tahu157 Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 As I'm sure you know, Sekai Project has had a history of wildly successful Kickstarters, with not one that did not achieve its goal. However, their latest KS, Witch Boy Magical Piece, has seven days left on the clock and only thirty percent of its goal funded so far. Not only is it most likely going to be their first failure, but it's also going to be a pretty dismal one. Thirty percent isn't even close. They've also got it set up so that you won't be charged unless they reach one-hundred percent, so they're not even going to get the thirty they've got already. I'm curious as to why this happened to a company that's had nothing but success to date. These are the possibilities I've come up with:- The western VN community's deep pockets have reached their bottom- The western VN community isn't interested in BL (I find this one the most likely)- Everyone spent their money on the Muv Luv Kickstarter instead- The desire to support a new localization company has tapered off What do you guys suppose was the cause of this failed KS? And what sort of impact do you suppose this will have on Sekai Project and their activities? Do you think the trend will continue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nosebleed Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 You pretty much answered the question yourself, the genre is just too niche and probably didn't interest most of SP's primary audience and even the Western audience in general. Although I do think there's an audience for BL games over here, but SP probably doesn't have a huge hold on said audience.I wouldn't extrapolate this as "SP is going downhill from now on" at all, it's just that this title in particular had few chances to succeed.I highly doubt it will have any real impact in how SP operates in the near future as well.The reason they use Kickstarter in the first place is because of the safety net it provides.To them this is just one less product they'll bring over, that's basically their modus operandi in a nutshell. Silvz and LiquidShu 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronIsCrunchy Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 I simply think it'll mean that they won't go for BL titles any more, or at least without a serious revision of their marketing or something.The western VN community do like their titties. Nosebleed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuuko Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 It seems like some unknown BL title so no surprise. Not enough interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuee Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 They asked for way too much considering it's a mobile game. Not to mention the idea of a BL game where the boys transform into girls probably isn't a smart idea and turned away a few people. XReaper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zodai Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Localization projects are more successful because those interested have probably already heard of its' quality. OELVNs take a bit more to impress, either through good art or maybe a stellar demo to show off the writing. Furthermore you're basically going for a niche within a niche within a niche - VNs go into BL and then into genderbender even further, assuming Chuee's post is accurate, not to mention those interested in females would prefer they be females from the get-go and those interested in males would prefer they stayed males, maybe except for an incredibly small group already within multiple levels of niches.The concept is so bonkers you would need an incredibly high writing strength to take hold of it, and without a demo of some kind (I'm assuming there isn't) you can't verify that the strength of the writing is up to par. If we assume this isn't throwing everything in to 'appeal to everyone' in which case it's probably for the best so people could focus elsewhere, how do you take best advantage of such a concept from a writing level to begin with? *Disclaimer I haven't actually read the KS page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulless Watcher Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 (edited) It's a shame that the kickstarter will probably fail. I'm not a fan of bl, considering I have a massive fear of anal fissures, but I know there are those out there that will be disapointed.I doubt this will have any major effect on the recent vn localization boom, especially since the MuvLuv kickstarter is breaking records. Maybe if vns become a bit more popular in the future the title will have a chance, but like everyone and their mother have already pointed out.... it's just waaaay too niche of a title. Edited October 10, 2015 by Soulless Watcher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mkilbride Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 By the way, Kickstarter always works that way. If you reach 99% of your goal, no money is taken as well. KS's only get their money if they reach 100%, not including Paypal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimrui Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 BL just doesn't interest me. It may have good characters and story but it wasn't my cup of tea. I don't know how the game is, but if some BL lovers really wanted it I feel for you for not getting this. CeruleanGamer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josephl64 Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 nothing about the title really interested me, I'll say that's probably true for most of the others who didn't support this. CeruleanGamer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeruleanGamer Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Even as a girl, I am not really a fan of BL. It's too similar with Otomes where its main selling point is cheesy romance and "soap opera'ish drama". Heck I cant remember playing any from these two genres that was rather memorable. At least there's some yuris out there that put some effort in character art amd decent storyline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenophilious Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 One of SP's comments on the Kickstarter: "When we showed the game off at Anime Expo there was really good reaction from the crowd so we felt a prefundia was not necessary. So it was a bad judgement on our part." Sounds like really, really bad estimation of the level of support that they'd receive, and looking at the tiers they have on the Kickstarter, there isn't a reason to pledge more than $99 other than wanting to go above and beyond in helping the project succeed, since you wouldn't get anything else. All in all, it sounds like a very poorly planned Kickstarter campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XReaper Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 dunno why this seems to be such an intersting topic, cause if it fails - so be it - then there simply were´nt enough people interested in said novel´s localisation, or whatoever caused it. it wont be the end of stuff beeing brought over to the west and there´s still enough to read either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanahtlig Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 To sum up the reasons why this Kickstarter isn't doing well:1. Android -> PC port2. Audience mismatch: The BL/yaoi crowd tends to like their sex.3. Poor Kickstarter planning (no Prefundia to drum up interest, lack of good high-tier backer rewards)4. Extremely niche content (BL, cross-dressing focus)5. Title and company have no existing fanbase in the West Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambda Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Even as a fujoshi, I can tell you that this is a niche within that that wasn't really appealing to me, either. (A lot of gender bender "trap" manga/anime ends up being for guys so I have a negative opinion on the subject from the beginning...) I kinda wish they did a little less of a niche BL title first, and if they didn't add the tiers above $99 with only a week to go... That's just bad planning. This is probably a one-off, I hope they don't do the poor tier planning again, but they probably wouldn't license something so... niche? again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanahtlig Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Even as a fujoshi, I can tell you that this is a niche within that that wasn't really appealing to me, either. (A lot of gender bender "trap" manga/anime ends up being for guys so I have a negative opinion on the subject from the beginning...) I don't know. This sort of title where all the main heroes crossdress seems squarely aimed at females to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decay Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Her point was one about first impressions. The genre is typically aimed at men. See the VNDB tag for "only-trap heroines" and there also being plenty of bishoujo VNs with the occasional crossdressing male thrown in. This might make the typical fujoshi crowd a bit more weary on it at first even if it's aimed at them. Lambda 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeruleanGamer Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 (edited) I personally prefer the crossdressing tomboy types. It's very sexy when a girl can don a suit and tie much better than a guy like Kurisu from Steins;Gate or Bazett from Fate Hollow Ataraxia. Edited October 10, 2015 by CeruleanGamer Zodai 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingdomcome Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 BL has to be the main factor, probably the only one that really led to its failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decay Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 BL has to be the main factor, probably the only one that really led to its failure.It's certainly not that simple. It just doesn't seem to be of very high quality and it also doesn't seem to properly cater to its target audience, which does exist on kickstarter. XReaper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godskrieg Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Niche genre, I don't think the western audience is really all that interested in BL novels. To be honest I don't mind the BL genre but this one just seems so uninteresting, then again almost all of them do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayashi Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Don't think much ppl actually read BL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hijiri Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Don't think much ppl actually read BL.Considering how well NTY!! (No, Thank You!! for the uninformed) and COoT (Coming Out on Top for the uninformed) have sold, I don't think that's the issue. I mean, how many people do you know like trap BL games? I'm sure you can find trap lovers and then there's fujos and legit homos who would throw themselves at a BL game. Sekai Project just chose poorly. Hayashi and XReaper 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zodai Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 It's not my personal cup of tea but BL most certainly has an audience. I'm more curious as to whether or not the sex scenes are a primary factor in their interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingdomcome Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 BL has to be the main factor, probably the only one that really led to its failure.It's certainly not that simple. It just doesn't seem to be of very high quality and it also doesn't seem to properly cater to its target audience, which does exist on kickstarter. wow. I wonder if there's more girls or gay guys funding these projects? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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