sanahtlig

There is a public post on the matter also, yes.

From my post on VNDB: One person I talked to at JAST said he was looking into the possibility of an adult release of Aselia. He's not part of the team involved in the project so he has no actual authority, however.

According to Aroduc's notes, the English version dialed back the requirements to get high battle ratings (since the original requirements didn't seem to be logically consistent). I didn't have much trouble clearing most maps with S-rank in the JP version, so I don't think a guide should be required. In most cases, maximizing battle rank means dividing your forces into teams and attacking simultaneously along multiple paths. Use attacker stance for normal battles. Include at least one red spirit in every team, as they can do massive AoE damage and also counter defending green spirits. A basic blue-green-red spirit combo is a very versatile formation that can handle most situations. The most frustrating enemy formation contains multiple green spirits with high HP and physical defense coupled simultaneously with support healing. The best counter to that is two red spirits (attacker, supporter) or red spirit as attacker and blue spirit as supporter to banish the heals. For route divergence, enemy forces with a heart mark will give an affection bonus with any heroines in the same formation as Nozomu. Just keep Nozomu and your target heroine in the same formation and favor the heroine in dialogue choices. Route divergence occurs after Ch. 8. There is no "bad end" where you don't end up with a heroine, so the only way to mess up is to somehow have higher affection with a different heroine.

ChuShinGura looks like it'll be on about the same level as If my Heart had Wings, if you're into that sort of thing.

I'm with Clephas here. I like antagonists who are complex beings with the sorts of goals and aspirations that actual people would have. Real "villains" in history that changed the world (like Hitler and Stalin) had complex ideologies and gave a righteous spin to everything they did that commanded the respect and admiration of their followers. And in many ways, the reasons people followed them were even more complex. Too many JRPGs pit you against 1-dimensional lackeys who are stripped of all character except their role as plot devices. I find this the most boring trope of all. If you want to portray corruption, portray corruption--not a Disney trope.

If you want DirectX 12, you'll have to upgrade to Windows 10. If you want to upgrade for free, you have until July to do so. There's already talk of games being DirectX 12 exclusive. Give it 2 years or so and that could become a reality.

Define "read". Then consider if these figures can be accurately extrapolated to the Steam userbase. Then consider if Steam users consume fiction in games the same way they might consume it in other contexts. I think Frontwing would be right in assuming that their target audience is more likely to appreciate a puzzle game with fanservice shots as a reward than a moe nukige.

So Frontwing is now working on the English market equivalent of nukige? Using assets from their nukige? Brilliant. I see they've labeled it "Adults Only". Are they going to take the original CG and apply extra-thick mosaics? Or maybe just use the CG from the non-explicit scenes / underwear-on variations of the explicit images? I'm wondering whether I should add this to my censored eroge list. There's a point at which the censorship is so extreme it's not even the same game anymore. It's just a Japanese-Western chimera... thing.

http://sanahtlig.blogspot.com/2015/08/windows-10-vn-compatibility-list.html This is why I started the project.

Based on Aroduc's blog post linked above, the text looks like it was translated by Aroduc and edited by Makoto. Expect VERY good things, much better than JAST's quality in its last few releases (Starless, Shiny Days, Flowers). Route notes: Avoid Ruptuna and Naya's routes. The side-characters' routes just aren't very well fleshed out. Stick to the main heroines (Satsuki, Nozomi, Narukana) if you care about story. Narukana's route unlocks after the game has been completed once. While it's true that you don't need to play Aselia to enjoy this game, Aselia's ending is canon and one of the side characters in Seinarukana is related to that route. There's really no good reason not to play both games if you're interested in this one. They're both good games. I also previewed the game on my blog (skip down to the preview portion). The gameplay is better than both Aselia's and Yumina the Ethereal's. It's more complex and refined than Aselia's, but doesn't get bogged down in mid-battle skill switching like Yumina's. Managing usage of your best skills so you have reserves for bosses is important as it was in both of those games.

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My understanding of the viewpoint at large is "removing features and selling at lower price = paying to unlock content that's already on the disk". People don't like the practice. The backlash has nothing at all to do with actual prices or market outcomes. They simply don't like it because it's similar to practices that have been used by unscrupulous companies in the past who are more interested in their bottom line than providing value to their customers.

Did I imply the opposite? No (notice I said "the accusation" and not "your accusation"). But the whole premise of the "nickel and diming" argument that others have made is that the total price of the entire package increases. Anyway, I see that your question was meant to be rhetorical, rather than actually seeking to understand an alternative viewpoint. I apologize for responding to your rhetorical question. I'll refrain from making the same mistake again.

When did this become a discussion about rights? This is just another pointless strawman. You've done nothing at all to show my argument is illogical other than state it's hypocritical. I contend that no--you simply don't understand my viewpoint. Feel free to prove me wrong. I think this has already been answered multiple times. Frontwing is likely trying to create price segmentation to appeal to value shoppers with a lower price while simultaneously charging the usual rate to traditional VN customers. They don't WANT to charge everyone the same low price OR the same normal price because those would generate less revenue. Given that the price for the full version for backers is $20, I find the accusation that they intend to raise prices overall absurd, or at the very least unlikely. I would be very surprised if the full version was sold for more than $35 on Steam, which is still reasonable for a game of that length. Not to mention the game will likely be discounted to the price backers paid within a year of the Steam release...

No. I don't think adult content should be removed. I don't think the Sound Mode or CG Gallery should be removed. I don't mind the option of a version without these things.

Ah, a classic ad hominem attack. "Your argument is irrelevant (regardless of its logical validity) because you're a hypocrite". No, like many people, you don't understand the nature of hypocrisy--you simply call "hypocrisy" when a person professes two viewpoints that you're unable to connect in a way that is obvious to you. Likewise, people tend to confuse hypocrisy with simple inconsistency. Hypocrisy is self-serving. It undermines our confidence in the validity of any of the speaker's conclusions because it questions the methodology by which they were generated (similar to a conflict of interest in science). Simple inconsistency, however, may result from an incomplete mental model or flawed reasoning. Consistency issues can be patched simply by identifying the logical flaws, whereas hypocrisy undermines the premise of the argument itself (the argument is constructed starting from a desired endpoint, rather than being principled). So no, it IS relevant that I make arguments even when they undermine my position because it demonstrates intellectual honesty, which is hypocrisy's counterpart. I should also point out that other than playing the hypocrite card you haven't actually explained what about my argument you deem hypocritical. I suspect if you clarified your construct of me and my arguments, we'd see the straws sticking out. I could be wrong--but do you claim to understand my position better than I do? And if that's not arrogance, then what is?

Kickstarter backers don't have the choice of the low-priced version. The existence of such a version is completely irrelevant to them. Frontwing could have never told backers they had plans for multiple Steam releases and backers would've had no grounds to complain--after all, backers would have received the product they were promised. Consider that these Kickstarter campaigns rarely or never reveal what Steam pricing will be, even though you'd think that backers would want to know how much of a discount they're getting. I never see anyone complaining about that. It's funny that you imply I'm being hypocritical, when in fact my conclusion is the same as your's: don't fund this. So you're saying it's hypocrisy to dismiss arguments that bolster my cause? Isn't that the opposite of hypocrisy--following a chain of reasoning even when it undermines my position?

That's one way to not miss a release date. Just don't announce one.

I simply realize that one can't understand an industry without understanding the perspectives of both consumers and producers. I actually put forth the effort to listen to both sides and try to see the world as they do. Many VN fans only care about their own perspective as consumers. That's fine, but you're not qualified to comment in any sort of objective manner if you can't see perspectives other than your own--and if I made a habit of doing that no one would ever take me seriously. You imply that I'm arrogant to search for valid justifications for a company's actions rather than simply assume they're greedy, incompetent, or both when companies do something that triggers us as consumers. If I'm arrogant, I suppose that means anyone in this discussion who thinks they know how to run a business better than Frontwing--who I daresay have more experience at this--must be arrogant as well. With that out of the way, Rooke already nicely pointed out how the substance of your argument (the part that isn't just a personal attack on me) is utterly ridiculous.

Watching a loli game go viral on Steam (and perhaps stoking it) is on my list of experiences I want to have before I die. It'd be like the fall of the Berlin Wall for someone living in East Berlin--a defining moment after living under oppression all one's life.

My respect for Sekai Project has increased after looking through this. You never know--this is dovac we're talking about. If they do manage to pull off an official release of Maitetsu with adult content intact I'll be obligated them to support them on principle, regardless of my interest in the game itself. Sigh.

That's just it. No one outside the fanbase can understand why fans are annoyed at the existence of a lower-priced version with features removed--a version which isn't even being offered to Kickstarter backers. Frontwing wants to sell to people who will only buy VNs at low prices, but also sell to traditional fans at higher prices. I don't see why this is so hard to understand. Note that this is EXACTLY how the adult/non-adult version differentiation is used to milk the traditional fanbase while still appealing to those who don't want to pay $40 for a text game. There's no plans for an adult version, so they had to find a different way to accomplish the desired price differentiation. Artificial product differentiation is very common. In the PC hardware market, companies will disable functionality at the hardware level simply to create a lower-priced version. Let me repeat: they'll irreversibly sabotage their own product simply to split the product into two price categories.

They already priced the full version: $20 for Kickstarter backers. I'm not sure what people are gnashing their teeth about. This statement from Professor Rooke shall be forever enshrined for future generations. Congratulations, this is the only reasonable argument I've seen that Frontwing is ripping people off. I guess backer rewards could be similarly criticized, but those are ALWAYS overpriced. The basic cost breakdown is supposed to accurately represent actual costs. Also worth noting is that Libra of the Vampire Princess's translation costs were $62.5k (50% of $125k, >50hr title, translated from scratch by experienced professionals). Libra's campaign was initially criticized for the translation costs being too high (they were later adjusted to these levels).

Here's my take: they want to sell to price-sensitive customers. They ALSO want traditional VN customers to pay full price. So they came up with a strategy that takes away a feature that hardcore fans want and casual shoppers don't care about. It's a pretty good business strategy to maximize revenue. But again, none of this matters if you're backing the game on Kickstarter.