User information for Alex Weissman

Real Name
Alex Weissman
Nickname
alvador
Email
Concealed by request - Send Mail
Description
Homepage
None given.

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Signed On
February 8, 2004
Total Posts
11 (Suspect)
User ID
20119
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11 Comments. 1 pages. Viewing page 1.
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16.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Nov 24, 2013, 10:33
16.
Re: Out of the Blue Nov 24, 2013, 10:33
Nov 24, 2013, 10:33
 
So sorry for your loss.
5.
 
Re: Project Copernicus Footage; Details
Aug 22, 2012, 22:54
5.
Re: Project Copernicus Footage; Details Aug 22, 2012, 22:54
Aug 22, 2012, 22:54
 
The theory that I'm cursed hasn't entirely been disproven, so you're welcome.
3.
 
Re: Project Copernicus Footage; Details
Aug 22, 2012, 22:05
3.
Re: Project Copernicus Footage; Details Aug 22, 2012, 22:05
Aug 22, 2012, 22:05
 
You go on ahead and call whatever you want. Them's the facts, Jack.
3.
 
Re: Project Copernicus Trailer
Jul 9, 2012, 21:58
3.
Re: Project Copernicus Trailer Jul 9, 2012, 21:58
Jul 9, 2012, 21:58
 
I'm pretty sure that "demon" wasn't a final asset. The environments also had another 3 months of final polish that isn't in those clips- they'd have all been re-shot if we'd had the time.
25.
 
Re: Epic Assisting Big Huge Games
Jun 4, 2012, 16:54
25.
Re: Epic Assisting Big Huge Games Jun 4, 2012, 16:54
Jun 4, 2012, 16:54
 
You, sir, are a class act. Have you considered running for political office?

<edit> If you seriously doubt I'm an ex-employee of 38 Studios, go back and check out who told Blue about the Copernicus trailer, about 30 seconds after it was released on YouTube. </edit>
20.
 
Re: Epic Assisting Big Huge Games
Jun 4, 2012, 15:43
20.
Re: Epic Assisting Big Huge Games Jun 4, 2012, 15:43
Jun 4, 2012, 15:43
 
38/BHG were government employees for all intents and purposes.
Citation please.

Given that the state fronted NO MONEY, you are just flaunting your reading comprehension fail. Shall I say it again? 38 Studios spent $0.00 RI taxpayer dollars. All capital raised was private capital, in spite of the twisted portrayal of this by the press and the governor's office. RI was absolutely on the hook for the money, but ONLY IF 38 FAILED. Caps for the comprehension impaired. 38 had not failed yet, and despite anyone's own personal interpretation of our company or the MMO market we were NOT failing- it wasn't until the governor "helped" us that things began to circle the drain.

You are corresponding right now with an actual resident of RI who got an actual job (desperately needed, BTW)- I can think of at least 15 or 20 other longtime RI residents who were working at 38- there may have been more but I didn't work in HR- and the vast majority of the employees moved to the state; paying RI state income tax, paying rent/mortages to RI landlords and banks, spending their ENTIRE paychecks here, every month- how does that not qualify as an "actual resident"? 38 was brought here to create jobs, and possibly lure some of the MA tech industry to come down here to replace some of the thousands of manufacturing jobs that have fled RI, never to return. Guess what? It was working as intended.
14.
 
Re: Epic Assisting Big Huge Games
Jun 4, 2012, 13:28
14.
Re: Epic Assisting Big Huge Games Jun 4, 2012, 13:28
Jun 4, 2012, 13:28
 
Ruffiana wrote on Jun 4, 2012, 13:11:

Yes, except the vast majority of the money lent to 38 studios goes right back into the local economy as they use it to pay interest on said loans, taxes, rent, utilities, and payroll to their employees (who in turn turn around and put their share back into the local economy through taxes, rent, utilities, food, gas, clothing, etc etc.)

It's not like this money just vanished into the ether or ended up in a foreign bank account.

This.

The governor knew (because he was told by us) that the tax credits he was refusing to release would go straight to employee paychecks first, but he still decided to withhold them.

Enough of us lived paycheck to paycheck that you are entirely correct that almost all that money went back into the local economy. Over 50 people bought houses in RI when they moved here and we, as a company and as employees, had a preference for local goods and services. Now, with a significant portion of 38 employees already out of the state, the $$ spent on our unemployment WILL be going away from the local economy.
11.
 
Re: Epic Assisting Big Huge Games
Jun 4, 2012, 12:41
11.
Re: Epic Assisting Big Huge Games Jun 4, 2012, 12:41
Jun 4, 2012, 12:41
 
I've been lurking on Blue's for a decade or more but practically never say anything- not entirely sure why I feel the need to say this here and now, but the amount of misinformation that has been put out on the whole situation is infuriating.

As an artist at 38 for the past 12 months and a 15+ year resident of RI I have skin on both sides of this game. Contrary to popular opinion Curt was not running the business side of things and I don't think there were anything other than realistic expectations the entire way through the project. It was well known how much it would cost, and how long it would take (we DID push the date back later in the process, something we tried super hard not to do but in the end decided that the features that would have to be cut for release were too important) and that the state of the MMO market had changed considerably since the studio was founded- they had analyzed THAT situation and they had a plan- ambitious, still risky, but given the potential payoff as well as the undeniable quality of what we were making it was not an unreasonable plan. There was a huge deal which would have secured the rest of the development costs that was well underway (we all saw the investors getting their tours of the studio, this WAS happening) but we needed a bridge loan to cover the gap. This was being handled privately but it got delayed by circumstances beyond anyone's control (some serious bad timing, a really bizarre thing that I'm not sure I can talk about) and we were forced to turn to the state for help.

The governor saw a chance to kill a deal he'd opposed from the start, and did exactly that. He's trying to spin it as the responsible thing to do, but in fact all it would have taken was the release of the film tax credits they'd already agreed to release (the "ineligibility" thing was dug up as an excuse- how many of the Hollywood film companies who've used the same tax credits are incorporated in RI?) and we'd have had the time to close our funding deal (and a 2nd deal was also coming down the pike). Instead, they reneged on both the release of the tax credits in exchange for the $1.1mil fee to the RIEDC and on deferring that same fee so that the company could make payroll for the month (both things we had been told they'd agreed to do), and the gov's announcement of confidential info (release date, monthly burn rate) as well as his publicly disparaging remarks ("insolvent", "tragically shaky company", "what do you expect with a sports figure running the company", etc.) torpedoed the deals in the works and guaranteed that RI would pay the loan instead of 38. The bad check story was a flat out lie. These are not the actions of a business partner dealing in good faith. If you want evidence of who's trying to screw who, compare the almost universal employee support for 38 vs. the resignation of 6 members of the RIEDC (and the request to not be reappointed by a few more) in the last 3 weeks.

MMOs are undeniably risky, I don't disagree that the deal probably shouldn't have been struck in the first place (I wasn't a 38 employee at that point), but once it was made it was in the best interest of the state for it to succeed. Given that the state had put NO money into 38 yet- they backed the deal, but put up no cash whatsoever (and wouldn't, unless 38 failed)- releasing $8mil in tax credits to help keep the company afloat and make payroll in order to avoid having to pay $112mil in loan plus interest, plus unemployment for 300 people, seems like a no brainer. Instead, Scumbag Chafee [url=]http://www.38watch.com/forums/showthread.php?2817-Caption-Contest[/url] saw an opportunity to try to raise his 22% approval rating by "proving" he was right about what a bad deal it was.

I can't speak to any of the debacles that have risen up during and in the wake of the studio's collapse and subsequent inability to pay for many things that they had otherwise taken responsibilty for paying, but I'll say that after almost 20 years in the industry the management at 38 as a whole and Curt in particular were more honest and up front about everything than any place I've ever worked before. I'm pretty much diametrically opposed to Curt politically, and up until last month I had a lot of respect for Chafee as well- I even voted for that rat bastard (my picture in the dictionary for "voter's remorse")- but seeing both sides of this better than 99.9% of the public (38's PR advice [sic] has kept the execs from speaking about much, leaving the governor and the hostile local press to spread misinformation freely) I can tell you that this was in fact a political hatchet job.
31.
 
Re: Steam Breach Follow-up
Feb 11, 2012, 09:19
31.
Re: Steam Breach Follow-up Feb 11, 2012, 09:19
Feb 11, 2012, 09:19
 
From the email I received:
We've recently learned that it is probable that in 2009 the intruders obtained a copy of a database with information about Steam transactions between 2004 and 2008.
So, it WAS 3 years ago that the data was stolen, and that data was 4-8 years old (or, 1-5 years old at the time it was stolen). It became obvious to everyone that something had happened in Nov 2011- what's not clear is how soon Valve knew something had happened.

edit- Re-reading the email they say they became aware of it on Nov 6 2011. So, it apparently took the intruders 2 years to do something with the database.
28.
 
No subject
Feb 16, 2004, 10:43
28.
No subject Feb 16, 2004, 10:43
Feb 16, 2004, 10:43
 
chappaqua... why in the hell would anyone want to go to that shithole? oh well, i guess high school left a bitter taste

16.
 
No subject
Feb 8, 2004, 15:25
16.
No subject Feb 8, 2004, 15:25
Feb 8, 2004, 15:25
 
yeah, i second ryan's post- as a devoted doggie owner that article would certainly make me think twice about the barf diet. you may remember a post i made a few years ago about the nastiness that goes on with the cheaper brands of commercial dog food, including creosote, kerosene, and/or animal remains from shelter euthanasias, but honestly based on the testimonials given on that site, barf seems hardly an improvement. it's one thing to suspect that the food is poisoning your dog, and another to know that eating bones killed them...

we had our dog darla on a homecooked diet for a while (cooked being the operative word) but even that was not without problems. the recipe we followed, from dr. pitcairn, included the so-called "healthy powder" with bone meal and other nutrients, and at one point calcium crystals were found in her blood. that diet was mostly cooked chicken (no bones) or ground beef with rice/barley and cooked vegetables, and that gave her the white, no smell poop too, so it's not only the raw diet that gives that benefit. for what it's worth, we are now dealing with stinky poops ala Iams, and she's been very healthy, although we are considering switching back, at least partially. the main concern about that right now is freezer storage space and the amount of work involved (we had a really dumb song that was the result of dog food prep, with the refrain "pickin chicken at midnight").

11 Comments. 1 pages. Viewing page 1.
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