Buzz
Despite its recent debut, Tower of Fantasy has found itself entangled in numerous dramas that players can't easily ignore.
Aside from neglecting bug fixes and stealing 5-star ratings from other games, Tower of Fantasy (ToF) has been involved in various controversies such as plagiarism, theft of resources from other games, and the use of illegal identities. Continuing from the previous part, let's uncover the lesser-known dramas of Tower of Fantasy.
4. Unauthorized Use of Stolen IDs
Not long after its launch, Tower of Fantasy committed a grave error by facilitating the use of identities of the deceased. These accusations originated from a Chinese account on Bilibili.
Since Tower of Fantasy was not initially released internationally, players needed a Chinese identification code (ID), such as a residence permit or ID card. When the beta server opened, many foreign players participated. Some players discovered a Discord server dedicated to distributing Chinese IDs to foreign players for game account registration.
These IDs originally belonged to the deceased, primarily victims of the 2017 landslide in Sichuan, China. The IDs were publicly disclosed to identify the victims and allow their families to confirm their identities.
Prior to the incident of foreign players using IDs illicitly, ToF only issued a statement from the Discord server admin, unrelated to the company. ToF also announced intentions to sue players who exposed this incident, rather than addressing those who used IDs unlawfully. This indirectly confirmed the incident as true but chose to ignore and not resolve it completely.
5. 'Borrowing Ideas' from Various Entertainment Products
The resemblance of ToF to Hoyoverse's game titles is something everyone easily notices. In ToF, players can easily spot versions from a 'different universe' of characters like Diluc, Keqing, Hutao...
In reality, many games draw inspiration or even closely imitate those that came before them, and this has happened numerous times. What's noteworthy is that Tower of Fantasy has often 'borrowed' resources from other games to incorporate into its own.
The first instance of this occurred in December 2021, shortly after ToF's release. In an advertisement for ToF's new character, the Sacred Relic 3 sword from Honkai Impact 3rd appeared. After players discovered this, the company issued a statement claiming that the advertising was not thoroughly checked and attributed the error to a temporary staff member.
However, this isn't the only instance where ToF imitated ideas from other entertainment products. A notable example is the game advertisement in early January 2022 when Tower of Fantasy 'borrowed' the entire concept from a short animated film on YouTube. The creator of the animated film spoke out against ToF on their Twitter. The publisher remained relatively silent and provided no official clarification on this matter.
Many have wondered why Tower of Fantasy, a game with so much potential, engages in opportunistic practices and accumulates numerous controversies. Perhaps, The Perfect World publisher has adopted a 'negative marketing' strategy, using negative publicity to make its game more prominent and garner free advertising from those who criticize it.
This approach may be effective in attracting new players, but retaining and encouraging players to spend money is a different story. If Tower of Fantasy aims to achieve success like Genshin Impact, the publisher needs to focus even more on the quality and real player experience.
