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Invitation to KyrieSunset
PEGShane
Member Posts: 25
Hi Kyrie,
I understand your concerns but you are very misinformed about certain things you've said on these forums and I'd like for you to see those truths with your own eyes.
I see you're local, so I'd like to invite you to our offices tomorrow at 10:30 am PST to see what's going on with our projects. I won't ask you to sign the normal NDAs and you can post whatever you like about our status afterwards. I would only ask that besides myself and the management, who are all known and on the CME website, that you leave other employees' full names out of your public postings so that they're not personally antagonized.
You're welcome to reply here openly or PM me on the forums. I truly do welcome you into the office, and hope that you'll take me up on this offer.
Sincerely,
Shane Hensley
CME
Comments
I would like to make a request... perhaps not just for me, but those that do, or are beginning to doubt SGW's progress.
Shane, since you are "lifting," or perhaps "circumventing" the media blackout, albiet for only one person (as you are offering to not "...ask you [KyrieSunset] to sign the normal NDAs and you can post whatever you like about our status..."), could we get one, or all of the following:
--A picture of a room full of DEVs toiling away... with a copy of a current newspaper (tomorrow's headline will most probably be the "POTUS Beer Summit")... go ahead and blur/blot the faces of the devs if you want... though I guess you wouldn't have to censor those who are in the photo with Chris Judge on the official page.
--Some Off-Screen shots of the game being played... again with the newspaper
Since Khestral seems to be releasing new screenshots, there should be no reason that this one couldn't happen.
--Allow Kyrie to chat with some/all the DEVs with no restrictions. There have been many an accusation flying about the interwebs regarding, well, pretty much everything... The only info we [followers of the game's saga] get are from allegedly disgruntled employees, fast-fingered google-snoops, etc. Why not put out the wildfire of speculation and rumor?
--Video the visit. I'll even edit the video (if you don't have an editor in-house) free of charge.
I know this request must sound crazy... but let's face it, SGW's image is in pretty bad shape right now. This site, as well as others, have only run "SGW is doomed" news stories of late, because there is nothing else to report on. The level of trust has also fallen a great deal amid some of these stories. Just telling us "the lights are still on" didn't quell our fears, and a few screenshots (that many people have argued aren't actually "new") didn't make us feel much better. Like it or not, we hold the success of SGW in our hands. Maybe you should take a tip from Blizzard and really add some transparency to the game's development. WoW beta testers didn't have NDA's, which really let the communication between them and the dev team open up and create what has become THE mmo that all others are measured by... in both game-play, and success. WoW wasn't built in a day, either, but it's openness kept its followers excited, and attracted many more. Again, it's our word-of-mouth that will make or break SGW.
With so many unanswered questions & doubts out there, why not build up some [much needed] positive hype?
Going even further, if the Aug 1st rumors are true, and MGM is about to pull the plug anyways, what difference will it make if you break the "media blackout?" If those rumors aren't true, then maybe it'll give some "angel investor" something to read other than a forecast of doom.
Sorry if this post got a little ranty/preachy, but tensions are high regarding this game. Something needs to happen, and if, like your profile says, you are who you say, you can do something... you should do something. As Smokey says: "Only YOU can prevent a forest fire."
If this is legit, I hope you take him up on it, Kyrie. I still wonder why the post would be made here on MMORPG.com and not on the official forums where it would do the most good. But then again, the people on those forums are ONLY allowed to say positive things or they get banned.
This gets more interesting by the day. I just know that I don't want a video game to profit criminals. And that I used to really want to play a SG game.
Geeked for FFXIV
Freelance FFXIV guide author for Ten Ton Hammer.com
Why "Kyriesunset" exactly? I've seen him post here for awhile and (just like all the rest of us) he has had less than flattering things to say about your studio. But nothing he said struck me as being all the much more interesting or enlightening than what the rest of us have had to say (no offense meant by this). Is it simply because he happens to be located nearby? There are many people here who do not list their location but may also be within traveling distace of your office. Why not open the invitation to anyone willing to make the trip?
The History of the Order of The Golden Shields
HI all,
I invited Kyrie because he's local. For *now* the offer is only open tomorrow as we expect some people to go on leave Monday due to our financial issues and I'm not sure exactly how that will affect us or who will be there.
I see there's another thread with specific questions so I'll answer more there.
Thanks,
Shane
Yeah. I was thinking, why me as well. Why couldn’t it be Zorvan! Thanks man, I appreciate the offer. Unfortunately, I just cannot come at your last minute, beckon call. Now it looks like people want me to be interviewing, video production, etc. I am certainly not expending that much energy if the CME offices are vaporware in a few weeks. Let us see how you step up to the plate and give the investors, lurking employees and community some ‘real’ information first!
Since you are here, and willing to answer some questions, I welcome you to first clear up any subject matter that you believe that has been very incorrect on these forums.
I almost want to make a bullet list of the forums hottest topics, but I would prefer you to take a stab at the most incorrect information first, so you can all feel better and get back to work!
planing to have the office full of ringers tomorrow?
planing to have the office full of ringers tomorrow?
I was thinking that tomorrow is July 31st, and anything after is August. Maybe that deadline is true? No word on the group of Doctors yet either.
So is that an unofficial way of saying that the Aug 1st MGM deadline rumor is true and you didn't make the quota?
Do you mean the "Gary Whiting looks like Pultergeist" picture thread? LOL... maybe you should start a new thread, instead...
Kyrie: I wasn't suggesting you become CNN... I was just saying that they (as in them, not you) should run a video camera on the visit, and that you shouldn't be prevented from asking anyone anything if you wanted.... but it's moot, anyways.
August 1st is a milestone in the MGM contract, but they've so far made no indication that they're going to pull the license. My firm belief is that if we have committed investment they'll be *very* happy to see us re-staff and refocus on SGW. If not, I would guess they'll just let us fade away and see if someone else is interested down the road sometime.
But as I confirmed in the other thread, those of us who have gone four months without pay are simply at the end of our ropes. I am one of these. There were about 20 people in the office today though--that's how many we fed--so I won't speak for all of them.
My personal plan is to stay in town for another couple of weeks and see if things work out. If they do and the management wants me back, I'm very likely to do so. If things don't work out, I'll continue to help as much as I can, and continue to help other employees get jobs at places where I have strong contacts and can personally vouch for their skills.
I hope you'll reconsider the invite, Kyrie. It's a genuine offer and you're welcome to walk around and talk to whoever you want with no restrictions.
Shane
Darn too bad it is not someone like me
.I am VERY knowledgeable on the whole makeup of a game,so it would have to be frist rate to get any respect from me.
Originally at the very start of this game,i thought the staff was a good one ,very professional,i kind of still have that feeling,but of course the CEO,all the guys at the top were running a shotty operation.
After i saw some of the content being done on this game ,i thought "OMG" awful,second rate workmanship here.I know staff members have an agenda to follow and the director/manager lays out their path to follow,but man something is amiss or was amiss on that games development.
What it looks like to me,looking from the outside is a developement that the guys collecting the money did not care about,just so long as their was a working staff and money was coming in.
The game engine,whatever one they are using and the graphic work,animation work,needs a FULL revamp if this game was to ever be continued and hope to garner any following.
I complained about how bad ,actually awful the new Bioware "Star Wars" game looks,so i have to follow suite in stating this game also looks bad.We need modern looking models,hi res textures should be the norm now ,not wishful thinking,animations need to look realistic and smooth.Weapon fire needs to have top notch sound files,with top notch effects,heck al lthe sound files in a game need to be well done,to give the game a realistic feeling.I know voice overs can take a lot of work,and it is not something most games have done yet,so i guess i cannot expect much there from this effort,but it needs it,to help carry the immersion of a SG world.
To make a modern day MMO,takes a ton of work and every small developer that comes along wil lhave their hands full,i really doubt a small developer can make it happen,at least not on a grand scale.Sure there wil lALWAYS be the dummies that buy games for the name alone,but to have any kind of decent numbers,you need to have a quality game and not rely on a title.
IMO this game will never make it,it is too bad,i think the staff most likely put in some effort,but is just not good enough,the game has no chance and would die faster than TR,it is better to let this game go and chalk it up as a learning experience.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Shane, I just can’t rearrange my schedule that quickly for tomorrow. Perhaps in the near future if things work out for you all, would love to see what you are working on. Even Stargate Battles!
Could you please clear up those very incorrect items on the forums you mentioned? Maybe you could pick the top 5 items?
I have a list of questions for you, but I wanted you to have the opportunity to clear the air first.
(Probably my last post for tonight, but I'll dive back in tomorrow morning.)
Kyrie, I understand it's short notice. If there's another time I'll see what I can do, but as I mentioned a good number of people are likely leaving next week so I'm not sure what I'll have to show you. We also have a big playtest tomorrow that I don't want to disrupt, and are meeting one of our team members' new babies.
Next week the office may well be pretty empty, but prior to this it hasn't been. People have rent to pay and after four months or so they need to move on. But a lot of of us are still in town working on personal projects to pay the bills too, and if funds are raised and in the bank I hope many will return.
As for what you had wrong, I believe it was you who said we only had two people here (there are around 20), or that we had no 3D artists (we have 4), and no "code monkeys" (there were at least 3 here then). You also openly called Doug a liar, and I think that was in very poor taste. I understand your frustration at things, but as Merxion said earlier, Doug is one of the most honest people I know. It was also you who posted a confidential business plan that MMORPG took down and apologized to us for. There's nothing in there CME had to hide--I think it's good actually to see what kind of plan the original team had for SGW--but the fact that you posted it was also poor judgment on your part.
But that's water under the bridge to me. I'm here, I'm answering questions, and I'll do what I can as long as it's reasonably constructive.
Shane
lol the reason why Kyrie can't make it because there is a restraining order against him coming 40 yards to that office block.
Trust me, the last one you want to go is me. i'm not exactly known for being a "people person". lol
Send Agricola1.
Trust me, the last one you want to go is me. i'm not exactly known for being a "people person". lol
Send Agricola1.
If they're willing to pay for the plane ticket and put me up in a hotel, I might consider it
However since they can't afford to pay their own staff I don't see it happening, I think Zorvan would be a good choice if Kyrie can't make it before shane leaves. Any non-FanOri would do, there are plenty here. Then again why not ask say Jon Wood or someone else from MMORPG.com to do a report on the situation? Trusted reporters in my opinion and will give CME a fair write up considering their position.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
Hey Shane,
I went out on a limb and tried to correct the misinformation about only two people working on SGW. That rumor manifested from the MMORPG article where a former employee (which is not me) was quoted saying only two programmers left, not two people left on the entire project. Please see my post on 7/26 where I tried to give more accurate numbers, which coincidently match your figures.
I did not call Doug a liar, I only pointed out that he used old screen shots and was further cultivating the community when the end was so near for SGW. It was not fair to the community to be played that way. Don't you agree?
Finally, regarding the business plan. I merely reposted links from CME’s own shoddy investor capital group used to raise investor funds, freely out on the internet for anyone to find. I did not post my copies of those documents, nor would I. If they were so confidential, why were they out there for over a year?
Oh, now onto the questions!
My mistake--it was Agricola who called Doug a liar: "I appreciate your loyalty to a friend and he maybe very honest with you,however with the SGW community the guy is a flat out liar."
And reposting links to confidential documents is still illegal. Just because you stole a song off one pirate board doesn't mean you can resell it on your own. And I have no idea what "shoddy investor group" you're talking about.
Shane
And reposting links to confidential documents is still illegal. Just because you stole a song off one pirate board doesn't mean you can resell it on your own. And I have no idea what "shoddy investor group" you're talking about.
Shane
Absolute trash. putting the documents up for viewing (which the investor collector/research group did) may be illegal. Posting links to the completely unsecured site is not.
the group is ascendencecapital. how can the president not know? does the board just hand out positions to anyone that will take them?
"CME wants one check for the purchase of shares. In any partnership arangements, they prefer an LLC or Inc be used. However, they will issue individual stock certificates in multiple names. There is no size restriction on number of shares. These shares can not be sold for one year from purchase OR when the company goes public, which ever comes first. The company IPO is scheduled for September. At that time, any shares you purchase will be trade worthy as though you bought them from any other broker. The only restriction is that only 10% can be sold every month. Depending on demand, this restriction may be removed at anytime within the first 90-120 days"
Does sound kind of "shoddy" to me
I would have to concur, as Google and other search engines would then be liable. The site is still up and easily found with conducting a web search, actually for me it came up as the #3 slot.
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.
I understand that they are in negotiations with Doctor Jack Kevorkian.
Seeing how the site has been up and active for over a year, CME has definitely violated Security & Exchange Commission Rule 506.
If a document is confidential then it should be secured.
And in this case there was no 'resale' or exchange of cash. Copyright is a different thing entirely.
But as for the 'shoddy investor group'? A quick Google gives me this
http://www.ascendencecapital.com/
Even the person who set it up said
"Hello everyone. This site is something that I put together to try to help you out wih understanding the company.
Here's the Business Plan. It is a quick scan that I did. It doesn't look too good, but it saved file size. I had to break it into 2 parts to get it on this site. You can download Part 1 and Part 2. Total size is just under 12MB which is too big for most email accounts.
Right now I am trying to get setup on a conference call that we can all discuss this in real time.
In order to not violate the SEC section 506 (the offering this stock is available under) there can be no advertising of available stock. I'm pretty sure a website that is publicly available constitutes advertising. That's why I'm setting up a toll free conference call. This site will only be up for a couple of days."
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
I agree that's very sloppy, but Ascendence Capital isn't CME.
I will let the appropriate parties know about the site. Thanks for pointing it out.
Shane
Wait... WTF?
"sloppy"?
You were talking illegal? And if Ascendence Capital isn't CME then there is your illegal!
The obvious question is "Who is Ascendence Capital and how did they get hold of a confidential document?"
The next one is "Did they break any laws posting a document belonging to another company on the internet?" (Duh! Yes. But you gotta ask!)
The next one is "Who exactly gets sued / prosecuted here?"
Even as an employee (or Director) you are breaching confidentiality agreements if you post stuff belonging to your employer (or Company) without your employer's permission.
So, either this is part of CME and someone is very stupid OR laws have been broken? Which?
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
To me, that site looks like it belonged to a small group of people who were looking to make group investment into CME/SGW, and that document was the equivalent of a prospectus, so I'm sure it was handed out to any "serious" investor.
It seems to me that a lot of the investors were "small" and "novice". Is this normal for a venture capital situation?