So you're trying to save Project Indiana, by alienating Obsidian with people who are paying for Project Indiana? Do you realize how absurd that sounds?
Oh, I would love if Tim and Leonard were directly financed and had no oversight from anybody. But that's not what will happen if you're successful in damaging Take 2's relationship with Obsidian owners. How do you imagine that working? Take 2 people show up, slam the conference table, and say, Jones, Parker and Urquhart, you are useless parasites, get out, we're now working directly with the team?
No, if there's an erosion of trust between the client and the company, that erosion of trust impacts entire organization from top to bottom. All that happens is the client pulls out. So if you're actually successful in "saving Indiana", what happens is Indiana gets cancelled and people get sacked, including the friend of yours who is feeding you information.
And in the aftermath, in all likelihood you get to deal with a libel lawsuit which would be pretty hard to dismiss.
Yep, you're probably right. The game will most likely come out, it will most likely be great, and owners will most likely have nothing to do with its success. And that's a preferable outcome to leaking some internal development drama, getting the whole thing in trouble and making everybody involved miserable.
So Nick, I’m starting to get a bit suspicious, but I’ll answer your questions, because you are arguing for Obsidian, and not the game itself. Bear with me, though.
First off, I don’t believe Indiana needs “saving.” I’m going to guess (based on the developers I know and respect because I've worked with them and know they do quality work) that it’s being done well. Do I have proof of this? No. Do I think it’s likely? Sure. Do I think you know jackshit? Nope, but you’re welcome to say otherwise.
I am also glad you agree with me that if Tim and Leonard were directly financed we would all love it. I do feel, strongly, that if it came down to it, Take2 would grab that team if they suspected serious Obsidian misfeasance, and then support them to get the game done. Do I genuinely believe someone like Feargus is making the game better, day by day? Fuck no, but admittedly, based on my own experience. Shit, Feargus used to hide bugs he didn't want fixed from me, I have no respect for the man.
I don’t “imagine” anything working. I do imagine what life would be like if the tumor(s) were excised, which is something every game dev in a bad situation wonders about. What if I was free to make the game I wanted? We (devs) all wonder it.
It’s not libel if you can prove it, and unfortunately, according to what I have (and I don't even need to examine things from Obsidian's side), Feargus made a mistake and didn’t hide his (own) cost padding. If he doesn’t own up to this, I’m happy to keep bringing it up, but it wasn’t Tim and Leonard’s doing – it was, unsurprisingly, Feargus, who gets greedy and entitled from time to time. To time. To time and again. If you want to defend Feargus or want to inform where the problem lies, please go ahead, I’ll listen to you... as long as you provide facts.
The only other thing I have to say is that while you agree the owners will likely have no part in the game’s success, what genuinely bothers me is the fact, they will, absolutely, be able to divert the reward to their own financial success, regardless of what the team did. Let me know (only hypothetically, since the game isn’t released), if you would agree that's fair. I don't. I’d be mad as all hell, just as I thought it was unfair the owners got the majority of Pillars 1 royalty profits vs. the people who made the game happen, especially since some of the owners were barely involved in PoE1, but still got most of the money when the royalties rolled in.
- Signed, ihaveatinynick
