Over the course of the past week and a bit, I’ve come to think more about the feedback received from my most recent post, The Weiss Content Drought. While I will agree that there were exaggerations and portions of negativity in that post, I want to make a few things clear here.
Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone for the constructive feedback that was provided. Hearing feedback that helps improve this site is something I love to hear. My mission has always been to maintain this site as an open resource for players to learn about the game. Any feedback that helps with increasing clarity or adding to a player’s experience in a positive way is wonderful.
Secondly, I want to clarify a few points. My previous post with the YouTube mention in the beginning was more of a critique to the popular algorithm. I don’t think it’s fair to require players to have to know or find obscure wording to “play” the algorithm to be able to discover Weiss content. I think that this is more so of a YouTube issue, but I am also encouraging more content to be developed and in more diverse ways. My problem with the tutorials was more or less that they seemed to be overshadowing other content on the platform, not a fault of the creators. Having more other content that is promoted, shared, or expressed further will help with encouraging or inviting more players to engage with the game.
Thirdly, that post was strictly my opinion. There was hyperbole. I don’t mean to target any creator and I apologize if it felt that way. Speaking with another content creator, I’ve come to realize that we have misaligned directions, yet we are looking to reach the exact same goal. We want to grow the community, but we do so in different ways. I wanted to share what I wanted, which is what I’ve been trying to promote on this website. I want a different view of the game beyond a competitive lens. I want players to engage in this game with both the original IPs and the game by merging them mechanically together.
Lastly, I want to reiterate that I don’t have this passion or push to make competitive content. That has never been the goal of this site. If this site does help you in that capacity, good for you. I’ve been making articles for quite some time now, and I do realize that there are some folks who are unhappy with my work. While some may view my work as meaningless, I have had much joy in hearing back from folks who are happy to have a series that they played mentioned and enjoy using my articles as short snippets of specific deck ideas. Others are happy to have some resource that observes an older series that they enjoyed or a niche series that they want to get into. And to them, they are grateful that such a site exists. And thus, I will continue to produce that content for them. There is a clear language barrier with trying to understand a different side of the game through the Japanese format. And this site is at least attempting to help bridge that gap.
I also want to address the quality of posts on this site as well. It is good that people have been pointing out translation errors. There is no excuse for this that fully justifies this issue. I apologize, and I am working to make sure that the frequency of these errors is reduced.
As for a narrative focus, this is a more complicated issue. A bitter summary of the problem is that some series or deck profiles just don’t have the level of collected complexity in order to create a more intriguing breakdown or glue that connects the ideas of these deck profiles together. This is further compounded by the fact that each situation is unique to that specific deck profile. This may be due to the lack of a centralized theme or too expansive of a scope in terms of the expressed idea. Using an example from a more recent post, in the blue Idolm@ster deck shown here, there isn’t really much connecting the cards within the deck other than the fact that they are all blue and part of a mobile game’s self-defined character pool of “Cool.” The finisher climax doesn’t really relate to much of the deck considering that the other characters that are part of the unit that sings that song don’t have cards that have anything to do with the climax. As a result, as to my own knowledge and research, there isn’t really much I can do to stay true to the series while noting possible nod-offs and connections to the original IP within the deck’s mechanics and card choices.
Effects aren’t also always aligned with the overarching theme of the deck profile. Cards can be simply generic, leading to why I refer to generic keywords. What connects these cards to the theme, at times, is the overall restriction that is laid out by the theme of the deck profile. For instance, why Sumi here performs a Fumio effect, I simply don’t know. I can’t find a thematic way to connect this profile to the card or the overall theme of that deck profile. But if you consider that the deck is built solely around Sumi, it is thematic in the basic sense that it adheres to the deck profile’s theme. In this sense, I will be looking to relate cards to the deck theme as much as possible while considering that the reader interested in the deck profile may already have their own imaginations of links between the cards and the original IP already embedded in their mind (sometimes even more than myself I’ll admit).
At the end of the day, whether you agree or disagree with my critique and words is, of course, your choice. I think that no one is immune to critique, and we are all equally liable for the choices we make. I will continue to seek improvement and make my site a better resource for all. I hope you all have a great day.