Support from Support

gellyware

How exactly do we get support from the actual RPGiaB dev team?

I'm a new user and have not had a single support or request item responded to on this forum from the actual team.

Slayer has been great at helping out on his discord, but he is not a member of your team. You cannot expect him to handle the bulk of your support requests when he isn't on your payroll.

Days --> Weeks -- of no support from the RPGiaB Dev team is not acceptable.

Catnip

This is a passion project by a guy and his wife, there's no "dev team" or "payroll". And this is a community of hobbyists that really appreciate the hard work they put into it, and are well aware that this can't be free because a guy's gotta eat. Some of us support him on Patreon in addition to buying the software on whatever distribution platform (which again isn't free and he's certainly entitled to ask the community to chip in)

If this were Unity, where the prices start at $200/mo if you want more than forum support, then sure - it would make sense to talk about acceptable wait times. Myself, I'm glad that there's a hobbyist platform and community like this, and I think that's far and away the prevailing perspective you will find here.

gellyware

Although I also appreciate the hard work that has been put into this.... As a paying customer who expects to make a game that can be polished and professional... the software isn't quite there yet. (i.e. the command line debug that pops up with the exe, lag/delays when loading/removing objects in real time, behind the scenes issues with projectiles, all content being packed into two files instead of loaded as needed, etc.)

I can think of hundreds of nice to have features but I'm not asking for that. I'm asking in support for features that are built in already and should already work.

I didn't buy into someone's passion project and I'm not a hobbyist. I didn't see anywhere on steam that said "Help support my passion project" or "For Hobbyists to tinker"

I bought into a piece of software that could be used to make games. Is RPGiaB not that?

Scrolling through the support history, I see many posts that were never addressed. My first post is about 30 days old and hasn't been acknowledged in any way.

If this is a hobby for him, then he could get a day job to pay the bills and do this as a passion project (As long as ALL paying customers understand that's all it is).

I know many solopreneurs and they wear multiple hats by choosing that path. Marketing, Advertising, Sales, Development, Customer Support, etc. are all part of it.

If it's a business, then it's not unreasonable to expect it to be run like one.

Slayer

gellyware

It’s important to understand that RPG in a Box has never been marketed as a professional or commercial-grade engine.

If someone chooses to use it for professional purposes, that’s a personal decision — and the sole responsibility for producing a professional-quality game lies with the user.
It’s not the developer’s responsibility to meet expectations the tool has never claimed to support.

Justin has been very transparent about the scope and goals of RPG in a Box: to make game development approachable, fun, and accessible.

Yes, it is a passion project of one developer.

A “game creation tool” is not the same as a professional, full-scale engine like Unity or Unreal.

Expectations need to be managed accordingly if thats what you are expecting out of this.
If your needs go beyond what RPG in a Box is designed for, that’s totally valid — but it's not Justin's responsibility if that's the case.

That said, if you still choose to use RPG in a Box for a professional or commercial project, that’s entirely up to you — and there are certainly some users doing so successfully.
But it’s important to recognize that those users are working beyond the engine’s original intended scope and that doesn’t mean it’s meant to be a professional engine, it just speaks volumes about how versatile the tool is.

Regarding specifically the communication, I offered to speak with Justin directly about your concerns yesterday, but before giving me a chance to do so, you decided to post this.

I'm sorry you feel this way.....

Sp1itLip

When it comes to replies from Justin I am always pleasantly surprised when he does. Hes ONE GUY. ONE. Making this tool for everyone to do stuff they always dreamed of. Sometimes I wish he had a team on here devoted to answering questions. But again, he's one dude. He can't afford a team of moderators. And he can't spend hours on here every day answering things. He has development to do, and a LIFE to live.

I'm genuinely surprised when he replies to things. Just hope he does and can answer a question in a couple sentences or someone from the community beats him to it. As this is a community based help system mostly.

Cthfurbhu

I thought it was really cool when I was new to this community and Justin actually responded directly to me with some of my questions, like the actual creator of the program directly answering your questions is not at all something you could expect from a larger production, and yet it seems like Gellyware was simultaneously expecting that level of personal attention (or more) while also expecting things you could only get out of a larger project.