Are you comfortable with the roles and waiting periods?

[MariPZ]

Hi! I just want to know what others think about the new model that's been implemented with roles and such.
Am I the only one who feels like the community has been moving backward instead of forward ever since then?
I'm especially interested in hearing the opinions of cofunding members!

The thing is, no matter how I look at it, there seem to be more downsides, and I'll explain them.
If anyone has a different point of view, please share your opinion!

1. I don't quite understand why consider stopping cofunding of english versions due to piracy since this has always happened. The important thing would be to maintain a safe space for those who share them, right? Of course, this includes crowdfunding members so that the links they share are respected. They'll decide what they want to share, and if it's not possible for them, others will upload it using their own methods.

2. Has an explanation been given for the new waiting periods? Is it to filter by roles and grant benefits? Because it doesn't guarantee that link leaks will be prevented, right? (and I'm not trying to point fingers. I'm just sharing my opinion that the new model might make people more impatient and indirectly encourage the very thing it's trying to prevent, I think). I've noticed that someone tried to share a game on their own awaiting for release through crowdfunding, and the post was deleted for no reason. I understand that there are priorities, but this makes it feel like others are being held back, when at the end of the day, the goal is to be a supportive community. This is another problem with the wait times I found.

3. Is the purpose of the roles themselves to restrict the section? I see that they have their benefits, but the truth is that with wait, the basic and intermediate don't seem to make much of a difference. Plus, the wait will only encourage members to find their own ways to get the games or to get impatient when the countdown ends.

At the end of the day, it's all piracy no matter how you look at it, the only thing that should matter is everyone's comfort. Sorry if this is long or sounds off! It's just that I get the impression the new model is more focused on restrictions that end up affecting its own members, so I wanted to know what others thought to see if I'm the only one ;;

 

[Beannie]

Hi, first of all, thank you for taking the time to write down your thoughts . I'm not a mod, but I've been a contributor since the beginning and an uploader on AS, so please still take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

1. As for the English releases, it seems that most of them are being shared on public websites on day one anyway. Because of that, there has been some discussion about at least postponing the purchase of these releases, or simply not purchasing them at all in the case of bigger releases, in order to effectively redirect those funds toward smaller games that are less likely to be picked up.

2. Just my personal opinion, but I think it might simply come down to a few things:

A. High download traffic increases the risk for the uploader. The sooner you upload something, the more people will potentially download it.

B. We do want to give a game a fair chance. There may be people who would simply buy the game because they don't want to wait. Some frustration is understandable, but I've also heard about some rather nasty comments directed at the uploader/group, and I can imagine that this would discourage the uploader from sharing things as quickly.

I have no clue what happened with the deleted threads, but I agree with you about the importance of having a strong and healthy community.

3. I think originally it was supposed to be some sort of "badge of honour" system: an incentive to engage more with the community and, in turn, receive a badge.

And yeah, we are all pirates, but at the same time, I do think that waiting is a fair trade-off for getting something for free. There are also options to join the co-purchase group or simply buy the game if someone is too impatient to wait.

 

[MariPZ]

Hi, first of all, thank you for taking the time to write down your thoughts . I'm not a mod, but I've been a contributor since the beginning and an uploader on AS, so please still take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

1. As for the English releases, it seems that most of them are being shared on public websites on day one anyway. Because of that, there has been some discussion about at least postponing the purchase of these releases, or simply not purchasing them at all in the case of bigger releases, in order to effectively redirect those funds toward smaller games that are less likely to be picked up.

2. Just my personal opinion, but I think it might simply come down to a few things:

A. High download traffic increases the risk for the uploader. The sooner you upload something, the more people will potentially download it.

B. We do want to give a game a fair chance. There may be people who would simply buy the game because they don't want to wait. Some frustration is understandable, but I've also heard about some rather nasty comments directed at the uploader/group, and I can imagine that this would discourage the uploader from sharing things as quickly.

I have no clue what happened with the deleted threads, but I agree with you about the importance of having a strong and healthy community.

3. I think originally it was supposed to be some sort of "badge of honour" system: an incentive to engage more with the community and, in turn, receive a badge.

And yeah, we are all pirates, but at the same time, I do think that waiting is a fair trade-off for getting something for free. There are also options to join the co-purchase group or simply buy the game if someone is too impatient to wait.

This is exactly what I wanted! Thanks for your comment.
I wanted to hear the opinions of cofunding members.

I respect the idea that those who contribute the most should have first access, and that just anyone shouldn't be able to download it and then disappear. The nasty comments are a shame. I understand the frustration, but getting personal is going too far.

One thing I do think is that waiting two weeks is a bit long, since, as they say, it makes no difference if people go to another site to get the game, so I feel like the sense of belonging to the community gets lost a little. I understand a few days, especially if they think it might affect the game's sales but in that case I'm left with one question if you're okay with it: if, for example, I bought the game and wanted to share it before the waiting period ended, would that cause any issues? No explicit rule has been stated regarding this, so I don't know how that would work.

 

[Ted]

Hi, how's it going? Personally, I haven't been part of the crowdfunding group, but I've bought a few games that I want to share with the group. However, in one particular case, I wanted to share with another member in a post a copy I bought, but my post was deleted. There was already a thread for that game (with a waiting period that hadn't been unlocked yet, though).

Is this not allowed? I don't think I've been able to find anything clear about this in the rules.

On that occasion, I won't lie, I got a little discouraged about continuing to share my copies if I "have to" do it only through the crowdfunding group. Or at least, that's the impression I got.

I appreciate the efforts of all the moderators and the community for providing a space to share our thoughts and for trying to make this a safe place to download otome games, and I especially appreciate those who contribute to buying them, whether individually or as a group!

Edit: I shared a bit of my concerns about the same topic in another post but my answer has been deleted there , maybe it's an error?

 

[dogiwall]

I'm not a co-funding member and most of your questions have been already answered, but I need to point out that there's other piracy groups for other niche things also that have the same/similiar practices or are a lot worse so I'm not not that bothered by this group's new model lol. Especially when I have hobbies and a massive backlog that makes two weeks fly by so fast.

 

[MariPZ]

I'm not a co-funding member and most of your questions have been already answered, but I need to point out that there's other piracy groups for other niche things also that have the same/similiar practices or are a lot worse so I'm not not that bothered by this group's new model lol. Especially when I have hobbies and a massive backlog that makes two weeks fly by so fast.

Yes, I'm aware! At the time of this post, I still hadn't received a response and was confused. I understand how it might be for other groups. I'm just talking about my experience in this one particular compared to how it was before. Thanks for your opinion