An appology and an update
Hi all,
I've thought about doing this before, but the issue seemed to have buried itself so I didn't want to be the one to resurface it. However, someone posted a topic in the last couple of days that did the job for me -- and rather than replying to that one, I thought it more prudent to create a new one.
When I first started developing Scramble, I was really, really excited. Holy crap man. I was showing this thing off to everything and everyone, hell I'd have let my cat play it if they could've.
December 7, 2018, was a week after a family tragedy I'd dealt with. It was also rainy and dreary. It was also less than a week before my final exams. Not wanting to face the sadness or the stress, I decided to finally write draft 1 of the outline for my new game, Scramble!
I began writing rudimentary code 2 days later.
I had Liam stream it for the first time on January 13, 2019, when it was barely a normal mode and had lots of issues yet to be fixed. God, I was so excited to get things moving!
Over the course of the next 4 months, I talked about it non-stop, and had/allowed Liam to stream it whenever he or I wanted him to, thus documenting the early development stages almost sequentially. Naturally, this generated a ton of hype. I create games because I form concepts I would love to play. Surprisingly I'm not unlike most people, so a lot of people want to play them too I'm learning.
It wasn't until around Summer that I began experiencing a bit of burnout with Scramble, and was needing a break. I was also beginning to realize the full extent of things I'd need to do if I wanted to complete the game, not to mention in such a way as to be of acceptable quality for potential buyers. I'd also undertaken the task of understanding algebra to the best of my ability, having failed the semester before, which required I take summer classes.
Once these things started happening, I requested that Liam cease streaming Scramble. He was of course understanding of my circumstance, and did as I asked. Throughout the summer, I continued to talk about Scramble a bit -- but through advice from my friend and a lot of personal thinking, I came to the realization that I should probably do some damage control.
Slowly, I began to quit talking about the game. I would no longer bring it up unless it was in a relevant conversation and had nothing to do with development news. I would answer questions to the best of my ability especially if asked in a widely used public place, but would make the conversations brief to the best of my ability. I eventually retreated to my close circle of friends and beta team for anything Scramble related.
By the end of 2019, nobody was talking about Scramble anymore. There would be the occasional enquirer, such as the one who created the topic that prompted this, but other than that, nothing.
I've read through the most recent topic. Most people think I've disappeared, and some of them have even forgotten that Scramble ever existed in the first place. Others have dismissed it, while still a few hold on to cautious optimism that one day, it will be released. They are the tiny few who have not been tainted beyond hope by those who have promised and failed to deliver in the past. I'm thankful for all of those responses, honestly. I'm glad there are still those who believe I'll release it, but I'm glad some have managed to forget, such that I didn't disappoint them too badly. I'm glad for those who were disappointed, because it's a lesson for me.
I sincerely apologize for the way too early hype I generated for Scramble. I screwed up, and I take ownership of that. In future games, I promise that I'll keep the hype to my close friends, and only publicize it after all necessary steps have been taken and it's close to release. I've made a mistake and learned from that.
I also know some people have been resentful towards Liam for streaming it and showing it off, but please don't be. I'm responsible for that, not him, because I 100% asked him and allowed him to stream the game. He did it with good intentions, to help out a friend by sharing my game to his sizeable fan base and god knows whatever other connections he has, in the hopes that I'd get more interested players. He didn't ask for a single cent either. So please guys, don't be resentful towards Liam for streaming it.
One last thing I'll say: for what it's worth, Scramble is still coming out. A lot of this time has been figuring out the logistics of selling a game, as it's a feet I have yet to undertake. I have a close, trusted, and highly intelligent friend helping me out with this however. He's an excellent self-starter, highly motivated, and really good at what he does. However, both of us are busy during this time -- I have college and a job right now, and he has school and quite the active social life, not to mention several other obligations he has to attend to. It's going slow, but it's going, and it is for this reason that I haven't wanted to provide release dates or release time frames. I'm telling you all this not to regenerate the hype, or because I expect you to believe me, but because I felt I owed it to you all to give an update and apologize.
Please don't come to me asking questions about Scramble's release date, or when it may be coming out, or even if you can test it out or what not. If you do this, I will not respond, as I feel all questions I'm willing to answer at this time have been answered in this topic. I have a great network of friends and testers cheering me on, believing in me strongly, and rooting for this thing's release. They're doing everything they can to help me out.
Thank you everyone!
Steve.
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