Yet another YL2 question thread

SRP

I just got paid yesterday and I was planning on paying for the Patreon edition for a month, but this recent situation has got me thinking. With zero info being added to the Trello and zero info being posted to non-Patrons (FFS, who's stupid enough to throw $3 at a game just to find out if it's dead or not?) about the status of the game, it's little wonder that the forums are nearly dead and people keep asking what's going on. Hell, we still get the "I heard from someone that they're stopping YL1 so they can work on 2, is that true?" question and we still have never gotten an answer.
It's like we're going step-by-step down the same path that a large number of crowdfunded games go through, where devs announce [BIG CHANGE], be optimistic for a month or so, then fade away as they realize they got themselves too far into the deep end. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the YL dev's 3$ Patreon post at the end of the month was the usual apologies and promises that always signify the end.

TL;DR:
1. Why is our only (possibly) important news locked behind a paywall?
2. Is there a Trello for the new engine rewrite?
3. Are we still going to get the public release in time for the usual "every six-ish months" pattern?

odes

Hi SRP,

Let me start off by saying that we have not been communicating as well as we should have. I admit that. I think it has to two do with two tings - 1) Neither Dogson or I care that much for attention and 2) We would much rather spend time working on the game than other tasks. Working on YL2 is our goto task. It's much easier and more pleasant to just go with it than deviate from our path with distractions that interfere with our work (like writing updates). That is the most honest answer I can give. It's not optimal, I agree, but it's the way things are right now.

I'm not quite sure what you mean with the "usual apologies" you are referring to. It's true that we apologize lack of communication at times, but never without showing progress or releasing something new. The latest patreon does indeed have an apology in there, but that is hardly the purpose of the post. It contains a ton of information about our progress, and patrons seem to have been very happy and excited about the development.

1) I agree this tier is not optimal, and it's something we've talked about internally from time to time. I think this is very similar to that $9 pledge we had previously. It was just something we threw in there, taking inspiration from other projects, and then it has lingered.

I think that at this specific time, it sort of makes sense, since we don't have that much else to offer during the development of YL2. But that said, it's not a tier I like, and I wouldn't be surprised if we remove it at some point when we can replace it with something better.

2) We have a trello card for the engine rewrite, but not an entire trello page. It doesn't really make sense at this point in time, as things are constantly changing, and we're still trying out so many new ideas. It's hard to communicate these things in a meaningful way - something we discussed in the latest patreon post.

The closest thing I can give is the repository history, but I doubt it's that interesting or helpful.

http://forum.yiffalicious.com/uploads/editor/7g/17ypx0hvw5er.png

Some stats for that (gitstats generated output):

https://i.gyazo.com/5a2146bcd483df4f40f3e1f8a41c6df7.png

(Edit: Note, this is stats of solely our own code, not any 3rd party.)

3) We're still not sure in what manner YL2 will be released. Final releases of Yiffalicious will go public eventually, as they have done previously.

I hope this post calms at least some of the concerns you had. If it did, that's fine. If it didn't, that's also fine. We'll keep working on YL2 regardless.

nathan

@odes ;You could have somewhat of a "marketing" guy. Someone that could spread out the word, take notes on fans' issues and have the task to communicate with the community and Patreons... that could organize these things better and let you guys dedicate entirely to your work without being bothered.

SRP

I guess I should have clarified that by "usual apologies," I was referring to other crowdfunded games. My fault.
Your attached pictures are certainly neat though. Thanks.

ratrei-ganart

@odes, got through your last patreon post (by the ways tricky) and im to admit you just have to share it with non-patrons, - the things are just too exciting and interesting, and i honestly see no clear reason for you to hold it back.
also this thread deserves attention, double so if you wish not to share the post.

DrunkDragon

@odes If you need someone to give a down-to-earth and easy to understand weekly update, let me know. I have lots of experience reading code and technical documents and "translating" it to non-technical people. I am a certified ISTQB tester. Have talked with dogson about that. That way, you only need to talk to one person, once a week and he/ she can write a summary for you, which can be posted here or on Patreon.