In the last 12 years, no one in the board gaming community has really noticed Happy Meeple, so I really doubt anyone would have been interested in doing something with it.
It's been tough reading the discussion because I want to comment on almost every comment! On this one though I'll go ahead - I think you touched on a real issue here that has been mentioned rather sideways in the past - this isn't really the "board gaming community" here, this is the "casual gaming community." IMO the audience is much more like the past Big Fish audience rather than BGA in interest and spirit. That doesn't seem to have been your intended target, but that's where it landed. The "board gaming community" is much less concerned with aesthetics, ease of use, and clarity, again imo.
Example - a few of us expressed frustration with the time limit not comfortably allowing us to teach our friends how to play (something else you mentioned earlier in the thread, that we didn't seem to invite friends). If this was the "board gaming community," those friends would have been inherently interested in gaming and come out to play the tutorials on their own or after being sent a link. Someone who could be a casual gamer, playing just to spend nice time with a friend, they aren't nearly as likely to do that. They'll give it a try if a friend asks as an activity to enjoy together. But then as a few of us noted, it didn't work out because the time limit didn't allow us to help them learn the game. Just for myself, I did invite several friends IRL and each time they happily attempted to play a game with me and left frustrated by the time limit and didn't come back, because there was no option for us to play together comfortably while they learned the game. I thought then, and still think, that you underestimated the appeal of having another timer option for those of us who wanted to invite friends outside of the "board gaming community."
Similarly to another of your points, most of us here not being the "board gaming community" don't tend to be on those types of forums talking up wherever and whatever we're playing lately. (And we don't tend to create websites to place banners.) If we'd had this discussion some time ago perhaps some headway could have been made on more public commenting and promo also, but perhaps not so much in the places you were expecting. Overall I think more w/casual gaming it comes down to, I invite a friend, they like it and they invite a friend, who then invites a friend...
From what I've heard, it sounds like BGA will work for teaching a friend, however the rest of the time I prefer the relaxed ease of playing with bots and intuitive design that is easy on the eyes. Like many others, that's why I've been here and not there. (And to the errant design points... hamburger menus with hidden stacks of options and sliding sidebars and dialogue popups, light grey fonts and glaring whitespace, "modern design" can keep that to itself.)
Although it's so frustrating that a discussion didn't take place a year or two ago, I do appreciate and applaud you for at least participating in it somewhat now, rather than just posting a notice and leaving us hang until the plug is pulled. Thank you sincerely for that.
Beyond all that, I feel similarly as Kcekce G. And will be playing in quiet denial until it's gone.
