Addressing the Elephant in the Room

First of all, thank you for the support Tales From the Herd has already received. I'm just getting started, and to already see so many kind comments and excitement from people has been wonderful. I really do hope I can live up to that excitement, and make Tales of the Herd the best version of itself.

However in the discussion and hype I’ve seen so far around Tales From the Herd, there’s been another pretty common thread. That being of course, its association to another… modestly sized equine brand. Maybe this brand is even owned by a “company” who might have a sort of history of intervening on fan projects… theoretically.

Well, let me first clear the air by saying that I am well aware of the danger I’m in. I’ve been in this fandom too long to have blinders on about this. The thing is, though – I have to try.

From what I’ve seen, just historically in the community, I think “the company” stepping in on my project would be sort of breaking new ground as far as their reach is concerned. From my memory, the projects that got C&D’d all shared two similar pitfalls: character name usage, and a nearly identical Flash animation art style. And neither of these things are or will ever be used in my game. Furthermore, I figure these guys are probably more concerned right now with newer iterations of their brands that aren’t from 13 years ago…

But, you may be thinking, “genius, names or not, everybody knows what they’re looking at when they see this game”, and you’d be right – I’m sure “the company” could step in at any moment and shut everything down, and their army of six-figure lawyers could very easily throw the book at me about “confusion of brand identity” or some other loosely defined trademark law, naturally.

But that’s just it: I’m not doing this because I’m smart – this may in fact make me quite dumb. I’m doing this because I love them. I love the characters, I love the world, and I love the community. And this version of the game, the one you saw in the trailer, is my ideal form of that expression of love. Like I said earlier, I made it like this, because I have to try for my best case scenario.

Yes, the story and characters treading this closely to legal hot water is how I originally envisioned it. If the company upstairs doesn’t agree with that, I’m willing to play ball. Maybe it’ll mean a change of color schemes, or mane styles. Maybe it’ll demand more sweeping changes, like making the locations a little more abstract in their homage. But I swear to God, you suits, if my only legal recourse ends up being a complete and total overhaul, I will have a Joker arc and make you the primary antagonist in a much more cynical and brooding version of this game.

But seriously… I think that’s about all I can say on the topic. I know the line I’m walking on, you and I both wouldn’t be surprised if the project suddenly went dark for a while. But like I said: I’ve gotta try. I will do everything in my power to get this game to you, and make it the best version I physically can.

Oh, and one final thing I'd like to clear up: while the inspiration in this game is obvious, Tales From the Herd will be an original story, and not just retell the ones we've all already seen. 

Thank you again for the support I’ve received so far, and for keeping the community alive in general. I mean let’s face it, it was always about the toys for “the company”, but we’re still here because of the passion of the talented people that worked on the show, and all of the amazing creators that’ve made this arguably the most prolific fandom in history. It’s incredible to see now as it was back in 2011 when I joined, and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon; unless of course, I’m thrown in jail.

The first private milestone build is still planned for Spring 2024, but I’ll be back before then with some more updates. Hope to see you there!

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