Dark, I don't think it's your place to call him greedy, and I don't think it's his job to provide support if he doesn't want to. He created those games, he built and wrote them and put time into them, and he can charge anything he wants for it, for as long as he retains ownership. He never claimed that they would work forever, just like cell phones from 20 years ago can't be expected to work on today's networks.
Said a different way: It is not his job to make sure things work on every single version of windows ever, just like it's not his job to make sure the old windows games work on cell phones and ipads. It was his job to deliver a product that worked at the time, for the existing systems and hardware, and if it didn't work, to either fix the problem or offer refunds. As long as the current downloads have a big fat disclaimer on the page with big fat warnings saying that the software is unsupported, the company is closing, and there are no refunds if it doesn't work on your system, I don't see the problem. He's under no more obligation to offer the games for free than you are obligated to post all your medical records publicly. Personally, if I were him, I'd keep the company open and set up an automated site to sell it indefinitely for reasonable, low prices, with a 7 day refund if it doesn't work. That way, the games stay available for as long as people can run them, and he doesn't have to deal with it other than handling a refund request every now and again. +++ Now, to divert a little bit, I have to say that as a game developer, I think the biggest problem the community has with blind games is that the developers don't do proper customer support. Customers should always know exactly what they're getting, and exactly what they're paying for. They should know exactly what kind of support to expect, and where to get it, if something goes wrong. I don't see a lot of that, but perhaps I'm just looking in the wrong place. +++ There's one final issue that seems pretty common in the blind games market which really bothers me a lot: pre-ordering. The concept of pre-ordering an unfinished game, and actually paying money for it, is completely ridiculous. Not only would I never do it myself, but I would never ask my players to do so. Running a business is risky, because projects can fail and because you can go broke if you're not careful. Companies that use pre-ordering are asking you, the players, to take over some of that risk in case the project fails. When I buy a game, I want to buy a game, not be an investor in a company that may or may not go broke. I consider it unethical to ask players to fund a company that may go broke under the guise of a pre-order. At least on kickstarter, people know that it might fail, and failure is a real risk. But have you ever heard a game developer say "Please preorder the game, but keep in mind that we might go broke, or we might just take your money and run, and not refund your cash"? My games are founded on the idea that they will stand or fall based purely on being a good games. I regularly turn down money when people want to buy something in AA that will break the game, because AA isn't about making money, it's about making a really good game. If people think that's worth money, that's great. To other developers, I can only recommend that they focus on the games, not the company and not the money. If you build it, and it's good, the players will come. If you have players and you make it easy to buy things, the players will buy them. There's no need to resort to questionable business tactics. Dennis Towne Alter Aeon MUD http://www.alteraeon.com On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 9:43 AM, dark <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Tom. > > You said it yourself, it's because! he's not offering support or continuance > of the software in the future that makes this different from a closing down > sale. also, I feel he is bein greedy because he is not considdering the fact > that unlike when any other shop closes, you won't be able to get the stuff > anywhere else in the future, compatibility not withstanding. While I > appreciate that he hasn't the time to continue writing and supporting > software, he could at least give the tools to leave something to posterity > rather than as he appears to be squeezing as much prophit out of the > situation on a short term basis and not giving a dam about anyone else > further down the line. Indeed, if i! had put work into making such a great > bunch of games as Justin, I'd myself prefer people were free to play them in > the future rather than just trying to grab quick cash. > > A great example of this is Eamon. in the year 2001, the Eamon users club > shut down since nobody had written anything new for the system either > freeware or commercial in 7 years, but it was all collected onto the > website. Now, 12 years later, frank is rewriting the system into Eamon > deluxe, and the full source code is available, meaning that people like me > who never had original systems back in the 80's are still very free to play > eamon adventures, even on a completely different os to what they were built > on. > > We've seen examples of this in the accessible games community with Dan > Zingaro, Terraformers, Self destruct, savage gammet and indeed the pb > games, so there is plenty of pressident. > > I do agree asking Justin's opinion might be a good idea on this, but if he > maintains his view, then it wouldn't surprise me if people do! distribute > the bundle of the bsc software after the company has shut down just to give > everyone the chance to play such classics, even if mucking about with vb > compatibility is needed thanks to microsoft's scummy update practices. --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. 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