ZUN: Amanojaku has been out for a month. Even just on twitter, you can already see several people who have done Ultimate Rule-Breaking. I'm feeling like gathering them for a drink. But I have communication disorder, and don't know what to do.
Here's a translation question. First, 反則
hansoku, literally "opposition to rules/violation of rules", is the central word of ISC.
As many people have wondered, if you completed ISC perfectly without using any main items, by definition you are NOT a cheater. So why would you earn a label amounting to "ultimate cheater"?
The answer is there is an extant expression in colloquial Japanese: 反則(的)な強さ, "so strong it's like cheating", i.e. using something this strong should be against the rules, brokenly good, a violation of Nature's laws, "a lineup so good it's unbelievable".
This expression has sort of been used in TD, where Reimu's homing shot is described as the "反則 Homing Type".
Now it's clear that the ISC nickname means "you are such an impeccable shooting game monster you have broken all rules of the universe". How would you convey that in English? My method has been to homogenize all mentions of 反則 in ISC into "rule-breaking", as I have done in my news post on the game, so the final Nickname would be "Ultimate Rule-Breaking Life Form", while the current wiki translation has used varyingly "foul play" and "cheat". I'd like to give it more consideration now.
Here's a pretty accurate description of what has happened about Hopeless Masquerade:
Angry Internet Dude: Why is Tasofro's Unabara playing KanColle all day? Does he even care about HM any more?
Unabara: Don't judge me by my twitter. The game I play the most is actually Dragon Quest X.
High-Level Player: Hello, I've discovered a new major bug.
Unabara: We are making a patch!
At 6PM, June 9:
Tasofro: Here it is, Version 1.34. It has fixed several bugs.
Players: The new patch broke Story Mode...
At 2AM, June 10:
Tasofro: Sorry, here's Version 1.34b.