A messageboard thread called An Open Letter to Blake Hutchins on The H-Web (spotted via a thread called Dave Georgeson gets hired = Planetside is doomed noticed by Voodoo Extreme) has an update on what's going with the remaining members of the TRIBES 2 team since their departure from Dynamix. That open letter thread inspired a couple of replies from TRIBES 2 writer Blake Hutchins as well as a response from Dave Georgeson that fills us in on what they're up to. The second post from Blake outlines some of the pressures that lead to the direction TRIBES 2 development ended up taking, and obviously enough from the title of that second Planetside thread, this includes word that Dave Georgeson is now on the Planetside team, of which Dave says: "Fear not for Planetside. That team is very good and they have a clear vision of what they want. I'm just there to help them organize it to completion and make sure everything comes together as planned." Here's the first update by Blake that has the saga of many of the TRIBES 2 developers:

Hello, all:

I'm not dead yet. I've just been bloody busy these last few weeks. Here's the quick update, with apologies for having vanished during the interim:

- The dev team was exploring the possibility of forming a new company. We were looking at several options, including contracting with Sierra to continue developing Tribes and/or working with publishers like Microsoft or Turbine to develop original material for console. These options are gone. A cadre of five dev team members broke off to form their own company, very likely to use the V12 from Garage Games, though in all honesty I have no idea what their plans are. There were enough key people in that splinter group to shut down all immediate funding options for the team.

- Those of us who are left are exploring the slim possibility of putting together a new team. We still have a considerable amount of talent left, so we'll see what happens.

- Dave Georgeson has accepted an offer to become the Executive Grand Poobah of Planetside. He'd wanted to stay with the dev team, but after the team split, he felt he had no option but to take Verant's offer.

- The remaining dev team members will explore all job offers individually.

Whew! That's it. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for all the goodwill and support. Right now I don't know where I'll end up. Though I'd like to stay in Eugene, I'm excited about the possibility of trying something new and living somewhere different. We'll see what opportunity presents.

Best,

Blake