So guys, we did it, we hit a quarter-of-a-thousand followers-

I intended to get this update out closer to the 250 (especially given we're now sitting pretty at 260), but between life, work and general motivation, even typing up a post has been difficult.

250 followers is a big milestone, and moreover looking at the individual characters I have and the messages exchanged makes me very happy. I'm glad so many people enjoy, and get so much mileage out of, the chars and scenarios I've put up. I appreciate all of you~

However, I'm writing this post to deliver the unfortunate news that I'm not sure when my next bot will be released or if that will come to pass. I've alluded a few times to my work and effort on a big sci-fi bot, my intent with which being to create a big well-developed world complete with RPG mechanics, quests, plentiful characters and in-depth lore. It may be prudent to note that I do not use AI when writing bots or anything else. I've been a hobbyist writer for years and have spent a lot of time in the RP scene on top of that, and even as good as LLMs are, they speak with a very distinct and inevitably cliche voice. Using a bot to make bots feels kinda reductive, as they usually write better when going by human-written definitions that have more detail and thought behind them.

Anyway, the more I worked on this, the more I questioned if it was worth all the effort to put into something as disposable as a bot. Sure, people would enjoy it and get a good experience for the most part, but bots are a dime a dozen and I almost felt like it was turning into a waste of my creative energy. I was starting to feel the same way about writing with bots, and over the last several weeks have abstained from doing so to try and focus my energy into more productive creative tasks.

Moreover, seeing how trivial vibecoding is to do nowadays (especially when you put some thought into your prompt and use it to educate yourself at the same time), this lead me to the decision of making a game instead of a bot, and this has been where I've been sinking my time and effort into as of late. It's going to be a sci-fi RPG with no shortage of fetish elements in the style of something like Corruption of Champions, Trials in Tainted Space, and of course the much beloved Tainted Elysium (rest in peace). Lightweight HTML5 with some supporting Javascript, with a UI and general presentation that's not far removed from old-school graphic adventure games of the 90s (think King's Quest or Space Quest).

It's still very early days and I don't have a clue when it'll be ready for any kind of public release, but today, it is playable, albeit lacking on features and content. I have a lot of ambitions on the systems I want to add, but I know already how many of them should be integrated, so it's more or less just a matter of putting in the time to set it all up. Then, from there, getting to writing storylines and characters, generating (or commissioning) art assets, and so on.

I know this will be a downer for a lot of people, but there's nothing saying I won't occasionally drop a new bot here or there if I really feel inspired. And, besides, there's a lot of pretty decent bot creators out there. Not too hard to pick up the mantle yourself, either.

I should also mention that, while I don't have a Discord server, I am a member of one that has a lot of Janitor creators and tummy fetishists that is free to join: The Pickle Jar in which I'll probably post updates on my game-making adventures.

That's enough yapping from me for now, thanks all! <3