[Tears of Themis Clone] Devs caught giving preferential treatment to select whales

Recently, drama has erupted in the otome gaming community. Players have accused the development team behind 'Tears of Themis-style' game 'Code鸢' (Daihao Yuan) of severe favoritism. It’s alleged that developers have been privately leaking update roadmaps to a select few high-spending players, or 'whales.' Furthermore, they allegedly adjusted event difficulty based on requests from these same whales, only for the balance to spiral out of control—to the point where even the whales themselves couldn't clear the content.

The community response has been fierce. While many acknowledge that VIP services for whales are common in mobile games (comparable to loyalty programs), critics argue that the devs here are operating with an opaque, exclusive inner circle. This created a sense of betrayal among other heavy spenders who weren't included in the 'favored group.' Observers lamented that while the game boasts top-tier art, the management strategy is deeply flawed, with some dryly commenting that it fits the reputation of the platform it targets. Others recalled horror stories from other games where developers secretly gifted exclusive items to whales to boost their pull rates, leading to massive legal fallout. It seems this attempt at 'personalized service' has backfired spectacularly, alienating the very community it aimed to profit from.