Forum - View topic

Answerman - Discs of Steel

If awareness is an issue, and word of mouth doesn't cut it, sometimes you're not left with much choice other than to rely on someone with more recognition, even if it means having to give a cut to them.

Going onto Kickstarter probably means that they'd have to up the goal to cover that particular cost, but if it's choice between asking for more and succeeding on one site and asking for less and failing on another, maybe it's not such an abhorrent notion.

And, unfortunately, I think you're expecting too much out of people to expect that they go and spread the word about something that they don't personally care about. Sure, it's possible that their efforts will be rewarded by something coming along that they do care about, but that is a pretty ephemeral reward that I doubt too many people will find enticing.

If that means the difference between meeting a funding goal and not meeting it, I'm not sure how it is relevant why those people gave money.

After all, somebody might really want Creamy Mami to come out, but that doesn't mean they'll care about the next thing,

but if refusing to work with the big guys means you can't do something at all, you might have to bite the bullet from time to time.

it still doesn't affect those people who are looking for something to own,

the entire show is already available for streaming on their site and if all you wanted to do was see the show, you wouldn't be someone to buy that show on DVD anyways.

(One example in gaming is GOG.com where they sell old games digitally that have already been "pirated to hell and back" and yet the company was still able to sell what many considered 'far expired or past their prime' to an audience looking for anything from Nostalgia to just being interested in old games.)

Although a fan of classic anime, as I unfortunately live in the "wrong" part of the world, Anime Sols do not want my money for any of their series.

On the other hand, as geo-restrictions were not in place, I was able to successfully pledge support for AnimEigo's forthcoming release of Bubblegum Crisis using Kickstarter,

Here's my question: Studio Pierrot has already made money off of the series because 3 of the boxes have been funded. Are they out any money if they don't get box 4 funded? (Hopefully it will get funded.) It seems a shame for them not to take another chance because 3/4 failed. I could be totally wrong, but doesn't Anime Sols do all the work for them? Or is it a pride thing?

Which is entirely the point FlamingFirewire was making. If awareness is an issue, and word of mouth doesn't cut it, sometimes you're not left with much choice other than to rely on someone with more recognition, even if it means having to give a cut to them. Given that Anime Sols obviously doesn't have a budget for a marketing campaign, putting funding campaigns where more people are more likely to see them isn't such a terrible idea. If Anime Sols prefers not to do that, that is fine, but making it less visible is the obvious price to pay. Going onto Kickstarter probably means that they'd have to up the goal to cover that particular cost, but if it's choice between asking for more and succeeding on one site and asking for less and failing on another, maybe it's not such an abhorrent notion.

It's just wishful thinking, but it'd be nice if someone would sub-license all the Macross anime (and Southern Cross and Mospeada for that matter) from HG-USA and put out new, remastered sets.

Bummer that a big name like JS would not recommend the Macross Plus box. I will have to go through the subtitles to check for these issues. Things like that don't bother me because they aren't necessary. The major selling point for myself was the new 5.1ch audio and remastered video, not the English options.

What part of "They are not legally allowed to sell it to your country?" do you not understand?

But if you've got the money to spend on a Sols show and international shipping fees, then move here, and then everyone will be happy.

Actually, there were geo-restrictions put in place for BGC. They can't sell it to Asian territories, for example. And Animeigo's been in the same situation as Sols for the last 25 years, and no one complained about them.

Greed:

Quote:

If awareness is an issue, and word of mouth doesn't cut it, sometimes you're not left with much choice other than to rely on someone with more recognition, even if it means having to give a cut to them.

Or sometimes, you just have to threaten to leave the biz entirely, and then no one else will pick up those shows.

Quote:

Going onto Kickstarter probably means that they'd have to up the goal to cover that particular cost, but if it's choice between asking for more and succeeding on one site and asking for less and failing on another, maybe it's not such an abhorrent notion.

If they ask for more money, then the fans will complain it about it being too expensive for an old-ass show, and won't jump in.

Quote:

And, unfortunately, I think you're expecting too much out of people to expect that they go and spread the word about something that they don't personally care about. Sure, it's possible that their efforts will be rewarded by something coming along that they do care about, but that is a pretty ephemeral reward that I doubt too many people will find enticing.

That's how most businesses are run. WOM. What's ephemeral thinking is expecting fans who would snub these shows in the first place to suddenly change their tune if it was on Kickstarter.

Quote:

If that means the difference between meeting a funding goal and not meeting it, I'm not sure how it is relevant why those people gave money.

It's relevant if the person behind the Kickstarter lies or reneges on fulfilling their end of the crowdfunder.

Quote:

After all, somebody might really want Creamy Mami to come out, but that doesn't mean they'll care about the next thing,

True, but then that goes for Kickstarter, too. As someone else noted, Santa Company barely made its goal.

Quote:

but if refusing to work with the big guys means you can't do something at all, you might have to bite the bullet from time to time.

Or just don't do anything, since it's better not to lose money on flakes.

The Sols website also allows for fans of a show to gather in one place to create a community, but I think that has been one of the less successful goals of Anime Sols.

Firewire:

Quote:

it still doesn't affect those people who are looking for something to own,

Actually, it does affect it for those people, if the show gets cut off, due to low sales. [Once again, Kodocha and Full Moon O Sagashite.]

Quote:

(One example in gaming is GOG.com where they sell old games digitally that have already been "pirated to hell and back" and yet the company was still able to sell what many considered 'far expired or past their prime' to an audience looking for anything from Nostalgia to just being interested in old games.)

That's because gamers are more reliable and loyal consumers than anime fans. It's also why so many recent anime are based off video games.

Any profit Sols may have made from the first set was effectively wiped out when Sam had to reprint disc 2.

If this were an IP that was actually worth money in Hollywood, someone likely would've taken Harmony Gold to court and had their trademarks and other specious claims to the Macross franchise rendered wholly invalid by now.

If they were in as good a position as they claim to be, they would've already licensed Macross Frontier, beaten it up to become a new Robotech chapter, and released it on disc. They certainly would have been allowing more merchandise to be released.

There are pricing and ownership issues with the music rights. Basically, Macross 7 uses music from Macross Plus and the red-headed stepchild known as Macross II.

Some people are merely pointing out that if it were opened up (with appropriate legal measures having been put into place)

I think that still leaves the vast majority of the rest of the world, perhaps explaining the fewer complaints here?

I don't think threatening to leave entirely is that much of a threat for most people.

And even if it does work, it would only work on people that care about that particular show.

Given that Anime Sols looks at shows that basically everyone else has already passed on, that seems like a sign that the prospect of never getting an official release won't be much of a spark.

Some might not jump in because of the added cost of KS, but if being on there means enough other people do go in, who cares?

No, businesses run on offering something that someone wants

It's pretty rare for someone to say, "I'll go out of my way to tell others about this thing that I don't care about myself on the off chance that maybe one of them cares about it."

And it's not ephemeral at all to think that being on a well-known site would make a difference.

People want something they feel like they can trust to some degree.

If what you're saying is that it's relevant because the person actually conducting the project, in this case Anime Sols, could lie/renege, then it still isn't relevant because that is a possibility of any crowdfunding.

and based on what you've pointed out repeatedly, reneging by people who said they'd give money was already a big problem on Anime Sol's own website,

so they aren't taking much of a risk there by using KS.

Again, if you make your goal, who cares whether or not it was due to repeat donors or not? Santa Company might have barely made its goal, but it still made it regardless of why people gave it money.

Running a business always carries the risk of losing money, and you won't make any money if you refuse to go forward every time things didn't quite turn out as you hoped.

The main goal for the Santa company was $50,000 - the final amount they raised was $72,270 USD with 836 backers. That is in to way "barely" making your funding.

It might affect the fans wanting to collect the show, but piracy usually doesn't affect the decision to buy or not.

From the lack of sales for those series and many others (includ. Case Closed), that just makes it obvious that there are not ENOUGH fans

Most large game publishers and better known game devs consistently blame piracy for why something they make doesn't sell well,

PC gaming is generally far cheaper and more available than anime -

What are some recent ones you had in mind?

Fronzel: Finally a valid point. I'll bring that up next time.