NNL's Stand on the Release of ef - A Fairytale of Two

I suppose everyone who's participating on any VN forum would know about the argument if NNL should release a standalone setup or a patch. It is revealed on their earlier posts at its website (before the pagewipe that is) that they would release ef as a STANDALONE from day 1.

Come to think of it, releasing it as a standalone raises many questions about piracy. Isn't it a piracy in itself? considering they'll release it as one? Here's my conversation on one of the NNL staff on a secure IRC channel



Me: Its concerning nnl's stand on releasing a standalone installer of ef - The First Tale

???: What about it?

Me: hmmm

Me: Why was the reason you'll release it as such, and not as a patch?

???: Simple. To make it easier for the players. You know... normally you're not intended to own any original copy of an eroge unless you're in Japan

Me: Yeah.

Me: I was just thinking...

???: So why bothering with lame game images giving you trouble if you try to install them?

Me: Don't take this the wrong way but.. isn't this the same as spreading links of original games on the net?

Me: Just to clear my head abit though

???: Well yeah it kinda is. But what about it? The Japanese don't want you to buy it "For Japanese Market Only". So where's the difference in downloading a ripped ISO and applying a patch on it or downloading the whole thing. Japanese players don't care about the standalone since... yeah... they rather play games in their language

Me: hmmm... pretty good argument there. Thanks. that was the answer I need.



So there you have it. If you have any arguments about this, talk to me or on one of the nnl staff about it.