I don't often leave messages in this thread, I don't want to provoke people into new arguments, and I've already clarified my main position earlier. However, now I feel that several new questions have accumulated, so I think it's necessary to say a few words.
You are right that the update frequency has decreased. This concerns us too, and we will strive to increase it. With the launch of our new game about Luna, where we collaborate with the artist DJCompass, we will be able to raise both the overall update frequency that our players receive and give them something new. The delays themselves have objective reasons: in 2022, it became very difficult to work. I wrote about this in several Patreon posts. Now we can no longer collaborate with some people we used to work with. Due to new circumstances, they either stopped doing what they were doing or we physically can't pay them. Throughout the year, we had huge problems with banks, digital security, security in general, and my health, which was affected by immense stress. Some of these problems are still unresolved because the circumstances are beyond our control.
I don't approve of discussing and comparing other games here. It will turn into throwing examples of different titles at each other. On this website, there are indeed many games that are better than ours, and there are those that I really like. There are games whose authors earn more or less. We all have an opinion on whether their development methods are fair in relation to earnings or not. I genuinely believe that all authors try their best, even when players think otherwise. Some developers are more successful, some less. Some use "approved" methods, while others use "disapproved" ones. I've been a regular player who thinks he knows how to make games. And a developer who received $200 for years, having a good rating on platforms. And a developer who, in his opinion, has achieved some kind of success. I've also talked to dozens of other developers who have been raising their games for years in front of my eyes.
At the same time, I am absolutely okay with you expressing your attitude towards my game or my development or monetization methods. As for leaking images, hacks, mods and so on.
I'm also okay with you expressing your attitude towards paywalls. If you're interested in my position, I find it pointless to change the monetization method in the current project. You don't change horses midstream. In the new project, we will try another monetization method, and in the third one - a different one. I can suggest that you take a look at our journey over these years. I couldn't continue developing my previous games because I couldn't achieve financial success back then, despite very good reviews that I still hear in unexpected places. At the same time, paywalls, which provided us with financial support, allowed us to create a large and cool game with various characters. The game has about 100 000 words of artistic text, 90 scenes among which assets are almost never reused. Unique story arcs with their own mechanics. I'm not ashamed of such a game. Now we are working on other games because we can pay other people. Some may argue that financial success came not because of paywalls but because the game is much better (1 star versus 4 on F95) or our marketing has improved. I won't argue, this issue has already been thoroughly discussed earlier in the thread, and we have empirical data that supports my position.
Perhaps something could have indeed been done better. I've seen games with paywalls that both collect good reviews from people and bring authors a good income. Well, as they say, if I knew where I would fall, I would have put some straw there. But at the same time, I won't regret or repent for the chosen path. If there is time and place, we will try something new. Peace to all.
