It's out. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Liam Erven Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 7:33 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: audyssey: alchemy game studios update
Michael. I totallya gree with you, it's just a tad frustrating to see announcements saying" it will be released later today", and then it doesn't show up. I know the feeling. I'm a developer, and I understand how life's surprises can definitly put a monkey wrench in things. I just think it would be better for everyone if instead of James saying it's going to be out on this day, if he were to just wait till it was out and then say something. Just my two cents for what they're worth. -----Original Message----- From: michael feir [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 9:27 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: audyssey: alchemy game studios update I'm in complete agreement here. James clearly has the right to set whatever price he wants to. He's always made it possible for people to ask for refunds. The only thing I can see people legitimately complaining about is the number of times he's said Monty would be out only to have the stated time pass by. That's happened far too often and I think people have every right to be annoyed on that score. It's like having a cat, which I did as a child. I would get her a cat treat and keep it just beyond her reach. She'd play nicely for a while and try to bat it out of my hand with her paws. However, past a certain point, she'd get angry and start using her teeth. Tiger wanted that treat right now and not when I eventually decided to give it to her when I thought she'd had enough excitement. Having a twenty-year dream repeatedly seem inches away from coming true and then not seeing it at the appointed hour has proved incredibly tortuous and distracting. I know how Tiger felt all too clearly. Every author or creative artist should go through this experience so they have an understanding of what their fans and admirers go through. I have plenty else in my life to keep me occupied until we ultimately see Monty. However, it's been exceeding hard to concentrate on much of it while this has gone on. I've played pretty much everything out there in accessible gaming. This game will be absolutely revolutionary when it comes out. Due to my childhood experience playing the original Monty with my father, the idea of actually playing it by myself has an incredible pull. Folks, we've got to look at this from both sides. I can certainly see how this up-and-down stuff has brought everyone to a fever pitch over the past while. I've been there myself but simply chose not to write until having cooled off. James has seen a torrent of complaints and pretty much nothing else but complaints for the past two years at least while he's worked on this game. He's come inches away from just dropping everything altogether on many occasions due to this negativity. I don't think anybody could argue with the statement that James is, if not the best, certainly one of the top three developers in terms of bang for one's buck. Like a lot of creative intelligent people, he has demons to wrestle with including burn-out. If we want to see accessible games of the quality he can produce, we have to be ready to roll with the punches and allow for some shortcomings. People pounced on him right away when he missed his first deadline and never let up on him. Now, he's gotten to the point where he'll quite understandably find it hard to take even constructive criticism. I very much want to play Monty, but I also want that experience to be as good an experience as James can make it. Personally, I think we've reached the point where we should have something playable, particularly customers who have paid. However, I'm in completely different circumstances than he is and must respect his judgement. I can afford to be idealistic and have often been accused of being idealistic to a fault. However, long experience over these thirty-one years has shown me that this is by far the most rewarding way to be If you assume the best of people, you'll typically get their best. You may be disappointed or be taken advantage of once in a while, but the positives far out-weigh the negatives. Play the situation out a little. If we're supportive or at least not openly negative to James, we'll likely see Monty and other titles far sooner. This goes for all developers since they'll naturally have their passion and patience intact and feel like their in a supportive community who values their efforts. If we complain about everything we see as unfair, at best, we take up his time as he tries to defend himself. At worst, we annoy him to the point where he feels justified in halting work on the game and pursuing other efforts. I doubt there are any more than perhaps two or three people, assuming there are any in the community at all, who would have the necessary knowledge to produce the calibre of game I suspect Monty is. James is an irreplaceable asset to the community. If I don't like an online grocery store's delays, I can likely find another place to do my shopping. However, James is the only person who's anywhere near being able to supply Monty and his other titles. There comes a point where we simply have to face facts. I might very well be frustrated at Monty not being out yet. I am to a certain degree. However, James is the artist here. I would be wrong to force him to work at my timetable even if I had the power to do this. The only thing continuous complaints will accomplish is to destroy the very game we're all clamouring for. Sadly, he's missed out on a lot of the eagerness and passion of his supporters as well as the heaps of complaints. I was on the audiogames.net forum this morning and the topic still rages on with both sides exchanging fire. One of his supporters, responding to the ridiculous idea that the game was fake, said that the detractor was lucky this was taking place over the Internet. Were they face to face, he would be "dancing on your tonsils". Wow! Talk about priceless originality. That just brightened up my whole montyless morning right there. I've never come across that delicious turn of phrase before. There are a lot of complainers out there, but James has also earned the friendship and respect of myself as well as many others. He's going through a long dark tunnel and despite my impatience and frustration, I still feel for him. He's not just a game we haven't gotten to play yet. He's a person with enough compassion to see this through despite all the flack he's taken. I've done exactly the same things he has. I've stopped working on Fearless Flin when things got stressful around here or other things had to be dealt with. I've chosen to spend time with family instead of putting another couple of hours work into my game. In fact, I put my original idea, Enchantment's Twilight on the back-burner indefinitely until I feel I have the time and skill to actually pull it off. That could be far into the future. It's taking ages even to get started working on Fearless Flin. Sometimes, you just need to take time out, see a movie, play loads of games, be with friends, read books, etc. Nobody has treated me even a fraction as badly as what James has suffered. The only real difference as far as the public can see between how we do things is that I haven't set firm release dates only to later be unable to make them happen due to unforeseen circumstances. After seeing what crap that brought down on the list and forums, I doubt any developers are going to be as forth-coming with release dates on the chance that they'll live to regret it later. James has a very human illusion that he can master time and has found lately that he couldn't. Gamblers do the same thing sticking money in slot machines with the hope of winning back their lost money with the next pull of the lever. We've likely all put off doing an assignment until it was past its due date or it was too late to truly give it our best. When Haunted Theatre came out back while I was in university, I put off studying for a test while I played the game for hours upon hours. I could always study later, I thought in perfectly normal student arrogance. I likely lost twenty percent of what I could have had on that test as a result of that nifty text adventure. You know what though? It was worth it<fiendish grin>. Hang in there, people. I have to believe we're at last nearing the end of this long vigil. Michael Feir Creator and former Editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jennifer North" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 7:17 PM Subject: RE: audyssey: alchemy game studios update > > Hi, > > First of all, we don't have any record of Kerry purchasing the game > for $44.95. > > Secondly, do some of you even think about what you're saying before it > comes out of your mouth? > > It would be absolutely stupid to revisit our entire customer base and > refund the difference on every sale we decide to have in the future. > And, according to Brenda's logic, it would only be fair to go back and > charge all > our customer's credit cards the difference when the price of our products > go > up. > > <eyeroll> > > Jennifer > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of brenda green > Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 2:39 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: audyssey: alchemy game studios update > > Vapour, I don't know about where you live but here, if you bought a > pair > of > pants for $40 and then find the same thing on sale for $30, you can get > back > > the difference. Of course, you would need the original packing, tags, > etc; and since this is a pre-order, it should apply. Now, I did say > here, I don't > > know about there or where James lives. > > > > to leave send a blank Email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > You can contact the list owners/moderators by Emailing > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > to go nomail send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > change "nomail" to "normal" to resume messages. > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > to leave send a blank Email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > You can contact the list owners/moderators by Emailing > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > to go nomail send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > change "nomail" to "normal" to resume messages. > > > > SPONSORED LINKS Visually impaired product Visually impaired Computer > game design schools > Computer games Computer game magazine Computer game magazine > subscription > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------- > YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS > > a.. Visit your group "blindgamers" on the web. > > b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of > Service. > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------- > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- ---- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.14.23/240 - Release Date: 25/01/2006 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com to leave send a blank Email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can contact the list owners/moderators by Emailing [EMAIL PROTECTED] to go nomail send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] change "nomail" to "normal" to resume messages. Yahoo! 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