Quote from: B.T.;546040I'm more likely to buy a game if I can read the PDF and see that it's a quality product.

That still relies upon someone actually publishing the thing. This is a PDF that actively competes with whatever RedBrick finally gets out (assuming they get anything out).

Quote from: B.T.;546040I'm more likely to buy a game if I can read the PDF and see that it's a quality product.

I agree with that. It worked amazingly well for Eclipse Phase.

Quote from: trollock;546051Why should I care?

I don't know, why don't you tell us?

For what it is worth it looks like the Red Brick discussions boards are back up...


-TGA

Here are the new forum rules:

http://redbrickllc.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=5



-TGA

The most distressing thing I found out during all of this was that Carsten Damm had already left RedBrick a while back. I didn't know that before, but it certainly explains why some products weren't particularly good. The Cathay books, for example . . . well, they weren't bad or anything, but they also weren't much more than feudal China w/ elves and monkey people and stuff either.

On a happy note, Damm's new company, Vagrant Workshop, got all the rights to Equinox! I don't know how that happened, and I don't care. It just means that there's a good chance it will end up being awesome.

Hiya,

Quote from: GeekEclectic;546158The most distressing thing I found out during all of this was that Carsten Damm had already left RedBrick a while back. I didn't know that before, but it certainly explains why some products weren't particularly good. The Cathay books, for example . . . well, they weren't bad or anything, but they also weren't much more than feudal China w/ elves and monkey people and stuff either.

Carsten was Line Developer (et al) for all of those products, right through to the last product in the line published under the Mongoose Publishing "Flaming Cobra" imprint, Nations IV: Crystal Raiders.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;546158On a happy note, Damm's new company, Vagrant Workshop, got all the rights to Equinox! I don't know how that happened, and I don't care. It just means that there's a good chance it will end up being awesome.

Equinox was always Carsten's baby, so when we parted ways last year, him taking that back was a no-brainer. Likewise, the decision to give Angus McNicholl back the content that he produced for FS3 was also a no-brainer  -- and on that note, it's great to see Angus running with his work, improving it, and making his own Infinity Engine.

In the interest of open disclosure, some of my reactions this last month have not been well-considered (understatement of the year?), some were carried out under legal advice, but the bottom line is that any mistakes made around this mess -- perceived or actual -- are mine alone, and the consequences also mine to bear. I am no saint, nor am I a martyr; I run a business and in this situation, had to make a tough business call.

So with that in mind, what else would you like to know? Please be aware that because lawyers are involved, I cannot comment on all areas of this mess, but unlike certain other forums, this forum seems to be frequented by respectful posters (even though dragging up my personal life in the now-closed thread on this forum was unfortunate and more-than-a-little painful -- especially now so close to the anniversary dates of the events), so I am happy to answer whatever questions you might have as best as I can.

Kind regards,

James Sutton

Simple questions

Did you pay Angus for four years of work? And if not, do you intend to?

Hiya,

Quote from: jadrax;546215Did you pay Angus for four years of work? And if not, do you intend to?

I am assuming you are referring to the work done on the FS3 Player's Guide? If so, then:

1) It wasn't 4 years of work. Angus spent 4 years working with the Fading Suns game line, however. During that time he wrote three Shards and numerous Interstellar Dispatches, took over Line Developer duties from Carsten (who took over from Alex), and of course drove forward changes for his vision of FS3.

2) If his work had been accepted and published, then he would have been paid; his work was not accepted -- it was given back -- so no, he wasn't paid.

Further to note 2. There seems to be a perception that Angus was the only person working on FS3. Vidar Edland was also one of the major contributors to the game, and Vidar remains an active and valued member of the current Fading Suns development team. While Angus was responsible for many of the core mechanical changes to the VPS and directing his vision of timeline advances, Vidar did a *lot* of work with content. This fact being overlooked or understated seems to misrepresent the amount of work that Vidar contributed to the draft FS3 Player's Guide.

Kind regards, James

Well, I respect that you answered.

Hiya,

Quote from: jadrax;546221Well, I respect that you answered.

No problem. I respect the questions being asked. Might not be the answers you wanted to hear, of course.

I should add that the "kind soul" (not) who decided to post up the draft FS3 Player's Guide ended up hurting any chances of any possible remuneration for those who worked on it, should the opportunity come about in the future (and that was a probability). However, as they say, "good intentions go unrewarded" -- the downside of that document being leaked -- and it is the version that was created for galley display at Dragon*Con 2011, not Gen Con, using the then-latest-versions of the manuscript -- is that it hurts everybody, innocent or not. As an additional note, the content in that draft document was not 16 months old, as stated elsewhere... As "layout monkey", I appreciate the kind comments made by others about the look of the document, however. Given the haste in which it was assembled, it was pretty "rough 'n' ready".

Kind regards, James

James - I'm sorry your personal life was brought up. I don't think that should have any bearings on your company or your games. I'm personally glad you are back in the saddle, and I wish for you happiness and joy now and in the future.

I think bringing your forums back up is a great move. I appreciate the forum rules, because you want a place where people can discuss the games, not getting side-tracked on controversy.

However, I think for PR's sake, you need to be more forthcoming on what happened.  Not because you "owe" the public anything. But;

• Without details, it looks like you screwed your freelancer. We have his side, and you're detractors' sides. We're missing your side of it. This could hurt your future business relations with potential freelancers.


• You have demonstrated that you can easily get your feelings hurt and then pull the plug whenever it suits you. This builds serious concerns as a supporter. Businesses should directly address concerns, not shut down forums and stop talking. I understand this controversy is uncomfortable, but sometimes being a business owner is uncomfortable. Are you always going to pull up stakes and cut all communications when things get rough? I hope not. I feel you would be better served by standing up and dealing with the issues.


• People have been waiting a long time for Fading Suns. Initially, the patience required was forthcoming do to the circumstances, but you fired your writer and ditched a nearly complete game. With little to know explanation! Why should we wait or even purchase new games from you? Is the latest version of Fading Suns going to be a superior product? How so? It's one thing to abandon a crappy product and a whole other when you toss out the baby with the bath water.

I am frankly surprised by your actions and your subsequent responses. As a fan and supporter I was disappointed in this situation. It would be magnificent if you could explain to the Fading Suns fan base why you did what you did and how it's going to be better for them. Frankly, it could mean the difference between having a profitable or failing business.

Sincerely,

Thanks for showing up here to communicate with the gamers of the RPG Site, and welcome, James.

Quote from: Claudius;545997Unfortunately, I don't think they can do that, unless Holistic Designs decides they won't be licensing Fading Suns to Redbrick anymore.

That assumes that the licence is exclusive. For example, Redbrick's Eartdawn licence is not exclusive IIRC as LRG was still producing 2ed when RB took it up.

Hi TreChriron,

I certainly don't disagree with your comments, but I don't think I can answer all of your questions as well as I would like. I will try, but I don't think the answers will be wholly satisfactory, so please bear with me.

The key question is why drop the Line Developer (not the key writer -- bear in mind that both Angus and Vidar were active writers in the game, though it's correct to say that Angus's vision was driving things) at what seems like the last minute? Unfortunately, I can't tell you the exact reason, as it drags other parties into the fray (the matter is in the hands of our lawyers for review at this time). The bottom line is that a decision was made to cut our losses in terms of development at the stage the game had reached. Change now -- and the pain of that change -- seemed to be better than the greater pain from change further down the line. Sorry if that seems a bit "vague", but it really is the best I can say in public.

The forum closure was simply done on legal advice. Though some of the thread pulling wasn't (sorry about that -- I'm not sorry about pulling threads placed by certain "trolling" individuals, however; please excuse my dislike of that kind of thing). I will point out that our legal advice was to keep the forums closed indefinitely; however, I don't think that serves the community well -- as long as we keep the conversations under control, then all good. In terms of volatility, yes, I am a little "not healed yet", unfortunately. It's something the business will be addressing in the future -- I won't be taking such a forward-facing role -- but for now, it is what it is and I do what I can to work around the "emotional" challenges. I would be happy to trade places with anyone else in a heartbeat to get off the rollercoaster, but that would be a truly cruel act.

As for what's going to happen with Fading Suns? We're working aggressively to meet our Gen Con target. But it's not going to be a product as massively reworked throughout as the draft FS3 Player's Guide was demonstrating. Will it play better than VPS2? /grin I think it will. Will people who own VPS now want to buy the product? As always, I'm a believer in people voting with their wallets. That hasn't changed. If we produce a crap product, then people won't buy it. Whether it's what people want is a different ballgame.

Not sure if this helps or hinders, but I hope it goes a way towards answering questions.

Kind regards, James