Saturday 1 September 2018

Of Clownish Clowns

TL;DR: I'm going to work on a different project and Crunchy Roll just got woke, so I expect them to go broke.


One of the major problems of having a day job is it gives you a lot of time to think about your hobbies. After the first week of re-releasing CatAttack!!! I decided to look at the statistics that are available on the itch.io platform. I'll have to admit that I was a little disappointed, but realistically I kind of figured that these are the numbers to be expected. After just under 2 months my “game” got the grand total of 254 views and 16 downloads (Subtracting the test download I did). Someone actually downloaded the old Unity version once 0_o.

The only thing that I'm a little sad about (other than almost no one wanted to play my game T_T) is that no one even bothered to to leave any feedback on any of the web forums that I posted to. Still I'm not one to pass criticism without looking at myself in the mirror, and if there is one person that is guilty of over lurking, it would be me -_-;.

Still, no feedback is feedback in itself. From what the numbers tell me I failed to make an impression with the “customers” that I'm “selling” my game to (ya I know, “no shit Sherlock”). Light fan service type games just don't really attract crowds. So to put plainly, I'm changing gears,... again.... Yes, I realize this makes me look like a clown, and I feel like one too.

This wouldn't be much an issue if I was just planing on doing this for shits and giggles, but I would like to eventually have a means to leave my day job should I want/need to. And to do that I figure that starting with a Patreon game is probably a good way to begin, as you only really need the minimum viable product to start selling yourself. I still plan to make full releases, but having a Patreon will allow me to be a little more flexible. Also I don't plan on opening a Patreon right away, as a good portion my money would just go to the government via taxes since I still have a day job (no need to be over-productive when you are punished for it -_-).

Anyway, so after looking at what was successful, I decided to make a zombie survival game!.......























Just kidding.

The really popular games are of the monster girl breeding/sexing variety. I had the idea in my head for a “framing simulation” (Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon) for a while now. Monster girls won't be the main focus but will be a major part of it. I originally put this game in the back of the pile because I felt that my current skill level would be insufficient to make a game as complex as a “farming sim”, but after completing CatAttack!!! I have confidence that I can make it work somehow.

The game is still just on paper and I have nothing but air(vapour)ware to show right now, but hopefully I stick with this one. Either way, I'm sticking with game development and building my skills.



So it would seem that Crunchy Roll hates money, or at least that was the impression they gave me this week. “What were they thinking?!” is the only thing I can say about recent events. They essentially did everything they could to trigger (at least) half their user base....

OK, so for those that don't know on Aug 22 CR reported their master plan to have a division devoted to making original content to add to their platform, as they are primarily a localization platform for Japanese produced anime.

Someone had the bright idea of hiring a studio that held 3ed wave feminist ideology to do animations. The studios promotion video looked more like an April fools joke than a promotion, it was that unbelievable. Instead of selling their idea, most of the time was spent galvanizing how they had a diverse staff of 100% female writers and 50% female representation in their creative department because apparently women are still “stuck in the kitchen” and need help to succeed..... I find this incredibly sad because I saw a video recently made by the lady that owns Sad Panda Studio (Crush, Crush) and instead of boasting about how awesome she was because of her wamenhood, she spent several minuets going over her portfolio and what she intended to produce with the money raised by Patreons.

Needless to say hiring 3ed wave feminist and soy boy cucks to make western animations didn't go over well with a good portion of the CR user base, with many people (myself included) stating their disapproval and that they would be cancelling their subscription in due time. This stunt is just another nail in the coffin that has been steadily constructed by lagging behind technology with their outdated web player and their tendency to not show uncensored versions of the anime they hosted. The fact that they censored the first game they localized is still fresh in peoples mind.

One person I watched on Youtube came up with the theory that this was intended to create controversy, which I say may be right, but did they ever stir up the hornets nest if that's the case. Either way, I suspect that they will “go broke” long before this stunt bears (if)any fruit.

As for me, I have no plans to renew my subscription. Every 2 months or so I spend about 100-150 dollars on manga/anime anyway, so I doubt the industry is loosing any money by me. As for a streaming service, I'll keep my eyes open for one I like. In the meantime, I'll be going to where I went to see the uncensored versions of the anime CR refused to provision.....

Truly, CR deserves the Clown award of 2018.


EDIT:Spelling