Greetings Salemites,
First, let me start by saying that I am deeply sorry that my general absence has extended beyond the intended duration. Salem has been a major part of my life before Mortal Moments even acquired it and it was not without great regret that I allowed myself and my attention to be ripped away from it. Do note that even when I cannot be here to interact with y'all to the level I want to this does not mean that I am somehow unavailable or unreachable. Server status is still text messaged to my phone, other members of the Dev team still have direct access to me in times of need, and Salem as a whole is still 'fine'. In fact, I would wager that we have failed as developers if the hiatus of a single member of the team could indeed cause an apocalyptic event for the title.
What my absence has given me though, is a sense of insight and reflection that I don't feel I could have otherwise garnished while being as focus'd as we were in the previous year. A series of reflections that I now feel obligated to share in this 'Developer Blog' so to speak.
Population
Frankly, I have always found it fascinating that a player base could care more about this metric than the developers themselves. I like to think that y'all care so much because you wish to absolute best for us, as opposed to say a herd mentality where somehow the 'worth' of the game you are playing is somehow measured by the # of other players doing so at the same time 'validating' your selection based on how trendy the choice of game is. The former is appreciated, while the latter scares me. As a player who enjoyed every minute of my gameplay while Plymouth had 6 players I cannot stress enough just how insignificant the population is to me. In this games darker days it saw 100 active players, during our acquisition I believe it was closer to 300 daily players, and as I write this post I could quite honestly not be happier that after a several month hiatus the game still has nearly double that! Thank you to those players who find what we built fun and support this game ! Just as I can happily play this game with 1 friend or 100 enemies, I can also say that I can happily develop it in the same manner. If one year from now there is LITERALLY just Heffernan and Darwoth playing this game, then the next two patches will just be an in-game couch for Heffernan, followed by a unique mechanic that most likely results in Darwoth stealing said couch from Heffernan. Many people in life are blessed with an ability to bring joy, entertainment, and satisfaction to others. In a wealth of industries, professions, and hobbies these 'donations' yield 1:1 returns. A single human, providing something of value to another single human. Thanks to technology, Salem, and y'all I have the un-measurable gift of bringing 'fun' to hundreds of players and I refuse to see this opportunity in any other light. As a gamer for the better part of my life I know the excitement I get at even the smallest of patches for my favorite game at the time and the way I yearn for even the slightest of feedback from those responsible for a game that I care deeply about. The mere idea that even one player looks to our content with the same excitement is more than enough to inspire me to keep trying to make Salem the best version of itself that I can.
Unique Nature
That being said, I've reflected long and hard about the things that make Salem different, which Ironically are the exact things I think make Salem largely 'unpopular', and even more ironically are the exact things I think make Salem great. The idea that popularity = greatness is probably a debate for another time but I quite simply do not subscribe to the idea that the direction of the masses has any bearing on my own personal beliefs or direction for this game. I always have and always will develop this game to be the game I enjoy playing. I enjoy being punished, I enjoy losing, and I enjoy knowing that to be competitive I must make sacrifices for something that others would consider a 'hobby' unworthy of said sacrifices. While some have always used gaming to escape reality and 'relax', I have always used it as a playing field that is far more accessible, reliable, and 'even' than most other activities. I know many of you would simply wish that we would make the popular choices that would bring the casual gamer and appease what I would consider the 'younger' generation of players. Unfortunately, nothing about my reflections have brought that desire. In fact, if anything, developing something I could never see myself playing would do little other than burn me out from development the game entirely.
Future
Anyways, I would normally leave you with a painting of the future, but truthfully I simply do not know what our future looks like. I do know that development pace will be picking up, and may even return to some of the pre-production months. I know that I have no intentions of wiping this game ever and I will consider the time when I need to my greatest failure. As much as it may not be mainstream to discuss I feel it worthy to note and disclose that with today's numbers Salem more than covers its operational costs and in the event it stops we have managed to ferret away several years worth of server costs simply with the revenue generated from Launch. Revenue that is has never been allocated to anything but making Salem the best we can and revenue that I see no reason to allocate differently now. Many times I simply gaze upon the server logs and respect the huge investments that some of you make to this game in the form of time and passion. Those investments will never be ignored or under-appreciated. The time you invest here does not go unnoticed and if for no other reason I intend to do my best to preserve that investment you have made for as long as reasonably possible.
'Life' is still happening, but I do feel that I am getting back to a balance where I can begin to work in the commitment that developing Salem at the rate some of you were accustomed commands. The pile of drama and tears you guys left for me upon my return was amazing and I cannot wait for you guys to find the 10 other mechanics I never told you about that are going to get you killed and punish you for failing to explore and tamper with all aspects of game mechanics. The next patch is going to implement what is lovingly coded as ppgains(). Passive Proficiency Gains. So far I'm having a blast on the test server gaining some MINOR character advancement from things I otherwise classified as 'work'. The gains are pretty worthless on the whole, however, psychologically I simply feel like I am 'better off' for playing and I largely think that is a good thing. I worry that it may undermine the inspirational system, however, I do hugely doubt it. After I round out this little tidbit I do have huge hopes to tackle Gluttony as well before returning to 'general content'.
Anyways, that is about as much blogging as I can do without feeling the need to get back to it.... To be honest, this last year I wondered how many of you were here because of the constant content, and how many of you would really stick around if something were to pull me away from development for a spell. Nothing has made me happier than to return after these last few weeks/months to see so many familiar faces still bickering with one another . One could argue that it isn't even Salem that I'm addicted to at all, but merely what y'all do with Salem . So for that, I thank you.
--JC