RikiSanic

Those patch notes are the pretty much the exact same that Sekai Project has used for Nekopara and KARAKARA. I just tested it out with Nekopara Vol. 2 and you can printscreen just fine; it's only when you use Steam's screenshot feature that it blurs the entire image. Basically, it's a system in place to prevent people from streaming porn using Steam's broadcasting service which could get the developer in trouble.

I'd normally be with you (I believed Root Double would make its goal even though many were predicting its failure) but the conditions just don't seem to be right for this Kickstarter. It hasn't had a significant bump in funding since the beginning and various updates have yet to change that. Unless they manage to get some big shout-outs or other coverage of some kind, I just don't know how they're going to attract enough backers. I'd love to be proven wrong, but this campaign doesn't seem to be following the trends of other successful campaigns I've seen—not even the close-call ones.

I think the failure of this campaign is a combination of a lack of marketing (launching the campaign a few days before Anime Expo was a bad idea that resulted in any traction slowing to a halt) and an overestimation of the demand for this VN. It's been fan-translated for a while now, doesn't have an anime, and even though it's well-regarded it doesn't have anything close to a fandom like Grisaia or Muv-Luv. $140,000 as the base goal is asking for a lot, and the stretch goals are practically impossible. It's a shame, because I would've liked to reread this officially and with a better translation, but it doesn't look like it's gonna happen at this rate. At a lower goal and with better planning this could've been successful. It's got a good average pledge per backer, but not enough reach to reel in the necessary number of backers. The whole thing just seems like one big miscalculation.

If you didn't see the stream you didn't miss out on much. It was mostly just them casually talking about the titles they announced at AX, and they didn't really say anything they haven't said already. The Q&A was only during the last 25 minutes and nobody really asked any questions of significance. I don't even think they really looked at that one thread on their forums, they were mostly just reading twitch chat.

Oh, I definitely agree. If something is entertaining enough, I typically rate it higher than it possibly deserves. I just tend to look at 10/10s as something that only happens under the absolutely right conditions. If I really, really like something but hesitate for a second to call it perfect, then it might get a 9 or 8 instead. They are just numbers that only slightly indicate how someone feels, though, so different people will have different philosophies on how to use them. I guess the main issue I have is with Rooke's example from that Steam review. Something doesn't become a 10 after a second viewing to me; it either is or it isn't. To call something perfect like that just seems so insincere. People should want more out of their "masterpieces", I guess is what I'm saying.

It's funny you bring that up, Rooke, because after I finished Alternative I remember thinking to myself how much better it could've been if Extra and Unlimited were actually engaging and not just 50 hours of exposition for the next game. And it's not like Alternative magically got better, either; plenty of the failings of the earlier installments made it into Alternative, too (the awfully glacial pacing, for one). People are free to think whatever they want obviously, but throwing out 10/10s so freely is weird to me. Imagine if creators had that mindset. How would you satisfy your creative vision if you weren't willing to identify your own mistakes and correct them? Maybe that's why so many visual novels don't seem to mind how much time they waste to get to the good stuff.

The fact that they removed those awful extended ellipses already makes it much better. I kind of regret reading this last summer. They announced the localization right after I was already a good ways into the fan translation and I ended up going through with the rest of it. Degica's release definitely seems like a smoother experience, so good on them for that. It's amazing what some TLC and editors who understand nuance can do to a shoddy script. Just one more reason to learn Japanese, I guess.

You can get away with sex jokes at least just fine on Steam. Purino Party had a ton of them.

Why do all of these shoddy localization companies have such terrible names? Makes me not want to support them because of how little thought they put into their brand, let alone all of the other shady shit they're doing.

That's definitely true. It's especially evident when you consider this quote from the prefundia: "This project is a collaboration between AKABEi SOFT2 and Frontwing, two visual novel developers in Japan. (Actually, the presidents of both companies are good friends!)" This means that Frontwing has a direct line to Akabeisoft2 and can more easily persuade them. I'm sure that Frontwing didn't like all the hate they were getting, and since they're also trying to break into the Western market on their own, having this Kickstarter be a blight on their reputation would be bad news for them. Another Japanese company is probably more convincing than a Western company that can just take the blame anyway. When it's your buddy who's in trouble, Akabeisoft2 was much more willing to comply.

The reason for that is probably because Akabeisoft2 was directly exposed to the criticism in a single location (prefundia). And if they didn't listen, it could mean a failed project. Whereas Sekai Project had to take all the hate from multiple fronts and since it never negatively impacted Akabeisoft2, they never budged from their no-18+ position. Publishers have it rough.

I definitely don't think 18+ content will go away altogether. Porn will always be a good carrot on a stick and as long as the version released in Japan has 18+ content, vocal members of the community are always going to be displeased if you don't bother to release it. It looks like even Purino Party, which is purely for the Western market, might have some kind of 18+ version since it's "adults only" according to its website. The best plan for Japanese companies is to appeal to both groups (if the VN had adult content to begin with). Selling 18+ VNs is still a viable strategy, even though many Japanese companies jumping on board don't seem to realize/believe it.

Not quite, it's actually the Japanese developers themselves who seem to be more interested in all ages. If Japanese companies want to survive in a diminishing home market, then they need to adapt, and one way to do that is to branch out to other territories and make more marketable products. Frontwing's Corona Blossom and Purino Party are perfect examples of this strategy, and if they succeed you'll probably see many other companies emulate them, just as many Japanese developers saw the success of Kickstarter and are suddenly more willing to jump on that bandwagon.

That's possible. But mainstream VN fans on Steam also love fluff and fan service. There's no reason why Nekopara and the Sakura series in particular had to be so popular--other than that they're easy to consume and feature cute anime girls (and if you know how, naked anime girls). If this can do the same and add in an accessible gameplay element, it could very well be a good investment for Frontwing.

None of that is actually wrong, especially when you're trying to expand your business and reach the largest audience possible.

Good list of highlights; I sat through the whole thing myself and there were some interesting tidbits. One thing I thought was worthy of note was Dovac emphasizing that the only title of theirs to never get its 18+ version released was G-senjou no Maou. They seemed much less hush-hush about 18+ versions and implied that they are currently discussing the possibility of releasing them with their partners on a few of their upcoming titles. Also, they teased something involving S&M... New Denpasoft only title?

The campaign looks very well put together (especially when compared to the recent ChuSinGura fiasco), but damn does that goal seem unnecessarily high. It's the same as Clannad's, slightly higher than Root Double's, and the Hozuki chapters (which don't have that much content) are an additional $100,000. Like I said, the presentation is competent and reassuring, but that goal might scare off some people and call the campaign's purpose into question. Then again, it is well-regarded in the community and if they properly communicate it still might have a good shot—we'll have to see how they move forward. Against my better judgment this statement makes me interested in backing... (As long as all goes well, of course.)

You can bet this whole arrangement is because both Frontwing and Akabeisoft2 stand to gain more money. Frontwing gets to publish and manage the Kickstarter, and Akabeisoft2 probably has more control and a bigger cut. And despite all of Akabeisoft2's meddling with the G-senjou Steam release, it got lukewarm sales. Now that they're crowdfunding, they'll have guaranteed money (as long as it succeeds).

Yeah, the script commits several writing faux pas; for example, stop using "start" and just leave the verb by itself. Filler words are fine in conversation but serve only to weaken your writing and fill it with pointless information. But the game does look interesting and I'm already used to less than stellar writing in my Japanese VN translations (sadly), so I'll still give it a look.

If we're gonna speculate about ChuSinGura then Sekai Project is also just as likely because I remember them saying they'd have only 2 announcements for these two events and now they have 5. But, to be honest, I'd be pretty surprised if it actually got picked up by either so quickly—especially since the Kickstarter was asking for $210,000 and they did say they would be re-launching. Anyway, I think there's a good chance Koi to, Guitar to, Aoi Sora from the devs of Atom Grrrl got picked up by Sekai Project as evidenced by this tweet. Dovac also made a tweet that their biggest announcement of the year would be this weekend, so something bigger than KARAKARA or Hoshimemo is likely, whatever that would be. Other than that, it's anyone's guess.

I think this means Sekai Project will be more choosy when picking crowdfunding partners. Which is good, because they have plenty of interesting original projects right now (Memory's Dogma, KARAKARA) and they shouldn't need to bother with untrustworthy doujin groups anymore. Hopefully they can move on from this project quickly and better allocate their time where it's needed.

Nekopara Vol. 2 is coming out soon, so I think that release will be the best litmus test for how Sekai Project handles their 18+ patches.

I agree that having both options is the best scenario, but if the Japanese developer only agrees to a patch for whatever reason, I'd much rather prefer a patch than no 18+ content at all.

I'm all for 18+ patches. I like my games on Steam, and I'm already in the Steam ecosystem with cards and whatnot. If selling patches on Denpasoft makes it easier to distribute 18+ versions because of licensing issues or whatever, then I think it's an even greater idea. It gives flexibility to the consumer and it's content I'm willing to pay extra for. I personally want to see it implemented more.

They also got rid of the $5k and $7k tiers and replaced them with $1.5k and $2k tiers. Somebody already went for the $2k tier. I'd say this Kickstarter has a very good chance of succeeding now.