David - if people want to speak their frank and rude ideas to me I'm happy to hear them out. Crude, abusive or otherwise - its just talk. Talk is cheap, talk is worthless, talk is nothing. I don't even feel it at all when people tell me very bluntly how they feel about my ideas and opinions. In fact, I encourage it - people should be saying what they truly think. I'll tell you what I really get mad about - its action. Having your game die - that is infinitely more hurtful than thousands of lines of abusive posts.
Perhaps people here are not familiar with the way things were in Zelda Classic in the old days. Did you know that once upon a time Zelda Classic had a much, much larger fanbase than we have now? Once upon a time, we had several quests per month. Now, there are some months with just 1 quest or none at all. But where are the fans now? We've dwindled down to this small handful of enthusiasts. Some of us have lived through this golden age - we know what it was like. Others have come to accept this reality as the norm. How can this dwindling be seen as anything other than a sign of dying?
Do people ever wonder why CEOs and top management at successful companies get paid so much? Its because they solve these kinds of problems - the problems no one wants to hear about - the problems that everyone wishes never existed. Now, if this were a type B fanbase I would be your champion and quietly take care of this problem behind the scenes for the good of everyone. But, its not. This is a type A fanbase and so it must fight this battle alone. All I'll do is advise and tell you what the problem is and how to go about fixing it. But I won't fix it for you. This is type A's crisis and it and it alone must fight it.
The gears in the dog's brain turn. It looks out into the stars puzzled and bemused. Although it sees the problem, its brain does not truly comprehend it. For a split second it wonders what it needs to do to fix it. Its too much for the dog - and the dog starts barking and barking loudly.