Elemental - Now Fallen Enchantress

[Merusk]

I have learned something in my time working for corporations: everyone is a lying liar.  Also, I need to finish reading The Prince.  The truth isn't important so much as records and legal positioning.  Too bad Elemental is still shitty.

So much truth here it hurts.  I never understood the guy who kept files of printouts of every decision he bought was a bad one until I was on the hot seat for a lousy decision by my boss.

[Murgos]

I don't see how the worth of the game is material to this lawsuit.  The questions to me seem to be:

1) If there was better marketing would more people have bought the game?
2) Did the destruction of the marketing materials result in marketing that was less successful then would have been enjoyed had the marketing not been destroyed.
3) Did the destruction of property cause staff to have to spend time apart from their normal duties - this isn't saying "I could have made the game great!", this is saying, "destruction of marketing materials prevented staff from perusing vital activities otherwise related to their jobs".  The are arguing that the value of the marketing materials was both lost revenue and lost time.

If I had any idea about how much effort had gone into the materials she destroyed, I might say 'yes' to all three.  But probably only 'yes' to the first two, three strikes me as a sort of double-dipping.

My reasoning (for saying this suit implies Brad thinks his programming time is worth > $300,000 a week) is that the marketing for the game was fine, superb even.  Many, many people were convinced to purchase the game based on the marketing as they obviously weren't convinced to purchase the game based on it's merits as it had none.

[IainC]

Arise! This gets better and better. Rather unusually Kotaku decided to do some journalism and reported on the sexual harrassment case that Miseta brought against Wardell.

Wardell admits to harrassing and being an unrepentent dick then goes offscript on Qt3 where he talks publicly about the case. His lawyers must be necking Xanax right now.

Here is 'How not to answer a sexual harrassment complaint' in case you were wondering:

#3, however is not acceptable to me. I am an inappropriate, sexist, vulgar, and embarrassing person and I'm not inclined to change my behavior. If this is a problem, you will need to find another job.

#4, Again, I am not willing to adapt my behavior to suit others. IF you find my behavior problematic, I recommend finding another job.

I'm not some manager or coworker of yours. I own the company. It, and your job here, exist to suit my purposes, not vice versa. The company is not an end unto itself, it is a means to an end which is to further the objectives of its shareholders (in this case, me).

While I certainly agree that your rights as a person (certainly in terms of physical contact or interms of comments made towards you regarding your private live) take precedence over my rights as the owner of the business, that is as far as it goes.

[Merusk]

My only question is has anyone actually sent that link to the other lawyer or is the whole "zomg he's blowing his case!" thing just more internet speculation.

[Maledict]

This is running in the industry gossip thread as well, but over at quarter to 3 brad is responding directly to a thread regarding this, and they have copies of all the public evidence for the case. There's silly stuff all round, and (despite the above) may not be completely an open and shut case.

Mind you brad is the guy who said if he needed to reduce the size of his company he'd fire the liberals and democrats first so...

[Merusk]

Ok that *was* him. For some reason I thought that was the guy from Garage games.

[lamaros]

This is running in the industry gossip thread as well, but over at quarter to 3 brad is responding directly to a thread regarding this, and they have copies of all the public evidence for the case. There's silly stuff all round, and (despite the above) may not be completely an open and shut case.

I'd hate to been in an office with an 'open and shut case' if that's what you think...

[Maledict]

It's not what I think - I think the email is monstrous. But there is a huge amount of evidence on both sides, and some of brads defense stuff has highlighted the fact the complainant has (for example) lied in her original evidence and grossly exaggerated some aspects of it.

Personally I think he did do it, and deserves to get whacked with a stick and a huge financial penalty in court for it. But there's a reason it's going to court rather than settling in advance, and it isn't as entirely clear cut as that incredibly offensive email portrays.

[Modern Angel]

Shitty Randroid acts shitty, wonders why world doesn't yield to his compelling power of the Self.

What a terrible motherfucker.

[Maledict]

I loved the bit where he talks about working nude in the office and then if the government stops him doing that he'll shut the company down!

He's a complete tea party lunatic, frothing at the mouth about government and constantly talking about how it's his company and if he doesn't get to act like a feudal lord he' shutting it down. Am surprised he didn't try the right of Droit de Seigneur into people's contracts.

[IainC]

Personally I think he did do it, and deserves to get whacked with a stick and a huge financial penalty in court for it. But there's a reason it's going to court rather than settling in advance, and it isn't as entirely clear cut as that incredibly offensive email portrays.

It's going to court because he doesn't think he's done anything wrong. I'm pretty sure that his lawyers would have advised him to settle but he's Motherfucking Brad Wardell and he fights to the death so he's never going to admit defeat and pay to make this go away.

[tazelbain]

Still annoyed that I gave this guy money for Elemental.  So I can only hope he shuts the company down.

[Yegolev]

Really, at this point shutting down Stardock is only doing everyone a favor.

[Ingmar]

Still annoyed that I gave this guy money for Elemental.  So I can only hope he shuts the company down.

Were you ever able to get a refund? I wasn't.

[Cadaverine]

Still annoyed that I gave this guy money for Elemental.  So I can only hope he shuts the company down.

This.  Guy sounds like a monumental douchebag.

[Speedy Cerviche]

so how's the game looking anyways?

I had a lot of high hopes this

[Yegolev]

I haven't bothered to download it, lots of other things going on.  What with both Borderlands 2 and Torchlight 2 arriving very soon, plus my wait-and-see with Guild Wars 2, I don't think I'll be putting any time into finding out.

[Sky]

so how's the game looking anyways?

I had a lot of high hopes this

I just hope it's good enough that Kael gets the salt to have a team over at Firaxis. They're morons for not picking him up.

[Ironwood]

Really, at this point shutting down Stardock is only doing everyone a favor.

I was re-reading the first page of this thread and it made me smile a little.

[Merusk]

Brad Sez:

"But we HAVE to keep our 'company culture' like this or else we can't hire/ retain people!"

[HaemishM]

Brad Sez:

"But we HAVE to keep our 'company culture' like this or else we can't hire/ retain people!"

While the unemployment rate nationally remains over 8%, the unemployment rate in the tech industry is basically zilch. Software developers and game studios can't hire people fast enough and fiercely compete for the talent out there.

Ummmmm...

I've read a lot of articles that imply that terrible working conditions in the game industry. But that's not the norm.

Wut?

He is quite literally FUCKING DELUSIONAL.

[IainC]

Let me explain those for you Haemish:

While the unemployment rate nationally remains over 8%, the unemployment rate in the tech industry is basically zilch. Software developers and game studios can't hire people fast enough and fiercely compete for the talent out there.

"Unemployment levels amongst my friends who already have jobs in the tech sector are 0%."

I've read a lot of articles that imply that terrible working conditions in the game industry. But that's not the norm.

"There are a lot of articles that say working conditions in the game industry can be terrible. However as someone who owns a software studio, I've never encountered this."

[Amaron]

Brad Sez:

"But we HAVE to keep our 'company culture' like this or else we can't hire/ retain people!"

Or you could just pay them more.  Good software developers avoid the gaming industry like a plague.  The pay is shit and the hours are horrid.

[Ingmar]

And half the team gets laid off after every title releases. Somehow those don't count as unemployment in BradWorld though.

[Sheepherder]

...the right of Droit de Seigneur.

Was never actually a right, as far as anyone can actually make out.  Also, in you sentence "the right" is redundant.  Je ne parle pas francais.

Also, someone should forward these things to all of the lawyers in question.  All of them.  I would dearly love to hear that Brad Wardell has fired his lawyers and decided to defend himself because they told him to shut the fuck up.

[Margalis]

The hilarious thing here is that he told this woman that if she didn't like the way he acted she should just quit. And now he is claiming that the company culture is what it is to retain employees and in fact suing her for abruptly leaving.

[Tebonas]

Is he going for the insanity defense?

[Sky]

Yeah, sorry I brought it up. I do love righteous intolerance, though. Ironic.

[tazelbain]

Nope.  We had a civil war over this. You have to treat your fellow humans as humans.  No special snow flakes.

[Sjofn]

"People can just not work there if they don't like it" does not work in the real world.

[Yegolev]

Really, at this point shutting down Stardock is only doing everyone a favor.

I was re-reading the first page of this thread and it made me smile a little.

I'm not smiling.

[Minvaren]

I'm not smiling.

[Yegolev]

Mmmm, good pic, saving that for later.

I'm not too proud to say I was wrong.  I loved GalCivII and I hadn't seen Brad's craziness.  Live and learn.

[Sky]

Personally, I'm in the 'separate the art from the artist' camp.

I don't care how much Ike laid the smack on Tina, the dude was funky.

I don't care how cool Warhol was, he's a con-man, not an artist.

[Ingmar]

Well, in this case Brad is both a dickweasel and makes shit games, so there's no issue.