I don't have a problem, of course, with a developer releasing an "all-ages" version of their game. What I do have a problem with is a developer downplaying censorship and being this dismissive of fans concerned about it.
They could, like many other companies do, release an all-ages version on Steam and an uncensored English version on another platform. If this isn't feasible, they could at least say they don't agree with the censorship. Instead we get this.
Hence why I find it understandable to offer an all-ages version and to not offer a patch when doing so might cause Steam to ban the game.
I don't think he says it's a Steam exclusive or whatever.
It is currently a Steam exclusive for the English version with no other release announced, and if they planned on offering an uncensored version in English it wouldn't make much sense to respond like this.
That article just links to the same statement I linked in this post.
It was Steam.
As I said above, though, Steam's censorship policy doesn't mean the uncensored game can't be released through other platforms. They are not without options if they were actually against censorship.
Nor does it force the developer to downplay censorship or admonish those who would be unwilling to accept a censored product as only wanting the "surface-level cute factor."
I actually do have a problem with all ages versions, even though I recognise some devs see them as a financial necessity.
It's a way of trying to dilute a piece of work into being marketable to everyone, but by making the sexual content optional they develop a kind of psychotic split tone within the same story - extreme content and pandering for the horny, yet cheeky smiley happiness for the self-deluded and everyone else - and become weird disposable trash as a result. Some of the stuff that's managed to make it onto Steam in All Ages form really makes me laugh, almost in bewildered outrage, when you know what it really is, and especially considering some stuff that's been booted from the platform for simply being risque. All Ages versions are the reason that the only officially available English version of Cross Channel - a great story - is some badly translated censored trash on Steam, when that entire VN revolves around sexual violence and trauma. And in fact the All Ages version of the game in this topic seems to be the fundamental reason that the West is getting a censored version of it - because we're getting the port of the Japanese re-released All Ages. They're not a new phenomenon for ero-games and it's not specific to non-Japanese versions; this kind of re-release, with safer, censored yet more polished and substantial content is pretty common even with some Japan-only games. Having changed so much of their original vision for cash, the devs see no problem changing even more and telling everyone to go spin.
A shame because the art for this one looks kind of nice. It's entirely possible that the dev is just some out of touch auteur who thinks that speaking as boldly as possible is the best way to defend his creation, but he's late to the anti-fandom party and happens to be talking in far too similar a way to the 'we don't want these kind of fans' SJWs that every sane person over here is sick of. This isn't our first rodeo, bitch, we might not have keigo but we recognise humility when we see it, and when we don't.
I just think lewd game makers should skip Steam entirely and try to galvanise their fanbase into buying on stores which don't have ridiculous censorship rules. That would negate this stupid charade entirely. Obviously the conventional wisdom is 'Steam release = more money', but outside the bigger name games I'm not convinced this actually holds true well enough to offset the drawbacks. Besides VNs being niche in the first place, they're usually priced too high for normie impulse purchases, while those who know the games by reputation will often seek them out in their least bastardised form from other stores - assuming those other versions exist. Speaking of which, grab Full Metal Daemon: Muramasa from the JAST store if you want a great, deep story about alt-historical fiction, sword dorkery, buddhist philosophy and magic samurai power armour. Of the few examples of questionable translation choices I've seen in it (there are always some), none related to wokeshit or censorship.
Steam doesn't have a leg to stand on with all the adult games they advertise to me when I don't have any in my library and never even go on adult websites.
Our business stance in Japan has always been "Notoriety is better than obscurity." No matter how loud the criticism, we believe it's better than being ignored.
We will not be reverting any of the above changes, nor offering a restoration patch.
Standoffish when making a poorly-regarded decision might work as a Japanese cultural concept, I have no idea, but not really western. The western way is the three "D"s: Divert, Divest, and Diminish. Not only is it someone else's fault, it's also someone else's authority that decided it, and there's no way we could have done anything else.
I am, as many of us here are, a steam "heavy user" by Steam's metrics, that is, I've bought over 100 games.
I have bought games with fewer than 30 reviews, for Steam a fairly unknown element at that point. Unadvertised games. Notoriety for me is not always better than obscurity, as this one is noted as a "pass" from me.
He mentions in his interview that this is more a remake than a port. Ask the Gal Gun devs how to do that: They managed to sell their first title as a full price new offerring by branding it as a remake/remaster of a yet-unreleased-to-the-west product, simultaneously adhering to Steams' anti-Asian racial bias and yet also putting a heavy positive spin on the action. And they kept the original elements.
Selling anything is better than selling nothing, but it sounds like they needed money and time put into the product in order to lol-cow-lize it. I hope they make it back, I know how much Steam's executives and staff hates the Asian races and that it can be hard for them, but I won't be contributing to that ROI.
The developer is free to antagonize fans on social media and be a lazy fuck that can't be bothered to release different versions of the title on multiple platforms.
In return, fans can spend their money elsewhere and wait for the superior fan altered version to appear on the high seas for free.
Broadly speaking, Cyanotype Daydream is a love story. Sexual expression is a part of falling in love.
Accordingly, we have not scrubbed the game of all references to sex.
If I have the energy, twitter account and the chops I would photoshop that picture floating around of the sailor suit edit and put that moe anime girl in a burka.
But at the end of the day I don't give a shit, it's a visual novel, that's like... not even a game.
I don't have a problem, of course, with a developer releasing an "all-ages" version of their game. What I do have a problem with is a developer downplaying censorship and being this dismissive of fans concerned about it.
They could, like many other companies do, release an all-ages version on Steam and an uncensored English version on another platform. If this isn't feasible, they could at least say they don't agree with the censorship. Instead we get this.
The gut didn't want to be banned from Steam, I don't think he says it's a Steam exclusive or whatever.
Hence why I find it understandable to offer an all-ages version and to not offer a patch when doing so might cause Steam to ban the game.
It is currently a Steam exclusive for the English version with no other release announced, and if they planned on offering an uncensored version in English it wouldn't make much sense to respond like this.
It was Steam. https://www.sankakucomplex.com/2022/01/10/laplacian-clarify-seifuku-censorship-was-to-appease-steam-guidelines/
That article just links to the same statement I linked in this post.
As I said above, though, Steam's censorship policy doesn't mean the uncensored game can't be released through other platforms. They are not without options if they were actually against censorship.
Nor does it force the developer to downplay censorship or admonish those who would be unwilling to accept a censored product as only wanting the "surface-level cute factor."
Not putting it on Steam kills sales.
I don't mean to be harsh, but it comes across as if you haven't read the comments you're replying to at all.
Not once have I suggested they don't put it on Steam.
I actually do have a problem with all ages versions, even though I recognise some devs see them as a financial necessity.
It's a way of trying to dilute a piece of work into being marketable to everyone, but by making the sexual content optional they develop a kind of psychotic split tone within the same story - extreme content and pandering for the horny, yet cheeky smiley happiness for the self-deluded and everyone else - and become weird disposable trash as a result. Some of the stuff that's managed to make it onto Steam in All Ages form really makes me laugh, almost in bewildered outrage, when you know what it really is, and especially considering some stuff that's been booted from the platform for simply being risque. All Ages versions are the reason that the only officially available English version of Cross Channel - a great story - is some badly translated censored trash on Steam, when that entire VN revolves around sexual violence and trauma. And in fact the All Ages version of the game in this topic seems to be the fundamental reason that the West is getting a censored version of it - because we're getting the port of the Japanese re-released All Ages. They're not a new phenomenon for ero-games and it's not specific to non-Japanese versions; this kind of re-release, with safer, censored yet more polished and substantial content is pretty common even with some Japan-only games. Having changed so much of their original vision for cash, the devs see no problem changing even more and telling everyone to go spin.
A shame because the art for this one looks kind of nice. It's entirely possible that the dev is just some out of touch auteur who thinks that speaking as boldly as possible is the best way to defend his creation, but he's late to the anti-fandom party and happens to be talking in far too similar a way to the 'we don't want these kind of fans' SJWs that every sane person over here is sick of. This isn't our first rodeo, bitch, we might not have keigo but we recognise humility when we see it, and when we don't.
I just think lewd game makers should skip Steam entirely and try to galvanise their fanbase into buying on stores which don't have ridiculous censorship rules. That would negate this stupid charade entirely. Obviously the conventional wisdom is 'Steam release = more money', but outside the bigger name games I'm not convinced this actually holds true well enough to offset the drawbacks. Besides VNs being niche in the first place, they're usually priced too high for normie impulse purchases, while those who know the games by reputation will often seek them out in their least bastardised form from other stores - assuming those other versions exist. Speaking of which, grab Full Metal Daemon: Muramasa from the JAST store if you want a great, deep story about alt-historical fiction, sword dorkery, buddhist philosophy and magic samurai power armour. Of the few examples of questionable translation choices I've seen in it (there are always some), none related to wokeshit or censorship.
Steam doesn't have a leg to stand on with all the adult games they advertise to me when I don't have any in my library and never even go on adult websites.
Being massive faggots is our business strategy!
Let us ignore them.
Can't get more obscure than some game that will never come up in my Steam search results ever again.
Some developer that will never come up in my Steam search results ever again.
https://www.sankakucomplex.com/2022/01/10/laplacian-clarify-seifuku-censorship-was-to-appease-steam-guidelines/
Piece of shit cucks.
Standoffish when making a poorly-regarded decision might work as a Japanese cultural concept, I have no idea, but not really western. The western way is the three "D"s: Divert, Divest, and Diminish. Not only is it someone else's fault, it's also someone else's authority that decided it, and there's no way we could have done anything else.
I am, as many of us here are, a steam "heavy user" by Steam's metrics, that is, I've bought over 100 games.
I have bought games with fewer than 30 reviews, for Steam a fairly unknown element at that point. Unadvertised games. Notoriety for me is not always better than obscurity, as this one is noted as a "pass" from me.
He mentions in his interview that this is more a remake than a port. Ask the Gal Gun devs how to do that: They managed to sell their first title as a full price new offerring by branding it as a remake/remaster of a yet-unreleased-to-the-west product, simultaneously adhering to Steams' anti-Asian racial bias and yet also putting a heavy positive spin on the action. And they kept the original elements.
Selling anything is better than selling nothing, but it sounds like they needed money and time put into the product in order to lol-cow-lize it. I hope they make it back, I know how much Steam's executives and staff hates the Asian races and that it can be hard for them, but I won't be contributing to that ROI.
The developer is free to antagonize fans on social media and be a lazy fuck that can't be bothered to release different versions of the title on multiple platforms.
In return, fans can spend their money elsewhere and wait for the superior fan altered version to appear on the high seas for free.
Groomer
If I have the energy, twitter account and the chops I would photoshop that picture floating around of the sailor suit edit and put that moe anime girl in a burka.
But at the end of the day I don't give a shit, it's a visual novel, that's like... not even a game.
Cucked by Steam. They clarified it was because Steam guidelines demanded it. https://www.sankakucomplex.com/2022/01/10/laplacian-clarify-seifuku-censorship-was-to-appease-steam-guidelines/