4 ms·
Projects like this caused me to fall in love with tech as a kid, and my subsequent career arc was largely premised on the notion "how do we bring this type of a
by ABCLAW 9y ago
Projects like this caused me to fall in love with tech as a kid, and my subsequent career arc was largely premised on the notion "how do we bring this type of amazing innovation into safe legal waters and allow it to flourish". I played FFV. I played a ton of fan translations. Heck, I completed the entire SNES rpg catalog, both JP and ENG. Thanks for sharing this.
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Re: Translation and Fan-mods in general. Many game developers fail to recognize that their works inadvertently become platforms, and that the platformization of stellar works is both the cause and effect of their spectacular success. There are a ton of crystal clear examples of this phenomenon. Unfortunately it is tremendously common that developers and publishers chop their own legs out from under them when attempting to re-seize control of these platforms to monetize them. Often their attempts destroy value, and terminally damage their brands.
- derefr 9y agoWhat good is brand value if you can't monetize any of it?
- toyg 9y agoThere are ways to monetize in a respectful way - for example, by making new games in the universe that your previous "platform" made so popular. You don't have to nickle & dime all the time to make a buck.
- ABCLAW 9y agoThere's a false dilemma stemming out of the word "any". In reality there's an equilibrium between giving and taking. If you don't monetize enough, you can't stay afloat as a developer and you're left with a brand asset for sale upon liquidation. If you take control of community produced goods in order to take the entire pie for yourself, your fanbase will slow or stop producing incidental free value for your projects and your core evangelists will begin jumping ship to greener pastures. This doesn't kill you immediately, but it also doesn't position you for long term growth.