Interview Ex-JA Developer on JA3

Tags: Jagged Alliance 3; Strategy First

[name omitted], a designer on all the Jagged Alliance games of old, answered some questions in an e-mail by <a href=http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1491>Jebus</a> of <a target=_blank href=http://www.strategyplanet.com/jaggedalliance>JA Galaxy</a>:
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<ul>I don't normally answer interviews unless instructed to do so by the publisher. However, since I'm not working for any of the relevant parties, I'll answer your questions off the record.
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At this moment, Mayo is in the game. I don't expect that to change.
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As far as I know, no one connected with any previous JA games is working on JA3. Personally, I don't think the news is good for the future of the JA franchise. I have not been asked to work on it. I'm guessing that I won't be asked to work on it, since I don't imagine the budget will allow for that.
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Only SFI can tell you how much of the old JA3 design documents they plan to use. It's seems really early in the production process, so perhaps they don't even know
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Mistland seems to have an awful lot on its plate for an extremely small company.</ul>
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Yeah, you read it right, he said "off the record". Don't blame <i>me</i> for making it public, though.
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<i>Exitium's Edit: Identity masked.</i>

 

Uh-oh.

 

Wasn't this posted already, i'm sure I read it here before.

 

He posted it here, in a JA3 news thread, but I forgot to post it earlier .

 

Er is this newspost a good idea?

 

Yea seems like a bit of a faux pax...didn't seem like he wanted that news...just a trusted email exchange. Yikes.

Cheers

 

man I was telling everyone here none of the previous JA devs were working on the new one, and no one believed me...

but YES!! the nightmare is TRUE!!

Jagged Alliance is DEAD folks... what comes next is just a lame attempt to cash in on an established franchise

 

Well, I wasn't the first one who posted this as news. It was already posted elsewhere, so why should I care? It's not me who was told to keep it quiet, so it's not my faux pas.

 

Uh... So "Off the record" means "between two eyes", and not "un-officially"?


*Goes to get a dictionary*

 

Damn.

 

Don't worry, I don't think it's a crime.

All you're going to lose is your journalisitc credability. And if then, you can always change your screen name and no one will know. The beauty of internet journalism.

 

It isn't a crime, you bunch of chuckleheads.

When you send someone an e-mail you give up all privacy rights to it. If it wasn't digitally encrypted or if you didn't make the receiver sign an NDA regarding the e-mail, it's your own damn fault if he copy/pastes it and posts it up on the internet. If [name omitted] had told Jebus to sign an NDA, and he agreed to it, then he wouldn't have been able to post it up on the internet.

"Off the record" is just something people say because they think it holds weight. It doesn't. Granted, I personally wouldn't post anything "off the record" from my sources (as with FO3) as they'd get in trouble because of it and I wouldn't want that to happen. But once certain information is out there, to put it bluntly: it's already out there. There's nothing you can do to supress the tide of information. Doing so is considered censorship, and censorship isn't something I, nor the RPG Codex particularly endorse.

In any case, I believe this steamy bit of information is in everybody's best interests to know about, particularly if it affects their decision to purchase Jagged Alliance 3. It's their money, and I've always believed that people have a right to know what they're buying. Caveat Emptor.

 

How is that so? Killian never lost his journalistic credibility for revealing the utter trash that is FOBOS during its "Fallout Fantasy" (Which was Lionheart, but the PS2 game in development was FOBOS) design stage.

If anything, printing the truth boosts Jebus's credibility as a journalist. If JA3 turns out to be as flat as a pancake in terms of quality, he'd have saved thousands of people their hard earned dollars and they would owe him their thanks for helping them make a proper buying decision. The purchase (or lack thereof) of each copy adds up to quite a hefty sum of money.

He might have lost his contact with [name masked], but something tells me that [masked] intended for it to be posted. Hard feelings towards SFI, perhaps?

 

If [name omitted] went off the record, then it meant he for it to be printed, but he didn't want his name attached to it. So [You missed a spot, Exit] wanted it to be posted anonymously. Since there was a little confusion over that, it may result in other people less willing to give information of Jebus.

Of course, I may have used journalistic credibility incorrectly. He may be a champion in the eyes of the fans, but the designers and developers may be a little weary of him. It would be sort of like Michael Moore. The liberals love and cheer him, but congressmen will dodge him like fire.

 

You win some you lose some. I still have some faith that JA3 will turn out ok.

 

[name omitted]'s a good guy. you probably fucked him over on future job prospects with this one.

it's a mark on his reputation he doesn't deserve. this should be deleted.

 

Edited the post and the subsequent replies.

 

seriously, what's so difficult to remove the name of the guy from the article? it's the least you can do.

edit: oh, Exitium did it already.

 

I will totally unmask it if I feel like it. What do you guys think?

 

Ask the Lyer what he feels we should do. I doubt many of the SFI people care too much?

 

i say keep it masked. readers still got a piece of the news and knowing where it comes from does not matter to them eitherway.

 

Yeah, its not a crime. All it means is you violated some poor bastard's trust in you and he'll never share anything with you again. Bad jebus, bad.

 

You guys seem to toss around 'crime'...and Ausir, you got defensive...I never said it was your faux pas, I said it was a faux pas. Big difference.

Anyway, the harm done was merely on a trust level, not crime. You want developers to talk to you candidly, don't pull shit like this. If they hint at not wanting something public (i.e. off he record ), you just don't do it, or the next time they won't bother talking to you. If Saint and Killzig went around repeating everything I told them in confidence, I'd simply stop telling them anything. If they didn't care, fine, doesn't change that trust was abused.

Its how you value it.

Cheers

 

It's nice that I covered it up, though, isn't it?

 

You missed a spot.