Clannad release imminent - You hyped?

[julyan]

Holy Shit,it's selling more than a GTA,a Call of Duty and Counter-Strike game at the moment...Who could have ever dreamed this could happen until recently?

It seems to be doing really well. Also, ArchonofFail put together a 5 minute comparison video on Reddit (comparing the official and fan translations side by side,) long story short the official translation reads far better. It seems to be a greatly improved reading experience. Nice work by the folk at Sekai.

For the curious...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLEo-Q3J4s4

[Fred the Barber]

I don't understand. There were options (which cost more money, naturally) to get both a physical and digital copy in the Kickstarter / BackerKit. You could explicitly add one or the other. And it wasn't that there was no mention of a digital release in the physical release choice. That reward tier actually specifically said that it did not include the digital release.

To be fair, while you're right, it's still a pretty crappy way of doing business. Considering how many DVD and Blu-Ray discs come with included digital copies these days, it's kind of a nod to those who still value a physical product over just a digital download. The earliest tier I see that is for pledging $125 which seems pretty ridiculous and I can't even tell if that's real, because all the tiers after it don't include physical copies, either.

The $40 physical tier was a pretty unusual thing (that's a low price for such a limited physical release - I seriously doubt they're doing much better than breaking even on those), so they had a lot of restrictions on it. They talked about it at the time, in the emails to backers. I think you're correct that it was the $125 tier, which included some other random stuff, to get both a physical and digital copy. The whole rewards thing was pretty complicated, honestly, from what I recall, but they sent a ton of emails while the campaign was going on, fixed a lot of things to be more clear, and eventually had the BackerKit setup so you could effectively set up things to get what you wanted (if you were willing to pay enough). I remember some 5 emails from them about rewards, and how to optimally choose to get what you wanted, and what it should cost you. It was, by the end, ridiculously clear.

If you're here now complaining about it, either you have forgotten that whole debacle and the choices you made at the time, or perhaps you were just ludicrously inattentive. Either way, it's wrong to fault either Sekai Project or Key on this one - it was abundantly clear what you were supposed to get.

[Valmore]

I don't understand. There were options (which cost more money, naturally) to get both a physical and digital copy in the Kickstarter / BackerKit. You could explicitly add one or the other. And it wasn't that there was no mention of a digital release in the physical release choice. That reward tier actually specifically said that it did not include the digital release.

To be fair, while you're right, it's still a pretty crappy way of doing business. Considering how many DVD and Blu-Ray discs come with included digital copies these days, it's kind of a nod to those who still value a physical product over just a digital download. The earliest tier I see that is for pledging $125 which seems pretty ridiculous and I can't even tell if that's real, because all the tiers after it don't include physical copies, either.

The $40 physical tier was a pretty unusual thing (that's a low price for such a limited physical release - I seriously doubt they're doing much better than breaking even on those), so they had a lot of restrictions on it. They talked about it at the time, in the emails to backers. I think you're correct that it was the $125 tier, which included some other random stuff, to get both a physical and digital copy. The whole rewards thing was pretty complicated, honestly, from what I recall, but they sent a ton of emails while the campaign was going on, fixed a lot of things to be more clear, and eventually had the BackerKit setup so you could effectively set up things to get what you wanted (if you were willing to pay enough). I remember some 5 emails from them about rewards, and how to optimally choose to get what you wanted, and what it should cost you. It was, by the end, ridiculously clear.

If you're here now complaining about it, either you have forgotten that whole debacle and the choices you made at the time, or perhaps you were just ludicrously inattentive. Either way, it's wrong to fault either Sekai Project or Key on this one - it was abundantly clear what you were supposed to get.

Nah, I'm not faulting anyone, as I haven't bought anything as of yet. If the physical copy has extras that the digital people don't get than that evens it out to me anyway, but I don't know.

[Diamon]

The HD graphics are really, really neat, especially on my 1920*1080 screen (which is a laptop with a 15" screen, so low resolution VN really hurt usually)
The translation is much better than the fan translation, though I haven't read much of the new version, but it flows better than before.
The remastered OST is also a big plus.
And the dangopedia is a nice addition, that can be very useful to players unfamiliar with japanese culture.

 

[Thunderbro]

Holy Shit,it's selling more than a GTA,a Call of Duty and Counter-Strike game at the moment...Who could have ever dreamed this could happen until recently?

It seems to be doing really well. Also, ArchonofFail put together a 5 minute comparison video on Reddit (comparing the official and fan translations side by side,) long story short the official translation reads far better. It seems to be a greatly improved reading experience. Nice work by the folk at Sekai.

For the curious...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLEo-Q3J4s4

That translation seems so much nicer. Also I'm sure it will be without the errors that were popping up a little later in the fan-translation. 

[Nosebleed]

It might just be my skepticism but I don't think it's very surprising that Clannad is selling a lot right now. In fact, I'd say that's to be expected of such a major and long awaited release to sell this much on launch. Just think of all the VN and anime fans who want this, they're likely in the thousands I'd say. The real challenge for Clannad will be when all the anime and VN fans already bought it.

I think we can only draw decent conclusions on how well it did in a few weeks when we can have some slightly more concrete data on the amount of owners.

I do hope the trend doesn't die, mind you, since this is such a major title in the medium, but I'm staying cautiously optimistic.

[Flutterz]

I don't understand. There were options (which cost more money, naturally) to get both a physical and digital copy in the Kickstarter / BackerKit. You could explicitly add one or the other. And it wasn't that there was no mention of a digital release in the physical release choice. That reward tier actually specifically said that it did not include the digital release.

You're missing the point. Most games that come out as physical versions that are also on Steam also include a Steam key if you buy a physical copy, without you having to pay $40 extra. I know perfectly well which option I picked, I'm complaining about the options themselves.

[Decay]

This is why I didn't have a major problem with the $50 price point. I was a little surprised, but it seems to be working out for them. And they'll get even more sales once they discount it by 33 or 50% for the first time. That's how these things go. This will probably cement Key's involvement in the western market, and will hopefully make more VN companies willing to take the plunge.

[MikeY91]

I have never played it nor watched the anime, i do WANT to BUT, i hear that it is very sad and well...i haven't been coping well with sad vns lately it is surely on my list but i know i won't read it now at least.

[Valmore]

This is why I didn't have a major problem with the $50 price point. I was a little surprised, but it seems to be working out for them. And they'll get even more sales once they discount it by 33 or 50% for the first time. That's how these things go. This will probably cement Key's involvement in the western market, and will hopefully make more VN companies willing to take the plunge.

Hopefully, but we'll need to see how it fares over the next few weeks. Initial release usually sees the biggest sales total for most things. If it doesn't dip dramatically but only has a slow decline over the weeks, that would be considered successful (or if it sees in increase, of course). If it dramatically dives after the initial offering, we'll probably have seen the big sales as those who already knew and were waiting for it.

[Fred the Barber]

As an obsessive soundtrack listener, I find the remastered soundtrack (which I didn't even know about until it was mentioned earlier in this thread) really noticeable. It's mostly been a good thing - I actually waited patiently to hear all of the remastered title screen BGM, "Ushio" before starting my game, and found it quite an improvement over the original - it has both better samples and a slightly more interesting arrangement.

Some of the other arrangements I find to be less obvious an improvement. In particular, I'm not sure yet how I feel about both of (mostly) Sunohara's tracks, "A Pair of Idiots" and "Dumb". Also, a few of my favorite tracks haven't appeared yet, so... we'll see. But so far at least, it's mostly an improvement. I hope they release a digital copy of the remastered soundtrack - I would definitely shell out still more cash for that, even though I already have the OST.

I don't understand. There were options (which cost more money, naturally) to get both a physical and digital copy in the Kickstarter / BackerKit. You could explicitly add one or the other. And it wasn't that there was no mention of a digital release in the physical release choice. That reward tier actually specifically said that it did not include the digital release.

You're missing the point. Most games that come out as physical versions that are also on Steam also include a Steam key if you buy a physical copy, without you having to pay $40 extra. I know perfectly well which option I picked, I'm complaining about the options themselves.

I guess I'm still missing the point, because there was an option to get both a digital copy and a physical copy. So what, exactly, is the complaint? The only thing left I can think of would be the price (which was substantially higher), I guess. But if that's it, tough shit; physical goods are expensive, and at the amount you must have backed, it wasn't economically reasonable for them to give you both a physical copy and a Steam copy.

[Decay]

This is why I didn't have a major problem with the $50 price point. I was a little surprised, but it seems to be working out for them. And they'll get even more sales once they discount it by 33 or 50% for the first time. That's how these things go. This will probably cement Key's involvement in the western market, and will hopefully make more VN companies willing to take the plunge.

Hopefully, but we'll need to see how it fares over the next few weeks. Initial release usually sees the biggest sales total for most things. If it doesn't dip dramatically but only has a slow decline over the weeks, that would be considered successful (or if it sees in increase, of course). If it dramatically dives after the initial offering, we'll probably have seen the big sales as those who already knew and were waiting for it.

Oh, it's certainly going to dip, that's how it always goes. The only exception is for games that go viral, like Undertale or plenty of those indie open world survival games popular on youtube. You can still be considered successful after the sales dip if the initial sales were strong and if you can expect good sale figures when you discount the game in the future.

 

 

I don't understand. There were options (which cost more money, naturally) to get both a physical and digital copy in the Kickstarter / BackerKit. You could explicitly add one or the other. And it wasn't that there was no mention of a digital release in the physical release choice. That reward tier actually specifically said that it did not include the digital release.

You're missing the point. Most games that come out as physical versions that are also on Steam also include a Steam key if you buy a physical copy, without you having to pay $40 extra. I know perfectly well which option I picked, I'm complaining about the options themselves.

I guess I'm still missing the point, because there was an option to get both a digital copy and a physical copy. So what, exactly, is the complaint? The only thing left I can think of would be the price (which was substantially higher), I guess. But if that's it, tough shit; physical goods are expensive, and at the amount you must have backed, it wasn't economically reasonable for them to give you both a physical copy and a Steam copy.

The point is indeed the price. I don't understand how it's not economically feasible for them to give you both at a reasonable price. Every single other video game Kickstarter does it. How do they get away with it? The thing is, it costs them absolutely nothing to give you a steam key.

[Valmore]

This is why I didn't have a major problem with the $50 price point. I was a little surprised, but it seems to be working out for them. And they'll get even more sales once they discount it by 33 or 50% for the first time. That's how these things go. This will probably cement Key's involvement in the western market, and will hopefully make more VN companies willing to take the plunge.

Hopefully, but we'll need to see how it fares over the next few weeks. Initial release usually sees the biggest sales total for most things. If it doesn't dip dramatically but only has a slow decline over the weeks, that would be considered successful (or if it sees in increase, of course). If it dramatically dives after the initial offering, we'll probably have seen the big sales as those who already knew and were waiting for it.

Oh, it's certainly going to dip, that's how it always goes. The only exception is for games that go viral, like Undertale or plenty of those indie open world survival games popular on youtube. You can still be considered successful after the sales dip if the initial sales were strong and if you can expect good sale figures when you discount the game in the future.

Right, the main question will be how much the dip goes. A smaller, gradual dip could be a sign of good word of mouth, which is what the company would like to see.

[Flutterz]

I guess I'm still missing the point, because there was an option to get both a digital copy and a physical copy. So what, exactly, is the complaint? The only thing left I can think of would be the price (which was substantially higher), I guess. But if that's it, tough shit; physical goods are expensive, and at the amount you must have backed, it wasn't economically reasonable for them to give you both a physical copy and a Steam copy.

The price is the complaint, because technically speaking giving someone a Steam key after they've purchased a physical copy costs you basically nothing at all. Also I backed for $120, even though all of that went towards getting physical goods I can't imagine a Steam key would have cost them an arm and a leg.

[Deep Blue]

I guess I'm still missing the point, because there was an option to get both a digital copy and a physical copy. So what, exactly, is the complaint? The only thing left I can think of would be the price (which was substantially higher), I guess. But if that's it, tough shit; physical goods are expensive, and at the amount you must have backed, it wasn't economically reasonable for them to give you both a physical copy and a Steam copy.

The price is the complaint, because technically speaking giving someone a Steam key after they've purchased a physical copy costs you basically nothing at all. Also I backed for $120, even though all of that went towards getting physical goods I can't imagine a Steam key would have cost them an arm and a leg.

all the campaigns I backed so far (except for vns) I got the physical copy with at least 1 copy of the GOG or steam version, some even gave me the 2 copies (one extra to give away) or they gift you one of their previous games, like when I backed torment I got a free copy of wasteland, I'm not talking about super high tiers either. The policy of not giving a free digital copy with your physical version is very stingy to say the least :/

[Fred the Barber]

The value of a Steam key right now is clearly > $40 - quite a number of people are paying that right now. Cutting themselves out of an extra $40 for all the people that backed at $40 for a physical copy would obviously be a huge hit on revenue, unless all the people that bought the physical copy redeemed the Steam key for themselves immediately. Maybe some would do this, but definitely not all - some would sell it. The assertion that it costs them nothing to provide you a digital key is false - you could easily flip that key for $40.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Fred the Barber
Phrasing!

[Flutterz]

The value of a Steam key right now is clearly > $40 - quite a number of people are paying that right now. Cutting themselves out of an extra $40 for all the people that backed at $40 for a physical copy would obviously be a huge hit on revenue, unless all the people that bought the physical copy redeemed the Steam key for themselves immediately. Maybe some would do this, but definitely not all - some would sell it. The assertion that it costs them nothing to provide you a digital key is false - you could easily flip that key for $40.

That's why a lot of games are Steam only - do that and if someone sells their key they can't play the game. Problem solved. Physical disks are just there to avoid having to download and to put on a shelf.

[Fred the Barber]

The value of a Steam key right now is clearly > $40 - quite a number of people are paying that right now. Cutting themselves out of an extra $40 for all the people that backed at $40 for a physical copy would obviously be a huge hit on revenue, unless all the people that bought the physical copy redeemed the Steam key for themselves immediately. Maybe some would do this, but definitely not all - some would sell it. The assertion that it costs them nothing to provide you a digital key is false - you could easily flip that key for $40.

That's why a lot of games are Steam only - do that and if someone sells their key they can't play the game. Problem solved. Physical disks are just there to avoid having to download and to put on a shelf.

Fair enough. I suppose It's a difficulty of the combined physical + Steam release, which could really only be resolved reasonably if they just made sure that the physical copy was shipped out and arriving at approximately the same time the Steam release was made available. The only reasonable option I can see is that they should have, by whatever means necessary, expedited the disc release substantially (not delayed the Steam release substantially - another week or two would've been fine probably, but as much as a month probably would've been frustrating all around). For what it's worth, I can definitely understand the frustration if you're now stuck waiting two months to get the physical release.

[Deep Blue]

The value of a Steam key right now is clearly > $40 - quite a number of people are paying that right now. Cutting themselves out of an extra $40 for all the people that backed at $40 for a physical copy would obviously be a huge hit on revenue, unless all the people that bought the physical copy redeemed the Steam key for themselves immediately. Maybe some would do this, but definitely not all - some would sell it. The assertion that it costs them nothing to provide you a digital key is false - you could easily flip that key for $40.

is just a token of appreciation for all the backers who made the project possible, because without them they wouldn't be selling the game on steam in the first place, if you are going to speculate on how many backers are going to sell their copies to make some bucks ( and i'm sure not many would do this) then you are very cheap and you don't care about your audience or fans who are supporting you.. that's why almost all the KS campaigns give away free keys with their physical tier.

[Decay]

The value of a Steam key right now is clearly > $40 - quite a number of people are paying that right now. Cutting themselves out of an extra $40 for all the people that backed at $40 for a physical copy would obviously be a huge hit on revenue, unless all the people that bought the physical copy redeemed the Steam key for themselves immediately. Maybe some would do this, but definitely not all - some would sell it. The assertion that it costs them nothing to provide you a digital key is false - you could easily flip that key for $40.

While yes, this is possible, most game companies assume that this isn't a significant risk. Their physical copies are DRM Free and they also give away steam keys ahead of time because they assume that people aren't going to want to wait two to three months to play the game just so they can flip it. The practice of flipping keys does happen but it's really not that big of a deal. I assume that the 95%+ of game devs using kickstarter who do this are in the right here. If nothing else, avoiding burning a significant percentage of your backers is usually considered a higher priority than maybe losing a handful of sales, because those backers who realize a year later that maybe they got a raw deal might not come back for more later down the road. 

[StormShaun]

I pledged for a physical copy, so I'm waiting on that.
As for hype, sure, mostly for the physical edition and all the extras I bought along with it.

When I want to play the VN again, I'm sure I'll be hyped. 
While I did prefer the anime, the VN has so many good moments that were never in the anime.

Overall, as a huge Clannad fan, I am certainly hyped.

[solidbatman]

Do key redemptions count as a sale on steam? If not, holy shit this game is selling incredibly well. 

[Ariurotl]

Yeah, even with the huge fanbase it has, that's kind of surprising.

Also, I'm pretty sure today's events made me bipolar.

A VN among top sellers on Steam! Yay! ... but it's Clannad.

Great for the industry! Yay! ... but it's Clannad.

Building awareness of the medium! Yay! ... but it's motherfucking Clannad, for fuck's sake.

[Decay]

Another thing to consider regarding the whole steam key thing: At the time of the kickstarter campaign, the estimated delivery dates for the physical and digital versions of the game were the same: October 2015. Delays are to be expected, but a three month gap between physical and digital releases is way bigger than anyone would expect, and this makes the lack of steam keys sting all the more. It's one thing if you can expect to get your copy in the mail within a week or two, but another thing entirely if it's three whole months.

Do key redemptions count as a sale on steam? If not, holy shit this game is selling incredibly well. 

As of like five years ago, they did. Steam has tinkered a lot with the way the top sellers list works since then, though, so I don't know if that's still the case. Still, many keys were redeemed days ago and ultimately only 2500-3000 or so were given out to kickstarter backers, so there's still probably thousands of additional sales. This is likely already a very profitable venture for SP. edit: I seem to remember reading a few years ago about how they changed the way the top sellers list works due to the rise of bundles screwing everything up, so I think it's reasonably likely that redeemed keys no longer affect your position in the rankings.

Also, I went ahead and wrote up a quick Fuwazette report on this, because why not? http://blog.fuwanovel.net/2015/11/clannad-is-released-climbs-to-a-top-5-sellers-spot/

Edited November 24, 2015 by Decay

[Thunderbro]

I'm happy to see that Clannad is selling so well despite its high price, I see that its still in the top 5 still. I wonder how many copies have already been sold at this point, I feel like I underestimated the popularity of the anime.