Ecthelion: It's not as accessible, either. I find it funny that there are people who think X3 is too complicated, when there are games like UC out there.

I think the perfect, large scale space sim would start you out with the difficulty of Freelancer and then slowly ramp you up to the complexity of X3. X3 is a great game but I will admit that for a lot of first time players, it's an awful lot to swallow with a steep learning curve.

However, that's not to say it isn't rewarding. Setting up your factories, trade runs and escorts is a lot of fun if you're playing a merchant. There's a special grin I got when I had passed the 25 million mark without doing any personal trading of my own.

The largest problem with BC is its creator. You may make the most wonderful game in the world but if you're a dick, you'll lose credibility if you had any to begin with. I take turns in the mentoring program my company has in the local college course that teaches students the skills and knowledge they'll need to try and break in to the video game industry. In one of the classes, we talk about how to effectively build up the faith the general public has in your upcoming product. We cite good examples from all the eras of gaming such as Alex Gardner when he was with Relic, Trip Hawkins of the old school EA, Wayne Holder from FTL, Brett W. Sperry from Westwood and Jeff Tunnell of Dyanmix. We also cite examples of the people who should never be allowed to talk to the public. In every single class I've mentored in, Derek Smart has been named by the students as one of the worst people they can think of in the industry in terms of talking to the public and players about your game. To me, that speaks volumes on how a legacy of poor customer service, a very poor attitude and an exceptionally abysmal public image will drive your product in to the grave, no matter how good it may be.