Hard Words

[Tye Dagget]

A few of you here may know me; many of you will not. I've played Core exiles since 2010, or so. While I barely get time to play these days, having caught wind some some of what has transpired recently, I felt compelled to speak up. I usually try to take the diplomatic approach, but what I'm going to say here is not kind and, frankly, I may piss off a few of the long time players, but I feel like it has to be said.

Some of you here support this game financially. That does give you a right to voice your opinions and suggestions and even offer a critique- as long as you do so in a RESPECTFUL manner. It does not give you the right to be an OBNOXIOUS, HATEFUL SHIT.

Coops has stated he no longer enjoys developing this game. He has also stated that he has drained most of his financial resources doing so, and is not able to make ends meet, at the current level of support- and I believe him.

To Coops: Honestly, I think you should tell the haters to take a flying leap, tank the game, and pursue a career that is more personally and financially rewarding. Life is far too short to waste it doing something you hate; doubly so, when you can't even pay the bills.

Thats all I've got.

-Dagget out-

[Marcus]

I agree with the telling haters to take a flying leap, but to tank the game? Seriously? Coops is not wasting time doing something he hates, if that were the case, this game would have ended years ago.
Yes, Coops deserves more, so does his wife who also bears the brunt of things. For people to say, well, if i ran this game, or if this isn't changed i'll quit all i will say is this.. You are NOT running this game and if you can't accept the game as it is, btw, it's a FREE game, quit, no one will stop you. It will be your loss.
Do i want to see people leave? Hell no!! But to see the crap that Coops has had to deal with, some people need to step back and grow up. I think Coops is owed apologies from many people, will he get them, doubtful, those that need to only care about themselves.

[Tye Dagget]

I agree with the telling haters to take a flying leap, but to tank the game? Seriously?

Yes- seriously.

Coops is not wasting time doing something he hates, if that were the case, this game would have ended years ago.

Whether or not the game would have ended has no bearing on whether or not he's wasting his time. Even if the game was relatively successful money-wise, if he hated the job, it would still be a waste of time. He could be filling that time with something he loves; or, at the very least, something he doesn't hate.

It's like the guy that racks up a hundred thousand dollars worth of student debt in law school, spends 15 years working his way up in a high-powered law firm, then realizes he hates being a lawyer. A friend says to them, "Well, if you're really that miserable why don't you move into a new profession?"

The lawyer argues that he's spent fifteen years of his life and accrued massive debts, and he can't just throw all of that away and start over. But the alternative is to continue what you're doing and remain completely miserable unless or until you're finally able to retire.

This is Insane. If you hate your circumstances and your job is sucking the joy out of your life, make a change.

I stand by my previous statement.

[Marcus]

You are entitled to this opinion of course, but you will be in a vast minority who will agree.

[Akkamaddi]

My Buddhist friends have a belief on helping others, that if you begin to resent those you are trying to help, it is time to move on. Few benefit, and only little.

I've seen game moderators who become bitter and resentful. They are spiteful, and kick/ban to appease the bruises of their jaded ego.

As much as I want to keep playing this game, I do agree with Tye in that I would rather see the game fold than see Coops become a nasty old bastard, with few he favors and many he spites, or sold of to a company that turns it into a micro-transaction farm.

[XPLODE]

I'd be happy with a small game update every 6 months, at the current rate of constant additions and playtesting i'd think someone would get burned out.

Besides he said he'd stop developing, he didn't say anything about closing down the server.
The whole game i imagine could go on for a few years without any updates at all.
Events from time to time would probably be the only thing required to keep most of us happy.

As far as sending hatemail to him, i think it's completely out of line.

[jcheung]

as much as i would hate to see progression halt on the development of this game, i really can't say i would hate him for it...

but as xplode said, i wouldn't mind at all if the additions had a longer break between them! in fact, i would like it

[Rexx Shredd]

Tye, although your post is a bit on the abrasive side, I understand what you are saying, but it isnt as simple as "just walking away" to lower ones blood pressure.....As a musician - particularly when I was signed on a fairly large indie label during the 90s getting paid to do MY music - I understand more than some others that a craft takes on a life of its own at some point. When you hear the term "Well, its your baby" being applied to someone's creative project, that term is more than just an ambiguous metaphor - its actually the truth.

The CE Universe is a creation and, at some point, the elaborate coding that has gone into CE can be argued as "art". There is a lot of love and soul that has gone into this game, more than most. This is the only MMO I have played where I can actually PM the primary Devs personally - and get a response, too - without the interference of CSRs running blockade for a larger company. Its also the only game I have played where the Devs actually draw many of their ideas from suggestions by the players (Most games have a "Suggestions" section but CE is the only one I can think of that takes it seriously). There are SO many other things just like this that happens here. As the game has developed for me over the past four years - everything from coding in the Wormhole anchors to Expanse Setts - there is a love here that any player can feel.

It really isnt as simple as just shutting it down and walking away. For Coops to make his statement the way he did is more than just a threat to shut it down -- Its a reminder that he is human, and that his "art"/CE - that he has poured so much soul and guts into - is being trodden upon. For me, it would be like painstakingly writing and recording a song, playing every instrument and arranging all the parts, just to have someone tell me "Your song sucks and your a piece of sh*t". Tact goes a loooong way here: I dont have a problem with people not liking my music, but at least dont be heartless and without guile when expressing your opinions to me -- Its disrespectful, and I think thats what hurt Coops the most

[Locknload]

Tag em and Bag em...Time to move on!

Semper Fi

Lockknload

[Akkamaddi]

The CE Universe is a creation and, at some point, the elaborate coding that has gone into CE can be argued as "art". There is a lot of love and soul that has gone into this game, more than most.

That is a comment I really want to point to. I work in IT. The "knowledge" most people have about computers is what their Glowing Rectangular God belches on to them as they watch CSI or some such. First, many people really are so painfully ignorant about computers that they really do conflate "programming" with sorcery. I am entirely serious about that. I have had people with higher degrees (masters and up) demand that I "do something on the computer" to move power outlets and light switches along walls, make monitors grow larger, make desk hutches grow taller, and make desks float in the air and move around. Everyone is an expert on computers, and you cannot tell them otherwise, no matter how absurd the nonsense they believe is.

Second, there is a mindset that you don't have to know anything as long as there is someone lower on the social scale you can bully to do it for you, just as you don't have to know how to scrub a toilet as long as you can pay a poor person to do it for you.

These combine to a too-common mindset of "I know it's magic, and I don't have to know any more because someone will do it for me."

The movie "Monsters" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1470827/) was done by a special effects artist. The director's commentary is very good, and he talks about how people he speaks with are suddenly less impressed when they find out that he does CGI special effects. He says that a lot of people think using a computer is an easy cop-out, because, as he says, "you just hit control-shift-M, and the computer generates a monster for you."

So...

Everyone, get your screen-shot ready....

Thank you, Captain Rexx Shredd, for making that point. You are once again glorious.

Good programming and good design (two very different skills) are both skill and art, and they take skill, education, and practice to acquire.

Coops doesn't just open Notepad, and type "Computer, generate game content for me. I want a new item enhancement system. Use crystals. RUN". To re-create this game as-is would probably take one person at least a year's full-time work. (That's ignoring any development work or expansion, just re-creating what exists.) Unlike what the Glowing Rectangular God belches out, one doesn't just pop something like CE out of Word in a few hours. Good development, and the long, long, long time testing and bug-fixing, can easily be months per project. I know Coops buys most of the art, and that is another refined skill. I'm sure each game tile is at least a day's worth of work, especially if it is rendered in something like Blender and then exported.

The expertise that has gone into Core Exiles is a testament to Coops' skill, caring, and patience.