I Regret to Inform You

It depresses me and even brings tears to my eyes to even consider this or type this but I have to stop fooling myself. I'm going to be closing Cat Tails indefinitely. As a project, the remodel is going on the backburner. I won't be scrapping anything - cats, accounts, code, pictures and the domain are all going to be moved to a lower cost server and sort of "parked" there.

I bit off more than I could chew. The site had been going for at least 3-4 years before I started to think of remodeling. Imagine taking 3-4 years worth of data and code and completely rewriting it from scratch. This is pretty much what I had been trying to do. Much of the programming logic and the code itself had to be completely scrapped, rewritten and retested - everything from the simplest features to the more complex. Even the database's structure had to be redone.

I pretty much burnt myself out trying to do this completely on my own. I'd go into a frenzy of work for a couple weeks, get daunted by the sheer avalanche of remaining work to be done, back off and then revisit it weeks later only to be burnt out again. It was a vicious cycle that I kept repeating. I kept at it because Cat Tails was sentimental to me - it was my first simulation game I coded. The community was so spportive of me when I was hospitalized and nearly died. I didn't want to let anyone down.

But unfortunately I've let you guys down. I physically can't do this alone. It's too much of a task to do this with the way my real life has been. I've had college, major job hunting and now more college on the horizon with co op work terms. I have an active social life and a serious boyfriend now that's all eating up my mental space and brain time.

That and I have no new creative ideas for Cat Tails. Nothing that likely hasn't realdy been done on other pet simulation websites. Nothing to motivate me to pursue the project to the end. I kept thinking I'd do all this work and still would not get a bigger playerbase. My only "new" idea was Cat Agility, though I couldn't even think of touching that until the daunting remodel of the core of the website as done.

And that just can't be done alone. Cat Tails is indeed going on the backburner with opening time "indefinite". Perhaps I will revisit it in the future when I have new ideas or if I can find some new people to help carry the burden of the code.

You guys rock. I love you all. I hate that I let you down so many times and that I have to dos o again. I think I lost my Cat Tails "groove" after I was hospitalized. Without my abiliy to draw artwork for the site on a whim, my interrest waned. I hope that something can spark it again in the future.

Thanks guys,
- Aislynn
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to post on the General board or send me a PM.