i actually agree. I am all for slowburn games, but slow burn games with slow releases is not a slow burn game, its just a slow game.
I am not a developer, i don't know how long it takes to make a render or code a game. But i think serious ethical questions have to be raised if a game can't be completed in 2 or 3 years, whilst taking in $2,300 a month
I'm new to Daz, so I know my experiences aren't exactly comparable to a dev who spends a lot more time and money working with the software, but a basic image can take me 45 minutes to render. I've actually gained a good deal of appreciation and understanding for devs in the three weeks I've been using Daz. I appreciate how much work goes into it, and I've gained a little bit of understanding that can cut both ways. As my understanding grows sometimes it explains why a dev may be slow, but it can also make me question how a dev can still be slow after years of working with Daz.
But the comment about slow burn games is dead on. I think a reevaluation of the genre is warranted, because many of the best games in this genre have a bad habit of going nowhere. In many ways life is all about momentum and striking while the iron is hot. When a game spends the effort in creating anticipation, and building up a relationship, it creates momentum; but at some point that momentum needs to be harnessed. In many of the games I've played, I have seen the dev try and hold onto that sense of anticipation far too long, and suddenly the momentum is lost. While it's true that a dev wants to avoid a Moonlighting scenario, a truly great game can give the players a satisfying release of the tension, while riding that momentum to new sources of anticipation and tension.
A good example of a game that changed course to capitalize on momentum was DFD. I know that it's a totally different type of game to JOHN, but in this sense it's similar. The MC and primary LI were on a road trip and the tension between them was thick, but the episode ended with...nothing. There was sex with other characters, including one that was only a one night stand, but not with the main LI. This was something like episode 5, so the audience had been waiting for five months for sex, and it was too much that nothing had happened in episode 5. The devs got a lot of feedback from patrons, and later insinuated that the feedback inspired them to shift the timetable. In episode 6 the MC and LI hooked up for the first time and everyone was happy. The devs were able to successfully maintain that momentum and move the story forward in compelling ways that were both gratifying and interesting. I think their original plan was to hold out for two or three more episodes before the MC and LI hooked up, and I think that could have really hurt the game.
The point is that I think devs in the future need to be more aware that a slow burn can become too slow. JOHN isn't the worst offender in this regard, Jessica has had plenty of fun so far, but still, when a game's story is slow and the development of each episode is slow, that's a really bad combination. Either the audience becomes exhausted, or the dev becomes exhausted. Personally, I think the sweet spot for a game to reach completion is 18 months. Every game is different obviously, but I find that after 18 months with a game I begin to look elsewhere to see what else is being developed. Not every game can be BADIK, there's nothing wrong with mid-sized games that can be completed in fewer than two years.
