The crypto thing is very concerning as they state that this game is the first step. Will they implement it? Who knows. Will COG allow it? Probably not. But it is the author’s mission statement.
Reading the homepage is very confusing and a bit worrying.
Hello all, mod note - please contact Hosted Games if you have concerns about published content, rather than speculating, posting AI analysers or similar. Concerns will be able to be addressed more smoothly that way.
Thank you!
There is also a consolidated LLM/genAI thread over here for general discussion of such things.
I’m not certain they could even do that upon having published under the HG label. Because the ToS make it clear that you mustn’t publish the same game in any different format. So they can’t just republish this OR, by all means, ‘integrate’ this into the blockchain or whatever.
You cannot publish the same story in a competing format (Twine, Ren’Py, Choices/Chapters/Episodes, CYOA book, Visual Novel, etc).
- You can publish sequels, prequels, spin-offs, etc in a competing format.
- You can publish the same story in a non-competing format (traditional book, side-scrolling computer game, animated computer game).
The contract does allow a HG author to publish the same game in a different format, as long as that format is not considered a ‘competing’ format. (I’m guessing Blockchain does not fall under that category. 
)
Aye. My train of thought was that with what that company seems to want to do, they’d be a competing format, respectively they’d alter CS to work on their platform, technically making it competing?
I feel like they need to look over their tos after this. Like saying no to crypto, or if not that at least inform the buyer in the text description of the if.
This whole thing has become such a weird situation.
I appreciate that HG responded and removed the AI art. Nevertheless, if I may speak freely, I think HG should offer a refund option to anyone who bought the game and requests one, regardless of platform.
HG states very clearly on the website that they will not publish AI generated content, and that they will evaluate submitted games for AI content. However, if I was able to bump into an AI generated picture within a short time of playing the demo, I think this statement was categorically not met. If our fans buy games on the assurance that HG would not publish AI content, we cannot afford to lose their trust.
Personally, I’m not super-strongly against AI, but I respect my readers who feel strongly against it, and have worked to keep AI content out of my games just for them. Ultimately, the trust of our fanbase is the most important asset. For the fans who feel strongly about AI, I think it would be worthwhile to show that HG is taking AI matters diligently and seriously.
Apologies if this was out of turn, but I mean well. 
Yeah. I want a refund now that I’ve learned about this crypto stuff. After reading through most of it, I really want a refund and suspect we’ll all get one. I won’t elaborate.
Personally, I bought the game and immediately asked for a refund after all the AI and crypto nonsense came out in conversation—absolutely fucking not today or any other day. Admittedly, I should have waited a bit longer or played the demo before buying (my bad!), but I suspect quite a few people have requested refunds like I did at this point. Not even upset about missing out because the first few pages I read were…hmm. Really something.
All I will say is that there seem to be quite a few that want refunds and I think people should get it. Especially if they feel their trust was misused.
Hello everyone,
I am stepping in very briefly just to clear up a factual misunderstanding that seems to be spreading regarding the game’s mechanics.
Keeper’s Vigil is 100% a standard ChoiceScript interactive fiction game. It does not contain, require, or connect to any NFTs, cryptocurrency, or blockchain mechanics whatsoever.
My work building Web3 developer tools and backend infrastructure (Lota Labs) is my day job, and it is entirely separate from my creative writing and this game.
I understand people have strong personal feelings about the crypto industry, and I respect your right to spend your money how you choose. I just wanted to make sure that any purchasing decisions, or refund requests are based on accurate information about what Keeper’s Vigil actually is.
Thank you to everyone who has been playing and sending in bug reports. I am noting all of them down for the first patch.
You should also clarify that you are a founder of Lota labs too.
Congrats on publishing, and thank you very much for the information! I bet the clarification that this is a standard CS game will help your overall sales 
In the future, though, is that subject to change? I know that sometimes games are updated post-purchase, which is why I ask. Specifically, your website (quoted below) seems to prioritize the blockchain angle, which contributes to some confusion.
"We are pioneering the bridge between interactive narrative and true digital ownership. For traditional players, it is a seamless, immersive RPG. But for those who want to go deeper, you can connect your wallet and forge your choices into the blockchain. The artifacts you earn actually belong to you. No friction, no forced jargon. Just absolute player agency."
I don’t want to sound rude, but why post the game on your website that is all about NFT/Blockchain?
You also wrote on Insta: This is the foundation of Lota Labs.
Also why publish it under the name of Lota Labs if it has nothing to do with it? Again I don’t want to come across as a hater, I just find this very misleading.
Thank you for the kind words and the congratulations.
Your question is completely fair, and tbh I really appreciate you bringing it up. Especially the quote from the site because I can see exactly why it caused confusion.
To give you a straight forward answer: No, Keeper’s Vigil is not subject to change and will never be updated to include blockchain or crypto mechanics.
The writeup on the Lota Labs website refers to completely separate, independent tech projects and backend architecture that I am developing for the future. It’s a long term dream.
Keeper’s Vigil was built strictly and only for the traditional ChoiceScript platform as a standalone interactive fiction experience, and it will remain that way permanently.
I hope that clears things up, and thanks again for the support!
Heyy nooo, it’s not rude at all, and I actually see how that looks confusing from the outside.
Lota Labs is more like the umbrella name that I use for all my digital content creation across YouTube, Instagram, and software development. It was a big decision when hosted games asked me what name to credit for the game. At first I wanted to use just my personal name but in the end, I chose Lota Labs just to stay consistent.
So because I operate everything under that one personal brand, my website serves as a central portfolio for all my projects… both my interactive fiction games and my tech development. When job searching, Lota Labs about page is what I send to employers as my portfolio.
When I called Keeper’s Vigil the “foundation of Lota Labs” on Instagram, I just meant it proudly as my first major commercial game release as an indie developer.
But yes, I realize now that mixing my traditional gaming portfolio with my future tech projects on the same website caused some crossed wires, and I’ll for sure be looking at making that separation clearer on the site.
I am always happy to answer other questions about the game itself, but I’ll be focusing most of the rest of my weekend on organizing the bug reports for the first patch. Thank you again for giving me the chance to clarify
______________________________________
Your question has been hanging for 2 days. I’m so sorry I couldn’t answer until now! (The forum restricts consecutive replies, so I had to add this to my previous post)
I designed that early Yeti encounter specifically to establish that magic isn’t an automatic win button for every single situation in this world. I wanted players to realize early on that relying purely on Necromancy or Arcane Knowledge won’t solve every problem, and that having a secondary survival skill or knowing when to use a different approach is going to be important in later chapters.
At first actually I considered putting a warning at the beginning that will ask players to build a secondary stat, but I felt like that might break the immersion or spoil the tension of figuring out the world’s mechanics.
That being said, I am for sure on the lookout for all the feedback on the balancing. If it feels too punishing for pure-mage builds, it’s definitely something I can look at tweaking in a future patch
You should ditch the whole ai and blockchain idea though. There is nothing to be gained from it, it takes resources away from where they are needed, and it keeps people from honing the skills they might have.
Will creating take much longer? yes. but it is creating something to begin with. Not an early onset of 2525
Hey everyone, I want to clear up a final misunderstanding regarding my portfolio and my professional background so that everyone has the complete picture!
First, regarding blockchain: Lota Labs develops completely separate projects for traditional gamers and Web3/blockchain gamers (yes, blockchain interactive readers exist). They are entirely different spaces. My traditional interactive fiction games (like this one) have absolutely no blockchain integration, and players are not under any obligation to engage with NFTs or anything of the sort.
Now, regarding AI: I do not build LLMs, and Lota Labs does not use AI to write, generate, or code these interactive games. Like at all.
The “AI Systems Architect” title you might see on my resume comes straight from my day job in software engineering, not my indie game development.
I’ll try to explain simply without sounding too technical: I was contacted by the CEO of the Hive during their “self-evolution” AI project to solve some backend architecture issues. On second attempt, I designed a Developer Experience (DX) CLI tool called hive diff, which just gives developers better visibility into model changes.
So in essence, I simply have that title on my CV to show my professional tech infrastructure background. I assure you, my creative writing and game development here rely completely on human effort and traditional coding. Nothing on the game side of Lota Labs uses AI. Lota Labs would never. And has never claimed to.
I hope that puts your minds at ease, and thank you to everyone who is actually playing the game! I’m officially logging off for now. Have a great night!
Hi @Lotanna8900
First off, I apologize if any of my posts came across as confrontational. In hindsight, I had gotten frustrated when I ran into the generated art in the game and HG’s response on the matter, but I had allowed those feelings to cloud my responses.
While I do have questions on the art, I do acknowledge that you have already taken a big step by coming forward and clarifying some things, so I won’t press them for now. Take the time to sort out any fixes you wish to apply, and come back when you’re ready. Congratulations on publishing.
I also apologize. I was harsh, hasty and overall unfair. You would think I’d learn my lesson on rushing! I’m still a little uncomfortable just because I am so strongly opposed to the whole lot of the other half of Lota Labs, but I respect your clarification and the fact I majorly erred. My sincere congratulations regarding releasing a piece of art out there—that does vast leagues more for the world than anything my criticism ever could as a wise man once said in Ratatouille, lol.