The Story of Viperian - Shadow Serpent ~ AFK Journey Lore [The Esperia Chronicles | AFKwDG]

1:29 - Viperian Speaks...
2:06 - Viperian Makes His Point
3:55 - Soldiers Surround Us!
Believe it or not, this is a cold read from September 23, 2023 from around when Viperian was first added to the Journey beta, with the exception of 4 lines which were rerecorded only to repair broken or lost audio from the original stream. You can find the full original excerpt hidden in the "Highlights" videos of my Twitch, where it has been sitting ever since. (A "cold read" is a term which means that an actor has never seen the script before the moment they are reading it!!)
These lore stories are the backbone of AFK Journey's characters, and have been a celebrated foundation of the games since the very beginning of Esperia for over half a decade, made available to Journey players since the alpha trials in late 2022. Every single character was created through their lore story, without exception. They were then animated and skill-designed around it. These were replaced without notice or explanation by the wildly inaccurate, AI-generated 'Tales' in a March 2024 patch, just days before the game's launch, giving no time or opportunity for feedback.
I believe strongly that there is always time to save good art, and there is plenty of precedent for a retroactive restoration of these characters to their original identities. I also believe that for the sake of the franchise's lasting quality, it is imperative.
If you wish to see our heroes' identities restored to them; if you do not believe the 'Tales' are a sufficient replacement for these incredible works of artistry in fictional world-building -- We would ask that you let Farlight know, but the effective means and time to do so is not yet clear.
As a passionate artist and creator, as well as gamer, dreamer, and hopeless romantic, I am working tirelessly to secure this opportunity for the community. I believe that time will come.
In the mean time, the best thing you can do is spread the word of these wonderful characters' existence. Share this (Viperian's) story with someone today. Tell your guild about what happened. Make some noise. The time will come to let Farlight know what we think, all together, all at once, so our number can be counted as great.
All we need is for the voices of our fandom to demand action from Farlight for taking their money while throwing away this incredible character and replacing it with AI-generated "Tales" as though no one can tell the difference of quality.
If you think we deserve better, and these characters do too, please let them know. If not here, then in your own way!!! That's even better!!!
Special Thanks to the Lore Fandom of Journey for archiving all of these incredible characters' backstories before they were deleted, especially to the individual whose creation of this fine Google doc has made their distribution much easier for all. Your work matters!!
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DangerGrey is co-GM of the top AFK Journey guild Analytica, and began streaming AFK Arena on Twitch earlier last year. He is the creator of 'The Esperia Chronicles' lore show, and producing a series in collaboration with Farlight, called 'Intro To Journey' which is available now! Right here on DangerGrey RUclips!!
While he ranks amongst the top F2P players in the world (both games), Danger especially enjoys the Lore of the world of Esperia, and hosts a special weekly show that focuses solely on this topic, called 'The Esperia Chronicles' every Sunday morning at 9AM Pacfic on both RUclips and Twitch.
It's All Happening Right here.. on AFK with DangerGrey!
For the top advice community in AFK Journey, go to Analytica Discord down below, and join the conversation. And for all the latest updates on the game as well as when (and where) Danger will be live with AFKwDG and The Esperia Chronicles, as well as the finest Esperia Lore discussion on the interwebs with all of your favorites from the stream's chat, head to the DangerGreyDisco (rd) at the link below.... Where the Party's Always Just Getting Started
...And Stay Safe, Esperians~!
Twitch ►► / dangergrey
DangerGreyDisco(rd) ►► / discord
Analytica Journey Community Discord ►► / discord

[@MX_Sheep96]

Viperian is top 5 favorite characters for me and his lore was so cool. I used to play AFK arena and I thought it would be just another gacha that I would play for a while and then delete, but the art and the lore kept me playing and I fell in love with the characters and the amazing stories. Even after I stopped playing (mainly due to life happening) I still watched every cinematic they released in they're main channel. I kept hoping we would eventually get a animated series (something similar to Arcane) about the AFK universe. When I heard that they were making a new game with better graphics I was so excited because I wanted to experience more AFK lore, but while the main story has been great I was really let down by the character stories/Tales. I didn't know they had replaced them and now it makes sense, the original stories are exactly why I fell in love with this world and they took that away from us. I hope they change this because I know that without the amazing lore they created in AFK Arena I probably would have dropped the game sooner and would not be playing journey now, and I'm sure that there are many other people who are the same as me.

[@zsellam6193]

these backstories are perfect for the game, nice vid btw

[@Ryarat]

I found your channel on reddit when I was looking for lore on Shakir today. I was horrified to find how they butchered the characters backstory for AI generated quips. Subbed and looking forward to more of what should have been.