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A Twitter dispute highlights the lingering tension between Sekai Project and the adult gaming community KARAKARA, Dovac, Twitter wars, and overcharging for adult content

Pictures dammit. Take trump shit elsewhere.

There's no way the 18+ version of a game like KaraKara is sold for $10, none of the major VN companies would ever do that. Instead of making every version of the game cost the same, SP decided to give a cheaper option for people who want less content. EA sells games for the standard $60 and then sells DLC on top of that, that's a different story.

Well if that is your stance on it, you don't need to be a part of the discussion. It means something to certain people, even if it's just useless porn to you. This was ... interesting. Obviously the guy making free patches is in the wrong, but the absolutely childish behavoir from the SP guy is really pathetic to look at. And the fact that he does it openly to the public makes it 10x worse. As for the price of the H-content, honestly, I don't care. I want the game the way it was meant to be played, and I'll pay whatever price they put it down for. At least it means we don't have a censored release like G-senjou again when they make patches, even if you have to pay extra for it. FrontWing just did the same thing with Corona Blossom, so it's not just SP.

I think Dovac's frustration goes way beyond of just loosing the money for an upgrade patch. It's not exactly new information that sales on their Denpasoft site aren't particularly great. Dovac complained about that fact often enough and frequently used it as an argument to defend their all ages policy. And naturally, many people get upset about that, arguing that adult titles sell pretty well for MangaGamer. However, what most people probably don't see is that Sekai Project isn't MangaGamer, and there is actually a vast difference between those two companies: If it comes to all ages titles sold on Steam, both companies are more or less equal, because for a typical Steam user it doesn't really matter who's the publisher of the title he wants to buy. However, things are different if it comes to adult titles. Since those either can't be sold on Steam at all, or just as a stripped-down version, the own home site where adult titles can be sold comes into play. And with that we are slowly getting closer to the true reasons why MangaGamer are huge adult-freaks while Sekai Project just need to hear the word 'adult' to get into a bad mood and go tsun-tsun. Overall, my personal estimate is that the MangaGamer site has about 10 - 20 times as much accounts as Sekai Project's adult site Denpasoft. Now, what does that mean? First, it means that if MangaGamer sells an adult only title on their home page it would sell approximately 10 - 20 times better as if Sekai Project would sell it on their Denpasoft site. Second, it also means that titles which are also available on Steam can be sold on their own site which saves them the hefty 30% Steam fee. I'm a pretty good example for that myself. I've an account both on Steam and MangaGamer. And yesterday I bought Supipara on the MangaGamer site which means they didn't have to pay the 30% Steam fee for my copy. But I bought all the titles from Sekai Project so far on Steam because I don't have an account on Denpasoft, which means they lost 30% of my money to Steam. So I think it should be clear that Sekai Project are in a significant disadvantage compared to MangaGamer if it comes to adult titles. But why has MangaGamer so much more accounts than Denpasoft? I think that's also quite easy to answer. MangaGamer is a much older company than Sekain Project with an already established retail site for adult titles. Most people don't like creating new accounts (I personally hate it), so it simply takes time to convince people to create an account and you have have to give them a good reason for it. But what has Sekai Project to offer on their adult site? Frankly, not much! Pretty much just a few adult patches for Steam titles where I can easily get the patch for free. And it's hard to make people feel guily just for downloading an adult patch if they actually bougth the title legally on Steam. And what has MangaGamer to offer? Lots of high quality adult only titles which were or still are very popular like ImoPara, Eroge, Koihime, Beat Blades Haruka and many more. So what can Sekai Project do to get more accounts on their site? This is ironically almost a vicious circle. To get more accounts they have to offer something everybody wants which isn't available on Steam. A popular nukige for example, but who wants to give them one as long as their adult site is an account graveyard with an almost guaranteed sales flop? I'm sure this ridiculous problem makes them want to tear their hair out at times. I personally think they have the best chances with Sayori's Boku to Koi Suru Ponkotsu Akuma since it's an absolute gorgeous nukige from a very popular artist with an already established fan base in the west. And while most people probably think that the Baldr Sky series is Sekai Project's most important license achievement this year, I tend to disagree. Baldr Sky won't solve the problem with their Denpasoft site but Boku to Koi Suru Ponkotsu Akuma might be able to. So I think for them this good for nothing nukige is even more important for their future than the hyper popular Baldr license. And if they really want to butcher this title for Steam (which might have been a condition from Smile to even get it), then I really hope that they are smart enough to delay the Steam release as long as possible. They absolutely HAVE to offer something exclusive on their Denpasoft site or people will continue to give a damn about it. While this text wall won't make Dovac's answers more diplomatic, I hope it at least gives some understanding why he sometimes tends to overreact a bit if it comes to this topic. It must be absolutely frustrating for him to get constantly criticized for his all ages focus even if he tries to get his Denpasoft site going for years now. Steam and Kickstarter made the fast growth of Sekai Project possible, but unfortunately there's no 'adult Steam' site they could use. So their adult section will take longer for the simple reason that they have to establish their own site for it, and that can take years. Actually, the best thing people can do who want more adult titles from Sekai Project, is creating an account on Denpasoft and buy every available title from there instead of Steam. Well, I'm admittedly a pretty bad example for that since I personally don't have an account there yet, but I plan to change that for the Koikuma release.

Another quick project plug: Luna Translations just released their v1.0 English patch for the Majo Koi Nikki (a.k.a. Witch's Love Diary) demo. And guess what? You should totally go get it. I've been helping out with their proofreading, and I can tell you they've done a bang-up job so far. Best part? It's super easy to obtain. Qoobrand offers the trial, which covers the game's prologue, as a free download on their site. (You'll want to grab the first one, not Trial 2.) Just download it, patch it up, and Robert's your mother's brother. Just so you know, he gets a little grabby after two or three scotches. It should also be said that Qoobrand jammed a bunch of H-scenes into the early hours of MajoKoi. Consider that fair warning... or the clang of a dinner bell, if you're hungry for that sort of thing. Unlike a lot of VNs, however, those sections are there for a reason.* MajoKoi is set up as an intricate puzzle, and the oddly early placement of the H is all part of the larger mystery. So go on — pull up a chair, order yourself a Dragon Burger (medium rare), and settle in for a small taste of what Majo Koi Nikki has to offer. Trial download: http://qoo.amuse-c.jp/01_mazyokoi/download.html English patch download: https://lunatranslationstestsite.wordpress.com/downloads/ * Not a good reason. But a better reason than most, at least.

Content gets removed, price goes down. Content gets added, price goes up. That much should be obvious. The only real discussion to be had from there is what the pricing of the extra content should be, and whether or not it makes more sense to have everyone pay the same price (making it more expensive for Steam users) and give out a patch for free. Personally, I don't mind paying for patches and I prefer it since Steam tends to have more sales and I gain a little extra change by selling cards. As for why certain VNs' patches cost double the Steam version, it's probably because the Japanese version costs around $20. This is especially relevant for Nekopara and KARAKARA, which are both multilingual releases. For example, if you don't like the price of Nekopara Vol. 2 on Denpasoft then you can buy it on DLsite—but it'll still be $20 no matter what (I think it's even a bit cheaper on Denpasoft). Giving out a patch for free would be undercutting their own sales since the original price is higher than Steam's.

Should make this the Sekai Project motto.

Seriously though, he's a grown man and the CEO of his company. I can't comprehend what caused him to behave that way out in the open regarding his company's business. Do it behind close doors, quickly, and settle the matter. If it requires legal, then bring them in and discuss it between legal. This is ridiculous to me. Why would you go on twitter and say "Let's talk in public what do you have to hide?". Why talk in public in the first place? . It's embarrassing for the company as a whole I think. I do understand that it's extremely frustrating to deal with a situation like this but you're the freaking CEO, handle it or hire someone to handle it for you [lawyer]. Nice article @sanahtlig, I don't follow twitter stuff so I wouldn't have been aware of it otherwise. It's pretty eye opening.

what about one thousand lies https://vndb.org/v19014 it's really good and the comedy is great

There's a big difference between pirated shit and this. If you want to pirate the game, then just pirate the whole damn thing. Literally what is the purpose of offering this? For people who aren't cheap enough to pirate but can't be damned to pay 10 more dollars? The only thing these do is dissuade steam users from actually buying from denpasoft, which isn't a good thing for anyone. Not to mention this persons "excuse" is a giant joke. " If you don’t know how I work on my patches, it’s quite simple: if there is a Steam version and a japanese version (priority is disc > download), I usually make a patch for the Steam release. Some people, like me, prefer also to directly support the developers, so even though you are holding two copies of the game, you cannot transfer the content between them even though they’re the exact same game with the exact same files. I’ve been always pretty vocal about this stuff and how it’s terrible to make you buy a third thing (usually the patch) to use the content you already own. " Apparently they're for people who have the steam version as well as the standalone 18+ version? That makes 0 sense at all, and ironically enough I find it funny that all these 18+ patches are for Sekai games, and you find none for Mangagamer steam titles. Oh, and they even apparently have an affiliate link to buy off Mangagamer's store. All of that, on top of the fact that this person takes donations. Sorry, but that's pretty scummy.

I'm who I've always been. I'm not responsible for Fuwanovel's actions, just as Fuwanovel doesn't want to be responsible for mine. We're a collection of individuals, each with our beliefs. I'm a bit surprised you're biting at that bait. The actions of the collective do not define the individual.

Back then Fuwanovel indeed didn't deserve respect. I've pirated things in the past, and I would not expect anyone to treat me with respect for having done so, either. Pirates do not deserve to be handled with respect, period. We've been working hard to earn the respect we deservedly lacked for years of torrent use and you can't use that past as a weapon to invalidate the arguments being made here.

Deploying the "hypocrite" card on a large scale like that is just going to get you piled on. Don't do it. On top of that, it shows your ignorance of the varied stances that people have towards piracy here and elsewhere.

You should apply for a job at Sekai Project. You'd fit right in.

its fucking porn. go to sad panda, have a fap, and get on with your sad, beta life. Honestly... this is cringe on all levels, by all parties involved

Visual Novel Translation Status (07/30/2016) For the title, first two should be obvious if we looking at the picture (Samurai from ChuSingura and Witch from Supipara). For the princess part, the character in Corona Blossom was voiced by Fujimori Yukina and since Fujimori Yukina also voiced a princess in Madou Koukaku (Margrietta), I using princess part as seiyuu joke here. To be honest for VNTS this week there's not much update here, so let me try to give my impression for the releases here first. All I could said that the releases was still in partial part for supposed fully Visual Novel. Oh, and sorry for late post here. About ChuSingura, interesting strategy maybe using Chapter 2 and 3 as DLC for freely available Chapter 1. If I may speak a little more here, Chapter 1 was dealing with purple haired MILF (Ooishi Kuranosuke) that could be able turn to child, Chapter 2 dealing with blue haired samurai (Horibee Yasube, also the samurai in VNTS Image) who want to avenge her lord (Or should be lady here), and Chapter 3 dealing with the daughter of the MILF (Ooishi Chikara) according from the review that I read. My question here would be when last 2 chapters will be released, although looking from release pattern there hopefully not too long (Keep in mind that this is only my wishful thinking). Supipara, the opening song was good, the scenery porn was as expected from minori, and there's no sex scene so if this entered Steam it shouldn't be much surprise here. Unfortunately, the no sex scene here was apparently the source of Supipara downfall because there's some issue that the people didn't want to buy this because there's no sex scene here back at Japan. And because of Supipara flop I'd also read some post that say minori was about face bankruptcy before some rich people donate them. Since Japan sales was flop, minori was of course interested with Steam and decided to license Supipara and use their own of fundraising to develop future Supipara chapters, which to be honest it was quite worrying if we looking from the fund gathered. For useless trivia, Supipara was acronym for Smile, Peace, Passion, and Love there. Corona Blossom, well Volume 1 was released as expected. But what caught my attention here would be the length according to VNDB. If the length at VNDB was true, we'll probably will get something like medium length visual novel here, although for now we still couldn't know it though. The reason it was short was maybe it's another experiment here just like back at KARAKARA, but instead from Sekai this time we apparently had Frontwing interested by crowfunding here and using Indie Go Go. Unlike ChuSingura which we still didn't know when it'll be delivered and Supipara which the problem was lack of necessary funds for now, Frontwing was promised us that Volume 2 and 3 will be delivered around October here (I don't certain though). Sekai Project Chrono Clock was 26.44% translated I Miss Her was at 7.02% translated Tenshin Rahman 30.49% translated Maitetsu was at 16.32% translated Wagahigh was at 21.9% translated Dovac outburst at his Twitter earlier aside, there's no much update from Sekai because most of their project was listed at 100% here. Although if I may give some comment here would be the progress for Chrono Clock, Maitetsu, and Tenshin Rahman here was very slow. Oh, and Just Desert was released but there's still no Indonesian language release ie it'll be released later. Maybe next week I'll just list Sekai like this and without comment, because there's noting worth to comment from them mostly. Fan Translation Bishoujo Mangekyou was 32% edited and 18.2% QC-ing Tsui Yuri was 63% translated Majokoi demo translation patch released Yosuga no Sora was 88.15% translated and apparently this is their first update for half a year Lovely Caption was 34% translated Other than usual update, I'd more interested with Yosuga no Sora here, because this project was already go for very long time and yet still not finished. The good question here would be when the heck this project will be finished (Although the main girl route Sora was already translated though). Oh, and the premise was like incest between twin sibling here, and the girl twin was Sora. About Majokoi, I'll try it later. Speaking about patch, in regard of Dracu Riot turn out that the last week patch from Fiddle should be release for next year April Fool, because it change the name of the cast and made it more confusing. I think that's all I could comment now. For other section, other than ChuSingura 2 more chapters release and Corona Blossom Volume 1 release that I wrote earlier, there's some surprise in regard of Libra translation progress. This week we had Calen's route at 25% translated, and I think the progress will including editing and QC (Although I still questioning if there will be another update from Mikandi though). That's all for this week VNTS Review, and see you next week Edit 1 - Just check it, and we also had progress from Tsukiyori translation project. Right now it was at 24% translated for Luna's route. Edit 2 - There's another update from Clover Days project that Ittaku decided to translated the twins route since the designated translator for the mentioned route was MIA or something like that. Here's his post for the proof and good luck for you, Ittaku. Edit 3 (8/1) - There's a big update from Hanasaki (48% translated for Hikari's route). I'll try to add update in edit if there's happening after my blogpost here (The late-most here fou update would be Monday)

There's also the question of whether or not someone who knowingly and actively provides easy piracy options for your content deserves your respect.

Yeah, I don't like both their attitudes to be honest. It just reflects more poorly on Dovac because of the position he holds. He's not taking it down unless he's asked in a specific way? There's a difference between asking for respect and playing around.

The steam version gets dropped in price so the patch actually has a price, the only result of this is that steam kiddos get the game for cheaper. There's nothing for you to complain about.

Here is something from my deviantart. It is a bit rough but probably the best I'm going to be able to accomplish currently.

http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=678535

That’s a flawed idea, and it’s flawed because you’re attributing worth to amount of content. This is probably the same sort of idea Key has (quality equals number of lines) when they pump out their horrendously bloated VNs. In fact, many content creators will tell you the same thing, which is that charging proportionally for items due to ‘content’ is not the way to go. If Rowling withheld the 2nd last chapter of Harry Potter from everyone, the bit with the climax in it, how much would that be worth to people? I'd wager the number of lines has very little to do with it. Whether Sekai overcharges for the erotic content or not is probably related to business decisions that I’m not going to comment on. But the idea of setting a price for one version of the story based (loosely or not) on how many additional lines or CGs are added is something I'm loath to endorse. For a whole crapload of reasons. Reasons most of the community don't think about. Sure, companies abuse this by setting the price of expansion or additional content arbitrarily high, but isn't this solved by traditional market pressures? If companies set the price of additional content too high, people won't buy and they'll lose money? And if people do buy, then it's obviously not too high? The alternative 'pricing for amount of content' isn't really a road I want to head down.

Raymond Qian is a fucking cry baby not just a mountain of pure salt. How can a grown up man act like a child on the internet? He is the CEO of a company for god's sake, he should act like an adult for once! Even if he is right everything he does ruins it, you don't fight on your twitter account with the guy that you think is stealing from your company, you don't whine about your fucking job or criticizes your customers publicly for something they don't have anything to do! I'm referring to this tweets:

There is no patch nor public plans for it at the moment. Vndb is a good way to check if there is a translation. https://vndb.org/v7650

DONT DO IT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT READ LITTLE BUSTERS

The House in Fata Morgana is 20 hours-ish (I clocked in at 24), and has fantastic music. I'd also say its super upbeat but I'd be a liar. Still though, its a fantastic read that fits 2 of the 3 requirements lol

Because after the starter phase, most people become to pretentious to appreciate it. "I only read REAL japanese Visual Novels" and stuff like that.

It's free.

I've been sitting on this username like a hoarder clutching onto a dusty book that I never use. I figured after about 10 months maybe it might be time to actually put it in action, you can just call me Ashley or Kuudere or whatever you feel like. I've been playing visual novels for about 4~ years now but I haven't updated my vndb in forever since I'm overly lazy if you couldn't already tell. I play them because I like reading and I especially love the twists and storylines in VNs and I might get attached to some characters just a tiny bit. My 'job' is to draw and sell art for a half living and I relax by playing osu! I'm also from south island New Zealand so that is alright too. I might be a bit bitchy but I don't bite and sometimes even friendly, believe it or not! Thanks for reading

To me, it looks like Dovac and Sekai Project created that sub-brand so that they could handle h-content at a remove (with the proverbial ten foot pole) so that if legal issues about obscenity laws pop up they can cut the sub-brand and blame everything on the people running it, so they don't have to fork out the cash for legal fees and to handle the bad publicity they are really afraid of. A large factor contributing to the fact that the VN localization industry is so small is because of erotic content, after all. It just isn't worth the risk in the mind of someone who isn't an otaku himself. Edit: As for Imouto Works... I'm neutral, simply because both sides are being stupid at this point. Edit2: From the point of view of a corporate leader who isn't a VN-reading hentai otaku, there is little to no value in keeping the h-content, as it adds to potential risks in a business that is already medium-risk, low-profit (translation costs, licensing costs, etc versus unknown number of people willing to purchase it) industry.

I see patches for Umineko and Higurashi on his site. Not 18+ patches, but MangaGamer titles nonetheless, and he's most definitely infringing copyright with these patches. Imouto Works claims that he works on patches for titles based on requests from followers. The biases of his followers could thus influence which titles he makes patches for. Admittedly, he doesn't have ethical grounds to stand on with regards to why he's still hosting the Nekopara Vol. 2 and KARAKARA patches, even after Sekai Project asked him to stop.

I pretty much second what Arcade said here, seems pretty neat! Keep it up and best of luck. Regarding this post, perhaps rework the format of the presentation. Cheers.

While dovac might've been behaving unprofessionally, he was in no way obligated to give a "formal request" through email. The only formal request he's likely to give is a C&D order, which is certainly in his legal right to do so. I don't know, in the end dovac is still the immature and young CEO of a visual novel localization start-up that he's always been, whereas imoutoworks is stealing from creators because baddie Sekai Project wants to charge money for extra content.

Happy 19th birthday here, @akaritan. Hope your upcoming year well and also hopefully I could see you more here.

https://twitter.com/mikisugina/status/755389911797145602

http://fuwanovel.net/reviews/2016/07/28/umineko-no-naku-koro-ni-2/ Oh, Ryukishi. I do love your stories, but they aren't quite without fault.

Thank you! Yes I picked up CLannad, Princess Evangile, Eden, G-senjou, Ozmafia and Grisaia on the recent steam sale... so I have reading to do x) I will ask for recommendations if I get those read first. I really look forward to Clannad and Evangile! Thanks again, I hope I can round up the things I have and post about it later, I did the concepts during a school course (studied 2d game graphics) so I already have basics of characters and such planned. So I just need time to get started

Welcome, and hope you could find more good Visual Novel in the future (If necessary, just ask us for recommendation here). As for your original VN project here, good luck and you could post about it later at Original Visual Novel section.

I have some fond memories of Karin. If you liked the anime, give the manga a try some time. Interestingly enough, when the mangaka was setting up for LN and anime adaptions of her work, she wanted two different instances of the story, each having their own unique character added. The LN adaption is supposedly a more mystery-oriented version of the story, whereas the anime was more lighthearted and comedy-oriented. The original manga is pretty dark, and the ending is bittersweet. The story was quite a bit more interesting though.

You don't need any pics to get my attention, Dergy

You can read Planetarian for Key, but the comedy in this is almost zero. Clannad would be nice for you, since the whole common route is pretty funny, the character routes start quickly and we have the "miracle" endings [common to almost all Key games] I'm also looking at my list and I don't have anything funny too º-º where did all fun go? Well, for comedy purposes only, you can read Hatoful Boyfriend - https://vndb.org/v7836 and Paca Plus https://vndb.org/v7795

Gotta be Dracu-Riot! It's decently short, has a lot of lighthearted moments, some good comedy, especially when Nicola's on the scene, and its overall very satisfying Other good ones are My Girlfriend is the President, Deardrops, Majikoi, Noble Noodle Works, and Sepia Tears

http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=211515

Finished UBW What can I say, I climaxed 923589348 times getting to see everything animated, that was quite a treat. Unfortunately though the UBW bias is so strong in me now I'm having the hardest time ever trying to settle into Heaven's Feel in the VN ._.

Celebrities and news anchors have already tried that, and all it did was piss them off. Shame tactics are really not effective at all to convince someone to vote for her. Yeah, we're probably headed for the brink of destruction at this point. This is why I have little to no faith in humanity.

In a world of their own.

General feeling after having first read the original story: Man, that's unfortunate, I hope it's nothing serious. General feeling after having read the rest of the thread: *Facedesk....* *facedeskfacedeskfacedesk*