- Nov 21, 2018
- 1,475
- 2,526
On the surface, this seems reasonable. If you look deeper, however, you find that it's not quite as simple as that.Devs get paid monthly.. the more it's delayed the more money they earn without an update release.
A developer who keeps missing promised release dates without good cause loses the good will of his supporters, and good will is worth money, both figuratively and literally. As good will ebbs away, resentment takes its place. Supporters begin cancelling their support. And resentful ex-supporters are very difficult to win back. Also, the spreading bad reputation which comes with this will keep many prospective new supporters away. So, while the developer may be able to cash a few checks without doing any work, it may cost him more than he gains, in the long run.
On the other hand, a developer who delivers on promises and keeps his supporters in the loop gains good will. This usually translates into better supporter retention, which means more income stability. It also results in a positive reputation, which encourages prospective new supporters to sign up. You don't get any "free paychecks" this way, because you have to keep working all the time to keep delivering on promises, but it leads to long term gains.
This game has been in development for just under three years (It will be three years later this month.), and PaleGrass has been a good and reliable developer for that entire time. Sometimes he's been late with updates, and sometimes he hasn't posted development blogs as often as we'd like, but he always has good reason, and he always delivers what he promised as soon as he's able. He doesn't milk people. It's true that some developers do, but he doesn't.