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.
