There hasn't been a single development update at all so far in 2018

[Zurichan]

We haven't gotten a single gameplay progress/development update for the game in over 6 months at least from what I've seen. And I didn't even know how far back in 2017 I'd have to go to see the last one. When is the next development update and why are they not more frequent? Please keep your backers up to date with the development process, it's very worrying that it's been so long since the last one. Dialogue between characters and answers about lore questions is not good enough. people spent money backing the game, there should be more game updates. 

[Legate of Mineta]

Zurichan;

I hope we've tackled that topic head-on: there was a massive refactoring effort to replace the back-end, shortly after our first push for Beta. That's still underway, although the most significant part of it (the Battle Engine) is in optimization, testing the iOS port and some UI work. Once that's complete, and the final production Battle Engine is ready, the Team plans to show it in a series of videos. After that point, you should see gameplay Updates fairly frequently as we add the successive bits of the game (some may take longer than others; the Crafting part of the game is actually fairly extensive.)

We're dead serious about getting this game out as completely true to the vision of the Kickstarter, and that means as much quality as we can bake in. Sorry for the delay, but over on this side, it's all hands on deck.

[TwoHeavens]

We're all quite glad to hear that I'm sure Legate, looking forward to further information as it can be released. 

[Mignonette]

I know I brought this up over a year ago and might be a good time to bring it up again, but how exactly will you drag the interests of 1000+ people back to VB after 2 years since the Kickstarter? You can give them the beta keys, but I will be surprised if only 100-200 actually activates them and even less stick around for more than a month, and that's even with gameplay finally being shown after over a year of "fluff pieces" that is mostly just Belles dialoging between themselves and the captain (with maybe a tiny update on the game itself shoved in there at the end [or at the very beginning]).

This forum isn't that active, and the unofficial Discord has 70+ members, but only 30 online at a time. It's even less on the other social medias.

How exactly is BCS going to advertise this game to regain at least some of the backers that lost interest? Will you guys get a VB booth at some big anime contentions? Facebook ads? Tell me, I'm curious.

I want serious answers please. None of the cutesy stuff that skirts the main part of what I'm talking about (you know....like last time :V ).

[Legate of Mineta]

Mignonette;

Ha! We've discussed this at length several times, as you can imagine, and we're going to be making a push on social media, youtube and ads on gaming sites when we're sure of the timing. We'd love to go to a convention, but it's hard to get us all together in the same geographic place. Much easier to reach folks digitally. There's no doubt we'll also rely on our fans to spread the word, when the time comes.

In the background, we've developed art and content for that purpose, but it's not time for that yet.

[Käpt'n Korky]

1 hour ago, Legate of Mineta said:

Mignonette;

Ha! We've discussed this at length several times, as you can imagine, and we're going to be making a push on social media, youtube and ads on gaming sites when we're sure of the timing. We'd love to go to a convention, but it's hard to get us all together in the same geographic place. Much easier to reach folks digitally. There's no doubt we'll also rely on our fans to spread the word, when the time comes.

In the background, we've developed art and content for that purpose, but it's not time for that yet.

Maybe you should consider a booth at the Cologne GamesCom. I've seen some boothes there with only so much as some flyers and a screen playing some fancy videos. No need to go there physically at all.

[Schwarzbart]

From the large number of thefts reports during trade fair's I read about I wouldn't do a stand without at last 1 or 2 people having a constant eye on your equipment.

And yes I'm talking about computer, monitors and other devices that got stolen. 

[Legate of Mineta]

Plus, the fun would be interacting with the fans, too!

[TwoHeavens]

I'm honestly not convinced cons are a good investment any more for a variety of reasons.

[Schwarzbart]

For me personal the big Video gaming fairs/CON have no real meaning any more.

I.e. the last E3 generated 3 News that where somewhat of interest to me and not a single one belonged to a small indie team. Also 2 of this news where years ahead of a potential release that it make me wonder why they even talked about this games already. For all 3 News I think pushing the same news as leaked info outside of the E3 would have generated at last as much but probably even more publicity.

(My opinion might be biased trough my view that the more traditional gaming journalism fail to find the real gems from the indie game flood we have to face now and instead focus at reposting the promotion material of the publisher)

Also about visiting a video gaming fair / con the swag you get or maybe the personal contact to a dev are about the only things that a fair/con can offer compared to what the internet could offer. The only thing that beside long waiting lines I have in memory from a gamescom visit years back is a personal talk with an artist who had its own booth there but that had no real effect for him or me outside of this talk.

[Mignonette]

I think BCS is based in Texas from what I read (the core team, they have other employees scattered around the world)? Are there any big anime conventions in the state? Or you can cover your bases and hit up a big anime con on either coast like AnimeExpo or Otacon.

Using the internet is good, but being there physically might seal the deal for some people.

[Legate of Mineta]

Mignonette;

San Diego is where the majority of the West Team is, but we're really heavily distributed. Still, it would be a lot of fun to do it, but it just seems that from a marketing perspective, there are other channels which make more of a difference. I would love it if they sent me around to Cons, though.

[Käpt'n Korky]

Well you probably got better marketing stats than I do to dig in and decide what you do. Well actually you most certainly have.

I proposed the staff free booth, because the most honourable Legate hinted to a fiscal and personnel shortage. And I've never heard about equipment theft in Cologne. At least in the Koelmesse.

Well I've only heard about several conventions in the states. And I don't know where you're stationed outside the US. But for Germany the two biggies are the GamesCom in Cologne for games and the Animagic in Mannheim for Anime. The latter has also a gaming floor.

And the GamesCom differs in size and form vastly from E3 as I understand it. Cologne gets over 300k visitors, L.A. ~70k. E3 is mainly a journalism/industry event which can be consumed only indirectly via third party experience if you're a normal gamer. GamesCom is only on one day for professionals and the other days you get all the audience(s) to the floor. And the honourable Schwarzbart is correct. You can spend hours there just waiting in lines. Or you hop around the smaller stuff and see what you can get your hands on.
Which is a Cologne problem btw. Leipzig never had it. Leipzig also had much better air in the halls.
And I had a lot of very interesting talk there with staff of several minor games. I recall them even having a whole hall dedicated to Indie games. Some games only got my (sometimes shortlived) attention because of a random flyer someone handed out to me or I found on the floor(!).

On the GamesCom you can position yourself in an area which gets less, but the right attention.
But I stop here. Because everything now would be highly detailed talk about a very unlikely event. And also we deviated quite a lot from this threads topic, didn't we?
 

[Schwarzbart]

@Käpt'n KorkyI think to remember to have read about the theft from a booth at the gamescom about 2 years ago from a small German team and they lost all their computer and monitor. If my memory serves me right last year there was also a news about a team that lost most of their equipment thanks to theft at the E3.

Anyway even if BCS would get the booth for free there still a lot of cost they would have to cover like hotel during the time with the highest price and the flight.

Is the Animagic still the biggest Anime/Manga convention in Germany? From my research last year there at last 2 other who probably bigger by now and isn't French have even the bigger Anime/Manga community in Europe?

[Käpt'n Korky]

3 hours ago, Schwarzbart said:

Is the Animagic still the biggest Anime/Manga convention in Germany? From my research last year there at last 2 other who probably bigger by now and isn't French have even the bigger Anime/Manga community in Europe?

Yes, honourable Schwarzbart, it is to my knowledge. There are bigger events, but all of them differ from each other. And I also only talked about Germany, because I don't feel entitled to talk about somewhere else I've never been...yet.

Biggest Anime Convention in Germany by numbers is currently the Connichi in Kassel. It had around 26k visitors last year. And it is located most central and has/had the best reputation. But it is more of a big happy fan meeting with honorary guests and music. Although they improved over time. But afaik only Nintendo shows games, since it is a major sponsor. Big downer: BCS would have to put out serious sponsorship money to get a booth.

The Animagic is professionally organized by a publisher and attracts a bit more "official" guests. When it was in Bonn and everybody hated it..... for several reasons. So they fell behind the Connichi in size. But it all changed when it moved to Mannheim. They more than doubled their space. And you could actually breath inside the building. And a lot of other amazing stuff was introduced/changed too. But I think they kept their contingent at around 15k. But for this year they raised it. Also Animagic was freaking expensive compared to the others. But now Connichi is only slightly cheaper (by 3€). And as I mentioned they have a whole, big, airy level in the 1st basement level reserved for games only. That's a serious warp from that small, sticky room in Bonn. I don't know how hard it is to get a booth there.

The other is a department of the Leipzig book fair and is only concerned with Mangas and Comics and to a much lesser extent Animes (based on Mangas). Also Leipzig happily counts "normal" book fair visitors into the Manga Comic Convention numbers. Kombiticket is the keyword here and the numbers given well over 100k includes people who visit the book fair too. Oh and did you see the Comic in the conventions name? Yeah, they're there too.
And BCS writes games, not books.

All three state to be the biggest convention of their kind in Germany. Which is true from where I stand, because they all are pretty different. And this year I won't attempt any of those, so I will be curious who of the two "true conventions" will be the biggest this year.

And yes it is small compared to Paris or Barcelona (very well over 100k visitors each) which are the two biggest to my knowledge. I envy you @Dmnt (Third place is London I believe.) And isn't Barcelona only a Manga fair like Leipzig?

But they all fade away in comparison to the Japantag in Diuseru(dorufu). Which is attended by well over 600k people. But then again it is a completely different animal. It is a festival of Japanese culture, Anime/Manga/Games are only a sideshow and only real japanese companies get a shot afaik. And it is in the whole city of Diuseru along the Rain-gawa.

Cut to the chase:
If BCS ponders a booth at an Anime Convention in l'europe, BCS should try Paris or London. Except they totally want to hug their german player base. Then contact the Connichi or the Animagic. Because they're vastly different in style but speak to a similar audience. And in the end the publisher perspective would decide where to go. And Kassel and Mannheim are different but I can't really put one location over the other.

[Dmnt]

On 5/7/2018 at 0:05 PM, Käpt'n Korky said:

And yes it is small compared to Paris or Barcelona (very well over 100k visitors each) which are the two biggest to my knowledge. I envy you @Dmnt (Third place is London I believe.) And isn't Barcelona only a Manga fair like Leipzig?

Well, the thing with Barcelona is that most cons are rather shabby. For example, once inside it'd be somewhat difficult to quickly discern whether you are in the one dedicated to "Manga/Anime", the one dedicated to "Comic"(in general), etc. because all of them are made "with the same mold".
They also have their video game sections, but realistically only big companies make it there, and more specifically Nintendo. IIRC, last year like 90% of the video game part was Nintendo. I still don't quite understand the need to have like 24 3DS with the new Yokai Watch for people to try.
Case in point, not only would it be impossible for BCS to get a proper booth in Barcelona, but even then I don't think it would be remotely worth it, with the knowledge I have(I think) of the market.

[Armnorn]

I don't know if that were possible but just a bit of a post about how the combat is going to work in a little more detail. And I don't mean how it is going to look. But so far the information we have about how the battles are going to work are rather vague. And I don't think we need the battle engine integrated to get a bit more details on how the combat is going to work, what kind of concrete possibilites we have to influence combat etc. I know the whole phase thing that was part of the Kickstarter during the actual campaign but how about some more concrete examples of what exactly is possible in a phase etc. Because personally I am going to be honest. While I like lore of a game I don't like finding out lore for a game before actually playing it. Because that for me takes away from the gameplay experience. I am happy for those that like the lore updates and it is better than nothing and shows that there is at least still something going on. But I don't read the lore updates precisely because of the reasons stated further upwards. The interviews were a bit of a different things because in those the Belles were only introduced.

I just want something to read in a bit more detail on what the game is going to be like. I don't need a gameplay video that. Though a gameplay video would be great but the battle engine is still being worked on. It's just frustrating to hear a few months ago that the battle engine is done but we still hear that its being optimized. So it isn't really done is it? It just feels fromt he outside like the progress for the development of the game has slowed to a crawl because most of what we hear is just "Battle Engine being worked on".

Don't get me wrong. I still fully believe that the game is going to come out and that it's going to be just as good or even better than promised. But I am worried about the long term survival of the game. Recently a few other gacha games like Girls Frontline or Azur Lane have or will release an english version of their games. And that might make the market more competetive the longer Victory Belles takes. I am also not saying to rush it, because that would be a diservice to the game. I am just trying to communicate my perspective from the outside looking in.

[Legate of Mineta]

Now that's a FUN topic.

Interestingly, our plan is to show the video and then break it up into details in subsequent Updates, because there's a lot to unpack. Like Kancolle, you can't directly influence combat, but you can do a ton of work before combat to put your Belles into the best position, assuming your near level or tackling the hardest maps.

If there's a specific area of combat you are interested, I'll forward the request. I actually happen to know how almost everything works, and it's really, really cool. I may be biased, but that's how I feel.

I doubt they'd do a non-video Update for this, but I think we could certainly discuss it here, on the forum.

[Armnorn]

9 hours ago, Legate of Mineta said:

Like Kancolle, you can't directly influence combat, but you can do a ton of work before combat to put your Belles into the best position, assuming your near level or tackling the hardest maps.

Because of this image I was under the impression that during the surprise phases we would be able to chose what kind of tactics to employ etc to take a more active roll in combat. Or is this more like the formation picking in Kancolle? Tbh I had hoped to have a bit more control over what is going to happen than Kancolles RNG fest. But from what I have seen you guys say this is going to be a lot more varied in terms of damage than Kancolle is so I guess it's already more exciting on that end.

[Legate of Mineta]

Armnorn;

It's closer to the latter, but still quite different- your Flag determines the tactics that your Divisions will try to use, Round by Round. It's not just in the Surprise Phase, it happens in all of them. So, you might have a Division race forward, trying to close the gap to launch Torpedoes, and have another trying to hold position to use longer range artillery. Assuming that you are near Level, what you choose can turn the tide of a battle, depending on what the Morganas are doing. Every Belle has her own Command, so you'll want to experiment to find the ones that work for you best- they definitely aren't created equal. Bearn, for instance, loves to rush in with all she's got...which is folly for a carrier.

Damage is really different in VB. Armor is the best means of preventing Critical Hits, which can really change the course of a battle for better or for worse. There is a base Damage per Shell, based on the weight of the projectile, the bursting charge and the type of explosive, but you really want the Criticals. This also means that if you bring in Destroyers against Battleships, you should expect heavy losses. Of course, if you survive to Torpedo range you might inflict heavy losses yourself. Torpedoes can be serious business.

[Armnorn]

That the different ships have different tendencies to different tactics is very interesting to hear. And different phases per combat is still a lot more interactivity than Kancolle has  Which is my biggest gripe with Kancolle. Sounds like there is a lot of math going on in the background. Not like Kancolle where its basically only the Firepower stat and torpedo stats that matter in a fight.

Would there also be ways for a Destroyer/Light Cruiser force to sneak up on a Battleship group during Night Battle and not be engaged until they have already closed to torpedo range or even not be engaged at all after firing their torpedoes and disengaging?

[Legate of Mineta]

Armnorn;

Yes, in fact that is part of the reason why Night Battles are so deadly (also conditions of Fog or Morgan Mist)- you begin at Brawl Range. At this Range, it's very easy to hit targets. A spread of three torpedoes almost guarantees a hit, so it's very dangerous.

The abstraction of combat, however, means that provided your target survives the attack, they will be able to fire on you. Disengagement is forced due to Morale, not maneuver- very unlike the real world!

Of course, if your enemies have RDF (radar), then it can be a different situation if they detect you.

[DrYuriMom]

Here is something I posted elsewhere in response to lamentations on the delay which I thought would be relevant here:

 

While I would be lying if I wasn't pained by the extent of the delay, I still must agree with the team that you only get one chance at a first impression. With all the stuff vying for people's time, people will take a quick look and pass you by if it's not quality. Have they lost most of the Kickstarter excitement - yes. Might they have less credibility with any future Kickstarter - yes. But insofar as success or failure of this project, I still believe they are MUCH better off spending whatever time it takes to go forward with something awesome than the trip up on launch like Mighty #9 or the like.

 

As far as releases of game content with updates, I would think they want to make sure by the time they start releasing cool updates that a) it's accurate with what will eventually be released and b) it's relatively close to when the game will actually be released so the excitement can start building not just for us loyal diehards but in the aether of the internets.  They have likely lost most of any excitement that was built up from the Kickstarter. In today's environment they probably only have one more good chance at building a really good pre-launch campaign. They need to make that one good last chance count.

 

All this is just my own humble opinion, of course. Others have a valid case for their own. For me, though, success of the game is paramount and occludes all other considerations. If it takes more time then so be it.  There's plenty to do in the meantime.

 

Honestly, from a strategic marketing perspective, they might be wise to wait until spring to start their build up. Let the excitement over Azur Lane fade a bit. They lost their chance to be the first English language, non-region-locked KanColle like Gaijin Goombah heralded during the Kickstarter. Now it makes sense to wait a bit so they can look like "something fresh" rather than a "me too". As "something fresh" they can still bill it as the first shipgirl project to hail from the West among so many other unique goodies (real story, native-speaking VAs for each country, etc).

 

However it works out, I'm with the project to the happy end.  My wallet is ready and waiting to wine and dine my beloved.  Come what may, I'll be the Captain of Yazuz' heart however many pretenders might be out there. :-)

[Käpt'n Korky]

I slightly disagree with @DrYuriMom on the point of when BCS should "show" their work.
I've made the case for an elaborate closed beta with unfinished UI more than once. In my opinion if you have a running, shit looking game you start the closed beta. Then you get your closed beta gamers on board and start asking questions:
Which UI do you prefer? See any mistakes in translation? Anything we overlooked?
But as I also stated, this might be an old fashioned way of doing it. Still there is so much valuable input even if only 10 die hard closed beta testers stay with you until you can finally go into open beta for stress testing, etc.
Also I understand BCS doesn't has reached even that stage yet. There is still groundwork to do apparently, but I'm not on board with the "only release to any audience when perfect" attitude, because at least the cbt's should get on board much earlier. Otherwise it is impossible to be even close to perfect on actual release in my humble opinion.
At the same time this should be absolutely clear to the cbt's: You don't get the perfect, polished diamond. You get the freshly broken rock and have to give your input and feedback and be the guinea pig to help make that rock into a beautiful diamond. Or cancer medicine, if you prefer that kind of metaphor.

Sidenote: I'm not a cbt. I just have a strong opinion on this.

[DrYuriMom]

Actually, Korky, we're not in disagreement at all. I think your idea has much merit. Would you agree that the closed beta testers would sign an non-disclosure agreement?  If so, then BCS would still keep control of how and when information is released publicly. I think there are several people here who would make terrific testers whether or not they supported the KS or not.  For example, I'd be a terrible cbt. I don't have the time and I've never played a game like this before and therefore don't have the frames of reference. You, however, didn't get in on the KS but would be a fantastic cbt both because you know what to expect and because you have European sensibilities. 

The key would be finding people who can keep quiet despite all our chatter. If BCS does it right, the rest of us would never know there are cbt's at all. Who knows?  Maybe they're already out there... ?