Inafune never required backers involvement

[icannotdomyjob]

Despite the headaches that could be caused by going against his own community, Inafune is unconcerned that such controversies could recur whenever his creative choices on the game are questioned by the passionate people who funded the endeavor in the first place.



"I'm not worried at all," Inafune said. "We have been getting the money from the fans who want this game made, but one of the big differences is there's not the bureaucracy of publishers telling you what you have to do and what you can't do. Of course, in the community, everyone wants something else, so we'll look at those things individually and go from there."



[...]



"We don't want to rely entirely on crowdfunding, but it is very important to us that we can make something we want and the fans want," Inafune said. "So if there is another situation where it's something that fans want to be directly involved in, there is the possibility of another crowdfunded game. But that's not the only option and we're thinking of many other ways as well."

[/url] http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2 ... owdfunding



reference: https://twitter.com/MightyNo9/status/438478436265250816



Welp. Time to say good bye everyone. I'll stay until the 28th interview, and leave. It was nice reading all your posts and feedback.

[Matt]

So Inafune wants to know what western gamers want in games? All he has to do is ask. He's already got the full attention of his target audience. I hope this means we'll be getting those polls and surveys soon.

[Lienn]

That was a nice reading. ^^

[Byas]

I think that in this interview's context, this quote isn't something as bad as never caring about the community, just about ignoring things that wouldn't fit well into the game but are wanted by part of the community for whatever the reason. Although I can understand why it could be interpreted as such if you consider the whole situation on the forums (I'm still mad at how the hell anyone in their right mind thought that forum system was "alright" or "good enough").



It's always sad to a backer go, but I hope you have better luck than you had with this project, on whatever you decide to do with your life from now on. I'm gonna stick around and give some suggestions or whatever on the forums from time to time (already gave them my money, might as well make it worth something), but less pationate then before; Right now if the game bombs or turns out good it's fine by me (not exactly fine since I would have wasted some money, but I think you guys can get what I mean), it became just another pre-order I made instead of a dream project that I wanted to be successful no matter what.

[56008]

I'll probably leave soon as well.  My return to the forums hasn't been a friendly one.  I get a strong suspicion that Dina doesn't want me there, and I'm more than happy to oblige.  I'll probably stick around the forums a little longer, gathering any information that I may need, share some thoughts to the public, and then I'm gone.

[Shiroyami]

I think that in this interview's context, this quote isn't something as bad as never caring about the community, just about ignoring things that wouldn't fit well into the game but are wanted by part of the community for whatever the reason. Although I can understand why it could be interpreted as such if you consider the whole situation on the forums (I'm still mad at how the hell anyone in their right mind thought that forum system was "alright" or "good enough").

I second this. It's not as if Inafune doesn't care about what we think... it's more about having a healthy balance between backer feedback and their freedom to develop the game as they see fit. Besides, as far as actual game development is concerned, they have a team full of veterans who might as well understand what the fans want better than the fans themselves.

[icannotdomyjob]

I second this. It's not as if Inafune doesn't care about what we think... it's more about having a healthy balance between backer feedback and their freedom to develop the game as they see fit. Besides, as far as actual game development is concerned, they have a team full of veterans who might as well understand what the fans want better than the fans themselves.

That's not what Inafune said in the article. He's saying that what he will do with MN9, he does not care if we will like it, even if it goes against our wishes. He hopes it will surprise us, but the lack of communication and acceptance of feedback, only shows he is determine to see his creation, regardless of our input. Which is why the title of this post is: "Inafune never required backers involvement". Not that "he does not care what we we think," but that our feedback is unnecessary, since he will still make the game, even if the community manager hired was an incorrect choice.



IoW: He has not needed our feedback, but he wishes not to depend our our money, which was required to make the game.



This is why on future backing projects, he might not be able to succeed from those that learned that Keiji cannot listen to his supporters. Something incredibly ironic of his speeches. 



I think someone said it earlier: Keiji is on his end of life crisis, and he is trying to accomplish all the little things he always wanted to do, regardless of what everyone else thinks.



If you want to believe that he is thinking for you, go ahead. I am not delusional to assume someone can think for me of what I like. The staff are veterans at their craft, but not market trends, and markets' taste. There's a reason why they call these 2D action platformers, Retro games, and it's not because they look pixelated.  :ugeek:

[Shiroyami]

I second this. It's not as if Inafune doesn't care about what we think... it's more about having a healthy balance between backer feedback and their freedom to develop the game as they see fit. Besides, as far as actual game development is concerned, they have a team full of veterans who might as well understand what the fans want better than the fans themselves.

That's not what Inafune said in the article. He's saying that what he will do with MN9, he does not care if we will like it, even if it goes against our wishes. He hopes it will surprise us, but the lack of communication and acceptance of feedback, only shows he is determine to see his creation, regardless of our input. Which is why the title of this post is: "Inafune never required backers involvement". Not that "he does not care what we we think," but that our feedback is unnecessary, since he will still make the game, even if the community manager hired was an incorrect choice.



IoW: He has not needed our feedback, but he wishes not to depend our our money, which was required to make the game.



This is why on future backing projects, he might not be able to succeed from those that learned that Keiji cannot listen to his supporters. Something incredibly ironic of his speeches. 



I think someone said it earlier: Keiji is on his end of life crisis, and he is trying to accomplish all the little things he always wanted to do, regardless of what everyone else thinks.



If you want to believe that he is thinking for you, go ahead. I am not delusional to assume someone can think for me of what I like. The staff are veterans at their craft, but not market trends, and markets' taste. There's a reason why they call these 2D action platformers, Retro games, and it's not because they look pixelated.  :ugeek:

Of course Inafune, being the man behind the project,calls the shots with Mighty No.9 but bear in mind that comcept still has the obligation to deliver the game as promoted during the Kickstarter campaign. I mean, even if he was free to do whatever the hell he wants with our money, what's stopping him from making the game as intended? So far, there's nothing suggesting that the game's turning out to be any different from what we were promised in the first place.



The Kickstarter itself is enough proof that their team knows what they're doing. They can't read our minds to know exactly what we want nor the magical powers to please absolutely everyone but if they really had no idea of what would appeal to the market, the Kickstarter wouldn't have raised as much money as it did. That's the whole point of veterans in the first place. In a way, they don't need to be told what we want because they know it better than anyone else.



Now, I agree that the forums that were supposed to be a connection between backers and comcept is a disaster due to the poor community management. I agree that his faith in Dina is ridiculously misplaced given her work so far. Maybe he's just trying to put up a brave front or maybe he actually doesn't know what's going on and chances are he really doesn't care about what the backers think.



There's a chance that you're 100% right about his end-life crisis without any regards for what people want anymore. At the same time, in my opinion, it feels too circumstantial to be taken at face value, especially how people are just dying to turn anything comcept says against them with the forum issues and whatnot.

[TheCloudyEye]

So far, there's nothing suggesting that the game's turning out to be any different from what we were promised in the first place.

Probably 'cause there's nothing about the game at all, beside the Alpha 2 Rom.

The Kickstarter itself is enough proof that their team knows what they're doing. They can't read our minds to know exactly what we want nor the magical powers to please absolutely everyone but if they really had no idea of what would appeal to the market, the Kickstarter wouldn't have raised as much money as it did.

I doubt the success of the KS campaign has anything to do with them knowing what appeal to the market. Rather, I think people just start throwing money in the moment they see the name Keiji Inafune and Mega Man. We never knew exactly what they intended the final product to be and we still don't know. How well they know the market depend on how well the final product is received, which is still non-existent at the moment.

I agree that his faith in Dina is ridiculously misplaced given her work so far. Maybe he's just trying to put up a brave front or maybe he actually doesn't know what's going on and chances are he really doesn't care about what the backers think.

I'm sure he knows everything that happened with the community. Whether he understand the situation correctly, now that's a completely different matter.

[icannotdomyjob]

comcept still has the obligation to deliver the game as promoted during the Kickstarter campaign. I mean, even if he was free to do whatever the hell he wants with our money, what's stopping him from making the game as intended? So far, there's nothing suggesting that the game's turning out to be any different from what we were promised in the first place.

Ok, where's our Survey, our next poll and contest, as described in the Kickstarter Campaign. I can forgive Inafune sticking to his roots of not taking input from backers on any other platform for fundraising, but not Kickstarter. His last official response was on <a href='https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mightyno9/mighty-no-9/posts/679120?cursor=5305621&page=2#comment-5305620' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>November 29 of 2013</a>. That's 3 months ago. His feedback has been aimed at news organizations mostly. Not us, backers. Yeah, I saw the new Excel sheet with our game input. But how much of it was it accepted: Call F, Call D in?, Combination attacks. Anything else? Please correct me here. And how much for Call E who is more popular, what about the alternate costumes, what about beck transformations, etc.. I hope on the new interview they address how much input they have accepted.



I certainly hope that the game comes out, I am expecting it. But our feedback has become unnecessary to him, or his staff. Which is the point here, we are not co-publishers, we are only pre-pre-orderers. All companies take, or steal, ideas from fans and other artists, but to take and handle feedback? Only great Indie developers have been able to accomplish this. Comcept has failed at it. And they used the wrong platform for for their campaign.

The Kickstarter itself is enough proof that their team knows what they're doing. They can't read our minds to know exactly what we want nor the magical powers to please absolutely everyone but if they really had no idea of what would appeal to the market, the Kickstarter wouldn't have raised as much money as it did. That's the whole point of veterans in the first place. In a way, they don't need to be told what we want because they know it better than anyone else.

That's the point of polls, surveys, and contests, to learn exactly what the majority wants and see what appeals to them. Something they have failed to do since the success of the campaign on October 1st. One contest was done. One. It finally finished on December 29. That's 150 days for one contest, and 63 days, and counting, for the next one. Where are the surveys, and polls? I know, in the D.I.C.E. Summit reveals and Tim Carter's "I am working on MN9, 'cause I am awesome! Also, movie adaptation and merchandise confirmed." Notice Inafune is not worried about the community, but about the money he does not want to "rely on" for the game, which "fans"  paid for.



The Kickstarter was successful because of the promised things in the pitch, us being co-publishers. If I have to rate, out of 100 points, it's got 43 points. A failure in meeting and communicating with the market. In this case, mini Investors, or legally, pledges to fulfill said contracts.



And make the distinction, they are veterans in art, programming, music, writing, etc. IoW: game development. Marketing and analysis is not. I guess in law, their expertise is far worse.

Now, I agree that the forums that were supposed to be a connection between backers and comcept is a disaster due to the poor community management. I agree that his faith in Dina is ridiculously misplaced given her work so far. Maybe he's just trying to put up a brave front or maybe he actually doesn't know what's going on and chances are he really doesn't care about what the backers think. 

I think it is the former. He has no idea how to talk to backers, it's his first time dealing with backers, and this platform. But like it was said before, he can come talk to us, not use an inexperienced proxy. If I was in his position, I would say "Hi, everyone! How are you guys! We have nothing to update right now, but we are still working on survey X, so please wait a while!" But 3 months? What is this Apple Inc.? Microsoft has weekly updates, one called <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_Tuesday' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>Patch Tuesdays</a>, and every month they make a public statement about their developments. Anyways, the point here is, if you had a tad bit of interest on your supporters, say "hi," tell them "thank you," often. Backers funded for the game, not Keiji's speeches at conferences about what he thinks Japanese game developers should do, when he has not even finished his, that so far has had terrible success in communicating with its backers. What does he think he is, an Apostle? It's his ****** first time. How dare he even speak about something he has no experience? He is just trying crowdfunding out for the very first time. How can he be an expert and be allowed to make speeches like he is doing all around right now?



You what that is called? News Pitching. He is trying to make buzz, maybe call in investors, and pitch into his franchise idea. Maybe it will catch on. But future Kickstarters, he is out of my book.



[spoilerbox]I am taking a guess here that you are new to kickstarter? Do you understand the difference in Kickstarter, and general crowd-funding? If not, start reading: <!-- m --><a href='https://www.kickstarter.com/hello' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>https://www.kickstarter.com/hello</a><!-- m -->

Now for general crowd-funding, there's a platform for that: <!-- m --><a href='http://www.indiegogo.com/learn-how-to-raise-money-for-a-campaign' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://www.indiegogo.com/learn-how-to-r ... a-campaign</a><!-- m -->



If you need me to write it out for you:

Kickstarter ? creations. Feedback required. Rewards must be met.

Indiegogo ? anything. Feedback optional. Rewards must be met.



Capital for a Franchise is not the campaign, or part of it. The extra 3 million, it's being used for the movie and merchandise. They only hope to have enough returns of the other venues, to financially say: "All the Kickstarter money was used for the game." I assume <a href='http://mightyno9universe.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=572' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>you've read the post made here about the money.</a>



It looks a lot like fraudulent practices. A serious crime in all companies comcept used to make this campaign. Maybe ask DDM agency for the balance sheet. They can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt how the money is being used, perhaps just for the game. Wait, that's proprietary information. I guess without a warrant we can never find out how the money is being used. How open of a Kickstarter campaign. I guess being transparent on Kickstarters is not a guideline:

Avoid later headaches by doing your research, and be as transparent as you can. Backers will appreciate it.

[/url]

Wait is there anything on feedback while we are at it?

Get feedback



You can share your project with friends and get feedback before launch by using our Project Preview feature. Just click the blue 'Get Preview Link' button to generate a preview link, and share the URL with friends. You can read more here.

[/url]

What about showing your work (I know alpha ROM 2 came out, and now the summaries of forum user's ideas. In this regard, they have done an excellent job. Just listing the rules, since you are into the legal field)?:

Sharing the process



Once your project is successfully funded, don?t forget about all the people that helped make it possible. Let backers and spectators watch your project come to life by sharing the decisions you make with them, explaining how it feels as your goal becomes a reality, and even asking them for feedback. Keeping backers informed and engaged is an essential part of Kickstarter.

[/url]  Oh more on getting feedback! And getting backers engaged. How awesome. I wonder about comcept.



But what is the most important thing in a Kickstarter, that many people are furious about the lack of?:

Communication, communication, communication



Fulfillment might not be the most romantic step in doing a Kickstarter project, but it means getting your project into your backers? hands. Take pictures of your packing party. Tell horror stories from the post office (backers love seeing photos and videos of their rewards being packaged). Ask for your backers to let you know when their stuff arrives. Invite friends over to drink wine and lick stamps. Cherish what are some of the last moments of the first phase in the life of your project.

[/url][/spoilerbox] I guess the internal forum cat pictures, and "Picture This" is part of it. But where is that in the Kickstarter?

There's a chance that you're 100% right about his end-life crisis without any regards for what people want anymore. At the same time, in my opinion, it feels too circumstantial to be taken at face value, especially how people are just dying to turn anything comcept says against them with the forum issues and whatnot.

I did not make that assessment, but it looks a lot like it. And I am not dramatizing their actions. They have done a fine job of showing their progress. But communicating, and taking feedback, disputable. I would give them an F on consumer feedback interactions. On game development, ask players of Soul Sacrifice, Soul Sacrifice Delta, and Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. I have no opinion about them, since I never played them. I await for this game to come out to say my opinion about it.



But this is about the people that pledge for a Kickstarter, and how little Inafune is concerned about their desire. Kickstarters is about a group effort between creators and their backers, it about making the project come true, and making sure everyone is in the same page. Inafune is willing to risk betraying his backers for something that might pleasantly surprise them. I can only hope it will so. But he should have warned the backers first. Not news organizations.



How about this: Can comcept make an official survey if backers would like to be "pleasantly surprised" at his bold change in the game he has not specified, or just specify what it is?



Better one: Would you like us to keep continuing this type of approach to feedback, or would you like another approach?

If other, state what kind, or how:





Maybe these survey will bring better light if of the backers opinion, and comcept's position. We can only hope now they come up with a survey next.

[TechnoWolf]

Now that some (good) people have been banned of the MN9 Official ; and some like me have been treated like crap... I feel the urge of digging this

topic out of the ground.

 

And there's my reason to fully abandon MN9 Official :

 

- Terrible community management

- Inafune won't listen & doesn't care

- survey aren't coming (I'm starting to believe I won't even have the survey to tell the guys were I live so they can send me the physical game & statue)

 

 

What's to appreciate from that : 

 

If I haven't misread anything : Inafune doesn't care about the backers ; fans ; community : so Inafune won't be influenced by Dina, and will create the

Mighty N?9 he intended from the beginning.

 

 

 

Or, the game will come with a Day-One DLC : Female Beck

 

(and I'm cool with that : like ZX & ZX Advent had a man or a woman as main character)

[Jagos]

There's actually a HUGE clusterfuck of BS getting into the topic that I've had to weave through as I did my investigation on this topic.

 

Sorry, I couldn't let it go and seeing it now, it may be needed to try to give a sense of what's going on.

 

I do want to state that as a main bystander, I'm going to hit some people right in the nostalgia for the sake of truth.  

 

But it's time to get this entire thing settled.  It's the least I can do for the community.

[TechnoWolf]

Okay. So ?

 

Where's the truth ? where's the BS ?

[Jagos]

That's what I'm making the video to point out.  

[Jagos]

Not to quote anyone, but I do have a narrative to the video and I think I've found my answers.  I just hope it helps...