Still Not Done... and Ukraine

Greetings! I'm still alive; I'm very sorry for not posting for quite a while. In truth, I didn't really know what to say - I'm still not done with the release. I continue to work on it, but my productivity has been pretty poor this month, and a lot of it has to do with the situation in Ukraine. It's a poor excuse, but it's true nonetheless. I try very hard to avoid politics here, since people come for the game, not my political takes. Talking politics is also a quick and easy way to alienate people who disagree with you, especially in this polarized age. And finally, people play games like this to get away from that sort of thing - they don't want to see it here! Unfortunately, I can't avoid talking about politics a little in this instance, but I'll try to keep it to the minimum required to explain what's going on with me and why I haven't been as productive as I hoped and should have been.

I'm currently in a country bordering Russia, and have been for the past couple of months. I don't think I'm in any danger at the moment, but the country I'm in has serious territorial disputes and a recent history of military conflict with Russia, and I've no doubt that agitators from American 3-letter agencies/NGOs and Russian security services are stirring up trouble as I write this.

I'm American, and have no particular connection to the country I'm currently in - I just decided to start traveling earlier this year, and this was one of the first destinations. I'd planned to start sooner, but then COVID happened, which made travel difficult. I thought it would finally be safe to start now, but it's starting to look like this was very bad timing!

I'd been pretty productive at the beginning of the Ukraine invasion. While it's obviously a tragedy for Ukrainians, and I have a great deal of sympathy for them, it didn't affect me directly. I was slightly concerned about the conflict growing, potentially setting off something here, but I assumed common sense would break out and those in charge would look for ways to de-escalate this situation. It soon became clear that wasn't going to happen - in fact, they seemed to be doing the opposite - so the conflict has become more and more of a distraction.

First, I've begun to feel a little unsafe where I am. A lot of Russian expatriates are coming in - mostly people unhappy with Putin, but probably also some FSB agents to keep an eye on them and stir up trouble. People around here weren't that fond of Russians to begin with, the Ukraine invasion has made them much less so, and the fact that their country is now being flooded with Russians is making some of them downright unfriendly. People can often tell I'm a foreigner, and in the current situation some initially assume I'm Russian, which has led to some interesting encounters on the street. They're usually quite glad to see me once they figure out I'm American, but I'm a little concerned some folks may not wait to figure out all the particulars before starting trouble.

Second, because of the potential for this conflict to expand to where I am, I have a vested interest in having an accurate picture of the situation, and that's been very difficult of late. This is the biggest propaganda blitz I've ever seen in western media - worse even than during the run-up to Iraq. The media is thus almost wholly useless, so I've had to spend far more time than I'd like tracking down news from obscure blogs, imageboards, and dodgy fellows sporting trenchcoats in dark alleys.

And finally, I've spent a fair bit of time worrying about what this whole situation portends. We're closer to nuclear war than we've ever been in my lifetime, the economic consequences of this are likely to be very bad for the West, and Western leadership at all levels have shown a degree of incompetence I didn't think was possible - and I'm pretty cynical.

I feel pretty bad that this situation has derailed progress on the game, and I've been trying very hard to get my productivity back on track. First, I'll be leaving in a couple of weeks for a country that has nothing to do with any of this. I won't have to worry about it as much if I'm far away, which will be a relief. Second, I think I now have a good understanding of the situation, its causes, and what's likely to happen, and feel less need to research it. And finally, I've come to realize there's not much I can do about any of the big picture stuff, so no point worrying about it, right?

Anyways, that's it for the politics. I just wanted to let you know why what's happening in Ukraine is affecting me and thus the game's progress toward a release. I'm very sorry for those of you who are directly affected by this crisis, and I hope things improve for you soon.

And I'm very sorry about not posting for some time. I didn't really know what to say - just going "My productivity has went to crap because of the Ukraine invasion" felt like a cop-out since I'm not actually in Ukraine, but it's true nonetheless. Still, my productivity has markedly improved over the past week and a half, and I expect it to improve even more once I leave.

I expect to be done with the release before I leave, but I know it won't be done by tomorrow. So all the usual caveats apply - if you were a supporter of the appropriate tier any time from December onward, you'll get the release. I'm very sorry for the continued delays, my sympathy is with any of you directly affected by this crisis, and I thank you for your support.