Mr Poltroon

You're all morally reprehensible.

It has recently come to my attention that my perception of the world may be slightly at odds with reality. I've always been one to read any and all 'readme's in Software I download onto my PC, but I've been seeing comments around the internet that would suggest people at large do not. Whilst members of this forum do not reflect 'people at large', I would still like to get an impression of how others fare.

I don't think so. The player should be able to experience what the game has to offer, they should be rewarded for experimentation, but completing the game is another thing entirely. Clannad rewards the player for trying things over and over again, and its bad ends hint at what you missed. I think, in this sense, it's a masterful game that allows you to experience something new every time you try something out, but to attempt to complete Clannad without a walkthrough is madness. It's best the player simply don't know they're missing something. They'll be equally satisfied that way. It's only because walkthroughs exist that 'completing a game' is even a thing. If the game contains no indicators telling you 'there's still more content!', then you'll have completed the game when you feel you've completed the game. Including such indicators, even in the form of CGs, is selfishness from the part of a developer who thinks 'we made this so it'd be a shame if the players never saw it'. But I understand why there would be indicators of 'there's still content you haven't seen yet'. Hunting for it can be fun, depending on the person, and there are games which rely on this. Steins;Gate's true ending is my foremost example. I just don't care for CGs either way, so if they had other kinds of indicators it would be equally fine.

I don't know why, exactly, I so frequently enjoy Shougi anime, especially given that I do not know how it is played. Yet, The Ryuo's Work is Never Done! is very much my sort of thing. I'd perhaps prefer it if the loli elements were less prevalent or removed outright, but they do allow a number of funny scenes to ensue. Most notably, one of the emotional scenes actually got to me. As I can't empathise with this sort of 'sports' anime I generally am quite detached from most scenes, thinking 'why are they making such a big deal' and such things. The anime succeeded in conveying their passion and ability in such a way that it neither broke my suspension of disbelief nor remained simply boring.

I don't care too much about CGs or their contribution towards VN completion. Walkthroughs are so prevalent for VNs, you see?

Short answer is yes, though my tastes might become more inclined toward Otome, Yuri, and Western VNs than they already are.

WN? 'over there'? 'published version'?

Yes. They became my primary source of entertainment for years. Perhaps something other would have replaced them had they not become such, but I don't know. I quite like them.

Hm. Since you brought it up, I can and will elaborate on what, precisely, it is that I feared and why my happiness was restored. People seem to dislike overpowered protagonists. I don't, and I never have. In fact, I rather like them. What I do dislike and does, unfortunately, often accompany said overpowered protagonists are attempts by the anime or the plot to make it seem like the protagonist is in danger of losing. That's just annoying. In Overlord, Ains is flat out one of the most powerful existences, which gives him the freedom to world conquer, experiment, or mess around at his own pace. Also one of the reasons I so liked GATE. I also might like villain protagonists. I'm not sure. I liked Tanya from Tanya the Evil for a lot of similar reasons as to why I like Ains. The main difference, however, is that Tanya the Evil tried to portray Tanya as someone who took delight in others' suffering, which I don't. And since I don't, I don't really like those parts. Ains, on the other hand, doesn't feel much in the way of emotions, and has no need to cause other people suffering, generally speaking. Well. If I take no delight in suffering, or people being evil, why do I claim 'I might like villains'? It has to do with the general principle that being cunning, crafty, trying to control the world or using any means necessary to achieve your goals is predominately associated with being 'evil'. I love such kinds of characters. However, I am also somewhat of an idealist. I believe the best way to control things is to have people like you. The idea came to me just the other day when I was playing Eiyuu Senki, actually. The way the protagonist goes around making the leaders of all countries fall for him is ingenious. If I were a villain, that's what I'd do. Unfortunately, this 'being an evil guy who wants to control the word' business just doesn't seem to be feasible without requiring you to toil away at it. Which leads me back to Ains. Spoilers for Overlord II: As an aside, I really like the Overlord Pleaides OVAs.

I've caught up with Overlord II. I've always been a fan of nature documentaries, so I quite liked the epi--*shot* No, but really, it seemed to be going in a direction I didn't quite appreciate there for a while, but now I'm happy again.

But herein lies the problem. If I discount less traditional VNs (like DanganRonpa), I've practically no non-moege rated above 7. I'm sure there's a lot of other stuff that does not qualify as 'moege' per say, but certainly makes use of elements generally connected to moege to attract costumers, like me.

It's hard for me to figure out what is or is not a moege. When I try to remove cute girls from the picture, I end up with otome. When I try to remove 'moe' art from the picture, I end up with Western VNs that weren't going for that kind of art. The first title I see on my list that is both a traditional VN and is certainly not a moege is Remember11. There are other choices I'm not so sure on, but which I prefer to the previous: The Second Reproduction, One Thousand Lies, Never7, or Don't Take it Personally Babe, it Just Ain't Your Story.

Likely Little Busters!, but I have yet to play the famous Planetarian most speak of. I will probably not any time soon, either. I don't like crying.

Or to kill them off, forcefully stopping any further official Pulltop releases. Morbid.

Hm. Ah. Hm. That doesn't look good, even taking into account how unreliable these numbers may be. I can imagine. People are trying to send the 'Please bring over 18+ content' message, and yet they receive the 'Please bring in more short ecchi VNs' one. This is bound to be hilarious.

Oh, nononono. There's at least one reported instance of them replying with 'Thank you for your suggestion.'; They are clearly doing their utmost. 'PR disaster' does sound like a somewhat funny term, when you consider that it is only so for the audiences they aren't catering to in the first place. It's certainly bad PR. Some users, even on Steam, like to inform themselves of these things and I'm sure some of that previous 'some' do not like supporting companies that condone censorship. Even then, I've gotten the impression that there are indeed a lot of people who like A Sky Full of Starts and are playing it. I think only the future will tell if they do indeed have a disaster on their hands.

You've joked about this, but perhaps you're unaware of the circumstances. "We're selling to 12-year-old french girls" reflects Moenovel's original stance to releasing VNs in the West. That's what they started with IMHHW. Since, they have changed their policies to reflect around getting their titles to do well on Steam, and even went so far as to try out releasing short, 'ecchi' games. In short, Pulltop seems to have no interest in bringing 18+ material to the West, and whoever they had in charge before IMHHW got on Steam was aiming for younger and international audiences.

Perhaps there is already enough evidence. The one title they did originally release was a right mess. And so, they did nothing after that one. However, after it got onto Steam and got loads of sales for its outrageously low price (for a VN of that size), they started releasing more titles, and have since released three in a comparatively short time span. This is conjecture, but the answer to your question seems to be 'nothing further would happen'.

More specifically, because there's an audience for the titles said companies release.

Hm. Just in case I haven't made myself sufficiently clear, my issue is the very same one as the one reported here.

I don't see them as any different. Some I like, others I don't.

Hmmm... It is possible my memory may be failing me, but I have found that choosing a PM via the messages icon takes me to the first page of said PM conversation, whereas before I was taken to the latest post. There used to be some instances where it did indeed take me to the first page, such as when I selected a PM from the 'Messages' tab to the left of an already loaded PM. As I'm sure I've been crystal clear with my description, I expect my issues to be fixed within the hour. Swift and prompt. Very good. Additionally, the 'Back to Top' button was surreptitiously eliminated a few updates ago, but know that I miss it dearly still, @Tay.

While I do agree that having all of those passes would guarantee some level of quality, they should not all prove essential for a somewhat acceptable translation. Hikari Filed's translation is several steps below acceptable at the moment. Several steps below a great deal of translations which most definitely did not have repeated TLC passes.