What do I do? (My dilemma)

Help!  Last year I announced a game too early.  I was planning on releasing this Christmas, but 2014 was a big year and I didn't work on it a whole lot.  Technical issues, personal relationship issues, life issues, issues, issues everywhere!  But, I still want to release it.  I made the commitment.  The problem is, its my first game, and I feel like I dug myself into a hole with everything I've put into it.  I added too much levels and characters and didn't put a lot into the story.  I can finish it, but it won't be perfect.  Should I just trudge on and finish it anyway, and release it, EVEN if it isn't as good as it could have been?  Like, should I release it for the sake of finishing something for a change, even if just for feedback and negative reviews? 

Is there any way you can scale it back and simplify a bit, and then focus on polishing the smaller bit you have?

I feel like you shouldn't release a game that is not completely polished and finished. Rushing to meet a deadline when you could have polished it just a little bit more probably means you released something that was worse than you could have if you put more time into it.

If you really did not want to release later, then mlogan's suggestion to scale back the game could prove fruitful.

I'd suggest waiting as well. But if you really feel you must produce something by your deadline, maybe you could work on the first part of your game so it's up to a demo version where folks could play through a little part of the story. That way you've got something, you can get some feed back and see if you're on the right track with things.

I don't know what kind of promises you made or if there were fiances involved.. etc. But most folks would rather have quality stuff and be willing to wait a bit longer for it. :)

Let me put it to you this way:

Gamers instantly know when a game was "rushed out the door".  They, in turn, do not like that.  Remember all those AAA titles that were "pushed out the door" beforehand?  Battlefield 4 ring any bells?  On top of which, if you're using an RPG Maker program to make your game, it will not only reflect much more poorly on you... but the community as a whole.  RPG Maker games already get a lot of flak for being "not that good" and "rushed out in five minutes".  You should take that into account.

Most gamers will realize that sometimes things happen.  Most of us are fairly patient people.  We'll often accept "Look, I'm pushing back the release date because I still have a lot of work to do on it and I want it to be an amazing experience for people who play it".  I'm all for delays in games I really want to play if it means the product comes out that much better.  Judging by the state of the game industry in its current form...  A lot of older adult gamers feel that way as well.  We like to get our money's worth and we've been around and played practically everything already.  We'd rather have a fantastic experience with something we're hyped to play instead of a terrible experience with something we were hyped to play (Destiny, anyone?).

Keep in mind, however, that your new deadlines should be reasonable and you shouldn't keep pushing release dates further and further back.  Most gamers will accept one or maybe two release date pushbacks.  When you start hitting 3, people start complaining that you'll never finish it and will lose interest in it altogether.  Likewise, the further you keep pushing it back, the more gamers who remain interested will want the game to give them the equivalent of visual, story, and game mechanics orgasms upon release.  Each push back sets up expectations for the game if it doesn't deter people from wanting to play altogether.

Honestly, I'd just release it when it was finished.  Push the date back to something reasonable and start keeping those already following your game in the loop as to your progress so that they can see if you're just wasting time, or if you're actually in crunch time to finish the game on time.

I agree with the majority here.  Even if, say, I had pre-purchased your game, I would MUCH rather wait a few months and get a quality game I'd enjoy than get what clearly feels like an unfinished work beforehand.

If you're trying to do a commercial release, consider this:  Reputation is everything especially for an indie developer.  Now, sure, it's disappointing if you can't meet a release window.  But, if the game is good, that will be forgiven and forgotten in the future.  Instead, gamers will remember a great game.

Now, if the game feels rushed or unfinished, you have just destroyed whatever reputation you're trying to build.  Instead of thinking "Oh, the game dev was trying to meet a release date," the gamers, including myself, would think "This game is rushed and unfinished.  I won't buy anything from this developer again."    So this would not be forgiven.  Even if your next game is a perfect masterpiece, the bad reputation left by your previous work will haunt you far more than "game wasn't released on time" will.  It will be an uphill battle to convince people to buy your game, where as a good but delayed game will be a huge asset for the next release.

As a gamer, which would you buy from:

a. A company which always ships its games late --- BUT the games are always good and fun

b. A company which always ships its games on time --- BUT the games always feel rushed and incomplete

So I would say make a reasonable release date, with plenty of room in it for the unexpected surprises ("Oh crap!  These items used together badly break the battle system!  We need to fix the battle system.  There go a few weeks.")  And be sure to budget time for sickness and vacation, especially if you're a 1 person development team.

As everyone said above, pushing out an unpolished game is never a good thing.

If this is non-commercial, then you shouldn't sweat the date anyway. If it is commercial, and you have not received any money on it yet, again, don't sweat it. Pushing it back is very acceptable.

Now, if it is a commercial game and you have already gotten money, you're in quite the situation. That situation gets worse depending on just how much money you have already received. When you take money from someone for a service, you are promising to deliver said service, breaking that promise results in many horrible drawbacks. For an idea about just how bad it can be, look up and debacle for the game, Towns. (BTW, Towns is a great game as it is, and is worth the price, but the community turned on them for not fulfilling promises.)

Thanks for all the tips guys.  I realize rushing out a game is never good, in any circumstance.  Thats why Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly is flawed, and also Sonic 2006.  The procrastination of my development reminds me SO much of Square Enix and Kingdom Hearts III.  I've also never released a game, so i have lot riding on this for my reputation.  This is NOT a commercial game.  Its something I did for fun in my spare time that really evolved into something more over the years.  If this was a commercial game for sale, I'd probably have people knocking down my door to sue me, what with all the copywrited properties used (its a FAN game).  I'm really going to push forward with this thing this coming month and try to have something ready for the December deadline I set last year.  Even if it's a demo or beta version.

One more thing: Since my game is a fan game, will I even be allowed to post it on the forums after its finished?  Non-profit, just for the community?  If not, really no point in me continuing it when I could just move on to an original IP.  I need to know if I'm allowed to put a fan game on here because if not, its ok, the whole project gave me a lot of practice more than anything so if I can't release it, i won't be too shooken up about it.   (By fan game, I mean, one level litererally takes place on the island from LOST.  Theres also a Breaking Bad level, and some Final Fantasy IX characters involved.)

Wait. It's a fan game?

Oh crap.

See, depending on whose franchise you're doing, you'll get anything from official developer endorsement to getting sued for copyright, even if it isn't commercial. Capcom franchises tend to be better for fangames, while Nintendo doesn't care for it and I think it was Square Enix who sent a C&D letter to a project that had been worked on for 4 years, three weeks before the release date.

If it's a fan game, the odds are it is illegal from a copyright and possibly DCMA standpoint (if it uses resources ripped from another commercial game).  The only legal difference of "It's non profit" would make is, if the IP holder decides to sue you, the judge may take that into consideration when it comes time to determine fines and penalties you'd owe.

Now, before throwing it away, see if you can find a clear statement from the copyright holder about their legal position on fangames.    If and ONLY if the copyright holder says fangames are OK with this IP, your fangame is legal to release.  Someone posted that Breath of Fire's copyright holders apparently allow fangames.

If you can't find any clear "it's OK to release non-profit fangames in the US" statement, from the copyright holder then you must assume the fangame is illegal.   Now, a copyright holder might be OK with releasing, say, fanfic but depending on the exact legal terms, which I don't know, it might not be the same as a fangame.

Well, the maps are original and made custom by me.  The main characters are original too.  The only thing that makes it a fan game is the music and the worlds and NPC characters.  Its mostly a fan game with TV show characters in it.  You go to the island from LOST, the prison from Prison Break, the hospital from Greys Anatomy, Dexter's boat, the RV from Breaking Bad, ect...but the story is original and I didn't steal any maps, I made my own.  The game has cameos from Final Fantasy characters as well.  I could throw it out if I have too, but only if its necessary.  I thought fan games were posted on here all the time.  I just don't want to get banned or anything.

Fan games cannot be effectively policed so we don't even try. Basically, it's all on you if you get caught, but we won't ban you for posting them here.