Little My Maid

Visual Novel Community Archive, 2000-2009
#1

Small update on LMM. We’re still chugging away, working hard on the game. It’s looking good, the editing is comign along nicely and we’re waiting for some small fixes from the programmers before we can consider it ready.

One question. Since the game is a huge, huge game, part of what we’re doing is trying to remove, ah, problematic text that was translated a little too stiffly the first time around, and make the game as near to perfect as it can be. My question is, how do you feel on the subject of the quality of the editing? We could also take another 3 months of editing, or we could move at a faster pace, sacrificing some of the perfection. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this.

#2

Well, at least to me, spelling precision is not a big part of making a game great. If some editing needs to be sacrificed for an earlier release for gamers who don’t care much for the spelling itself, then sure. But, there could be some people that need perfect spelling or they’ll go crazy…

#3

… many of us are still very willing to help out with more editing… you have my details…

I did find the English level of the original demo very distracting. With a game like LMM that has been awaited for a long time, I think people are expecting it to meet pretty high standards. Much more so than the g-coll games, for example. Obviously, there are other reasons that make some games more complicated than others, but still.

People have been waiting for this game for a good long while. It’s unlikely that anyone who has been waiting patiently will absolutely give up and refuse to buy it if they have to wait an extra month or two to get it done right. However, people who have been waiting a long time and are handed a release that they feel is not very well finished… will be annoyed.

#4

I’m all for accurate and polished translation. Typos and grammatical mistakes make me shudder, especially when playing a game.

Lufia: The Legend Returns has at least 20 typos, and its one of the reasons the game is known for… Since other games don’t have that much, any at all. :confused:

#5

Who says that it should be American? I’m just talking about grammar and spelling, not word choice.

Spelling and grammar mistakes don’t look good on an official product.

#6

Realy want this game so bring it on Peter!!
Dont realy care about spelling errors.
I from Sweden so i can’t spell right anyway you now

#7

Wouldn’t that be more reason to not have spelling mistakes, so you can polish your own English?

#8

Haha Thats one god liink yuu now

[This message has been edited by Thomas (edited 10-09-2004).]

#9

hey… if i can sit though that one game… wow i forgot the name (it started with a “G” was one of the first english/japanese translated titles by a chinese company) and i literally sat for 15-20 mins at a time trying to figure out what they meant so it might actually mean something in the story…
i can survive words that are spelt like “Teh” instead of “the” as long as i get 75% an idea of what they meant in the story im happy

#10
quote:
Originally posted by Peter Payne:
Small update on LMM. We're still chugging away, working hard on the game. It's looking good, the editing is comign along nicely and we're waiting for some small fixes from the programmers before we can consider it ready.

One question. Since the game is a huge, huge game, part of what we're doing is trying to remove, ah, problematic text that was translated a little too stiffly the first time around, and make the game as near to perfect as it can be. My question is, how do you feel on the subject of the quality of the editing? We could also take another 3 months of editing, or we could move at a faster pace, sacrificing some of the perfection. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.


Since LMM is still away to release but, from my view LMM should be perferct. I say this because I have brand new games of b-games from japan and I have lot of ADVs and most of the story is big so I think LMM should be make big if you can...
#11

Just to add my two cents, I know that I expect a certain quality from games that I’ve paid a not-inconsiderable amount of money for, and I’d be rather annoyed to find spelling and grammar errors in a game that contains a lot of text.

After a while, if the situation persisted, issues like that would disincline me to buy the games at all. I’m speaking as a completely obsessive editor-type person, but I’m sure there are others like me out there.

I think it would be doing the game - and the company - a disservice to release it prematurely if you knew that it still needed more work.

#12

Please, PLEASE don’t release it before it’s ready. Spend the three or four more months on editing so that it’s nice. We’ve already waited so long for this game, a few more months isn’t going to matter. Besides, it’s only a few months now but after the game release it will be around for years. I don’t want this to be a title that people play and say “Well, it’s pretty good but they should have spend a few extra months to do it right…” Please take the time to do it right. I want this to be a title that I can recommend to other people.

#13

As far as I am conserned a few minor translation problems would not matter as long as I can understand what was intended.So my opinion is if it is only minor problems with the translation release it soon, but if their are major problems that would make it hard to understand wait until the problem is corrected.

#14

Of course we’re going to be able to understand it. You can understand most of the meaning of Japanese sentences just by running them through online translators. The thing is that we’ve waited so long for this game that it would be a great injustice to push it out a little too early. Star Ocean III was delayed a year and a 1/2. People waited and waited. If people waited all that time and SquareEnix pushed it out a couple months faster with lots of typos and translation errors, what kind of reviews would it get? Probably still good, but it would be a setback for the game. It’s the same for this game. In the mean time there are other games to play and anime to watch. We can surely wait a few more months for it to be done right.

#15

3months is a quarter of a year
If it really is possible to save such time then of course do it.
I’ve waited too long.


absolute perfection is on a logrithmic scale
the closer you get to it the more and more effort you have to put in to get all the tiny trivial details
as such, I dont consider it time well spent

80% perfection with good timing is better than 100% a year later after losing the interest of all but the most dedicated of the audience -those who would probably have bought it anyway if released earlier and less polished

[This message has been edited by exoarchaeologist (edited 10-10-2004).]

#16

Although it doesnt need to be perfect for some of us, a lot of people might be put off if it is too bad.

#17
quote:
80% perfection with good timing is better than 100% a year later after losing the interest of all but the most dedicated of the audience -those who would probably have bought it anyway if released earlier and less polished

[This message has been edited by exoarchaeologist (edited 10-10-2004).][/B]

... then let me go on record as saying that I WILL NOT buy it if it comes out with English at the level of the demo. [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

(qualification - 100% certainty WILL NOT pay full price for it as a new release. I wouldn't turn down a special discount or cheap used copy, of course.)

Isn't the whole point of PP's slower release schedule that they take more time over games to do them right?

This game has been on the production list for how many years now? Anyone who was likely to lose interest surely already has.

Now, if it really was an extra year for only a barely-noticeable improvement in the text, then that would be excessive.

#18

Papillion is right about the slower release schedule. Why run a whole marathon to trip at the finish line? Besides, Peter said that the time frame for editing could take “up to three more months” so it’s not like we’re looking a another year anyway. Please think about the people who don’t preorder and aren’t really waiting for this game. Next June when someone decides to put $40-50 on the line at a spur-of-the-moment in some anime convention somewhere, do you want him to play the game and think “Man, this is really a sloppy job.” I do have this game preordered so I will be buying it no matter when it comes out BUT if it comes out too soon with too many errors then I will never preorder a bishoujo game at Peach Princess’ website again.

#19

Just do what you think is best peter. It’s not going to kill these guys to wait a few more months.

#20

Hey, I’ve been a lurker for a while here. Reading the posts here has become somewhat of a hobby of mine.

In a text-heavy, story-driven game like LMM, good writing/translating is a must. A good story and good writing go hand-in-hand. I might be in the minority on the following point, but I think word choice can be just as important as avoiding grammatical errors. I expect a professional release to be virtually free of typos. For me, word choice and phrasing is what differentiates between good writing and bad. I suspect that when Mr. Payne spoke of “stiff writing,” he was referring to word choice rather than grammar.

A major reason I play bishojo games is for the story. When I buy these games, I expect the writing to be a cut above the usual fare, just as I’d expect a fighting game to feature a battle system that’s a cut above the average RPG. If it takes 3 months to polish the writing until it sparkles, then so be it. But I do suspect that it’s in the company’s best interest to ship the game by early December…no matter what we think.

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You can’t…see the things…THAT I CAN!