In this case it is about the tags. The abandoned tag is for
abandoned projects, thus the name. It's not the "these developers update slowly" tag, or the "these developers have inconsistent scheduling" tag. It's for cases where a project has gone well overdue and appears to be abandoned.
Applying it after we already have an explicitly set date for the next update, while still well within the waiting periods this project has historically had, is straight-up lying to players of the game. And keeping it after the update has come out and is available, just because a cracked version isn't available here? That's just spiteful.
Edit: For context, these are the explicit rules for the Abandoned tag:
- Abandoned: used in the following cases:
- The developer states that the development has been permanently suspended.
- After 3 months of inactivity from the developer's public creator/crowdfunding accounts (Patreon, SS, etc), we will resolve special circumstances or scenarios on a case-by-case basis (no creator accounts, creators developing for free, Patreon accounts under review/ban).
- No game update has been released for an abnormally long period of time (>18 months).
- Game threads that are marked On-hold for over 6 months with no game update.
- Note: this prefix is only removed upon the release of a new update for purchase/download.
Now let's get the easy ones out of the way:
The developer has not explicitly announced the game is abandoned. At the time the tag was applied, the prior update was a bit shy of four months old. This game thread has never been marked on hold. As of this moment, the latest update released
after the tag was added, at which point it should have been removed even if the thread itself isn't updated.
The only rule it could have been applied to is the three months of inactivity on the crowdfunding accounts, since prior to the latest update the last post on their Patreon/SubStar was on December 21st. But that is supposed to be done with consideration for the game's history in mind. Simple things, like checking the game thread to see that an explicit release date for an incoming update was already known and was set to
literally two days from when the review was done, should have been a red flag to investigate further.
And now that the promised update dropped, exactly when they said it would? Moderators refuse to remove the tag until the game thread is updated, despite the rules explicitly stating that the prefix should be removed "upon the release of a new update for purchase/download."
