Not only that, but the author has no control over the release date.
That too.
@Xavierreed you can keep an eye on upcoming HG proposed release dates here Upcoming Hosted Games Releases ā 2018 
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Oh man that sounds like a downer 
But hey, itās all a good learning experience and I think just getting something out there is awesome!! Good luck!!! Hope the sales goes well! Are you working on anything else at the moment?
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@Xavierreed
Yeahh unfortunately, @ClaimedMinotaur @spunkycatninja are right, I donāt have much control so Iām about as much in the dark as you are. But yes, you can always keep track of it on the link @Jacic posted! I find that itās a relatively good gauge, albeit +/- a week or two depending on your luck hahaha
Sorry, missed this in the shuffle.
-Fixed protagonists. If anyone asks āWhatās in a name?ā I think I will respond with āAt least three-quarters of a point off your reviews on Google Playā. Not being able to name or otherwise edit the two MCs was such a big deal that I still have more negative reviews about that than all other aspects of the story put together, I think. Which likely means it was a drain on sales too. Guarantee I wonāt do that again.
-Niche genre. Not that some sci-fi stories havenāt done well, but for both CoG and HG there is fantasy, there is superheroes, and there is romance. Everything else is basically Other. And being Other does leave you operating from a position of lower mass appeal.
-Comedy. Not everyone finds the same things funny. When you base your story heavily on making them chuckle, youāre more prone to failure than going straight-faced. This one didnāt teach me anything, though. I have to be comedic (or at least try) or I get too bored to continue.
-I can be honest and say Iām a stick in the kid who has long resistors any serious effort to get involved in social media beyond a few tweets and hanging around forums like this. I donāt much regret that, but more followers/friends does come in handy when you have something to shill.
However, @nauhziy is correct; itās all a learning experience. NPT being a hit would have been cool, since I had more stories to tell with it. But its primary purpose was always as a proof to myself I could get published and do something long-form. So, mission accomplished in that regard.
My new WIP, Quite App-Parent: The Parenting Simulator, is fairly likely to sell at least moderately better and maybe even score better reviews too. Now to actually finish the blasted thingā¦
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Thank you for all the information guys.
I wish we didnāt had to wait so long. But what to do.
Good luck for both of you guys
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Donāt know if this has been mentioned before or not, but I came across something that I think bears mentioning.
I did a playthrough, in which I ended up at the plantation. Noticed the vilicius (am I spelling that right?) skimming shipments, knocked out the guard and told the dominus, but failed to choose the correct night. Was then sold to the mine.
Thing of it is- the very same birthday scene happened at both the plantation and the mine, with the fruits and the rope wrist-band and stars.
I really enjoy the game, though. : )
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The personality stats were based on MBTI werenāt they? 
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@hustlertwo
Hmm yeah Iāve definitely realized that some of those things really count against the work published here. I guess a big part of it also comes from the general structure and the strong brand loyalty that Hosted Games commands ā readers have generally come to expect the ability to customize their own names and their gender/sexuality etc. Itās also true that many of the readers/players here look out for specific types of games, and ROs are a huge part of that.
That said, I think it boils down to the age old question with this whole writing/publishing thing - do you want to create something that sells or something as a form of expression catharsis for yourself? Obviously the answer is both but then again we donāt live in an ideal world hahahahaha. Regardless, Iām glad youāre not letting the negatives get you down and Iāll def check out your parenting simulator!! (As stressful as it sounds - not ready to adult HAHAHA)
@Xavierreed
Yeahhhh itās a painful wait 
but hope itāll be worth it in the end!!!
@Shawn_Patrick_Reed
Oh wow thatās a pretty big bug. Iāll definitely look into it. Thanks for pointing it out!!! Does it break the game though? Or is it just a repetition of the event? Eitherway, you get to celebrate your birthday twice hahahaha isnāt that a good thing? (jk Iāll go figure it out!!!)
@your_mom
Yes actually! Glad you caught that hahaha. I was obsessed with it in my younger days so I decided it might be fun to put it into the game just to see what players might come up with!
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Hey guys!
So with the full game finally going to be up real soon, Iāve decided to give social media a go and went ahead to set up a page, instagram and twitter! If you like what youāve played so far and you want updates on when the gameās finally coming out/whatās next, do show some love and follow on whichever platform youāre on!
Also note the subtle differences in usernamesā¦ hehehe I had to get creative hahaha. Anyway, super excited!!! Hope everyone is having a blast with the holidays and 2019 rolling around the corner!!! 
Facebook: What The Foong - Home | Facebook
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.the.foong/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WhatTheFoong
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I think I mightāve found a bug. During the feast at House Cato, after the incident with the wolf attacks is solved, Iām given the option to speak to Agapios even though my character was separated from him at the slave market.
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@nauhziy I got bought by Brutus, then messed up and ended up in the mines. Unfortunately, this triggered the question about how I felt about Dionysia, the gift, and the talk about stars to all appear twice.
Also, this is more a nitpick, but given that the game is called āroad to the colosseumā itās no surprise that we canāt avoid our fate, but maybe start as a colosseum slave and then go back and tell the story as a flashback? I did feel a bit forced, then realized that I should have expected it, so it wasnāt a big deal, but changing the tense to acknowledge it as just customized history as opposed to actual control over destiny might be a better fit.
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Good to see this one finally come out early next year. Hope it gets a Steam release (or I wonāt be able to play it, grumble, grumble). 
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@joe_g7
Hmm thatās definitely not supposed to be the case, Iāll look into it. Thanks for catching that bug and letting me know!! 
How was the demo?
Hello! Ah yes, @Shawn_Patrick_Reed caught that bug and Iāve fixed it on my local script! Thank you for letting me know!
Hmmm. This is a good idea actually! But the game is already in the midst of getting published, so unfortunately I wonāt be able to make such a major change this late on, but I think itās a good writing trope that I can incorporate into my future work! How was the demo for you!
@idonotlikeusernames
Hey!! Yeahh itās been a crazy long wait due to the insane backlog, but Iām glad itās going to be coming out eventually!!! I hope so too, Iāve seen your many gripes with the other platforms in other posts hahahaha
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@nauhziy
I mainly enjoyed the demo, and will buy the game when it is released. And sorry I couldnāt get that feedback to you sooner, only recently started exploring the WiP, but I am glad you appreciated it.
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I liked it enough to be interested what happens after the demo ends, which means Iāll most likely buy it if itās available on Steam 
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@kckolbe
Hey! Thanks, that means a lot to me! And donāt worry about it, the forums are full of people/wips coming and going all the time itās so incredibly difficult to keep track of all! Just glad that you enjoyed the demo for what itās worth!!!
@joe_g7
Ayee thanks for the stamp of approval!! Going to pray that it gets out on steam then!
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Also! Iām going to try to experiment of socials cause well. many of my friends have been asking me āwhat the heck is an interactive fiction game???ā or being completed confused. And Iāve decided it might be best to show instead of tell.
So Iām going to try to have a bit of a gamified community Letās Play up on Instagram (@what.the.foong) and I would love to invite everyone to play along and join in the experiment!!!
Itās basically playing through the game, but instead of solely controlling the options, you will have to vote on the options, and the story progresses day by day. Itās super experimental, but I think it would be very cool if it works out (imagine the level of banter we could have hahahaha, or arguingā¦ I mean discussing about the best option!)
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Yep, thatās me alright. 
Honestly tried dragon for free on the I-crap thingy and was ready to fling the damned device at the wall after five minutes of āplayingā. So, yeah, mobile gaming is not for me. 
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