Why was "Working Designs" so hated?

[miguk]

Hardcore gaming 101 nor websites like the ones you mentioned weren't around in 1993 when these games were originally released. You knew about these games about a decade later when we were in the PS2/X-Box era. With added convenience, due to modern technology with emulators, and rom hacks, you can save anywhere, and have patches to address these issues. It was due to WD that the Lunar series is looked upon so fondly these days, no? Notorious for their difficulty or not, their games are still highly sought after whether it be for the Sega CD, PSX, or Saturn. There are more people with fond nostalgia for these games, than bad. You're one of few exceptions. People think if 5 or 10 people say something about something online, they think it goes for the rest of the world, often forgetting they live in a very small bubble.

Also, did you even pay for these games in the first place? And if so, can you take a pic of your copies? Thanks.

Yes, I could have found out about them a decade later. But that's true for a lot of games. I didn't grow up with money shooting out of every orifice; I had a limit to how many games I could get, and I usually (not always, but usually) focused on the S-tier ones because games were expensive and a huge amount of my collection came out of used stores and discounts. I replayed many games multiple times because I couldn't just go out and buy another one. So if I didn't have Lunar or whatever, I'd have just played one of the other games I didn't get around to until later. And I think I bought about 3 or 4 imports total back in the day (I didn't live in an area with a dedicated import shop, and Electronics Boutique kept the import section super small), so there's a lot that I missed out on from overseas anyways.

WD doesn't get to determine the original Japanese release of games, as they don't do any real creative work. (Lazy jokes and slurs are hardly creative.) Yes, some people have nostalgia for them, but there are also people who are anti-nostalgic for everything done wrong in the transliteration process. Again, just look at the whole "TeD wOoSlEy AtE mY cHiLdHoOd" nonsense. (And that's with games that got retranslated both officially and unofficially.) We still get people complaining about "censorship" in official English releases today whether the changes were legit or not.

And no, I don't hate the games they brought over. I actually really love Lunar. But that's the issue: I want to play the real thing, not a pile of Boomer frat-bro "humor" on top of the game. And it's sad that we'll never get them with the real script because Vic Ireland has them in a legal death grip and his fanboys (not the games' fans, but his) insist that a fan retranslation would "ruin" the game.

If I'm in a bubble, show me statistical evidence that I am. Sales numbers won't count; plenty of people bought the games and also hated the unfair difficulty changes and anti-translation.

I don't have my old copies because I sold some and others were stolen. (I mentioned the latter in the theft thread.) Still others were borrowed from friends, as that is how you played more games despite the high prices when you didn't have enough money to play a lot of them. Either way, I don't see how that logically matters. Nothing about whether I still have them or not changes anything about my point.

 

[freebie#47]

Why the Woosley hate?

We may have had an accurate fan translation by now if there wasn't this ridiculous attitude among fan translators that only Ted Woosley ever did bad translations. (Which is flat-out false; Woosley did good by the standards of the time despite the flaws in his work. He is only hated on because he was hyped up as "the worst translator ever" by online trolls.)

Oh, and you dropped your hat:

It wasn't because of the translation, It is because how he treated the people who worked under him. Also his Ego....

 

[dropsmegamega]

how dare they mess with the sacred script of these children games!!

 

[MajesticSiN]

I don't feel like they were back in the day. A lot of those games probably wouldn't have seen a release in the west if they didn't bring it over.

 

[Bonkers225]

Yes, I could have found out about them a decade later. But that's true for a lot of games. I didn't grow up with money shooting out of every orifice; I had a limit to how many games I could get, and I usually (not always, but usually) focused on the S-tier ones because games were expensive and a huge amount of my collection came out of used stores and discounts. I replayed many games multiple times because I couldn't just go out and buy another one. So if I didn't have Lunar or whatever, I'd have just played one of the other games I didn't get around to until later. And I think I bought about 3 or 4 imports total back in the day (I didn't live in an area with a dedicated import shop, and Electronics Boutique kept the import section super small), so there's a lot that I missed out on from overseas anyways.

WD doesn't get to determine the original Japanese release of games, as they don't do any real creative work. (Lazy jokes and slurs are hardly creative.) Yes, some people have nostalgia for them, but there are also people who are anti-nostalgic for everything done wrong in the transliteration process. Again, just look at the whole "TeD wOoSlEy AtE mY cHiLdHoOd" nonsense. (And that's with games that got retranslated both officially and unofficially.) We still get people complaining about "censorship" in official English releases today whether the changes were legit or not.

And no, I don't hate the games they brought over. I actually really love Lunar. But that's the issue: I want to play the real thing, not a pile of Boomer frat-bro "humor" on top of the game. And it's sad that we'll never get them with the real script because Vic Ireland has them in a legal death grip and his fanboys (not the games' fans, but his) insist that a fan retranslation would "ruin" the game.

If I'm in a bubble, show me statistical evidence that I am. Sales numbers won't count; plenty of people bought the games and also hated the unfair difficulty changes and anti-translation.

I don't have my old copies because I sold some and others were stolen. (I mentioned the latter in the theft thread.) Still others were borrowed from friends, as that is how you played more games despite the high prices when you didn't have enough money to play a lot of them. Either way, I don't see how that logically matters. Nothing about whether I still have them or not changes anything about my point.

So let's just quickly wrap this up. You're just entitled, and contradicting every sentence you state. It's quite astonishing. I don't know where, and why people get like this, thinking they're owed something. You had many options here. Like you said you did your research which means, you would have known there would be issues, yet you still chose to play them. No one forced you. And if the reviews didn't mention it, it meant it probably didn't effect the reviewer as badly, or at all. You REALLY love Lunar because you played the WD release, but say you want to play the REAL version. Like wtf? The publisher/game did their job than! Enjoying it at the time, than years later, no, I hate it, I wish I never played it... But I still really love it? I'm getting dumber just reading this dribble.

Post automatically merged: Mar 2, 2025

It wasn't because of the translation, It is because how he treated the people who worked under him. Also his Ego....

Welp. There goes the wall.

 

[CG4R12I4N]

At least he's consistent in saying that he likes the Japanese media and wanting to read the most accurate version but in English language as the original creators intended.
Unlike you guys localization apologists who only liked bastardized slops by highbrow Japanese racists that had nothing to do with the original.

And WD is worse than many of its brethren at the time in that not only they ruined the original atmosphere of the game settings, but also tinkering the whole gameplay difficulty to the point they become unplayable to some people. Honestly that shit should be considered borderline crime like those vandal kids who throw tomatoes at Mona Lisa's painting.

 

[Bonkers225]

At least he's consistent in saying that he likes the Japanese media and wanting to read the most accurate version but in English language as the original creators intended.
Unlike you guys localization apologists who only liked bastardized slops by highbrow Japanese racists that had nothing to do with the original.

And WD is worse than many of its brethren at the time in that not only they ruined the original atmosphere of the game settings, but also tinkering the whole gameplay difficulty to the point they become unplayable to some people. Honestly that shit should be considered borderline crime like those vandal kids who throw tomatoes at Mona Lisa's painting.

This argument falls apart when the guy said he really loved WD's release of Lunar

At least he's consistent in saying that he likes the Japanese media and wanting to read the most accurate version but in English language as the original creators intended.
Unlike you guys localization apologists who only liked bastardized slops by highbrow Japanese racists that had nothing to do with the original.

And WD is worse than many of its brethren at the time in that not only they ruined the original atmosphere of the game settings, but also tinkering the whole gameplay difficulty to the point they become unplayable to some people. Honestly that shit should be considered borderline crime like those vandal kids who throw tomatoes at Mona Lisa's painting.

 

[CG4R12I4N]

You know what, this discussion has long passed its purpose anyway.

 

[ATenderLad]

I agree! Not sure this was worth the hostility, but let's call it here.

(Honestly, the topics come up plenty on the forum anyways.)