http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/65443
If not, you guys might want to respond to this.
why can't things run on dreams in real life
Wow, firing some of your employees while you're on vacation. Haha, thats cold as hell, man.
Vacation's over.
What I was thinking was, letting people loose in Michigan...man, that's rough. They need to form a Michigan executives' support & recovery group for that.
On Friday it was over? It doesn't even matter, it's pretty lame and everyone is still kissing Stardock's ass when these people have families to take care of during a recession.
Brad, the reason why Elemental failed was because you listened to fanboys like the person that just responded to me, the people in this thread and all over these forums that kiss your ass at everything you do right or wrong. Businesses need the "tough-love" type of person that tells it to them straight, and to be honest these forums don't help. These rabid fans miss the big picture because of some crazy ass internet dedication and it ends up hurting the process.
Brad,
I bought the LE knowing it wasn't going to be what I expected in the long run. I have NEVER bought a LE (consider them rips) and simply did it as a way to send money.
You just made me feel good about doing so.
Your honesty in an age of corporate bullshit is refreshing.
My heart goes out to those affected and, with polish, I hope sales go up enough to re-hire.
Thank you for always saying what is real versus what you hope people will perceive.
J
No Solidsmooky, people respond because you are clearly an asshole. To make light of someone's firing and taking a potshot at Brad who has just admitted it was his responsibility is just immature as hell. You're a douche masquerading as a human being.
See? Blind rabid fanboys who tell you they'll buy anything you put out even if its a dump in a box hurt your business. Then they get mad when you reveal the truth about them.
Revjwh, you clearly care more about poor Brad the poor old Stardock company than people who have been laid off and are now struggling to find out how they will pay their mortgage/rent or feed themselves or their children. You're not operating in reality.
For the record (since I saw some rather disgusting comments on the Shack thread) the financial projections for Elemental occurred while I was out of town along with the projected budget revisions. Upon determining our initial course of action, I ended my vacation early -- as my journal makes clear. It should also be emphasized that no one was fired. I've had to let go many people over the years and as anyone who has ever been in that position can tell you, there is a world of difference between terminating someone and laying them off.
Running a business is a difficult challenge. I've been doing it for almost 20 years now. Good decisions can create jobs and bad decisions can destroy jobs. Right now, my focus has to be to save as many jobs as possible over the coming weeks so that we can most effectively support our customers and remain a financially sound enterprise in the long-run.
Making sure Elemental becomes the outstanding game it has the potential to be isn't just a matter of principle or ethics but of sound business. Loyal customers are the bedrock of any small company. You do not abandon them. Ever.
Really? Hm. Let's take apart your logic, Soliddoucheboy.
I downloaded the game. Paid money for it. I then realized it wasn't anywhere near playable.
Knowing that this would hurt the company's bottom line (which affects real human beings) I then took out my credit card and bought the LE to send money to the company - i.e. gave money.
You: bought the game, feel offended, post shit comments that have nothing to do with any reality and then call anyone who disagrees a fanboy.
I did buy a 'dump in a box' because it is about supporting a company that stands by its products and is honest about its mistakes - that shows maturity.
You? You simply posted as hurtful a comment as you could to Brad, while he was taking responsibility.
My post wasn't about the game, it was about you. You are a douche.
I gave money, Soliddouche, what are you doing to help those people who are now unemployed? I will buy the game when it comes out in a boxed edition with all and any expansions to give further. I live in reality far more than your consumer oriented please me I'm entitled little boy mind - I support communities of people instead of "what do I get out of it" like a typical idiocracy consumer.
This is pretty cool, I've been called a fanboy and a hater troll in the same week. I'm just unpopular all around.
This is how business works. A product did badly, so they have less money. That means plans to build a second studio can't happen. So some people get laid off.
The alternative is to behave like GM - stick your head in the sand and keep making far more product then you can afford to make or sell. Then go bankrupt, and a LOT of people are out of work (or taxpayers come in to bail you out).
Stardock has a lot of employees. Nobody's happy that there are less now, but employing people when you have no work for them is a good way to drive a business into the ground and then everybody is out of work. That's not an improvement.
(And for the record I was one of the people saying it wasn't ready for release, so they most certainly didn't listen to me.)
It's funny that you keep on with the name calling and then say i'm immature, followed by a boring wall of text I barely read.
Whatever you say man. Anyway Brad, just remember its "Yes Men" like revjwh that got us here. I'm glad you're taking the criticism to heart.
Yep; sorry to hear about the layoffs, it's always sad when a game does pass muster.
Yes, SD has been punished for releasing a shoddy product, and the brutality of the market won't let such things stand.
But no true gamer gets any pleasure from hearing this kind of news.
Bad game launches and subsequent studio crises are a shame for everyone; fans, studio staff, investors.
And the message tends to reinforce the 'make a sequel' mentality. So, here's hoping you can turn it around.
FYI i've learned that te people who usually say "This is how business works" are the first ones that don't know how to run a business and comment on it to others while enjoying their plush comfortable first world privileged lives. So my eyes usually glaze over after reading that phrase and I save myself the effort of not paying attention to the rest, like when someone says "I'm not racist, but" or "I'm not sexist, but" or really "I'm not _________, but".
So why exactly do you come to a forum if your goal is to spew bullshit and then actively ignore what everybody else says?
That's what blogs and facebook are for.
Another observation:
Before this news of layoffs broke out, Stardock wasn't doing Elemental for the money. The bulk of SD's revenue comes from non-game products, and Elemental was more of a hobby, a work of art, and a gift to the community that they were going to evolve on an ongoing basis. Now with this new news, the layoffs were caused by a reduced budget outlook due to a lackluster launch of Elemental.
Something doesn't jibe.
Mr. Smooky, please calm down or just lay off the forums for a while until you feel less bilious. I'm another "fanboy hater troll" like Tridus, and we're just two of several folks who've been with the beta for a long while, have often expressed our frustrations and disappointments, and still respect the Stardock crew because they are unbelievably upfront with their customers. Trying to rub Brad's nose in the layoffs because you're not happy with the game is very petty. And boring.
It has already been explained and answered (SD can afford one team to work on one game without Elemental, but they planned that the money from Elemental would have allowed them to make two games at the same time with a second team).
In short, you didn't even bother to read the thread.
Not at all. If the goal was to reinvest Elemental profits into a second games unit (where the layoffs came from) then it makes total sense. Essentially Stardock can support 1 game development team off of its non-game income at a given time. But without supplemental funding from a profitable game cannot support 2.
I personally cant think of a small game company I would be happier to support than Stardock. Why?
They care about their customers.
They are honest.
They provide oustanding support, ongoing addons, new features etc. The BIG ones should take notes from SD on this!
They aren´t your average: Hello Im Supportguys3221 how may I help you?...We are aware of that problem... . Have a nice day enjoying World of Schmockcraft... *cough*
Elemental for me is an interesting game, providing a platform for mods and learning development with, great to work with tools (kudos guys).
Needless to say that the game needs work, HOWEVER I and I assume many others would be happy to help SD out in anyway we can, be it adding stuff that is used in an official expansion, suggestion you get the idea. That is something I wouldn´t do to all Developers and SD is the reason.
I think it boils down to this:
People who are willing to support SD despite a rocky release, do care about the potential of smaller developers. Basically saying: so what if they had a rocky start, I want to support them.
And than you have the other guys. This could be me, but in my opinion those are mainly ppl of the younger generation, who do not know much about this industry and its origin. Having the impression all developers are either Blizzard, Activision, Sony or whatever.
Of course the pricetag didn´t do Elemental any favours for those guys.
Fanboy of himself. Autoelevated to the position of wise man. Bringer of one sided truths. Imposer of opinions. That who ignores that which he doesn't like. A bad joke.
I did...
Best wishes and luck to all that have been laid off. Let's hope sales skyrocket in the next few months after MP and patches. Then everyone can have their jobs back! Keep plugging away stardock!
No doubt. It is always sad to read when people lucky enough to get a job doing something I would kill too be able to do professionally become unemployed.
Your notion is patently wrong. I know this to be so for a fact. Sadly I cant say anymore. Nonetheless the "tough-love" concept is true however.
I think yuo are a waste of the oxygen you breathe, man your parents failed in teaching you how to be a human being.
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