(Post-bulletin update: I tried to run the game on an alternate Steam account, to see what a different person's point of view would bring me. And doing so just took me to the store page. Extremely confusing! Sorry for any error I made in my original announcement.)
Hello once again!
For the single digit people following me, the one piece of good news I have is that, yes, I ran my game from Steam. The build page has said pending for weeks (and still does even as I'm writing this), but then, just now, I had the idea of "What would happen if I just...clicked that big 'Download' button on Steam?" Wouldn't you know, it actually downloaded, and I played the game!
MEANING, whatever I'm seeing about "pending" in my administrative dashboard has been absolutely misleading and, more to the point, FALSE! Game as far as I could see is good to go in all its glory! That ALSO means I can get back to work on making more content! If all goes well, the first REAL Dev Diary post-Steam will be coming in a couple real days! I want to do something special for June 9, because of a very specific birthday coming up!
...OK, that ends the good news. Now it's the bad news.
Short of it, I'm worried that my story is going to be Phil Fish or Zoe Quinn all over again. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, and are too lazy to go look it up on Google or whatever, short answer is that they were relentlessly pestered by the scumbags of the Internet, for doing nothing more than trying to make a video game (or something similar).
I mean for torture's sake, I've been doxxed. No joke. I regret deleting the message as a kneejerk reaction to it (should've quarantined the channel instead, so I can point to it for formal reporting). Though last I checked, around the time I was writing this, the person's profile picture actually contains some very personal and private information. How's that for your figurative "smoking gun"?
If there's any comfort,
1) there's a single-digit following at the time of this writing, so if I know who all specifically is getting in right now to cause grief, at least I don't have too many suspects. Probably just some kid who isn't even meant to be here at all (with this aimed at being an M or AO rated game once it gets more complete and I feel ready to send to the ESRB), or the handful of bullies who've been with me ever since 2014. God, feels like everyone who's anyone will inevitably be targeted by filth that makes any sane person wince or cringe.
2) Because the Kingdom of Badass is a KINGDOM, I have the power to permanently banish the fools dumb enough to test my patience.
3) The people who ARE causing me grief, both directly and elsewhere on the web, do have a reputation for being scum.
We've definitely seen some other characters who ALSO have unpopular opinions, plus others who on the surface appear OK but I still have a sneaking suspicion of them.
All of this, and I've hardly started! This is just from the 300 or so "unique impressions" and 10 "unique visitors" (those 10 are the ones who've ACTUALLY come to visit; the other 300 are those that Steam may have shown the game in a list but got glanced over or ignored for any number of reasons on the human end). The metrics have exceeded my expectations, even when we look past the filth.
If you were to ask, "How does it feel," my answer would be, "A bit like the initial leaping over the trenches of World War 1, whistle blowing and everything, only so far less deadly."
You can definitely make the argument of, "Well if you're trying to protect freedom of speech to ALL, including the most extreme nutjobs", to that I have to say, "As much as realistically possible." When it becomes a genuine problem, a line needs to be drawn.
There's still a voice in my imagination saying something like, "You sort of ARE asking for trouble, what with the specific subject matter of this game." Honestly, yes and no. Yes because I do want to show off my steely resolve by defying all censorship, but no because...honestly, who WANTS to get harassed?
To wrap this up, you're welcome to talk about the game, or such...though given the kind of following I have, you may want to stay away from the social media channels for a while. I anticipate it's going to get worse before it gets better.
As for me, I refuse to cow to such pathetic attempts at undermining my creative passion! And now that I have found out that The Way of the Badass IS, in fact, LIVE...that means there is no more reason for any significant delay! Trust me, I am EAGER to get back to creating more for my game!
Semper Bellum!
Jay