sanahtlig

Ninetail is quite fortunate to have JAST as a partner and @Ryechu as editor. The project would truly be in bad shape if Ninetail had tried to go it alone. The partnership with JAST provides the following: Full adult release (and a FREE patch for the Steam version) No mosaics A competent and proven English editor JAST's support in promoting the Kickstarter I pushed heavily for this and I'm glad Ninetail acted on the feedback from myself and others. While the partnership with JAST will likely limit Ninetail's ability to sell on other platforms, JAST has a vested interest in the project's success and will be working extra hard on publicity, as this is a big title for them too. The project has progressed a long way since the initial announcement: an obscure project that appeared doomed to failure (along the lines of Kagura Douchuuki) is beginning to look professional. I look forward to continued progress and hope for a hype-filled Kickstarter launch, maybe at the end of August but more likely in September.

Venus Blood Frontier: excellent SRPG gameplay, action-based storytelling focusing on a protagonist that can be either an anti-hero or a villain based on player choices, copious and well-integrated ero (which is also avoidable). There's an ADV demo available and a gameplay demo should be out in a few weeks. Support the Kickstarter if you want more excellent gameplay eroge like this.

I played both Volume 1 and 2 (in Japanese). The gameplay is amusing and the story is occasionally interesting, making it one of Escude's better titles. The comedy gets old and distracts from a story that might've been better if it had been tackled more seriously. I would've liked more focus on the darker aspects, instead of all the sugarcoating with comedy and nonsensical situations.

Your repeated strawmanning of those you disagree with is irritating. Every study (even professional ones) has limitations. That's why multiple approaches are combined to answer important questions. In this case, the results from this study suggest the hypothesis that VN customers prefer a translation style that includes honorifics. One could test this (for example) by e-mailing a random sample of active MangaGamer customers with an appropriate incentive to achieve a high response rate. Another way to assess this would be to survey users at the point of sale, either at their store or at conventions (and offer a discount for filling it out). These approaches would tell you about MangaGamer customers... which may or may not represent other VN customers. BUT, at least that would be actionable data for MangaGamer. Also, I've already suggested a reasonable population to find support for your hypothesis: Kickstarter backers. If you're bent on pushing your narrative about fans preferring honorifics, that's where you'll find small numbers of highly-motivated fans that are likely fairly similar to this poll's sample, and where a data-based campaign to influence translation style could actually change outcomes.

There's two relevant statistical concepts here: random error and systematic error. Systematic error occurs when your sample does not represent your population of interest (i.e., is not a random sample), or is measured in a way that systematically over or underestimates your measure of interest. Random error occurs due to random variation in your random sample or measurement method. Random error becomes a problem when measurement deviation is high (e.g., many possible categorical responses, each with small n) or when the sample is very small. My concern with this study is the systematic sampling bias, not the random error. Even if random error were a problem, this could be solved by simplifying the questions/answers or aggregating similar answers.

I don't understand why this would satisfy people. Honorific usage is one aspect of translation style. Adding or dropping a suffix isn't sufficient to convert back and forth between two different translation styles.

Your agenda in creating this poll comes through in your interpretation and dismissal of alternative interpretations. As @Toranth says, the way to answer the question being asked is by randomly sampling customers (not allowing self-selection) and achieving a high response rate (e.g., with incentives that are too good to ignore). That avoids participation bias, which confounds the current study. Any relevant customer database would suffice, not just Steam. Yes, that means that the question can't be answered appropriately with a casual instrument like this. Good science is hard.

I'd expect the poll sample to be more representative of Kickstarter backers vs. the general VN customer base. However, what this poll doesn't appear to assess is the importance of honorifics to buying decisions. I might very well have an opinion on a matter, yet other factors still dominate. There's also the possibility of unequal prioritization: that honorifics proponents are more likely to buy when their preference isn't met vs. honorifics opponents, or vice versa.

The poll shows that most respondents were weebs. The difference is pretty crucial. A very particular type of fan hangs out in VN communities and responds to polls like this.

What's more puzzling is that developers think that good titles will just sell themselves. That's not how it works. You need to find the audience for your game and get them interested in it. You need to reach out to sites that get a lot of traffic from your audience. You need the right sales pitch. You need to convince people that you're worth supporting. You need a message that will resonate and will get people to chatter about your game. If you can't be bothered to do any of these things, then you're literally just rolling the dice and hoping some combination of factors beyond your control will align to make your game a success. Doesn't sound like a good business strategy to me.

JAST has confirmed that Trample on Schatten!! was censored due to content it considers illegal in the US. They apologize for failing to report this before release, and are offering refunds until 8/25. I'm disappointed that JAST has not committed to a patch for this title. With FAKKU able to release games such as Maitetsu uncensored, it makes me wonder why JAST doesn't just remove the game from their store and sell an uncensored version on FAKKU instead. I do know however that a dedicated group of "fans" is working to restore the missing content. A fix should be available soon (TM). As a small gesture of protest, I will be postponing my review playthrough until the fix is released. As I'll soon be tied up helping out with the VBF Kickstarter, this move could significantly delay my coverage of Trample on Schatten. In addition, I recommend that existing customers who care about this issue request a refund, and then buy the game (if desired) when a fix is available. This is the most effective way we have to register discontent with the handling of this title.

He can't combine work from other authors without their consent. And in any case, there's no reason to do this until the demosaic project itself is finished. However, "samples" of the work would be nice. People should be shown what to expect, at least, as the result of redrawing will depend on the skill of the artist.

You mean ITHVNR?

Hooking is game-specific. If you're just starting out, try a game that has a known working hook first.

The most accessible visuals novels to a Western audience will be cheap, interactive, and/or feature gameplay. We're starting to see more interactive fiction games, but Western developers typically don't have the budget or skillset to release titles that match the production values of the Japanese, where VN-making is an established professional industry. Where Western developers have the advantage is in cultivating a supportive fanbase, networking, and marketing/publicity.

The next round of Ninetail Prefundia replies has arrived. Buried within is a surprising revelation! http://prefundia.com//projects/view/test/16225/#disqus_thread

Most importantly, the Discord server has a dedicated Venus Blood Frontier channel that's actively observed by Ninetail and used as a focus group to assess fans' reaction to new ideas. A JAST representative is active there as well, so it's fun trying to claw information out of him.

I recommend VN-SRPG Venus Blood Frontier. The protagonist is a cold, calculating half-demon seeking to conquer the lands of humans, and corruption is a major theme. He wins through cunning rather than brute strength, and mid-game it splits into Law (anti-hero) and Chaos (villain) routes. Ninetail is currently trying to fund a translation of this, and hopefully other games in the series.

There's been quite a bit of activity in the Prefundia comments section over the past 24hrs. Everyone interested should check it out and upvote deserving comments.

Post redacted.

Regarding concerns about self-editing or lack of it in the prologue demo: If Ninetail's translator didn't find time to edit a couple hours worth of promotional materials to help the campaign, priorities are HIGHLY unlikely to change when the campaign is funded, the incentive to impress disappears, and the scope of the job multiplies by 50x. Ninetail's translator will always be busy, and there will always be higher priorities than polishing a translation that's already been paid for--like releasing the game sooner rather than later to fund its next game. Steam players won't care, so if backers don't hold them accountable, no one will. I have no doubt Ninetail's translator will try harder in the future, and the next gameplay trial might even be satisfactory. But in the big scheme of things, this isn't a problem one person can try-hard his way out of. The necessary resources need to be set aside, or it simply won't happen. A good editor is a lot cheaper than Keimaru seems to think. I talked to a source who HIRES editors for VNs, and he confirmed this. If Ninetail is looking for professional English editors that speak Japanese or are affiliated with a group that is based in Japan--and can respond to inquiries in Japanese--they're doing it wrong.

Ninetail Director Keimaru responded to feedback on the Prefundia on Twitter, which I translated on my Twitter account with retweets linking back to the originals. I've aggregated the Tweets here, starting with this one. "Reception [of the Venus Blood Frontier Prefundia] has been generally favorable, but one request that has stood out is to add an editor to the team. We're currently examining this. "Ninetail's games truly have a ton of text and the cost of translation is no joke, making this a difficult situation. "Though I think the situation has changed considerably, a previous translation estimate for a certain Venus Blood title rang up at $300,000--just for the translation--and we gave up. For this campaign, that would work out to 75% of a $400k goal, and [would be] completely infeasible. "Like magic, we managed to reduce the cost by 2/3, so it's painful to start piling on more costs again. If the goal were $200k that would be one thing, but that seems like a pretty infeasible target. "But I do want to respond to users' expectations as much as possible. I think we've responded to almost every other request fans made of us with the Prefundia announcement. Adding this as a stretch goal is certainly one possibility, but right now I'm not sure [about contractual feasibility?]. We'll look into it."

I'll just leave my feedback here since Prefundia may never get around to restoring my comment (which was marked as spam): Ninetail did a great job responding to fan concerns after the early info leaks: confirming an 18+ release on JAST, mosaic removal, and a free 18+ patch for the Steam version to be released same-day. Base goal seems reasonable and likely to be achieved. A gameplay trial (presumably released in time for the Kickstarter?) should win over SRPG lovers. $30 is VERY reasonable for a massive, complex game like this with high replay value. However, I do still have concerns: The project page seems rather "rough". The writing looks like the rushed work of one person without editing. I haven't played the demo yet, but I hear it suffers from similar issues. You really need a professional editor to raise this from "passionate amateur" to "competent professional" tier. There's so much love and care put into the original writing, and it's a shame to see it degrade in translation. At the very least, professional editing should be added as stretch goal #1. You mention that parts of the translation will be outsourced. To whom, and how much? What sort of quality can we expect? Can you give us a sample of their work or tell us what VNs they've translated? Honestly, I'd rather see professional editing and no TL outsourcing, especially with no samples of their work provided. Adding an editor to the TL workflow should increase both the speed and the quality of the translation. It's the industry standard method of localization. Even fan translations use editors, and they're generally easier to find than JP -> ENG translators too.

Similar info in different contexts is not equally sensitive. If you found a picture of your wife (that you'd never seen) in a string bikini on her phone, you might not think much of it. If you found the same photo on your best male friend's phone, that slightly changes the interpretation. Though the risk of compromise might be the same in each situation (which may or may not be so), the consequences are not.

Depends what you're trying to protect yourself from: casual hacks and software glitches, financial thieves, or government surveillance/investigation. The first requires only minimal precautions. The second is already covered by automated fraud detection, robust consumer protections, and easy deactivation of compromised cards. The third is nearly impossible without superhuman efforts. Personally, I think people underestimate the frequency and potential damage of the first. Also, changing your name and address is a lot harder than deactivating your credit card.