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Tay's Thoughts on Fuwanovel - October 2012


Tay

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There's something about Fuwanovel that makes me want to blog. Often, while browsing the forums or playing Clannad for the first time, I feel like chronicling the games I'm playing and my thoughts about the site and community. This post is something of a personal journal entry, and exists to share some of my thoughts about fuwanovel.

fuwanovel-bannerfull.png

What is Fuwanovel (to me)?

Fuwanovel is a website which celebrates the medium, culture, quirkiness and depth of Visual Novels. The mission of Fuwanovel is to make Visual Novels accessible to everybody, and to ultimately foster their production and distribution. It's also an attempt to create a new community and gathering place for VN fans where enthusiasm and respect replaces the toxic and despotic cultures of some other VN communities.

1.jpg

Why did I choose Fuwanovel?

There are several VN communities whhich I respect and actively follow, but the majority of my VN time is dedicated to Fuwanovel. I chose Fuwanovel for four reasons:

  1. The Fuwanovel forums and community were respectful, friendly, and helpful. People were actually nice to each other on the forums;
  2. Aaeru wasn't/isn't doing this for her own ego;
  3. Making VN games as accessible as possible is, in my view, the right path to making them popular;
  4. Fuwanovel was changing and becoming something new.

2.jpg

In what way has Fuwanovel changed?

For those who have belonged to the VN community for a long time, Fuwanovel was often associated with Aaeru's research on copyright reform (see her Sharing is Liberty blog). Today, those that speak ill of fuwanovel never fail to obsess over that fact. After spending dozens of hours on the forum, working behind the scenes on the site, and spending a lot of time talking with/coming to understand Aaeru a little better, I'm prepared to declare the sum of my experience: Fuwanovel is bigger than any one person now. Fuwanovel is bigger than Aaeru, it's bigger than a single game, and it's bigger than the sum of its forum posts. Fuwanovel is about Visual Novels and their distribution (see my first point). I joined Fuwanovel because I saw the start of this shift, and have now seen it through to near-completion. It's a great thing, and it's allowed a unique and positive community to grow.

3.jpg

My reaction to Fuwanovel's biggest criticism: Distributing Pre-patched Games, And My Ultimate Goal for VNs

(Aaeru has written her own perspective on this topic, and it's found on this FAQ page) If you look through the game torrents on this site, you'll see that several English patches specifically request that they not be bundled with the corresponding Japanese games, or be distributed as a complete unit. Fuwanovel has clearly chosen to disregard these requests. Our games come pre-patched and bundled into handy self-extracting RAR folders. While some will disagree with what follows, I think everybody can agree that pre-patched game distribution makes playing a VN *VERY* easy, and usually requires no installation or installation tutorials.

Aaeru believes that it is hypocritical for a translator to determine rights of use when they themselves essentially pirated and/or hacked the original games. I also agree with Aaeru in that translators, by distributing patches, put their work out into the vast reaches of the public internet, and no longer have control over its use.

Yet, the true reason I support Fuwanovel's distribution ideology has to do with my understanding of Fuwanovel's core: "The mission of Fuwanovel is to make Visual Novels accessible to everybody, and to ultimately foster their production and distribution." I want Visual Novels to catch on in the West. I want Western VNs to evolve into their own style. I want those future Western VNs to combine and hybridize with Japanese VNs and create new art and new dimensions for the medium. In short, I want this "Visual Novel Thing" to catch on. And because I want it to catch on, I want to make it as easy as possible for people to try out these games.

After all, when you compare the process of finding a Japanese torrent, downloading and following (often-poorly-written) English Patch installation instructions, and then troubleshooting errors based on your system with Fuwanovel's download, unzip, play method... there really isn't a question that Fuwanovel makes VNs easier to try out. And that, friends, is where all of this has to start.

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I try not to get negative or cynical, but I don't expect that visual novels will become more than a blip on the radar of English speaking fandom. Why do I say this?

1. After spending years in general video game fandom, it baffles me to think that more than a few of my fellow English speaking fans would consider interactive stories to be on par with video games. Perhaps I've listened to genre snobs... but it seems that an awful lot of fans will judge a product by its gameplay above all else.

2. Few VN companies can afford to create animation. As I learned during the one Hirameki panel that I attended, a lot of fans are either looking for gameplay or animation, and will ignore a product that does not offer much of either.

3. Cute media of all kinds has always been stigmatized. Even if it's not buried in the girl show ghetto, it will probably be ignored unless full of irony and dark comedy.

4. The English speaking fanbase for harem or love triangle series has seemingly shrunk. Since fans tend to detest any character who can be labeled a Mary Sue, don't expect fans to like too-perfect haremettes, or main characters who get what they want at little to no cost.

5. If no one is making a profit, that leads to no more official translations, and possibly even no more games. I liked Sakura Wars 5, but remember hearing how the English version sold only a few copies, and realizing that there was almost no chance that any other game from the series would be translated. Same is true for some of my other "one and done" favorites.

I want Western VNs to evolve into their own style. I want those future Western VNs to combine and hybridize with Japanese VNs and create new art and new dimensions for the medium.

Both are already happening. For the former, look into Moacube's indie VN "Cinders." (If you browse freeware archives such as renai.us, you'll find a few more zero-budget but distinctly different stories.) For the former, check out what the group Roseverte is doing. They managed to get "Cafe 0" released in Japanese and English on the same day, and in German shortly afterwards.

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Both are already happening. For the former, look into Moacube's indie VN "Cinders." (If you browse freeware archives such as renai.us, you'll find a few more zero-budget but distinctly different stories.) For the former, check out what the group Roseverte is doing. They managed to get "Cafe 0" released in Japanese and English on the same day, and in German shortly afterwards.

I'm actually very aware of the Western VN creation scene, and while fan creation is where VNs currently stand in the West, it's only the beginning of what's to come. As I mentioned in my post, I think Western VNs are still in the imitation phase, much like western RPGs were JRPG grinding clones for ~10 years. Sooner than later, we'll have our "Knights of the Old Republic", and the Western VN, like the Western RPG, will be born.

Aaeru and I were talking about this a few weeks ago and both thought of the same TED video: see here. What I'm waiting for is not ubiquitous Japanese VN translation, but ubiquitous VN creation.

I try not to get negative or cynical, but I don't expect that visual novels will become more than a blip on the radar of English speaking fandom. ...

5. If no one is making a profit, that leads to no more official translations, and possibly even no more games. I liked Sakura Wars 5, but remember hearing how the English version sold only a few copies, and realizing that there was almost no chance that any other game from the series would be translated. Same is true for some of my other "one and done" favorites.

I understand the temptation to question the future of VNs and wonder if they'll ever really catch on. They'll catch on. It will take time, it will take more people finding VNs through gateway games like Katawa Shoujo and Analogue (on Steam), and it will take sites like Fuwanovel to provide a net for new players. It will take indie games. It will take time.

And remember where I'm coming from: whether or not Japanese VNs truly catch on may be a different story, but that's okay. I'm perfectly happy with letting creative people steal the best ideas and principles in the Japanese VNs and coming up with something brilliant. After all, I'm waiting on the emergence of "the Western VN" ; ).

...Not necessarily ubiquitous Japanese VN translation, but ubiquitous VN creation...

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I think VNs will get a foothold here in the west. It may take awhile but I do believe that they will get more popular as time goes on. On major gaming sites like GiantBomb and The Escapist I have seen some VN discussions. I even belong to a VN group on The Escapist. It helps that people in the west are starting to make VNs now too.

If I knew how to draw and program really well or knew people who could draw and program really well I would love to make a VN. I would even attempt to get it on Kickstarter so that it would have higher production values.

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There's something about Fuwanovel that makes me want to blog. Often, while browsing the forums or playing Clannad for the first time, I feel like chronicling the games I'm playing and my thoughts about the site and community. This post is something of a personal journal entry, and exists to share some of my thoughts about fuwanovel.

fuwanovel-bannerfull.png

What is Fuwanovel (to me)?

Fuwanovel is a website which celebrates the medium, culture, quirkiness and depth of Visual Novels. The mission of Fuwanovel is to make Visual Novels accessible to everybody, and to ultimately foster their production and distribution. It's also an attempt to create a new community and gathering place for VN fans where enthusiasm and respect replaces the toxic and despotic cultures of some other VN communities.

1.jpg

Why did I choose Fuwanovel?

There are several VN communities whhich I respect and actively follow, but the majority of my VN time is dedicated to Fuwanovel. I chose Fuwanovel for four reasons:

  1. The Fuwanovel forums and community were respectful, friendly, and helpful. People were actually nice to each other on the forums;
  2. Aaeru wasn't/isn't doing this for her own ego;
  3. Making VN games as accessible as possible is, in my view, the right path to making them popular;
  4. Fuwanovel was changing and becoming something new.

2.jpg

In what way has Fuwanovel changed?

For those who have belonged to the VN community for a long time, Fuwanovel was often associated with Aaeru's research on copyright reform (see her Sharing is Liberty blog). Today, those that speak ill of fuwanovel never fail to obsess over that fact. After spending dozens of hours on the forum, working behind the scenes on the site, and spending a lot of time talking with/coming to understand Aaeru a little better, I'm prepared to declare the sum of my experience: Fuwanovel is bigger than any one person now. Fuwanovel is bigger than Aaeru, it's bigger than a single game, and it's bigger than the sum of its forum posts. Fuwanovel is about Visual Novels and their distribution (see my first point). I joined Fuwanovel because I saw the start of this shift, and have now seen it through to near-completion. It's a great thing, and it's allowed a unique and positive community to grow.

3.jpg

My reaction to Fuwanovel's biggest criticism: Distributing Pre-patched Games, And My Ultimate Goal for VNs

(Aaeru has written her own perspective on this topic, and it's found on this FAQ page) If you look through the game torrents on this site, you'll see that several English patches specifically request that they not be bundled with the corresponding Japanese games, or be distributed as a complete unit. Fuwanovel has clearly chosen to disregard these requests. Our games come pre-patched and bundled into handy self-extracting RAR folders. While some will disagree with what follows, I think everybody can agree that pre-patched game distribution makes playing a VN *VERY* easy, and usually requires no installation or installation tutorials.

Aaeru believes that it is hypocritical for a translator to determine rights of use when they themselves essentially pirated and/or hacked the original games. I also agree with Aaeru in that translators, by distributing patches, put their work out into the vast reaches of the public internet, and no longer have control over its use.

Yet, the true reason I support Fuwanovel's distribution ideology has to do with my understanding of Fuwanovel's core: "The mission of Fuwanovel is to make Visual Novels accessible to everybody, and to ultimately foster their production and distribution." I want Visual Novels to catch on in the West. I want Western VNs to evolve into their own style. I want those future Western VNs to combine and hybridize with Japanese VNs and create new art and new dimensions for the medium. In short, I want this "Visual Novel Thing" to catch on. And because I want it to catch on, I want to make it as easy as possible for people to try out these games.

After all, when you compare the process of finding a Japanese torrent, downloading and following (often-poorly-written) English Patch installation instructions, and then troubleshooting errors based on your system with Fuwanovel's download, unzip, play method... there really isn't a question that Fuwanovel makes VNs easier to try out. And that, friends, is where all of this has to start.

Great read Tay! You guys are really amazing. Your passion for this is infectious. Outstanding!

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"Aaeru is a nut. A lunatic. She cannot possibly change her mind."

So Fuwan actually went from piracy site (feb) to non-piracy site (after backlash) back to piracy site (april-ish).

I replaced all of the torrents on the site (except umineko & katahane cause unzipping problems) and removed the John Perry Barlow video and the pdf. //because i realized it is more effective without//

Also I replaced all of the torrents because I heard from Tinfoil & Moogy's podcast (via Tay) that the self-extracting rar's has a bad rap for viruses.

Now why would I go back on my word? Why would I take advice from people who so obviously want this place to fail, who would go so far as to hack my site and delete all my files (happened).

The reason why is, if someone has a better idea and they 1up my ideas, then lets use them! Im honestly not interested in using a bad idea if a better idea exists out there. That will be really screwed up. I actually consider this to be the natural thing to do: to use the best ideas. if I truly cared about spreading JP culture I would do this. If I was actually doing it for e-peen (for which I have none. physically none.) I wouldn't. The people who don't do this and who NEVER change their mind for fear of loss of e-peen (pride) are the ones who are bizarre to me. And that is why I think the anti-thesis of the previous community is humility. Humility is powerful. Because it silences those wicked people who get a turn on from seeing you fail.

I think the most most valuable thing you have is your ideas.

Give me your ideas! (and I will give you mine)

thanx for the write up Tay~

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Nice writeup, but you mentioned something that's been on my mind for a while too but hasn't really been discussed in detail...

Yet, the true reason I support Fuwanovel's distribution ideology has to do with my understanding of Fuwanovel's core: "The mission of Fuwanovel is to make Visual Novels accessible to everybody, and to ultimately foster their production and distribution." I want Visual Novels to catch on in the West. I want Western VNs to evolve into their own style. I want those future Western VNs to combine and hybridize with Japanese VNs and create new art and new dimensions for the medium. In short, I want this "Visual Novel Thing" to catch on. And because I want it to catch on, I want to make it as easy as possible for people to try out these games.
Western VNs....And I don't mean an English VN that's a slavish imitation of it's Japanese variant; but a PROPER West-produced VN that fuses the best of both worlds. I would definitely like to see that happen~

I would, to that end, love if Fuwanovel came up with its own VN-production division and actually start to making this a reality. I am sure many of the members have a writer hidden deep down inside~ ;)

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Nice writeup, but you mentioned something that's been on my mind for a while too but hasn't really been discussed in detail...

Western VNs....And I don't mean an English VN that's a slavish imitation of it's Japanese variant; but a PROPER West-produced VN that fuses the best of both worlds. I would definitely like to see that happen~

I would, to that end, love if Fuwanovel came up with its own VN-production division and actually start to making this a reality. I am sure many of the members have a writer hidden deep down inside~ ;)

I would love to write the story and routes for a VN. I do want to be a writer and I think that could help but I also want to make a VN too.

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I would love to write the story and routes for a VN. I do want to be a writer and I think that could help but I also want to make a VN too.

What does it take to create a visual novel?

* Free or inexpensive software. Ren'py is freeware, and it's routinely updated. Some people like Novelty Maker, which is also free, but it's not been updated in quite some time. I don't know if anyone's using ONScripter, but it's another free option. Finally, don't neglect other tools if they are suited to your needs (Adventure Game Maker for graphic adventure, TADS 3 or Inform 7 for text adventure, RPG Maker XP or VX, Game Maker 8, etc).

* A person willing to write.

* A person willing to create / provide visuals: sprites, backgrounds, and so on.

* A person willing to help with music, sound effects, and so on.

* A person willing to debug the game or VN.

(One individual can do all four tasks, or they can be shared by a team.)

* Dedication. I realize it's possible to create a short story or a game in a short amount of time. There are competitions such as Ludum Dare, in which all participants make small indie games in about 48 hours. But if you want to create a lengthy story or a complex game, you need to commit effort and energy. You must be willing to persevere even if you struggle to write the first few lines or the first few scenes.

* Passion. In the words of Limp Bizkit, "if you don't care, then we don't care." Decide that you're going to create an amazing story, brilliant gameplay, beautiful visuals, a fascinating experiment, or whatever else you want. Do it for the art.

* Communication. If you work with a team, then they need to get along. Someone has to be willing to organize people and settle arguments.

Also, a little while ago, you mentioned Kickstarter. A person named SoBa managed to get Devil Gene R episode 1 funded. But if you're just getting started, then I recommend creating freeware. Show us what you can do with no budget. If you need the support of a few people for art, coding, music, and so on, that's fine.

One last thing... Harry_kinomoto said, "I would, to that end, love if Fuwanovel came up with its own VN-production division and actually start to making this a reality. I am sure many of the members have a writer hidden deep down inside~" That's a good idea. If you want to create games or VNs with people on this forum, then it might be good to have a thread or a whole section.

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What does it take to create a visual novel?

* Free or inexpensive software. Ren'py is freeware, and it's routinely updated. Some people like Novelty Maker, which is also free, but it's not been updated in quite some time. I don't know if anyone's using ONScripter, but it's another free option. Finally, don't neglect other tools if they are suited to your needs (Adventure Game Maker for graphic adventure, TADS 3 or Inform 7 for text adventure, RPG Maker XP or VX, Game Maker 8, etc).

* A person willing to write.

* A person willing to create / provide visuals: sprites, backgrounds, and so on.

* A person willing to help with music, sound effects, and so on.

* A person willing to debug the game or VN.

(One individual can do all four tasks, or they can be shared by a team.)

* Dedication. I realize it's possible to create a short story or a game in a short amount of time. There are competitions such as Ludum Dare, in which all participants make small indie games in about 48 hours. But if you want to create a lengthy story or a complex game, you need to commit effort and energy. You must be willing to persevere even if you struggle to write the first few lines or the first few scenes.

* Passion. In the words of Limp Bizkit, "if you don't care, then we don't care." Decide that you're going to create an amazing story, brilliant gameplay, beautiful visuals, a fascinating experiment, or whatever else you want. Do it for the art.

* Communication. If you work with a team, then they need to get along. Someone has to be willing to organize people and settle arguments.

Also, a little while ago, you mentioned Kickstarter. A person named SoBa managed to get Devil Gene R episode 1 funded. But if you're just getting started, then I recommend creating freeware. Show us what you can do with no budget. If you need the support of a few people for art, coding, music, and so on, that's fine.

One last thing... Harry_kinomoto said, "I would, to that end, love if Fuwanovel came up with its own VN-production division and actually start to making this a reality. I am sure many of the members have a writer hidden deep down inside~" That's a good idea. If you want to create games or VNs with people on this forum, then it might be good to have a thread or a whole section.

Thank You for the information. I am willing to write. I am about half way done with the first chapter of a KS fanfic and I am also going to start a very rough draft of novel i want to get published in late 2014 or early 2015. It is the other positions that I am not so good at. I suck at drawing and any type of programming. I don't know how to read music so that position isn't open to me either.

The only problem is I live in a small city with about 7,000 people and the very few people I know in the town have never even heard of a VN. My friends that I chat with online don't read VNs either. Trying to put a team together is going to be the hardest part most likely.

I appreciate the advice.

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I suck at drawing and any type of programming. I don't know how to read music so that position isn't open to me either.

The only problem is I live in a small city with about 7,000 people and the very few people I know in the town have never even heard of a VN. My friends that I chat with online don't read VNs either. Trying to put a team together is going to be the hardest part most likely.

The default settings in Ren'Py are only okay and are passable for maybe an old visual novel, but at least they work. It's not too hard to learn (well at most, you'll be able to move/resize UI elements around) and there's plenty of documentation though.

As for drawing and music, Ryukishi07 wasn't that great at drawing either and he found music that was in the public domain when he first started... So don't feel too discouraged about it.

It's not like you have to get a team of people you know personally either. Just look at how Katawa Shoujo was developed. Of course, it has its disadvantages with people disappearing though.

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  • 8 months later...
Aaeru believes that it is hypocritical for a translator to determine rights of use when they themselves essentially pirated and/or hacked the original games. I also agree with Aaeru in that translators, by distributing patches, put their work out into the vast reaches of the public internet, and no longer have control over its use.

But you forfeit the right to expect respect from others when you fail to respect the wishes of others to begin with. Fan translators provide a service with no expectation of compensation. Seeing their wishes disregarded, their good will trampled upon, can be very demotivating. At the same time that you're reaching a wider audience with existing translations, you may very well be hindering future translations because fan translators get sick of their work being associated with piracy.

Imagine yourself as a fan translator that's a huge fan of Company A, and you want to see official releases of its titles someday. You translate Game A, and it becomes very popular in the English community. Encouraged, you approach Company A with the number of patch downloads / VNDB ratings, asking if they'd be interested in an official release. Company A does a quick web search, sees the patch bundled with the full game across the web, concludes you're promoting piracy, and terminates negotiations. Doesn't that seem aggravating, from the fan translator's perspective?

From the perspective of many fans, Fuwanovel's activities disrespect and disregard fan translators and Japanese developers. You can't really complain when they reciprocate with disrespect. I personally don't really mind what Fuwanovel's doing, but I can completely understand why people would be upset, and their complaints are legitimate.

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With regard to VNs being distributed pre-patched, it would be for everyone's benefit in the long run if Fuwanovel keeps ondoing that. My point is based on my experience with Sims 2. Yep, I still play Sims 2 (mainly because I've worked so hard on my characters there and not willing to start from scratch again).

For those of you who haven't played Sims, fans are given the opportunity to create their own content like custom dresses, Sims that look like a celebrity, anime costumes, etc. Of course, there are cases where artists who created original content request their creations not to be bundled with another custom content. Instead, a link has to provided referring gamers to that artist's site.

Just play along, just think that we're still in 2005. Let's say I created a Sim who looks like Tifa Lockhart but was to lazy to create the hair, clothes, makeup and accessories to go with her, I'll just get what the files I need online. If I found three artists/sources who created what I need, but all of them do not want their creations to be distributed on another site, and I am usually someone who honors those types of requests, I will just put a link then.

Fast forward to 2015. Sims 4 has been released. But a bunch of people (let's just say there are just 50,000 of them) who still are quite sentimental with Sims 2 and are still looking for custom content. But lo, and behold, the three links provided are already dead because the other creators have moved on and are no longer interested maintaining their sites. It maybe because they have to get jobs, already have families, or worse, live through foodstamps.

So those 50,000 people ended up with a Tifa Lockhart who does not have the proper hair, costume or makeup. It would be alright if the other artists belong to the same forum/site which guarantees that as long as the forum/site is up, the creations I linked to will always be available. But like I've mentioned, that is not often the case.

So for those who make such requests that their EN patches not be bundled with the corresponding game should rethink their positions. Yes, Fuwanovel does disregard such requests and I would understand if other people would call FN very disrespectful to it's peers. But FN in a way, does increase the chances preserving their legacy.

I backup my most important work in a USB stick, a portable hard drive and a file sharing site. Translators might also be doing the same but public access to that translation is limited to a single forum/site. I'm sounding like a broken record, but there are a lot of reasons that a site would just vanish in cyberspace.

Yeah, I find the VN community members (not just here in FN) very intelligent. The main reason is that we get to argue about big stuff like the ethics of the distribution of fan-made translations. I am however, more concerned with the practical stuff: availability. Some people (who will undeniably be responsible for spreading the popularity of VNs also) actually don't care if we abide by the translator's request. What's important to them is that they get to have it. If they like it, they spread the word.

There might be a teen out there who read about how cool VNs are. So he downloads the game and is referred to another site to get the EN patch. And just like my example with Sims 2, the site for the EN patch is now dead leaving him with a raw copy he can't play. The impression made on that teen is that fan translations are unreliable. He updates his status in FaceBook saying Visual Novels are trash.

This is taking too long so I'll sum it up now, The goal of all VN communities are the same: Make Visual Novels Popular in the West. It won't be successful if availability can't be guaranteed.

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