Haskings has some concerning issues. Here are my thoughts
Before I get too into this, I will be sharing both facts and my opinion. I have some legit concerns about what's happening at HK and it's time I address them publicly. I said from the beginning (about blogging in general) that I would share my honest experiences. I will be sharing facts and my opinions here. Your opinion may be different and that's ok.This post is not meant to "bash" anyone. This is my truth and I need to speak it.
The HK launch has been a disaster and here are some things that really concern me about the game long term.
I'd also like to thank Liuke from AL gaming for taking the time to hear my concerns and agreeing to some change, mostly involving communication. Time will tell how that goes.
Here are some issues I see both currently and in the future.
- Lack of communication on Hive. This is an understatement. HK basically abandoned Hive users and stopped updates and even basic communication. They are more active on Discord but people shouldn't have to be glued to it 24/7 for a CHANCE at updates. Even Discord is like pulling teeth to get updates.
The explanation we were given is that there is not enough staff./ people are too busy to post updates..
Bullshit.
This game is now 2 months late form the original promise/ projected date and this issue has been going on for months. This means they have had months to fix the total lack of communication and in my opinion lack of respect to players especially those who forked over money for the pre-sale. They also have had time to hire more people. They chose not to.
Liuke has told me that he will posts updates a few times a week. He also apologized for ignoring Hive users.
Time will tell if communication improves. Trust has been broken and for me I need to see a lot of consistent action proving the desire to make things right for that trust to ever be restored. Time will tell.
Time brings us to the next issue
-Dan does not have the time required to launch this game. This may be more of an opinion, but I have observed on multiple occasions including last weekend where being too busy / not enough time has been the excuse for not finishing.
Last weekend was a huge disaster and Dan decided to have a little family vacation in the middle of a supposed game launch. We were not told of this beforehand, we were told after they missed yet another deadline. I know it was a holiday weekend, but come on. The game is 2 months late and being like "oopsie guess I don't have the time right now" is absolutely unacceptable.
Family is important and I am not saying taking a holiday weekend in itself is a bad thing, but doing so when you have a game that is supposed to launch is just poor planning at best. What did he expect to launch the game flawlessly then just take off for a few days?. That may have worked if they actually launched the game, but they didn't and still haven't. (side note no one in their right mind would launch a game then just take off. In fact the opposite should happen)
-Epic fail on the countdown. As if this past weekend wasn't bad enough HK had a countdown timer in Discord for the launch. Big surprise there was yet another issue and the launch had to be postponed again. This brings us to yesterday.
So Dan makes the delay announcement and couple of posts in Discord then disappears all day. Yes just disappears until well into the evening (his time zone). Then he uses the excuse of not having the time to retest what was broken. Yes that's right. he didn't make the time to test the broken code after he missed yet another deadline. Sounds like a prioritization issue to me.
Dan does not have time and is not willing/able to make time for this game. Dan made the choice to develop and launch (maybe eventually) the game. If he doesn't have the time required to do so, that's on him. Just like the communication issue there has been enough time that if HK really needs more staff they could have made those arrangements. Not having the time is not an excuse when you are TWO MONTHS LATE and people have already bought your product.
The community on Discord offered to help with testing etc (volunteers) months ago but we were told that wouldn't be necessary- they had it under control. If this is what under control means to them, I'd hate to see what chaos looks like.
In conclusion and my opinion is if they do not fix the staffing issues ASAP and do some major damage control, this game will fail.
I want this game to succeed. I spent my hard earned money on the pre sale. I was so excited about it for months and gave HK beyond the benefit of doubt but this is too far. They really need to get their shit together. They need to repair the broken trust between HK and the community as well.
So there you have it. My thoughts about the state of Hashkings. I hope this post was informative.
Thanks for reading.
Doesn't sound good. This is not one I invested in and from what you've written I'm glad about that. I hope things get turned around for you soon.
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I am still hopeful. Mistakes were made and the community deserves more transparency but I still believe these thigs can be fixed and this can be a learning and growth experience.
Hopefully things get better before people start to lose all faith in this project.
I haven't lost faith yet. But these issues do need to be resolved and I hope that my post sparking up the conversation will help us all move forward.
I thought things were going fairly well but I didn't realize things were getting so bad. I haven't really been reading the chat in discord and the one time I did ask questions, they answered fairly fast. I hope things get put on track soon and things go progress forward on time.
I hope it all works out well too.
I'm really sorry to read the disappointment that some members of the community may feel, especially as you say that many took their money with effort to invest it and that now it is behind schedule.
I understand very well and as a consumer (also being that I invested in HK) I feel the same frustration and that these are situations in which we cannot take an active part to help solve.
However also and as I discovered this year, the issue of cryptocurrencies is to be patient, of course and in this case when a planning has been failed it is to be expected that the community will feel down but I like to think that the community that is is forming around Hash Kings is made with people who love money and weed.
It is not justified that taking into account the channels and options to improve communication sometimes fail, but let's face it. Who have not ever gone wrong?
At this point you can feel the frustration that 1 game has not been released and the other side of the coin is the HK team frustrated because they could not meet thousands of users.
In my opinion, this setback generates union and empathy to recognize failures that help improve the project.
Come on, I know that nobody wants to lose their money and beyond that we want to multiply it here.
We have all walked the path, we are just waiting for the awards.
This isn't about patience. I think in general the community, myself included has been very, very patient. Delays are expected but stringing people along and not being 100% upfront at the beginning (I found out some info yesterday that was not disclosed to members and absolutely would have effected my purchasing decision) is a major issue.
For instance it would have been good to know that HK is being treated like a hobby and not a business before making purchases. That in itself is not necessarily a problem but is information that should have been disclosed from the get go. Dan has often used the fact that he is working (a day job) as an excuse for not getting things done. If he is that busy why not hire another developer to fulfill purchases customers made months ago? It's not like this is a free game. The whole "I gotta work" thing is invalid after people have paid hk already.
As a freelancer I have learned to juggle multiple jobs/ assignments at once and never once used one job as an excuse to not finish a different assignment. If there are delays or I am late in delivering I do everything I can to make it right and take full responsibility if I screw up. I don't blame my other workloads because it is my responsibility to deliver as promised on time. If I overbooked or am too "busy" that is 100% on me, not the client.
I am not expecting perfection nor did I imply that. Everyone makes mistakes and at lest one person on the AL gaming side (that I personally corresponded with)admitted to all of what I said and are actively working on fixing it.This is fantastic and I look forward to seeing more progress.
"In my opinion, this setback generates union and empathy to recognize failures that help improve the project."
I hope so. I really hope this is a learning experience that benefits the community. Time will tell.
This post , even though some may disagree with my opinions, has implemented changes for the better and validated many people who felt and were abandoned. That is progress.