A dev's life -13

This post isn't about me.
I have realized that times have changed.

Admission. Support. Feedback.

That's what a developer wants. Some want more feedback, some want more approval, many want and need more support.

And I don't blame them. Creating a VN takes dozens of hours a week if you want to deliver a reasonable amount of content and a good story in more or less good quality.

Not to mention the hardware, the cost of assets and electricity.

Developers starting in 2018/19 or earlier had a much easier start in terms of building a fanbase.  
Why is that?
One reason is the flood of new games.
But that's not all.

Isa's last update got an estimated 50k-70k+ downloads, just from my sources.
Plus the pirate sites.

While I have loyal followers and fan base after more than a year (thanks guys!), new developers see the time they invest and the feedback they get.
Which is next to nothing.

A dev asking you to whishlist their game on steam.
Almost no response.
Another asking you to rate the game. On a pirate site. Nothing.

There is a reason why so many games get abandoned - and it is not always because the dev thought they could make $10k in a month.
Abandoned games are why I hear "I won't support a dev, there's a chance they'll stop developing".
Chicken and egg.

Just as an example:
Isa has 670k views on a pirate board.
With 380 likes and 37 ratings.
Would you offer a product for this ratio?
Likes and ratings don't cost anything except 3 minutes of your time.
Hundreds of hours of work don't deserve 3 minutes of your time?

As I said, I've made my peace with the situation.
And while I'm using Isa as an example, it's just to show the numbers.

Isa will be finished. No matter what.

But if you want new games: Give those damn likes, ratings and wishlist entries.

And yes, that's one reason why I'm going for a steam release.
The Patreon way doesn't work anymore.

Sorry for the rant, but I have seen three (new) devs get frustrated about this in the last few months.

Thanks for your support!

BTT