So, what am I doing here?

[Xephyr]

Working on Transcendence had always been a huge time commitment for me. The majority of work I put into my mods was in the few hours I had after working a 10+ hour shift, and I was always working far beyond my actual skill level. I had to be incredibly strict with my time management, and I had to apply these new skills I was learning in meaningful ways - I doubt you could make better conditions for rapid improvement. Despite having some very obvious gaps in my ability, I was able to try out all kinds of things I wouldn't have otherwise had the chance to do. I'm still practicing artwork every day, and I just got my first neural network running in C++. I'm considering running my own production studio. I wouldn't be doing any of these without this game.

That's not really a time investment I can justify these days. My frustrations with the game aside, I can't put that much time into an unpaid hobby any more. But, I don't think that abandoning Transcendence completely was the right move either.

I left because I feel like the community is allergic to growth. Why put hundred of hours into building an extension if only 20 people would be around to play it? Why try to change things if you're only going to be met with resistance? How different would things look in a year if we had 20 more regular users here? What about 200?

You probably know that having 200 active users wouldn't work. I want you to work backwards from there and think about why that is.

Over the next while I'm going to try to convey my frustrations and ideas with you. I know not everyone is going to agree with me, but that's fine; that's a large part of why these are problems to begin with.

[Ferdinand]

Welcome back Xephyr!

As one of the 20 people who actively played your Renegade extension and really liked it A LOT because it is really good!
I was wondering why all of a sudden you left because I felt like you could really make this game even more interesting. So thanks for the explanation. Just to let you know, I liked the direction you were going with this game.

[relanat]

Welcome back from me too. I did wonder if you had an accident or something when you vanished. Glad you're OK.

Just in case you vanish again, thanks for all your help, not just for my modding but throughout the community, and I'm probably not aware of a heap of what you have done.

Your work here has been very inspirational. Not only are your images spectacular (and I mean that) but the missions work you did earlier is extremely helpful. Thanks again for that. I believe you also did some work updating the wiki. And, if at all possible, please finish and release Renegade.
The community is certainly a better place because of your involvement.

I'm considering running my own production studio.

Yes. Do this. You will do very well.