All joking aside, yes, this game has been in development for a long time considering the progress they made. Until somewhat recently the game’s development has been rather haphazard and without a sense of direction. Which led to a fair amount of bloat, working at cross purposes, or the creation of scenes that would later end up scrapped.
However, the developers have started making a development road map to keep them on track and limit their focus. Thus far it seems to have made a big difference and the development is proceeding much more smoothly. Would it have been nice if they had this level of forethought and planning at the beginning? It certainly would have been nice. But it is too late to change the past. At this point all that can be done is to learn from the mistakes and to do better in the future. Which they do seem to be doing.
I don’t know how long everyone else has been around. Myself it been about 9 months, but I first discovered the game on
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where the latest version is 0.2.47 which came out in mid 2019. And the differences between the game now and then are fairly monumental in terms or game play and writing. And even in the 9 months I’ve been playing the latest version the games continued to improve in quality dramatically. So overall I’m pretty happy with the direction the game is going in. Do I wish it was being developed faster? Sure, but that is mostly because I enjoy the game so much that I can’t wait for more content.
That said, they have fairly recently brought two new writers onto the team so I think it stands to reason that we can expect the pace to pick up a bit in the future.
The reason the main story isn’t currently being advanced is because the developers want to wrap up all the loose threads they created in the past and give all the important characters the depth their patrons are demanding, before finishing up the current act. It makes sense that they wouldn’t want to start the development on the act 2 while still devoting a lot of time and resorces to tying up the loose threads and adding depth to the characters in the 1st Act that would ostensibly be finished.
Here is the latest roadmap they put out. Please note that as of this last update Cla-Min’s Arc and the Prologue Rework are complete.
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As for Patreon...
Personally I believe that nobody should subscribe to Patreon with the intention of receiving a product. I have never come across a Patreon that I felt was worth a long term investment to receive whatever product they are making. No matter what they are providing with enough time the subscription will eventually out pace the realistic value of the product. Hell, most of them you could get anything worthwhile by subscribing for one month, maybe another month here and there just to get the new stuff.
Now I am NOT saying that Patreon is a scam. All I am saying is that using it is not an effective way to purchase a product, no matter how much some people try to make it or want it to be. The purpose of Patreon is to contribute to the livelihood of creatives, so they can continue to make whatever it is they make. Any fringe benefits that a patreon may receive be should be an ancillary to that purpose.
Patreon isn’t that different from tossing a bit of change to a talented street musician every day as you pass by, and maybe if you donate a certain amount he will ask if you have any requests. Long term it would be cheaper to just buy any songs that he would cover, but that isn’t the purpose of your donations in the first place.