Would you want to know more about Leoreth?

[Leoreth]

My hiragana/katakana to romaji is quite okay although I could use some practice again. The other way around is terrible.

 

[Bair_the_Normal]

First step y'all. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I've personally decided to revive my knowledge of the Japanese language.

And I wish you all the best of luck when it comes to kanji. I'm currently going up through the kyōiku kanji by grade level and it's ridiculously difficult when you don't see or use these things on a regular basis anymore. I only have a smattering of around 600~ kanji that I'm comfortable at all with.

 

[Leoreth]

Yeah, kanji are definitely the major deterring factor for me to get deeper into Japanese. It's pretty much useless if you can only do kana.

What would you suggest is the better approach? First learn some basic vocabulary with romaji and then their kanji or the kanji first?

 

[hoplitejoe]

I'm wondering what your prospective on the whole "paid mods" thing is?
Context if you missed the poop-storm

 

[Leoreth]

Basically it's the same as DLC I would say.

As far as that goes, it depends on the content model of the game and what mods usually offer. For many games it is mostly skins and graphics, I don't see why mod makers shouldn't be able to sell them. I could see a number of positive outcomes from this:
- professionalized mod making could produce a much higher volume of mods at higher quality (putting up with bugs in a free mod is one thing, I wouldn't accept it from a paid product)
- better income opportunities for game makers (yes, we do want that)
- it could be easier for skilled mod makers to filter into the game industry which I think is desirable for producers and consumers

The problem is that, similar to DLC, such a model threatens approaches like CFC which runs on a free sharing and using principle. I wouldn't be able to make DoC if all graphics elements and code snippets I've used would be behind a paywall, and the same is true for the other major expansions.

So I don't know what the overall consequence would be. Personally I prefer the CFC principle, and it's questionable if it could exist if it needed to compete with a paid content model.

 

[Swarbs]

- professionalized mod making could produce a much higher volume of mods at higher quality (putting up with bugs in a free mod is one thing, I wouldn't accept it from a paid product)

I take it you haven't bought any games for about the past decade then?

Seriously tho', I think that's the big sticking point. Will modders keep working on their mods if they have been paid, or will it encourage attitudes like the big game studios of "we've made most of our money, let's stop improving this game and start on the next one now".

Mods are obviously different from games, in that even a modder as well respected as Leoreth wouldn't have the same marketing clout as Firaxis, EA etc to convince people to buy something without positive reviews and evidence of the quality. But the principle is the same - will someone who designs a mod, even a really good mod, to make money be as willing to keep working on it and improving it for people who have already paid their cash and won't be paying any more for the updated versions?

 

[Bair_the_Normal]

Yeah, kanji are definitely the major deterring factor for me to get deeper into Japanese. It's pretty much useless if you can only do kana.

What would you suggest is the better approach? First learn some basic vocabulary with romaji and then their kanji or the kanji first?

Avoid romaji at all costs. Vocabwise, start by learning kanji by the kyouiku kanji and learn pronunciation by kana. Vocabulary will be formed by combinations of kanji, and it will be easier to remember the definitions of words if you can remember the rudimentary meanings of their composite kanji.

 

[Leoreth]

I take it you haven't bought any games for about the past decade then?

Not that many actually, and I don't play genres that seems more susceptible to that problem.

Seriously tho', I think that's the big sticking point. Will modders keep working on their mods if they have been paid, or will it encourage attitudes like the big game studios of "we've made most of our money, let's stop improving this game and start on the next one now".

Mods are obviously different from games, in that even a modder as well respected as Leoreth wouldn't have the same marketing clout as Firaxis, EA etc to convince people to buy something without positive reviews and evidence of the quality. But the principle is the same - will someone who designs a mod, even a really good mod, to make money be as willing to keep working on it and improving it for people who have already paid their cash and won't be paying any more for the updated versions?

Depends, there is no reason why people wouldn't pay for updates if they're reasonably priced.

 

[Leoreth]

Avoid romaji at all costs. Vocabwise, start by learning kanji by the kyouiku kanji and learn pronunciation by kana. Vocabulary will be formed by combinations of kanji, and it will be easier to remember the definitions of words if you can remember the rudimentary meanings of their composite kanji.

Yeah, that sound like a good approach. Looks like I need to find good resources for learning at some point.

 

[SeekTruthFromFacts]

Yeah, that sound like a good approach. Looks like I need to find good resources for learning at some point.

If you want to go down that road, the resource you need is undoubtedly Heisig. It has the bonus that being in Germany is actually helpful for the Heisig approach: I always recommend that European languages students start the book six weeks before they move to Asia.

 

[Tomorrow's Dawn]

Basically it's the same as DLC I would say.

As far as that goes, it depends on the content model of the game and what mods usually offer. For many games it is mostly skins and graphics, I don't see why mod makers shouldn't be able to sell them. I could see a number of positive outcomes from this:
- professionalized mod making could produce a much higher volume of mods at higher quality (putting up with bugs in a free mod is one thing, I wouldn't accept it from a paid product)
- better income opportunities for game makers (yes, we do want that)
- it could be easier for skilled mod makers to filter into the game industry which I think is desirable for producers and consumers

The problem is that, similar to DLC, such a model threatens approaches like CFC which runs on a free sharing and using principle. I wouldn't be able to make DoC if all graphics elements and code snippets I've used would be behind a paywall, and the same is true for the other major expansions.

So I don't know what the overall consequence would be. Personally I prefer the CFC principle, and it's questionable if it could exist if it needed to compete with a paid content model.

Came back briefly to drop a comment on this.

The chief problem with Skyrim that I didn't see getting near enough mention (topics like theft, Bethesda's large cut of the proceeds and patching breaking mods having precedence, the refund policy, etc.) is that, the way modding works in Skyrim, mods tend to build upon one another and require other mods in order to work. It's not like Civ modding, where each mod is already generally a self-contained personalized experience, save for graphical add-ons. Skyrim modding, on the user end requires someone to cherry pick from a number of mods, some of which require one another and build an experience for themselves from that.

Skyrim players don't generally download curated modpacks with a singular vision, like Civ players do, like we would do for DoC, C2C, etc, they'll usually Frankenstein their game and put together their own concoctions.
If one mod goes paid, especially a high profile one that many other mods tend to require, such as SkyUI, that's a ton of mods that even if free, are no longer free because they fall behind a paywall now. The patch breaking mods issue is related to this as well; the slightest patch or mod version update can break the fragile compatibility that Skyrim modding is built on. The issue of payments and refunds just further complicates any ability of the developer, the modder and the end-user to fix any problems that arise from that.

 

[Leoreth]

Yeah, I wrote some more critical posts in the OT section:

Mise, I don't think that's ever going to work. Or at least, not under any model that allows a level of shared modding resources we currently enjoy and at the same time fairly recompenses both the creator of a specific mod and the creators of the submods or assets it uses.

There are several complete mods I have included into my own. Most of them rely on the work of other modders in return. How to resolve these transitive dependencies? From other mods, I have taken snippets of codes for specific features or game elements. Is that equivalent to incorporating the whole mod?

This basically makes any interaction between the "paid mods" and "free mods" world impossible. We'd end up in a two class society with "quality mods" disappearing behind paywalls.

 

[celtperson]

My, hopefully not unwelcomed, interjection about Japanese and Kanji is to start with Joyou Kanji and work your way up. It is a good way to strengthen basic vocabulary words and verbs also. If you have a niche interest that applies to Japanese culture, try to find words and kanji relating to that subject as well. I only have a few hundred of the joyou kanji memorized, but that many and maybe more in the niche subjects that interest me.

 

[Leoreth]

Yeah, thanks. I'm not actively pursuing this right now, but I will look into it when I have the time.

 

[Royal Tenenbaum]

I suggest reading Confucius Lives Next Door. Where it is right, it is illuminating and personal. But where it is wrong is where the most learning is gained from.

It also helps understand some aspects of Japanese culture that would be useful for learning Japanese or traveling there. However, if you travel on business, I'd suggest reading Crested Kimono.

 

[ales_]

New avatar?

 

[LacsiraxAriscal]

Looks a lil Homestucky?

 

[Leoreth]

Yep, it's Dave again. Because honestly he's my favorite character.

 

[Leoreth]

I have installed a Firefox addon and am very pleased with myself.

Spoiler :

 

[ales_]

What are the second and fourth symbols in the bottom left corner?