darkfriend wrote...
adix22 wrote...
Heck, I wouldn't even mind if Fakku launched different site (FakkuX?) specifically for this type of content with different payment methods.
I don't think this is viable though (New site for niche content probably wouldn't be profitable)
And therein lies the rub. It has to be profitable for FAKKU because they are a business after all. First, there has to be a Japanese source willing to license the material outside the country, which they are already reluctant to do and that seems to be getting worse. Then FAKKU has to translate and sell the content through an alternative means: whether that's a different storefront or a reversion to stone age payment methods (money orders, checks, etc), it would undoubtedly be more costly and inefficient than the current established process. The audience for this type of content (or any truly controversial content for that matter) is necessarily smaller than more mainstream product, so FAKKU has to either 1) sell a greater number of units or 2) sell fewer units at a higher price to justify the extra steps necessary for the alternative processing and likely higher licensing fees to the Japanese companies (elevated fees could well be necessary to pry any content of this type loose).
So from FAKKU's perspective, this could be a risky investment in terms of new licensing fees, more man-hours processing money orders and checks (some of which inevitably will be bad), all to leverage content to an audience of indeterminate size that might not buy the quantity of units necessary to offset the greater investment. And that's not even entertaining the possibilities if the wrong content goes viral and creates a social media shitstorm around FAKKU's business. Much as I'd love more controversial content, the numbers just don't seem to bear out the risks a lot of the time.
I do understand that ,and while I rather like to be optimistic about things, I do agree with you.
As for myself I wouldn't personally mind paying more for less (no pun intended - I've realized how this sounds just as I was writing it)
There's always option for donating for that typ of content (akin to Legend of the Overfiend - when it was kickstarted)
maybe not kickstarter or patreon (as I faintly remember reading that they don't allow that type of content)
Maybe SubscribeStar?
It would be way less risky if people would've donated for this type of thing,and at the very least you would be able to confirm how many people are actually interested (and willing to pay) for content like this. (I've seen quite a few H-games on patreon that were focused on niche content and were earning ridiculous amount of money, just because no one else was making it, so while- yes, it is a niche, there potential customer base is smaller, but because of it being a niche, that smaller customer base has nowhere else to go, so there's more people (percentage wise) of said customer base willing to pay more for that niche)
I would be actually more scared of potential bad press that could've caused issues for Fakku (like banks/sites like paypal outright refusing their services for Fakku - which would be detrimental for the site)
I think maybe trying it slow and bringing one book (through sites like kickstarter/patreon/subscribestar) to test the waters (and profitability ) wouldn't be all that bad all things considered (biggest obstacle being pay services)