I often wonder what it's like for Reloaded to get up in the morning and read threads like these. I'm positive that there's a predictable frequency in which a thread is made - or another one is derailed - to talk about how players are leaving, or how Reloaded hasn't done enough to update the game, or how servers are laggy, or any other number of complaints. Do they sit down in a break room and say, "Yep, it's been about a week, another thread was made to talk about how we're fuzzy bunnyng up again"? Do they shake their heads and groan, knowing that they're still have many more uninteresting but necessary items to kick out while these threads keep appearing?
I actually agree with many points that are being made by those asking about where X update is. I'd like more mechs. I'd like more stable servers. I'd like more prominent updates which draws additional players so matchmaking starts working better. Everything. I want it all.
But the way I see it is this: when Reloaded got their hands on Hawken, it was essentially dead. Done. If it was making any money, it wasn't enough to pay for a single handy from a downtown hooker. Reloaded came across this game in the Forest of Failed Games, partially decomposed and missing its eyeballs, and they thought to themselves, "Huh. Maybe if we dust off this corpse, throw some lipstick on it, and tie a balloon around its toe to draw some attention, we can see how much interest remains." So they did. They got the forums back up, they made a little Steam update, and they assigned a few employees to keep FrankenHawken from falling apart while they bolt on a few missing pieces. Yeah, FrankenHawken is still stumbling around near where Reloaded first found it laying, but its up and moving. Now Reloaded knows that there's at least some initial interest in FrankenHawken, so they'll continue to slowly allocate more resources dedicated to improving it. They'll ride the line between investment and return as close as they can to play it safe - THEY RAISED A GAME FROM THE DEAD - and that pace will pick up as interest grows.
I'll also make myself clear by saying I'm not optimistic. I try to be a realist. I'm not even sure that they'll come out with content updates because they may just decide that it's not worth it. I'm not freaking out that the game doesn't have the laundry list of updates I want because I figure they have a small team, they have limited resources, they're playing it safe. I'd have a fundamental misunderstanding of investment if I expected them to do more. Reloaded reads these threads, they know the community sentiment, but that doesn't change the fact that they're a business trying to make a profit with a formerly failed asset, and that is risky as hell. They're going to dribble out backend updates that we all find extremely boring until the first big content update, and that's when they'll assess their investment and decide if deserves more resources or not. Anyone here who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves. If the updates come, great. If they don't, then you eventually get to make a decision of whether to leave or stick around. Nobody can tell you when that moment is, but if you leave, be sure to make a rage-fueled quit post so that it may bring me eye pleasures.
Edited by TheButtSatisfier, 02 July 2015 - 06:57 AM.