SOULCALIBUR 6: News, leaks and information discussion.

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I don't really care if he's DLC in all honesty, but I'd say no to Tira taking a DLC spot and so understand the desire. I'm much more concerned about Zorro, and more importantly Zorro over 2B. That's a horrible idea. Of course not when thinking business-wise, and it's only a couple insignificant opinions but I join that couple of fans that are pretty (if not completely) against it.
 
I got some very interesting new information back from my main SCVI source. Nothing that can confirm or deny those recent "former Bandai Namco employee" leaks still, which they said they're still working on and fishing around to see if they can find anything to help us know the status on those.
But the new information was pretty plentiful, so I'm going to do my best to paraphrase:

■ Project Soul and Bandai Namco specifically don't want some kind of Lost Swords situation to happen again and want a closer connection to the community.
They are wanting to see what real fans of the series want, and are trying not to confuse the demands of random people that played a or Soul Calibur games when they were younger but just lost interest and would never buy a Soul Calibur game otherwise.
Basically, they're tuning out the ludicrous demands.
The problem is they might be having issues differentiating things like Team Battle as what long term, real fans desire with what the fans they're tuning out want. So, if you want things like Team Battle and other things they ditched that were on SC1, II, and III that helped with the "soul" of what older Soul Calibur games were, I can't stress enough to please be vocal and come together to let them know what you want.

■ There are people that they have hired to manage social media and browse around with the intent of collecting data and opinions of what people are saying about the game and the series in general.
Most specifically they are paying attention to us here at 8WayRun, the youtubers Maximilian Dood, Aris, Dynasty, and TwoBestFriendsPlay, and threads about my leaks, which apparently directly impacted things like Zasalamel not being a DLC character, which was planned until the response to that was universally panned.
Hopefully the panning of the mere idea of Cervantes being DLC isn't falling on deaf ears if that "former employee" leak is actually true.
Anyways those things and people mentioned are who and what they are most closely following and paying attention to to get the best idea of public opinion and what people want in the game from various types of playerbases:
Casual fighting game players and gamers in general, fighting game veterans that don't play Soul Calibur, and Soul Calibur veteran players are an example to let you know what playerbases they're looking at.
Furthermore they are browsing places like reddit, 2ch, and 4chan to see what people are saying unfiltered as those are places they feel people post some of their most uncensored thoughts that they feel they don't always on Youtube, beit as videos or on comments on videos, or streams.

■ The character design and battle planning team apparently have voiced some regrets for character designs that they and apparently one from Okubo himself wishes they had an opportunity to include in the game.
Those being character styles like a "traditional and semi realistic" swordsman using real sword techniques that aren't usually in video games.
They were given examples like "Half-Swording and the Murder Stroke" specifically.
They actually cited the game For Honor as inspiration for this, as well as a couple people as part of the battle team getting into American Medieval Sword Fighting via youtube channels dedicated to it. Things like ScholaGladitoria does. They said they don't think it means they specifically watch things from that channel, but was at least given as an idea as to what they meant. But I guess it could've meant that one. I found that interesting regardless.

While that part was interesting and all, most interesting is that there is apparently one character design that A LOT of people on the dev team wish they ended up doing, but ultimately decided against, at least for the time being. I take it this character has no chance of making the launch roster at all because of that.
But there was apparently a lot of the Japanese design team into the "large and muscular women" character type idea and the "dark skinned women" archetype that they noticed is popular now in fighting games with many of the new installments in major franchises including one like Guilty Gear (Ramlethal), Street Fighter (Menat), and Tekken (Master Raven). And even non-fighting game characters like Urbosa.
They said that some of the people working on the game are fans of an artist called 23 who also goes by sela_god and Real XXIII, and that some of their work that's of big, muscular, dark skinned women was inspiring said female character design to some extent that they wanted to put in the game but didn't have the opportunity to.
I had to look up who this artist they mentioned was, but fair share of warning it is NSFW lol
https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts?tags=23_(real_xxiii)
https://danbooru.donmai.us/artists/118297

It makes me wonder if because this "large and muscular dark skinned woman" character idea was one they passed on, that it means SCVI had a new female character addition planned, but because she didn't wind up being chosen, SCVI isn't getting a new female character this time around for a change?
I still find it a little strange that I've heard about Grøh, Grøh's dad, and even Maxi's lover if he's also a playable character when it comes to new characters, but still no new female until this now. I don't know if the game is getting one or not yet, as I've said before. But I know that a lot of people are suspicious and worrying that there might not be one for a change.
It really makes me wonder if she was going to be it, but they ultimately and regretfully had to pass on her.
If you're interested in either or both of these new character types, a large and muscular dark skinned woman or a more traditional semi realistic swordsman style using character that uses "Half-Swording and the Murder Stroke," I'd recommend to be vocal about it so they know that people actually would've liked these things. They might revisit these ideas as DLC characters if people support it enough.

■ I was told specifically that it would benefit the game by sharing this because if there is enough demand for those kinds of characters, they might do it and include them down the line or get the content creators and communities a lot more vocal about what they want to see in the game and how Bandai Namco treats the community, knowing that they ARE listening.
Since apparently the creators and communities are pretty silent about what they want to see happen and just discuss what's already in the game, I'm tasked to, in layman's terms, help bring it together by sharing this information with you as it helps everyone.
Them, us, and the game itself.
 
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Half-Swording and Murder Stroke sound like Geralt’s medieval-style swordplay...

It’s reassuring to read that they are taking the right peoples’ opinions seriously.

I’m not really into dark muscular chicks (???) but realistic medieval swordsmanship combined with that character does sound unique... voice actors for that character though? Nolan North

And yes: Cassandra!
 
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A darker-skinned muscular woman would certainly be a breath of fresh air, so it's a shame she likely won't happen. However, them being inspired by a hentai artist, even if it is just for one character, isn't exactly a comforting thought. That's about as bad as writing a character for a movie and being inspired by a girl from some random porno you watched.
 
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If only Black Panther was released earlier. They could have taken inspiration from the kick-ass women in that film instead of... hentai...

gallery-1518521934-black-panther-ayo-and-okoye.jpg
blackpanther2.jpg
 
This dark-skinned muscle theory reminds me of an old book series called Pendragon, I remember there was a character named Loor from a tribal world called Zadaa . . . It certainly doesn’t remind me of hentai, and I really don’t wanna just say, “but hey, it’s Japan” . . . but hey.

Regarding the thing about the team wanting to take serious fan character desires into actual account, I honestly want a lot of items from that seemingly false leak-list that was dropped forever ago, such as the loligoth girl with the whip, etc..
 
If only Black Panther was released earlier. They could have taken inspiration from the kick-ass women in that film instead of... hentai...

Yeah, muscular dark-skinned females like these are OK. But they said "large and muscular dark skinned". This reminds me of the SC3 mod videos made by Owen on Youtube, where Astaroth were playing some female character's moves. Just check "Astaroth with Setsuka's weapon exhibition" and some modded endings where Astaroth played as Rock's girl friend or boyfriend...

Freaky but hilarious.
 
I got some very interesting new information back from my main SCVI source.
But the new information was pretty plentiful, so I'm going to do my best to paraphrase
this is a FAT post with lots of juicy bits! Thanks.
I'm just going to add some thoughts to your posts, and I'm not demanding some sort of direct reply.
■ Project Soul and Bandai Namco specifically don't want some kind of Lost Swords situation to happen again and want a closer connection to the community.
Lost Swords (ignoring the gameplay decisions) I thought was just a cash grab + temporary game that keeps the Soul Calibur brand still fresh in people's mind.
They are wanting to see what real fans of the series want, and are trying not to confuse the demands of random people that played a or Soul Calibur games when they were younger but just lost interest and would never buy a Soul Calibur game otherwise.
Basically, they're tuning out the ludicrous demands.
Good.
Do not cater to SJW that are trying to influence gamers just so they could feel morally superior. Those that complained about Ivy wouldn't have bought the game anyways if her "controversies" were reduced. Some people are more naturally inclined to whine just because it is so easy to do so with social media with minimal reprecussions.

■ There are people that they have hired to manage social media and browse around with the intent of collecting data and opinions of what people are saying about the game and the series in general.
Most specifically they are paying attention to us here at 8WayRun, ... and threads about my leaks, which apparently directly impacted things like Zasalamel not being a DLC character, which was planned until the response to that was universally panned.
• Very good. This shows how important it is for posters to not CLUTTER up threads with pointless shitposts (you know who you are) and the mods need to be vigilant in cleaning up / organizing the threads because you never know when the data-gatherers might be reading.
• Lets make Project Soul's job easier, so that we can ALL benefit.
• However, I find Soul Calibur's social media content to be subpar, but I'm not really a guy who browses social media in the first place. I find more up-to-date information here, with higher resolution concept art and screenshots for instance.
• I suspect that the japanese discussion boards (where they had a special event with oosaka and decopon) is likely being mined for gamer feedback by Project Soul. I think if you are literate in japanese, your voice would be better head by Project Soul in your postings.

Anyways those things and people mentioned are who and what they are most closely following and paying attention to to get the best idea of public opinion and what people want in the game from various types of playerbases:
Casual fighting game players and gamers in general, fighting game veterans that don't play Soul Calibur, and Soul Calibur veteran players are an example to let you know what playerbases they're looking at.
I think we all know that the casuals make up the overwhelming majority, but at the same time there is a large portion of "casuals" who are only into the superficial shallow stuff that don't appreciate the nuances of the fighting game genres like the veterans. Things such as the determination of the guest character is basically a non-factor for veterans, but imo is critical for casual fans. At the same time, you won't get veteran fans who didn't start out as casual fans so there is a compromise.

• I can't comment on how to "steal" veteran FG gamers from other franchises, but its important to see what people are complaining about and making sure Project Soul doesn't commit the same mistakes and lose their own veterans. One thing I've read is roster cuts of characters that are usually series stalwarts is almost always unwelcomed.

Furthermore they are browsing places like reddit, 2ch, and 4chan to see what people are saying unfiltered as those are places they feel people post some of their most uncensored thoughts that they feel they don't always on Youtube, beit as videos or on comments on videos, or streams.
Interesting. Maybe we can double-down on our messages via those other message boards.
■ The character design and battle planning team apparently have voiced some regrets for character designs ...
Those being character styles like a "traditional and semi realistic" swordsman using real sword techniques that aren't usually in video games.
They were given examples like "Half-Swording and the Murder Stroke" specifically.
The lack of grounded / semi-realistic new characters bothers me as well.

One thing I felt that Project Soul was heading in the wrong direction was their new character designs starting in SC4 (after Hilde).
• You get Algol which is some sort of floating man-god boss character with no discernable weapon + weapon discipline (probably the worse offender)
• You then have Viola with heavy emphasis on the supernatural orb and finger claws.
• Zwei fights with a wolf stand but at least he has a sword.
• At least Hilde brought in charge commands (new to the series) but still had a traditional character design being a joan of arc-esque knight.
• For SC6, Groh looks more out of place than Zwei (his weird eye-patch and arm armor look out of place) but his weapon and fighting animations is slightly less fantastical. I'm not saying make everything grounded, but recently Project Soul has been very heavy on the fantasy combat and less on the martial artist side of design.

They actually cited the game For Honor as inspiration.
• I REALLY thought project soul would have taken inspiration (for character design, not game mechanics) from For Honor, when the game was announced.
• For Honor is a lot more "brutal and punishing" in terms of presentation if you look at their executions which are done superbly (fluid animation plus interesting camera movement/angles) A lot of the orochi / kensei executions would look fantastic for mitsurugi or yoshimitsu.
• However, some of Soul Calibur's grab animations are just as lethal looking, except people dont end up spewing blood or ending up decapitated (Zas's wrB attack throw, Raphaels' back grab for some examples are moves you don't walk away from).

But there was apparently a lot of the Japanese design team into the "large and muscular women" character type idea and the "dark skinned women" archetype that they noticed is popular now in fighting games with many of the new installments in major franchises including one like Guilty Gear (Ramlethal), Street Fighter (Menat), and Tekken (Master Raven). And even non-fighting game characters like Urbosa.

• A tanned / muscular woman would likely mean she won't really be covered up, since you won't be able to tell otherwise. It'll be a step in an opposition direction to Hilde, but hopefully Project Soul could pull it off (instead of trying to make a darker, more jacked Ivy).
• I'd laugh if Talim was introduced as a a tall and shredded tonfa wielding Amazonian

They said that some of the people working on the game are fans of an artist called 23 who also goes by sela_god and Real XXIII, and that some of their work that's of big, muscular, dark skinned women was inspiring said female character design to some extent that they wanted to put in the game but didn't have the opportunity to.
I had to look up who this artist they mentioned was, but fair share of warning it is NSFW lol
https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts?tags=23_(real_xxiii)
https://danbooru.donmai.us/artists/118297

It makes me wonder if because this "large and muscular dark skinned woman" character idea was one they passed on, that it means SCVI had a new female character addition planned, but because she didn't wind up being chosen, SCVI isn't getting a new female character this time around for a change?
I still find it a little strange that I've heard about Grøh, Grøh's dad, and even Maxi's lover if he's also a playable character when it comes to new characters, but still no new female until this now. I don't know if the game is getting one or not yet, as I've said before. But I know that a lot of people are suspicious and worrying that there might not be one for a change.
It really makes me wonder if she was going to be it, but they ultimately and regretfully had to pass on her.
• Solid theory. I've noticed you've always mentioned characters by their canonical relationship to existing characters (maybe thats how your leaks referred to them).
• Design wise I always thought the weapon was the most important starting point and logically the most defining aspect of a character (established in SC2 and repeated again by Okubo). However, I recognize there have been multiple characters wielding the same weapon (with a slight variation in moveset) such as Xiba/Kilik, Leixia/Xianghua, Natsu/Taki.. etc that would be confusing if we just mentioned them as "ninja girl".
• What could a large, dark, muscular women wield ? Some sort of warhammer and end up replacing Rock ?

■ I was told specifically that it would benefit the game by sharing this because if there is enough demand for those kinds of characters, they might do it and include them down the line or get the content creators and communities a lot more vocal about what they want to see in the game and how Bandai Namco treats the community, knowing that they ARE listening.
Hey feel free to introduce yourselves! I can't guarnatee you won't be bombarded by some "ludicrous demands" unfortunately.

Since apparently the creators and communities are pretty silent about what they want to see happen and just discuss what's already in the game, I'm tasked to, in layman's terms, help bring it together by sharing this information with you as it helps everyone.
Them, us, and the game itself.
You're doing good work.
 
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But there was apparently a lot of the Japanese design team into the "large and muscular women" character type idea and the "dark skinned women" archetype that they noticed is popular now in fighting games with many of the new installments in major franchises including one like Guilty Gear (Ramlethal), Street Fighter (Menat), and Tekken (Master Raven). And even non-fighting game characters like Urbosa.
I have just a nitpick about this and this might come off as "sjw-ish." I don't like the idea of a "dark-skinned female," being considered an "archetype." It just screams tokenism [and fetishism to an extent]. Just make a cool character, who happens to be dark-skinned. They did it with Zas, so they could do it for a woman, too. Part of the reason why the women in Black Panther were so heavily praised was because the film treated them with significance. It's not that hard to do

I don't mean to derail the topic, but that's just my two cents
 
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I have just a nitpick about this and this might come off as "sjw-ish." I don't like the idea of a "dark-skinned female," being considered an "archetype." It just screams tokenism [and fetishism to an extent]. Just make a cool character, who happens to be dark-skinned.
I don't mean to derail the topic, but that's just my two cents
I know what you mean. Make their character bad ass even without the skin colour, and then make them happen to be dark skinned. What Verge is trying to say (I hope I'm not misinterpreting the intentions of the developers) is they're trying to put in traits that are "cool" at the moment. I don't think they're trying to fit in a quota, but they also want to make a character that is instantly recognizable as different from the existing cast.

I don't think Viola was introduced because Gypsies were all the latest rage back in 2012, for example.
 
I'm tasked to, in layman's terms, help bring it together by sharing this information with you as it helps everyone.
Them, us, and the game itself.
This is why I made the team battle poll thread. If people haven't voted yet could they kindly do so? Can then link results/discussion directly to Okubo. Only prob I can see with team battle is how the meter would work but if you've any ideas.. share them!

Could do a similar thing to discuss GI mechanic only being 1 direction? kinda would make sense to have parry/repel of old, given it's a 3D game an all :) that's my humble opinion but would love to know what the consensus is
 
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