Current situation with zOMG!

[[ JK ]]

Hello Friends!

I'm sure you've all heard of the sad announcement I had to make during the dev-meat, and I felt it was time to make an "official" forum post as well, since a lot of the things I said got a bit misinterpreted it seems sweatdrop

I'm sad to tell you all, but as of a couple of weeks ago zOMG is in "maintenance mode" and I have been re-assigned to be art director on another new game in development. What does "maintenance mode" mean? It means there will be no new updates on the game for now, and it will only get dev-time dedicated to it if major major bugs appear... it doesn't mean that the game will get shut down in the foreseeable future. It is technically possible that they will let me work on zOMG again, I do hope so myself, but I don't want to give you false hope and will be realistic: It's not likely as things are now.

Why did this development happen? It's pretty much a mix between the fact that creating new content for zOMG requires a lot of resources (we were only able to release DMS with our tiny team because most of the assets and a lot of the game balancing were already finished) and Gaia doesn't have these resources to spare currently, and the fact that the zOMG in general hasn't met Gaia HQ's expectations in terms of revenue and popularity. You have to remember that it took a team of nearly 20 people 3 years to develop this game and similar features that took a much smaller team only a few months to develop have more users and generate more revenue for the company. Please keep in mind that I am explaining the reasoning of the company to halt production on zOMG for now... my personal opinion is that zOMG has the potential to be amazing and has an amazing passionate community, and I would really have liked to continue working on it.

Finally, I'm seeing some fingers pointed at particular users here. Please don't blame each other for this... it was a mainly financial decision from Gaia HQ and nothing to do with concrete users in particular. In fact we were happy to see that the game got back some life from the release of DMS, and I hope all of you continue to enjoy that area.

We've all invested a lot of time, dedication and passion into this game and I hope you had and continue to have as much fun playing, talking to your friends, making new friends and trying to reach new heights as I have. I do think the game has a lot of potential, I enjoy its mechanics and quirks, but it was you, the community that fueled my passion. The zOMG community with its supportive passionate, smart, compassionate and competitive players is unique on Gaia, and, dare I say so, the internet. It made me really happy to see so many people that had left zOMG return for DMS and I really hope that if somewhere down the line we can add new content to the game you'll all still be here or return to enjoy it with me. It makes me proud to be part of the zOMG community, and like Mav.. I will continue to stop by and even hold dev-meats until there is no interest anymore. The game may be in maintenance mode, but the happy memories we've collected and the friends we've made live on, and no one can take that from us.

[The Assassin of Doom]

crying l love zOMG!....and I will never quite. Thanks for the announcement JK. Oh and I hope the new game you are working on is successful.

[Memory Haunts You]

Thank you very much for posting.
We love you and we stand behind you no matter what happens. heart

[moranokii]

Thanks for clearing things up JK. ^_^
Like mem said, we love you and best of luck with that new game. 3nodding

[Yggdrasil Root]

Point proven that Gaia HQ is only interested in making shitty FB games and hates us. :/

[Mage The Red]

Tipped and <3'd.

Thank you JK for being awesome and I apologize for how I reacted at the Meat. I was saddened by the news as of late. But I appreciate that you've come in to at least give us some word.

[Saburoo]

Very well said. Also, am I the only one excited to see that new game when its finished? heart

[Robotic Chibi-tan]

Memory Haunts You

Thank you very much for posting.
We love you and we stand behind you no matter what happens. heart

[ryry Kenny_McGroot ryry]

can't wait to play the game you're working on :3

EDIT: to say a little bit more:
it seems like the HQ is trying to indirectly kill zOMG by pulling people off of the team. if they keep doing that, how will zomg ever move forward?
there's got to be some significant increase in popularity and activity- the forum is much more active now- we're able to fill 1/10 of the DMS bar every day, more and more people are buying the bloodstones, and even raised $20k+ off of the amulets back in september in a single WEEK. i'd say thats showing enough potential to at least try and keep the game alive.

[oTobias]

Thanks for making things clear.

[Tropicalkiwi1104]

i thought we were doing good too ): so many people were buying stuff with gaia cash and many users joined the game and it kinda sucks that there will be no more new content after all this effort
anyways i hope you the best of luck

[A Random Act of Terror]

Thank's JK for clearing the air with us.

[ilovethebronx]

So true! The zOMG community is like no other. Thanks for posting. And as always, we love you! heart

[rgjh8754]

Thanks for the info. heart

[The Assassin of Doom]

Saburoo

Very well said. Also, am I the only one excited to see that new game when its finished? heart

You know now that my head has cleared I would really like to know what the game is...