I’m here to fetch you an update on Game Launcher Creator V3 and all things ByteBox Media.<\/p>\n
First of all, I’d like to start with an apology in the delay of this latest update. I won’t beat around the bush, it’s been a very trying time for me (Danny) here the last 12 months or so, both physically and mentally. Running a global business is no easy feat and it eventually caught up with me.<\/p>\n
There’s no such thing as a natural aptitude when it comes to running a business that is 24\/7. It’s non-stop, literally. If I can manage a decent night’s sleep of 8 hours, the second I open my emails up with my morning cup of tea, I’m staring at a wall of emails, not just from customers, but many other things to do with the operations of the business, like server emails, emails from our SMTP provider, backup statuses, firewall updates on the abhorrent amount of attacks the servers get every single day that we have to fight (this is par for the course though, easily handled).<\/p>\n
By the time I’ve gotten through all of that and sat down properly at my desk and opened up my workflow, I’m then pulled in multiple directions to develop the V3 update, the launcher login plugin, fix existing bugs etc.<\/p>\n
I know, I know, I’m whining… \ud83d\ude0f But seriously, if I’m not honest with you, I can’t expect you to understand.<\/p>\n
2024 brought the advent of my new born son (my sixth to be precise). The UK has gone downhill in terms of many things like economics, taxes, prices of everything… on top of that, running a global business is just… a lot.<\/p>\n
I am very thankful for the humans that help me out like Stephen, Darth, Chernaborg and TigrikGaming. They help out immensely in the Discord and some other areas, but the majority of the backbone I have to deal with myself, personally.<\/p>\n
So mentally, it’s been a really big struggle for me over the last 12-18 months and it just makes the delay a little bit longer on some developments. I hope you can all understand and I really do thank you for your patience.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
The Straight Line<\/h2>\n
Over the last couple of months, I decided that the hole I dug myself into with my workflow just wasn’t working out anymore. I couldn’t keep my head above water and the water was just constantly rising. So I took a step back for a few weeks and assessed my work situation. I was not happy. Some days I work for nothing at all, but that’s all in blessing of running a business right? Wrong. Normal 9-5 people don’t experience this level of stress. Sure, working is stressful and some jobs are really stressful, but 90% of jobs, when you finish or “clock off”, you can finish and clock off until you return. You can take paid holidays (in the UK). Take a week off here, two weeks off there. Unfortunately, I can’t.<\/p>\n
So I needed to figure out how to fix it. I still love my business. I still love my work and what I do and by god do I love my baby; Game Launcher Creator.<\/p>\n
So with that in mind, let me tell you how I think I’ve fixed this and here is my plan going forward.<\/p>\n
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- I will only work Mon-Fri (8am – 5pm), still on-call for emergencies and critical emails<\/li>\n
- If I feel like taking a random day off every other week, I’ll take it off (I call these mental health respites)<\/li>\n
- I will work the occasional weekend where necessary to achieve whatever necessary<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Mental health is an important topic and it’s getting talked about even more lately, which is a good thing. Many people don’t know where or who to turn to and men in particular (from experience), are really good at letting the crap pile up mentally until they reach an impasse and then they’re stuck.<\/p>\n
How many other companies out there do you see the CEO reaching out like this publicly to talk about it? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it. I feel good talking about it to you and explaining. It’s my way of release and it’s your way of viewing what’s going on behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
Don’t get me wrong though, things are not chaotic here. Things are running pretty smooth on the whole, it’s just… a LOT going on.<\/p>\n
There are a few things I need to address on a professional level and I’ve figured them out now:<\/p>\n
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- We’ve let the priority Discord support lapse too long for users and this is causing a strain. A Discord revamp is due for an overhaul in May 2025.<\/li>\n
- Self entitlement and bad attitudes towards staff will not be tolerated in the Discord server. If you do not read the documentation first (or properly), or search the Discord for an answer first, you’re just setting yourself up for failure.<\/li>\n
- Email support will always be available 24\/7\/365 for all users, nothing changes there.<\/li>\n
- VIP support<\/a> will be pushed and those who have it via our Patreon<\/a>, can have exclusive 1-to-1 support, including a Google Meeting to provide live help and support. If you don’t have it yet, you can get it here<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- We are building a new bot for the server which will give canned responses to the generic questions. All users need to use the Discord search function<\/strong> more because there’s nothing more frustrating than answering the same question asked for the 823rd time in a year when the answers already exist.<\/li>\n
- The documentation website will be pushed more by the bot, because a lot of users are just not reading the documentation or following the instructions given.<\/li>\n
- No more ETAs or time estimates will be given on future projects, plugins or ideas. We will not be allowing pre-orders and if we do, it will only be a week before actual release.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
All of these steps will help relieve some of the pressure and stress. All we ask is that if you use the Discord, to be polite and courteous not just towards staff but everyone in there. It’s a friendly place to be. But if new users in particular, are not going to bother reading the documentation, looking at the tutorials or searching the Discord properly for their answer before asking the question, then it will result in your role being taken away.<\/p>\n
If you’ve read the documentation\/tutorials properly and you still have a question or are struggling with something real bad, or need clarification, then sure, fire away and ask away, by all means \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
On to Positive News<\/h2>\n
ByteBox Media is building. We are building products and services on the scale of a huge tech company but we are doing it with a very small team. The future looks bright and we have many things to unveil this year.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, we’ve started to reutilise the online office suite we have which includes roadmaps for the projects (I was guilty of not updating it much).<\/p>\n
So here are the positive (good) points:<\/p>\n
- We are building a new bot for the server which will give canned responses to the generic questions. All users need to use the Discord search function<\/strong> more because there’s nothing more frustrating than answering the same question asked for the 823rd time in a year when the answers already exist.<\/li>\n