Benefit of the doubt goes to Holmes because it sounds rather absurd that there was a lead designer for 2 years yet not an inkling of design was produced in concept.
You seriously think they just fucked around for two years straight?
I don't "seriously think", I'm just giving into my trust issues and questioning everything. Which admittedly is pointless, because from a reasonable standpoint, all of this is hearsay and I shouldn't be making conclusions unless hard evidence is shown and evaluated, which will only happen in court.
ANYWAYS, while your evidence is valid, there are also other "facts" that make me question things:
1) There was no design document produced in two years.
2) Aliens Crucible had a working prototype in 2009.
3) Alpha Protocol had already been worked on since 2006, and Holmes "left" in 2008, before Aliens had a working prototype.
4) Alpha Protocol was assigned 2 team members at the beginning. Yes, that grew to 60, but while I'm willing to praise that, I'm am equally willing to dislike the chaos of the beginning.
5) Obsidian did not simply work on Aliens at the same time as Alpha Brotocol. They were also working on New Vegas during that time. New Vegas was released in 2010. So did AP.
6) In 2010, Obsidian was planning to also start working on a Wheel of Time game. In February 2010, that is. Alpha Protocol was released in June 2010. New Vegas was released in October 2010.
6a) That actually makes me question if buggy Obsidian games was due to the QA team or do to too many projects and too little time.
7) Feargus admitted the team was meandering and arguing for some while. No design document months/years/I dunno after AP started production. At the very least, a very rough design document should have been produced ASAP because without guidelines no employee knows what the fuck to do.
7a) Feargus and "Slam Dunk" are synonyms.
8) Ignoring the name of MCA, this person was co-founder, had ownership shares ($$$), and had been dealing with a mother with cancer.
9) SEGA is an asshole, cancelling Aliens without even looking at the demo. Okay, this is not relevant but it is fucked up. Heck, for the longest time I thought SEGA was the only source of the problem. I do still think they were significant to the debacle of AP's production, but now I see two companies at fault instead of just one.
Going back to the "firing" my inferences (not facts) are:
1) If a person A can and is willing to treat a single other person B like this, then person A has the willingness to do the same to persons C-to-Z.
2) For every 1 person that speaks out, there are 9 other people who decide to stay quiet.
3) I could very well be wrong.
See, I'm not focused on MCA, per se. Or even any single individual. I worry about
other employees.
Next, legally speaking, this current voice is already taking a huge risk. Because in the U.S., usually stating a the wrong fact (as in specific numbers. Right now all there is is hearsay, from all parties) means the court coming down on you on libel and slander. In current practice, libel and slander are exempt from the 1st Amendment. It's also a criminal charge, not a civil one. That means that this employee is risking the possibility of jail time.
Probably that's also why Obsidian has said little. Because if it goes to court, your attorney is the only one who should talk. You know how it is in law. "Anything you say can and will be used against you" and that actually means that the opposing party's attorney is that one who will do that, and spin it so it sounds even worse.