Unbanned Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 So I've recently got back into visual novels, and was wondering if any AVENites would be interested in starting a club (of sorts) focused around them. It would be like a traditional film or literature club, except with visual novels. Reasons why I think this could be a cool idea: Visual novels aren't particularly well-known outside of Japan, so it would be a good chance for newcomers to discover why visual novels are such a great medium for storytelling. AVENites are often complaining that the site lacks interaction between members. This is a good chance to meet new people and possibly make some friends. Discussing and reviewing visual novels on a semi-regular basis will improve our critical thinking and writing skills. So, would anyone be interested in participating in such a club? I realise this all sounds rather vague at the moment, but I don't really want to get into specific details until there is some interest shown. I think these kind of things always work better when all members have a chance to voice their opinion about how things should operate. EDIT: For those that are confused about what a visual novel actually is, here is the corresponding Wikipedia article. They are kind of a cross between video games and traditional novels (sort of like a "choose-your-own-adventure" book) and are unrelated to manga and comic books. Link to post Share on other sites
Mauve Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Count me in! Link to post Share on other sites
acesit Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Put me down as "maybe"! :O what if the club ended up collaborating to make one using Ren'Py or something? Link to post Share on other sites
deletedprofile Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Clannad is the only one I know but I love it and the anime series. Nagisa is one of my fictional squishes. Link to post Share on other sites
Zerο Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I might be interested. I haven't played through a VN myself, but some of my favorite Animes series were originally VNs (Fate/Stay Night, Tsukihime) and I do enjoy watching specific scenes from their VNs. Link to post Share on other sites
LeeTheGirl Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I'm not sure what you mean by visual novel. Like manga or comic books? Link to post Share on other sites
Fullmetal Activist Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I'm quite a fan of the Ace Attorney games. Many of my friends have played Dangan Ronpa, so I've been meaning to check those out some time soon. Link to post Share on other sites
Neb Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I will definitely join. I'm was a huge fan of the Umineko Series^_^. I also like visual novel style games like Ace Attorney and Jisei. Link to post Share on other sites
Moon Thief Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I'm in. Link to post Share on other sites
Unbanned Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Count me in! I will definitely join. Yay! ^_^ Put me down as "maybe"! I might be interested. Maybe? Looks like there will quite a few "maybes". What is preventing you guys from putting your names down? Do you have any particular concerns that we could address that would increase your interest in the idea? I'm not sure what you mean by visual novel. Like manga or comic books? Sorry for not clarifying! I've updated the original post, but in case you don't see that this is what Wikipedia has to say about visual novels. Basically, they are a cross between video games and traditional novels where the player makes choices that determine the direction of the story. Kind of like those "choose-your-own-adventure" books that used to be big with kids. Link to post Share on other sites
Unbanned Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 :o what if the club ended up collaborating to make one using Ren'Py or something? I was just thinking the other day about how I would love to compose some music for a visual novel. Maybe we could make one with an asexual protagonist? :D Link to post Share on other sites
L3105 Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Put me down as another "Maybe." I have oodles of work to get done, but I might be able to make time for it. Link to post Share on other sites
Unbanned Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Put me down as another "Maybe." I have oodles of work to get done, but I might be able to make time for it. How many hours per week do you think you could afford to put towards such an endeavour? Five? Link to post Share on other sites
voss Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Well, I put "maybe" because I am not really familiar with visual novels or a reader of them. I didn't want to jump into becoming a contributor just because you might not want people that do not know much about the VNs. Link to post Share on other sites
Unbanned Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Well, I put "maybe" because I am not really familiar with visual novels or a reader of them. I didn't want to jump into becoming a contributor just because you might not want people that do not know much about the VNs. I'm happy for anyone to join, regardless of their experience. The first VN that we read will probably be something that is suitable for first-timers. I really want this to be a club that is open to everyone and flexible enough that even those with limited time can participate. Link to post Share on other sites
Zash Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 :o what if the club ended up collaborating to make one using Ren'Py or something? I was just thinking the other day about how I would love to compose some music for a visual novel. Maybe we could make one with an asexual protagonist? :D I was bored a few years back, and started work on a HTML5 based VN software. Never really finished it, but, I could probably dust it off if people were interested as well. Would make publishing a bit easier to reach a wider audience. Link to post Share on other sites
Unbanned Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 I was bored a few years back, and started work on a HTML5 based VN software. Never really finished it, but, I could probably dust it off if people were interested as well. Would make publishing a bit easier to reach a wider audience. Sounds interesting! Maybe we should give it a bit more thought once we have the club up and running. :) Link to post Share on other sites
acesit Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 I can do whatever! Writing, art, programming. Whatever is needed to be done~ For now, I'm super busy, but whenever the club is more established I'd probably be more free! Link to post Share on other sites
Geoff Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 I'd like to read more VNs :) The only one I've done so far is Katawa Shoujo, which I love, and is free, so, you know... I don't have a hell of a lot of money either, so I might not be able to participate every once in a while. But I'm definitely interested. And I'd like to chip in something if we get working on an AVEN VN. I'm a musician and play viola. And I've always been fascinated with character/plot work on an internal level. So basically "yes" for me. :) Link to post Share on other sites
Unbanned Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 For now, I'm super busy, but whenever the club is more established I'd probably be more free! Well I was kind of hoping to start going over the basics today. Like, working out what kind of reading schedule we will have, how posting should work (spoilers/no spoilers), how we should decide which VN we read, who should be organising everything (I'm happy to do it, but if others want to help that would be great). I was waiting to see if any more people would be interested in joining before I start trying to plan in more detail, but it looks like we're only going to get a couple more...which is fine. People can always join at a later date; it just means they won't get to help establish the posting rules, etc, before we begin. My chief concern is that AVEN doesn't seem to have a very good retention of users. People join, post a few times and then just leave and never come back. I'm a bit worried that this might happen with the VN club. I don't want to be the only one posting in a dead thread, but I guess the only way to find out is by just doing it. Link to post Share on other sites
acesit Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 For now, I'm super busy, but whenever the club is more established I'd probably be more free! Well I was kind of hoping to start going over the basics today. Like, working out what kind of reading schedule we will have, how posting should work (spoilers/no spoilers), how we should decide which VN we read, who should be organising everything (I'm happy to do it, but if others want to help that would be great). I was waiting to see if any more people would be interested in joining before I start trying to plan in more detail, but it looks like we're only going to get a couple more...which is fine. People can always join at a later date; it just means they won't get to help establish the posting rules, etc, before we begin. My chief concern is that AVEN doesn't seem to have a very good retention of users. People join, post a few times and then just leave and never come back. I'm a bit worried that this might happen with the VN club. I don't want to be the only one posting in a dead thread, but I guess the only way to find out is by just doing it. Ha, well, I haven't been a member for long, so I'm not certain I can guarantee I'll stick around, but I've been enjoying the community quite a bit and have no inclination to wander off anytime soon myself... Link to post Share on other sites
Unbanned Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Okay, I think I should probably get things moving. These are my ideas for how the club should function: ScheduleI propose we read one visual novel a month, starting on the first Friday of each month. This should give most of us enough time to finish the longer visual novels. In the event that a member is unable to complete the visual novel, they are encouraged to post about whatever they have read so far. If the club wishes to read a shorter visual novel that is likely to be completed well before the end of the reading month, I suggest we pick a second one to see us through to the end.Rather than having a "nomination period", I think a better (and far simpler) approach would be to just have members suggest a visual novel for the upcoming month at any time they choose. In the final week of each reading month, I will go back through the thread, gather all suggestions and then repost them with a bit of information about each. We can then have a quick vote about which visual novel(s) we'd like to read in the upcoming month.Posting rulesPeople are going to read at different speeds, so I think it's important that we keep the thread clear of any major spoilers. Every time we post about the story, we should be using AVEN's spoiler code. We still want other members to be able to read our post if they are up to that bit of the story, though, so I think we should introduce the spoiler in a way that makes it clear what it is about without actually giving away any information. Kind of like this: I had a bit of a problem with (SPOILERS ABOUT BUZZINGFRIDGE) BuzzingFridge's spoiler example, though, because it was ill-thought-out and poorly explained. So if you're posting about a particular character, use something like (SPOILERS ABOUT <INSERT CHARACTER'S NAME HERE>), or if it's about the ending of a particular route use (SPOILERS ABOUT ENDING TO X ROUTE). I hope that makes sense. VN suggestions When suggesting a visual novel for the upcoming month, try to think about how well it would suit the rest of the group. Dating simulations targeted at specific genders (otome games, for example) are generally not a good idea because they are often very shallow and focus mainly on attractive character designs and a weird kind of life simulation. Not only will these kind of visual novels limit the potential discussion we can have, but they are also likely to bore some members immediately. I'm absolutely fine with romance visual novels being suggested (some of the best visual novels are heavily romance-based), but just keep in mind that we are aiming for a decent discussion so it helps if they have interesting characters and/or sub-plots that are unrelated to romance.Many visual novels contain erotic scenes. Sex is a normal part of life for many humans and I think it's stupid to try and ignore it or treat it as sub-human. Even if some of us find sexual attraction confusing or "weird", we should not let small erotic scenes ruin our enjoyment of a visual novel or even prevent us from reading one entirely. Having said that, we are posting on an asexual forum so visual novels that contain a large amount of sex for no purpose other than to arouse sexual desire are probably not a great idea. Acquiring VNs I think it's best if we stick to PC visual novels, because that way all of us will be able to access them. There have been some great visual novels released on consoles over the years, but unless they are available through an emulator or similar means it is unwise to suggest them. Not everyone is going to own a DS or a PS2, so it's unfair to suggest visual novels on these platforms. A visual novel club will be more difficult to participate in than a film or literature club, because of the lack of cheap rental services. Purchasing visual novels can get pretty expensive, especially when you're not sure if you will actually enjoy it or not. Many visual novels have only received fan translations to English and are unavailable to buy in anything other than Japanese. For obvious reasons, I strongly recommend against posting links to filesharing or torrent sites in this thread. If you are struggling to find a cheap way to access the visual novel we have chosen for the month, please PM me and I will help you. That's pretty much it. If you have any suggestions as to how the club should operate, please share them! Sorry about the formatting; it looks a bit weird, but hopefully it's still readable. Also, I'd like to kick things off this Friday so if you have any suggestions as to which visual novel we should start with...let me know! ^_^ Link to post Share on other sites
Unbanned Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 So it looks like after the initial spark of interest, this thread has gone quiet. I'd love to hear from some of you, but if there are no more posts by tomorrow I'll just choose the first visual novel myself. If anyone else is reading this and is interested, please let me know. It's never too late to join in! Link to post Share on other sites
acesit Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 I don't have any suggestions but I hope I have time to participate in playing/discussing the first! Link to post Share on other sites
Moon Thief Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 I've only read one before, so I am not able to give any suggestions either. Link to post Share on other sites
Unbanned Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 I don't have any suggestions but I hope I have time to participate in playing/discussing the first! I've only read one before, so I am not able to give any suggestions either. No problem! Were you both okay with the club "rules"? I was thinking of starting with either Katawa Shoujo or Kira☆Kira. Katawa Shoujo because it is an English visual novel and has introduced a lot of Westerners to the scene, and Kira☆Kira because it is listed on the 2013 /vg/ Recommendation Chart as a "Starter" visual novel and has an official English translation. They are both fairly typical visual novels, featuring teenage characters and a mix of slice-of-life and romance. I feel like they'd both be pretty easy to get into for first-timers, although I am aware that some members (including myself) may have already read Katawa Shoujo. Link to post Share on other sites
Zash Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 I'm in. Haven't read either of them. Link to post Share on other sites
Geoff Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 I'd be up for either of those, though I've almost completed Katawa Shoujo. But it is a pretty darn good one, so I'd be fine with it being the first. I like discussing it. Link to post Share on other sites
Unbanned Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Hey all! Sorry about the slight delay in getting this post up. We are going to start with Katawa Shoujo, primarily because it is free and easy to download. Apologies in advance if this formatting is difficult to read. I'm kind of new to this, so if you have any tips or feedback please let me know! KATAWA SHOUJO 04//04 - 02/05 Katawa Shoujo is a visual novel that was developed by Four Leaf Studios; an international team of amateur developers. It was made using the Ren'Py engine. The English version was released on January 4, 2012 as a free download. The concept behind the game came from a sketch by the Japanese artist Raita. The sketch garnered a large amount of interest on 4chan's /a/ board and a development team came together and began working on the game. Katawa Shoujo took five years to make. What is it about? Katawa Shoujo follows the story of Hisao, a teenager who is forced to move to a new high school that is catered to students with disabilities. There, he meets many new people who help him further understand his disability and what it means for his future. It is largely a story about growing up, making friends and falling in love. Things to know before you start: Katawa Shoujo contains several short sex scenes, however these can be toggled on and off in the game's settings with minimal impact on the storyline. The game follows a formula that is common among romance-based visual novels. The protagonist meets several romantic interests and the player's decisions then determine which romantic interest the protagonist is paired with (this is commonly referred to as a "route"). Katawa Shoujo contains five romantic interests and six routes, with multiple good, neutral and bad endings. Katawa Shoujo is a medium-length visual novel. The individual routes vary somewhat in length, however you should have plenty of time to complete even the longest route. I highly recommend you play through as many as you can, as they are each very different. Katawa Shoujo is an ADV (adventure) visual novel. This means the text is displayed in a box at the bottom of the screen with the background art and character sprites taking the focus at the middle and top parts of the screen. This is the more common of the two visual novel formats, the other being NVL (novel) in which the text is displayed over the top of the background art and character sprites like the pages in a traditional novel. Where can I download it? Katawa Shoujo is freely available for download here. If you are having difficulty starting a particular route or scene, take a look at this flowchart. Have fun, and don't forget to share your thoughts, funny screenshots and anything else related to this month's visual novel! ^_^ Link to post Share on other sites
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