aaryn
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A Post v0.017 Heartfelt Thanks (Generally Mild Spoilers for v0.017)
🕑 Added 2020-01-30 00:25:02 +0000 UTCSup.
So I was originally going to write a warm fuzzy New Year's letter, reflecting on the past year of game development, time with the dev team, the people and fans I've met on Discord, and life in general. Unfortunately, the timing for New Year's was right in that window of the expectations for v0.017. I drafted up a cutesy post that pretty much read like a love note to the dev team and the community for everything they've blessed me with over the past year. I ended up not posting the note because it seemed in bad taste to drop a big text wall when people were waaaay too stoked about the upcoming update. So I left it.
I could have posted it but it but I didn't want people to ignore the sincerity of the message just because they were excited about the update. In retrospect, it's probably best that I didn't because it turns out I had more to be thankful about after v0.017 dropped.
v0.017 Reactions
First off, the reaction to v0.017 has been overwhelmingly positive. And when I say "overwhelmingly," I'm not talking in a statically fashion-- I mean in a genuine emotional reaction from the community to the team and myself. Going into this update, we had a huge amount of development time--something that I expected to negatively affect our Patreon supporters. I was expecting to see more people become frustrated with the wait and drop support. In fact, this was anticipated and I knew that when we made the decision to do v0.017 the way that we did (in one lump rather than two updates), we were going to risk losing people. However, it was incredible to see the faith this community has in our team and hopefully the wait paid off. Not only did we not lose people, we actually gained support over that development period. I know waiting that long was nerve wracking and I know many, if not all of you, asked yourself if it was going to be worth the wait (or maybe more appropriately: "what the fuck is taking so long?")-- but I hope it was worth the wait and that you saw the justification on why it took us so long to do this one.
Without giving details, v0.017 was without a doubt the most emotionally intense rollercoaster update we've seen with the most character development and changes in the story crammed into one single update. I mentioned on Discord recently that we almost HAD to stop at the end of it and take a break, just to catch our breath and really process what the fuck just happened. Had we only done the beach scene and then stopped, it would have lost it's momentum. Many of you have sometimes expressed not remembering what happened in the previous update. We simply couldn't risk that happening at this particular crossroads in the story--the story needed that momentum for everything after to hit like it does. In retrospect, I hope you see why we delayed it and did it in the fashion that we did-- despite it taking longer.
That being said, I've never seen such an influx in Patreon support. I've never seen such gratitude and genuine emotional outpouring from an internet community in my fucking life following v0.017. I woke up the day after v0.017 to have 79 DMs on my Discord, tons of personal stories about reactions to the game. Tragically, I think it's easy to associate internet comments with trolls. I've seen other game developers' reactions to their communities on forums and I'm honestly in awe because of the support I've received here from the community since the beginning of this. After expanding the team this year, that feedback has continued to grow to include the other dev team guys, people that I respect and care about deeply. My life has changed because of these guys and I'm proud they were accepted and welcomed into the community.
In general, this is my long-winded way of saying thank you. Not only for the past year (and before for you old-timers around here); but for the reactions and support to one of the most controversial updates we'll have for this game. I've never told a story like this before and it's such a crazy feeling to have such a large audience that just trusts the writers so much that you remain open to every curveball we throw at your guys.
So thank you for making this an experience for us, too. The stories, the reactions, the speculation, and all the feels. We're kicking off another year of this thing and we hope you're down for the ride.
-Aaryn
Comments
Aaryn
i love the pool scene too. it's not perfect but it's close enough to my vision that it makes me smile. I do agree with you that sometimes we need "less good" chapters to set things up and stuff. I think it's that artistic part where you're always your worst critic. People have high expectations for this game though and I really wanna deliver on that. Hell, i have high expectations too
Of course, you can't have high expectations everytime... But for each episode, you manage to do the roller coaster thing and even if some scenes are of course above all others (I'm still amazed with the pool scene that is the most intense and beautiful one in all the game so far Imo) who cares? The game is a whole thing and when all chapters are linked together, even the one "less good" (cause nothing is bad in your game) are important for getting to the best ones! And for real Aaryn, don't be so harsh on yourself haha, you're a f... good writer! I know for sure we will be amazed again! :)
Aaryn
awww, thx :) People have said in the past that not every episode of a show can be as good as the last one. it's impossible to always get better and better, you have to dip at least a little bit--especially for setup. So we'll see. I haven't done much on the outline yet to get a feel for the next one
I admit I'm really wondering what will come next cause you really surprised us! But like each time, you manage to do something better again, so I'm not scared... I know the next will be if not as good as what you did so far, it will just be better again!!! I've played that last part 3 times, and the pool part stay the best one for me with the park and bar scene (I'm still shivering just thinking about them haha). Amazing story from amazing people :)
Aaryn
heh, nah...you joke but I sooooo feel you. I felt such pressure after v012 with the bar/park scenes that i was worried about what comes after that. Glad this one landed. But shit....now what do we do? haha :p
Aaryn
Thanks Rozuial, i do put a lot of passion into this and I really like and respect the guy that I'm working with so that helps fuel the passion. Thanks for the kind words, i never expected to be tossed onto the stage of other larger scale VNs because we just don't have the resources or team sizes. But it's nice to see the game has had that lasting impact on you--which is def one of my goals. I know both the creation of this, the impact of the other devs on me, and the journey to create this will def be something I'll never forget.
I've already done my feedback in dm and it was long enough... Haha.. The wait was more than worthy. I can't wait for the next haha... Pressure. Joke ! You all guys are amazing cause you know how to touch us, how to drag us into your game to never let us go... We are Zack, Braden, and all people around them... Thank you... Just thank you!
Rozuial
Like I said before... This game you are crafting is the best I have ever played for a visual novel. Ever. Why? The story for one. No one has put so much emotion and feeling into the story that you are drawn into it. You feel for the characters and what they are going through. The second thing is the visuials. Most VNs will use sprites or badly drawn characters. With Str8?! we get powerful graphics that just keep getting better with each update. I plan on continuing to support this project and I can't wait to see what happens next.
