History TroubledProduction / Other

* [=TouhouCon=], a convention dedicated to '''that''' ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'', ran for only two years. The first year, in 2014, wasn't too bad. The second year, in 2015, the convention organizers decided to invite a number of big-name, big-budget guests from the ''Touhou'' doujinshi industry, including the band Yuuhei Satellite and musicians/[=DJs=] [=REDALiCE=] and Masayoshi Minoshima (best known for his iconic cover of "Bad Apple!!"). Outwardly, everything seemed like it was going well, but staff soon realized that the number of badges they were selling were well below expectations, and started making last-minute efforts to draw in large amounts of revenue to recoup the costs, such as handing out a $999 "Strongest Badge"[[note]]named and priced after Cirno, who is memetically known for calling herself the [[WorldsStrongestMan Strongest Fairy]] as well as a labeled HUD screenshot that labels her with the number 9 and the word "idiot"[[/note]] and selling last-minute badges for a mere $9. The con came and went and as far as attendees were concerned, everything went well. But the convention could not make back the cost needed to have the guests over, [[http://www.nerdandtie.com/2015/12/09/over-two-months-later-touhoucon-artists-still-on-the-hook-for-free-hotel-rooms/ so the hotel that was hosting the convention slapped charges of about $1,500 per room on those guests because they needed the room payments from somewhere]][[note]]Normally, in an agreement like this, the convention fronts the payment, but the guests are responsible for providing an incidentals/damage deposit, preferably with a credit card, in case they break or steal something from the room, something the convention empathetically wouldn't want to be responsible for. But without funds from the convention, guess where the money ends up coming from?[[/note]], effectively ending the convention's short run and souring the American ''Touhou'' community.

** Extremely poor organization during the convention itself: cartoonist [[Creator/NoelleStevenson GingerHaze]] was forced to moderate her own panel when her intended moderator didn't show up, and ''hotel mints'' were offered as rewards for events being held. Security was also poor, with a member of 4chan's /pol/ board being able to walk in without identification and film the event with impunity.

** Panelists [=GingerHaze=] and The Baker Street Babes were forced to pay for their hotel bills, which Dashcon was supposed to cover. The latter were ignored by the management staff when they tried to contact them initially. While they were both reimbursed eventually, it took several days to sort out, and [=GingerHaze=] was unable to pay for more than one night and wound up having to sleep on the Ikea couch of one of the ''Night Vale'' writers who took pity on her. The only panelist who ''didn't'' report any problems was Creator/DougJones, who apparently received payment without issue and went on record as having greatly enjoyed his event, thereby making him the luckiest man alive.

** The mall finally met completion in the last quarter of 2019 and began a phased opening, only for the March 2020 restaurant, shop, and water park debuts to be postponed by the [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic COVID-19 pandemic hitting the region that month]]. Many have come to view the American Dream Meadowlands as one of the biggest boondoggles in New Jersey's history, its equivalent of the Big Dig given how much public money in the form of loans, bonds, and tax breaks has been given to the developers, especially given how many malls already exist in northern New Jersey. Five separate state governors[[note]]Jim [=McGreevey=], Richard Codey, Jon Corzine, Chris Christie, and Phil Murphy[[/note]] have overseen the project, and it has become a joke akin to ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' or ''[[Music/GunsNRoses Chinese Democracy]]'' within the state, such that Terrence T. [=McDonald=], a reporter for the ''Jersey Journal'', [[https://twitter.com/terrencemcd/status/1034504487845679104 suggested on Twitter]] that a future New Jersey governor will be saying that "voters elected me in [[DevelopmentHell 2077]] to get this thing done and we're just about there."

* The American Dream Meadowlands megamall in East Rutherford, UsefulNotes/NewJersey, part of the vast Meadowlands Sports Complex that includes [=MetLife=] Stadium (home field of the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague New York Giants and Jets]]) and the Meadowlands Arena (former home of the [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague New Jersey Devils]] and the then-[[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation New Jersey Nets]]), was first proposed in the early '00s by the Mills Corporation as the Meadowlands Xanadu, described as "a new standard for bringing lifestyle, recreation, sports and family entertainment offerings together in one location." This would be no ordinary mall -- it would have an [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL-sized]] UsefulNotes/IceHockey rink, a minigolf course, an indoor water park and theme park, an twelve-story, 800-foot indoor ski slope, a 26-screen movie theater with an outdoor lounge overlooking Manhattan, a concert hall, an aquarium, a Ride/{{LEGOLAND}} Discovery Center, and to top it all off, the Pepsi Globe, a 287-foot-tall Ferris wheel. [[http://www.gq.com/story/five-billion-dollar-new-jersey-mega-mall-american-dream-meadowlands This profile]] in ''GQ'' describes it as something "ripped from the pages of Creator/DavidFosterWallace's dystopian novel ''Literature/InfiniteJest''." The project was announced in 2002 and ground was broken in 2004, with expected completion in two years. It did not open until late 2019, with the $5 billion that has been sunk into it making it the most expensive retail project in history.

** The mall finally met completion in the last quarter of 2019. Many have come to view the American Dream Meadowlands as one of the biggest boondoggles in New Jersey's history, its equivalent of the Big Dig given how much public money in the form of loans, bonds, and tax breaks has been given to the developers, especially given how many malls already exist in northern New Jersey. Five separate state governors[[note]]Jim [=McGreevey=], Richard Codey, Jon Corzine, Chris Christie, and Phil Murphy[[/note]] have overseen the project, and it has become a joke akin to ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' or ''[[Music/GunsNRoses Chinese Democracy]]'' within the state, such that Terrence T. [=McDonald=], a reporter for the ''Jersey Journal'', [[https://twitter.com/terrencemcd/status/1034504487845679104 suggested on Twitter]] that a future New Jersey governor will be saying that "voters elected me in [[DevelopmentHell 2077]] to get this thing done and we're just about there."

** The second issue was the extremely long time for any announcements for Evo Japan 2019. Usually the official games for any Evo are announced a good 6-7 months in advance so competitors will know what games to practice and for developers to finalize any patches before the event. The final game lineup wasn't announced until December 2018, nearly ''two months'' away from Evo Japan's start date. The roster was expected but solid (VideoGame/StreetFighterV, VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 7, VideoGame/SoulCaliburVI, VideoGame/GuiltyGear Rev 2, VideoGame/BlazBlueCrossTagBattle, and VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters XIV), yet there were two notable exceptions. VideoGame/DragonBallFighterZ [[note]]not unusual as Shueisha was blocking tournaments in America from having Dragon Ball Fighter Z at other events[[/note]] and VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate [[note]]no reason was given but it's December 2018 release might have been too close to Evo Japan's start date[[/note]] were not at Evo Japan 2019 as official games. With such a long time for the official lineup to be announced attendance figures for all games were considerably lower than Evo Japan 2018's.

** A different venue for [=RainFurrest=] 2016 was secured at the Spokane Convention Center in Spokane, Washington, only for the news to drop less than a week later [[https://twitter.com/rainfurrest/status/695900398628909056 that the event was cancelled]]. Furries were redirected to Furlandia in Portland, Oregon. [[http://orrery.prismaticmedia.com/2016/02/20/rainfurrest-2016-post-mortem/ A post-mortem analysis of the debacle]] by a former [=RainFurrest=] board member was later posted.

** Extremely poor organization during the convention itself: cartoonist [=GingerHaze=] was forced to moderate her own panel when her intended moderator didn't show up, and ''hotel mints'' were offered as rewards for events being held. Security was also poor, with a member of 4chan's /pol/ board being able to walk in without identification and film the event with impunity.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig The Big Dig]] is the most famous construction project in {{UsefulNotes/Boston}}'s history for all the wrong reasons. It was simple enough on paper: Reroute Interstate 93 under the central part of the city into an underground tunnel and tear down the Central Artery[[note]]also known as "The Distressway", "the largest parking lot in the world", and "the other Green Monster"[[/note]], a notoriously ugly elevated roadway that cut the historic North End off from the rest of the city, and then use the newly opened space to create a park and new entertainment venues and attractions. Initially planned to be completed in 1998, it wasn't until 2007 that it was formally finished and only after a series of events that included escalating costs, scheduling overruns, leaks, design flaws, charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials, criminal arrests, and one fatality (caused by a faulty ceiling panel collapsing on a car and killing a passenger) and an estimated cost of $14.6 billion, an overrun of 190% of the initial calculation of $6.0 billion[[note]]adjusted for inflation[[/note]]. And even today the tunnels are plagued with problems that require nearly constant repair, such as an estimated 25,000 light fixtures that will eventually have to be replaced to the tune of $54 million. The entire clusterfuck has made Bostonians wary of any big projects since then, and may have had a hand in dooming the Boston 2024 Olympic bid (see the [[{{TroubledProduction/Sports}} sports page]] for more details) and the Grand Prix of Boston. While everyone agrees the end result did accomplish its intended purpose, the process of getting there was a disaster.

** And it STILL doesn't end there. As the planning of the convention was happening, a man named Michael Player showed up at the Salem police headquarters. He had received a suicide note from his daughter Amy, who claimed that the love of her life, Abby Stone, had run off with a man named Jordan. The police found a picture of Michael's daughter. When they showed it around to others, they all identified the person as... Jordan Wood.
** In the end, Jordan admitted he was in fact Amy and that the whole thing was a sham so he could try to build a new identity ("Abby Stone" was his deadname). Police told him never to come to Oregon again or face arrest. He eventually was caught (while waiting in line to see ''Return of the King'' in Portland), but the DA declined to press charges. After a number of unrelated shanenigans, Jordan eventually underwent gender confirmation surgery, legally changing his name to Andrew "Andy" Blake. Andy then moved to the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fandom, where he became a BigNameFan after his fic ''FanFic/DumbledoresArmyAndTheYearOfDarkness'' became popular. He was later involved in a triple homicide that claimed the life of one of his friends. He survived, but used the incident as an excuse to solicit donations to travel to New Zealand.

* Before there was Dashcon, there was Tentmoot. It was supposed to be part of a year long series of events sponsored by a popular Tolkien fan group called Bit of Earth (BOE) that would perform community service projects and culminate in, supposedly, the largest Tolkien con ever held. Like Dashcon, it fell apart due to poor management. Unlike Dashcon, it inspired a [[http://www.amazon.com/When-Fan-Hits-Shit-Charity/dp/0965313646/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426021345&sr=8-2&keywords=shit+hits+the+fan tell all book]] and an honest criminal investigation. [[http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-3414-hobbits_gone_wrong.html This]] article goes into a lot more details, but highlights include:

** Various investigations were launched as to what happened to cause ''Challenger'' to fail. Ultimately, blame was to placed at NASA and Thiokol's feet for their blatant disregard to the warnings laid out by many.

** As could be expected from such a feat in engineering, the module's automatic landing system failed on re-entry. And thanks to the myriad design flaws, one of Leonov's crewmates, Pavel Belyayev, had to lay down across the module's three seats to reach the navigation panel while a third cosmonaut held him in place.

** The first sign of trouble was the confirmation that the location would change from Tokyo to Fukuoka. Logic being venues would be cheaper there and the close proximity to Korea and other South East Asian countries would increase international participation, but what Evo didn't expect was a major Music/BTS show happening at the same venue in Fukuoka right before Evo Japan. This meant that lodging was difficult to find.

** Probably the thing Evo Japan [[Main/OvershadowedByControversy became the most known for]] (maybe other than Arslan Ash's Tekken run, more on that below) was the infamous [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/core-values "Core Values"]] incident. A VideoGame/DeadOrAlive 6 exhibition got a little too steamy for Evo, and they pulled the plug on the exhibition. Evo founder Mr. Wizard stated in a now deleted tweet that the DOA6 stream "didn't represent Evo's core values." Unfortunately, this ended up blowing up in Mr. Wizard's face as it went [[Main/MemeticMutation viral instantly.]] Mr. Wizard and the other staff behind Evo kept a low profile in the aftermath of the exhibition, not even showing up on the main stage for finals day.

* Raceland Mall, a small community mall in Louisville, Kentucky, went through this as well. Originally planned for a 1970 opening, it was held up for many years following an attempt to sell the then-unfinished mall to another developer, after which the original developer went into receivership with the mall 95% finished. Raceland Mall finally opened in 1975, by which point anchor store W. T. Grant had already been open for two years. However, Grant's went out of business that same year, and their store was sold to Britt's, only for ''them'' to go out of business in 1979. By this point, only 19 out of 33 spaces in the mall had been filled, with much of the blame being placed on the slow start and inability to secure an anchor store, along with poor store selection and highway access. Ownership changed multiple times, with one owner attempting to sue the previous one for a mortgage. The former Britt's became local department store Consolidated Sales in 1980, but they also closed and became a Pace warehouse store in 1985; however, unlike its predecessors, Pace did not open out to the mall, further discouraging shopper traffic. By 1990, the mall was entirely closed except for Pace and a supermarket. Yet another batch of new owners renamed the mall to Creekside Pavilion and promised redevelopment plans, which fell through when the supermarket and Pace both closed. After being put up for sale for the ''tenth'' time, the entire mall structure was converted to a Ford dealership in 1996.

*** On top of this, the turnout was far lower than expected; only 400-1000 people showed up as opposed to the expected 4000. Tara Strong has since openly regretted appearing at Las Pegasus - she missed her son's karate tournament and is loath to appear at another con in the future.

* ''Unwilling Service'', a ''{{VideoGame/Pokemon}}'' fanfic series currently spanning three simultaneous fics, barely managed to see four chapters between 2011-14 before author Economy (formerly [=McKnight=] and then [=SeaRover1986=]) declared it dead. He revived it in May 2016, to take his focus off of another project that wasn't going anywhere, but while he managed to put out a chapter for each of the three fics in quick succession, his beta-writer, Helder Luis Baruffi, encountered one problem after another, especially in light of a burglary in October that year, which required him to move back in with his family and endure a hectic lifestyle. Economy continued to hold out on him until he caved in and revealed how he really felt about the story. Things didn't fare much better when the author took to Upwork, and the resulting frustration led to increasing animosity between him and Helder, whom he had also been friends with for over a decade; most people who proposed to take it up either failed to understand what he expected of them (even after getting Helder to summarize what he did before), went silent, had to back out, or lost interest by the time he got back to them after putting them on hold in favor of those before them. This spanned three attempts before he pulled the plug early in last said attempt and even wrote something on his blog that he retracted upon being called out, but which still led their friendship into a bitter multi-month decline. Even the two and only freelancers who actually did follow through with a chapter or so eventually stopped responding to his messages, leading him to Freelancer instead when he posted the project one last time on Upwork, contacted multiple other Freelancers recommended to him, and had the project taken down for content violations. At this point, Economy has already decided just to commission outright for an initial draft of the whole story instead. (And that wasn't a decision he made lightly; originally, he planned for the project to be some kind of personal game for himself, especially regarding his plans for the Pal Park and both of the Battle Frontiers, having once loved the actual games but since realizing one thing after another about them that rubbed him the wrong way.)
** [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Jamie]] (now [[Anime/TheLegendOfThunder Jimmy]]) having muscles sparked a major dispute towards the end of 2012. Economy asked Helder at least three times not to buff him up, which he ignored as he proceeded just to do things his way and then tell him to redo the relevant scenes himself. He did redo some of them after being called out for his disobedience, but not before justifying himself first and arguing with him, and even then, there were still some things left that only muscles could explain (which he only managed to get rid of years later by having someone else do the whole chapter over). Eventually, this was one of the few things he cited when asked multiple times to cite what he came to hate about the story itself.
** There is also the issue of the [=PokeWalker=], one of Economy's favorite aspects of a pair of games that Helder very outright ''hates'' to this day.
** As for the two authors' relationship, it's been dead in the water since February 2018. While Helder's bailout marked the beginning of the end between them, actual tensions began when Economy stated a refusal to help him with any of ''his'' fanfiction until he deliver a make-up assignment of some sort. It was not long after that Economy got some answers out of Helder regarding what he actually hated about the story, but even when he offered concessions on two such aspects, things went nowhere from there in terms of winning him back, which led Economy to believe that he just wanted to be catered to and to do whatever he'd damn well please and was now being a poor sport over not having had his way through and through to begin with. Soon thereafter, Economy offered Helder a break from it all, but then impulsively demanded more answers about the situation, going on to tell him on his blog to go fuck himself when he thought he was ignoring him, before he revealed he was actually on a family trip and decided right then and there that that was it. Starting with a botched apology in response, things went on and off for months, and seemed to take a better turn for their friendship itself when Economy offered at least not to talk about his fetishes or [[Anime/LuckyStar a certain show Helder also hates]], before deciding to let more time go by before he'd express his actual issues outside of but related to Helder's departure. Only a month went by as Economy proceeded to elaborate in a [=WordPad=] file meant for much later on, before he broke down and expressed the toll such a thing was taking on his mental health, at which point Helder urged him, more out of guilt and despair than frustration, just to forget about him altogether.

* ''Unwilling Service'', a ''{{VideoGame/Pokemon}}'' fanfic series currently spanning three simultaneous fics, barely managed to see four chapters between 2011-14 before author Economy (formerly [=McKnight=] and then [=SeaRover1986=]) declared it dead. He revived it in May 2016, to take his focus off of another project that wasn't going anywhere, but while he managed to put out a chapter for each of the three fics in quick succession, his beta-writer, Helder Luis Baruffi[[labelnote: also known as...]]Soujiro Mafuné, videokillah, Eczel Strata, djdsm89995, H-Man, and unorthodox_du, among other names[[/labelnote]], encountered one problem after another, especially in light of a burglary in October that year, which required him to move back in with his family and endure a hectic lifestyle. Economy continued to hold out on him until he caved in and revealed how he really felt about the story. Things didn't fare much better when the author took to Upwork, and the resulting frustration led to increasing animosity between him and Helder, whom he had also been friends with for over a decade; most people who proposed to take it up either failed to understand what he expected of them (even after getting Helder to summarize what he did before), went silent, had to back out, or lost interest by the time he got back to them after putting them on hold in favor of those before them. This spanned three attempts before he pulled the plug early in last said attempt and even wrote something on his blog that he retracted upon being called out, but which still led their friendship into a bitter multi-month decline. Even the two and only freelancers who actually did follow through with a chapter or so eventually stopped responding to his messages, leading him to Freelancer instead when he posted the project one last time on Upwork, contacted multiple other Freelancers recommended to him, and had the project taken down for content violations. At this point, Economy has already decided just to commission outright for an initial draft of the whole story instead. (And that wasn't a decision he made lightly; originally, he planned for the project to be some kind of personal game for himself, especially regarding his plans for the Pal Park and both of the Battle Frontiers, having once loved the actual games but since realizing one thing after another about them that rubbed him the wrong way.)

** It was immediately apparent that the con had a huge drug problem; two attendees were hospitalized due to drug overdose, and a [=RainFurrest=] security staff member was seen using marijuana. Following the event, ''over 2,000'' discarded nitrous oxide cartridges being used an illegal inhalant were found.

* Another for Boston was the site of the former flagship store for Filene's in Downtown Crossing. After Filene's was bought by and converted to Macy's, the latter hcain opted to sell the Filene's store (as they had been present in the former Jordan Marsh store downtown since the 90s). The store was torn down and the property was bought by Vornado Realty Trust of New York with a plan to build a 39 story tower consisting of a hotel, restaurants, stores and residences. But then the project ran out of money in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis, leaving the original Filene's facade halfway standing as a shell of its former self and a gaping hole right in the middle of one of the busiest sections of the city. After an ugly tug-of-war between the developers, Mayor Thomas Menino and city officials that went on for years the city finally revoked their permit in 2012 and another firm took over and began construction in 2013 of a 60 story building that was eventually finished in 2016, renaming it the Millennium Tower.

** The enthusiasm of the community started out strong. BOE held a community service project that saw fans planting a children's reading garden in front of a literacy center. The event even managed to attract Sean (Samwise) Astin, who was very enthusiastic about seeing fans perform community service. BOE also claimed to raise money for a literacy program through screenings of the then brand new ''Film/LordOfTheRings'' films. After these successes, Wood stated there would be more events, including a summer music festival and the aforementioned Tentmoot.

** And not to mention this con was hosted a ''week'' after the much more anticipated Anime Midwest, also held in Chicagoland.

* ''Unwilling Service'', a ''{{VideoGame/Pokemon}}'' fanfic series currently spanning three simultaneous fics, barely managed to see four chapters between 2011-14 before author Economy (formerly [=McKnight=] and then [=SeaRover1986=]) declared it dead. He revived it in May 2016, to take his focus off of another project that wasn't going anywhere, but while he managed to put out a chapter for each of the three fics in quick succession, his beta-writer, Helder Luis Baruffi[[labelnote: also known as...]]Soujiro Mafuné, videokillah, Eczel Strata, djdsm89995, H-Man, and unorthodox_du, among other names[[/labelnote]], encountered one problem after another, especially in light of a burglary in October that year, which required him to move back in with his family and endure a hectic lifestyle. Economy continued to hold out on him until he caved in and revealed how he really felt about the story. Things didn't fare much better when the author took to Upwork, and the resulting frustration led to increasing animosity between him and Helder, whom he had also been friends with for over a decade; most people who proposed to take it up either failed to understand what he expected of them (even after getting his original beta to summarize what he did before), went silent, had to back out, or lost interest by the time he got back to them after putting them on hold in favor of those before them. This spanned three attempts before he pulled the plug early in last said attempt and even wrote something on his blog that he retracted upon being called out, but which still led their friendship into a bitter multi-month decline. Even the two and only freelancers who actually did follow through with a chapter or so eventually stopped responding to his messages, leading him to Freelancer instead when he posted the project one last time on Upwork, contacted multiple other Freelancers recommended to him, and had the project taken down for content violations. At this point, Economy has already decided just to commission outright for an initial draft of the whole story instead. (And that wasn't a decision he made lightly; originally, he planned for the project to be some kind of personal game for himself, especially regarding his plans for the Pal Park and both of the Battle Frontiers, having once loved the actual games but since realizing one thing after another about them that rubbed him the wrong way.)

** In the end, Jordan admitted she was in fact Amy and that the whole thing was a sham so she could try to build a new identity. Police told her never to come to Oregon again or face arrest. She eventually was caught (while waiting in line to see ''Return of the King'' in Portland), but the DA declined to press charges. After a number of unrelated shanenigans, Amy eventually underwent sexual reassignment, legally changing her name to Andrew "Andy" Blake. Andy then moved to the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fandom, where he became a BigNameFan after his fic ''FanFic/DumbledoresArmyAndTheYearOfDarkness'' became popular. He was later involved in a triple homicide that claimed the life of one of his friends. He survived, but used the incident as an excuse to solicit donations to travel to New Zealand.

** LJ Hooker made a myriad of ill-fated retail decisions in the States that ended up bringing them to bankruptcy in 1990. Among these were reconstructing the Richland Mall in Columbia, South Carolina into a similarly opulent megamall which also failed right out of the gate and wound up largely becoming a Verizon call center that has also since closed. They also built smaller malls in Denver, Colorado and Louisville, Kentucky which both wound up getting redeveloped less than a decade into their existence. Megamalls were also planned in Orlando, Tampa, Raleigh, Charlotte, and Atlanta, but none came to fruition. The bankruptcy also took down the B. Altman, Sakowitz, and Bonwit Teller chains (Parisian survived largely unscathed, and persisted until it was sold to Belk in 2006). With both its original developer and three of its major department stores gone, Forest Fair quickly went into a tailspin.

* ''Unwilling Service'', a ''{{VideoGame/Pokemon}}'' fanfic series currently spanning three simultaneous fics, barely managed to see four chapters between 2011-14 before author Economy (formerly [=McKnight=] and then [=SeaRover1986=]) declared it dead. He revived it in May 2016, to take his focus off of another project that wasn't going anywhere, but while he managed to put out a chapter for each of the three fics in quick succession, his beta-writer, Helder Luis Baruffi[[labelnote: also known as...]]Soujiro Mafuné, videokillah, Eczel Strata, djdsm89995, H-Man, unorthodox_du[[/labelnote]], encountered one problem after another, especially in light of a burglary in October that year, which required him to move back in with his family and endure a hectic lifestyle. Economy continued to hold out on him until he caved in and revealed how he really felt about the story. Things didn't fare much better when the author took to Upwork, and the resulting frustration led to increasing animosity between him and Helder, whom he had also been friends with for over a decade; most people who proposed to take it up either failed to understand what he expected of them (even after getting his original beta to summarize what he did before), went silent, had to back out, or lost interest by the time he got back to them after putting them on hold in favor of those before them. This spanned three attempts before he pulled the plug early in last said attempt and even wrote something on his blog that he retracted upon being called out, but which still led their friendship into a bitter multi-month decline. Even the two and only freelancers who actually did follow through with a chapter or so eventually stopped responding to his messages, leading him to Freelancer instead when he posted the project one last time on Upwork, contacted multiple other Freelancers recommended to him, and had the project taken down for content violations. At this point, Economy has already decided just to commission outright for an initial draft of the whole story instead. (And that wasn't a decision he made lightly; originally, he planned for the project to be some kind of personal game for himself, especially regarding his plans for the Pal Park and both of the Battle Frontiers, having once loved the actual games but since realizing one thing after another about them that rubbed him the wrong way.)