We've hired back some of them. Others won't likely be coming back regardless for various reasons (for instance, we laid off a receptionist which was not a position that made a lot of sense since there's no one to "receive".  In a small company, you often end up with positions that really have no business justification.

One of the things that I hope people realize is that we're somewhat...different than your typical company.  We're you guys except we set up a company to make stuff.  We're not a publicly traded company. We didn't have to release Elemental when we did, we just thought it was done and ready for the world. There was no quarterly public statement we had to make to "share holders" to pressure us on release.

Never underestimate the power of cognitive dissonance. 

Knowing when you productivity starts to be negative (ie you introduce more problems than you are fixing) due to too much work per week is really tricky

Can you please stop... Being one of the most likable game developer i have had the privilege to know (even if its just in a forums aspect).

I mean seriously, we are constantly inundated with snide, holier then though Devs who have these god complexes, yet here you are a normal and contrite Developer who has.... humility and common sense.

Your totally ruining the John Romero/Peter Molyneux/Richard Garriot, Douchebag image so many in the video gaming industry have earned.

Your like a neighbor i could go and have a beer with and just talk with, instead of these asshats who make it seem like they are rockstars because they lead a team of programmers in making a game. You and Chris Taylor need to collaborate on some project i think.

So yeah just stop it already.  

And how. More lit-ra-chur-oriented types would cite irony, but they probably haven't read enough about neurological theories of sentience.

I've had a fuzzy list of unsolicited 'post-mortem' advice percolating in my head since mid-summer, but I'd probably put "don't spend so much time actively working" at the top regardless of all my quibbles about what I'd hoped to see built into the vanilla game. Cognitive dissonance is definitely easier to recognize and handle if you're not a candle burnt at both ends.

This is one of the many reasons I love you.  You are dead on.  

4. Each city can basically add +1 arcane and tech research per turn in addtion to materials and up till recently gold/gildar.