Rather than asking strangers, it would be better for him to get right to the source to see and decide for himself if Intense is a good investment or not. He must read the Intense news updates, check the discussions in the Intense Discord and check the Intense Github if code is really being developed. No investment is foolproof, especially in crypto. For outsiders like us, I think it is more of speculation that something will come out of this project. We all know software development progress can be unpredictable at times. Only when a product is out that we can see and test if it is any good.
Except I'm not asking strangers, I'm asking a dev or one of the hundred officers to reply... As I said, I've been here since the beginning, so what is looking through news updates going to answer that I don't already know? And as for Discord, some of us have busy lives and don't seek online friends to trade memes with and send praise to a coin.
I already secured my lotto ticket payday from ITNS when it rose on hype last year, just haven't seen any reason to throw money back into it since then. And of course it's all speculation, crypto world is nothing more than the penny stock market. 99% will leave you broke if you hold long-term instead of selling on hype, while 1% has a shot to actually turn into something down the line.
And yes, software development can be unpredictable, but I figured my post pointed out that after accounting for the high priority issues that popped up... It's still well beyond the original time-frame. My thoughts for the coin soured back when the Bytecoin to Monero switch took place, as I took it to show ineptness by the team... So sure, a beta release of stuff recently helps, but I'd like to see an actual v1.0 to give me decent thoughts about the coin once again.
The devs are more active in the Discord than here in bitcointalk. Well, to be more precise, the Intense team moderators are more active in the Discord. The code developers are quite busy in the development of Intense. But they do engage in the conversation from time to time and moderators forward to them important questions by Intense supporters. If you have any dev specific questions that have not been already answered in the news updates, that's the only place to get your answers.
The Intense discord is quite different from other coin channels. Moderators are very strict in keeping discussions to Intense related only as much as possible, so that questions relating to support and Intense inquiries are not buried in unnecessary chatter. You can even share your contrary opinions, suggestions and your evaluations of their work with the Intense team and they will gladly engage in discussions as long as everything is kept civil.
If you have followed the news updates, you should already have known why the initial code release last December did not happen, or why the rebase to Monero was made, and other issues. I can't repeat them here for you since the news updates explain better what has transpired for the past several months. The Intense team explained these all and even released a road map for the year for the schedule of the activities they have planned.
Delays in any software development can happen and Intense is no exception. But tell me how many well funded crypto projects out there have delivered on time with flawless code reliability? You can even compare Intense with its peers like Mysterium and Privatix who did ICOs if they have already released a public beta. Intense did not do an ICO and we still expect so much from them.
As a "supporter" of Intense who already made his lotto ticket payday in Intense, I should find you more supportive and understanding of the Intense team's efforts. Just take a look at their Github updates if they are not busting their asses in developing Intense VPN.
Like you, many of us have been here even before Intense was listed in any exchange. Many of us made a mistake of holding through the last market peak in January and are still holding today. That's a lesson learned for many of us. Even if I have sold the rest of my other alt coins, I'm keeping Intense since I'm speculating that Intense will be a good investment. From humble beginnings with few resources, I say Intense have come a long way in terms of building a team and developing a project.
There is no justified reason to look down on Intense development even if you think the Intense team are inept. Many think otherwise. There are thousands of coin projects out there where you can invest your new found wealth courtesy of Intense coin. We on the other hand will wait for Intense.