Forum - View topicNEWS: DanMachi: Memoria Freese Smartphone Game's English Version Removes 'Touching' Feature
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Nick4x
Posts: 32 |
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Let me start by saying this: I downloaded Danmachi Memoria Freese and enjoy it. I was actually playing it (or grinding material with its "auto battle" mechanic) just as this article popped up. The first day I saw this game was coming to the U.S., I signed up with my e-mail for them to tell me when it was out because it looked fun and I love the series. I even bought a small $6.99 package they were offering in good faith to support future endeavors by CrunchyRoll Games.
This game is good without the mechanic they omitted. I am still playing it and having fun with it. THAT SAID, I'm disappointed in CR Games lack of transparency on this issue. If you're going to remove a feature from a game, say it up front so that those with strong feelings about censorship (like myself) can debate whether or not they still wish to play it. Had I known they were removing content, I may have been more reluctant to hand over any amount of money in good faith. Maybe I still would have, but that's no longer something I can decide on now. It's all hindsight. Honestly, while the removal of content is a big issue, the larger issue for me was their handling of it before and after the fact. When asked on Twitter if there would be any censorship, their response was a pure and simple "No." When this news came to light and they were confronted on this, they (very condescendingly) replied that removal of this feature was not censorship, but something they chose to remove because they "felt it wasn't appropriate for western audiences". I don't believe I've ever thought the saying "Don't piss on my head and tell me it's raining" has been so appropriate. It all comes down to a few simple points: 1. Know your audience. The people playing a DanMachi game aren't likely to be offended my some ecchi content. The game itself is a decent reflection of the series, so lewdness is to be expected. 2. Be upfront. If you're going to remove content, say so ahead of time and be prepared to take the backlash for it. 3. Don't speak down to your customers. Nothing makes people more mad than saying you know what is and isn't appropriate for someone. The condescending attitude of "We know what's best for you" will not only drive potential customers away from this game, but from every other game you try to put out there. 4. Make a compromise. If you feel a certain feature (not core to the game itself) will turn people off, ADD A TOGGLE OPTION! If CR Games had put in the option to toggle this feature on and off, they would have gotten a slight amount of criticism from the vocal minority of those fervently opposed to any censorship whatsoever, but the average customer would shrug, make their choice, and never think about it again. In the end, CR Games dropped the ball on this and hard, and I feel that many people will be very wary of future content they add to this game, as well as any other games they think of bringing overseas. |
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13231 |
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I also don't particularly mind the feature's removal either. But yeah, CR needs to own up to it and just admit that it's censorship.
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Swiftyy
 Posts: 190 Location: Florida, USA. |
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This certainly isn't the sort of news you want coming out of about your newly founded publishing label, they've made their bed, now they have to lie in it. (self-censorship is still censorship!)
The way their community team was speaking down to people was very unprofessional, I wouldn't be surprised if doing so pushed away potential loyal players.
I think we can both agree CR is never going to own up to this one, I imagine the last thing CR wants is the words "Crunchyroll" and "censored / censorship" in the same headline. |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5464 Location: Iscandar |
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If the Japanese side of things decided to remove the feature, I suppose there is not much than can be done. But if this is CR being prude, I am upset because that is a super dumb move. I am interested in this game, but this situation is a turn off.
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LinkTSwordmaster
 Posts: 431 Location: PA / USA |
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Off the top of my head, advertising a feature, paying money for a game in expectation of said feature, and then the company announcing that feature was promoted in error & later removed sounds very similar to the class action lawsuit that Sony is wrapping up over the removal of the OtherOS function on the PS3 - bait & switch or whatever you wanna call it.
Right off the top, I'm against any and all forms of censorship - if a game dev wants to make something creative, they shouldn't have their work gutted when it travels the globe. That said, I question exactly how elegant it is to include features like this (touching, groping, etc) in such games......either market the bloody thing truthfully as Ecchi and leave it unaltered, or quit gutting content on things just for the sake of grabbing for peoples' cash. In the end, it's crap like this and such things as the "Tales of the Rays" incident Bandai has going on right now that keep me enjoying my older gaming systems and DEFINITELY keep me away from phone/F2P games. |
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Soulwarfare
 Posts: 532 |
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It's censorship.
They did this with Fe:fates as well. It sucks a lot |
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AksaraKishou
Posts: 1412 Location: End of the World |
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Time to lose my Charge Back Virginity. |
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configspace
Posts: 3717 |
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There's a full backlash on the CR forum thread on this is and it's just a really dumb decision on CR and/or GREE's part. How can they claim this removal was in consideration of the audience when (and then keep silent on removing it) when the audience actually wants it?
Considering CR actually advertised this feature and no censorship at the beginning, I bet it had more to do with the Japanese side thinking it would be better to save face and to avoid public embarrassment and present a more (superficial) family-friendly image and risk the ire of actual players, which is ironic considering the entire fanservicey nature of DanMachi and the show. I lean towards the Japanese corporate side who made this decision because all the support links to report problems for the game or for feedback actually goes to the Japanese GREE English support and not CR. Last edited by configspace on Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:04 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Random Name
Posts: 649 |
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So its like FEH were you touch a character and they say a line of dialog? Well I hate censorship of any kind and this was handled horribly so I guess this is a pass for me. Also if this is what we can expect for future CR games I hope they do us a favor and just stop now.
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NeoStrayCat
 Posts: 623 |
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Well, while I understand your responses for the users about this issue here. And how all of this is BS, in one way or another. However...
At least in my experience, games like Otomedius Excellent and Trouble Witches Neo (on the X360) or Origin (on Steam), both shoot-em-ups/shmups BTW, even keep their "touching" mechanics for their English versions. For O.E., you had to move your cursor at specific points to the character(s) in the character select screen, press the confirm button and they'll react to where you pointed the cursor to. T.W.'s however, its the same way, but it only works when your in the Pumpkin Girls Shop. |
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LegitPancake
 Posts: 1301 Location: Texas, USA |
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When users on the official subreddit asked if CR will ever add the touching feature, or how they can play it anyways, a verified developer of the game recommended people to play the Japanese version of the game. This makes almost no sense, as there would be no point in a localized product if everyone got the original instead. Also most people playing the English version of the game probably can’t understand Japanese, so recommending us to go play that one is also insulting.
Edit: Here’s the comment. It hasn’t been removed yet, but I wouldnt doubt that it will sometime soon. Last edited by LegitPancake on Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Primus
 Posts: 2779 Location: Toronto |
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The most bizarre thing is that they edited a "Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?" game. With a property named like that, who are you trying to fool?
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Random Name
Posts: 649 |
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Kougeru
 Posts: 5540 |
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Censorship is awful
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Timeenforceranubis
 Posts: 171 |
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Regardless of which way you slice it, they lied about it being uncensored. Even giving Crunchyroll the benefit of the doubt and assuming that it wasn't their decision to remove the feature, if the feature was "was never intended to be released in the U.S. version of the game," don't tell people the release is uncensored, because that's a lie.
A lot of people got upset, and quite a few of them no doubt cancelled their subscriptions, which could've been mitigated if they'd been forthcoming with their customers. Their canned response to my show of concern/call-out on Twitter is linked in the article, and, as can plainly be seen, I never received a response to my follow-up question. At best, it's negligent, which is still pretty inexcusable considering they're the top dog in their market. (And not to mention that their explanation plainly does not really add up). At worst, Crunchyroll just thinks their customers are idiots who'll just drink up whatever they spill on the floor. |
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