CAPTAIN'S LOG, DAY 2354525
A GRIM POST-MORTEM ANALYSIS
(Gimme that TL
R mod, do it...DO IT! JUST DO IT!)
Well...Well...
Well...
So it has finally come to pass, as foretold in the ancient Prophecies of Q Who, ICSTOR has once again bailed out on a project.
The crew are baffled, the whole Quadrant in hysterics as buildings are burned to the ground, Godzilla is reaching the generators and the mods are sweating as they prepare to try qwelling the inevitable shit storm, all asking...
Why? OH WHY?!
...And... how?
How did the Top 3D Developer, the undisputed king at one time had you asked anyone,
fallen so spectacularly from grace?
With THAT much money, public support (at the time) and resources, it seemed like a sure thing, like a bank 'too big to fail!'
Well...We all know how THAT ended...
Let's go back a little...Because when you get down to the meat of the matter, the writing was on the wall from day 1.
ICSTOR has been around for a fair while now, to the point he was one of the first 'new wave' adult devs out there with his first couple games, MILF's Control, Incest story 1 & 2 and finally Milf's Villa, his last game before he ventured onto Milfy City.
Each one following similar pattern as the next, with each game, both technically and graphically at least, getting enhanced each time and thus slowly, amassing more Patrons.
However, each one also followed a very similar worrying pattern of development, ICSTOR would reach around over the V0.5 halfway point and progress would seemingly begin to grind to a halt. Notoriously, these projects all fell to the same fate where they were 'rushed' to give a patched out resolution to each one, Incest story 2 and Milf Villa possibly being the worst offender.
ICSTOR would then immediately start up a 'new' exciting project to switch people over to (near enough the same day as closing down the previous game), with a much higher quality than the last incarnation.
This distraction largely proved to work as the new games were always 'better.' And thus with a manageable patron count (and lower expectations at the time), people transitioned over with relative ease.
Then came
Milfy City, his magnum opus that propelled him to the top billing.
However, this is where the problems really began. This sudden burst of extreme popularity led to something ICSTOR didn't particularly experience with the other projects, something his cycle of starting and restarting did not anticipate...
Expectations.
It's no doubt, that this game more than any of his others has received much closer scrutiny and expectations than any of his other previous works. The usual trick of just 'bailing' out earlier would not be met with such a brushed under the rug approach.
People were actually 'invested' now, and the financial earnings of the game only further heightened the demand to see
'something' for all this cash being earned.
As learned before though, cash flow does not always equal productivity, as very much shown in this case.
So, once ICSTOR reached the usual cycle peak point of burn-out, what was he to do?
Well...
Nothing.
It's no doubt in my mind ICSTOR (doing the barest of bare minimum work at best) has probably been struggling with this 'dilemma' for months.
"Now I'm burned out, how do I now cancel THIS game with so much attention on it, and walk out unscathed?"
The answer is simple.
He can't.
And he knows he can't, so he's fucked.
ICSTOR's development past V0.5 of every game...
Then there's the lies...
It's pretty much a proven at this point ICSTOR's lied, or at the very least heavily distorted the truth.
How much work was really done? We'll never know, but from the 'unannounced' breaks to the inevitable death of this project now in a zombie like state as it limps it's way to the grave, it's clear he hopes to restart the cycle once again.
Let's compare ICSTOR to another Dev, Slonique, Slonique became notorious for rushing or abandoning games frequently, (and was loathed for it), while ICSTOR managed to come out literally king of the hill for a while,
even though he displayed the same behavior.
Why?
Well, simply put ICSTOR, unlike Slonique who kept his production levels pretty much at the same level,
always visually delivered something better looking.
Thus, even though the behavior was obvious beneath the surface,
the new coat paint of this development cycle blind-sided people into supporting him and over-looking these faults.
It's no doubt that ICSTOR's next game will be visually stunning, but,
I can't help think he won't be able to shake off the criticism surround this game quite so easily,
and perhaps that's for the best.
...
So, is there any lessons to learn from this trainwreck?
Perhaps for Patrons, the lesson is to observe and watch a Dev's pattern of behavior closely, it's very easy to 'fall in love' with a game and forget that the development behind it may not be so innocent and squeaky clean as you like.
To perhaps be weary, that a 'talented' dev does not mean that translates to a Developer determined to see a project through.
Sadly though, I do wonder if many honest devs are now going to have to deal harsher questioning and perhaps unfair scrutiny thanks to ICSTOR's behavior, who has helped contribute to a minority of Devs with less than professional etiquette or outright predatory behavior.
This is your Captain,
putting some flowers on the grave.
