190
NISA messages Zerofield about copyright infringement, down for now
97% Upvoted
level 1
I feel bad for the zerofield folks. It was obvious that NISA never really worried about the spreadsheets, but once people on 4chan turned it into a patch this almost became inevitable. And since you can't really shutdown 4chan you have to target the source.
It sucks, but I am not at all surprised.
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level 2
Funny also since 4 chan has their own translators now since the steam version of kuro no kiseki
17
level 2
· 1 mo. ago
Kiseki Contrarian
It sucks indeed, but they had to draw the line somewhere. Were they interested in stopping these fan translation efforts they'd have stopped Zerofield much, much earlier.
Actually something similar already happened when someone was doing a menu patch of Hajimari, that was taken down but Zerofield still existed even then, they mentioned that spreadsheets were fine.
Clearly, people weren't listening because here we are again, and now they're forced to do this. Not that it will stop anyone; spite is a very powerful motivator. But it may stop Kuro 3 (if there is one) from being translated this way.
8
level 1
· 1 mo. ago
Van Chads rule this sub
Even if they stop Zerofield good luck stopping 4chan. They'll translate it themselves out of spite at this point.
103
level 2
The patch guys themselves have said that the patches would never have happened without zerofield, and that probably goes double for Kuro 2
7
level 2
Where does one go about following the 4chan people working on this game? I'm looking for these alleged patches. PM me if for some reason people are worried.
0
level 1
· 1 mo. ago
- - - Ys II shill
Unfortunately not too surprising. The moment people started making patches out of these translations it started becoming really risky. The amount of people willing to play these with overlay is such an absurdly tiny fraction of the people who play these games, but a patch is much more accessible already (even if still only played by a small portion).
31
level 1
This was probably inevitable once people started tuning them into actual patches, can't have people giving Clouded Leopard their money now when they could give it to NISA in 5 years instead... I wonder if they really don't realize that if it didn't take them 3+ years to localize the games, we wouldn't feel the need for fan translations.
143
level 2
Its OK bro the stans here will tell you to jUsT leArN JaPAnESE bro or to just wait until 2026 bro.
Its hilarious to me that the gap between CS4 and Reverie is fucking bigger than it was with CS3 and CS4 yet people will defend them even though the company is now many times bigger than it was back then, and their shitty excuse is that Zero and Azure who is already translated to near perfection thanks to Geofront is officially releasing, AFTER 2 YEARS! And the PS4 version is literally based on the ALREADY released Kai versions.
Its amazing how little crap they give about western fans and how everyone seems to be so okay with it.
149
level 2
can't have people giving Clouded Leopard their money now when they could give it to NISA in 5 years instead
I seriously question how much money they're losing to CLE. This is such a bad look even if they have the legal grounds to do so. At least wait until after you announce the localization. Either they plan to announce Kuro localization soon or they want to stop this once and for all.
12
level 2
It would guess they tried to stop the fan patch in kuro with getting the japanese license for the pc games so people could not just search and replace the japanese lines with the spreadsheet on PC.
Then they didn't realize people just took the japanese files from a cracked PS4 and replaced these in kuro so they gave up on that approach and now they try to stop it at the root.
5
level 2
· 1 mo. ago
Kiseki difficulty modder
can't have people giving Clouded Leopard their money now
What's funny is that a huge chunk of the people downloading patches are pirating the game on PC.
Not everyone obviously but it has been pretty clear that that has been the case.
0
level 2
· 1 mo. ago
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level 2
Eh, even if it was only a year, I'm sure still plenty of fans would complain about not getting their Kiseki-crack this instant, complaining about spoilers being everywhere, using that as justification for why they needed to play the games with a fan translation and then contributing to the spoiler problem themselves and the vicious circle it presented afterwards.
-3
level 1
I know "learn Japanese" is a meme, but oh my god. (according to a brief googling) it takes about 2-3 years to learn Japanese from scratch... so if someone started learning from Hajimari's release date they would potentially beat the localization time by up to a year. That's just wild.
22
level 2
Yeah, I'm not retaining jack shit after 12 hours of labor for work, so that only leaves my one day off a week to study, and I'd only be able to set aside a couple of hours for that since I have literally everything that can't be done past 6PM to get done that day too.
It's not taking me 2-3 years to become fluent at a non-Latin based language at two to three hours, once a week. "Just learn Japanese" isn't a feasible solution for a LOT of people.
2
level 2
....This......
If they just ignore the english dub, then maybe they could dramatically expedite the translation process; and it would take roughly the same time as Zerofield's efforts.I truly believe that the recruiting, casting, and negotiating the VA's pay are the taking the most time, since there's quite a bit of bureacracy in it.
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level 2
· 1 mo. ago
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They can translate it faster but I wouldn’t call it an excellent translation by any means
5
level 1
I'm just gonna hope it has something to do with Reverie because otherwise...
The amount of people that use fan translations, let alone a spreadsheet, is very small, so they likely won't care, but... can someone tell them that anyone that cares about this series enough to use an overlay was probably going to buy the english version anyway.
They only stand to lose from this.
58
level 2
I played the geofront patch for both games and have already preordered zero.
18
level 2
How do they not lose anything though? If they let the fan Translations continue, some people who only play games once especially long games like trails might end up not buying the official version
4
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yeah I'm not buying official 0/azure/hajimari anymore I played them already (but I was still gonna buy the official version), I'll see about getting the patched version of kuro instead too
2
level 2
Yeah it's truly fascinating how out of touch they are with their own market.
2
level 1
"It's okay guys. I had to wait 69420 years between FC and SC. It's a series tradition thing" 🤡
33
level 2
Apparently you’re not a real trails fans unless you accept a major localization companies incompetence and business malpractice and wait 5 years for the next game. Imagine gatekeeping development hell.
21
level 1
Probably inevitable once the patches became a thing.
Obviously they're within their rights to do that (C&D, etc.), but those of us crazy enough to play patches or overlays were/are going to buy the offical releases anyway, I think?
I'm not going to not buy them out of spite, but it's disappointing that it's far less likely that we'll get something for Crimson Sin now. So I'll finish Kuro and then not be able to play a new Trails game till 2027 or something.
But I'm hooked, I'll keep getting the games as they're localized.
22
level 2
Nah, there are plenty of people like me who use fan translation and dont buy the official release because i already played it once, why would i pay to play it again? Nisa is trying to stop people like me
-1
level 1
· 1 mo. ago
Eat the rich!
Sucks, but expected really.
Zerofield deserve all the kudos for carrying the English community these past years.
23
level 1
NISA can fuck off with that. If I have to wait 3-5 years for an game series to come over to the west, I'm going to find some way to obtain the game and get it translated anyways. I doubt they would had lost serious money since the buyers are obviously going to outweigh the small portion of the fanbase obtaining the Japanese games ver. before the English release comes.
41
level 1
A smarter company would find a way of taking advantage of such an amazing community.
A lowlife afraid publisher like this just enforces shit to kill any proactivity from the community for some extra pennies that really don't exist.
I'm really sorry for Zerofield team and I hope they find a way to overcome this.
These sort of moves just show the type of person/company each one is. Nothing harms your brand more than this.
16
level 2
Lol Reddit brain. NISA did. They said they will be using the geofront translations as the basis for the official releases of Zero and Ao. You know what harms your brand more then dumb internet drama 5 people genuinely care about? Games not selling and no growth.
-2
level 1
It’s within their rights but Nisa has broken the last piece of goodwill left in the community (ie. people hate their translations/speed/etc.). Tough breaks for zerofield. They put in a ton of work and it feels bad to see them get removed.
46
level 2
· 1 mo. ago
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level 1
this doesnt affect the already existing stuff, but cool there goes my hopes of playing kuro 2 in 2023. guess ill have to take a 3 year break from the series
19
level 1
This wouldn't be a problem if we weren't about to be 3 main games behind with cs 3 and 4 it looked like we had some traction for a moment then that fell flat.
14
level 2
Here's the thing you're forgetting though - we were always multiple games behind, because Falcom made XSEED skip Crossbell in the first place, which is why we're only just now getting those released in the West. Once Reverie's out, it'll be completely linear, no gaps to be filled in.
7
level 2
A translation is a derived work under copyright law, and an unauthorized one is thus a violation. Interacting with game files is an irrelevant implementation detail.
64
level 2
probably just their only way at indirectly killing the PC patch. they cant take out the anons making the patch so they kill it at the source, with the TL makers
22
level 2
If NISA pays Falcom for the exclusive right to translate the script that Falcom owns (and that the Zerofield projects do use) into English, then the "doesn't directly interact with any game files"-excuse doesn't really hold up. Letter versus the spirit of the law and nobody has any doubt about the latter.
21
level 1
If they did their job the fans wouldn’t have to do it for them…for no pay and in a fraction of the amount of time lol.
17
level 2
Take-Two Interactive: "Hold my beer"
NISA has issues, but I've never seen as litigious company as Take-Two Interactive. If you even show footage of any game the way they don't like, they'll DMCA that video damn near instantly, and they're one of the few publishers out there who have actually tried to sue game modders.
30
level 2
· 1 mo. ago
Kiseki Contrarian
Worst
Bought the entire Geofront manuscript when they didn't have to.
I don't know what it is with you people at this point.
9
level 2
level 1
Tbh I don’t know what to think about it. On one hand it makes sense, they want to protect their IPs and sell their translated ports whenever they come out, at the same time people using spreadsheets will buy the Japanese version of the game, and are usually hardcore fans, and will most likely buy the game twice.
It feels like they are blindly hurting fans more than anything else.
8
level 2
Nisa has some right to do this, but that doesn't mean that it is the right thing to do. I would be more willing to accept this if we are talking about being a year behind in the game schedule, but there is honestly no hope of catching up any sooner than 2025 and on top of that you just decimated key community figures that have helped keep the community thriving through all the bullshit. Is this outrage going to amount to anything sales wise? Probably not, but it is definitely justified for fans to be pissed about this.
4
level 2
does kuro have a nice conclusive ending? half way through and gonna have to accept its gonna be 2-3 years before i play kuro 2
2
level 1
Does Nisa even have licensing for Kuro? I'd imagine they can still work on that right?
14
level 2
I'm guessing they DO have the licensing rights they just haven't actually ANNOUNCED it yet.
67
level 2
If they have sent a cease and desist letter legally they would have to have an exclusivity agreement with Falcom for the translation of whatever the C&D was regarding. If it was Falcom sending the letter then it would be hard to say but NISA would have no legal grounds to send the letter if they didn't already own the rights to do the translation.
28
level 2
· 1 mo. ago
Hellseye47
Yes, license deals with Falcom are typically finalized a few months after the JP release.
11
level 2
iirc they have an event coming up soon and 4 games will be announced on it, I imagine kuro will be among them
1
level 2
Kill the momentum??? If anything it's about to be at an all time high since NISA is release Zero, Azure and Reverie back to back, and once Reverie is out we'd definitely get an announcement for the Calvard games.
Especially so now that we no longer have the Crossbell gap, and the wait for their release is almost over, going forward we are going to have at least one Trails game per year from now on.
7
level 1
[deleted]
· 1 mo. agolevel 1
· 1 mo. ago
The wind is with us.
If this ain’t a bruh moment, then I don’t know what is. Guess I’ll be stuck with Google Translate for Kuro 2 lol
15
level 1
Nisa is doing more harm than good to the fandom at this point. It must sucks that amateurs can dish out full patches in matter of months eh?
If you can't manage the power and care needed to handle this series then drop it. Not only you are taking a stupid amount of time to translate these games but you now you cuckblock anyone from trying It. It's like they are taking these games hostage at this point.
A fan patch wouldn't exist if your time of releasing wasn't a joke
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level 2
level 2
And nope I’m not double dipping on the English version 5 years later lol. That’s on Falcom/Nisa
Lol you’re inadvertently proving the whole point of why they do this.
26
level 1
They gotta do it bro you gotta understand they can’t afford losing sales for a game they release 6 years from now. Btw remember to buy critically acclaimed psp remaster Trails from Zero!
12
level 1
While I have some appreciation for the games being localized currently, some of us are too immersed in the current es over the many years) but if this is how things are going to be, I wont be supporting them any longer. Them having the right to do it or not is irrelevant for me. They are free to respond how they see fit and I simply will do the same with my speech and wallet.
While I have some appreciation for the games being localized currently, I don't appreciate the long waits (which Falcom is also to blame for this) while trying to remove any way for dedicated fans to even be able to understand the story as it's being released currently. This has been a huge problem for them because they simply have not modernized with the times and at least have gotten shorter releases. Even with the Zero/Azure releases, there are both really great things being done with it but the lack of English voice acting (or even just english voices period) is extremely disappointing when Xseed had done it for Sky. I have other complaints I don't want to get too off track
I have already been a bit disappointed with how things have been going and this is just the nail on the coffin. One way or another, you can't prevent fans from being able to understand the series. You can try to make it more annoying but people will just be more inclined to do fan translations/patches in the underground and they will continue to gain publicity. It would be far better if they improved their translation infrastructure at Falcom/NISA but that clearly isn't happening.
While I have some appreciation for the games being localized currently, some of us are too immersed in the current es over the many years) but if this is how things are going to be, I won't be supporting them any longer. Them having the right to do it or not is irrelevant to me. They are free to respond how they see fit and I simply will do the same with my speech and wallet.
and CS4 (which had just been released in Japan by the time I caught up). My enjoyment playing/watching in the release order was the best thing I could have asked for and I thank all the people who worked on it for free while working very hard on it.
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level 2
They really got so heated that random no job having. 4channers we’re doing a much better job at translating the games than they are that they went after mfs who have been making overlays since xseed had the rights absolutely crazy
9
level 1
This is it for me. I'm not buying Zero, Azure nor any other game NIS ever releases. It's freaking absurd already they take more time to localize than Falcom to make the f* game in the first place.
21
level 1
People aren't realizing that the patches are at fault here. NISA didn't care before their work was being completely replaced (hence why the kuro spreadsheet wasn't taken down before now). Now that they are being used for the patches, they are under NISA's crosshairs.
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level 2
[deleted]
· 1 mo. agolevel 2
· 1 mo. ago
Kiseki Contrarian
This so much. To be perfectly fair, there too was a patch before (not sure if this was the same one), that was C&D'd and NISA said that spreadsheets were fine back then.
Now it's prolific to start patching everything, so I guess they had to drop the proverbial bomb.
3
level 2
[deleted]
· 1 mo. agolevel 1
🤓 “uhm, NISA and Falcom are well within their rights to do this, don’t you know how copyright law works”
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level 1
[deleted]
· 1 mo. agolevel 2
level 1
This is INSANE. NIS/NISA are extremely small companies making an extremely niche product in an extremely niche niche genre that seems to be shrinking every day unless the game you're publishing is named Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. NIS games, especially the Trails series haven't been selling extremely well in their home country, and more and more the sales of the game are dependent on western audiences.
I understand a translation, or in this case a spreadsheet/overlay is not an official translation, but to be able to use those spreadsheets gamers have been buying official copies on PC and PS4 and running the overlay over them! NIS is still getting paid! The Translations are directly driving sales! NIS is cutting their nose off to spite their face on this.
11
level 2
but to be able to use those spreadsheets gamers have been buying official copies on PC and PS4 and running the overlay over them! NIS is still getting paid!
They're not. People are buying (or pirating) the CLE releases to use the spreadsheet and patches, NISA earns nothing with that.
14
level 1
See yall in 2027 for kuro 2 to get an English translation. Time for me to find a new jrpg series to get into that won't take 5 years to get a English localization.
3
level 1
[deleted]
· 1 mo. agolevel 1
I really wish Xseed was still doing this series. NISA really grinds my gears. I mean they release Ys VIII in such a state that they have to retranslate it themselves. They take over two years to straight port in the Geofront translation of the Crossbell arc, then sell it separately and potentially 6+ months apart. Ridiculous. The greed knows no bounds. I get capitalism, I do, I work for a telcom giant, but man there has gotta be a better way that these could've released in a timely fashion.
To then trash on the people who do release things in a timely fashion with a small team of dudes doing it for free is just low. I mean come on. I hope 4chan keeps releasing things out of spite at this point. You can watch the NISA website if you need the limited editions of the Crossbell arc, they already charged me, but I'm submitting the return now. I'll catch them on a digital sale later.
3
level 2
I really wish Xseed was still doing this series.
As far as I can say, when XSeed was still doing the series, they just plainly skipped Crossbell arc?
And two years gap was pretty normal for XSeed. Like, ignoring Sky 1st, where the gap between Japanese and English, well, 10 years for PC (and the gap between English PC and English PSP was three years - meaning they spent three years to port their own translation from platform to platform), we had a year gap between Sky and Sky2nd. July 29, 2014 to October 29, 2015. If it's about PSP, well, it's also 2015, meaning that, if you decided to play Sky on PSP, and bought it on [Western] release, it would take you four years between two parts of Estelle's story.
Then we have Cold Steel 1 in the same 2015 year, CS2 year later, and then, again year later, Sky 3rd. Crossbell was skipped. The gap between Japanese and English releases of CS1 was two-and-half years between PS3 releases.
I doubt that if XSeed would still doing this series it would be somehow better then we have today.
4
level 2
They take over two years to straight port in the Geofront translation of the Crossbell arc, then sell it separately and potentially 6+ months apart.
Xseed would've likely done the same thing. 2 years is simply how long it takes. These are not small projects and using a fantl as a base does not necessarily make the process faster. It can make potentially it longer even.
3
level 1
Time to stop playing the games then sadly.
I admire the people who waited for years for the respective releases.
But I just can’t. I hate to have to replay the entire series every 2 years when there is a new release.
I even wasted my money on Hajimari which I ordered from Japan literally a week ago and was about to download the overlay.
Further I really don’t want to support Nisa at this point anymore.
Really sad to see that Kitsunes work on Hajimari and Kuro is being discarded though. It’s clear that these were passion projects.
16
level 2
You don't need to replay the series every time for a new release, the games are pretty memorable as it is and kuro no keseki is anyway nearly complete new story in a new country and has not a lot of recurring characters from old titles
Just look once a year if the game is out yet and when its out play it and I am sure the english patch for hajimari floats around somewhere to download just look for it and I am sure you will find it
And boycotting nisa for being slow is pointless and won't change a thing you just sabotaging yourself
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level 1
Definitely not giving NISA any money then, incredibly scummy move.
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NISA is a business at the end of the day so they want to maximize profits I get it, but I can't deny the scummy move part... these spreadsheet is lowkey what keeps us western fans invested.
5
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This really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. A translation is a derivative work under copyright so rights holders are definitely gonna do something if it's something that conflicts with their interests.
It's part of why I stick to translating as I Livestream and limiting the scope of what I focus on. Granted it's hard to translate on the fly as I play but so I have to limit it but I've made it through the last 4 games, somehow!
7
level 1
This thread has a lot two kinds of people in it:
People who do not understand basic copyright law (or think that copyright law makes any sense and can substitute it with common sense morality)
Heroin addicts being very mad that their supplier got shut down by the cops
15
level 2
Also there are heroin addicts who understand where the cops are coming from but are still a little sad about the raid.
0
level 1
[deleted]
· 1 mo. ago · edited 1 mo. agoBe a SRW fan thanks to Atlus's OG1/2 GBA release
have to wait over a decade to get another title in English and its horrible gibberish
Bandai JP/BB Studio hires former fan translators and we start going from jibberish to well done localizations almost day and date with the JP release with 30 becoming a hugely succesful title because of the day/date global release
Bandai doesn't go after the fan translators of the older titles
I'd also bring up fans having to retranslate Ar Tonelico 2 from scratch too because of NISA's shoddy work but thats neither here nor there.
But hey, Falcom. Take a page from Bandai and this wouldn't be an issue. Wink, wink.
2
level 1
This obviously sucks for the Zerofield team, but all the people saying it's destroying the series in the west or they are just going to stop playing because they don't want to wait for the official release, get over yourselves. It's not the end of the world, so what if you have to wait a couple of years between each game - that happens with every series.
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level 1
This is not NISA's fault or the fans' fault, it's all on Falcom and their poor handling of their licenses. If Falcom actually cared they would share the script with NISA during development so the localization times are shortened, instead they get the script a good while after the game is out in Japan.
This means that fans literally have access to the japanese script before NISA does. Falcom needs to get their shit together and change for the better.
4
level 1
I have to say, and it shames me, but there's a lot of people here freaking out like shrieking children.
NISA is a business. Releasing all these games simultaneously is a situation where they're going to cut I to their own profits. Hell, releasing Zero, then Azure in just 6 months, and then Reverie 6 months later is already pushing it. It doesn't matter that they're already localized, it's bad marketing that's being done already for the sake of a rabid fan base. Kuro is still a ways out. Yes, I want it sooner. No, I will not scream and shake and jam remote controls into my ass in rage because it's years out.
It sucks that I have to wait. I waited years for every game in this franchise. Every single one. I bought Sky 1 on release day, beat it, and waited. I bought SC, beat it, and waited. I did the same for CS1 and CS2. Then I heard about the Geofront, and waited for their localization for Zero and Azure. Then I did CS3 and 4. Now I'm waiting for Reverie. And then I will wait for Kuro.
Again, having to wait sucks. But some people here need to learn how to act like adults. "I'm not gonna buy anything because the people who own it want to be paid for their hard work!" That is a puerile reaction, and it is beneath me.
Really, I am so completely taken aback from the entitlement I see from some people here right now. I never expected such a reactionary, selfish response here. I legitimately expected a rational discussion. More the fool me, I suppose.
4
level 2
You brag about waiting but state that you played geofronts Zero/azure….
Why didn’t U wait for the official release then?
London always stated he wanted to bring Crossbell to the west so it was not a question of „if“ but „when“.
People are now in the same situation as you where then. But they can’t just default to a fan sub now unlike you could.
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Really wish I lived in a world where people understood that consumers actually /are/ allowed to be "entitled" considering it's their own money that's being offered up.
I don't, but I wish I did.
4
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According to Hansuke apparently not.... Tweet in question
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They can't do anything about the current Haji and Kuro patch. Once it's up on the internet that's it. They are going after zero filed because they can't touch the 4chan patches. They are afraid of the patch not the spread sheet so since they can't touch 4chan they just went after the source through copy right abuse.
these mfs won't release the game until 3-4 years later but they are so afraid of it they are buying 4-5 games linces in fucking advance ins desperate to kill the fan TLs.
Rip our chance of playing Kuro 2 in 2023. Fuck the loyal fandom I guess.
3
level 1
Another fandom slammed its head against the wall in a fit of righteousness.
2
level 1
Lots of people are getting the pitchforks over this but I just can't bring up the energy do that. I feel like this was inevitable and NISA are within right to do so. I'm honestly okay with waiting for kuro official localisation. However it was a bit of douche move to do this before an official Kuro announcement though.
0
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[deleted]
· 1 mo. agolevel 2
Geofront got paid. They’ll be fine. They also all lurk here and can speak for themselves if they feel slighted. But considering that they entered into a business deal with NISA and, as part of that deal, agreed to take down their own fan translations, I’m not sure they would necessarily agree with the words you are putting in their mouths.
5
level 1
I think a good compromise that the Zerofield team could offer would be to ensure that the patches become discouraged and less accessible, even as they go forth with their translation project.
I think it's better to at least keep the overlay than no translation at all. The patch was really a breath of fresh air, though. It made reading the translation a lot easier.
-1
level 2
They can't really prevent the patch from being less accessible when they have no power over it. NISA just wants to nip fan translations in the bud now because they see it as a threat to their bottom line and that includes things like the spreadsheet, unfortunately.
13
level 1
Tbh, I never played with English patch since I know Japanese very well, but it's not like I don't understand everyone's anger coming from...But, because of Nisa so you will stop the journey on zemuria? Hell no for me. Besides, NiSA is bad okay, but what did the game do to you? Even if I don't know Japanese I will probably just wait even it's a pain.
-2
level 2
I was planning to wait for Kuro 2 PC port from CLE now I think my plan is to just get PS5 version and play holding my phone and using google translate app via camera.. That’s gonna be an experience xD.
5
level 1
[deleted]
· 1 mo. agolevel 2
[deleted]
· 1 mo. agolevel 1
I understand people are frustrated at NISA here, but imo Falcom is partly to blame here as well. I understand they're not a big company, but I still find it absurd that they can't work on simultaneous WW release in 2022. There's CLE, but I've read people hating on their ports(?). We're behind I know, but how is CLE is able to churn out these ports close to JP release? This is honestly a big project for NISA, but Zero in 2022 and then dropping Ao, Hajimari, and Nayuta in 2023 is a weird schedule imo. By the time Hajimari is actually released, Kuro III is already out and we're behind 3 games and a whole arc again. There has to be something that Falcom can actually do here for the rest to able to catch up. Zero and Ao should have been done a couple of years ago imo.
Honestly, there are so many factors to consider here and I'm just as frustrated as everyone else. But imo, this is still on Falcom first, then NISA next. I'll patiently wait for Hajimari next year, but after that, I would probably find a way to play Kuro I and II. I'm pretty sure, the spreadsheet and overlay stuff should still exist somewhere in the internet.
1
level 2
I'd like to try to clear up a few things you mentioned. Also sorry for all the text. I wasn't expecting this comment to get so lengthy.
I understand they're not a big company, but I still find it absurd that they can't work on simultaneous WW release in 2022.
I'm going a little from memory here, but Falcom have mentioned that they don't have the manpower or knowledge to handle localizations themselves and that it would take resources away from developing new games for Japan (which is a majority of their audience). As far as working with other companies to achieve same-day localizations, this also requires Falcom to help a bunch as I understand it.
Clouded Leopard Entertainment released a same-day localization for Trails into Reverie, however Falcom stated that this was something of an experiment and that it might not happen again. Kuro and Kuro II have not had same-day locs by CLE. I believe it was mentioned that one of the reasons for that was that Falcom were simply way to busy to help make it work that time around.
There was also once a point where Sony Asia helped Falcom release same-day locs. in Chinese (and I think Korean) for Cold Steel I and II (or it might have just been CS II) and it was apparently so much work that Sony didn't want to work with them again for localizations, if I'm not misremembering.
I think this might have been what caused Falcom to sort of start the policy of not localizing games prior to their JP release. It just created more work for both them and their partners, at least that's how I understand it.
There's CLE, but I've read people hating on their ports(?).
From what I've heard, the general reputation for both their ports and translations is that they work/are serviceable, but are sub-par.
We're behind I know, but how is CLE is able to churn out these ports close to JP release?
I'm not 100% sure, but I think CLE are just in a different situation than NISA right now. Aside from Falcom seemingly wanting to test the waters again with earlier localizations, CLE's Headquarters are actually in Japan and not that far from Falcom's HQ if I remember right. I also heard, but can't confirm, that Japanese -> Chinese translations tend to be quicker. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but Yakuza 7 I remember got a same-day Chinese localization while the West had a delay and I'm not sure why. It might also be worth noting that CLE is run by someone who used to work for Sony Asia and already is familiar with Falcom.
I can't say for sure why CLE is able to get their ports/translations out notably faster, but I think there are a variety of possible reasons.
By the time Hajimari is actually released, Kuro III is already out and we're behind 3 games and a whole arc again.
It's not 100% confirmed yet, but Ys X will most likely be next year's game. I would guess 2024 for Kuro III's JP release. Currently we're behind 4 games (5 if you count Nayuta) -- Zero, Azure, Reverie, Kuro -- but by the end of next year we'll probably be behind 2 games -- Kuro and Kuro II.
I think going forward from there is where we may start seeing improvements to the localization times. Even if Falcom were to license out or share the scripts to Kuro II early, I don't think it'd help too much in reducing wait times right now since they have to get through their current workload.
Personally I don't think we'll ever get worldwide Trails releases due to the workload it'd cause for all parties. I think the West would need to make up a much bigger portion of Falcom's audience before that would become possible, in my opinion of course. I do think we'll start seeing the wait times reduced going forward though. With every non-Trails game Falcom release, that's another opportunity to close the gap a bit more. Once we're more caught up we may start seeing some changes to the localization process too, like maybe Falcom giving out the scripts earlier.
Zero and Ao should have been done a couple of years ago imo.
They couldn't. There were no viable versions of the games at that point. The PSP was a dead platform and the PS Vita and PC versions have too much red tape/licensing issues. It wasn't until the PS4 ports that the games became feasible for localization. In fact, Kondo mentioned the primary reason they made the ports was so the games could finally be localized in the West.
I'm sorry again for the long comment. Also I apologize if I rambled a bunch. It took me a while to write this and I was distracted a bit. I hope this comment was helpful in some way.
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This news is fucking ass man, finally when I found a way to comfortably play through the series without having to wait half a damn decade. Fuck off Nisa. Hope the anons at 4chan keep making patches. I was going to buy Zero, Ao, and Hajimari. They're not getting any money from me now though. Not double dipping on their Kuro either, no matter how much I like the game.
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[deleted]
· 1 mo. agolevel 2
Not discussing other games, discussing trails and it’s absurd release schedule.
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There might be other games, but honestly kiseki is all i want to play. I've legit replayed some games, because i simple love the kiseki series.
I just don't get the same feeling has kiseki in other games.
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Loads of people have being double dipping since cs3 so yeah...
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· 1 mo. ago · edited 1 mo. ago
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level 2
I mean then we could get legit fan translations lol wouldn't be the end of the world or another company can pick them up (like XSEED did in the past)
and FALCOM would still get money from that so they'd still gain a lot from the fan translations
I mean it's not ideal, but it's not all bad tbh
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[deleted]
· 1 mo. agolevel 1
The biggest thing that confuses me on their time lines, the games are releasing about a year apart. Why is it taking double or more to translate them. I was late to this whole party, starting cold steel in 2020 when I was looking for games similar to xenogears during my furlough. Got into the second one before I realized how many games there were. Used geofront patches for zero and azure (already pre-ordered the "official" zero). Which I bought both of those games I think it was from joyoland. I ran out of other games to play so I grabbed reverie and kuro literally 3 days ago just to find zerofield had already been taken down. All the work that group put into that project just gone. It was before they even made the statement about the c&d order. They posted on that a few hours later.
The whole situation sucks. I understand why nisa did it, but at the same time this group already put a lot of work into it. And alot of us will be stuck playing the waiting game always behind everyone else due to slow translations.
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I'm not even motivated to play anymore and this is coming from a guy who binged Sky 1 - CSIV in a month. Do they understand what happens to people in 3-5 years from waiting on a game that is literally connected? They forget that "feeling" and lose interest.
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I will say it bothers me a bit, because seriously, NISA and Falcom just need to hire these translators, let them finish their work, and allow their passion for this series help move the slow translations along, because even the 90's weren't always this bad about it. I mean they are releasing 3 games next year, why not let people who want to translate the game do so, and release Kuro 1 and 2 in 2024, and any games that are out by then, in 2025 and let the west catch up. That shouldn't be too much to ask.
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I apologise if this comes across as condescending and I know it's all done in good faith but I have already seen posts on the JRPG subreddit scaring people away from buying Zero.
A new trails game is launching which means new fans will be picking up the series for the first time, and that's ok. I repeat, starting with Zero is ok.
Would they get more out of playing sky? Yes but its not REQUIRED, The crossbell cast and city are still front and centre.
Some people don't want to put 200 hours in the previous games or simply don't have the means to and thats ok. If you scare people away buying them then you are just killing your own franchise.
Let people buy Zero and let them make their own choices whether they want more.
Edit:
I feel like people are not understanding where this post comes from, I seen this reddit post https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comments/xpv7bw/trails_from_zero_newcomers_dont_skip_sky_the_3rd/
Advising people to not Skip sky 3 before playing Zero, it was respectful and well done advice but I saw people on the same post getting put off buying Trails from Zero. The very game we were begging people to come to the west, now that it has arrived, we are putting people off.
A game launch is important and we need as many people as possible to buy it and get into his awesome franchise.
Let people explore this franchise on their own.
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For discussion of role-playing video games developed by Nihon Falcom from Japan!
Created Aug 3, 2014