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Covenant
03-20-2009, 12:12 AM
That TB has developed a habit as regards his intentions and updates regarding JADE development? He means well, no doubt, but he's slipped into a cycle of platitudes and vague optimism for the future. The posts even seem to follow a certain order. Just for fun, this is what I'm predicting for this year, as regards updates:


June/July, post from TB on the blog saying he's finally finished his PhD and hopes to get more work on JADE done soon.
A week later or so, a post talking about an aspect of code he's working on (such as the potions/monster inventories posts we've already seen) will appear, and people will begin to hope again.
This may occur once more in the following few weeks, or alternately the next post will describe some vague problem he is having with the code currently.
In late August or early September, TB will post that due to an increase in work/family matters, he won't be able to work much on JADE for a while, but will get back to it soon.
Mid-November, an update to let us know he's still here, but no progress on JADE.
December 31st, a post wishing us all Happy New Year and explaining that this year, finally, he'll be able to get serious work done on JADE.


Don't get me wrong, this isn't necessarily a criticism of that (as I'm sure everyone is eager to point out, he doesn't owe us anything - much the opposite). I'm just trying to gauge others' perception on this. If I'm right about JADE being unlikely to ever come to fruition, I'd much prefer to see that now and accept it rather than keep hanging on for an ever-increasingly unlikely project. And to be honest, if JADE never were to be released, I'd prefer TB realise that now and tell everyone rather than just continually have it hanging over him.

I imagine it's not pleasant having a monolithic project like JADE looming in the background (for the one who has to create it, at least). Perhaps it's just me, but I'm getting the impression in some of his posts that he really just wants to pack it in. "Maybe the [JADE] docs can serve as inspiration for others", from one of his blog updates last December, seems to me to signify a desire to hand over the reins and the responsibility.

This post is half for my own benefit: if it does get to the end of the year, and I can look back at this post and see a strong correlation between the predictions and the actual posts made by TB, it'll be something of a wake-up call to stop 'waiting' for JADE, which for me, at least, is needed (relatively: it's hardly the angst of my life, but in as far as we have to make a decision about everything eventually, there must be some point at which we stop waiting).

sgeos
03-20-2009, 12:35 AM
He insists on being the army of one. Being the army of one requires a huge time commitment. He does not have the time to commit.

Grey
03-20-2009, 12:44 AM
I agree with what you're saying - it's been like that for... oh, about 7 years now? Not too likely to change. The fact is roguelikes tend to be coded by young, single students with too much time on their hands. TB doesn't qualify so much these days ;) However the fact that he has shown us a video of JADE is fairly encouraging - some real results to be seen. I'm not holding my breath for JADE this year, or next year, or any year, but I'm not giving up hope either.

magellan
03-20-2009, 06:58 AM
As for the looming in the back: I guess JADE is a "put the fun back into the job" project. As such finishing it would be nice, but is not required. :)