Where is Dave AKA MrDrPink?

Hello!

The missing Dave is here, back on Proboards

I do apologize for any confusion caused by my disappearance.

As Simon mentioned above, my contract at 22cans has run its course. In the meantime, I've been catching up with friends, family and working on the odd independent project here and there. I haven't been able to spend as much time online as I've wanted to.

I guess it's time for that long overdue goodbye?

Personally speaking, I'm going to miss working at 22cans. I'll miss working with a creative, enthusiastic and passionate team like the 22canners. My time there has been one exciting rollercoaster ride, I've gained a whole wealth of knowledge from the team and the community (you guys!).

Godus Team, I can't wait to see what you do next with Godus!

As for you guys! It's been one crazy ride, hasn't it?

With this being my first CM role within the industry. All of you have taught me so much about working within online communities. Throughout my time here you've provided no end of support, laughs and welcomed challenges. Even to this day, I can still see you all want the very best for this project. Your passion, enthusiasm and commitment for Godus is absolutely amazing.

So, I'd just like to say thank you to everyone! I hope you're all ready for Christmas

Hello and farewell mrdrpink. Good luck in your career.

I'm glad that the letter Spiderweb received was obviously just a prank, but lets not forget that Dave was responsible for one of the more controversial banning sprees on the Steam forums and censoring them to some extent. He did leave a mark on this community and it wasn't a pretty one. Sadly I feel that things got even worse since then.

Still, thank you for taking the time to finally post.

Out of curiosity, how long ago?

Honestly, if this were any other company/project, I'd be shocked that no one thought that the community manager leaving the company warranted at least a quick "farewell" announcement.

Well, we're back with the PR policy of "button it". This is self-evident. I imagine the only reason they've finally taken the trouble to announce Dave's departure is some combination of being unable to keep it quiet forever (as he will eventually get a job somewhere else and can't realistically keep it secret) and he has been annoyed about getting bombarded with messages from the community asking for an explanation of his absence.

I don't think Dave feels any particular attachment or loyalty to this community. He didn't do a great job of community management, for whatever reason, and was given a hard time for it. Dealing with this community is seriously difficult for 22Cans. Their info updates are never well-received because they aren't doing anything we'd enjoy hearing about. The combat update is taking ages and not likely to be particularly impressive (sorry to be negative but the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour). It's also likely to be followed by Godus being officially dropped and exiting Early Access. 22Cans has been a bottomless pit Peter has been throwing money into. Looking at the documents filed with Companies House since incorporation, 22Cans has had over £2 million invested in it if you add up shareholder contributions and Kickstarter funds. Bear in mind they only requested £450k from Kickstarter to complete this project. It's ridiculous. And it still, unsurprisingly, appears to be unprofitable.

On the PC at least, Godus is badly reviewed and very unlikely to recover. Not many people are paying attention to it anymore, and the ones that are scrutinise and unravel every announcement put out by 22Cans in a way that is unhelpful for the company and only ever leads to a worse publicity situation. This is entirely their own fault, but it's understandable that they've decided to keep their mouths shut.

22Cans initially positioned itself as a single-product company, and I think they have made a huge mistake by choosing to release The Trail too. They are now going to be in a position where it will be difficult for them to prove that Kickstarter funding and Early Access income intended by consumers for the development of Godus weren't used to develop The Trail. I'm not a lawyer so I have no idea if there are any actual legal implications here, but ethically it's extremely dubious and that's what the media will care about. PM should have created a separate company to release the Trail, with its own transparent and independent financial structure.

Pssst... I'll give you a tiny hint...

To a man like Simon, a community is only as important as its potential revenue generation. It's not hard to see where his priorities lie, especially with his amateurish excuses for lack of communication.

"Sorry! I've been too busy tweeting about not being able to put down The Trail beta to post anything of substance on the Godus forums. I would have my Community Manager do it for me... But.. Uh... He isn't here?! Weird!"

If there was money to be had in Godus PC we all know Simon would have never let Dave's "contract" "expire".

But what do I know? I'm just an undeadoverpromise.

Hi Dave, bye Dave. Wait, what. Seems like only a moment ago mrdrpink took these reins. Guess alongside biannual updates, we can expect semi-annual CM swaps.