Frank, I can only apologise for what must be coming across wrongly. There is genuinely no malice or negativity intended in recent weeks; I am by no means a ringleader of destruction despite appearing as the leading vocalist. Please take my comments constructively at face value; or disregard them entirely if you so wish.
But there are larger things not working in the game as a whole; both new and old; some of which still do not; and some as predicted long before this new vast; absurdly timed; unusual direction and update occurred.
The unannounced timing of it in the final week of season 8 was the start of many oddities and frustrations felt throughout that lead us to where we are now.
It is by no means a bad addition; there are some great new features and certain logic to what has been added; but it was rather a lot to swallow and adapt in one sitting. Too much at once, maybe introduced in smaller updates would have been better; or let the main game become beta for a few weeks as it is now almost, albeit with a specified rewind so evident forthcoming bugs and mistakes are solved with no long term consequences.
I know it won't go to beta. I know it won't be reset. We are beyond that. My team is unaffected largely by the bugs others are reporting; but in the interest of players as a whole; I worry the errors and bugs have grown; and it may have shaken things too much and cause people to walk away without giving you a chance to address them.
Whilst we all appreciate that it is just a game; a free game; and that you are only human and working on it as a hobby; you must also appreciate we as players have also invested our time as well as yourself to make this happen on both sides.
Nobody is giving vetos or personal attacks; just personal targets for our own sanity and lack of patience. Our concerns are primarily that you chose to push this game not to new upper level; but a different level that arguably it didn't quite need; or at least not at this time; or this level of change in one hit.
The game was working quite nicely before. Things were flowing. There were some big bugs; but everything else was balanced and it worked more or less. There was an established hierarchy; long term teams and new teams could evidently progress from 3 to 1 in a matter of seasons.
It was noted a few big issues could be fixed with existing figures; be it wage percentage demands; rate of decline in morale etc. Things that you previously amended; then re-amended. So it was not impossible to do this again; and did not need a total overhaul. Just tweaking.
But for some reason you went against the popular opinion and pushed to a total overhaul in development where, as players, we didn't really experience concern.
This was focused above solving any of the repeatedly voiced 'big problems' by the players time and again. Problems stemming from week 1 season 1 remaining unresolved.
At the end of the day it is your game and your choice where you want to take it. We cannot forget that. But we advised you what would and wouldn't work for us as players at the time; and in choosing your own path; you have seemingly made more (unnecessary) extra work for yourself; whilst removing the playability for your loyal users and leaving a relatively unbroken game now a bit more broken.
We totally appreciate the effort you have gone above and beyond towards making the game fresh; exciting and to add depth to it; but perhaps it was just too soon? That depth would have been better with existing niggles sorted; and I think these updates would have flourished otherwise without so much fuss as we would have been more willing to accept the change and ride the learning curve.
Perhaps with the old issues sorted; the players would have been less aggravated by the additional problems now faced with the new system piled on top of the old ones.
Perhaps we would be less vocally upset and could have accepted these bugs more with open arms.
It all adds up to this 'hysteria'. It is pure frustration from us as we are left wondering why everyone is now facing a vertical wall playing it; as well as you developing it; when ultimately we didn't need to get to that point.
I worry that you will not get many new players as it currently stands; a problem faced in the old system that worked a lot more coherently. The new system is beyond complicated at first glance; even for those that know it inside out. What must newcomers think!? I struggle to see why such a positive game went to such a convoluted route out of nowhere; and for absolutely no playability gain to neither new or existing players.
There is also still no proper 'guide' in playing; or at least the existing one needs drastically updating to answer the same questions that are asked.
Surely this is somewhere some of us can help out for you?
You could say we feel robbed of our time invested in helping building this game to what it is; to have that lost that progress in a matter of weeks. It is a long term game. It does involve heavy player input. These somewhat small things do affect us as players which is why this 'veto' auora is echoing.
Some warned of the implications long before; and now we are in a position where some of your most loyal and dedicated players are just walking away because we were correct in what would happen. You cannot overlook that.
This might be just a hobby; but these people along with yourself help make that exist. Without these core players, this game would not work as much as if you didn't create it in the first place.
This isn't some sort of short lived mass hysteria; the problems that have occurred are the result of absurd changes that (I would confidently say) were not widely supported or arguably needed the way the were introduced so quickly. I worry the short term gain of updating so much so soon will leave long term damage in flocking players.
Given the previous assessment on the current state of the game in terms of widening the horizons and evolving forwards; we gave strongly supported and balanced suggestions and answers that were asked in how you move next in the games' overall progression.
The answers were there for you to take should you have wanted to push in the direction it arguably should have by public opinion and demand; and would have likely more successfully gone to address the present needs with essentially less drastic change and more in keeping the same of what we love so much about this great game.
We invested our time and knowledge as players; and it feels like our suggestions were overlooked; and the game went in another direction. This isn't to say your decisions were wrong; but equally a large percentage of vocal active players said the opposite, so it has to add weight to the case.
What happened was the polar opposite to what I assume you wanted. Instead of reaching outwards; it has turned inwards. The game evolved in areas it really was not calling for; the simple web menus and layout complicated beyond requirement. It may come across like 'a dig' but I assure you it isn't.
I've known you always as 'that enigmatic Belgian computer wizard bloke that managed website's. Going back 18 years (almost two-thirds of my life) from the first HawkEye Offline Racing Series back at the end of 1999 when I, even then, pushed loopholes in an offline league lol. You could say some things never change; but I stand by the fact I admire and appreciate your work; your effort and you as a genuinely nice guy.
You made the game; we play the game.
If you didn't make it, we couldn't play it.
And if we don't play it; there is no point making it.
We might sound like complainers; but we both need each other to exist. These calls do appear to be unanswered sometimes; but we, as players, have answers to some of the problems you are seeing.
Please don't overlook the loyal ones that have invested so much time in spotting these bugs; playing and helping you make this great game what it is alongside you.
You are a top guy Frank; a friend and online legend to many of us inside this virtual bubble. Please - let us help you where we can!
