I can't say I'm that knowledgeable of the RPG industry, but watching the development of T5 is like watching the Keystone Cops. I can't imagine anything more amateur.
I can. It's watching people who have never tried to design anything in the industry accuse the man behind Traveller of some wild stuff (down to plagarism).
T5 in development for years.
Can't disagree there at all. Marc and I first discussed T5 in 1997.
Various invited playtesters leave disgruntled because Marc refuses to listen to their comments.
If this is in regards to the first "playtest", the old archives on the web I've seen tell a somewhat different tale. Admittedly, one side has taken its case to the internet, and attacked Marc every chance. And Marc's side has not said anything at all -- so most folks have only one side to go on. What I have seen is that while Rob tried to get things refocused on the old forum during that playtest, others took their case off those forums to every other Traveller site possible. Marc then gave them the heave because by giving Rob so much grief, what was the point? So their multi-pronged attack became a self-fulfilling prophecy, and they have their personal reputations invested in that. I'm not sure what it's like to live in that kind of a world, where everything is a grand conspiracy against you, but I wouldn't want to be there.
T5 announced year on year as being imminent, but never gets published.
Hmm... can't disagree there either. It's why I made Marc promise never to mention another date.
T5 announced as being sold as a beta CD-ROM so that others can do Marc's work in getting it into shape so it can be sold again as a book. (Marc wins award for most innovative business model for 2007).
Wow... that's the most one-sided piece of garbage ever. And I know -- because I deliberately setup the alpha to insure this accusation would not stick.
You see, behind those closed doors, we let people toss issues at Marc, but I was insistent that mechanic solutions NOT be passed. I wanted every solution, every added detail, to come from Marc.
If someone involved in the T5 Development Forum really believes your statement, I'd like them to say so. Until one of
them does, this accusation is completely bogus.
T5 CD-ROM announced as ready for release. (Much fanfare and releasing of pigeons).
See above, with the dates.
T5 not quite ready for release, but gets delayed just a bit longer, honest, just a few months.
Wow, you're doubling up. I'd agree with you again, but I really only think you should list that once.
Hold on a minute, actually T5 is so far away from release that the alpha version needs to be sold to people who then do Marc's work in getting it into shape as a beta.
Marc changed things late last year. And until we opened the forums in April, no one was looking at T5 but the Circle. And the rest of this is the "people do Marc's work for him" garbage I addressed above, and that's just garbage. Again, if someone active on the T5 development forum wants to make this accusation, I'm ready to hear it -- but I don't think they can. And anyone else doesn't know anything about the process, so their claims are not relevant.
A year later, T5 beta is now ready for sale.
Actually, it's been for sale for a while. And I fixed your spelling. It just was shipped.
Hang on a minute, it's still a beta (in fact some even speak of it as still an alpha), so those who have purchased it are asked not to speak about it.
Again, here's where folks not in the development forum won't understand. Alpha to me means there's no playable game. Beta, that's playable. We're definitely at beta. Anyone who's got the CD and says alpha, contact me and let me know how you define alpha and beta releases. And as far as not speaking about it, Marc doesn't want us to lose our focus by having to respond to outside discussions -- we really could stop making any progress at all -- and there are many who would love to see that happen. Go above where I talked about the many who are invested in seeing T5 fail. And it's gotten pretty obvious with this post that you must be one of those. I just don't get that mindset.
In total, an alpha that has been worked on by paying customers is released as a beta that's intended to be worked on yet more by paying customers so that some time later a book can be published and sold again. But in the meantime, no-one can talk about it. (Marc wins most innovative business model for 2008).
I've already ripped this apart. It's a great accusation until you're dealing with anyone who participated in the T5 development forums.
And as icing on the cake, the announcement of T5 on the FEE web page has a typo.
And you had a typo I fixed in your post. And perhaps you should look at the FFE page, instead of that one you paid for. Two typos now.
I know, I know, I know, I don't have to buy T5. True, I'm not going to touch it with a barge pole. And I know others are entitled to throw their money and their time where they want to. I'm just commenting on the farcical and amateur way the whole thing has/is being handled.
And I'm responding on the sad way Marc and T5 are being attacked. It's amazing how many people NEED T5 to fail to vindicate their worldview. That just amazes me. You don't have to search very far with Google to find Marc being called the meanest things over T5. Did it hurt you guys that much to wake up one morning and see someone happy that they have the T5 preliminary edition CD?
And because Marc's asked them not to talk about it, and because they are actually honoring that request even though there's nothing he could do if they did, and they haven't signed NDAs -- they really own those CDs, you guys have nothing you can attack. So it's trot out the same old time-worn garbage?
The real fact is that T5 made it to CD without you (meaning "you" as a group, not personal). And that hurts. It hurts you, it hurts those who have turned hating Marc into a personal hobby. In truth -- you guys put yourselves on the sidelines. Any single one of you guys could have, at any point, stepped up and gotten involved. But you took the idea that Marc might have a vision of a game that was different from yours as an insult, and you let your animosity about that disagreement turn love of a game into hatred of its owner and designer.
So you will never buy T5. So you will never buy another book with Marc's name on the cover. Marc moved on, and you didn't. And over 650 others believed enough in Marc to put money down on it. Around 400 of them got access to the forums. A small portion of that 400 was very active in reviewing the drafts and raising issues. Hopefully more of them will get active as we continue development. Marc and T5 have moved on, and those who wanted to see him fail have not.
The delays, the dates, the bad drafts, the wild accusations -- I'm very sure we haven't seen the last of this stuff posted. If you have to do that to feel relevant, have fun. It's Christmastime, the T5 prelim CD has shipped, and nothing Marc, Rob or I, or any of the circle members, or the forum members, or the T5 purchasers will post will change your minds about it. Because you were invested in a failure that didn't happen.
I just don't understand that mindset at all.
