Busy, busy!

Alright, there are many theories floating around about what the developers are or are not doing. Often suggestions appear like a patient self-diagnosis... where someone is looking at a cut on their left hand and they tell the doctor to amputate their right arm. That won't necessarily remedy the problem.



Here's the reality:



We are working on the game, and we have real life commitments. Like moving across the country. Finishing up a university degree. Working a full time job, on top of leading marketing efforts for the game. And that's only three developers, out of a team of 12, having been preoccupied during the past month. I can assure you that on the marketing and community front, there will be more time devoted to it in the coming weeks.



We are planning for a relatively minor content release the week after next. It will include a remake of the Sinjar map. It may also include a new weapon. We're also removing the set playlists for servers, which was meant as an experiment to test out particular game modes and maps. We're also going to get full Workshop support open for more than just maps and dedicated servers can run custom content.



Also in the works and planned to release in the coming months, is a larger update that will redesign our UI, including the server browser, the addition of a party/matchmaking system, and a point-based ranking system along with a percentile-based tier system.



We think the answer to sustaining the player base is providing a context to play for. Right now, people play for the gratification of the combat. We have never believed that to be enough to retain players, but as you know if you've been following development for a while, we need to take one step at a time and test things. These things take time. It's easy to envision the destination, but you can't skip any steps to get there.



Once we have built in such features, we can then begin to officially support the competitive scene. We can invest heavily in marketing and advertising the game to bring in and retain players.



In fact, as a developer, it's important to understand what the bottom threshold is for the game. Clearly, if the valley player number hits below 300, the number of 'is this game dead?' topics grow exponentially.



Again, we're a small team. We're competing for your time and attention to play our game over other games. The majority of other games I see being played in my friends list right now have multi-million dollar budgets to gain your attention.



We're running a marathon here, so we can't always be sprinting as much as you hope we can.



Thanks for your continued loyalty. We are definitely listening - even if not responding to everything - and working hard to fulfill this game's potential.