It's been fun for me. But we've waited nearly 10 months for the new mystery game. That's way too long to wait in the IT industry, I could have bought 3 new Apple iPhones during this time the way profitable companies (big or small) can churn out new things. There should be no excuses when you have a job to do and you've promised your loyal customers. LDW, your previous games were soo much fun, but I too, am moving on. When a company says they're going to do something, it should get done.

Ok, I shall tell you guys outright the reason I'm not here much. It has nothing to do with games not being put out in time, or whatever Havetia has in mind. It has everything to do with The Sims 3. I started playing them in 2009, and found a friendly forum to go along with the game, hence the downfall of me not being here. LDW is still an awesome game company, but to be totally honest, I have not bought VV5 because I spend all my money on sims. I have alluded in the past as there being a reason for me not being here, but reading comments about LDW that make me feel the need to defend them, I decided to come right out and say it.

I think LDW has been very busy for a small studio.Yesterday VV2 was released for Android.They have released quite a few games for iPad & iPhone.Me? I'm hooked on Twitter, but I'm still waiting for the Mystery Game.LDW makes their own games with great art.I'm always willing to wait for something new from LDW.

I agree with Annabel. LDW games are unique and well worth waiting for.

I don't use iPhones or iPads or anything else but my PC, yet I see so many people that do use them and can understand that there must be a big demand for LDW games for Android devices.

I drop in most days to check posts but don't usually post anything. This time I just wanted to add my support for LDW and let folk know that I am still lurking in the background

When you get to my age (I just turned 74) waiting seems to get much easier!!

I also agree with you both, Annabel and The Gnome. LDW games are unique, and I play them again and again

We must be patient. I'm sure the Mystery Game will be great!

And hopefully the Mystery Game will bring the forums back to life.

Still though, they haven't updated the progress bar AT ALL.

I may get leveled for saying this but frankly, the silence in here is deafening! It speaks volumes. As sad as it is, I can only wonder if LDW may go the way of some other talented developers. MY most recent example being the "Cake Mania and Westward" developer( I did not think I could mention names). They are giving up the download game area to focus on "social gaming." As sad as it makes me, it is hard for small studios. I get it. I am just wondering if the complete absence of information in the forums is simply the "elephant in the room" that no one wants to discuss. Heaven knows, I hope I am wrong. I just find it odd that a developer who was so conscientious about communicating with its members has suddenly gone so silent.

I agree, the silence does seem ominous. LDW seems to be concentrating on porting existing games to iOS and Android at the moment. The announcements of the release of these games seems to be made on the Facebook page, rather than here in the forums. It looks rather like the "mystery" game will remain a mystery. I just hope it hasn't gone the way of the Facebook version of VV.

I wonder if LDW feels that Internet forums such as these are no longer the best way to get out their messages? With the rise in popularity of Facebook and Twitter they may be directing their main efforts there instead.

I'm a regular contributor to several forums (not just game-related ones) and they all seem to be a lot quieter than before. In fact, some have threads like this one asking where all the contributors have gone.

Thanks arnie. I was worried that I might upset some with my observation. It just seemed to me like so many had been here over the past few months looking for some sort of affirmations and none ever came. I feel bad for the loyal fan base. So many here hung on every post from developers with so much anticipation and excitement. I am just sorry that they have let so many fall away with no comment at all. People are enthusiastic and generally loyal to the core. If there was a shift in the works, I think that a lot of people would have wanted to wish the developers well. They would have wanted to thank them for all the enjoyment they have given so many over the years- Just a chance to say goodbye. Too bad.

Between LDW game releases, I always put their preview pages in my 'check daily' collection of URLs.

Every so often I'll browse through the rest of the site to see if there's something new, but I almost never post to the forums.

Over the past months whenever I bothered to check outside the preview pages, I've been noticing the porting of the games to portable devices, I know that takes time and effort, particularly to learn a new platform and all it's quirks. And since the 'Mystery Game' doesn't list as a new VV game, I expected it would take longer to develop than usual.

I had rather presumed the new game is substantially different than Virtual Villagers, so LDW doesn't just have to overhaul an existing game engine, but perhaps develop a new one from the ground up. Or perhaps it is based around the VV engine but is sufficiently different that it's taken more work to accomplish. Personally I'd love a 'Plant Tycoon 2' with all new plants and a new secret method of breeding... But I don't expect that's what it is, as that too would have been more of an overhaul project I'd think.

The last I heard was 'Coming 2011', and we've got 2 full months left for that to happen. And who hasn't slipped on a shipping deadline occasionally? Besides that, I've seen their progress bar stall for months at a time before only to suddenly jump to almost complete. And I'd certainly much rather they spend their time developing than updating website progress bars. :~)

Personally I don't come here for the social experience of the forums, but certainly no offense to anyone who did, I do know that can be fun too. I come here for their games. If we get to 2013 and there's still no 'Mystery Game' release, then I might really wonder if it would ever come out. But I'd still probably leave their URL in my dailies until the day it offlines. :~)