In this past month I've spent the majority of my dev time working on the gameplanning aspect of the new user interface. One of the biggest challenges with the new UI is that it involves entirely replacing the javascript framework I'd used originally, to say that is was a little daunting would be an understatement and has been the largest bottleneck to the process.
The good news is that I managed to complete the gameplanning screens with only the load/save interface, and "Recommend" button to complete. As such the previously given timeline for beta release of the new interface is on target. I'll try to give a more precise estimate of when this will be in next month's update, but all being well you should be using the new UI (in beta form) by the end of June. I've added some screenshots of the new gameplanning interface below. The difference may not seem significant, but it's been optimised for use on mobile devices with the majority of the effort being on the back end of things.
Because of the progress made with the UI I've also been able to (finally!) take a look at the play familiarity bug. Since this was primarily a UI issue, I'd been waiting until reaching that part of redevelopment before addressing it. Since this has taken longer than intended, and again with hindsight, I should have tackled it sooner, but I've identified the problem and have rolled out a fix to MFN-1. If there are no problems reported with the fix, I'll send it to other leagues as quickly as possible.
I realise that the wait for any tangible progress is frustrating, but the game is moving in the right direction even if you can't see it yet.
At the time of writing there are 280 owners who play the game in at least one league, with 63 of these taking part in multiple leagues. Around 200 of these players log in per day. As far as subscriptions are concerned, 67 of you have signed up for a paid membership so far. Thank you to those who have chosen to help support the game in this fashion.
What would be very helpful in the time between now and the completion of the UI overhaul would be to gain some consensus from owners as to which areas of the game engine would most benefit from being upgraded. As much as the passing game is likely to be the clear leader here, historic efforts to balance passing have been like playing whack-a-mole, solving one problem only for a new one to emerge. To that end, I welcome outside-the-box suggestions that may improve the game in a more fundamental fashion.
I've created a thread in the Suggestions forum for discussion.
