So I was playing this all fairly close to the chest, but I figured I would lay out everything for all of you. I couple of you already know some of this. I originally did not want to put this out, as it may encourage reckless or unpredictable behavior from players concerned about getting in a last hurrah. Here's some definite facts that I have been facing for the moment, and I would like further input:
-Within the next couple of months I will be moving to a new job, and that new job will prevent further updates on the same scale I have been doing, simply because I will no longer have time to do updates at work, because I'll be doing actual challenging work that requires my full attention and time. Strictly speaking, that means that the game we have now will not be possible then.
-My wife and I are moving to our first house next week, and so far have been barely able to keep up with Private Messages and occasional chats. As previously stated, based on the schedule I've got to keep up, the next update would not be started until 7/29.
-The sheer amount of factions and towns that have emerged was not anticipated for this game when it was created. The entire system (and me) has been overloaded with the various stats and information that has to be tracked. Initially there was to be a system that allowed for transformation from factions into proper nations, but the preset qualifications for that have not yet been met by any faction, even the largest ones.
-Due to the overwhelming power of some factions, particularly those that have been around a while, starting factions are simply not able to compete, short-term or long-term. While I have no doubt that some players are more than capable of turning the situation to their advantage, when I created the game, I honestly did not expect to have new players so late in the game. Therefore there was no balance intended for anyone.
All right, that leads us to options going forward. I am going to put this to a vote, because AMERICA and FREEDOM. I have carefully considered all of the options below, and would be ok with any of them, if selected. The whole reason I am putting the matter up to a vote is because I honestly can't make up my mind which way to go. Of course, if I do later make up my mind, I reserve the right to ignore the vote and do what I want to do. After all, as I have said many times, if the moderator isn't on board for a game, it's doomed from the start. Regardless of what decision is made, there will be an epilogue update to cover all factions. Also, I plan to continue the Traveler, even beyond the time of stopping, until his story comes to a proper end.
1. Do another few updates for this until I run out of time. The upside to this is we may get a bit more fun and activity here before the end. I say "may" because it is entirely possible that the last update I did may actually be the last update depending on whether or not I start the new job prior to 7/29.
2. Stop now, write epilogue. Move on to a significantly smaller game (similar to the XCOM game, which I lost the stats for) for the time being. A smaller game like XCOM is the plan anyways for whenever I am no longer capable of updating this NES. Currently I'm leaning towards a XCOM reboot, a similar game featuring a rebellion against a corrupt government, a smaller scale, fantasy version of this game, and lastly, just doing version 3.0 of this game in the smaller area it was intended to be constricted to begin with, but with all of the revised rules that have emerged since the game began.
3. Blame <nuke> for everything, decry him as being a member of the oppressive 1%, call for a revolution and the destruction of California.
Really looking for input here on this one guys. I have had a lot of fun with this game, and it's made it through a lot of hard times. I had a lot of big plans for Update 50 and beyond, but the reality is that with recent developments in the world past the forums, the game is not likely to make it very far past Update 50. I really am looking for any input on which way to go, and as I've already said, if I could make up my own mind about it, I would have.
