I guess it's time to talk about SonicFox.

I have gotten a lot of messages about Skullgirls adding a SonicFox NPC, so it's time to say some things.  This is me speaking as myself, not a representative of Lab Zero or whatever else.


(Nice bait, but if you can unironically use the phrase "promoting mental illness", you've been on 4chan too long.)

Why SonicFox?

SonicFox's NPC was included as a way of honoring their multiple selfless contributions to Skullgirls, and more importantly to the Skullgirls community, over nearly a decade.  There is no other reason.

Since people want more justification:

SonicFox is a huge Skullgirls fan, but the Indiegogo and the followup where we offered extra color slots for sale happened before they knew about the game.  As a result, they have been asking to pay for an NPC for literally years.  The NPC was created at their request, it wasn't Skullgirls searching for a well-known figure to boost the visibility of the game.

SonicFox has spent hundreds of hours teaching beginners how to play, offering intermediate players advice for how to level up, making tutorial videos, and introducing new players to Skullgirls.  They've supported the game as much as it's possible for any single person to support it.  (Which is alllllllmost as much as dapurplesharpie.  :^)

Duckator was given an in-game NPC after winning two Skullgirls-at-Evo tournaments, in recognition of demonstrated skill and dedication.  SonicFox has won many high-profile tournaments, and deserves recognition on that basis alone.

In the past years, SonicFox has given out a huge number of gift copies of Skullgirls and gift subscriptions in the chats of Twitch streamers that play Skullgirls.  They've definitely done as much to financially support Skullgirls as any other NPC-tier backer.

I'll say this again:  SonicFox's NPC was included as a way of honoring their multiple contributions to Skullgirls, and more importantly to the Skullgirls community, over nearly a decade.  There is no other reason.  I make no judgment of their personal values.

What about dekillsage?  He deserves one too!

dekillsage has also won hella tournaments, given many hundreds of hours of help to the community, and been a huge supporter of the game since the very first release.  He deserves at least as much recognition as SonicFox...however, what we do is up to the individual.  Sage was consulted about the level of inclusion he wanted, and what ended up in the game is his preference - which is all that matters.

Why now?

Because the Mysterious Character for Skullgirls Mobile (hmmm!) has to be built in the Skullgirls engine to function in SG Mobile, I had to get the Skullgirls engine to work again.  Actually being able to build the engine and assets again (and end up with a functional game!) was the impetus for everything - netcode improvements, full HD remaster, etc.  And we thought, we're porting a stage from SG Mobile so we have to figure out how to build the stages anyway, why not take the time to do something that should be done?  So we did.

Why Class Notes?  Is Mrs. Victoria gone?

Mrs. Victoria is not gone.

There was already an alternate "DeFoxSchool" version of Class Notes which appeared 50% of the time.  Since DeFoxSchool is now defunct (;_;)7 the alternate version has been revised to include SonicFox and a new chalkboard.  As with any stage that has different texture sets, you can go back to Change Stage and pick the stage again and it will be the other version.

I am bothered by SonicFox's inclusion, what can I do?

For the reasons outlined above, SonicFox deserves their NPC, and no amount of hate from any source can erase their years of very public, positive contributions to the Skullgirls community.

However, I very specifically left their NPC in a part of the game's data that the game ignores modifications to.  There is a user-created mod on the Steam forums which removes SonicFox from the game, so anyone who wants to can use that.  Or you can just not pick the stage, which is much easier.

Again - note that I could have prevented this mod from working by putting that file in a spot the game would check, but I didn't.  So please spare Skullgirls and SonicFox any misplaced ire, thanks.

No dice, I still want a refund!  What can I do?

If none of this appeased your righteous indignation and you feel you have a legitimate grievance, please DM me on Twitter!  (Don't @ me, I can't wade through piles of those.)  If you can provide proof of Steam ownership and purchase price, as well as your grievance*, I will gladly provide you a refund from my own money**.  The stage was changed to honor two people who very much deserve it, so it will not be adjusted - but the aim was not to specifically offend anyone.

* Your identity will not be made public, if you are concerned, but I mean it when I say "provide proof".  Homophobic, racist, or otherwise discriminatory or internet-troll complaints will be ignored.  Be civil.  You have been warned.

** Up to a point, I can't personally afford like $5000 of refunds.  So let's see what happens.  :^P