Thank you to the dev team for listening to your supporters and fanbase, and for acknowledging the shortfalls thus far. I have been *this close* to supporting you since almost this time last year, and despite the last several months worth of disappointing releases, this biggest thing preventing me from doing so has actually been the message you've been sending that "We're tired of hearing you people complain, SR7 will put out the content for the characters he feels like and you should be happy with what we deliver." Because as much as I really enjoy the work put into this project, as good as the art is, that's not a message or attitude I feel I can support.
The raw quality of the art assets here is far superior to the overwhelming majority of other projects of this nature, and as such you deal with generally higher expectations than those other projects. And unfortunately the substance of game content has been lackluster of late and you know that. And I do not and have not faulted SR7 or this team for quality of art and quality of content. But you've had your fanbase frustrated for months that all the focus is in all the wrong places, up until now, what I have perceived your response to be based on the attitudes presented in this forum is a belief that "this isn't really a problem, since our patreon numbers are still growing", "we're doing the best we can, you all just expect too much", and "Trust the process, let us do what we want". I'm aware that there are difficulties based on the sensitive nature of this IP, I'm aware that SR7 is an artist trying hard not to burn out on a passion project which has scaled beyond original expectations and now supports a small business of sorts. All of these are valid. But at the end of the day you are supported by people who -want- your "product", and who generally care about this project. If they didn't they wouldn't be so passionately disappointed. And up til now theres been struggle to satisfy those people, some of which are a group of internet trolls demanding they get their free porn catered to their own fetishes and bitch if its not on time, which is crappy but part of life. And unfortunately for SR7, I can attest as someone who operates a business that another crappy part of life in the working world is doing stuff you don't like that makes you feel bored or pissed off so you can keep your customers happy.
You have my pledge, that if the attitude of this roadmap is genuine, and by the next release a good faith effort is made to follow through on this direction and work to satisfy your fanbase, shitty though many of them may be, the patreon support I have started now will continue. And I'm only one guy and my support won't make or break you, but I can assure you I'm certainly not the only one on the fence about starting or pulling support, and a genuine, solid effort to produce something that SR7 can be proud of -and- that satisfies what is clearly a throng of people who appreciate his work and want SU to succeed will surely help you solidify a rocky time. Running a business is hard. Working with and for the general public sucks. But approaching it with the right attitude and creating a base of people who believe in your work makes it stable. Especially in your position when you deal with not the demands of customers buying a product, but the support and whims of patrons. Make a good faith effort, and I'm happy to be one of them.
