Alrighty, been putting this one off for a bit too long. So, some of you have rightly been asking me, "hey Lars, where's DQII?" for quite some time now, leaving my dilligent wife to field the responses on the forum in my absence.
I canāt comment for everyone, but I would personally consider pre-orders to be āgood faithā money, not debt. I donāt care if you have to delay DQ2 five years. I donāt care if you have to scale it back. I donāt even care if you need to ask me for more money in order to finish. As far as Iām concerned, that money is yours to do with as you please, it was simply given to help you along with DQ2.
As for needing different art assets, is that something you can put out to the community to work on? Maybe we can help the game come along, have a hand in its creation and save you having to spend money all at once!
Yeah, iām glad i randomly checked the pre-order site today and managed to get mine in in time. To me itās not just āpaymentā for DQ2 but also a āthank youā for the first game.
I agree with you, there, Romeo. Plus, I pre-ordered back when the Canadian dollar was a lot stronger than it is now, so in a way I saved money, kind of. 
Iāve thrown away more money on lots worse, too, even if it did see release (Hi, Civilization V! How you doinā, Darkstar?).
Lars, I have immense respect for you because youāre honest, approachable, transparent, dedicated, and actually capable of releasing a game. Youāve proven you can do it once, and intelligently inch toward a sequel, and thatās good enough for me.
Now, please excuse me while I get back to being patient. I, uh, also have my own coding to doā¦ 
Nice. Great blog post, the transparency is much appreciated. I posted a thread on here a few days ago asking for a refund but I feel like this blog post really cleared things up. Iāve always been a fan of your guys (and your blog) and definitely want to support you guys. Will not cancel my preorder. Great stuff!
Hey, another Canadian!
Try not to get too stressed about timeframes, Lars. The community is behind you.
Relating to your point about āpre-order debtā:
I think it is important that people that have taken money realize it creates an obligation, as you describe. For āgoodā (whatever that actually means) people, not just a legal debt of sorts (maybe), but a mild moral debt as well.
I want to stress āmildā though - it is easy to beat yourself up over something like that, and it isnāt that important. Things happen, life takes funny turns sometimes - if you can look me in the eye and say āI gave it a good tryā, I will always try to accept that as enough. (Remember, your best try includes down time and taking care of yourself and those close to you! Donāt burn out, and really donāt feel like you ought to have!)
All of which boils down to - Iām guessing you feel worse/more stressed than needed over the pre-order issue.
Furthermore (specific to me) - I know I pre-ordered because the demo for DQ1 proved Iād get enough enjoyment from that to make it an ok purchase. Iāve since come to love it so much, I almost feel bad for not buying DQ1 outright. The hours of fun Iāve had cover every obligation you might have had to me - my only regret if somehow I never got DQ2 would be the curiosity of whether lighting really can strike twice.
Nice to hear about you and the progress. After the first year I put DQ2 in standby mode, itās like Winds of Winter, if it gets released Iām happy, if not then whatever. The only difference is that I already payed for this one. And I donāt think itās good faith money, it is definitely debt, although not a legally binding one in this case. But itās not a lot of money (per person) and itās just a game, nothing life saving, so even the moral aspect is kinda meh.
If you donāt deliver you just ruin your own reputation, nothing really bad happens to us who preordered. So take your time or take whatever you need. Iāll be a happy fan when (or if) it gets released. Like your transparency, most of your posts are very informative, even though you were really quiet lately as you said.
When I pre-ordered the game didnāt have a date, so I donāt have any expectations around release dates. From the outside, especially as a casual observer, itās hard to keep up on the status of development (for example: I didnāt realize you were the only one working on the project). For me, that creates a sense of curiosity about what is happening in general instead of specifically about DQII. Iād love to read monthly one or two line updates like, ādid DQ Chinese translationā (or updates to the progress tracker), but I donāt have expectations around a release date.
I agree with Romeo here - once I did the DQII pre-order thing, that money is yours. Iām not terribly optimistic about DQII ever being made, and I likely wonāt play it even if it is ever released - I have two kids and a full-time job now! But, I donāt regret spending the money on the pre-order.
I have done hundreds of pre-orders over the years, going all the way back to the PS1. Some got canceled, some got moved to different systems. While this has probably been the longest pre-order I have ever had out I donāt have any problem with the time it takes. I have much more sympathy for a small Dev like yall taking extra time than say I would with a big Dev (Looking at you Half-life 3).
I would however suggest a few things, the first being is try to update your audience about every 3 weeks to a month. Even if it is just a little got some art done or worked out a bug. Doesnāt have to be much the whole point is to let us know that you are still alive.
The second is on your next title title, still do pre-orders. Just wait until you are pretty much done or just waiting for release. I understand that this might have soured you but just look at the new Southpark game that comes out Tuesday. It has been pushed back for years and even had pre-orders canceled at least once.
Thanks for letting us know whatās going on. I appreciate the honesty. Family certainly comes first and I respect that. As long as you keep us informed and stay honest with us Iāve got no problem waiting.
I hope the console releases go well for you.
Thanks for the news update,
I also think that the release to 3-4 platforms simultaneously is a bit of a waste of time when youāre racing to market, usually you notice that games release to one platform which generates a lot of hype and then every few months release to different platforms which are guaranteed to be hits as well based on the greater reviews the first platform generated.
Granted that developing all at the same time can save development time, but it also increases risk in your delay to market and increases risk in that if the product fails to deliver and doesnāt generate hype and revenue youāve invested so much more by developing all the platforms at the same time.
As always, looking forward to dq2!
Hey Lars, it is true that waiting so long is a test of patience but itās not terrible, as others say.
I paid because I enjoyed the first game so much and felt you deserve the money. I also got a lot of value from your excellent blog posts.
Keep going and create beautiful things!
Great and honest post. I worry a bit, because āX is not dead, I promiseā is usually the tombstone of abandoned projects, but all in all I agree with other posters: my preorder money was a thank you for the first game. Donāt feel too pressured by what you consider ādebtā.
Please see: Battlefleet Gothic: Armada. Weāre aboutā¦ A year now, I guess, since they started saying āsomethingās coming, just wait!ā
And theyāre still saying it. lol
You can easily check up on progress of the game, though, so I donāt think that applies here.
Any chance we could see this on the Switch? Iād pay for DQ1 all over again if I could play it on the Switch
And I agree in this specific instance, but it doesnāt change the fact that Jeorg is correct: Overwhelmingly, when a dev says āHalf Life 3/Starcraft Ghost/Battlefleet Gothic/Supreme Commander 3 isnāt deadā itās usually already decomposing.
Hey Lars, cool post - always neat to learn more about what youāve been up to.
Iāll echo others to say: I 100% support your work, and Iām not worried at all about deadlines or timelines. You made a cool thing, and I wanted to support it. I donāt feel like you owe me anything. I also appreciate your transparency and honesty.
If you had decided to not do preorders but still take donations, Iād have happily done that as well.
Best of luck with the rest!