Let me start by thanking everyone who has contributed to discussion regarding the new subscription tiers. Some of it was supportive, some of it made for more difficult reading in its criticism, all of it was helpful, so thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

With hindsight, it is now obvious that I should have included my plans for the game alongside the announcement of subscriptions. My apologies for not doing so. As has been pointed out, I'm a pretty decent programmer, not such a great publisher. Allowing more time for discussion before rolling out subscriptions should have been an automatic decision on my part, but it somehow slipped me by. I was excited to have a route forward with the game, so dived in before fully thinking through how it might be received. The pricing structure will remain as it is, but I want to make sure that each level adds the right value to players. Anticipate that the benefits for each tier of subscription will either remain as they are or improve in the future, but now is not the time to make grandiose promises of game features that are not yet conceived, let alone complete.

What subscriptions allow me to do is dedicate time to the game that I'd otherwise have to sink into paying bills with a day job. The old credits and advertising model barely kept the servers running. The consequence of this was that the game has not progressed in several years, but I am now in a position to get us back on course for the game we all want to be able to enjoy.

The first project that will complete is the long-awaited new interface. This will improve the way you interact with the game, particularly on mobile devices, which has been a complaint for a long time. Work is ongoing with this project, but I'm intending to release an optional alpha version for you to test and feedback on within the next 2 to 3 months. This alpha release won't be feature complete, but will ensure that the best final result for players is achieved.

While this project nears completion I will poll active subscribers on their opinion for the next area of focus. While it is easy to say "fix long passing" is the most pressing, it may not be the area that will help the game the most. You'll have the opportunity to have your say when the time comes. I estimate that we'll reach this stage by September or October this year. Please keep in mind this is only an estimate, but I'll update you if that date changes.

After this I will look at marketing the game more widely. At the moment, the game relies on word of mouth, Google search, and legacy marketing we'd done. As such, the introduction of new players is barely a trickle. This isn't the worst position to be in, as I really want the mood to be positive before starting to acquire more players, and I'm confident we'll get there.

Finally, I'll provide a progress report in the first week of each month to let you know how it's going and to open debate where appropriate. Being visible about what is going on behind the scenes should help ensure that any future rumors of the game's demise are short-lived.

I know that the handling of the switch to subscriptions was not brilliant, and that some of you may require proof of progress before signing up. That's entirely understandable, and my first goal is to do exactly that.

Thanks to those who have already subscribed, I hope I'll be able to deliver you a game you truly enjoy.

Here are some sneak peak screenshots of the upcoming changes:

New Homepage Design


Note that the community forums are being separated from the league forums and the latest posts are visible on the main home page.

Improved game viewer


Not only is the area larger but you will be able to detach the center from the football, enabling you to zoom in and view any part of the play.

League home page


Of note here is the pushing of the latest forum posts, also an improved 'hide spoiler' option. Chat and notifications are now in the header. (Ignore the eternity until the next sim, I have my test environment set to sim way in the future so I don't have to keep resetting it)

Mobile view


Every page is being considered for its appearance on mobile devices.

Mobile game viewer


Here's a screenshot of the game viewer on a phone.

Monthly updates sounds great, even if it’s a slow month, can really start to show the community there’s movement happening which will in turn lean more people to subbing, in turn meaning more time can be given to future updates.

Also the UI looks great, I know others have said it isn’t the most pressing issue, but with an easier on the eye and more user friendly UI, it’ll be a solid foundation to build on, allowing you to then focus on every other part of the game, leaving the UI as is unless any tweaks need to be made in the future. Plus a more professional/good looking game will attract more players over time.

Good stuff! Thank you for the update.

Thanks for the update. I think the communication and the road-mapping will go a long way to good will. I know it has been mentioned as well that even if the option to go back to a previous game engine were allowed, it would increase choice on the user end and that might fend off the critics to some degree while new plans are being crafted

.

Thanks for this!!! Definitely needed and should help owner retention!!!!

Thumbs up!!!

CJ

This is why I have always, and will continue to trust the developer.
Thx, JDB, for the looky-loo.
"Lookin good, Billy Ray," to quote Trading Places.
"Feeling good, Lewis."
I raise my glass in acknowledgement of the achievements.

Trust the process.
This is where Flounder says: "It's gonna be great."

Appreciate the update JDB. I'm kind of curious as to how many use a phone to play....? Either way, improvements are always welcomed.

To answer a couple of things that have come up, at present around 25% of visits to the game come via mobile and tablet devices. This isn't the primary motivation for a mobile UI change, more that it really needs it. When I first started the game, smartphones were in their infancy so making the game fully responsive or playable on mobile wasn't really a priority. The times have changed however, and without the ability to easily play via mobile, it's going to be much harder to acquire and retain new people.

I also saw a decent suggestion, where on-field players could have their name toggled on/off or similar, to help understand where non-ball carriers were making an impact without having to zoom all the way in, comparing shirt number with your roster. I like it as a concept and will investigate including this option. I suspect the amount of work involved to add it for the alpha UI release will be significant so please assume it's not going to happen for now.

As is typical, I will now disappear from the forum again until the next news update. Since I have limited time to spend on the game, I'd sooner it was invested in pushing development forward, rather than getting involved in general discussion.