I sympathize. I really like the ideal behind screeps -- an MMO offers automation as an alternative to mindless level grinding. But the reality of game is that it requires a significant time commitment (not to mention knowledge of JavaScript) to develop scripts that manage your resources as effectively as you would were manual control an option. Those who started with those scripts in place have a huge advantage over those who don't. And given that it takes time to develop competitive scripts and a competitive empire, the time commitment of grinding has just been displaced by the time required to code. The question new players will be asking is whether they want to pay for an opportunity to start from position of disadvantage and to then have to race to code effective scripts before the experienced players have run away with the game. That's a big ask.

I'd suggest that Artem & company provide a basic script set that can get players up and running. That would, I think, maximize the already small set of potential players. Being able to play without a major time investment would make the game more broadly appealing.

Post launch, I've been unable to create a spawn, despite the room being unoccupied, having energy sources, and a controller. Is anyone else experiencing this? The create menu appears after I select a location but nothing happens after that.

My JavaScript isn't great either. I've found that there are a lot of scripts in public Github repositories that offer a good starting point, or at least suggests techniques you may want to implement at a later time. Find some basic scripts and try to get them running in the simulator. Most of them require some adaptation, presumably due to breaking changes in the game over time.

Yet if I comment out

//Game.creeps[newCreep]= { memory: { role: myRole } };

and just run it with

Memory.creeps[newCreep] = {role : myRole};

it still returns the role as undefined when I check any creep created thus. I had hoped putting the role assignment in the check to see if the object has been created would delay the assignment until the role parameter is ready. But evidently not. Is there a less redundant way to make this work, like a delayed role assignment? I avoided that so I wouldn't have to iterate through the creeps again and count body parts to determine roles. The way suggested in the documentation has been failing for me in the simulator.

Thanks for the suggestion. However, those changes don't work when I try them in the simulator.
This syntax,
'Game.creeps[newCreep].memory = { role: myRole };'
returns an error:
TypeError: Cannot set property 'memory' of undefined
and when I try to set the role as a parameter using the documented pattern:
'var newCreep = spawn.createCreep(spawn.memory.creepSpecs[myRole], null, {role: myRole});'
then the role is undefined when I check it later. I assume there's some delay in initializing the memory object when a creep spawns.

Whatever the reason, attempting to set it twice as above works.

I've had a lot of trouble using the memory object to set roles. The thing that's worked has been setting it twice, as below. Any idea why? None of the methods suggested in the documentation work reliably, such as including { role : "guard" } as a parameter in createCreep.

  var newCreep = spawn.createCreep(spawn.memory.creepSpecs[myRole]);
            if(_.isString(newCreep)) {
                Game.creeps[newCreep]= { memory: { role: myRole } };
                Memory.creeps[newCreep] = {role : myRole};
                console.log('The name is: ' + newCreep);
            }