Interview with Coastward On His Recent Sponsorship

[Kirbyfan391]

I never said they said that. I am simply expressing my disgust that people got together and formed an organised community over smash bros.

Really? You're going to start this kind of snide ****? You used the Smash Bros. thing as an analogy in your original post to Psycho's post, when that is incorrect as I have explained.

 

[Indigo Jeans]

You never explained how it was incorrect, only that they never said it should "be abolished", which I never claimed they said nor was the point I was trying to make

Between Smashboards and Fakku, the content is different but the premise is the same. It isn't anything indefensible like pedophilia, so while I do understand that it's inevitable people will feel disgust, I don't understand what is gained from letting everyone know. A smasher got sponsored, which is an AWESOME thing. Why come in here and basically just say "ew"?

 

[BuTTNutz]

if etika becomes a competitive smash player FAKKU better sponsor him since he has a segment literally titled HENTAI WITH ETIKA

 

[Solutionme]

We here at Fakku would like to continue sponsoring under a few conditions.

1. Main Palutena
2. Main ZSS
3. Main Samus
4. Main FemRobin
5. Main Zelda
6. Main Peach
7. Main Lucina
8. Main Rosalina
9. Main Wii Fit Trainer
10. Be Kawaii

This is our terms of sponsorship, easy enough right? Easier for us

 

[Zzuxon]

...
You can't make this **** up.

 

[LunarWingCloud]

Literally best sponsor in Smash now tbh

 

[Pwii]

We xsports nao

 

[Aninymouse]

I can't say we were advertising them hard, we warned people full and well what the website was and if they don't want to see that kind of thing to NOT go look., We never directly linked the website at any point in the article either, you HAVE to go out of your way to find this stuff after the article, and if you DID go out of your way you probably either wanted to see it or knew what you were getting into. People can take some responsibility for their own actions as well.



Well I guess calling @The Derrit and @ AlphaZealot for this one as they gave me permission to write the article. Whether people like it or not this IS Smash news and is about a subject we're all going to have to think about and face now. I wont turn away from reporting something just because it may hurt some people's sensibilities, I'd rather have them see it in the safe environment of Smashboards that to randomly run into it elsewhere. The original Tweet of the sponsorship shared on reddit had a direct link to FAKKU's Twitter, which I wouldn't visit unless you want to see something RIGHT in your face. :|



I would still maintain we are a family friendly website. We aren't flaunting the website, we're telling people "yes, someone in Smash was sponsored by a facet of adult industry" and we talked to him about how that went and what he thinks it means for our entire community which will have to deal with the development whether they like it or not as it HAS happened. We have had to cover other sensitive topics in the past and not turned away, and I hope we wont in the future either.

Thank you for your kind and measured response. I know I tend to be a bit hyperbolic at times; that's just a part of who I am.

I agree that you were not hard-line advertising Fakku, and I appreciate that their website was not linked in your article. I also agree that people hold personal responsibility for what they do; I'd be the first to agree with you on that.

However, where perhaps you and I differ in opinion is where this line in the sand lies: where does your personal responsibility towards others end, and their personal responsibility begin?

I don't have a problem with the WORDS in your article, really. I think you handled the whole thing very well for the most part. You did understate that this is a pornography website, I would argue. Perhaps my biggest beef, though, is that you chose to display the websites logo, big and bold, on the front page. That implies acceptance and promotion. Like it or not, that is Smashboards indirectly legitimatizing Fakku. That is the bridge too far, for me. If I had done this piece, I would have chosen an appropriate GENERIC image, so as to not influence my readers. As an impartial journalist, I'm sure you can see the value in being as impartial as possible. I suppose my words and feelings did not coalesce properly the first time, but I did write that right before going to slepp.

Nevertheless, thank you again for your response. I hope that you take my thoughts and concerns into consideration, as I have yours. I hope you have a fine day.

 

[Pwii]

Thank you for your kind and measured response. I know I tend to be a bit hyperbolic at times; that's just a part of who I am.

I agree that you were not hard-line advertising Fakku, and I appreciate that their website was not linked in your article. I also agree that people hold personal responsibility for what they do; I'd be the first to agree with you on that.

However, where perhaps you and I differ in opinion is where this line in the sand lies: where does your personal responsibility towards others end, and their personal responsibility begin?

I don't have a problem with the WORDS in your article, really. I think you handled the whole thing very well for the most part. You did understate that this is a pornography website, I would argue. Perhaps my biggest beef, though, is that you chose to display the websites logo, big and bold, on the front page. That implies acceptance and promotion. Like it or not, that is Smashboards indirectly legitimatizing Fakku. That is the bridge too far, for me. If I had done this piece, I would have chosen an appropriate GENERIC image, so as to not influence my readers. As an impartial journalist, I'm sure you can see the value in being as impartial as possible. I suppose my words and feelings did not coalesce properly the first time, but I did write that right before going to slepp.

Nevertheless, thank you again for your response. I hope that you take my thoughts and concerns into consideration, as I have yours. I hope you have a fine day.

lol you are getting offended at the fact that people on the internet are acknowledging the fact that porn exists.

 

[Aninymouse]

lol you are getting offended at the fact that people on the internet are acknowledging the fact that porn exists.

No.

There is a difference between telling people that pornography exists, and telling people that this society necessarily accepts or condones pornography.

I'm not saying that such things were explicitly stated, and I'm not calling for some kind of disclaimer per se.

What we are dealing with is a difference in worldview, and it can be difficult to navigate those kind of differences.

 

[Solutionme]

No.

There is a difference between telling people that pornography exists, and telling people that this society necessarily accepts or condones pornography.

I'm not saying that such things were explicitly stated, and I'm not calling for some kind of disclaimer per se.

What we are dealing with is a difference in worldview, and it can be difficult to navigate those kind of differences.

Actually with how many people watch porn on the internet, it is a norm, so your argument is very invalid. In fact I find it dumb how people refuse to acknowledge they accept it, I just straight out say it. It may be how you view it, but overall no the world does not agree.

 

[MOI-ARI]

Thanks for changing the thumbnail that had "FAKKU" written large on the front page XD IT had me cautious to leave my computer loaded on the front page XD

 

[AlphaZealot]

Removed the website logo from the article and the website from the title.

This a tough call either way - with @ LiteralGrill having the interview aspect it pushed it more toward the publish than don't publish. There definitely has to be some dialogue here in how to handle this - if the feedback from the Smashboards community is that even acknowledging that this is happening is going to far, then I don't have an issue with that and we can adopt that stance going forward. There will be other tough calls though in the future - sponsor logos on stream? On shirts? Do those events not get covered?

The answer may be yes - feedback would be helpful.

 

[⑨ball]

The censorship attempts on this article have me crying.

It's like Japan's black strips.

 

[Mega Bidoof]

Removed the website logo from the article and the website from the title.

This a tough call either way - with @ LiteralGrill having the interview aspect it pushed it more toward the publish than don't publish. There definitely has to be some dialogue here in how to handle this - if the feedback from the Smashboards community is that even acknowledging that this is happening is going to far, then I don't have an issue with that and we can adopt that stance going forward. There will be other tough calls though in the future - sponsor logos on stream? On shirts? Do those events not get covered?

The answer may be yes - feedback would be helpful.

In all seriousness, I personally would have events with the logo in it covered, mainly because having the logo isn't necessarily NSFW, as it's not like having the ******* or Brazzers logo, where everyone would recognize it and assume you're watching porn.

I mean, I'm pretty sure that if your boss walks in on you looking at the Fakku logo, he or she won't know what it is. Seriously, the people who have hentai in their lives usually aren't the people who are well respected authority figures with power.
And if someone does see you looking at the logo and they know what it is, they're probs a cool hentai bro who would understand you just wanna watch a little tentacle **** on the down-low, even thought you're not doing that and you're just watching a Smash stream.

My point here is that if someone at your job knows what Fakku is they probably understand and won't rat you out (because they would have to explain what hentai is and how they know of it when they tell on you) and are either equal or inferior to you in terms of power, and the people who are higher than you are too respectable to know what hentai even is.


Basically it doesn't matter if someone sees you looking at a relatively obscure logo, even if it is for a porn site, because it's relatively obscure.

 

[Metallinatus]

The censorship attempts on this article have me crying.

It's like Japan's black strips.

Ditto..
Sharing news that involves pornography is not the same as sharing porn, you don't need to, and personally, you shouldn't sensor stuff in a news article just because it is related to pornography.... as long as you are not sharing some of the pornography too I guess.

 

[Tino]

Didn't know something like FAKKU existed. They watch Japanese porn or something?

 

[Purin a.k.a. José]

The article changed entirely!!!

Removed the website logo from the article and the website from the title.

This a tough call either way - with @ LiteralGrill having the interview aspect it pushed it more toward the publish than don't publish. There definitely has to be some dialogue here in how to handle this - if the feedback from the Smashboards community is that even acknowledging that this is happening is going to far, then I don't have an issue with that and we can adopt that stance going forward. There will be other tough calls though in the future - sponsor logos on stream? On shirts? Do those events not get covered?

The answer may be yes - feedback would be helpful.

Oh my God, Smashboards owner
But, seriously, having the Fakku logo is not a big problem. Despite being the biggest hentai community, many don't know it; I did not, for example. Mentioning NSFW stuff it's different from describing it and showing it. It just depends on what content it is... There are things that can be censored, but the site name, despite being cursing (a really, really ugly term), was not something so shocking... If somebody passes by (assuming that somebody uses Smashboards at work), it will notice "oh, just a Nintendo-related site" and will forgot. But, if somebody uses Fakku, the problem lies with him, not with Smashboards for talking about it.

 

[cstonic]

Im so jealous :/

 

[JesseMcCloud]

 

[Indigo Jeans]

Attn @ AlphaZealot , you only censored the sponsors name up until Coastward's third paragraph of dialogue. The name in that paragraph and afterwards remains uncensored

Just a heads up

 

[ndayday]

The article is great and appreciated. However, Smashboards needs to get it right the first time, remain objective, and decide how it will handle discussion with undertones of pornography in respect to its established rules (Fakku is a censor-dodge, for example).

It is fine to have discussion about this; it's important Smash news. What is not right is to have FAKKU! emblazoned across the front page and then explain the site's stance on it afterward. Explain first, then write your article as needed. Any different than that and it seems as if the staff is going for an attention-grabbing title and image and the whoaaaa~ how lewd~~!! undertones. Decide what you're doing. This is not the first time I've wished I was still staff so I could yell at you guys directly.

 

[ChikoLad]

But what we all REALLY wanna know is, are FAKKU gonna give him all of the Rosalina Amiibos? Those are the most hentai objects out there, I would expect such a well established hentai company to have plenty.

 

[redcometchar]

im sponsored by the holocaust

That's horrible
oh god my sides

 

[The Slayer]

The censorship attempts on this article have me crying.

It's like Japan's black strips.

I know right? I think it'll be ok with their logo on Coastward's shirt. Not like it'll be accompany with a suggestive-looking buxom anime girl on it.

 

[Pwii]

The article is great and appreciated. However, Smashboards needs to get it right the first time, remain objective, and decide how it will handle discussion with undertones of pornography in respect to its established rules (Fakku is a censor-dodge, for example).

It is fine to have discussion about this; it's important Smash news. What is not right is to have FAKKU! emblazoned across the front page and then explain the site's stance on it afterward. Explain first, then write your article as needed. Any different than that and it seems as if the staff is going for an attention-grabbing title and image and the whoaaaa~ how lewd~~!! undertones. Decide what you're doing. This is not the first time I've wished I was still staff so I could yell at you guys directly.

You act like this isn't funny, cool, or worthy of a bemused news article in the news section of a website.

 

[CH4F]

Hope this actually lasts and doesn't go the way of FGC/BRZ.

Wow, someone remembered this.

Also known as 20XXX.

20SexSex

 

[CAUP]

1) There is no freaking way this is good for smash. Having our game associated with a company 99% of people consider indecent is not at all a good idea

2) Yes, this is news but it is not something that we want to advertise. And I don't mean to say that you are advertising porn. What I mean is that this should be covered up O.O People do know that there is a lot of nasty stuff in the smash scene that goes under the rug right?

3) Before people go like "yeah, that's funny and awesome!" Realize what you are doing... This has the potential to be INCREDIBLY bad for smash. :/ Do you honestly think this enhances the reputation of what we love? We might as well be sponsored by brothels. And a say "we" because one member can negatively effect an entire community

4) I'm sorry but I feel like I have to say this. This was a super bad call by alpha zealot and coast for agreeing to this. Putting this on the front page was an undeniably stupid decision.

 

[Kasran]

I guess even adult companies can sponsor gamers here and there. Imagine Playboy came around. That would be a riot.

"Dear Penthouse: You'll never believe what happened to me while I was playing Smash with my bros the other day..."

 

[ndayday]

You act like this isn't funny, cool, or worthy of a bemused news article in the news section of a website.

You mean I act like someone that thinks smashboards is stumbling around like an idiot and catering to people that want it censored and not thinking things through? the article is fine and I agree with you.

 

[CyberZixx]

I actually don't mind this. Long as it don't get outta hand. Would be different it was like Westballz being sponsored and he had a lewd jersey going around.

 

[Myougi]

Remember when Westballz talked about a Pr*nHub sponsorship?
...that actually seems possible now. ( o_o)

 

[Xcano]

1/10 not enough FAKKU links- IGN

 

[Kurogal]

1) There is no freaking way this is good for smash. Having our game associated with a company 99% of people consider indecent is not at all a good idea

2) Yes, this is news but it is not something that we want to advertise. And I don't mean to say that you are advertising porn. What I mean is that this should be covered up O.O People do know that there is a lot of nasty stuff in the smash scene that goes under the rug right?

3) Before people go like "yeah, that's funny and awesome!" Realize what you are doing... This has the potential to be INCREDIBLY bad for smash. :/ Do you honestly think this enhances the reputation of what we love? We might as well be sponsored by brothels. And a say "we" because one member can negatively effect an entire community

4) I'm sorry but I feel like I have to say this. This was a super bad call by alpha zealot and coast for agreeing to this. Putting this on the front page was an undeniably stupid decision.

Do you have proof for your "99% of people consider it indecent" claim, or is it something you feel is just the truth because you don't like it?
And what do you even mean by indecent? That's a pretty vague word that can mean anything anybody wants it to.

I'm also pretty sure that @The Derrit said that you shouldn't argue for if this something worth having a Smashboards news article worthy in comments.
And oh please, do tell of the dark secrets that happen in the smash community under rugs, hidden from the public eye, and more importantly, why it should stay hidden, with a reason besides "because it used to be that way."

And do you really think that outside sources will care about the sponsorship an individual player has?
I doubt even Nintendo will care about the entire scene, much less a single player since they have fairly recently worked with PLAYBOY on a Splatoon ad.
(I linked to an Etika video, that links to a reply to a tweet by mynintendonews, that links to their news site, that links to a NeoGAF post, that then finally links to the official Playboy site which has the Splatoon video they made with Nintendo, which Etika doesn't show in the video, he only goes up to the mynintendonews site, pls don't kill me mods.)

And who's coast? Do you mean @ LiteralGrill ?
And you should contact @ AlphaZealot directly if you think it's a bad idea.
And yeah, like @ Indigo Jeans said, your censorship was only part way though the article, unless that was intentional. You should also consider using a different censor, even if it's only for the top, FAK*** makes things worse than it being uncensored in my personal opinion.

Edited to fix odd post formatting and add this:
If you don't mind somebody not in the writing team writing for this article:
I could quickly just re-word parts of this article to avoid mentioning Fakku altogether, using whatever terms like "Hentai Doujin translation company" the moderation team would prefer, and then submit it to whoever reviews articles for use as an alternative.

 

[Indigo Jeans]

Woah, links on links

 

[Reinhart_x]

^^^ @ Kurogal said a lot of what I was thinking; I pretty much agree with all of the points made. I mean, I could tell you right now that "99%" of the people I know have watched pornography and I can't recall any of them saying that they detest it. Still, I have no proof, so why should you believe me either?

Not gonna lie, I definitely would not have read this article as I did earlier had I not known beforehand what sponsor was involved. I would have ran with the name, even if you didn't want to give free advertising or whatever the reason was for removing the logo, which is a stance I can accept. Censorship is not something I enjoy and it pains me to see it come to fruition, but if these are the wishes of this site and/or its viewers, then I suppose that's how it will be. There are plenty of other means to get similar or the exact same news.

I think we could all be adults about this and be happy another sponsor has joined the ranks. There was sort of an interesting story of how the sponsorship came to be and I only see it as a good thing. Their being a sponsor has nothing to do with you viewing their site or being involved with them in any way other than hearing their name.

I will never go to their site because I'm personally not a fan of that sort of thing, but who cares? One more player will be able to go to more tournaments and as long as images of naked animated women aren't paraded about on streams or in person, we're never involved in their business other than probably seeing their t-shirt which I'm sure would only have their name/logo on it, on the basis that they don't want it to be a bad look for themselves. To me it's just another sponsor, albeit a different one than usual which was refreshing for me to see.

 

[Metallinatus]

4) I'm sorry but I feel like I have to say this. This was a super bad call by alpha zealot and coast for agreeing to this. Putting this on the front page was an undeniably stupid decision.

I agree, because the number of people who access Smashboards without being a fan of Smash already that won't stop playing the game for such a futile reason as this is overwhelming.... kappa.

 

[Kirbyfan391]

Kudos to Smashboards for the sensible changes to the article and for showing us that our feedback do matter.

 

[_yuna]

Not everybody does it, but everybody should.

 

[MarioMeteor]

Hentai and Smash coming together. I've seen everything now.