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Popular VNs on Steam


Hayashi

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So let's get this straight, I dislike the fact that popular/great VNs are slowly entering the steam market. To me, it's not the platform itself, but it's cancerous community with those AAA games elites, price complainers, "and ples where is the hentai?" groups of people. And what's more, I don't want to see high quality VNs in the same store as OELVN, they ain't comparable. What prompted me was last time when I was browsing through Meikyuu steam community, I have seen some many posts complaining and nagging about the prices.

"novel games are over priced" "not paying 20$ for cut H game" "kajitsu is longer why dis same price" 

Stuff like this really triggers me, do you secondary weeb (oh no here we go:sacchan:) know how much I am paying for every original hard copy VN? To the point where I am starting to think these people don't deserve to even be able to view VN, tho it might be going against Fuwa ideals. And I ma moving towards the learn JP or don't read it, path. 

What do you guys think? Fuck you Sakura series, little shitty misrepresentation of a VN to the West.

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It's kinda ironic you complain about elitists, yet went on the elitist path by placing yourself on a pedestal when talking about the money people had to fork out. Just something I feel I should point out.

Also, you called them weebs when you said something as weebish as "learn JP or don't read it"? lol Oh man, the irony.

Anyway, on-topic: I agree that the Steam community can be cancerous... but honestly, saying a community is "cancerous" at this point means absolutely nothing. You might as well call them a bunch of "faggots". The terminology means nothing. It's a stupid insult.

I do agree that they can act like a bunch of alpha male a-holes who think that these story-centric VNs have no place among the gaming community, and while I could see where they're coming from, the way they expressed said opinion was honestly just embarrassing. 8 year old Minecraft Let's Play gamers are more literate than they acted. It's pretty much a cesspool comparable to YouTube comments.

I don't really care, to be honest, since I don't get my VNs from Steam.

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The sakura series definitely are VNs. Low-quality ones, for sure, but they seem to be pretty popular with the steam crowd, so that's presumably a place where they thrive.

I don't care about the translation scene too much, but I don't feel salty towards the western community or anything. I'll only really be scared if jp devs start considering this side of the community when making their works in jp, but that's a far cry from truth now, so I don't mind it.

People can complain about anything. They have different wants. Can't say I mind pricing complaints. At most I'll giggle a bit when they seem absurd and move on with my day. 

So long as they pay the price set for the work they bought, they're 100% worthy of reading that work, as far as I'm concerned. 

Uh, if it bothers you that much, you should probably consider just not reading steam comments, though. 

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Steam is a big reason that we are seeing more and more VN's get translated, and seeing more Japanese companies think of the west as a viable market, I really don't see the problem, like at all. If you don't like the comments from people on there, then ignore them. As far as the "muh good VN's are on the same platform as those plebian OELVN's) argument goes, it's not as if the two being on the same platform is tainting either of them. And if you want to get technical, you could make the same argument for non-Steam VN's as well, there are plenty of shitty ones out there, and plenty of good ones, neither really effects the quality of the other. Anyways, to say that you don't like popular VN's making their way onto Steam is basically the same as you saying you don't want the western VN market to grow. 

16 minutes ago, Lucius said:

It's kinda ironic you complain about elitists, yet went on the elitist path by placing yourself on a pedestal when talking about the money people had to fork out. Just something I feel I should point out.

Also, you called them weebs when you said something as weebish as "learn JP or don't read it"? lol Oh man, the irony.

Also this

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Steam wasn't designed to be a platform for books, or any of that sort in the first place, so the normal gamers -- which Steam audience is mostly comprised of -- will, of course, complain about the prices of VNs: how they can cost up to the same amount as some AAA-titles, how they're "just books with pretty pictures and occasional animay tiddies", and how 'weeb' it is to the majority. This much is a given.

As for VNs getting into Steam, that's wonderful, in my opinion. That means that more Japanese devs get interested in the Western market, which in return, means more games get localized and more regular, English-only speaking VN audience gets to read more, and sometimes, better VNs. If you think this is "bad", it is extremely counter-productive, and you come off as a total and utter dickbag.

In the first place, Western VNs are starting to find their own direction instead of copying regular VNs, so the "muh eltist VNs are SO much better"-argument really doesn't hold the same weight to it anymore, sounds really ignorant, or just plain stupid in the first place. They aren't copying off regular VNs, they're co-existing with them, as a separate thing entirely.

And to top it all off, that kind of mindset is extremely close-minded and old-fashioned. You cherry-pick information, like with the Western VNs having the ONLY bad games in the first place, but we both know that's far from the truth, and that double-standardising is quite hard to look at. Hard-copies are a subjective matter, so for someone, like myself, who doesn't care about physical copies, that argument is completely worthless, and VNs are akin to games in that matter that they're intellectual property made to be sold; if someone doesn't want to pay the amount it costs due to personal reasons -- like no H-scenes, it costs too much, or that it's just too short -- they can, and it won't make them any less deserving of "playing VNs". The frame of mind that Japanese VNs are superior in every shape and form, and that Western VNs can't adapt and evolve, always staying as the scum of the earth, is the kind of conservative, elitist mindset that is extremely cancerous and doesn't help anyone; change is ever-present, you can't hide from it, and completely shutting it off comes off as extremely asinine. 

If you really want to stay as that ignorant Japanese-only elitist, go to 4chan, they might welcome you.

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Seems to me like one elitist complains about the other elitists. :makina:

If you don't want to read complains, just don't read them. Steam is a largest marketplace in the world, with enormous user base. And it should be obvious that some of users will complain about any game (not just visual novels), just because of the sheer number of users.

But Steam is an awesome platform, just look at all these recently released titles. Just about 3 years ago, it was unimaginable that Clannad and Muv-Luv will ever get an official English release.

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Just calm down there and maybe you better didn't go to Steam for a while there (Or maybe forever), if you ticked off that one of the games from your very favorite franchise was got some backlash there. And if I may said, Steam user didn't pay for hard copy when the game was appear on Steam, you know. Other than that, I didn't had anything to add here other than I mostly agree with all of the posts above.

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For me who only understand basic japanese, Steam is a wonderful place for VN to get more recognition worldwide. I know there are some low tier like sakura series (i don't like it too) but there is something for everyone right? I can't read japanese so I always excited on fan/official translation.. like "Finally i can read this" I read newest jp vn using VNR, it may be not the greatest experience.. at least i know what's going on 80% of the time. If i agree with your way to "learn jp or don't read" i won't ever read VN in my entire life lol

If you bought VN's directly from jp why even bother opening Steam store page.. i mean you completely understand japanese so there's no need to buy/see english version. Maybe 4chan is the place for you?

2 hours ago, Arcadeotic said:

If you really want to stay as that ignorant Japanese-only elitist, go to 4chan, they might welcome you.

 

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7 hours ago, Kiso said:

Stuff like this really triggers me, do you secondary weeb (oh no here we go:sacchan:) know how much I am paying for every original hard copy VN?

They are worth it, every penny of it.

On the other hand Steam is just good enough for the plebs who like to throw dollar bills in the fireplace for the sake of a momentary recreational gaming session whitout any prospects toward the future state of their purchases, because digital-only is not time-proof, all Steam games and people's Steam libraries will go down the gutter whenever Steam takes down their server.

Steam is a glorified DRM service that doesn't allow you to resell your purchases nor the account linked to your purchases, it's a DRM and a rental service.

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1 hour ago, Narcosis said:

Implying Steam is even a factor, when it comes to visual novel industry.

Even in case of visual novels, it's a biggest western marketplace. Even MangaGamer can't sell as much as Steam does. And as I already said, if not for Steam we would have never seen an official English release of Clannad and Muv-Luv.

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3 hours ago, Nier said:

They are worth it, every penny of it.

On the other hand Steam is just good enough for the plebs who like to throw dollar bills in the fireplace for the sake of a momentary recreational gaming session whitout any prospects toward the future state of their purchases, because digital-only is not time-proof, all Steam games and people's Steam libraries will go down the gutter whenever Steam takes down their server.

Steam is a glorified DRM service that doesn't allow you to resell your purchases nor the account linked to your purchases, it's a DRM and a rental service.

And if your house burns down or gets burgled, you'll lose your hardcopies forever. Is it a dumb argument? Yes, but so is yours.

The truth is, Steam is NOT a DRM service. It doesn't force developers and publishers to use any sort of DRM, that's up to creators to decide. Lots of Steam games are playable not only without connection to Steam servers, but without the client altogether. So if a game uses Steam as DRM, that's because the developer or the publisher decided that.

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1 hour ago, Ariurotl said:

And if your house burns down or gets burgled, you'll lose your hardcopies forever. Is it a dumb argument? Yes, but so is yours.

The truth is, Steam is NOT a DRM service. It doesn't force developers and publishers to use any sort of DRM, that's up to creators to decide. Lots of Steam games are playable not only without connection to Steam servers, but without the client altogether. So if a game uses Steam as DRM, that's because the developer or the publisher decided that.

It is a DRM because all your games are tied to Steam, you can not install them whitout it nor run them whitout it. Physical games on PC released for retail are in almost in all cases tied to Steam, as soon as you put the game DVD you will have to connect to Steam, enter an Activation Key to reedem your game, the game will then start to install the data that is present on the DVD and the other part of the data will be downloaded off Steam. Another similar DRM is Origin from Electronic Arts, even if you buy a physical copy of Mass Effect Trilogy or Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, you will not be able to play these games whitout first installing Origin and Redeming your game on there.

Digital-only + DRM is a horrifying prospect for the future of PC gaming, good thing Kickstarter + Sekai Project is here to save us from such bleak perspective.

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17 minutes ago, Nier said:

It is a DRM because all your games are tied to Steam, you can not install them whitout it nor run them whitout it. Physical games on PC released for retail are in almost in all cases tied to Steam, as soon as you put the game DVD you will have to connect to Steam, enter an Activation Key to reedem your game, the game will then start to install the data that is present on the DVD and the other part of the data will be downloaded off Steam. Another similar DRM is Origin from Electronic Arts, even if you buy a physical copy of Mass Effect Trilogy or Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, you will not be able to play these games whitout first installing Origin and Redeming your game on there.

Digital-only + DRM is a horrifying prospect for the future of PC gaming, good thing Kickstarter + Sekai Project is here to save us from such bleak perspective.

You can't install them without Steam (cause that's where you're installing them from, duh), but you can run some of them without it. Big publishers use Steam as DRM more often, but it's not always a requirement. For example, a bunch of Paradox Interactive titles don't require Steam to run. That is something the publisher decided to do, and there are several others who do just that.

It's funny you mentioned Sekai, because (as I just checked), the Steam release of NEKOPARA requires the client to be up to play.

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As dollar is expensive in my country and the Steam has the regional pricing (which I think invites many other customers) there is no way I could dislike visual novels getting into Steam. Although the "novel games are over priced" talk also trigger me it's no like I am can do anything about it and people always came up with something to complain about anyway. Just stop reading steam forums, I became much less depressed when I stoped.

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51 minutes ago, Caio000 said:

As dollar is expensive in my country and the Steam has the regional pricing (which I think invites many other customers) there is no way I could dislike visual novels getting into Steam. Although the "novel games are over priced" talk also trigger me it's no like I am can do anything about it and people always came up with something to complain about anyway. Just stop reading steam forums, I became much less depressed when I stoped.

Well one thing steam surely excel at is having amazing sales. Certainly I disagree with the whole talk about titles being overpriced in steam. Simple. Don't want to spend much cash in recently released games, better waiting until it is on sale. Honestly, while steam community has bunch of trolls and people making false complain or less elaborated reviews who gets on people nerves, fuwanovel community shares quite the inability of accepting other people feelings for having different tastes other than them, to the point I would say many people here acts like jerks.

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In my opinion, this is just one massive circlejerk among the self-entitled and the privileged. On one hand, you have the Steam community who complains about the overpriced VNs even though they fork out thousands of dollars every year for pre-order exclusives and pointless DLC skins, getting ripped off by companies like Blizzard and Activision. On the other hand, I could understand where some of the more sensible complaints might be coming from. Considering Steam is famous for giving special discounts for old AAA games like Witcher 2 and whatnot, I can see why some people might just be a tad surprised at the prices of VNs when they have no prior knowledge how much a visual novel costs in Japan. I mean, let's be fair - this isn't f***ing Japan. This is Steam, comprised of mostly Americans and non-Japanese.

So if you want to support your favorite VN companies for the goal of 'securing the future of visual novels', then go right ahead and fork out all your money. More power to your privileged ass. But people on Steam are going to complain about the pricing regardless because that's what they've been doing throughout their time spent on Steam due to what Steam represents - massive discounts, getting games at a cheap price for the underprivileged.

Is it a problem for localized VNs when people aren't willing to pay for the prices of said localization? Probably yes. But IMO, if you chose Steam (choked full of Steam sales every month) for the sake of earning a profit, you probably chose the wrong client there, pal.

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9 minutes ago, Kiso said:

Excuse my dislike for OELVN, but at least those nukiges are made in the holy farm land of JP.

If you want to dislike OELVN''s fine. But Japan is far from being a holy land. Nukiges can be really bad and I've read some OELVN's that are far better then them. Saying all OELVN's are all bad is just ignorant and a bit stupid honestly. Japan have made bad visual novels and aren't perfect in anyway. Their stories can lack diversity,  are at times always telling the same plot, and can have really boring to shallow characters. However they also tell many good stories as well, but it doesn't mean they are perfect because no place is.. It's wrong to call all OELVN'S bad and I honestly think you've played little to none of good ones. The treatment towards OELVN'S is also toxic here.

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1 minute ago, proxygames said:

If you want to dislike OELVN''s fine. But Japan is far from being a holy land. Nukiges can be really bad and I've read some OELVN's that are far better then them. Saying all OELVN's are all bad is just ignorant and a bit stupid honestly. Japan have made bad visual novels and aren't perfect in anyway. Their stories can lack diversity,  are at times always telling the same plot, and can have really boring to shallow characters. However they also tell many good stories as well, but it doesn't mean they are perfect because no place is.. It's wrong to call all OELVN'S bad and I honestly think you've played little to none of good ones. The treatment towards OELVN'S is also toxic here.

My mistake then, I am always trying to find novels with great stories. Which, in this case OELVN are not offering VNs in my standard. Let's say Subahibi can be an example of what I consider good.

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