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Sunday, July 21, 2013

July 9th ~ July 21st

Let me talk about the happenings and news in the Kickstarter comments over the past dozen days, sort of summing it up and throwing in my own two cents. (Although, truthfully, there were no comments today.)

It's been 21 days since the Primer Labs' website was noticed to be down. It's been 17 days since Alex Peake stated he was sorting out the issues with the webhost. The domain, or multiple domains (primerlabs.com, codehero.org, alexpeake.com), were purchased on GoDaddy and the website itself is hosted on Linode's servers.

Now, I've done some webhosting myself with a provider, though not with Linode or for CHCB. Still, it should not take this long to fix it. If it does, why would you still stick with such a company? What kind of customer service is that? (Ironic, no?) With the domains on GoDaddy, Mr. Peake or a comrade could easily redirect the domains to a different host without much trouble, even to a thrown-together free site.

Posting updates and links in the update area on Kickstarter, maybe even redirecting the domains to that page as well, seems like the easiest thing to do. Why is that area collecting dust, anyway?

Because of this, the links to download the alpha--which the backers all have a right to do--are not normally reachable. Fortunately, Peter S used the Wayback Machine to find us some links for everyone to use, although likely just in Guest Mode. Click here. Unnormally reached, so yay!

There's still some wondering on how this project is going to fare. Since those 17 days ago, Mr. Peake has also fallen silent and is ignoring his backers once again. He even logged into Kickstarter (at least) 8 days ago without a peep. Word has it that Mr. Peake has already moved on to another project, one involving alternate reality gaming glasses.

One thing that has some agreement amongst the backers for sure, and that's how Double Fine has done a far better job with their own Kickstarter game running out of funding before finishing. They've kept their backers up to date. They also shipped out the awards.and have apparently been transparent about their funding.

From the way the comments are turning, legal action is a desired path, even if Mr. Peake miraculously meets his latest promise. Or will Mr. Peake do an about face and suddenly change everyone's minds, updating left and right while throwing up a spreadsheet of where all the money went and have something organized for getting the rewards out? Unfortunately, the sudden change in character seems unlikely at this point, though I hope to be proven wrong.


Monday, July 15, 2013

Things to Do

Hey everyone, it's just over a week since my last post and I thought I'd give an update.

I've been busy, but I am working on gathering info on some past projects by Alex Peake. I am currently looking into the Tactical Corsets, what seems to be the most recent one to Code Hero. I am specifically looking into how communication was handled, although hitting on the entire thing in general.

I am looking at the Facebook and Twitter accounts dedicated to Tactical Corsets, as well as the website (saved by the good ol' Wayback Machine) and some other things I've found through some Google digging. I will provide links to everything I used when I finish.

I am still trying to sort out exactly how I want to use this site. Following along with the latest Code Hero news is a given. Do I want to bring in interesting comments from the Kickstarter page regularly? Do I really want to provide information on Mr. Peake's past works when I just want him to finally finish this current one?

So, in short, I am looking into Tactical Corsets and still not sure what I want to put up here. It's not much, but I figure as someone saying Mr. Peake should be trying to provide updates regularly, I should at least try to do it myself.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

July 7th

Once again, Jonathan Jou calmly gives some advice:
Alex,
I've said this before, and I'll say it again, in hopes that you'll actually listen. The backers who have been voicing their concerns are the same backers who won't be appeased by more promises. I would like answers, and I have reason to believe answers will be the first step in salvaging your relationship with your backers.
As backers, you've given us far too many reasons to be worried about your odds of succeeding and too few reasons to hope that you've made any progress at all. We still don't know what your final product will be, how you plan to finish it, or when you will even know that the end is in sight. We're not happy with how things look, and your handling of the situation only gives us more cause for concern.
To be clear, I'm trying to figure out the best possible outcome for you at this point, and I'm hesitant to put faith in your fundraising prospects or the new deadline you've promised (instead of any sort of actual product).
As of now, here are the problems I see:
1. You owe physical rewards to 1,217 of your backers, a great deal of your time, or the time of your team to 76 of them, and a plane ticket (to events whose dates have come and gone) to someone who gave you more than enough to afford them.
2. You have never given us any sort of financial, technical, or even factual breakdown of what's happened between now and last February. It looks like a lot hasn't gone as planned, and your backers don't know what went wrong, much less how you're going to fix it.
3. None of us have any idea where you're going with this, and the most alarming part is that we can't say for sure that you do, either. Everyone can and should pursue their dreams, but from what you've been willing to tell us, it really seems like your project wasn't ready for Kickstarter, which means you've taken a lot of money and don't have enough to show for it.
In all honesty, I don't see how you can solve any of these problems. Instead of answers, we're left with a mess of missed deadlines, volunteer staff, incomplete software, and unsettling lack of information to assure us that things are going to change for the better. I want to believe that things have changed for the better, and stop worrying that they've changed for the worse. That starts with telling us the truth.
So again, I urge you. Please stop working on Code Hero. Just you.
Tell us what's wrong. Don't let your biggest supporters become your worst enemies. Answers will do you far more good than any more promises. I'm willing to forgive being overly ambitious, but at some point broken promises start looking like fraud, and backer discontent will trigger legal recourse. It seems unavoidable that you're going to be explaining yourself before a judge, but I'd hate for an unfortunate situation to turn into unbridled hostility.
We're frustrated because we gave you our hard-earned money to help you succeed, and now we're not sure giving you our money was the right decision for either party. I doubt anyone here would choose vengeance over compromise, but you're not giving us anything to work with. Give us something to work with—help us help you.
Sincerely,
Jonathan
I don't think there's really much for me to add. Listen to your backers, Mr. Peake. They're saying what they want.

Friday, July 5, 2013

July 5th

The About page has been updated. I replaced a link and also made a few edits here and there for clarity.

Moving on, the Kickstarter comments received some more words of wisdom today. First, from Dustin Deckard:
You ignore everyone here for months and months and months and only pop out whenever there's enough unrest to get the press involved. And even then, all we've got to read are renewed commitments to get another ALPHA build out at PAX, and a plan to start selling the game to schools to raise funding. Complaining about how rough it is to get work done when people are criticizing you seems silly... by my rough count, well under 5% of your backers have made any public complaints. If you want people to stop complaining, it's painfully obvious how easy it is to resolve that problem. Stop making promises you can't keep, and don't ignore the people who gave you the green light on this project. They're only asking for a tiny, tiny amount of your time once a month or so.
The other comment of today is by Peter S:
 I think Xero said it well at http://codeherocodeblue.blogspot.com/ :
"[Quoting Alex from the Colin Campbell article,] 'It's hard to respond until the release is done in a way that will address people's concerns.' [Xero responds:] Actually, no it's not. It is not hard to post weekly with, 'Hey guys, right now we're doing blahblahblah,' or a, 'Sorry guys that we said the new build would come out on May 21st, but it's unfortunately still got some kinks in it.' You do not have to directly respond to criticism, just respond."
If it still feels stressful to update us Alex, you could get someone else to do it for you. EG, Shaun Hansel (who was announced as our new community manager), anyone you know who wouldn't mind doing it; maybe even a volunteer from us backers, if that works best for you.
Honestly, keeping us updated will I think feel like a /relief/. If we're told what you're working on, and get a couple of our questions answered regularly, then the current vibe of frustration coming from actively commenting backers should substantially calm down. 
Saying nothing adds fuel to the feeling that this is a scam. Transparency fixes that. As you must have noticed, you coming on here (and talking to Colin Campbell) helps. If we could have maybe 3-5 times as much communication from you (or a representative from your team), that'd be excellent. For example, one update sometime next week, saying whatever you like, would I think be a good start. 
Sorry to end on a negative note, but: If you plan on going back to radio silence until PAX, I don't think the [small minority of] backers keeping up with the comments page, have the patience to wait through 2 months of silence. With all due respect, we've /been/ waiting, and I think our patience to endure more months of silence is wearing thin. Be well.
I won't lie, it does feel kind of cool to see a link to here over there in the comments, but I digress....

I think both comments give some good advice. The poor communication and broken promises need to be remedied. There was a period of time, albeit short, when updates were posted. That was good while it lasted.

According to the articles from yesterday, the updates ceased because some backers didn't think they were good enough, and that negative criticism discouraged further attempts. I don't think the correct solution was to stop those and ignore backers altogether. Instead, I feel the right way to go about it would've been to continue the best that could be done and ignore those who weren't satisfied.

You can't please everyone all of the time, and haters gonna hate. But all the people upset now, they're not haters. Not all of them at least.

All is not lost. It's not too late for Mr. Peake to make things right. But from the looks of the backers, it's a limited time to work with.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

July 4th

Let us start here: Code Hero developer claims troubled project still alive, despite new woes
"We were doing weekly updates," said Peakes. "I know that complaining about people criticizing us sounds dumb but honestly, it was discouraging to hear from [critics] who just didn't think the updates were good enough and were dissatisfied. It is hard to work on something while you are being criticized about it. Game development is hard work. I know it would be better to take it on the chin and respond to every criticism but it can be psychologically taxing to do so."
Alex Peake, it does sound dumb. Many of your backers just want to hear from you.

Time and time again, you promise to give info. You promise to keep your backers in the loop. You don't.
"The website is down temporarily and will be back up soon," he told Polygon. "A release is close to done. It's just been a little overwhelming with people being so negative. It's hard to respond until the release is done in a way that will address people's concerns."
Actually, no it's not. It is not hard to post weekly with, "Hey guys, right now we're doing blahblahblah," or a, "Sorry guys that we said the new build would come out on May 21st, but it's unfortunately still got some kinks in it." You do not have to directly respond to criticism, just respond.

By Alex Peake today on Kickstarter:
I apologize for the lack of communication lately. We're working to get the site back online as soon as possible and a new alpha release with it. We're also securing additional developers and funding to fulfill shirt rewards and accelerate development. The first beta will be released September 1st and we'll make a full announcement and Q&A on the site when we get it back online.

As much as I want to believe it, it's hard to, because I have seen this before and I have seen you not follow through. Past experience tells me history will once again repeat itself.

Why do your backers have to completely lose faith in you before you respond, and then not only do you not respond to them directly, but to someone else?

Mr. Peake, this website was made for you, since it takes other websites getting involved to get any real response out of you. Going totally mute on your backers who you have failed to meet basic Kickstarter requirements with is not good. Your decision of silence is speaking loudly that you don't care enough about them, that talking to them isn't worth the effort. No? Prove me wrong. Please. I'm hoping you will.