First off, AWESOME GAME! I love it! Of course, it has its flaws – but it could develop into an empire (and a cash cow).
Unfortunately, it is, unnecessarily, on its death bed.
You developed the game to have fun and make money. Your most avid players joined the game to have fun and make money. You have made money. Your players are still heavily monetarily invested in the game. You have made implicit and explicit promises to your player-investors – and you have been consistently breaking those promises.
I understand the realities of cash flow and whether or not you can afford to support and further develop the game. You, however, don’t seem to see the reality that no one will EVER trust you again to create any sort of trustworthy investment. When the going got rough, you stopped communicating and cut and ran (though, of course, we do see you and your bots all the time in SplinterLands – so we know that you do have time that you see better invested elsewhere than in your own game and reputation). And please, do NOT attempt to spin it that you haven’t cut and run – you'll only embarrass yourselves and further trash your reputations.
It’s time to open source Next Colony and allow other developers the chance to resuscitate it. Maybe you can convince the players to chip in and buy it from you. We’ve already put in a ton of time and money that we’d desperately love to rescue. Maybe you can just create and keep a pile of stardust and cash it out later. But, at this point, NO ONE is going to buy you and your development team. You’ve done great work – but breaking faith with your users outweighs everything else.
It’s time to salvage your reputations and allow others to attempt to recoup their investments. If Next Colony were to survive and thrive, you probably could make good money in the ecosystem. We all could have a lot of fun and make good money in the ecosystem – but you’ve got to let it go before it breathes its last. And, believe me, anoxia is rapidly setting in.
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I do check the Discord channel regularly. The developers make announcements upon occasion but really do not engage or listen to their users. Their most recent update was to add some missing graphics and to say that the reward system was now designed (with zero details) but needed to be coded. What have we seen over the past months besides Research Centers, new Transports and Explorer IIs? Each of those should have been a weekly update. If you consider "phoning it in" as not "cutting and running", then I'll concede the specific point -- but I will insist they are killing their own game due to lack of attention and lack of engagement with their players.
Heh. I didn't mean to come across as "outrage". I was trying more for "disbelief" and "disappointment".
I also believe that the developers have good intentions -- but that they aren't quite sure what to do at this point (in many ways). My concern is that, instead of working with their community, they are retreating into justifications and excuses (which are markedly different from reasons in that they are used for giving up rather than seeking alternatives).
Opening up the source code is, I believe, a viable alternative that doesn't eliminate their ability to be compensated for their past and future efforts. If they do pull out of their down moment, that is another viable alternative -- but their communications indicate that they don't view it that way.
And, in any event, I really believe that time is running out for something to happen.