Board Thread:Wikia Discussion/@comment-26091666-20180918153805/@comment-26091666-20180928134848

These are of my own personal opinions. 1. By being able to have a diverse range of communities able to collaborate, it is possible to be able to collect information more faster or more accurately. Moreover, the emphasis is placed on Japanese community as this is where they know-hows with the game shines along with the lack of language barrier that exists outside of Japan. That said however, this isn't a "one-way" affair as the intentions were to also allow them to access the information that may be foreign to them (such as for instance foreign ships, equipment and such). Thus I would like to consider this as more of a reciprocal collaboration at first.

There are risks, yes. The risks are that they have a much different understanding of the laws domestically as that could be used directly against them should a dispute arise. This however, may be lessened to an extent if they decide to make use of us as proxies for providing information. That said, the English community isn't completely immune to such rules and regulations which mostly applies to Japan however but to a degree by opening up to foreign communities and hopefully understanding each other's difference will only bring benefits to either sides.

Japanese community are very mixed with the contents on EN Wikia as a whole. In the past, EN Wikia was more or less seemed like a place where weird nicknames are given along with weird "international" standards compared to them. These days however, it is quite possible that some are potentially willing to open up to how EN Wikia operates, for instance how EN Wikia tends to have the information already up before their own local content(s) and that those contents are not some fictional content (in which EN Wikia has been trying to correct it during my time as a staff member).

2. In the past there was an attempt to try and collaborate with Kouryaku wiki (wikiwiki.jp/kancolle) but from what I heard with those who are way more formidable in Japanese than I am is that, we were kindly refused for such collaboration. This was why I was personally keen on looking forward of what was then a bright future for Kensho wikia (ja.kancolle.wikia.com) considering it was hard to convince Kouryaku wiki in the past. Though the problem is much deeper than expected with how the two JP wikis work and therefore if a collaboration was to actually take place with either one or both, a degree of caution is needed.

Ultimately, it would be nice again personally to be able to collaborate with wikiwiki.jp/kancolle but not with the current situation that has happened with ja.kancolle.wikia.com.

3. Depending on the case, each of them has their own advantages and risks on their own. I do still recall the fallout that happened in and around Spring 2016 Event which led to kcvdb.jp shutting down and senka.me to follow suit (but much later on). Again, for now there are no immediate plans to open up partnering as it is due to the differences in views between the various JP communities.

4. This is very much a licensing issue in which it can be seen in various perspectives. The various assets on KC Wikia as it is are technically not violating against the copyright rules because KC Wikia itself does not charge any sort of fee nor commission for the work published. That said however, KC Wikia is hosted on a FANDOM network which does make their profits through advertisement placement and revenues generated from advertisement in which readers accepts upon visiting the said website (wikia).

The game itself is technically free to play which means that the use of their assets elsewhere (provided that one isn't selling such assets) is considered a "grey zone" meaning that it probably is acceptable. The contents of KC Wikia however, does not contain files that one normally has to pay money in order to obtain the said goods. This would instantly mark what was once a "grey zone" into effectively a black zone because that would be condoning piracy and thus would potentially be against Wikia's Terms of Use (ToU). If however, there are reports of KC Wikia containing materials that one normally has to engage in monetary transaction in order to receive it then those whistleblowers are encouraged to inform a staff member about it.

Now, as for providing copyrighted materials free of charge the same could be said for several other games that are hosted on DMM but instead has their own wikias or own wikis for that matter. So if C2/DMM was against this from the beginning not only KC Wikia would be forced to either close or relocate but also several other DMM games whose English wiki of sorts would be faced with the same scrutinisation. This is the same as is with several other DMM games whose assets are visible on wikia network, these games are mostly free to play.

With the matter about using cookies and proxies in order to bypass region checks. I'd like to mention first and foremost that this is not only an issue with DMM themselves but also KC is not the only game that requires such methods in order to allow a non-Japanese IP to play games hosted on their platform. It appears basing on various rumours that C2 (the developers of KanColle) does not mind foreigners playing their creation on the basis that a foreigner needs to adhere to Japanese rules and regulations. DMM on the other hand restricts such contents is possibly because of the said contents may not be suitable to a foreigner's tastes. You may recall there was a stage where using English version of DMM.com and trying to navigate to KanColle and thus play the game would have DMM kindly informing you to play the said game on nutaku.com instead. There is this concern amongst other concerns such as doubts on whether or not there is the ability to cater for foreigners with various international rules and regulations that may make it hard for DMM to compromise.

Above all else, this fourth point is not an isolated case. KanColle Wikia is one of the fair few non-Japanese and a foreign based wiki/platform that are out there whilst hosting contents from DMM and their respective partners/cooperations. Personally I am certain that both C2 and DMM are well aware that there are foreigners on their networks as it is not hard to tell by a simple "snooping" on the range of IPs that request what and which contents from their sites. Thus, if this was a huge issue to begin with, KC wikia and various other foreign communities along with various other DMM fan-based content and their respective platforms would have been long defunct. Thus, this is somewhat irrelevant.

This whole ethical issue with the various Japanese views isn't any different with foreigners who either decides to play the game or decides to avoid it due to underlying complicated legal matters should a dispute arise. What I am personally aiming for are to work with those who are more open towards foreigners who already took their first steps. To be frank, we foreigners have already accepted (indirectly) into their terms and to isolate communities into their own respective areas is one simple way of eliminating the free thinking of how a what-if collaboration were to happen it may change this entire approach from protectionism to a more compromising but mutually understanding framework. That said, I don't go out of my way unnecessarily to invite others into the collaboration but if they are showing signs of willing to collaborate, I'd say why not? KC Wikia wasn't something that was created in a single overnight and/or it "took the world by storm". So long as there are people out there willing to collaborate with KC Wikia in order to achieve the same mutual goal whilst understanding each other's positions would only bring benefits rather than going around in circles with doubts lingering over our own heads. For that I would then extend my own arm and to reach out and greet with those willing to share the same sort of understanding.

As with contacting too many Japanese people, this wasn't my plan to begin with. My ideals are to embrace those who are more willing to openly accept working with foreigners rather than haphazardly invite anyone and everyone disregarding/suppressing their own opinions. However, again, in the light of what has happened with Kensho wikia, I will need to tread this path even more carefully than before.

It is a sensitive issue, in fact it risen into new heights considering what has just happened. So I am again emphasising that I only intend to embrace those who are more willing to come work (basically collaborate) with us rather than inviting everyone and accepting whatever terms they have.