Trying to manipulate other people into martrying people for the game? Hell, give me a copy of the beta and I'd do it myself. I'll back up my words myself.
And I'm not trying to "manipulate" anyone. I believe exactly what I say. And I do believe that some of the decisions made by the game staff were based off of flawed beliefs like the belief in the excessive amount of authority and corporal punishment SE could diss.
It is true what I said about lawyers lying- read "Game over press start to continue" and read the story of Donkey Kong. Lawyers working for movie executives LIED TO NINTENDO DELIBERATELY to try and trick them into giving up the license. Did they get punished? Nope. If someone tried to they could just say, "we were mistaken." What do you think SE's lawyers would say if it was proven their statement was false?
Lawyers DO lie to fulfill their goals! Someone should research to see exactly how much of what SE claims actually is true- accepting everything they say at complete face value is the wrong way to go about this. They'll claim whatever they can to get what they want and if you accept it as fact then they're sure as hell not going to try to correct you or make you any wiser about it.
As for money, sure, SE can shit out an infinite amount of cash but I think the gaming community would work to raise funds for the creators- I'd certainly help out. C'mon, there are people who would chip in- maybe Jimmy Fallon would have the guy on his show. The dude's a gaming maniac, oldschool-style, he might be happy to help out.
And someone talked about the amount of time court stuff would waste for the game staff- well guess what? SE already just wasted a full 5 years of their life that they'll never get back. Maybe it's their game and it is their decision but I still believe firmly that it is the wrong decision and that it's something they will regret down the line. They're looking at it the wrong way as imagining that SE's wrath and legal claims would instantly and automatically be 100% realized. They're thinking only of worst-case scenarios, not imagining that any other outcome could be possible- as if the future is just doomed no matter what they could try.
If someone chose to kill themself or make another bad decision should I just sit back and not do anything because it's none of my business? No, I do not think I should. This is not as extreme an example but my point still remains.
Anyway, I think I've pretty much said my piece now this will be my last post on this subject. Creators, I really hope you think about what I've said. Those 5 years you're -never- going to get back.... are you going to let those years be for nothing- or are you going to fight to make them mean something?
The choice is up to you.
Zeality just moved to Europe for his grand tour and is trying to get settled into a new life there after finally finishing business school, JP has a full-time job at a major corporation that due to the downturn in the economy wouldn't hesitate to fire him if he ran off to go fight court battles instead of showing up to work, and even though I could implicate myself and try to step in for them, I'm too busy trying to keep North Korea from turning the Korean peninsula and maybe even Japan into a giant, burning hell of death and destruction. But then, even if I did step in, Zeality and JP could still be dragged into court, and nobody has the right to be placing them into that situation without their consent.
Also, I can't speak for the others, but I would certainly find it unethical to take money from fans to fight a legal battle, even in this case. Besides, the money isn't the problem. The problem is people getting dragged away from their current lives and forced to put everything on hold for some indefinite and unclear amount of time that could drag on for months or even years just to deal with this matter, and that's a sacrifice that nobody here is willing or capable of making at the moment.
You have to remember that those wasted five years were in people's own homes working on a creative project over the Internet. They didn't have to put their lives on hold, move somewhere else, and go to court every day to make a game -- they just had to work in the comfort and security of their own homes. It was fun, it was creative, and it was challenging -- but it wasn't affecting the rest of their lives. Going to court would be a completely different matter. You simply can't compare those five years to any amount of time needed to handle the legal repercussions of releasing the game and going to court over it, because they aren't the same thing.
Anyway, if you can't understand and respect other people's situations and the fact that they have different priorities in life than you do, then I fail to see why anyone should respect your opinions concerning what they should do.
I, for one, respect their decision and won't due anything to risk ruining their current position. If you don't agree with their decision, then you should persuade them that the game is worth risking their jobs and personal lives for instead of deriding them for not putting gaming and gaming culture before other aspects of their lives.
But then, you'd probably realize just how silly that makes you sound -- unless you really think video games and video game culture are the end all be all of human existence.
