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The Fuwa VN recommendation list is progressing well (see post). In just under a week, we've gotten over 17 thousand votes and a pretty reliable ranking of newbie VNs. I won't be posting the results just yet as I'll leave the voting open for another week and I don't want to distort any votes by showing the current ranking, but it's a great mix of genres so far. We're currently experimenting with a few different sorting algorithms to get the best result. We're also working on the website that'll allow users to enter their genre preferences and display the best newbie VNs in those genres, and are looking for any web designers who might be interested in giving a hand. While I'm adequate for an amateur, I'm no expert, and I'd love to get the input of some more experienced designers. If you're interested, just reply here, or send me a DM on Discord (Sunleaf_Willow ／(^ n ^=)＼#1616).

This is also how we're dividing up the translation work. I'm working on the main school group and @Hasa is working on the branch school group which are similar amounts of text. Additionally the style between each group is different thanks to the two different writers so it makes sense to have two different translators who also will have different styles. Assuming we both translate our respective sections to completion, there will be consistency within each subsection.

I was watching some let's plays of particularly shitty EVNs (it seems it's most of what I'm doing lately ) and on three different occasions I've seen people complaining about "bad localization". I guess it's something of an achievement, having your VN so badly written that it looks like a poor translation from Japanese, good job Sakura Spirit, Sakura Swim Club, Yozora Rhapsody.

Finally, the whole script for the demo has been implemented! The UI design has been finalised! Here are a few previews for some scenes in-game! Serin's abilities, Aurelius on one of his good days, and Nazir up to some nighttime mischiefs! The plan for the next week: + UI: Since potouto has finally finished the UI design, all other screens can be implemented now! I might actually need to get help with that because time restraints OTL + Screen Editing: Finishing the screen editing with more transitions etc. Also, adding Shadow Sprites...I have the feeling screen editing will take at least two more weeks... While editing everything, I am wondering if people prefer getting notifications if they have failed a Stats Check? I normally do... Of course it would also be an option to add that as a Config setting, although that will definitely take some more work XD'

Google doesn't bother me, probably because I don't host sexually-explicit images. Much of what I do could be considered journalism, so that likely provides additional protection.

Project Psync is probably going to get some actual info. Mmmmmm yeah. (new project by the creator of Zero Escape and Ever17)

Couple of VN industry panels you missed: Frontwing Thursday, July 5th 9:30 PM PDT Aksys Friday, July 6th 5:30

I am interested in creating the website. My solution is to create a system where you first input the different visual novel into a database via the website user interface, users will then select the different genres, and it will show them a list of all of the novel with the select genre. You could manually input the rating for the novels, or the website could use the https://vndb.org API to get the ranking of the selected novels so the highest-ranking novel will appear at the top of the list. I have not used the https://vndb.org API before. However, I have lot of experience in other types of API, which means I am relatively sure that I will be able to get it working within a short time frame. It should also be possible to get data about the visual novel using the API, which will prevent you having to input the data manually. If you want to see example of some the work I have created before I can send you my profile. I am willing to work for cheap rates. It you are interested I can sent you my email, so we can talk about the project in more detail.

I changed the requirements for titles not from Japan, it is now 6.00+ score on titles between 50 and 199 votes while all over 200 votes are added.

I just say some people though, which mean that it also true that people might find MC is likeable as well. Anyway while it's true that VNDB list him as proactive MC, he might come as emo and weak protagonist for some people while leave all the job to the girls, which make him as some sort of dependent MC even though he has a reason for that. So in sort he might not for everyone, but regardless of that I would say that it's up to you to find your own opinion about the MC (Tohru), and I'll do that likewise while keeping his weakness in mind.

Actually, this announcement is very similar to one I did.

I'm going to be blunt... if it weren't for the urging of one of my online friends, I wouldn't have played this game. For one thing, it is a direct prequel to Gakthun, which I didn't have much fun with (I don't really like Japanese versions of Liar Soft games, for some reason... though I loved the English version of Sekien). It is based in a steampunk world version of one of the most-visited eras of Japanese history in otaku media, the Bakumatsu era. In that era, Japan was opened by British air-fortresses, rather than by Perry's gunships, but the results were pretty much the same up until the beginning of the game (albeit with the usual liberties taken). Since there was no walkthrough out for this game, as of yet, I ended up on a path whose history pretty much echoed rl history save for who died and when (oh and the individuals' motivations, of course). Whether this was a good thing or not, I dunno... but the ending was decent, if bittersweet (not to mention that the last scene indicates that it is the one that heads into Gakthun). The protagonist, Hachirou, is the child of a Shogunate vassal family famous for their real combat oriented sword style. He himself is a bit obsessed with modern steam technology, and his habit of constantly referring to his pocket watch shows off his straight-as-a-yardstick personality. Like a lot of steampunk-series games, this one jumps around between many different perspectives for about three-quarters of the game (relatively little time is spent with Hachirou, considering he is the protagonist), but this game escapes the rather... Steven Brust-style story narration (reference to the Phoenix Guard and its two sequels, which are written in a style that is excessively dramatic and roundabout) that poisoned me against Gakthun and some of the other games by this company. In that sense, this was the easiest Liar-soft VN for me to read. This game has heavy Cthulhu Mythos influence throughout its latter parts, ranging from a rather blatant one in the final battle scene of the ending I got to numerous smaller indications throughout. Is this game good? Yes, it is well-written and interesting to read. Is it a kamige? I can't really judge, since I have no idea how to get the other endings without a lot of trial and error (and I'm too lazy to do that with a liar soft game). I'm giving it a decent rating because I liked a lot of it... but the way the game treated the Shinsengumi was a bit depressing at times (it really, really sucks to be Shinsengumi in this game).

Took a mini break from Fureraba, to clear out a short game from my backlog. To the Moon isn't technically a VN. It's a story driven RPGMaker game. It has such an emotionally impactful story though. So for all intents and purposes, To the Moon can be counted as a VN (even if it isn't technically). Some of the silly memes (including a DBZ reference) had me cracking up. On the other hand, the topic of autism hit very close to home for me. The game even mentions one Tony Attwood, a real life expert on autism ....... and I was diagnosed by him personally. So ....... yeah. The music was pretty good too (it's somewhat similar to ef - a fairy tale of the two). I'll give it a 9/10 Well worth it if you're after a 6/7 hour game.

The problem While spurred by recent events, this essay touches on something that seems to have been a pattern in site moderation for some time now. Let me make a claim: if a rule, especially one that is vaguely worded, is not enforced, for a decent amount of people that rule does not exist. This nonexistence integrates into the mental model of the rules that forum members construct, no matter what the formal rules may say. For members using this mental model, beginning to enforce a rule that was previously unenforced is equivalent to creating a new rule. As such, the same procedures as those used to notify forum members of new rules should be applied, possibly with some adaptation on the lines of "we will now actually enforce this rule", as the rule effectively did not previously exist. The ur-example of this is the loligeddon of yore. The takeaway from the loligeddon when it comes to this essay is this: mods repeatedly stated that no rules had actually been changed. Yet nevertheless the appearance and subsequent removal of a particularly problematic post sparked sweeping policy changes, a cleanup operation, a tl;dr post by the administrator explaining the changes, et cetera. This should make it clear that changing policy is a big deal, even if no written rules actually change. Recent policy changes, however, have been very different from what happened during the loligeddon. Frequently the only indication that effective rules have changed has been moderator action, sometimes fairly strict. In essentially all cases this action has been explained either inadequately or, most commonly, not at all. When this occurs the target(s) of moderation will likely feel that they have been unfairly, erratically targeted by a capricious, uncommunicative bully. What do you do when you get bullied? Well, you could talk to HR, but the mod that bullied you is probably in HR anyway and you might not even know who did it. Another option is to fight back. You annoy me, I pay you back in kind - and if I can get some fun at your expense, sure, why not? You're a bully, you deserve it.[1] I do not mean to suggest that we need to have a tl;dr writeup every time a rule is changed, but a simple statement of intent would be appreciated. I estimate that writing this should take no more than 20 minutes. As an example, here's a hypothetical notice regarding the changing of rules on gifs that took me ~10 minutes to write. Note that the policy mentioned here could be reversed or altered to be more specific if it turns out that it was unclear or did more harm than good, which is arguably more difficult to do if the rule has been made official.[2] In the light of this, I would like to present some recommendations. Recommendations When moderating, consider if your action is effectively creating or modifying rules Remember: in the minds of some of your users, unenforced rules may as well not exist. If you decide to moderate something that was previously typically not being moderated, this will cause confusion and consternation. As such, whenever you make a decision, ask yourself: am I changing the rules? If so, you need to consider both whether your action is actually justified, and how you are going to inform the public of your policy change. You are not a cop, you are a judge in a precedent-setting court. This is especially true due to the (understandable) current policy of supporting other mods' decisions near unconditionally. Do not make controversial decisions when following up is difficult On some occasions moderators have moderated while on vacation, using their phone, with bad connections et cetera. I strongly recommend against making anything close to a controversial decision in these conditions. You will end up both ruining your vacation and doing a bad job. Talk first, shoot later If you are performing a moderator action which reasonably should include notifying the target of the action, write up the informative PM or otherwise establish communication before enforcement. You could also consider writing up the notification of intent to change / differently enforce / clarify rules before moderating. Most of the time nobody is harmed much by leaving something up until you can handle it properly. For things that require more urgent management such as a fast-evolving derailment, consider either using a PM template for 1-2 people or making a post stating that you have removed derailing posts in the thread you moderated. Make people feel heard One key theme of this essay is the importance of communication. This extends beyond just notifying people of changes to the rules. I am under no illusions that your actions will go uncontested or that people won't meme and fling shit at you even if you try your best to communicate as advised in this essay. In part this is due to the frustration some people, and certainly I myself, consider you responsible for creating due to your actions up to this point. However, when hostility meets well-practiced civility its fires often run out of fuel. If you constructively engage with those who would oppose you, you can both soothe their frustration and create better, more precise final rules. Obviously there has to be a limit and ultimately you set the rules to follow. But explaining, refining, and justifying your position elevates it from that of a dim-witted bully with little justification for their actions to someone who has a well-grounded but different opinion of what the rules should be. The first one deserves punishment, the second, grudging respect. As a personal observation: in general, you should assume that much less of your decisions are obviously justified than you currently think. One man's common sense is another man's borderline acceptability is another man's utterly idiotic rule enforcement. Moderation is a hard job If this all seems like a lot of hard work to you, congratulations! That's what I thought too when the mod applications came along, so I didn't apply. Any moderators that cannot actually moderate disputes should either confine themselves to routine, uncontroversial moderation tasks or step down from their position. Believe me, nobody will die either way, and you'll get to spend your free time doing something that suits you better. Notes [1] I personally don't consider the mods bullies when I do this kind of thing, but I do consider them deserving of public ridicule. The intention is both to correct behaviour and to extract some entertainment out of people that deserve to be made fun of. And yeah, I have no respect for authority. None. I will judge you by your actions alone. [2] This is an assumption based on my conception of normie considerations like pride, sticking with your decision, whatever. Obviously if a rule does more harm than good it should be removed whether or not it was enforced temporarily, but it is probably easier to do so politically if it was in fact considered temporary. Look, I'm trying desperately not to kill all normies every day here. Give me a break.

Updating this thread with the rest of the side cast! (At least for the demo xD The full game will have more side characters.)

Thank you very much! I'm very glad it's well received >w<\ Starting to introduce the side cast! First: the manservants (cause what is a palace without them )

wasnt last night but had a dream a week ago. all i remember is the end of it. i was in a park and i got hit in the head with a frisbee and wok up with a headache.

I don’t ever remember my dreams. If it wasn’t impossible to not do so, I’d say I don’t dream.