I pushed my point again in there for some answers....That's all I want and I really hope the answer is that the game can in fact be enhanced in those areas I referenced. But silence in legal terms can be an implied admission....and silence and attitude is what we currently have....
Implied admission is an admission that can be reasonably inferred from the act or statement of a party, or from a party�s failure to perform an act or make a statement. It is also called as tacit admission.
The Trial continutes....(the names have been changed to protect the innocent)
The 9th District Cyber Court for the Combat Flight Simulations, will come to order! The Honorable Judge Reality presiding...
Mr. Founder...call your first witness...
I call Jasun Willioms to the stand.......
Mr. Willioms...you've been asked some simple questions and it appears sir, that you are, well sir...shall we say for lack of a better word..."stonewalling" on providing the answers to some rather important questions regarding a game that you are currently marketing.
Sir....I have witnesses, and we are currently working on locating the documents which show..beyond a shadow of a doubt that you stated you were actively looking for a person to help you rework the campaign system within your game..BOS. Furthermore, it's on record that you have actively marketed said game, claiming that it can be enhanced by third parties in a number of areas.
Now Sir.....let's cut to the chase here...Can this game be enhanced in it's ability to support more AI, both in the air and on the ground, in such a way....so to simulate a historical battleground on the Eastern Front and at the same time...allow acceptable frame rates for the consumer? Are the tools there sir....to allow a third party to create interlocking missions in a dynamic environment to support an acceptable career mode as has been pre-determined by this games marketing predecessor..IL-2 Sturmovik and ROF? Can this game...be enhanced by third parties for large scale online war arenas, and can a "hyperlobby" type of system be provided allowing large numbers of online players access to these so-called missions?
Mr. Willioms....can I call you Jasun? Jasun is such a nice name... Jasun, are you feeling alright? (Jasun...is mumbling very softly.."just fly...just fly....just fly") Your Honor...I'd ask for a short recess it appears Mr.Willioms is experiencing "REALITY".
(Man speaking in broken English with Russian accent) Your Honor!
Yes, Mr. Lenon..
I call for a dismissal of this entire inquiry based on the fact that this court has jurisdiction over combat flight simulations, and it's a matter of record that my clients....have gone to great lengths to call this a "game".
Mr. Founder....?
Sir, while it is true the defendants have stipulated that this is in fact a game..that was not how the game was marketed from the early stages. It was only in the late stages after a significant amount of money had been collected from the Founders, (no relation) that they changed the classification to a GAME. In addition, even the marketed game design was changed mid stream as well.
Judge....
This court takes special interest in the delineation between what would be marketed as a simulation and that of a game, and since it appears that the defendants went to great lengths to garner funding for this project, and said project was portrayed as a Combat Flight Simulation, then this court affirms these proceedings within it's jurisdiction. Motion Denied Mr. Lenon!
And I caution you Mr. Lenon.....you are bringing your clients into a whole new area for inquiry.
Well I would disagree...Just using some humor to bring out some facts. Desperation is when you belittle your consumer/supporters by giving them flippant brush offs to legitimate concerns which have been allowed to go unanswered for months and months. Now it's time to step up and instead of inferring third party fixes....to validate the feasibility of substantial enhancements to this game. People are purchasing a product here, it involves peoples lives and a responsible foundation for marketing, with no inferences, needs to be established. Is that sad...? Yes, it's sad that's its been allowed to continue this long, unaddressed.
Ami...if you purchased a house from the builder...and he showed you the plans.....and you went ahead with the construction with him....and then 3/4's of the way...he said, we don't have time to do the plans as was previously outlined....You might be a little concerned. Even if his contract somewhere in there stipulated he reserved that right....which is the way it is here....Okay..things change...but then he said..listen, we might fix some of this ourselves but even if we don't you can have a third party come along and make the repairs...but knowing the entire time that the foundation couldn't support these repairs...Well that would be sad. And I believe that's what we have here.
The Dev's are the contractors, the architectural plans are the Dev Notes, and the game, is the house we have now. All I want to know..is can it be fixed over time... Now the kicker is..this same contractor is continuing to market "homes" to new customers...under the same inferences. Time to say..."hold on"...We need some answers.
And so I don't sound totally negative....I do have fun with the game...
Well, all in all...I have to say..I was allowed to say my piece on the BOS forum and for that I am appreciative. And I've come to the conclusion that the game cannot be tweaked to the levels that most of us would like. BOM is exactly what you guys and really....what they have said it's going to be....the same thing BOS is now.
Best case scenario from my perspective is Jason, meant well in saying that the campaign would be worked on, and he could just mean that third party improvements, well are the simple things like utilities and such, with really no improvements to the ability to bring it up to what we'd like it to be, because it just isn't a workable platform. They could tell us that.....but that would run counter to how they've interacted with us all along and being up front and honest might hurt sales.
I can't support the notion anymore that this game is going to be third partied up to anything like CLOD can accomplish and that would also jive with what you guys have been saying all along. I wanted to believe, but it's wishful thinking.
So I'm turning in my pom poms and my saddle oxfords for now.
And I agree with you and theOden, there were many of us, most of us, who were rooting for BoS. We all want the core of the next IL-2 1946. And we all know the content would have to come over time. But the community can't build the content without the tools.
The only thing that gives me a small glimmer of hope are the little things:
When I first asked if we would be given the ability to create campaigns with single missions, Zak jumped in and said "very doable" or something like that. But was then silenced.
Another dev on the Russian forum (can't remember his name) said "the devs" were talking to Albert (Loft) about building better SP content.
Jason has said he was outvoted on a traditional SP campaign several times.
So we've got someone upstairs (maybe Loft, maybe a marketing guy or accountant at 1C Company) who has ruined BoS for simmers and guessed wrong on casual gamer interest.
What I find hard to believe is that this person(s) won't get fired at some point. You can tell there are members of the 1CGS team who know damn well and good what's wrong with BoS and how to fix it, but their hands appear tied. The whole thing is a complete debacle and it will even surprise me more if BoS just goes down in flames without any attempts at resuscitation at some point. The game design around BoS is just so bad its hard to fathom. Its the most self destructive commercial effort I've ever seen in any line of business. You'd think someone would step in and stop the madness at some point.
Dogfighting is what you do "after" you drop your bombs and blow something up! Can you say "JABO!"
Jason has said he was outvoted on a traditional SP campaign several times.
Jason seems to go from victim to flight sim messiah in the blink of an eye.
As the world isn't black and white he has done both good and bad things even though lately mostly bad stuff and when called out on it, posting replies in a less than stellar manner. That said, he seems to be a "doer" and is most surely frustrated to some point while at the same time he needs to keep an official line that might not follow 100% what he wished for - this are things we will never get to know the whole truth about and I have no issues with that. We've all made bad decisions at times (but we keep Cybercut alert and on the edge ) so while I currently have no wish to buy anything from a company with Jasons name involved I can still see good things done too but they do not overweight his bad decisions. No Messiah at all even if I would state something done right.
At best the developers could say that they were continuing to evaluate the platform for modification in the future, or something like that....something addressing the consumer or potential consumer with a more tactful and professional style. But ignoring the question altogether ..with curt short snippets of what is obviously a "how dare you ask us this question, how dare you". Well, I'm a nice guy I think....but I don't like that "you talking to me, you talking to me" attitude.
I knew they'd answer that question if there was any way possible that some of that stuff could be accomplished, but now....well I got my answer with that exchange. After the initial..."what are you talking about" response....it was a done deal.
I've posted here many times that I don't look at Jason or that entire business with a "poor guys" outlook. It's a job for them, and any profession needs ethics and honest up front business practices. They boxed themselves in by fudging on the initial release and well...sooner or later that catches up to you.
But I have to say...they have been honest with BOM....it's going to be just like BOS. Great game for small schwarm size patrols....maybe escorting 6 stukas...going out to risk their lives attacking four tanks...I've mixed it up with 12 to 14 enemy aircraft in the area and it still plays well.
But it's not going to handle anything major...I mean even taking off with 6 to 8 aircraft at the same time....is a drag...
What does he do exactly, does anyone know? AFAIK he does marketing for the Western market. Is that right?
That is a very valid question. I was referencing his actions in regards of RoF but when it comes to BoS I really don't know - looks like he's into some kind of community damage control position and has no real powers when it comes to the actual product. And in all honesty he has not been very successful at community relations, to keep it polite.
) so while I currently have no wish to buy anything from a company with Jasons name involved I can still see good things done too but they do not overweight his bad decisions.