EdwardWongHPTIV
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Posts posted by EdwardWongHPTIV
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1 hour ago, sanahtlig said:
I heavily criticized that system. Did they actually do something about it? They showed no sign of budging when I whined about it last year on their forums. It's one of several reasons I gave up on MangaGamer completely.
I wonder if Denpasoft discovered that some users were downloading a single game many, many times and decided to put a stop to it.
Afaik there are still titles that say require activation and the last time I looked the FAQ mentioned the whole 5 activation attempts.
I too refuse to by a game with DRM and this OP is a prime example of why. If a Denpa, Mangagamer, or JAST limits downloads or worse yet goes out of business you have no game. Whom ever picked up the companies assets would probably claim that your license ended with the company but F that noise.
38 minutes ago, DarkZedge said:Like many suspect it probably does have to do with fighting against piracy, although it's shitty since they're screwing up their loyal customers aswell and even if it's not against piracy i don't understand the reasoning behind controlling their customers purchases..once they paid you they own that copy and should be free to download it if needed..no reason to restrict them
I frankly don't understand why everyone is jumping to the conclusion that it's an antipiracy measure. As everyone has pointed out it does nothing to stop it. Those bits cost money and if someone is abusing their servers just for the fun of it I guess they might think this is a solution. That is until they hack their site, steal their probably unsalted/unhashed password database, and proceed to exceed the download count on every title on every account. Maybe it already happened? Iirc denpa "relaunched" their site around the holidays. Maybe they had a intrusion they didn't announce?
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Yeah, discrimination is a tricky thing. I get the feeling that the most they'll ever get is a slap on the wrist so long as they apply their policy universally. Nothing is worse then evidence that you treated the same scenario more than one way. If you're universal in your approach it's easier to argue/spin that it was a misunderstanding, unintentional application, etc, excuses, etc. And you're exactly right, it's all about the bottom line. I doubt they promote diversity in the hopes of gaining significant market share from these communities. It's about perceptions. It's the consumers who support them that they want to *retain* as customers. The penalty for discriminating on the basis of adult products would have to be pretty damn high for them to care.
Higher risk in that they have to deal with less reputable lenders and trading partners? And thus have cash flow issues that result in them busting or passing the costs to the consumer? Sounds about right. Once you have some shady high interest secured loan against your business legitimate lenders probably wouldn't give you the time of day even before considering this topic. If nothing else their credit rating is probably ruined in the course of things.
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1 hour ago, CeruleanGamer said:
Not in the US unless you plan to sleep with a prostitute so they dont rob your whole house while youre in euphoria (best game eva btw). In those cases, you go to motels for a safety measure, so they only get away with your wallet cash in case they rob you.
We 'muricans are shameless mtfkers. When we gotta do it, we gonna do it. We aint got no time to search for no damn love hotels. We are cheap as hell as we would rather spend that shit on multiple condoms and birth controls.
Hell, son, when you gotta do it there's bathroom stalls, broom closets, your office desk, your *boss's* office desk (be sure to leave a calling card), alleyways, and parks just to name a few. It's fine. Just don't get caught.
Seriously though he was responding to my question/wondering about the origins of love hotels in Japan. Kinda got off topic in a manner of speaking.
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Ehh, I can't really see this as a anti-fraud thing. I mean the problem with steam keys was they were purchased with stolen cards. The keys were sold off and redeemed by others. Later the transactions are disputed and denpa is left hanging with an unpaid steam version.
This is probably a means of capping their bandwidth costs. Though it might bite them in the arse a bit since I don't think anyone else is doing so.
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7 minutes ago, sanahtlig said:
I don't think that's how it works. In fact, such companies usually require additional anti-fraud protection steps (like credit card CV code). My guess is that being forced to use non-mainstream payment processors, and then being compelled to use the cheapest of the "high-risk" payment processors, results in corners being cut on security. In addition, small companies like MangaGamer make easy targets because their security infrastructure is poor, and the industry itself is small and fragmented so they don't have the ability to lobby law enforcement and/or payment processors for better protection. It all goes back to the "poor underprivileged neighborhood" argument.
You may be right. Probably are right. I only went down that road because, iirc, mangagamer doesn't require your name or address (save for physical shipments). But admittedly that theory falls apart as soon as the credit card name is considered. Still, if mangagamer doesn't cache these details it would mean slightly more paperwork to the credit card processing company to get them! Who am I kidding it probably doesn't even require actual paperwork.. well depending on the country...
I thought I remember mangagamer needing the CV code? But there was no address/zip code? My memory is bad though. Take that with a grain of salt.
Apparently CV codes aren't effective in protecting consumers themselves. There are enough sites/businesses that don't require them to make the sale of credit card details a viable business. But I digress, that's a separate matter.
Anyway, do you think the removal of adult/obscene/pornographic (forgot the word used) transactions from the high-risk category will help???
I'm a half-empty kind of guy so I'm going to go with a, "Helllllllllllllll, no".
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On 3/1/2016 at 7:40 AM, KuroganeHomura said:
http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/02/paypal-square-and-big-bankings-war-on-the-sex-industry/
Not happening anytime soon, unfortunately. Not sure if I want it to happen right now, either - even ignoring the above issue, there's the question of what kinds of adult VNs Steam would allow. Somehow I think they'd be a lot more likely to carry Princess Evangile's adult version than, say, euphoria or Maggot Baits. Considering that, I think I prefer the current situation for the time being, at least until the VN market outside of Steam grows some more.
Nice link. Yeah... can you imagine the shit fest that would occur in a corporate meeting if they tried to hash out the criteria of what is lawful or acceptable adult content? Can't be done in the first place because the laws can't even codify what is actually deemed illegal. /sigh. Anyway, thanks for the link. As a new fan of VNs this topic has been on my mind. The more you know, the know you grow. Or something.
On 3/1/2016 at 11:56 AM, CeruleanGamer said:They need a "red light district" in Steam where you cant buy or view games unless you have proper identification/credentials (e.g. date of birth/country restrictions linked to your Steam account). Might be hard to enforce since people can just falsify their shit but it's probably the roundabout way to do it.
That's dicey. You're asking users to identify themselves in a climate in which, if it's not already illegal, (certain) sexual content could always be made illegal. Possibly retroactively. And if, as you point out, people falsify their information then the whole "red light" distinction becomes largely moot.
On 3/1/2016 at 9:14 AM, sanahtlig said:High risk of fraudulent activity. Like what happened to MangaGamer (even though ironically that was connected to Steam). It's easier to get away with crime in a poor and underprivileged "neighborhood", to use the analogy from the article.
It's sorta a catch 22 isn't it? Doesn't mangagamer process credit cards with less anti-fraud measures because doing so could possibly put their customers at risk of the law (depending on region)? Not to mention that the number of credit processing companies that will even deal with them is limited. It's asinine that we even have to have discussions like this in this day and age. Laws and attitudes older than I am, and I'm pretty old, shouldn't be arbitrating these issues. Not that I can't understand the later. It's easy to get stuck in ones ways.
On 3/2/2016 at 7:51 PM, Soulless Watcher said:If steam really wanted to get into the 18+ visual novel business, they would probably set up a completely separate platform for "adult" purchases.
I know something similar to a "adult" steam exists, it's called Kimochi. Sadly I just found out that they are shutting down latter this month, which isn't very surprising. Most of their titles were very amateurish rpgs.
Maybe Gabe would stop telling casters they're assholes if his own platform sported a little T'n'A?
joking aside it would kinda defeat the purpose for me if it was a separate site with only adult games. I'd welcome a competitor to Steam that would sell *all* the gameys. Competition is good, no?
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Yeah... I think I'll wait a while until payment bugs are worked out.
I guess the game itself is solid though?
Can you imagine what it'd be like if nukige were available at a store and the clerk was a woman? Oh, wait, Japan....
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15 minutes ago, sanahtlig said:
I'm pretty sure love hotels are a thing because people want to hide their night life from their fellow roommates. Many young adults live with their parents, and most of them probably don't have cars. Love hotels are simply serving a desire for privacy in a culture where privacy commands a premium.
Well, suppose we're kinda saying the same thing in the end. It's a matter of privacy/shame. I'm just not sure if premarital sex was the only target of love hotels from their outset. /shrug. Well it doesn't matter in the end. I was just curious and had never heard that bit of (possible) trivia. Come to think of it there are some manga I've read that have used how thin the walls in those old apartments are as a plot device of sorts...
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20 hours ago, Diamon said:18 hours ago, CeruleanGamer said:
What needs to stop is the school setting trope and all these garbage ass cliches that only works right in a Japanese VN but will never work in a western setting.
Example: No youre not supposed to go to love hotels or karaoke bars in a western setting VN. We dont do that shit over here....
Night clubs or going to a bar for drinks would be more "western appropriate" or actually going to your significant other's place instead of hotels or motels is more common here.
See? That shit isnt so hard to westernize... These OELVN developers just need to see the differences between our cultures and the Japanese if they want to "make it their own" and not look like copycat garbage VN.
Totally agree, and you've touched on something that could be a strength of OELVNs, variety of setting. When considering Japanese fiction as a whole I am admittedly worn out on the whole slice of life high school setting. What redeems such fiction for me is interesting characters and/or story. Let's face it, Japanese fiction tends to be monolithic when it comes to settings.
You know until recently I never thought too deeply about how the whole love hotel came to exist. It's easy to make assumptions. But I read somewhere recently, I forget where (which brings into question its veracity), that early Japanese apartments built after the war had really thin walls. Thus, to not rock the boat / be neighbourly they needed some place to do it and not be heard... Even though I've been reading and watching Japanese fiction for years I've never delved into the reason why. But this seems plausible or at least a facet of the truth.
14 hours ago, sanahtlig said:All I expect from OELVNs is mature writing for adults, appealing anime-style or fantasy-style graphics, a high fantasy setting with swords and sorcery, engaging RPG combat, 1000-year-old goth lolis, and sex with said lolis--all voiced in Tolkien's elven language. Is that too much to ask?
So basically you want the Witcher 4 to have anime style graphics and really old creatures that can turn themselves into goth lolis be romanceable? Sounds legit.
13 hours ago, CeruleanGamer said:Add George RR Martin plot twists and sudden deaths and I'm sold baby.
Certainly possible in, The Witcher 4: The Youkai Strike Back, just have the protag fight others over the right to be the next guardian deity of the land (aka the throne). Just spare me the flaccid members.
I'm totally serious! I'd buy that game! Ok, maybe I'm being a tiny bit sarcastic. If only the Witcher 3 modding tools were better, eh?
Nevermind such a game would stop being a VN altogether... I wonder if you could make the dialogs look enough like ADV?
Well, I tried to fix my multiquote blunder but I can't get it to save. Ah well.
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My gut feeling is that OELVNs generally promise too much, with too small of budget. You can't produce a game with varied sprites, many HQ CGs, voice acting, and good writing on a shoestring budget. I honestly don't know what the budgets in Japan are like but I'm sure it's more than the 10's of thousands.
Art is another factor. I really, really try not to judge OELVN art vs Japanese VNs but when they mimic the style, it's almost universally looks like crap. I wish they would just go with their own style or excrete the blood, sweat, and tears to do proper backgrounds, sprites, and CGs.
English voice acting... ehh.. I have mixed feelings. Mainly because of anime dubs. I know, I know. We're talking about OELVNs. It's just that a lot of english voice acting is so ham fisted. The scripts don't help and sometimes they try to mimic anime/cartoon voices.... ewww. To be fair I haven't yet played an OELVN with voice acting so this is clearly my anime dub prejudice talking.
TL:DR More budget and do something original with the format (and please don't make my ears bleed).
What essential features should modern VNs today have?
in Visual Novel Talk
Posted
The irony being that it requires communication or at least knowing your partner to pull that off and he was asking for... communication (via the ui). That said you can always err on the side of caution and do plenty of foreplay.
Ehhh.. I have mixed feelings on background voices. I'm new to VNs so I've only run across one title with them... and they didn't work imo. They were either really subdued like BGM and didn't really add much or they were so incongruous with the scene that they were distracting. Maybe I just had a bad first experience. Probably not the best way of putting it after admitting I was recently a VN virgin.
Too many grass eaters. They need a moe spokesperson encouraging them to eat more meat. Turn the old people into Dashi - because soylent green is too old school.
E-mote you mean? I'm actually kinda afraid of what Japan will do with such powers once decent AR comes on the market. Which won't be too long if investments made by Google, Qualcom?, and others is any indication. MS hololens is kinda a joke unless they are really able to improve on it's FoV, etc.
On topic -
As a newb to VNs I like the idea of a flowchart (haven't used one) just because I'm kinda paranoid I'll miss something. I mean I save at every choice and skip until unread text but it just seems a lot easier/faster/more elegant solution. It'd be equally nice if they visually indicated sections of the map that contained unread text (If they don't already). If a game is already structured in chapters it might be nice to have a plot summary that reflects your choices up until that point. Sometimes it might be nice, especially if I'm pulled away from a game for a while (days, weeks), to have that as a reminder. If it's not chapter based then worst case you could autoplay from the last choice on the map to refresh your memory.
If you really wanted to get fancy with the flowchart you could add bookmarks. A novel with bookmarks?! Along with notes it would be nice to not only mark your favorite moments, but also keep track of say clues in a mystery. /shrug. It might seem redundant with saves but being able to visualize them within the flowchart seems useful compared to trying to figure out how you organized your save slots (again from the perspective of a hiatus or even a re-read).
Now that I think about it, it only makes sense for VNs with gameplay elements to have saveslots.