It's a full time job dealing with people...

The hardest part of game dev isn’t design. It’s people.

Before I continue... This is a message about people in forums. I haven't had this problem with any of you on the Patreon. Well, maybe one or two of you.

Having to explain my design choices to random people who have never made a game before, multiple times a day, is exhausting.

Having to tell people what's in the update because they didn't want to read the change log, multiple times a day is exhausting.

Everyone telling me why their awesome idea should be in my game. Or their favorite kink... Is exhausting..

Let me clarify. I like hearing idea's. I love feedback if it's constructive. It's just when I explain my design choice to someone, and they continue to tell me why their idea would be better.

“Good idea” isn’t the same thing as “fits the game.”

A suggestion can be fun, hot, clever, even objectively cool… and still be a bad fit because:

• it clashes with the tone

• it breaks progression

• it contradicts character writing

• it makes other scenes nonsensical

• it creates infinite edge cases

• it explodes the codebase

• it forces rewrites of systems that are already stable

People imagine features like stickers you slap onto a fridge.

Game dev is more like wiring a house.
You don’t “just add a room.” You add plumbing, electrical, load-bearing supports, inspections, and then fix the parts you accidentally broke two rooms away.

“It’s a small change” (that touches 12 systems)

What they don’t see is all the stuff attached to that:

• time-of-day gating

• location access rules

• event flags and one-time logic

• relationship stats and thresholds

• quest dependencies

• save compatibility

• UI states that assume the old rules

• tutorials that now lie to the player

“I didn’t read the changelog, so explain everything to me”

This one is pure stamina-drain.

Every update has notes. But you still get:

• “What’s new?”

• “How do I start the new content?”

• “Why can’t I do X?”

• “Game broken” (it’s a gate)

• “No progression” (they’re at the end of current content)

And answering that calmly is part of the job, sure… but doing it ten times a day becomes unpaid customer support for people who didn’t want to spend 30 seconds reading.

So here’s my stance

I want feedback. I want ideas. I want bug reports.

But here’s the boundary:

• If I explain why something is designed a certain way, that’s the answer.

• Suggestions are welcome. Arguments aren’t.

• I’m building a cohesive game with interconnected systems, not a “feature request simulator.”

Because every time I say yes to a random “awesome idea,” I’m also saying yes to:

• extra complexity

• more bugs

• more testing

• more rewrites

• and slower updates for everyone

And I’d rather keep the game stable, expandable, and intentional than chase every shiny suggestion that sounds cool in a vacuum.