lots of people experiencing unexplained symptoms of fatigue, we'll continue to report as we know more... maybe after we take a nap..."

I mean, that would only add to the immersion and help with worldbuilding, honestly. Make it seem like the denziens of subeta are being affected to. And something that "isn't a planned event" is going to be more news than a planned one, that's how news usually works.

Or even like, not a reporter, just an NPC making a post saying "Has anyone else been feeling weird lately?" And then that would be a great place for people to discuss the random events too! Right now we've got multiple threads in at least three different forums about it.

I'm not trying to make a big fuss, I'm just saying I don't think anything has suggested is unreasonable. Idk, maybe this is the only way the event could have played out, I guess we'll see in the end.

I'm aware of & understand what's going on and that it's being intentionally done. I'm just saying there was a feasible, plausible way to do it differently.