TSL SHUTDOWN

[IAgamer2524]

I'm sorry to do this to you all but honestly I have to say that I have given up on this site.  I am not going to wait around until the year 2100 before anything gets done.  I believe that this site is going no where and I may sound very harsh in this but honestly I hope you would either shut down this site and save your money or don't let people think you will provide them with anything and then give them nothing.  Guys it has been over a year almost since your demo (last july) and you said it would be ready by christmas.  Well that was a lie and what the heck no updates nothing?  Come on now seriously what are you all thinking?  You are losing more people from this site and honestly maybe the Kings Quest games should have died out a long time ago.  I was a fan and now I'm thinking that we all need to get new hobbies than bring up the past. 

I hope I have not pissed off too much of you people but you can all do better than waste our times.  Come on now it has taken you nearly 5 years to just get a forum updated.  YEAH For Forums!  I hope Vivendi helps you get your game started sooner than later.  Because we can't all live forever, only God knows when this game will be finished.  Maybe it will happen before the Global Warming takes into effect and freezes the whole entire world before all the polar ice caps melt and cause us to move to Mexico! 

Get your acts together people or shut this site down!

[Petra Rocks]

Relax.  I am sure you are disappointed at not finding anything (still) all this time later but you are not thinking about what you are saying. July '06- Feb '07 is not 'over a year', it's half a year. Nobody promised TSL would be out in Christmas '06. A few fans speculated but that was all .  Nor has it been 5 years since the last update.

It is true the game has been in development for a long time, and updates patchy. Still it has suffered from one complete work stoppage and more importantly has no budget. I've never managed a computer project, but I can only imagine having people come and go as they will makes life difficult.

I agree the game has been a frustratingly long time in development, but loosing our tempers is simply not very helpful. Unless you care to volunteer some time or effort to helping the project get done, you can't do much but wait I'm afriad. Or you can stop checking the forum if that is your wish. To me 5 min once or twice a month seems a pretty good price for a full computer game, but that is your choice to make.

[dark-daventry]

The team has had to go through many ordeals, including the C&D they received last year. (I think it was last year. Correct me if I'm wrong.) And that event significantly slowed down development. I don't care if this project will be a let down. It gives me hope, and that's all I really want. This project has some pretty damn talented and dedicated people working their ass off to get this game out. And besides, it's non-profit, and many of the team members have a real job. Like me. I'm not a team member, but I have applied, and I do have other things to do with my time besides the game, but I would reserve a time to work on the game. The game was never promised for 2006. And even if the game is cancelled, I will always remember the game and the work that went into it. But I know in my heart that this game is not a waste of time, and that the team members would never give up without a fight. They will struggle to the last hurdle to release this game. And besides, they have VG to deal with. They have to approve the game and do reviews and everything. I don't even know how long that could take. It could take forever. Not literally, but metaphorically for a long time. It may already be in that process. I do not know, nor do any other forum members besides the team. There are certain things they can not discuss or release to the public as of yet, and a lack of updates hardly means a project's dead. On the contrary. It could indicate that the team is hard at work and haven't had the time to update. And besides, we've got the compilations and the demo to tide us over for a long time. The forum is fun, and you should enjoy it. I come here seeking fun and games, not updates and work. I come here to escape from my life sometimes. I go to Deloria's thread to role-play, I go to the fan-fiction section to read all about tales long forgotten about Daventry. I go here seeking only fun, and as long as that is accomplished, I'm satisfied. Have patience. Patience is a virtue. A watchpot never boils. An update will come when you least expect it. 

[Yonkey]

Petra and Dark-Daventry have already said everything I would have said.  The only thing I would add is that the team is continuously working on the game behind the scenes, with progress being made almost daily. 

We will update our site in due time when there is something major to announce.  The game will be released when it is ready and not any moment sooner.

[Shades2585]

It's very possible that the picture I made for the contest "Every fans wish Winter 06" is what lead him to believe that it was coming out during X-Mas. If that is the case IAgamer2524 then I apologize for the confusion. As long as you're signed up to receive TSL email then you will know when the game comes out. So if you don't want to check the site ever day, week, month, whatever then you don't have to. Just sit back and relax and don't worry about it. It will come out in due time.

[Deloria]

He might also be referring to the promo which said "The journey begins this Winter" that was released at the May birthday chat in 2005.

[IAgamer2524]

Yeah I am referring to the promo which had said the game maybe ready by winter 2006.  I am sorry if I am sounding harsh a bit on this I just really think you all have put in a great time and effort and still continuously work hard on this I just frustrated because I come to this site a lot and I haven't seen anything since July.  I just was curious and a bit excited that maybe it would have been done in December (Shadows at least), so yeah I digress and will wait more I guess!

[Deloria]

Actually, the promo just said, "the journey begins this Winter". Not that Shadows would actually be released then, but perhaps just, say, a demo. Also, there have been some Journal updates so progress has been made, just not on the site or in the way of something both playable and open to the public. Besides, new screenshots get released frequently.

[Petra Rocks]

Though I must note, the demo came out in the summer.

[noaheugene20]

I agree with IA hurry up already with the game or you will have zero people supporting you. most people already left and i am thinking about it to. look in the forums, not active huh! Well its because you get are hopes up and crush them and make fun of us! well im tired of waiting. 

[Petra Rocks]

 Peace, peace. Nobody is making fun of you. It would certainly help build and encourage the fanbase for Shadows to be released, and probably team morale as well for that matter.  Forum activity has never been huge by the standards of such things, and the personal lives of a few formerly prolific posters has more to do with it than lack of updates. Frankly most regulars use this a place to met friends, and TSL has little to do with its day to day operations. You can leave if you want but it will probably not profit you much, it does not take much time to check the forum. In short it isn't done, we have no idea if it will be done soon, and I can give you no advice but to sit and wait.

[Shades2585]

We appreciate your interest and excitement for the game. All of us here are looking forward to Shadows release as well but are desire to play it now won't change anything. As I mentioned before as long as you opted to receive email form TSL then you will be informed of it's release so that way you don't have to visit everyday if you don't want to.

[Deloria]

Though I must note, the demo came out in the summer.

And yet it was sent to Vivendi and thus ready last November.

[koko_99_2001]

Peace, peace. Nobody is making fun of you. It would certainly help build and encourage the fanbase for Shadows to be released, and probably team morale as well for that matter.  Forum activity has never been huge by the standards of such things, and the personal lives of a few formerly prolific posters has more to do with it than lack of updates.

I've got to agree to this. I mean, I'm a graduate student set to graduate in May. And right now, my graduation is in the balance because of this huge project. If I don't pass it on the 19th, I don't graduate! On top of that, my fiance lives in another country. So obviously my personal life takes precedence

Though I must note, the demo came out in the summer.

And yet it was sent to Vivendi and thus ready last November.

Ahh, it may've been ready last November, but I believe the team was tweeking things and taking out spoilers for us to enjoy. And, didn't they only have a week or two before they released the demo to us?

[noaheugene20]

Still you never do a single minor update at all, not even a journal update. what kind of webmaster would not even update his site not even by a little when large amount of time has passed? And I hear it was ready already by november. Why are you not releasing it now? If you think it is funny to not release it when it is ready. I will make my own TSL idea for a game and everyone will go to my site insted of yours, because I'm actually keeping them updated. And I have an exact release date.

[TribeHasSpoken]

She was talking about November 2005 as the date we had the demo ready, not the actual game.

As for keeping you updated, we're faced with two problems. The first is obviously wanting to keep certain things secret until the release. The other, and probably more serious, is that it's hard to get all the info from everyone involved to keep you regularly updated on certain things without eating into the time they have to actually work on the game, and that's assuming they're not busy with real-life commitments that keep them out of contact for a little while.

I sympathize with your feelings of being left in the dark, and sincerely hope that the next real update will make up for it.

[Petra Rocks]

No, no, the Demo was ready in November, not the game. And it was not released because it was made to show VU how the gamewould look, not for public release. As I understand it the decision to make the demo public was reather last second, and was indeed designed to placate the fans, but others here will know more about the details of that decision making process than I.  

As for maing your own, if you think you can go ahead. It's a lot of work, but if you really can two games are better than one.

[rbadala]

It is clear that the team built up a lot of public excitement in this project.  It's also clear the public interest has been declining for some time, and for good reason.  Why the team would build up so much public interest and allow it to fall away without so much as trying to slow it down is a mystery to me.  If someone reads this and thinks "what are they supposed to do", then they don't know much about public relations. 

There are a small group of fans who will hang around to write angry messages to be responded by another small group of patient fans who don't know any more than anyone else with the "it will be finished when it's done" kind of attitude.  But most of the public will just leave and get on with their lives and forget about this project.  I find it hard to believe this is what the team wanted.

In my opinion (which nobody cares about, but I feel like expressing anyway), dealing with the public has been very poorly handled.  It's not hard to figure why a few people are expressing anger.  Just one example (I hope I can get it right), A demo comes out that talks about a winter release.  Winter comes and nothing is released.  People ask what is going on and are met with silence by everybody who can answer their questions. (Maybe Cesar doesn't read the board)  The only people who answer are those other fans who don't know anything about what's going on.  And Say who is very good at reading and responding to posts, but seems like she doesn't know what the status of the project is either.  I mean, if she knew the project was not going to be released by X-mas, wouldn't she have said something to the people who clearly thought it was.

I am sure the team is doing the best that they can.  They shouldn't put this project before their Job, families, graduation, etc....  When things happen that halts or slows progress, just communicate that with the public. 

It's hard to make a suggestion to Say who doesn't get paid to work here, but I'll give it a try anyway.  I would suggest that she should get in contact with Cesar (and anyone else that is necessary) as often as she can and communicate any information she can gather here on this board.  Don't wait for Cesar or programmers, artists, and all others to post in the journal.  Why not let them communicate through Say, who doesn't mind posting.  It will be easier on them. (Although harder on Say) The team doesn't need to hide behind the "there is nothing significant to report" after 7-8 months.  No progress is in fact significant information.  Forget about having to have a full progress report in order to give updates.  Right now any information that will help the public still interested feel "clued in" would be extremely helpful.  If you can't make a previously announce deadline, say so.  Most will understand.  You don't need to concern yourself with anyone who doesn't anyway, (they will be in the minority). 

Hopefully, you will be able to bring back some lost interest.

Sorry for the long post.

[Petra Rocks]

Rbadala is at least partly correct. People will certainly loose interest as time goes on and little exists to show for it, or to show progress is beng made. I don't know how much it will hurt the games release, a lot of the people who 'loose interest' will hear about it and come running when the game is released anyway, or so I guess. Might not be so good for team recruitment though.

It would probably be good for maintaining morale if the team was more open about what they are getting done or not getting done.  I seem to recall some legal or practical barrier to that though. Maybe I am wrong, anyway others here will know more about that.

EDIT:

I would not confuse less posting on the forum with less community support though.  90% or more of the posting on the forum is done by less than a score of dedicated regulars, and the amount of time they spend here is more determined by there personal lives than by updates or lack thereof. What broader public support may be doing I do not know but I do not think forum activity is a very good barometer