(The following content is provided by AI translation. If there are any discrepancies, please refer to the Traditional Chinese version.)
Hello everyone. Since the launch, I have been very grateful for the reviews and feedback provided by our players. However, I have noticed that some players are expecting continuous content updates for Baseball Scouter. I believe it is necessary to clarify my position on this matter.
【Post-Launch Plans】
I will continue to monitor the game for any bugs or issues that may arise.
However, in the short term (over the next few years), adding new content—such as new characters or new game modes—is not part of my primary plan.
This is not to say that I am "abandoning" the project. As a solo developer, the only situation that would resemble abandonment is if my real-life circumstances required me to seek employment outside of independent game development.
Below, I would like to share some data and explain the reasoning behind my decisions.
【Performance Data】
I am not entirely sure what benchmarks a game must reach to be recommended by Steam (such as appearing on the "New & Trending" or "Popular Upcoming" lists). However, subjectively speaking, in terms of Steam's algorithm, Baseball Scouter has likely not reached a "passing" grade.
Before launch, the "Unique Impressions" shown in the backend were below 10,000. This is a result of my own marketing strategy and skill level. Using that number as a baseline, both the "Wishlist" conversion and the number of players who "Downloaded and Launched the DEMO" were under 10%.
To me, this percentage suggests that while people may be interested in the baseball theme, the story description, or the title, the specific information and content I provided did not appeal to the majority of those who visited the store page.
I must add that this performance is entirely due to my own limitations in development and marketing. I am not sharing this to be negative, but to be transparent about the game's current status so that players can use it as a reference for their own decision-making.
Since the game has not yet been out for 7 days, I wanted to provide this clarification as soon as possible.
【Thoughts on Player Feedback】
Match Speed is too slow: Some players mentioned that the calculation speed of Baseball Scouter is much slower than other baseball games on the market (such as OOTP or the "Quick Match" modes in Power Pro). This is primarily due to my lack of experience as a first-time solo developer; I mixed the UI interaction logic with the match calculation logic. As a result, the running speed is heavily throttled by UI updates. I sincerely apologize for this. Correcting this would essentially require a total rewrite of the match engine code. While a rewrite is technically possible, I am hesitant to touch the code for fear of breaking the "miracle" that allows the current system to function—much like a "pigeon whose head is spinning but can still fly." I worry that a major overhaul would lead to countless other errors during testing.
Additional Characters or League Modes: Based on existing feedback, Baseball Scouter currently seems to be a game that is "decent for a single playthrough." To expand the content, I believe the game must be "smooth and frictionless enough to play many times." This is necessary if I want current players to return to the game in the future. To achieve this, I believe both "Match Speed Optimization" and "Story Streamlining" are essential. I have explained the former, and for the latter, it would require a mechanic to skip seen dialogue at high speed—or even skip the story interface entirely to jump straight to the results—to avoid frustration. However, even in the late stages of development, I could not find the right balance for this streamlining. This game relies heavily on its story; if you remove that process, the remaining content is very thin. Therefore, these ideas remain in the conceptual stage, and I do not yet have a solid plan to implement them.
In summary, without resolving these core issues, I believe there is too much friction for players to repeat the experience. Even if I were to add content in the future (provided I have the resources in my personal life), there are several fundamental problems that would need to be solved first.
【Conclusion】
For me personally, Baseball Scouter is a small-scale work that I feel is "complete." My hope is that players who purchased the game will feel the same after experiencing it, or at least feel that it does not fall too far short of their expectations.
After a brief two-day rest, I will begin planning my next project. My next work will still involve a baseball theme + text simulation, but it will focus much more on character development and team management, without relying as heavily on the narrative structure as Baseball Scouter does.
Thank you for reading.