VN Ren'Py Jessica O'Neil's Hard News [v0.60] [stoperArt]

4.10 star(s) 186 Votes
Discussion Reviews (186)
GingerSweetGirl

GingerSweetGirl

Engaged Member
Aug 23, 2020
2,517
12,061
DIRTY Filthy Animal said:
Please don’t say the “A” word, he can take extended time off to recharge his batteries. I hope on Patreon there throwing ideas and scene suggestions to him.

it’s not like we pirate’s have a reason to complain about A free update anyway
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Being a pirate is kinda irrelevant here; I think we all sympathize with Stoper and want what's best for him and the game. And what's best for him is to do something that he's motivated by, and if that ISN'T JOHN then he needs to do something else. But, in the meantime, he should find a way to scale down on JOHN and finish the game before he completely burns out. It isn't that taking time off is a bad idea, but it does suggest that he's reaching a breaking point. If he pushes the next update out in December, does that mean we only get one, maybe two, updates next year? The handwriting is on the wall, without major structural changes to the story, JOHN will never be finished. He needs to make those changes ASAP.
 
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palmtrees89

palmtrees89

Well-Known Member
Jul 3, 2021
1,641
10,202
GingerSweetGirl said:
Being a pirate is kinda irrelevant here; I think we all sympathize with Stoper and want what's best for him and the game. And what's best for him is to do something that he's motivated by, and if that ISN'T JOHN then he needs to do something else. But, in the meantime, he should find a way to scale down on JOHN and finish the game before he completely burns out. It isn't that taking time off is a bad idea, but it does suggest that he's reaching a breaking point. If he pushes the next update out in December, does that mean we only get one, maybe two, updates next year? The handwriting is on the wall, without major structural changes to the story, JOHN will never be finished. He needs to make those changes ASAP.
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To be honest, part of me hopes that Stoper's latest development blog is just a different approach to come up with an excuse for the delay of this update. Like Bolero said, there's always something that leads to a delay on his releases, which I usually call poor project management considering Stoper's plans and the statements he's making.

I know that does sound kind of stupid, but I'd prefer another excuse over a possible abandonment of this project any day of the week as it's still one of my favourite VN's out there. And seeing all the development blogs, I find this statement to be kind of conflicting with the previous ones as there has not been a single word about burnout or the lack of motivation etc. I remember him talking about the possibility of a delayed release due to him adding even more content at the end of the already planned out events if he feels like it, which to me really doesn't sound like someone who's lacking creativity or the motivation/passion to create and deliver new content.

Two updates per year wouldn't be surprising either, as that's basically what we're already getting from JOHN anyway, and it would only fall in line with other projects out there which will most likely never see the finish line.

Anyway, that's just me speculating (or hoping), but only time will tell.
 
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GingerSweetGirl

GingerSweetGirl

Engaged Member
Aug 23, 2020
2,517
12,061
palmtrees89 said:
To be honest, part of me hopes that Stoper's latest development blog is just a different approach to come up with an excuse for the delay of this update. Like Bolero said, there's always something that leads to a delay on his releases, which I usually call poor project management considering Stoper's plans and the statements he's making.

I know that does sound kind of stupid, but I'd prefer another excuse over a possible abandonment of this project any day of the week as it's still one of my favourite VN's out there. And seeing all the development blogs, I find this statement kind of conflicting with the previous ones as there has not been a single word about burnout or the lack of motivation etc. I remember him talking about the possibility of a delayed release due to him adding even more content at the end of the already planned out events, if he feels like it, which to me really doesn't sound like someone who's lacking creativity or the motivation/passion to create and deliver new content.

Two updates per year wouldn't be surprising either, as that's basically what we're already getting from JOHN anyway, and it would only fall in line with other projects out there which will most likely never see the finish line.

Anyway, that's just me speculating (or hoping), but only time will tell.
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To me, the term "burn out" can have many different faces. I see what you're saying about Stoper talking about adding scenes as proof that he's motivated and feeling creative, but to me it reads a little differently. Sometimes, when I'm feeling burnt out, it isn't because I don't have any ideas. Instead, I can be feeling burnt out and unmotivated because I have too many ideas. Maybe Stoper doesn't struggle with ideas, but he struggles with the complexity of putting all of those ideas into motion. Maybe he's looking at each update and thinks "Ok, in order to get from point A to point Z, I need the characters to go to points B,C,D, etc. Oh my god, that's so much work. I can do so many cool things, but it's all so overwhelming."

Even though there has been a ton of sexy content, JOHN is a slow moving game. Clearly Stoper wants to build up the payoff with incremental steps, and he wants those incremental steps to be well thought out and progressive. No major jumps, no inconsistencies. But that's daunting. So while he's sitting at his desk mapping out all of his ideas, he could be demotivating himself because the scope of the project is just too much to manage.
 
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ucokpunk

ucokpunk

Newbie
Oct 23, 2017
19
87
ucokpunk said:
Last month he said it will be November. But knowing him he would have 3-4 apologies for delays and 3-4 weeks of irresponsive before the actual release. So don't get your hopes up.
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Told ya, there goes the first apology for the delay. There will be 2-3 more delay apologies after December and responsiveness before the actual release. So see you guys in February?
 
G

gzrtjhgtyhjljk

Member
Aug 11, 2020
349
956
He got bored of the tedious, repetitive work. He didn't get transfered to a psych ward because of a burnout or whatever theories I read here. He even said it in his own post.
 
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umby

umby

Active Member
May 27, 2017
676
1,217
Bolero said:
As expected, December release, if we are lucky. He is talking how slow everything is going, but the same thing he said in the past in every development blog when the updates were close to being released. It was always ,˝ i am working on it but everything is going slower that i expected, it is crawling etc¨. Nothing new there.
Anyway i hope he does release it in December and that he gets his mojo back. Most of us here love him and his work, even though sometimes our comments can seem overly critical.
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will not be released in December
 
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poio

Newbie
May 11, 2017
22
61
I do not fully agree with what is said.

I don't think he needs ideas, since he has been developing the story for years and has characters to use more than enough.

If the case is that he is overwhelmed by work, let's see ... he is supposed to be given support so that he can do things like (hire someone to help him get the job done faster) ...

I love his work, but if you look back, there is always excuse after excuse, how much delay does it take right now? I think this is the 4th time he has delayed this update.

At some point the project will end and it will be bad, it cannot be finished, because people will get tired of excuses, with all reason and will stop giving support.
 
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sirsir_sir

Member
Sep 16, 2021
132
258
poio said:
I do not fully agree with what is said.

I don't think he needs ideas, since he has been developing the story for years and has characters to use more than enough.

If the case is that he is overwhelmed by work, let's see ... he is supposed to be given support so that he can do things like (hire someone to help him get the job done faster) ...

I love his work, but if you look back, there is always excuse after excuse, how much delay does it take right now? I think this is the 4th time he has delayed this update.

At some point the project will end and it will be bad, it cannot be finished, because people will get tired of excuses, with all reason and will stop giving support.
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EVERY developer tests to see how far they can go without updates.

IF they make it over 6 months like many have, you will never see that dev working again for 6 months.

This is basic.
 
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Round110

Newbie
Feb 10, 2020
75
202
IMHO, having V0.35 still up gives the false impression that it's a part 1 or has content that V0.45 doesn't have. Put up a disclaimer or something.
 
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4.10 star(s) 186 Votes