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  1. Hey everybody, I spent some time on this forum like 5-6 years ago and I wanted to spend some free time here again so I'm making a very brief introduction. Because if I don't write even a little, I feel like i'm gonna wait another years before deciding to post something Back then I used Visual Novels to try and learn Japanese, I was also taking lessons at the time and managed pass the N4 exam, yay! I haven't read any VNs since 2017, where I stopped working on my Japanese to focus on other things and now I'm trying to get back into it. I'm 23, male and from Germany. My online times might vary from yours but feel free to send me a message to have a nice chat Nice to meet you all I hope the community has flourished and gained lots of new members over the last years!
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  2. Its important to mention that episode 8 has extra content in the manga version and the ending is a little bit more satisfying
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  3. The last time we talked about a “modern fairy tale” VN with a yuri spin to it, it was a very special one – Studio Elan’s Heart of the Woods, which I confidently gave my first and, so far, only 5/5 rating. The way it mixed relatable, modern characters with an emotional fantastical plot resulted in experience in many ways unmatched within the EVN scene. It also showed the huge potential of this formula, handling the clash between mundane and supernatural in a different way than typical fantasy or horror stories. Today we’ll be looking at a game that took similar themes and utilized them a more low-key, light-hearted way – ebi hime’s newest yuri VN, The Fairy’s Song. Released on Steam and Itch.io early August 2020, this project is a slight departure from ebi’s usual, angst-filled storytelling, focusing more on cute romance and comedy. Fairly similar in tone to 2016’s Strawberry Vinegar, which also combined modern-day slice of life story and supernatural elements, it plays on classic themes of knights, monsters, magic and sleeping beauties, but puts them in a configuration that gives the whole setup a very different meaning… Which doesn’t necessarily mean The Fairy’s Song manages to offer many surprises or that it feels particularly fresh in how it utilizes those tropes and story elements. But why is that exactly, and is it really a bad thing? But have they really…? There is certain sloppiness to The Fairy’s Song's lore and the overarching fantasy plot, but thankfully it can’t overshadow the charm of the characters and the yuri romance The Fairy’s Song's protagonist is Marnie, a goth teenager who tries to make up for her small stature and naturally cute looks with dark clothes and a (slightly) mean attitude. We meet her when she’s being dropped to her grandmother’s house in a small, remote village, quite unhappy with the time she’ll have to spend there while her parents travel abroad. Her grumpiness is only strengthened by the fact her grandmother, struggling after the death of her husband a year earlier, is a shadow of her former self – not just frail and weighted by her loss, but also disturbing her family with frequent talk of fairies and other magical phenomena supposedly present in the surrounding forests. However, what was meant to be a boring and depressing stay is turned on its head when Marnie ignores her grandmother’s warnings and walks deep into the forest. There, she is confronted with several inexplicable events, but most importantly, she discovers an unconscious girl dressed like a knight – Leofe, who apparently spent centuries sleeping in the enchanted grove and is now determined to repay Marnie for waking her up. Read the full article at evnchronicles.blogspot.com
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  4. dannyboo

    Decided to visit again :)

    Thanks you two! I didn't have much time to look around but I did get the impression that there isn't much going on Still, I'm looking forward to spending some more time on the forums
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  5. New public release time! Since last month Penlight's had a lot of little changes and updates. There's script edits, another load of new CGs, a few little additions to storylines old and new, and the full translation of the game into Spanish! There are some issues with the script in its current version, but Spanish readers should now be able to read and enjoy Penlight and I'm proud to be able to offer that to people in what is still a free indie visual novel ^^ I really hope there are people out there who will find it useful. But back to the other stuff. Nozomi's main storyline got some significant edits to strengthen the narrative and fix an inconsistency or two. The villainy stuff got another looking over as well, with the Robot storyline getting a new scene and Sleeper Agent a new ending that I'm not totally pleased about, but whatever. It's something. Also, Hiroko's most recent storyline might also be worth reading again just for the new art that got added this month~ Oh, and following from the progress I made on the Reversal storyline last month, I made a start on another anticipated storyline this time. It's the part where Kyou suggests turning Sayori into a doll o.o There's a scene or two to get things started, and there'll be more to come next month. Should turn out to be fun~ As usual, you can find this month's release in PC, Linux, Mac and Android versions, on my Patreon or itch.io pages. I've also linked the most recent flowchart guide on the public news post on Patreon. That's all for now. Hope you folks enjoy the update and I'll see you next time! What's New New CG for Nozomi's route, near the beginning TWO New CGs for Hiroko's route, on the "Ticklish Hands" storyline New CG for the third of Sayori's Alter storyline endings New CG for the Villainous Robot storyline Spanish localisation: The entire game is now playable in Spanish! Expanded the Robot path by making some script edits and adding a whole new scene Edited a number of scenes on Nozomi's Trance storyline Completed a version of the alternate ending on the Villainous Sleeper Agent storyline where Kyou chooses to fight Began writing the Doll storyline on Sayori's route Added music and ambient sound to Hiroko's "ticklish hands" storyline ending scene Added one new piece of music. It plays during the first scene of Sayori's Doll storyline Added a language select screen when people start the game for the first time Inserted a disclaimer message that appears at the start of the game Fixed several bugs in the CG gallery that prevented certain CG variants from unlocking Fixed a display bug that occurred during Nozomi's Reversal storyline Word count is now around 217,500 The usual miscellaneous spelling and grammatical corrections Known Issues Changing the language on a line where an animation occurs (like screen shake) will throw up an error
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  6. Welcome back to (now much less alive) Fuwanovel! Hope you'll have fun. :3
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  7. Umineko does have a pretty clear conclusion, both in terms of plot and themes, it just doesn't bother to explain all of its murder mysteries in way that satisfies anyone looking for clear-cut "logical" solutions, which is kind of the point. My theory for why Umineko is more controversial in Japan is that its critique of a certain hyper-rationalist mindset hits a lot closer to home with a larger portion of the consumer base there. Ryukishi07 reacting to a possible need for answers to the howdunnits based on material reality by effectively shrugging and saying "I gave you Battler's and Ange's "truth", if you are not satisfied with that, go figure it out yourself" is a big middle finger to these people (if the inclusion of Erika didn't piss them off enough (and I could go on about how great of a character she is)). Especially since Japanese popular media, or at least the parts I know, tend to package their social commentary in a way that mostly spares out the individual consuming it.
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  8. This is a mix FAQ that is only for information purposes is someone need addition info or just miss something so it has an informal format with me saying my suggestions, however, this doesn't mean it is 100% only way to play or some stuff I wrote might even be inaccurate (as I did it on my own + Japanese wiki). And as a warning: I do have communication issues, that why I prefer to write long and many details. Many grammar errors to be expected as well (seriously, this is only for guide purpose, not an essay). Thinking of playing the game Starting the game Beginning of the game tips. ->Available characters (important to get as soon as possible) ->Runes/states Mid-late game End game (non-story spoilers) NG+ (non-story spoilers) For 100% + link to Japanese web with all the info Thinking of playing the game I start right off with these 2 FAQ: Q: Is this game like Kamidori? A: No. Is very similar to Kamidori because it is the same developer (Eushully) but it is not the same. Extra: Don't compare the games as you play (including writing online how disappointed you are). This game is not Kamidori and move on so you can enjoy the game as it is a good one. (Special extra: if you don't know Kamidori, make sure to play it after this game, but not before however). Q: Is this a music game (Rhapsody)? A: No. Extra: the main protagonist and others do have special weapons that can be used as a music instrument, there are scenes with them using the instruments (visual novel part) now and then, but that's it. There is no music-based gameplay or ambition to become musicians. The only music-related element in battle, are passive skills that increase accuracy and damage (Tip: don't neglect them, you become extremely powerful if, even a pure support unit, has the x4 damage increase to allies and is present in battle). Starting the game Q: How do I run the game? A: To run the game you need to set your PC's location settings to Japanese and install Japanese language code. A more simple solution: instal "Local Emulator" (yep, that's the name of the program), and start the game using use this emulator by simple right-click "AGE Patch.exe" -> "local emulator" as a new option and start as "Run in Japane (Admin)" Q: Do I have an old version of the game? A: The translation patch makes the game say version 1.00.0000 but its actually the 1.01 of the Japanise version (meaning you have the up to date one) Beginning of the game tips. Before continuing to read please finish the beginning of the game (so all test missions + Tutorial) to have a general idea of the game. Mana bar - there is only one for everything: magic, skills, summon units, etc. So it is not advised at all to use high costing mana skills and multiple magic. 1st run - game is easy in the beginning but halfways gets harder and harder. Second Play onwards: You are god mode {you need to screw up really bad or fight DLC NG+ maps to lose} so it is a good idea to decide if you wish to play the games as a challenge or not (aka using or not Loser's Maze) Do 100% early maps, so all quest, including Free battles to have a good start. Once you are set (battles are easy) stop doing any of the free maps (as 1st time clear is the only way to earn runes, aka stats, and only characters you HAVE will receive them. More about runes in the end part of this section) Difficulty - I have not seen them affecting stories or anything other than what they say they do (increase/decrease enemy stats, dis/enable save and undo function) so set them however you wish with not worrys. Do suggest to have the option for save and undo on as it really annoying to make silly mistakes or wanting to test stuff (saving the moment) and need to redo everything (like having 30 mana for the ultimate skills for CG registrations for almost all units) Q: Regarding Loser's Maze, what happens? A: If you open the door you get a nasty title but you will have access to easy to win stages, with many good skills and after completing you get a special passive type skill that gives stat boost + 1 movement for 0 costs for attaching. Q: If I use the Maze, will it affect the story + can I get rid of the title? A: Maze has nothing to do with the story, so no, it won't affect the story regardless if you use the maze or not. Yes, you can get rid of the title, but only end chapter, just clear 100% and it is gone. {end game reward info}: It is worth to play it before finishing the game for the extra copies of the best general skills and extra runes even if you don't plane of using the loser's rings to cheat. Fully exploring the Maze is necessary for 100% list info btw. Avoid the Shops much as you can. You will have a limited amount of skills you can earn per run, and the ones that are worth buying will cost a lot, so save the unless absolutely necessary to advance in the story. You will get everything multiple times as you clear up all areas (like the keys). Extra info {general rules, including end game skills}: Again, don't buy anything from day shop as you will have more copies that you will use (even if they look really good, you will have soon many). Night shop is discussable, It will depend on your playstyle so some might be worth it, I would still buy max 1 and since new maps usually give them anyways. EG: sky or water adaptation at the beginning is handy (but not more than 1 as you will have tons later, don't even bother with the others types). HP absorbed is not worth, it cost a lot, and the damage you do is too little to make it worth, there will be a stronger version late chapter, that one is worth. State increases - not worth it. Obvious but: always attack from the back as you deal extra 50% damage and sometimes (usually if your OP) will bypass the evasion that would protect the enemy if attacked from the front. Q: How do I bypass Evation? A: Attack from behind, have higher accuracy than the enemy has evasion, attack once to deplete its evasion value and then you can give normal damage (unless the enemy unit has a skill to regain evasion) Q: Good strategy to play the game for 100% purpose? A: You have 100 Save slots, so save save save. So many times you might end up advancing the chapter and missing out on events or boss who's CG skill you missed. You only need to load the save file, do what's missing, and its registered, no need to replay the game again. Either get a 100% save file online or be prepered to speed run as you need to finish the game 5 times for 100% CG (a Speed run - so nothing extra aka bad or normal endings only, will take you around 2-3 hours) Q: Can you give an example of how to play for 100%? A: Missable events: Before advancing the story, in order to NOT miss anything: See/read all events in town, leave and enter a free (or cleared) map and straight away withdraw from the map and go back to town. Do this until absolutely no events show up, then do a story dungeon to advance. So never do 2 straight story dungeons in a row without the above step. If multiple story dungeon, obviously focuses on the one having characters, if that makes you advance the chapter, you know to reload your save (like one of that autosave!!!) and leave that for last, don't risk. Like this, I got the best ending with no issues. Q: When to read the Extra story? A: Too early, play the game more. It is just a small side naughty story. No rush, there is no impact on the story. ->Available characters (information spoiler?) There are a total of Here is the Wiki (warning, character names spoiler?) with when or how characters join (since you wish to recruit them as soon as possible for 1st time clear runes). Last 4 are are available for your 1st run. https://w.atwiki.jp/kaminorhapsody/sp/pages/25.html#id_35af481d If you wish just to know who will NOT join, please continue reading (spoiler warning, won't put names so it's just to have a rough idea): Early introduce characters: Anyone who is or joins the dawn team Mr Hero Mr library ( ) Late chapter introduce character: (she does give the vibe for a playable character...not sure why she isn't...) You will be able to tell who is who as you advance in the story. ->Runes/states: Warning, this is difficult at first to understand. Play the game more and come back, it might make more sense later on. But don't advance to much before understanding this game mechanism (reason why its in the begging section). Basics stuff on how to earn efficiently for the long run There is no experience system, meaning killing enemies won't usually make your units stronger (more in a moment - Reson to kill enemies for stats). Q: How do your units gain stats? A: Runes and skills. Extra info: Skills are self-explained so I will go through and explaining how to efficiently use runes. You gain runs from defeating special enemies (see - Reson to kill enemies for stats) or 1st-time map clear. In other words, SAVE FREE MAPS. Do few to get skills and runes for your main characters to be able to clear maps. After safe them, until you have more allies, as any allied joins after you did some maps will lose out on the runes you can get from those maps. Don't do this 100% of times as you won't be able to progress or will struggle a lot, always check what a map drops so you can decide if the skill is worth or not do that map. And if you do an area, do the all from there if you need to choose for extra 5 Weapons points. Q: How to tell whats a free map? A: Read tutorial... Extra A: (the double sword icon in stage selection) How to invest runes If you read the tutorial you'll know you get skills for getting a diagonal line (X), and HP for horizontal or vertical lines (+). So, we have 3 types: "X" & "+" lines as well as scattered ones not connected with anything. 1: As you advance in the story, you'll get more books, meaning more runes needed to fill in (as it said in the tutorial, filling the whole book, will increase the max amount of Weapons Point you can allocate) so its better to fill out the 1st few book (2-3) until post game. 2: Ignore the scattered runes most of the time, unless you are in the late in chapters or have extra spare runes (usually mage have extra red and wariours extra blue), ignore as much as you can the scattered runes as you might need them for line runes. The reason why I say to ignore as much as you can despite [filling page increase max weapon point that can be allowcated] is that some units you might decide to not use them for battle, you will barely have enough to fill in the X lines for unique character skills needed for skill info list (though you can use save and load methought). 3: For X lines, save before investigating, if its a general skill, it is usually not worth (like pierce is an absolute good skill, but you get tons of copies to end game you don't wish to waste runes for it). Character skills, again, check if they are worth like the mana cost might be too much so you might wish to leave it alone until 2+ playthroughs when you have more spare runes. 4. For + lines: use the point whenever you can. Why? because you get more HP and each line add 1 level. Extra level = stat increase and addition point per level for max skill points available (max Level/Points is 50). So to have strong units, level them up, how? invest in + lines, not x lines or scattered runes. Reason to kill enemies for stats: Runes: The one who gives the FINISH blow will get a rune (so not everyone) if they defeat the Boss (story usually but not all the times) or that [Element] Forest Fairy Forest Fairy: that fur? covered hidden unit there is usually 1 in every free map. I don't see the worth of searching for them, the time you waste to find every last one, you could speed run another if not more playthrough and give runes to everyone. It will stay until you start attacking it (as in reducing its remaining evade states, once it is low or 0 it will leave the battle, FOREVER for this playthrough - unless you withdraw before its gone. Once defeated, it is gone forever as well for this playthrough. 3 Skills that give more states (HP, Attack or Magic) based on the number the united killed, You need a good 300+ kill (single unit) to make a noticeable difference to use that skill instead of a different (as in its not worth to spend hours farming kills). Mid-late game (so once you have chosen a girl - unavoidable choice) Q: Ok. How DO I get the endings? A: Routes/Endings (long text): Please pay attention: There is just 1 story, with 3 outcomes (ending) were you are with one or the other character (none for bad) Ending possibilities: Best x2 (for each girl) - you recruit all* characters + love scenes for main girl Normal x2 (for each girl) - Not 100% but I didn't recruite adittional characters and did all love scenes for [girl of choise] yet got the bad ending. I'm not willing to redo just to test, however it might be: recruite characters (probably all?) and DON'T see al love scenes (end chapters H even are missable). The bad ending - Don't recruite everyone and miss Love events with the girl of chose (so just do if you can't advance otherwise, I got it this way) * non-NG+ characters and clones don't count I'm not sure of the following: - if the Super boss is included as I managed to get her from the start. - if you only need to JUST recruite them all or actually see every last events they have. How to get the best ending for sure: Return to town after battle -> do all conversations -> Enter a free battle -> Withdraw from battle immediately -> repeat all steps over and over until no conversation are available when you return to town -> do the Main storys battle -> repeat all previous steps. Don't forget, if you have 2 or more events, and the one you saw 1st advance the chapter, just use the autosave section to load your save just before the battle/event. Q: When to read the Extra story? A: The event is related to the Dragon girl, so read it after doing all her events chapter 5-6 (forgot exactly when exacly). Non-specific timing (to avoid a spoiler): end of chapter 6 if you saw all her events. If you want more specific: after her . I'm surprised she got this extra, as in why exactly her? Though she is one of my favourites so its a nice bonus {{{NG+ tip, she is a wind character + flys = will be extremely useful in NG+ dungeons}}}. Q: How to beat Ultra boss? A: Use Mr Tree as a tank + great HP regeneration + conterstike, more healers to keep him alive if needed. At least 2 archer's snipe skill to stop Boss movements. Alternative: complete as many maps for runes and 100% area quests for WP and you should be able to beat her like that just bearly (not advise since new units will miss out on runes). End game (has non-story spoilers) Don't forget to clear any area for WP and buy whatever you think is good from the Night shops (as you might need them for NG+ stages as the shop resets - so skills for sale based on the chapter you are in) and Loser's Maze (for the extra general good skills, bonus runes and Info registration of the units and skills found there. Q: Point of no return? A: The chapter's title will clearly say its the finale. You will be able to tell as the completion will be "---%". If you need however a name its called NG+ (has non-story spoilers) What carries over? Everything (clones are suggested so that they keep getting the 1st time clear runes). Maps need to be redone (including free maps) but you will be able to see everything (so you will see where you need to go with flying/teleporting units. It depends on yourself if you wish to clear every last map 100% or just for the 1st time clear rune bonus and maybe for any good skill, you really will be OP anyway so it's not worth doing 100% (only if you feel the need like myself:3 ). If you aim for 100% CG, your better off speedrunning the 2nd playthrough (do get all NG+ characters and try and clear those stages, except BugBug, you only get an almost all landscape adaption skills for clearing it, nothing game-breaking) as you will have nowhere near enough runes in 2 playthroughs, I had enough for my main units, and just enough to get all character skills for units I don't use after 2 best route runs despite 100% everything (actually, my mains had full books because of the forest fairy and boss kills). For 1st-time map clear rune farming (aka recruiting NG+ characters as soon as possible): 2 you can get as early as chapter 2 (suggestions to win more down if you have difficulties), 1 Chap 3 and last one Chap 7, however for this you need to do the exclusive maps (The SP town evens + dungeons they unlock) as they show up since if you advance the chapter you might end up being locked out of them. The second reason to do them as soon as possible: You get extra book page with scattered runes to place. The stats bonus for filling everything is no joke. Tips on beating NG+ stages as you get them (for fast recruitment) DON'T waste your time reading this unless youhave tryed the stages already but still have difficulties as I'm assuming you know them (so no spoiler issue) and have a general idea And again, this is just general idea how to beat them straight away (since the more you continue to play the more OP you will be) so work around depending who you use and your gameplay, you might not even need any of this info in the 1st place. {{{{{Tips again the Robo Maids}}}}} {{{{{Books}}}}} {{{{{Chainsaw Clown}}}}} This dungeon is worth doing as soon as possible. You get more or less 4 Double actions (2 from the chest, 1 for defeat, and 1 from the new character) plus teleportation and more. Strategy: {{{{{Hot spring}}}}}: Nothing really, but if you really need to {{{{{The questioner}}}}}: Sorry...I pretty much slaughtered them all since is end game battle so not real tip other than the general rule against all bosses: For 100% Jap Wiki is your best friend https://w.atwiki.jp/kaminorhapsody/sp/ Q: I'm missing [CG] A: If you did the 2 routes on the best ending, it means you are missing 1 CG slot. For that, you need to get 1 of the other 3 endings, all 3 if you want 100% variations. For 100% CG, you need to do all 5 possible endings + almost all Characters skills (use the gallery to check who you need...yes, I love to point out the obvious). Extra: So, you have everything (so including NG+ events) but lack CG variation were characters clearly is attacking, that means you need to perform (make them if enemy) their character skills. eg: Laurie has a CG with an Ax right at the beginning of the game. In the gallery (unlock after beating the game once) you'll see it has 10 variations. You will only get all 10 by using her skills in battle (if i'm not wrong its just the 30 mana cost, I did use all her skills and got 10/10). Same with ALMOST every character - again, check CG list, make your own list, do a map, save when you have 40? mana, summon character, perform skill, load save and do same with different character. This way, you shold have everyone but enemys (good luck, play hard so they have no need for mana to cast thir skills) otherwise load and use different skill. Q: I'm missing unit X in the list A: 1. The 2 under Zombie Dragon: In chapter 5, DON'T trigger the event next to the corps (since this is the post-game section of the guide I'm sure you know who that event is). Then in chapter 6, you will have a mission were the 2 missable units will appear. Optional: DON'T attack them and they will join you after the battle. 2. The 3 units under Reza-Bozua are re-enforcement units that appear during the Last Story boss fight (so don't rush). 3. If you miss 1 unit, it means its definitely one that shows up after you clear the map once so make sure you revisited maps, start with main and move on to free - sorry, don't have a list of this kind of units. Copyright: This is only for Fuwanovel web so no posting on other website. I will update (if I can) if requested but for now I'm done with the game so i won't spend any more time. Additions are welcome, criticise aren't ( I mentioned from the start that I have communication issues so it is absurd to think what I wrote is without issues. I wrote to help to fill any missing piece people have. I played and done the game without any, so anything I wrote is really just my own suggestions and stuff I considered writing)
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  9. The funny thing for me is that my impression of Japanese creatives (writers, mangaka, game devs, etc) is very positive and I think they have a lot of brilliant minds working in those fields. But my impression of the Japanese consumer base lowers with every year. I think the oppressive education system makes a minority of people snap and a subset of that minority express it through art, which is why their fiction can be so good. But the majority of Japanese manage to conform to the system, and for those who conform I think it permanently damages their creative thinking abilities. It's interesting how Higurashi is the favorite Ryukishi07 work in Japan, and Umineko (which is comparatively a more experimental and imo overall a deeper work) is somewhat scorned in Japan but highly praised in the west. Maybe at my core I'm fundamentally westerncentric, but I think the west is right on this one. Umi > Higurashi. Although without a doubt both are very good. I think Ryukishi07 was tongue and cheekly referring to his Japanese audience in these quotes: pic1, pic2
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  10. Hi everybody. My name is Tay. I’m the site admin, and I’m writing this post to share a few thoughts and to apologize for what has been a very difficult period for the site (and many of us in the real world, myself included). Please note that I am actively working on the site today (01:26 update: currently waiting on Nayleen’s help on a mysql issue that I don’t know how to solve) and will be available in this thread and on Discord throughout the day. Why did you disappear? I was overwhelmed by real-world responsibilities and the real-world issues affecting the site. I feel deeply that it’s my responsibility to keep an appropriate baseline amount of support (server, forums fees, forums UI theme subscriptions, front site plugin subscriptions), and have mostly done so, but not being here in a full, active manner means that I was unaware of even large issues, such as Invision losing my auto-pay details. I feel really bad, guys. I'm sorry. Why didn’t you more proactively pass along the keys to other community members instead of just ghosting us? Dropping torrents caused hundreds of real-world issues that made a site hand-off – even partially – unconscionable until resolved. It makes me happy that they feel like an ancient memory to most of you, but they have been my lived reality for a long time. Only this summer did that chapter fully come to a close. Fuwa is in the clear, for what it’s worth, and for the first time I feel like I have options. What the &$% is going on with site/forums updates? I’m working to fix some issues in how I access the various databases on the server. Once that’s fixed everything will be updated and troubleshooted. It’s going to be another Fuwapocalypse. But it’s gotta be done. I give you my word that, so long as I can get @Nayleen’s help, this will be done by week’s end. As regards the forms, specifically, Invision, the software company who made our forums software, deleted the auto-pay credentials I’d given them and the software license lapsed for several months. It’s been renewed and everything will be updated as soon as I get Nay’s assistance and make a bunch of meticulous backups. What is your plan for Fuwanovel going forward? It may not be appropriate for that to be my call. I need to touch base with all the core users still active and sort out what’s best. I love Fuwanovel. It’s been a work of love spanning more than ten thousand hours (and much more than that in dollars). But my focus and passion -- help bring visual novels into the wider gaming community – has been realized. I’ve been fortunate enough to facilitate or be part of some major, tectonic shifts in the industry. It’s a different world and I am likely not the best equipped to pick a direction. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think so. What I’m confident about, however, is that the way I went about building Fuwa, while successful, is unsustainable. Palas put it incredibly well last month: “It’s like running a business, but without, well, the business.” Perfectly said. For better or worse, I’m wholly or largely responsible for the projects he highlights: enormous and technical VNTS posts which took two people 5 or so hours to do every Friday night, an ambitious reviews hub scouring VN reviews from across the net, a VN reviews team, forums projects, etc. A lot of what I did on Fuwa amounted to spending ungodly amounts of time watching trends in both the industry and site traffic and building ideas around what I thought would bring interest to the community and the VN player base. It worked well: we had huge traffic and played an important role in bringing VNs out of obscurity. But the lived reality was often me researching, designing and proposing these projects, and asking others to step up and either run or contribute to them without compensation. We’d have people putting in 20 hours a week, some weeks, on top of core admin staff working 30-40 hours weekly, and it STILL wasn’t enough. Most pitched in because we liked the cause, and liked hanging out with each other, and liked the dopamine rush of user engagement. Some did it because I asked them. And some did it because they felt like they had to. I’m still working on pulling apart my feelings on this issue. I don’t know how to fix this part of being a fan site. I do know that it is wrong to ask so much of members without paying them. Fuwa has never made money and I was never able to pay for help. This isn’t going to change anytime soon, so any new site reality is going to have to take into account the need for a lessened human cost. Anything else you want to say? Tons. But that’s good for now. I’m spamming Nayleen on all the usual channels and mostly just want to get the site fully updated. We can chew on the site’s existential questions in the meantime.
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  11. As I was one of the members that burned out a while back (too many VNs played for the sake of my blog on the site), I know something of where you are coming from. I was spending something like 50 hours a week playing VNs, many of them I didn't like or whose concept I found boring and pedestrian, to be able to be fair when doing my VN of the Month column. I was using a tiny scoop to try to get through the piles of hot steaming brown stuff to get to the stuff that shone regardless of genre, and my satisfaction levels kept falling until I just fell apart. I was even working on one screen while playing on another at times, while using meal times as a time to get caught up on a VN. To this day, I have to be careful not to play too much in the way of VNs, or my trauma comes back, despite the fact that I am loving what I'm reading. Heck, I'm currently recovering from another bout of that while doing something else to put myself back together. More recently, I was becoming increasingly depressed that the only community I still enjoyed being a part of was doomed. With the increased rl stress that hits every time I leave the house over the last four months, I was on the verge of collapse when I decided to get online and do my latest scan of the forums... and saw this. To be honest, just the fact that you are getting involved in the site again at all eased a lot of the pent-up stress that has been weighing on me every time I come online of late, so thanks for coming back.
    1 point
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