Irotoridori Kickstarter by Sol Press Funded at over 85k

[Stormwolf]

Hopefully some trolls got burned.

 

Either way, now they better be fucking transparent about getting the last two games translated. Not paying for the first without knowledge about the plans regarding the last two games.

[sanahtlig]

4 minutes ago, Stormwolf said:

Hopefully some trolls got burned.

They'd simply file chargebacks.  Credit card company policies heavily favor the consumer.  I suspect Sol Press won't actually collect $85k here (minus any BackerKit income).  But the real backers will be charged and it should be close enough to what was needed that Sol Press will benefit from any fake pledges. 

Edited March 6, 2019 by sanahtlig

[Dreamysyu]

1 minute ago, Stormwolf said:

Was a troll who failed at the last minute though. It went down quite a bit, but not enough to fail the campaign.

From what I understand, if it already went over the goal on the last day, it's done. It won't allow anyone to pull so much money that it will result in the whole project not passing.

Now let's just hope that all payments go through.

[Plk_Lesiak]

I wonder if I'm the only one that feels fans having to pleadge unreasonable amounts of money to make this project happen is depressing more than anything else. It showcases perfectly how this kind of crowdfunding is inherently exploitative, especially if the authors set steep goals and don't invest in proper marketing, just leeching off the existing fanbase.

Although, I give quite a lot of respect to MangaGamer for doing that last-minute signal boost. Rare to see a company caring about the niche as a whole, rather than just about being on top. I guess they picked up some of the better parts of the Japanese corporate culture. 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Plk_Lesiak

[Fred the Barber]

17 minutes ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

I wonder if I'm the only one that feels fans having to pleadge unreasonable amounts of money to make this project happen is depressing more than anything else.

This is actually the point of Kickstarter, you realize, right? And it's also how market valuation of goods ought to work. The same thing can be worth different amounts of money to different people. VNs are a long tail industry, and English localization of VNs are doubly so. If a small number of people want to chip in more money to see a shaky industry like that stay afloat, why is it "unreasonable" of them to do so, and why is it "depressing" to see companies willing to leverage that? There are no inherent victims in this setup; it's a win-win. Everybody involved (from the companies, to the people paying more, to the people paying less) end up getting something they want at a price they're willing to pay.

To be clear, other complaints about Kickstarters, I absolutely think can be vaild—complaints about delays, especially. But I don't see anything to complain about in some people choosing to pay more (even a lot more) than others for something they're passionate about.

[solidbatman]

27 minutes ago, Fred the Barber said:

This is actually the point of Kickstarter, you realize, right? And it's also how market valuation of goods ought to work. The same thing can be worth different amounts of money to different people. VNs are a long tail industry, and English localization of VNs are doubly so. If a small number of people want to chip in more money to see a shaky industry like that stay afloat, why is it "unreasonable" of them to do so, and why is it "depressing" to see companies willing to leverage that? There are no inherent victims in this setup; it's a win-win. Everybody involved (from the companies, to the people paying more, to the people paying less) end up getting something they want at a price they're willing to pay.

To be clear, other complaints about Kickstarters, I absolutely think can be vaild—complaints about delays, especially. But I don't see anything to complain about in some people choosing to pay more (even a lot more) than others for something they're passionate about.

I think he means its a bit off putting to see very little marketing done and the fans have to swoop in to save a poorly conducted KS. Until it was really questionable if this thing would get through, I had not even heard of this KS and I'm not exactly fully disengaged from the market. There seemed to be little push to appeal outside of the pre-existing fans. 

[Plk_Lesiak]

3 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

This is actually the point of Kickstarter, you realize, right?

Yes and no. I don't mind that much when people pay whatever they want for unique goodies and features (even though sometimes the premium on those is absurd), but whenever fans have to rally and put way more money than they actually wanted to, in order to "save" a commercial project, there's something fundamentally fucked up about it. It might just be me though.

Edited March 6, 2019 by Plk_Lesiak

[novurdim]

Nothing else matters right now, at least we'll definitely see the first game translated. That sure was something.

[Incynerate]

2 hours ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Although, I give quite a lot of respect to MangaGamer for doing that last-minute signal boost. Rare to see a company caring about the niche as a whole, rather than just about being on top. I guess they picked up some of the better parts of the Japanese corporate culture. 

MangaGamer definitely deserves a lot of respect, especially considering Sol Press doesn't even sell their games on MangaGamer (no idea why).

Anyway, I think it's a little unfair to claim that Sol Press did "very little marketing". According to them:

Quote

We've actually shared the Kickstarter in an update on our other Kickstarters such as Newton and Sakura Sakura. GoogleAds, Facebook Ads, and several other major advertising services were used. A Press Kit was sent out to major games/anime-related journalism sites including ANN. However, we'll continue trying our best to spread the word in these last 24 Hours!

Maybe they could have asked JAST or somebody more well-known to tweet about it earlier in the game, but I don't know if there's a lot of options beyond that. Now, could they have marketed it a little better? Probably. A working English title or at the very least, using something other than hiragana(?) in the game's logo probably could've helped the game's appeal to the more casual VN fans. A demo would have been nice, but I don't know what their licensing agreement with Favorite is to allow that.

Edited March 6, 2019 by Incynerate

[Dreamysyu]

Just for the record, Sekai and Fruitbat Factory also mentioned this project in their recent Kickstarter updates.

[kokoro]

1 hour ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Yes and no. I don't mind that much when people play whatever they want for unique goodies and features (even though sometimes the premium on those is absurd), but whenever fans have to rally and put way more money than they actually wanted to to "save" a commercial project there's something fundamentally fucked up about it. It might just be me though.

I agree. The KS could've been improved in so many ways. Like adding information about the localization staff. Iroseka definitely needs a kami translator to make it justice.

[yelsha57]

Wow, I'm glad we made it! I hope there will be other plans to translate the fandiscs, but we will see.

[Zakamutt]

1 hour ago, kokoro said:

I agree. The KS could've been improved in so many ways. Like adding information about the localization staff. Iroseka definitely needs a kami translator to make it justice.

From what I remember at least at the start they may not even have had a translator on board. If you don't know what's even in the game because it's all moon runes to you, it's hard to market it.

[HataVNI]

I wonder if you guys cannot read between the lines but the MangaGamer tweet was probably not a direct encouragement to back. There was no big hijinx like "PLEASE BACK this thing!". It was more a neutral post that can be interpreted both ways. One of which is: "Good luck, you'll need it" and the second could even have kind of a mocking tone ". Since its probably Kaitsu who writes for the mangagamer PR and she backed the KS personally I suspect its the first. I am sure that she would have gotten in trouble if she posted a super hype tweet because it would provide a weird image. Why would MangaGamer openly support someone who doesn't offer their games for their platform?

I do not think that MangaGamer wanted to show that they actively bank on that Kickstarter succeeding. It felt like more of a PR-Move to show support while not actually meaning it. Jast did the same, they only retweeted the KS when it looked bleak which can also be interpreted as creating awareness but not fully committing to support Sol Press.

I do not think that MangaGamer is the benevolent messiah you make them out to be here.
 

[Plk_Lesiak]

30 minutes ago, EroHataVNI said:

I do not think that MangaGamer is the benevolent messiah you make them out to be here.

Still, if they wanted SolPress to fail, they'd just keep it quiet. You're actually way more over-the-top with this looking for ulterior motive than most people were with their gratitude towards MG. They're competition, creating awereness is more than they were obliged to do by any reasonable standard. Say it's a PR move and you might be right, but it's still a very positive one.

Edited March 7, 2019 by Plk_Lesiak

[sanahtlig]

19 minutes ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Still, if they wanted SolPress to fail, they'd just keep it quiet. You're actually way more over-the-top with this looking for ulterior motive than most people were with their gratitude towards MG. They're competition, creating awereness is more than they were obliged to do by any reasonable standard. Say it's a PR move and you might be right, but it's still a very positive one.

This doesn't feel like a serious attempt to promote the project.  On the other hand, Doddler's retweet was probably helpful.

 

Edited March 7, 2019 by sanahtlig

[novurdim]

7 hours ago, sanahtlig said:

This doesn't feel like a serious attempt to promote the project.

I wonder if anyone even managed to back it in those three minutes after seeing the tweet first.

[bakauchuujin]

23 minutes ago, novurdim said:

I wonder if anyone even managed to back it in those three minutes after seeing the tweet first.

They got a lot of pledge money the last few minutes though I would assume that was from desperate fans increasing their pledges to get it funded rather than anyone that noticed the MG tweet.

[littleshogun]

Congratulation for the successful Kickstarter there, albeit very barely (Seriously if not for the sudden burst near the end it would ended very different). In any case, since this KS was successful I just hope that Sol Press will translate Irotoridori no matter what. As for the rest, since even FAVORITE classified it as FD I think it could wait until Irotoridori is released (I knew that some fans think of the rest (ie Hikari and Akai) as the sequels okay).

Edited March 7, 2019 by littleshogun

[Fred the Barber]

14 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

Just for the record, Sekai and Fruitbat Factory also mentioned this project in their recent Kickstarter updates.

I didn't know about Fruitbat Factory, so thanks for sharing that. In addition, JAST also shared it several days ago. I don't know why so many people are talking about how MangaGamer saved the day... probably literally every other English loc industry player helped this thing out more by advertising it earlier in the cycle. I'm honestly doubtful whether MG's 3-minutes-before-it-was-over tweet did anything at all, except apparently buy them a lot of adoration.

Edit: And I should have read the whole thread. FWIW, I don't think there were any bad intentions on anyone's part, and I think all the industry players who helped support this did Sol Press a solid (heh). I just think MG probably deserves the least credit, given how last-minute and likely completely unhelpful their support was. But then again, I should really wait until I see flying pigs before I start expecting an English VN fan to say anything positive about Sekai Project, I guess...

Edited March 7, 2019 by Fred the Barber

[WinterfuryZX]

20 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

This is actually the point of Kickstarter, you realize, right? And it's also how market valuation of goods ought to work. The same thing can be worth different amounts of money to different people. VNs are a long tail industry, and English localization of VNs are doubly so. If a small number of people want to chip in more money to see a shaky industry like that stay afloat, why is it "unreasonable" of them to do so, and why is it "depressing" to see companies willing to leverage that? There are no inherent victims in this setup; it's a win-win. Everybody involved (from the companies, to the people paying more, to the people paying less) end up getting something they want at a price they're willing to pay.

To be clear, other complaints about Kickstarters, I absolutely think can be vaild—complaints about delays, especially. But I don't see anything to complain about in some people choosing to pay more (even a lot more) than others for something they're passionate about.

I was ready to do pledge 1000 euro extra for Root Double, fortunately it wasn't necessary, though.

[yelsha57]

Update #8

Mar 6 2019

A Thrilling Conclusion! Fully funded at over $85,000 USD! + New Add-Ons for Backerkit / Future Title Info

Posted by Sol Press (Creator)

 

 

 

 

Like

 20 likes

 

Irotoridori no Sekai Fully Funded at $85,000 USD Raised!!!

This campaign was a real roller coaster as all of us at Sol Press were tracking the pledges going up and down during the last few seconds. As it came nail-bitingly close to the end, everyone managed to pull together to successfully fund the Kickstarter at $85,359 USD! 

We would like to humbly thank every single one of the 873 backers who have made this localization no longer just a simple wish, but a reality! 

The Future of Irotoridori no Hikari and Akai Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai 

While we have funded the first game of the trilogy, there have been many questions and comments as to whether or not the future games will be funded via Kickstarter or other means.

The answer is that the funding method of these titles will be determined as the staff gets closer to finishing the current title. The staff at Sol Press would all like to see Favorite's Irosekai trilogy completed, but details can't be decided upon until a further date.

New Add-Ons Unlocked!

As promised, new add-on items have been unlocked for everyone to purchase when checking out in BackerKit!

The following add-ons have now been unlocked for purchase in BackerKit:

• Irotoridori no Sekai Piano Selection Digital Copy - $20 USD
• Irotoridori no Sekai Piano Selection Physical Version - $20 USD
• 1 New Dakimakura Design
• 2 New Tapestry Designs

When BackerKit is up, backers who wish to add the new post-85K add-on items can do so easily via the checkout system on the site. 

Once again, we'd like to thank everyone for their continued support during this campaign and hope that everyone will enjoy the localization of Irotoridori no Sekai when it releases.

 

 

 

[thelink1123]

They should be saying in that update that they WILL be translated(or put it clearer in the update, not "we at Sol Press would like to see the entire trilogy translated", but "we will see the trilogy translated regardless of the funding that we as a company decide is the best option". ). Yeah, it's great to discuss a common worry among the backers and others who didn't end up backing, but if they leave the rest of the trilogy in limbo until the first title is completed or close to completion, there's going to be controversy if they decide to not do the sequels because of said funding issues if they arise.

I get that they are a business and must wait to make some decisions (for financial reasons) but their lack of transparency at the beginning of the kickstarter about the sequels and making their respective stretch goals astronomically high does not look good, honestly. I hope they understand that if they decide to not translate them it will seriously impact their standing with the VN community. 

I don't mean any of this condescendingly and I respect them as a company(Newton no ringo was amazing and I am glad they translated it) but they better tread lightly on these titles as it could be a ticking time bomb for their status in this community

(I know that announcing too early may have consequences for promising something that might not come to fruition at all, but they could reassure backers and the rest of the community that they will definitely translate them [and not wait to see the first title's sales] regardless of how the first title performs in terms of sales. Oh and I know they said that they would seek other funding methods but that really isn't putting anything in stone.)

 

[Nandemonai]

On 3/6/2019 at 12:46 PM, Plk_Lesiak said:

Yes and no. I don't mind that much when people pay whatever they want for unique goodies and features (even though sometimes the premium on those is absurd), but whenever fans have to rally and put way more money than they actually wanted to, in order to "save" a commercial project, there's something fundamentally fucked up about it. It might just be me though.

Kickstarter is not a store.  Kickstarter is for giving people money to make something happen, that otherwise wouldn't happen at all.

People seem to have this idea that VN companies are rolling in the dough.  They're not.  Their products are heavily pirated but seldom purchased, and yet the products are expensive to product (good translations cost money, the licenses cost money).  I mean, look at this project.  Sol Press is saying 'we can't commit to licensing these games without Kickstarting them, because it is too much for us'.  (I.e. doing it without Kickstarter would take forever and/or threaten to bankrupt the company.)

[Nandemonai]

21 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

 I don't know why so many people are talking about how MangaGamer saved the day... probably literally every other English loc industry player helped this thing out more by advertising it earlier in the cycle. I'm honestly doubtful whether MG's 3-minutes-before-it-was-over tweet did anything at all, except apparently buy them a lot of adoration.

MangaGamer's aid was the most high profile and dramatic.  It was also the most recent.

Also, it probably wasn't as useless as you think.  The project succeeded by like three hundred and fifty bucks.  That's less than 10 people (at the $40 level).  MangaGamer has more than forty thousand followers.  If one percent of those followers saw that tweet in time to matter, that's 400 people.  If one fortieth of those who saw it actually clicked thru to Kickstarter, and hadn't pledged yet and did so (or upped an existing pledge because MG reminded them, whatever) then that would be enough to make a difference.