Well, this website needs a tag for these cases, like Inactive or Slow updates, since Abandoned cannot be used unless the dev states so. This might be a piracy website, but most of the new patreons stumble upon the game through here and some distinctive tag could be useful for them to not waste their money recklessly and instead use that money to support more honest devs
I actually agree with you in general there.
I don't think a new tag is needed, or even all that helpful, though. Defining "tardy" or even "infrequent" development process is usually pretty hard. It would catch Irphaeus, where I can justify the use, and Oni, who is pretty dilligent in his work, but clealy sees his game as a side project and thus updates sporadically. He is like a dog on a bone for the following weeks though when it comes to ironing out kinks in the newest build.
I agree these sporadic "hey I'm alive" posts by the dev, especilly one with a discord server, are a little too easy a way to bypass the second criterium for the abandoned tag, though. (x months, 3 I think, without sign of life from the dev) You want as few tags as possible to keep things simple and concise.Perhaps only counting full patreon posts might be a good compromise? When you go to the page, you will see the "sorry delay" posts at the top and you might reconsider.
How about slapping a "on hold" tag onto games that missed a (original) deadline, either agreed upon deadlines or assumed for monthly releases, for more than 6 or 8 weeks? it would at worst force a dev to communicate more clearly, at best it might, as you said, force them to reconsider their time management. I recall the shitshow that was "Babysitter" by T4bbo, and that was functionally on hold for a long while, only to be rushed to a dissatisfying ending afterwards. Perhaps a thread warning a la spacebattles that tells you how long ago the last update was when it exceeds 90 days might work better, if we have to ad anything.
And to those gearing up for rebuttals a la "there are legitimate reasons for delays!": with incremental content update processes, as all of these games use, you can cut off development at basically any time and release a "beta" or "mini" update. There is little playtesting needed in VN style games without much in the way of interactive elements, run through your build once, fucky filenames/references/whatever spit out pretty clear cut errors in these linear settings. Descision trees can be tweaked later on down the road (though I do not envy the guy who ends up fixing that, it is a legit shit job), you might ruin savegames, but meh.
As I mentioned before, bad time management is not an unfogiveable trait, but there have to be mechanisms in place to keep that in check, and you need to admit it to yourself. Ironclad deadlines, and short ones at that, usually help. Written out developer updates, either weekly or monthly, with clearly defined, binding goals for the month, and a report on how much was achieved can help. Of course you can lie in those reports, but once the due date rolls around, you have clearer reason to drop your pledge.
At the end of the day, I do not want people to brigade like Orks and run out on developers due to peer pressure. I want people to have all the information they need to make informed descisions. And I want that information to be as easily availible as possible, hence why I hate all the spamming going on in this thread. I want them to either say "fuck it, this is a nice game and I can take the delays" "I only support release month + x" or "the dev is full of it, I'll just pirate this shit".
I, for the nth time, am in the support month + x camp and I recommend it.
The game undeniably has great art, the meme and weeb humor is on point for those who are into that kind of thing, the characters are surprisingly not terrible like you'd expect from a game that proudly proclaims to be a weeb porn parody. Even the story is not completely retarded, though it skirts the borderline. There is a lot on offer here, so I can totally understand people deciding that this game is a project worth supporting, despite the frequent delays and all the drama. On the other, I can absolutely understand the people feeling cheated. It is okay to feel either way, we are all adults-ish here, and when facts failed to sway someone either way, insults sure as shit wont, and peer pressure shouldn't.
What is it with games set in Japan made by western devs where they feel the need to include the Yakuza in every plotline? I swear I Ecchi Sensei, Peaceful Life and now this. Seriously the most overrated crime gang in Japan.
For the same reason any trope is used: recognition, streamlining, worldbuilding and a bit of lazyness. it saves you a lot of worldbuilding that would detract from the story you wish to tell. Why fix what isn't boken, and why not use something you know resonates with people. They swallow familiar things with less fuss than wholly original things.