Re: [DL] A Splash of Cold Water

[Allan Seyberth <darious@darious.com>]

I trust that Shane's response has answered a lot of your questions.

 >   Also, I don't remember hearing about how Cybergames laid people off. I
 >remember seeing messages about how there was only Shane left in Pinnacle,
 >but not about how Cybergames laid them off or fired them. From what I
 >remember, their departure - like John Goff's - was voluntary.

That is not the case.  However, I can see why Cybergames would want to keep 
the details behind such things quiet.  It only looks bad for them.

Which it should.

 >   Let's talk about Pinnacle before the sale. It was a decent company. It
 >was not fantastic. I've had some decidely mediocre experiences with it: my
 >rules questions were not answered by company representative, the moderator
 >of the list attacks and flames listmembers in private,

Oh.  You.  If you must know, your reputation as a flame instigator had 
preceded you - that one comment - off list - quickly ended what you were 
gearing yourself up to.

 >   I also imagine you think I'm some sort of Cybergames sycophant. Let me
 >say this: They sure haven't amassed much with their twenty years in the
 >gaming industry. Until the Deadlands buy out, I hadn't heard of them and I
 >cast my net widely - I've even visited the website in the recent past.
 >While I'm waiting to make a "final" judgement on their abililies, I'm not
 >blown over by what I've seen thus far.

Think Hero games.  Steve Peterson is one of the big players in Hero.  Of 
course, given their recent release schedule, you may not have heard much of 
Hero either.

 >   Let me compress the thrust of this post into a final thought: Don't jump
 >all over Cybergames until they actually do something bad. What we've seen
 >thus far is either not Cybergames's fault or entirely reasonable.

A butchery of staff cuts, no website support, an excessively delayed 
release schedule, a "you will take what we care to release and you will 
like it" attitude, and in one case a bald faced lie to us.

This I blame on Cybergames.

And believe me - I know full well a lot of the problems PEG had - but at 
every point you /knew/ they were doing their best to correct it - as fast 
as possible.






-------------------
Allan Seyberth
darious@darious.com
Deadlands fan site - http://www.darious.com/

Anything that makes your mother cry is fun.
                 -P.J. O'Rourke