Not to sound like a whiner, but not only did they cut ten songs from the set list but also didn't even make it region-free? To be honest, if we were still in the FAITH days, I'd expect it to still be in Region 2 even if it IS directed even partially to the American fans, but the fact is that J already said "Expect all DVD's in the future to be region-free." I feel deceived and lied to >: I hadn't had plans to get the DVD anyway, but good lord, it's like if I were to give a younger relative a toy for his birthday, then cut the toy in half, and then take the batteries out. There's simply no winning in that situation.

And again, to be perfectly honest, I didn't expect them to make ANY of the DVD's region-free, so VAMPS LIVE 2008 being region-free was definitely a nice prize, but the very point in releasing it region-free was to help the band reach out to viewers across the oceans, so you would think that if ANY of the DVD's would be region-free, then the most logical choice would be the one that was made for overseas fans.

So before I continue ranting on about this, I must ask how much more it costs to produce and distribute a region-free DVD as opposed to a specific-region DVD? I would imagine the latter would cost more as there is more programming involved in the locking of regions than there is in simply leaving out the lock-out device. Even in that case, though, I don't think that the region has anything to do with the price (though don't quote me on that). The weight and amount of content on the disc would remain the same regardless, so I'm pretty sure that they're not making it region-free has nothing to do with cost, so I see no reason why this DVD isn't region-free... well, except maybe one thing.

I even said myself, in this very topic I do believe, that I was just going to look up this DVD on YouTube, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Many non-Japanese (not to say Japanese fans DON'T do this, but since they have the luxury of domestic distribution, the amount that do so is probably dramatically less) fans will and have done the same thing with most of their DVD's, including FAITH LIVE, VAMPS LIVE 2008 and even the singles' DVD's (for the making-of documentary). The third of which is forgivable, however, as the DVD's in those only come in the first press editions.

So what am I getting at with this? Well, although I just engaged in a long rant about how irritating it was that they didn't release it in a region-free format, I think I see WHY they chose to not do so in the first place, and that is that they are potentially becoming more and more aware and less and less forgiving of our illegal viewing--and illegal uploading for that matter--of their material. Remember, they now have a VAMPROSE YouTube channel, so although they would occasionally file a copyright complaint to YouTube, subsequently causing the video to be deleted and the account of the uploader to be given the appropriate punishment beforehand, they now host much of their content on the exact same site that people continue to illegally view and upload their videos to, so chances are that they can see clearly for their own eyes just what most of us are doing- that is, viewing their content for free and not supporting them by buying it ourselves, which to a musician is like a slap across the face.

The sad part is that many people don't see the harm they're doing. They think things like "Oh, they get too much money anyway" or "What's one download?" What they don't realize is that everyone else is thinking the exact same thing. Therefore, it's not a direct loss, but an accumulated loss. Millions and millions of downloads are made each day and the music industry is a critical target. Thousands upon thousands of potential dollars go down the drain each day, which is why the music industry is currently under fire today.

Please don't mistake my words, though. I'm pretty sure that most of the people on this board have done the right thing and supported them by purchasing their DVD's, but this board is without a doubt FAR from an accurate representation of the overall overseas fandome. A good deal of us have sadly not done a very good job in supporting VAMPS.

BUT Let's not spend all our time pointing fingers or placing the blame on VAMPS. Instead, I think this is the perfect opportunity and just the sort of reasoning we need to get out there and rack our brains for ideas so that we can work harder for more ideas to promote and support VAMPS and encourage others to do so as well. VAMPS have busted their asses for us many times in the past, and this September, they're about to do so again even though we, on many occasions, have failed to support them. I've read many interviews of HYDE and seen many videos in which HYDE would consider himself less-than-worthy or in one particular instance call him "undeserving" of the praise and love he gets from his fans, which, as well all know, is far from true. It is the fans that are undeserving of all the love, dedication, and general quirks we get as a result of his hard work, but still he does so much for us.

Long story short, let's work together to continue supporting VAMPS and encouraging others to do the same so that maybe we can continue to get the region-free DVD's we love so much.