The decision to "rebrand" the product may leave a bitter taste in the mouth of some that pledged with the expectations that were outlined when the decision to create Reloaded came into fruition, only to have those expectations changed down the road well into development. You cannot fault those users that feel this way, and you cannot expect everyone is going to be dancing with glee and following the norm. While I agree that it is the nature of the industry in some extent, it does happen and there is no point in telling someone they are wrong for feeling flustered because of the decision to take the current route. This forum has a diverse group of people that have various backgrounds and levels of development that not everyone is at the exact same level. Some may have the ability to have a large team to work with while others are just a two or three person team working. Some have a lot of time, some have little time, etc. The point is we are diverse- let us not loose focus of that when people are hesitant.
You want to "rebrand" your product, we get that. To be honest, FPSC does not really have the "best" reputation in the industry. While the software (Classic) has received its bashings and wounds, some of us have attempted to show it is actually a good piece of software once you get to know it inside-out. Some have produced excellent media for us developers to use, some have released games that were unique or had some cool concepts, and some of us have even made good money with the product.
With that said, here is a concern I have which has bothered me (and my wife) for some time- the support. There are a few areas of support that really need some polish, and I would dare say more polish than some of the answers we have read in both the GG forums and the Steam forums as of late. This is where we stop short of jumping for joy and being excited.
First, we hope that you will actually take the time (even if just for a ten minute discussion) and talk about the documentation. While Classic did have the "official community guide(s)", they were not exactly easy for some to follow. They had great information and I do not want to diminish the thought and effort, but they lacked a clear guide for new and beginner people. I'd suggest referral to
Ched's Script Syntax Guide which is an excellent example of organization in documentation. It clearly makes the product look good when documents accompany it that have this effort put into it.
Second, when I read a comment such as...
Quote: "we're committed to developing GameGuru for many years to come, and our focus will always be ease of use for powerful results."
...it makes me wonder...how many years will that be? Do you plan to "drop" support once you find a new shiny object to pursue? Again to reference Classic, you left the product
unfinished and still in BETA, and to add insult to injury when bug reports are posted, one could get a response such as...
Quote: "FPSC is no longer supported so there won't be any official bug fixes if it is found to be a bug."
...or...
Quote: "The team has moved support to GameGuru now and are pushing towards a Steam release so I doubt any official action will be taken on this now unsupported software."
Issues raised, questions asked and
ignored... Not exactly warming us up to switching over to another product now. While my wife and I are only two people and our money may not affect you, others could feel the same way and over time that equals loss of sales.
If you are going to rebrand the image, then I suggest the entire image. A little effort to get us to turn our heads and say "wow, those guys go the extra mile and then some" will just have us as users/developers bragging about your software and even help send more users your way. You are entering the Steam market, where users are going to be relentless when something goes wrong and there is either no good support or the program does not work as promised/intended. You have to take the criticism just as well as you take the compliments, but you can help diminish the amount of complaints if you have everything in place and not "winging it".
There's no problem that can't be solved without applying a little scripting.
