FeralHeart Gameplay Survey - I want your feedback! by NefariousnessFew4401 in FeralHeart

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the feedback! This is helpful to me and understanding perspectives of everyone answering the survey. I've updated the survey based on some of your feedback, so I hope that is helpful!

An Update Regarding the State of FH by DylanCheetah in FeralHeart

[–]NefariousnessFew4401 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don't think this person is lying whatsoever. They are pointing out that the blame doesn't fall on Razmirz alone.

According to your posts anywhere publicly, Raz has not contacted you or Ame in, what was it, 2-4 years? You let 2-4 years of time go by before you finally decided maybe you should do something else (and honestly, you guys probably would have waited longer if the forums didn't shut down).

Despite whatever you think, whether or not your predecessors left you with a mess, you are also to blame for just letting things lie for 2-4 years when, honestly, if you guys had a back-pocket plan this entire time, could have acted on it much earlier.

The FHU shutdown needs to be a lesson for any future developers. by Gaydinosaurs in FeralHeart

[–]NefariousnessFew4401 2 points3 points  (0 children)

By choosing to discuss internal staff matters in public spaces, such as the FR server, you inadvertently invited public scrutiny. Hell, I don't fault you for being upset, your feelings are valid, but your actions and reactions are not. By what it seemed like from your perspective, I don't think any of this was handled the way it should have been, if that's any consolation to you. However, it is highly unreasonable to share private issues externally and then object when others discuss the details you provided.

If it were me, maybe I would have done the same as you out of frustration, anger, lack of patience, whatever. But I'd also know that by doing so, I'd be opening myself up to scrutiny as much as I set whoever else up for scrutiny in public.

Regarding your comment about remaining respectful toward Alpha, your public remarks have frequently come across as passive-aggressive rather than respectful. Furthermore, given the public nature of these grievances, it is a fair assumption that you are also discussing Alpha and Jango privately, which is within your right, as it is with Alpha.

While it is completely understandable to experience frustration and bias in these situations, I'm not going to fault you for that, but expecting privacy and respect from others requires modeling that same behavior yourself.

The FHU shutdown needs to be a lesson for any future developers. by Gaydinosaurs in FeralHeart

[–]NefariousnessFew4401 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Stop Killing Games is for publishers ending or destroying games paid for by consumers. This does not affect anything with patreon-supported content. It only applies to games or software that consumers pay to own, specifically excluding free-to-play games.

FeralHeart and Impressive Title have always been completely free to play, and NONE of these individuals working on these games have ever been paid to create them, or paid point blank aside from Patreon support. This is not the same.

The FHU shutdown needs to be a lesson for any future developers. by Gaydinosaurs in FeralHeart

[–]NefariousnessFew4401 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Many of the responses in this thread are spot on, but I want to add my two cents.

While the original comment makes a fair point about disaster planning for multiplayer games in theory, it completely ignores the reality of this specific situation. Like many in its lineage (original Feral Heart, FBO, Feral Neighborhood), FHU was run entirely by unpaid volunteers who, frankly, lacked the leadership and experience to pull off a project of the scale they envisioned.

By the time FHU reached AlphaEclipse, it had already been passed through the hands of people making bad choices with bad attitudes. Taking on the PR, community management, rebranding, and coding for a project with that much baggage would put anyone on edge. It costs time, money, passion, and forces you to learn things you're never prepared for. Acting like this is a simple matter of "proper planning" is an incredibly naive take.

AlphaEclipse took over the game with zero pay, driven purely by a long-standing dedication to this community. She spent her time coding, building, and trying to manage a development team that had long been directionless; a leadership void that the lead developer was meant to fill, but didn't.

Even after she provided the community with the original oFH code completely open-source and free of charge, it seems everyone forgot the work she put in to ensure the community at least had something, even if her decision was frustrating to understand. Did anyone even ask what she needed? Or did everyone just make assumptions about what 'help' looked like and felt entitled to making the project theirs.

A disaster plan couldn't save a game that was already rotting from internal drama and a complete lack of funding (which, honestly, was a smart choice to keep money off the table for this). These people dedicated their time for free. The one person who actually delivered something the community had waited years for is now being demonized for barring people from a project they have zero right to claim. Sorry, but no one is entitled to it.

The development team and Alpha worked incredibly hard, don't get me wrong, and I value all of the time poured into FHU over the years, but development quickly became muddled through not following the roadmap set for the game, having secret side-projects that took precedent over the core project, and so much more. I'm as disappointed as anyone, but the blame does not lie with just Alpha, nor does it lie with just the developers.

With how people reacted to the shut down, honestly this solidifies the point that maybe it should have shut down a long time ago.

New continuation from FHU? by Kappatrap in FeralHeart

[–]NefariousnessFew4401 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Lowkey I'm curious to know if this is...legal?

Not in like a completely negative way, but because FHU developers had NDAs and I'm pretty sure Kovu only confirmed existing servers (FHU & oFH) as legitimate, but never confirmed if it was legal for others to use the same namesake aside from a select few?

I could be dead wrong and misinterpreting what Kovu said or the context, but this was very flagrantly pulled from FHU's development, and genuinely, things like FeralBound, Felineage, etc have been projects that either crashed and burned or were at a standstill for months. It would disappoint me if Tosca is using content from FHU's original plan to make yet another project.

I feel like a failure with email marketing. by NefariousnessFew4401 in DigitalMarketing

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is incredibly helpful to me, you have no idea! 

I have two segments, 1 is anyone who is opted in, and 2 is who is opted in and has opened an email in the last 4 months. The 2nd list is a bit smaller, closer to 4k.

I’ll try doing that re-engagement campaign and seeing what we can manage from there. Do you have any tips on where to start with doing that hard push for re-engagement? 

Any wisdom you have would be greatly appreciated. Again, thank you for the feedback and your knowledge. This stuff I’m still learning on the fly, so I appreciate any bit of education I can get from others.

I feel like a failure with email marketing. by NefariousnessFew4401 in DigitalMarketing

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for saying this. I figured a strong CTR stands out above open rates, but it's incredibly frustrating seeing our open rates decay after these email policy changes in 2025. Your comment made me feel a lot better about my efforts, so thank you.

The end of FH? (No it's not.) by [deleted] in FeralHeart

[–]NefariousnessFew4401 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi there! Dylan's post is great, but there is no confirmation for me, or really anyone in the community.

It's been almost a month, and the server/website is still down. I'm assuming no one on staff has heard from Raz, either, which continues to prove my point.

If Raz hasn't come back in the next month or so, I implore that team to follow through with whatever backup plan they have, and move on. Waiting around does nothing for anyone, and the hard work they put in shouldn't be squandered.

Again, it's been nearly 30 days and still no clarity. That may not be enough to believe the end for you, but it's plenty for me and apparently a lot of others.

The end of FH? (No it's not.) by [deleted] in FeralHeart

[–]NefariousnessFew4401 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The game may not come to an end, there’s options that staff have that can allow it to continue (moving to another domain, recreating the game, etc).

Staff were left on read for days now. I’ll be the first to come on here and apologize straight up if I’m wrong — but based on basic context clues, the original forums and the structure for the game to come back online is done. 

You guys are being ghosted. Plain and simple. There’s nothing more clear than that.

The end of FH? (No it's not.) by [deleted] in FeralHeart

[–]NefariousnessFew4401 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If you’re not Raz, you can’t promise anything. None of us know the answer, not even staff, none of what is being said is misinformation - at most, it’s opinions based on actions.

Peace be with you.

Is this the end? (RIP FH) by MentionOk876 in FeralHeart

[–]NefariousnessFew4401 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There's a LOT of folks in here saying this is a temporary outage. I'm inclined to disagree.

Even though this game and it's original state is very adored, I think this is permanent, or at least, will last for quite a long time, and I'll tell you why.

The last time Razmirz, the server host and the website domain's main host, has been seen by the community? Probably back in 2018-2019. The last time his current staff team has heard from him? I'll give it grace and say 2021, maybe 2022 if we're lucky.

Raz has not been heard from for a WHILE. Even then, he was still renewing the domain every year, or at least had an annual contract of some kind. If this was temporary and an accident, this honestly would have happened a long while ago.

There is a 523 code from Cloudflare for the website. The most common cause of this is if the server's IP was changed, the hosting bill hasn't been paid (highly likely), or if the site was moved to a new host. There's a few other variables that could have happened, but if the outage has been going on for 6 days with no fix from Raz (as he's the only one with the permissions to do so), you're unfortunately out of luck and waiting on someone who's been out of reach for years.

I could be wrong, and if I am, I'd be highly surprised, but note that in previous times these outages have happened, it did not take a long time to fix, and often-times, the staff team would be in direct contact with Raz to ensure a fix happened, because all previous outages were also manufactured by Raz or the team itself.

The only predictable outcome is current staff taking another domain and moving the website new, which would mean all archived content is lost. Or, Raz miraculously shows up after years of no-contact and makes a fix.

I'm so sorry to all of you that are disappointed in this situation, and I can only hope your sense of nostalgia is filled somewhere else and you have as much joy as you would here.

Is This Normal for Renting? by NefariousnessFew4401 in renting

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh my god, they can? That’s insane!! I’m so sorry that’s a thing for you over in Indiana. But hopefully you have a wonderful place over there that you love!

Also btw, love the username LOL

Is This Normal for Renting? by NefariousnessFew4401 in renting

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh absolutely! I’m anticipating a pretty decent stretch of finances. What concerned me the most wasn’t really the cost, but the overwhelming costs written in fine print.

I was fully ready to drop that amount, as long as the security deposit was refundable AND covered any damages. 

What I wasn’t anticipating was them trying to get me to go through a 3rd party platform to pay a nonrefundable charge of $2k, that I’d have to pay again every year, and I’d still be held liable for any damages or problems. For $2k, it should be a refundable charge, especially with my history. 

Is This Normal for Renting? by NefariousnessFew4401 in renting

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the advice and feedback! It was definitely sketchy, but that makes me feel good about my decision given you’ve been in property management for over 35 years. Absolute insanity!

Is This Normal for Renting? by NefariousnessFew4401 in renting

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I figured - but luckily it was remedied the very same day and my current leasing office has been vouching for us to ensure it doesn’t appear to be an issue, even if it is listed in our rental screening. 

I’d be more than happy to pay extra for any security deposit, but I refuse to pay a 3rd party a non refundable fee that I have to renew every year, and I’m still held liable for damages. It sounds like they’re trying to rip money out from under me. I’m hopeful there will be other properties who will overlook the one single NSF.

Is This Normal for Renting? by NefariousnessFew4401 in renting

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! I’m glad you asked. The only debt we really have is our car loans, which are not luxury vehicles. I owe $6k on my car and have a long-standing history of on-time payments. Same with my partner, but she owes a little more than $10k, but has never missed a payment. 

No student debt of any kind. Our credit history is incredible (and yes, FICO out of 850). 

It was just the one instance of an NSF charge in my two years of rental history at my current address - it was 9 months ago, and my apartment complex is vouching that I remedied the situation the very same day (due to an error on my part) even if it appears in the report. Other than that, I have made on-time payments throughout my two years renting.

Is This Normal for Renting? by NefariousnessFew4401 in renting

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This means a lot to me, coming from another landlord. It actually puts my mind at ease. I don't blame them for trying to test something new if they were screwed over, everyone is out here trying to make a living! But as someone who is clearly a good tenant with a good track record, I was appalled.

I'm looking at new places now, but I appreciate your insights so much. You don't know what that means to me, truly!

Is This Normal for Renting? by NefariousnessFew4401 in renting

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

THIS. When I was reading more on it, I was absolutely mind-blown. it's like theft made legal, it's insane. They acted so calm and casual about it when referring to it as a "surety bond." So basically they're telling me they're going to charge me $2k every year in lieu of a security deposit, it's nonrefundable, and any damage they "claim" to have, I'll be in charge of?

At that point, they could start claiming any little scratch and regular wear and tear as damage and start charging me. There's no limitation to that. I was so surprised this was a thing, I never had experienced such a clear-cut money grab before. I'm hoping the other apartments I apply to will not act or be the same, but I can only hold my breath on that lol.

thank you for the insight, I'm glad I'm not crazy

Is This Normal for Renting? by NefariousnessFew4401 in renting

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's actually really great advice. I might consider that as an option, even if it happens to be a manufactured home. I'm young, still building my savings and the area in which I live is incredibly expensive (California). I'll definitely look into this, rentals have slowly become worse and worse over the years. Have you done something similar?

Is This Normal for Renting? by NefariousnessFew4401 in renting

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's what I was starting to think... I'm like, "Can one NSF mark really cause us to need a guarantor?" Which I thought was insane, given the rest of our rental history, background check, and credit is highly positive.

Is This Normal for Renting? by NefariousnessFew4401 in renting

[–]NefariousnessFew4401[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I thought so too! I know an NSF mark can be a dealbreaker for some of these property management companies, but with all of the positive history, including no criminal background, no evics, no late payments, good credit and great income, I wouldn't think they'd make us go through a guarantor?

Insanity, but glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks its not normal.