Renewed commitment to the game, rambling

This is a *long* ramble so I apologize in advance...

I started re-reading one of my favorite "get things done" books, Getting Real, and while doing so realized that I had started to break some rules in relation to the Fantasy League - specifically, I wasn't getting stuff done. I have a long list of ideas for the game that include many of the things players have asked for as well as some others...I talk a lot about them and always say "next season," "next update," blah, blah, blah...and most of the time it never happens. That leads to disappointment and frustration from players (you) and from me. Sometimes things don't get done due to legit reasons but often it is because I'm focused on other RLD projects that are not League-related.

Most recently this was the Racing Calendar. I saw a need for tools to help organize tournaments instead of asking people to rely on somewhat unorganized forum posts. It made sense and I saw it as another way for Redline Derby to cement itself as a top resource for diecast racing. I spent a lot of time building the calendar and the tools and I was excited for it, but during that time the Fantasy League kept on rolling without many updates. While it's good that the game can be played and enjoyed without regular updates, this should be the exception to the rule and not the norm. So the Racing Calendar got done and launched with many hopes and dreams...and then it crapped out. The failure and subsequent shutdown of the Mail-in Tournament Manager really opened my eyes to what I had done.....I was spreading myself too thin.

I'm a person that in conversation always talks about "being good" and something before you start looking towards new ventures. Why expand your product when your core product isn't where it should be? I'm all for creating new products that can bring people joy and happiness, but at what expense? The only time you should even consider expanding to new territory is when your core product is damn well near perfect. I see Redline Derby as having two core products: the message board and the Fantasy League. The message board is more-or-less automated since content here is generated by you. The League game, however, is something unique, custom and needs my constant involvement. The game as it stands now is fun and entertaining but it's not where I want it to be. You've all heard the list of features that have yet to be added time and time again, so I won't cover those things again, but safe to say there is a long list of things that I want to see happen that will (hopefully) make the game even more interesting and fun for everyone. Yet I neglected these things in favor of expanding the RLD brand when expansion shouldn't have even been on the table yet.

In short, my ego got the best of me. I'm incredibly proud of Redline Derby and your guys' support has made it very successful (and I can't thank you enough). But as more and more people signed up to play and as I got a few more sponsors to work with, I got excited and became anxious to do "what's next" for the diecast racing community...and reading feedback and getting ideas from all of you here in the forum just put more air in the balloon. I know the Fantasy League game is a good time and people like playing, but I have always had a hard time hearing something like "it would be cool if there was a web site that did this" and then not acting on it. I'm a builder and a problem solver. It's what I love to do and Redline Derby has become the ultimate combination of passions - creating games, building web sites and playing with toys. Coming up with ideas and thinking about them is fine and well, but I should have been a little more responsible in deciding when to start working those projects. I'm only one guy with limited time so that time should be spent keeping active (and in-use) products like the Fantasy League tuned up and running smoothly.

Growing up I always wanted to make a video game that people would play. I've made many video games in my life but few left the "hobby" status and thus didn't go anywhere. When I started Redline Derby and the Fantasy League, I expected the same result but you guys decided this idea was worth something more and finally I had, with help from you all, of course.

So as to not ramble on even more, all of this leads to one simple pledge: to focus on making the Fantasy League game better. That doesn't mean it will be perfect, or that things will happen overnight, but what it does mean is that what time I have to dedicate to RLD will be spent on the game and little else...at least for the immediate future. If by way of the game new apps come about, then so be it, but they will become secondary goals. I know the Fantasy League has maybe lost a little luster this year and that is due entirely to my slacking on the project, so I'm going to do my best to bring the game back to where it was so that it is fun and challenging for everyone - veteran and rookie players alike.

And that's that. I feel better now. I think I just needed to get all that out of my head.