Sunday, July 12, 2009

Anonymous Credit

Some one posted an Anonymous comment to the effect that I should have given him/her credit for a point in my Rune Factory 2 Guide about Scrap Iron because he/she had commented that my guides were incomplete at some stage.

First of all, it really takes about six months to complete any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory Guide. I try to publish quickly so that players will have as much help as possible while I still am in the process of writing the Guides. Information changes and I discover more as I play the games exhaustively. I therefore urge players always to look for the latest updates on any Guide when I still am working on the game.

I do recall some one mentioning the virtues of Scrap Iron/Metal in Rune Factory 2 long ago, but can't remember who it was. If that individual wishes to email me with his/her name, I'd be happy to give him/her credit when I next have a chance to update my Rune Factory 2 Guide.

Please note, however, that in general, a player who makes a comment about information that has not been added to the guide yet may not be telling me anything new... I often simply have not had the time yet to add the information to the guides. If it is information that a player read in the Official Strategy Guide, it is not right for that player to ask for credit for it, but where it is something discovered in personal gameplay, credit would be appropriate. Finally, if it is information of which I genuinely am ignorant, I am happy to credit the player.

I have covered many, many games now and have written many guides and continue to work on new guides. I don't have time sometimes simply to dig up my files simply in order to add some one's name to the credit section when I am working on a different game, so it is best to remind me by email in such a case and then be patient. Thank you.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

On February 21st I told you that your Cook Book was not complete and gave you a hint about basic weapons upgrade (small shield).
I have been monitoring your cook book since that day, and on 17th of March I left another comment.
The following is from your cook book:
"The basic 1st Generation items that can be upgraded are:
BROADSWORD, CLAYMORE, SPEAR, BATTLE HAMMER, BATTLE AXE, ROD, SMALL SHIELD.
None of these upgrades requires any ingredient apart from the item itself.
Skill Level Requirements for each upgrade are between Level 4 and Level 9,
making them some of the easiest projects at the Forge."

This was added after my second comment on March 17.

So dont tell me now that "a player who makes a comment about information that has not been added to the guide yet may not be telling me anything new... I often simply have not had the time yet to add the information to the guides."

Because if you knew that before I told you, how could you say in your blog that the guide is complete now (on 21 Feb), and untill 17 March the info I told you was not added yet?

To ths day, the cookbook still is incomplete.

Freyashawk said...

It's a pity that you didn't read the post more carefully because I actually wrote that in this case, I'd be happy to give me credit if you would email me with your name or give your name with your comment. There really isn't much point in giving credit to 'Anonymous.' That post was written in order to ask you to give me your name. Please read it again and you will see that.

Freyashawk said...

Finally, this is a courtesy on my part. I always could request any information directly from Natsume about this game. I like to discover details in these games myself, however, and therefore understand the excitement of another player who makes a discovery and writes to me about it. I am going to work on RF2 for a couple of days again, so if you give me your name, I will add it as a courtesy to the Recipe Guide.

Freyashawk said...

I'll tell you what. You can work a little for the credit, if you are willing. The players whom I have credited for help in the past actually do work for it. If you have been 'monitoring' the Recipe Guide, please go through it comprehensively and let me know whatever is missing at this point. I'll be happy to give you credit afterwards for that. Fair enough?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, I can't imagine anyone not having gotten SO MUCH more from Freya's guides than any suggestions they made. It seems mean to get legalistic about it. After all, you made the comment because you wanted to help people, not because you wanted to get credit, right? And frankly, Freya does a great job with an absolutely huge amount of material but she doesn't "owe it to us" to have every single detail exact. Even the guides you pay for aren't 100% exact, and they miss a lot of the types of information Freya provides.

--Jen

Anonymous said...

I did not say that her guides need to be perfect.

I did not mean that she is not good in what she does.

I do not think she HAS to provide perfect guides for anybody.

I do think that she must not take all the credits to herself, criticize others for not crediting her, and then think that others are not feeling the same way about her...

I did not, and do not want any "credit" for giving Freay hints to the following:
- basic purchsed weapons can be upgraded, although they are not learned in any lesson.
- the Amethyst Ring recipe will not appear in the recipe book in the game, unless you create it yourself at the bench.

I was just upset for Freay criticizing somebody for not giving her due credits, while she, herself, does not always give the anonymous persons, who give her the hints, which in turn allows her to write these guides.

I wonder if without all this hints (and since no credit will EVER go to Anonymous, we do not know how many they are), what would be of her guides.

You don't really NEED a name to give anyone credit, you know? Just don't pretend that it all came from you alone would be nice enough.

Once again, how many of this tips were not mentioned? Only Freay knows...

Freyashawk said...

Anon, your comment is extremely unfair, but I am posting it anyway. First of all, there is a huge difference between a hint and an entire guide. I spend six months writing these guides. It is wrong for a person to STEAL the entire guide and post it elsewhere.

Most of the information given by players as hints is available in the Japanese Strategy Guide for the original game and is posted on forums, websites and other places.

I don't pretend to be wiser or better than any one. I do try to base my guides on my own gameplay which kind of means that they ARE my guides for better or worse.

There is no pretense in the fact that I have worn out three laptop keyboards writing guides and devoted YEARS to it. I maintain this site for players and make videos on YouTube as well. I find it difficult to believe that you think it is morally acceptable for a person to take my entire guide and post it verbatim on HIS/HER site or under HIS/HER name.

Do you have any idea how much work is involved in updating old guides? I now have two NEW games to cover. I do try to give credit to players who have helped me when I can but I'm afraid that the Credits section is NOT the most important section of my guides. It simply can't be. I don't have help from any one in updating. I now have a HUGE body of work... I lost all of my guide files when my laptop data was wiped about a year and a half ago. This whole VOLUNTEER effort of mine easily can become a nightmare now and you are not helping. I offered to credit you, acknowledged your help and I find your response frankly rather ungracious in the circumstances. And 'hints' by other players are NOT the foundation of my guides. My own hard work is... hints by other players can be helpful in some situations with a few details but are NOT responsible for MY guides. That's the truth of it, which probably is why my guides aren't perfect, because I write them according to my own experience for the most part.

Players translate the Japanese Strategy Guides and then put their names on the English version, never acknowledging the source. People rip off the English Official Strategy Guides and don't acknowledge THAT. People watch other player's videos on YouTube and then write tips or guides and never credit THOSE. I don't do any of that, and I do try to mention players BY NAME when they make an effort to help me. With respect to RF2, I always can obtain any details directly from Natsume, but I hate to bother them and I'd rather solve any puzzles myself. I'd be happy to add your name to the RF2 Recipe Guide credits but I was waiting for confirmation from some player on the Skill Level Requirement for the Amethyst Ring. My guess is 20, but perhaps I will simply ask Natsume.

Freyashawk said...

Okay, I obtained the information myself:

Amethyst Ring, Skill Level 30, Gold x 2, Amethyst

Freyashawk said...

For the sake of accuracy, there is one type of information that I do sometimes include in my Guides that always must be derived from the official information and that is probabilities. Where actual percentages are given for the chance of a Monster dropping a specific item or any other numerical probability such as the 255 to 1 chance of an Animal producing X Product in FoMT/MFoMT, that only can be obtained from official sources and neither from my own gameplay nor that of any other player.

And yes, many of my Guides would not be as complete were it not for the help that Natsume always is willing to provide to me... That goes without saying really.