Dude chill! Its been this way ever since Man walked out of his cave way back when

No thanks! Individuality FTW!

VoodooV wrote on Apr 27, 2010, 19:42:

We look forward to getting judicial confirmation that our position is right.

It always makes me wince whenever someone says this regarding a trial. It just reeks of contempt and douchebaggery. The line between confidence and arrogance is a thin one.

It's just legal boilerplate. They sell it on a stamp at Office Depot.

Dude chill! Its been this way ever since Man walked out of his cave way back when....In the Ancient Times people had democracy, but was it really democracy? Was Rome a democracy? In the Middle Ages people had the church, but what did they really have? They had a yoke around their necks. Communism? The rule of many? Bullshit.

Call it what you will, but the powerful FEW have always, always ruled over the MANY. Throughout history. Its only natural.

Man has always sought power over his fellow man. Its just a different form of it now. Its naive to believe that what you had (A true Republic) was any more just than what you have now...

Donkey_Punch wrote on Apr 27, 2010, 23:22:

OldScho0l wrote on Apr 27, 2010, 19:53:
These types of corporations and their dealings have destroyed the American economy by screwing over the little guy with their douchebaggery. They screw everyone in their path all in the name of greed.

Why do you hate Capitalism? Why do you hate America?

(PS: I agree with your statement)

I love America, but am sick and tired of greed destroying everything (I would die for this country). When we all die, who's going to be left holding the bag? Our kids and grand-kids. The corporations have taken over our government infrastructure with consultants. As a technical consultant, I have seen this from the inside. I had more power to make decisions than the government officials. That's wrong and very scary. There are supposed to be checks and balances, but the corporations have found ways to circumvent these. They have infiltrated most of the governments on the planet and wage wars with each other in order to profit. These wars are bullshit and the corporations play both sides all in the name of greed. It’s pure evil. I want my country back. I want my Constitution back. When the average American discovers what I have, they’re gonna be pissed.

Capitalism is good, but when loopholes are exploited, we're all F%^&ed.

Why do you hate Capitalism? Why do you hate America?

I suppose it was a sarcastic question but in case it wasn't: probably because greed is a top priority over everything, by a large margin.

Dr Rico wrote on Apr 28, 2010, 06:43:
Why should a boss pay you more than you're worth? If you are worth more, find another job that will pay you more. If not, go make yourself more valuable. What am I missing?

When someone just made you one of the largest grossing games ever then people generally like you to adhere to your contractual obligations.

I hope Activision pays up every last cent and then some! Im pretty sure that the guys from IW are in the right on this one. No one takes on a 500lbs gorrilla (and his team of lawyers) without having a really good reason....

This comment was edited on Apr 28, 2010, 09:03.

Beamer wrote on Apr 27, 2010, 21:39:

Then why not be like 90% of gamers and simply play games rather than follow the business of them?

You can ignore the disease, but you can't ignore the symptoms (DRM, removal of features, dynamic in-game advertising etc etc.)

Pretty much agree 100% with the original statement.

Why should a boss pay you more than you're worth? If you are worth more, find another job that will pay you more. If not, go make yourself more valuable. What am I missing?

In other words, the wording of thier response indicates to me personally there's probably written evidence of the whole bonus thing

I hope so, for their sake, because the world's a shithole in my experience, and most bosses won't give you any more if they don't have to. They could be laughing all the way to the bank while you're doing all the work, they won't care. And they'll sleep well at night, too.

If they got something down on paper that says they're due, like a contract, then it's a totally different ball game. In which case, it was stupid of Activision to not have paid up, because now they're just going to end up having to pay more.

Cutter wrote on Apr 27, 2010, 21:19:
The real problem? Most of us were here for gaming in its infancy when it was about the games. Now it's just another big business that's about profits first. Meh, sucks but it had to happen sooner or later. I guess a lot of us are just getting too old to either care about or want to deal with the greed and BS anymore. While I won't be quitting gaming any time soon, I've certainly slowed down a lot and will probably continue to do so from this point forward. Time to take up a new hobby methinks, wood carving, or stained glass or something.

For the devs in this case, it IS all about the games. If you play MW2, you can tell the game was put together so well. That kind of effort doesn't happen unless people are taking pride in their work, love what they are doing, and working insane hours to get it done. So, you have a group of hard working stiffs, and a bunch of greedy corporate suits looking to profit off of the work of others. In the stiffs defense, that's not greed, that's justice.

the sad part is marketing will probably get more of that 1 billion dollar windfall from the sale of MW2. activision is probably doing some creative accounting to make it seem they spent a bigger budget on marketing than development of the game.

These days though, it doesn't matter. There's not even really any such thing as a verbal contract anymore. You got to get that shit down on paper.

Verbal agreements are still legally binding. You just have a heck of a time proving those promises were made in a court of law if one party is willing to perjure themselves.

So you are saying that the work Activision done in marketing the game had no part in it , you're implying that the game was super fantastic and that the programmers/artist/sound/desgin guys should all be given a life times amount of money each?? Is that what you are meaning?

I'm not wasting my time, I'm saving my time and money. That's a whole segment of games that I don't have to think about, look into, or bother throwing money at to play.

So you are saying that the work Activision done in marketing the game had no part in it , you're implying that the game was super fantastic and that the programmers/artist/sound/desgin guys should all be given a life times amount of money each?? Is that what you are meaning?

No, what I'm saying is that for a single game that has made over $1 billion dollars, throwing less than 1/10 of that back to the people who've spent 40-50+ hours a week, for 1.5-2 years actually making the damn thing isn't going to drive Activision into backruptcy. And that's on one game alone. I have no idea how much the entire Call of Duty franchise has made for Activision, but it would have never happened without the creative talent of the individuals working for Infinity Ward.

I'm sure marketting helped the bottom line. I'm also fairly confident that the people working in Activision's marketting are already well taken care of.

And yeah, if the game continues to make money for the rest of their lifes, then the developers who worked on it should get a portion of that money for the rest of their lives.

Ventura wrote on Apr 27, 2010, 22:10:
Indeed, legal and not legal, and right and wrong, are often two very different things.

These days though, it doesn't matter. There's not even really any such thing as a verbal contract anymore. You got to get that shit down on paper.

Even having it on paper doesn't mean anything. A good lawyer in court can shave shit so thinly, that you wouldn't know it's shit and they could present it as sweet-delicious-chocolate.

OldScho0l wrote on Apr 27, 2010, 19:53:
These types of corperations and their dealings have destroyed the American economy by screwing over the little guy with their douchebaggery. They screw everyone in their path all in the name of greed.

There's only one way to drag "these types of corperations" back from this kind of "douchebaggery". I'm not sure hte American People (or more correctly, the lobby groups that purport to represent the American People") are up for it. It's called ...

... REGULATION.

It's a shame it's such a dirty word in America. The rest of the world have had their douchbags relatively in check for quite some time. At least your Health care reform is a step in the right direction ....

I found Respawn's Twitter profile including their logo. I assume that's a placeholder logo.

Creston wrote on Apr 27, 2010, 22:52:
Hey Beamer,

Tell us again how "anyone saying this is shady is really, really, really, really incorrect."

Because that was incredibly insightful.

Creston

Yeah, huh?
Because a lawsuit filed is the end of the story to you? They're never filed without being correct? Or legal? Or right? Or moral? Whatever people here happen to be judging by on this particular day?

finga wrote on Apr 27, 2010, 20:17:

Ruffiana wrote on Apr 27, 2010, 19:57:
I'd be very interested in signing any petition against Activision to pay their developers the royalties they should be paid.

What you just said right here is, "I'd be very interested in wasting my time doing something that no one would act upon, even if they actually heard about it."

Or "I'd be very interested in hugging a tree if I thought it would actually make a difference."