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Re: Team Yu needs you!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 8:04 pm
by ShenSun
wow, that's very impressive.

When Teamyu make changes this weekend, we need to emphasis sending messages to @giocorsi. Can you imagine if all those tweets were on sony's buildingthislist #tag.

Re: Team Yu needs you!

PostPosted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 2:18 pm
by Let's Get Sweaty
phpBB [video]


It's announcement time!

For a while now we've been alluding to upcoming changes to the campaign, and the day has finally come to let the cat out of the bag.

As you'll gather from the attached video, one of the big modifications to the monthly Shenmue Tweetathon is the retirement of #GiveYuTheShenmueLicense as the communal hashtag, in favor of the simpler and more versatile #SaveShenmue.

The other big change is that we're now officially expanding the event beyond Twitter and onto other social networks, principly Facebook and Tumblr (because these are the networks currently supported by Thunderclap, the message pre-loading service that has become a staple tool of the campaign).

All the necessary details for participating in the new monthly events, which still take place on every 3rd, can be found at http://TeamYu.net/SaveShenmue - please take a look and lend your support to the January 3rd Thunderclap, which is now accepting sign-ups.

For those who may be confused about why these changes are taking place, let us take this opportunity to explain how we got here.

In January 2012 we began the Team Yu project, following comments from Yu Suzuki in an interview with French fansite Shenmue Master. We were motivated by Yu's continued enthusiasm for his untold story, a conclusion that gamers had spent the past decade awaiting. In the interview, Suzuki made reference to Sega being the owners of the license, and it soon became clear from his eagerness to complete the series that it was Sega who refused to deliver satisfaction to the fans.

At the time, we saw Suzuki coming under undue criticism from gamers who didn't understand his position. He would be blamed for not making Shenmue III, as if it was he that had turned up his nose at the wishes of those who'd been hooked by the saga. So we set out to redress this misconception of indifference and restore Yu's reputation as the most steadfast believer in his own most celebrated work.

On March 3rd of that year, we began partnering with established fan groups to promote a monthly Shenmue Tweetathon, built around the hashtag #GiveYuTheShenmueLicense. This phrase was designed to illustrate Yu's role as the determined proponent for Shenmue, compared against Sega's role as its dispassionate custodian. The implied message was, "Yu cares more about Shenmue than Sega does. If they won't allocate funds to the franchise, they don't deserve to control its destiny."

We couldn't be sure it would catch on, but we wanted to focus on this angle in particular to capture the imaginations of fans who had grown immune to Shenmue war cries over the years, as one campaign after another fell on Sega's deaf ears. We hoped that #GiveYuTheShenmueLicense, and the concept of a regular Tweetathon that not only maintained the pressure on Sega month after month but did so in the public eye where their response (or lack thereof) could be judged by all, would be enough to spark the interest of fans who were weary of signing petitions and writing letters.

Nearly two years on, with the latest Tweetathon reaching an audience of two and a half million in 24 hours, we can say with relief that yes, it caught on. And we're very grateful to you that it did, because without your embracing of the campaign and increased participation every month, we would not be in the position we are today, setting out ways to take this momentum even further.

The expansion onto Facebook and Tumblr is an obvious step, one that was requested long ago, but in the campaign's infancy it was important to concentrate our efforts on one platform. When we had relatively few participants, spreading them across different social networks would not have allowed us to make the required impact anywhere. Now we feel that we have a solid enough core to support this branching out into new territory, with realistic hope that activity on Twitter won't suffer for it.

Meanwhile the change in hashtag has multiple reasons behind it. #GiveYuTheShenmueLicense has served its purpose in opening people's eyes to Yu Suzuki's alignment with the fans in wanting Shenmue III to happen. At the same time however, it has been divisive. Not all fans have understood the intent behind these words, and have dwelled on their disapproval of its literal meaning. In order for the campaign to expand, we need to lift this barrier to entry and simplify the message to #SaveShenmue. This flexible term can be used to address the likes of Sony who have recently suggested an interest in bringing the franchise to Playstation formats, while it also embodies the spirit of the original hashtag: Shenmue is unjustly underutilized by Sega.

Therefore, with uncertainty hovering over Sony's intentions, and nervous speculation surrounding Suzuki's headline appearance at the Game Developers Conference in March, now is the time for all Shenmue fans to unite and spread the message farther and wider than ever before. From January 3rd onwards, on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, Team Yu needs YOU to #SaveShenmue!

http://TeamYu.net/SaveShenmue

Re: Team Yu needs you!

PostPosted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 3:46 pm
by Axm
I think it is a better message to put across. Theirs not much explaining to be made and it's pretty simple to anyone in the industry that would care.

Re: Team Yu needs you!

PostPosted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 3:53 pm
by mue 26
Axm wrote: I think it is a better message to put across. Theirs not much explaining to be made and it's pretty simple to anyone in the industry that would care.


Totally agree. You wouldn't believe how many times on forums in threads I started about the campaign I got responses like this: "Yeah it's not a bad idea and I would probably participate, but I don't understand/like the hashtag, so I won't". Our chosen hashtag was continually being misunderstood and proved a sticking point, so I think we can rally even more of the community with this much more catchy and memorable slogan. Well done LGS.

Re: Team Yu needs you!

PostPosted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 5:20 pm
by Let's Get Sweaty
SEGA Nerds article

It's going to take a lot of publicity like this to avoid anyone getting left behind on January 3rd, as not all Tweetathon participants keep a close eye on such announcements. The campaign was designed to be accessible and undemanding for casual fans to take part in, and that's been the key to its growth, but it does mean there'll inevitably be those who aren't aware of the changes yet. If you can help circulate this link, please do: http://TeamYu.net/SaveShenmue

Re: Team Yu needs you!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 5:42 pm
by Let's Get Sweaty
The Gaming Ground (Swedish gaming site)
Segalization (campaign group)

Current social reach on Thunderclap is 147,105. We have three more weeks to get that number as high as possible. Everybody here can do their bit.

Re: Team Yu needs you!

PostPosted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 9:01 am
by Let's Get Sweaty
Having discussed it with mue 26, we're asking mods to close this thread in favor of a new topic dealing with current campaign details from the start, which ought to be less daunting and confusing to newcomers. Thanks.