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Video Game Industry Thread: May is done, go to the next one

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    mrt144mrt144 King of the Numbernames Registered User regular
    tyrannus wrote: »
    Typically it is either better to incorporate in the home state or in Delaware, which is very favorable to corporations. As for State Corporation Codes, Delaware actually uses their own and not (R)MBCA, like Rhode Island does. But all I've seen so far was that the loan was contingent on moving jobs and nexus into Rhode Island.

    Which just boggles the mind. Moving jobs into a state for gaming is just asinine considering the way the gaming industry works.

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    skeldareskeldare Gresham, ORRegistered User regular
    Turkey wrote: »
    Looks like Nintendo's getting in the preorder DLC business with Pokemon Conquest.

    It's a DS game, so it's probably not REALLY DLC.

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    L Ron HowardL Ron Howard The duck MinnesotaRegistered User regular
    I'm just seeing tons of stuff about 38 Studios, so sorry for spamming.

    http://www.necn.com/05/25/12/Czar-of-Amalur-puts-blame-on-RI-governor/landing_newengland.html?blockID=714028&feedID=4206

    Yes, it's the Governor's fault for not giving them money. You read that right.

    I stole that link from here:
    http://www.brokentoys.org/2012/05/25/the-week-the-music-died/
    However, Schilling is also a very wealthy man (over $114m over the length of his career), and a political conservative who has consistently demanded that government not be involved in the private sphere, except where he is involved. There is a word for that and it isn’t “great” or “generous”, it is “ragingly hypocritical“. But even beyond that, Schilling failed the 400 people who depended on him.

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    CadeCade Eppur si muove.Registered User regular
    I wonder how many tax breaks and deals that the governor in charge now has given to big businesses etc.

    But those damn dirty videogames with all their violence and sexism....

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    wirehead26wirehead26 Registered User regular
    It's not like Schilling earned his money illegally or unethically but he is a hypocrite for taking money from the government when he could have footed the bill. He still has time to look good by the end of this though but he won't.

    I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!!
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    cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    Cade wrote: »
    I wonder how many tax breaks and deals that the governor in charge now has given to big businesses etc.

    But those damn dirty videogames with all their violence and sexism....

    I can't speak for Rhode Island, but in my experience it's pretty uncommon to have tax breaks and incentives blow up in everyone's faces like that.

    Though the argument about whether those tax breaks and incentives are necessary in the first place is a whole 'nother can of worms.

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    tyrannustyrannus i am not fat Registered User regular
    Schilling is a hypocrite for so many other reasons too.

    http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2012/05/16/welfare-queen/

    From him:
    “There can be no question our country is in the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. I also think there can be no question that it falls on us, the individuals, to find a way out of our own personal crisis.”

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    SoundsPlushSoundsPlush yup, back. Registered User regular
    I don't recall reading about this in the other thread, but:

    http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/5/25/3043282/38-studios-downfall-leads-to-second-mortgages-for-some-employees
    Some of the hundreds of 38 Studios employees laid off yesterday were hit with a second round of bad news this week when they were told by banks that homes they thought the company had sold for them hadn't been and that they may be stuck with a second mortgage, Polygon has learned.

    Also:
    One former employee said they discovered this week that their Massachusetts home, which they had been told was sold last year, actually hadn't been. The bank contacted them this week to ask why they mortgage wasn't being paid.

    The company was in charge of selling the homes of employees who relocated? Is that a common practice?

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    CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/5/25/3043282/38-studios-downfall-leads-to-second-mortgages-for-some-employees
    Some of the hundreds of 38 Studios employees laid off yesterday were hit with a second round of bad news this week when they were told by banks that homes they thought the company had sold for them hadn't been and that they may be stuck with a second mortgage, Polygon has learned.

    Several sources directly impacted by the mortgage issue confirmed the news today and a 38 Studios official, who asked to not be named, said the company is working to try and get to the bottom of the notifications and find a resolution.

    One former employee said they discovered this week that their Massachusetts home, which they had been told was sold last year, actually hadn't been. The bank contacted them this week to ask why they mortgage wasn't being paid.

    It is unclear how many of 38 Studio's 288 Rhode Island employees may be impacted, but it will likely only affect some of those who were part of the company's relocation program. The program, we were told, was used to help employees moving from Massachusetts to Rhode Island when the company relocated.

    The bank notifications raise the specter of how the financing for the relocations were handled. If the company used state-backed money to finance homes or pay mortgages while the homes were being sold it could mean that 38 Studios violated the terms of the agreement with the state.

    Reached for comment this afternoon, state officials told Polygon they had no independent knowledge of the mortgage issue.

    During an afternoon press conference today, Gov. Lincoln Chafee told a gathering of press that because 38 Studios didn't alert the state ahead of time about the layoffs the company is once more in default on the agreement.

    Chafee spent much of the conference answering increasingly hostile questions and reminding the gathering that he opposed the deal, which was made under another governor.

    He also said that celebrity may have played a factor in the state making the agreement, but that it never impacted his opinion on the deal.

    "When I looked at him I saw a business man, not a baseball player," he said.

    38 Studios laid off all 379 employees, 288 of them in Rhode Island, yesterday afternoon in a terse email. Sources tell Polygon that the company had not been communicating with employees, or paying them, for nearly a month prior to the mass layoffs.

    ...

    Couscous on
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    L Ron HowardL Ron Howard The duck MinnesotaRegistered User regular
    I don't recall reading about this in the other thread, but:

    http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/5/25/3043282/38-studios-downfall-leads-to-second-mortgages-for-some-employees
    Some of the hundreds of 38 Studios employees laid off yesterday were hit with a second round of bad news this week when they were told by banks that homes they thought the company had sold for them hadn't been and that they may be stuck with a second mortgage, Polygon has learned.

    Also:
    One former employee said they discovered this week that their Massachusetts home, which they had been told was sold last year, actually hadn't been. The bank contacted them this week to ask why they mortgage wasn't being paid.

    The company was in charge of selling the homes of employees who relocated? Is that a common practice?

    Sometimes, yes. Apparently in this case, as incentive to get the employees to move to RI, they bought the mortgage to get them out of the house and into RI to work.
    When my father was transferred, his company did this, to get him moved as soon as possible and not worry about the house where we lived at the time.

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    skeldareskeldare Gresham, ORRegistered User regular
    Ugh, what a depressing thread so far.

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    L Ron HowardL Ron Howard The duck MinnesotaRegistered User regular
    It wouldn't be an Industry thread without enough DOOOOM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoCZ07hwoZ4

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    Brainiac 8Brainiac 8 Don't call me Shirley... Registered User regular
    skeldare wrote: »
    Turkey wrote: »
    Looks like Nintendo's getting in the preorder DLC business with Pokemon Conquest.

    It's a DS game, so it's probably not REALLY DLC.


    Pokemon does dlc...but then again, it's one of the few that do.

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    skeldareskeldare Gresham, ORRegistered User regular
    Brainiac 8 wrote: »
    skeldare wrote: »
    Turkey wrote: »
    Looks like Nintendo's getting in the preorder DLC business with Pokemon Conquest.

    It's a DS game, so it's probably not REALLY DLC.


    Pokemon does dlc...but then again, it's one of the few that do.

    Technically, all the info is on the cart.

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    wirehead26wirehead26 Registered User regular
    tyrannus wrote: »
    Schilling is a hypocrite for so many other reasons too.

    http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2012/05/16/welfare-queen/

    From him:
    “There can be no question our country is in the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. I also think there can be no question that it falls on us, the individuals, to find a way out of our own personal crisis.”

    I don't think that makes him any more of a hypocrite. I mean his heart seemed to be in the right place by forming the company but in the end he dodged all the personal responsibility. The RI state government didn't help either so pretty much everyone failed here.

    I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!!
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    LilnoobsLilnoobs Alpha Queue Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    wirehead26 wrote: »
    tyrannus wrote: »
    Schilling is a hypocrite for so many other reasons too.

    http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2012/05/16/welfare-queen/

    From him:
    “There can be no question our country is in the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. I also think there can be no question that it falls on us, the individuals, to find a way out of our own personal crisis.”

    I don't think that makes him any more of a hypocrite. I mean his heart seemed to be in the right place by forming the company but in the end he dodged all the personal responsibility. The RI state government didn't help either so pretty much everyone failed here.

    Except, ya know, the people that are actually being dragged through shit, the employees.

    Lilnoobs on
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    ArcSynArcSyn Registered User regular
    I don't recall reading about this in the other thread, but:

    http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/5/25/3043282/38-studios-downfall-leads-to-second-mortgages-for-some-employees
    Some of the hundreds of 38 Studios employees laid off yesterday were hit with a second round of bad news this week when they were told by banks that homes they thought the company had sold for them hadn't been and that they may be stuck with a second mortgage, Polygon has learned.

    Also:
    One former employee said they discovered this week that their Massachusetts home, which they had been told was sold last year, actually hadn't been. The bank contacted them this week to ask why they mortgage wasn't being paid.

    The company was in charge of selling the homes of employees who relocated? Is that a common practice?

    Sometimes, yes. Apparently in this case, as incentive to get the employees to move to RI, they bought the mortgage to get them out of the house and into RI to work.
    When my father was transferred, his company did this, to get him moved as soon as possible and not worry about the house where we lived at the time.

    What's the legal story here though. If employees are being notified that they haven't been paying their mortgages and the houses never sold, can they refer to their employment contract to avoid the credit damage and foreclosure that will likely occur? There's got to be some safe haven for these people if the company didn't even sell their houses or even take their names off the mortgage!

    4dm3dwuxq302.png
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    The WolfmanThe Wolfman Registered User regular
    When I looked at him I saw a business man, not a baseball player," he said.

    Evidentily a pretty shitty business man, I'd say.

    Seriously, if I'm going to call Shilling and Co. human trash, it's not because he walked away unharmed, though that is pretty scummy. It's that they apparently never bothered to tell their employees just how utterly fucked they were. We have employees who haven't seen a paycheck in nearly a month. We have employees with a pregnant wife who was told by their doctor during a checkup that their insurance had run out. We have employees who now have a second mortgage because oops! Turns out the company never did take care of that despite saying they did.

    Fuck, just imagine that happening to the same family. Guy with pregnant wife has his insurance yanked under him, is now slapped with a second mortgage, and hasn't seen a dime in 3 weeks. And none of it was his fault, other than working for the absolute wrong company at the time.

    But hey. Good to know Curt Shilling is in the clear.

    "The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
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    SyphonBlueSyphonBlue The studying beaver That beaver sure loves studying!Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    Lilnoobs wrote: »
    wirehead26 wrote: »
    tyrannus wrote: »
    Schilling is a hypocrite for so many other reasons too.

    http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2012/05/16/welfare-queen/

    From him:
    “There can be no question our country is in the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. I also think there can be no question that it falls on us, the individuals, to find a way out of our own personal crisis.”

    I don't think that makes him any more of a hypocrite. I mean his heart seemed to be in the right place by forming the company but in the end he dodged all the personal responsibility. The RI state government didn't help either so pretty much everyone failed here.

    Except, ya know, the people that are actually being dragged through shit, the employees.

    Also the government helped to the tune of about $75 million dollars. Not their fault the company wasted it by "developing" an MMO nobody wanted. And buying another company developing another game nobody wanted.

    SyphonBlue on
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    HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    Couscous wrote: »
    http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/5/25/3043282/38-studios-downfall-leads-to-second-mortgages-for-some-employees
    Some of the hundreds of 38 Studios employees laid off yesterday were hit with a second round of bad news this week when they were told by banks that homes they thought the company had sold for them hadn't been and that they may be stuck with a second mortgage, Polygon has learned.

    Several sources directly impacted by the mortgage issue confirmed the news today and a 38 Studios official, who asked to not be named, said the company is working to try and get to the bottom of the notifications and find a resolution.

    One former employee said they discovered this week that their Massachusetts home, which they had been told was sold last year, actually hadn't been. The bank contacted them this week to ask why they mortgage wasn't being paid.

    It is unclear how many of 38 Studio's 288 Rhode Island employees may be impacted, but it will likely only affect some of those who were part of the company's relocation program. The program, we were told, was used to help employees moving from Massachusetts to Rhode Island when the company relocated.

    The bank notifications raise the specter of how the financing for the relocations were handled. If the company used state-backed money to finance homes or pay mortgages while the homes were being sold it could mean that 38 Studios violated the terms of the agreement with the state.

    Reached for comment this afternoon, state officials told Polygon they had no independent knowledge of the mortgage issue.

    During an afternoon press conference today, Gov. Lincoln Chafee told a gathering of press that because 38 Studios didn't alert the state ahead of time about the layoffs the company is once more in default on the agreement.

    Chafee spent much of the conference answering increasingly hostile questions and reminding the gathering that he opposed the deal, which was made under another governor.

    He also said that celebrity may have played a factor in the state making the agreement, but that it never impacted his opinion on the deal.

    "When I looked at him I saw a business man, not a baseball player," he said.

    38 Studios laid off all 379 employees, 288 of them in Rhode Island, yesterday afternoon in a terse email. Sources tell Polygon that the company had not been communicating with employees, or paying them, for nearly a month prior to the mass layoffs.

    ...

    This is really turning away from video games and into actual ethical issues. I'm seconds away from leading a pitchfork mob over this. This isn't just cruel in its omission, it's fucking evil. I hope these employees are able to class-action suit against the former heads of 38 Studios because they need some reparation here.

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    Eat it You Nasty Pig.Eat it You Nasty Pig. tell homeland security 'we are the bomb'Registered User regular
    I'm not really familiar with how relocation works (aside from getting a lump some to move, once), but that just seems weird from every angle.

    Like, they turned over their mortgage to the company to handle, and then the company just like, sat on it without assuming the debt? And told the homeowners 'oh yeah, we sold it, no worries?'

    that seems like the kind of thing I would have asked for some documentation of

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    BullioBullio Registered User regular
    At what point can I buy KoA without Schilling getting any of my money, and how close are we to that point?

    steam_sig.png
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    AZChristopherAZChristopher Registered User regular
    I'm not really familiar with how relocation works (aside from getting a lump some to move, once), but that just seems weird from every angle.

    Like, they turned over their mortgage to the company to handle, and then the company just like, sat on it without assuming the debt? And told the homeowners 'oh yeah, we sold it, no worries?'

    that seems like the kind of thing I would have asked for some documentation of

    Yeah, I would think there would be title work involved.

    In the last thread we had one of the employees come in, post the video to the trailer, and comment on how they were reading this. Man, I hope most of you guys are landing on your feet.

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    LolkenLolken Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    I don't think /popcorn has really been this appropriate.

    When I heard "McFarlane" and "Salvatore" in the same sentence, I knew something bad would happen.

    I feel for the jobless guys, but no sane mind would put money in those two people in a normal situation - and they hoped they would sell, what, more than 5 millions units with a brand new IP, based only on those two (very rich) have-beens (who weren't very good even at their prime)?

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    LilnoobsLilnoobs Alpha Queue Registered User regular
    Bullio wrote: »
    At what point can I buy KoA without Schilling getting any of my money, and how close are we to that point?

    According to every publisher everywhere and always, just buy it used.

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    The EnderThe Ender Registered User regular
    Lolken wrote: »
    I don't think /popcorn has really been this appropriate.

    When I heard "McFarlane" and "Salvatore" in the same sentence, I knew something bad would happen.

    I feel for the jobless guys, but no sane mind would put money in those two people in a normal situation - and they hoped they would sell, what, more than 5 millions units with a brand new IP, based only on those two (very rich) have-beens (who weren't very good even at their prime)?

    I believe it was only 3 million units, but yes, that was a rather terrible plan.


    ...Well, then again, I suppose it wasn't, at least for Shilling. Who has an incredibly appropriate last name.

    With Love and Courage
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    AllforceAllforce Registered User regular
    I'm not really familiar with how relocation works (aside from getting a lump some to move, once), but that just seems weird from every angle.

    Like, they turned over their mortgage to the company to handle, and then the company just like, sat on it without assuming the debt? And told the homeowners 'oh yeah, we sold it, no worries?'

    that seems like the kind of thing I would have asked for some documentation of

    I'm sure they listed the homes, assumed the payments each month, and there they sat for all these months unsold. It's a shit real estate market right now, you try to sell a house lately? So when the company goes belly-up that mortgage reverts to the owner of the house, aka the employee. It's not rocket science and it's not some evil plan to fuck over employees. You think they planned to close and stick everyone with back mortgage payments?

    I don't even LIKE this game, company, or Curt Schilling (for purely baseball reasons) and I feel like I'm the only one who sees this for what it is without succumbing to the completely stupid internet mob mentality. Yes, bad things happen and it sucks. Employees losing their jobs sucks and I'm sure these folks saw the writing on the wall 24 days ago when THEY DIDN'T GET PAID. No one was blind-sided. 99% of the internet is making this out like "Haha Curt Schilling stole millions of dollars from Rhode Island and his own employees, AND HE FORCED A PREGNANT WOMAN TO GO WITHOUT INSURANCE MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA".

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    The EnderThe Ender Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    So when the company goes belly-up that mortgage reverts to the owner of the house, aka the employee. It's not rocket science and it's not some evil plan to fuck over employees. You think they planned to close and stick everyone with back mortgage payments?

    It doesn't have to be an evil plan; the act in and of itself is immoral.
    I don't even LIKE this game, company, or Curt Schilling (for purely baseball reasons) and I feel like I'm the only one who sees this for what it is without succumbing to the completely stupid internet mob mentality. Yes, bad things happen and it sucks. Employees losing their jobs sucks and I'm sure these folks saw the writing on the wall 24 days ago when THEY DIDN'T GET PAID. No one was blind-sided. 99% of the internet is making this out like "Haha Curt Schilling stole millions of dollars from Rhode Island and his own employees, AND HE FORCED A PREGNANT WOMAN TO GO WITHOUT INSURANCE MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA".

    Schilling was either grossly irresponsible or intended to torpedo the company and run off with the money. The latter is a common enough practice that it's not unreasonable to think that this is what he did, but whatever - suppose that he really was only grossly irresponsible. What he did is still immoral. It doesn't matter if it was part of some grand scheme or not; denying pay to employees that have rendered services to you and then kicking them out the door because you've gone insolvent is wrong. I mean, if someone refused to pay Schilling for services he or a company he owned rendered, how do you think he would assess that circumstance?

    And don't bother with the victim blaming angle. It's amazing what you can get indoctrinated and/or abused people to do for you.

    The Ender on
    With Love and Courage
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    The WolfmanThe Wolfman Registered User regular
    I would say having the bank call you up wondering where their money is for the second mortgage you didn't know you had the definition of a blindside. Especially when the company flat-out said "We sold it".

    "The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
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    plufimplufim Dr Registered User regular
    Allforce, the employees were explicitly told that their houses had been sold, not that they were still on the market. There is no defence of this lie to the employees.

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    AllforceAllforce Registered User regular
    I would say having the bank call you up wondering where their money is for the second mortgage you didn't know you had the definition of a blindside. Especially when the company flat-out said "We sold it".

    We don't know all the details, just random postings on forums that state this and that with no sort of evidence. I would think if they told them "we sold it" the common response to that from an employee would be "how much?". Were they given fair market value for their home when the company agreed to sell it for them? Or just a cut of any profits? Nobody knows shit

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    ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    I don't recall reading about this in the other thread, but:

    http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/5/25/3043282/38-studios-downfall-leads-to-second-mortgages-for-some-employees
    Some of the hundreds of 38 Studios employees laid off yesterday were hit with a second round of bad news this week when they were told by banks that homes they thought the company had sold for them hadn't been and that they may be stuck with a second mortgage, Polygon has learned.

    Also:
    One former employee said they discovered this week that their Massachusetts home, which they had been told was sold last year, actually hadn't been. The bank contacted them this week to ask why they mortgage wasn't being paid.

    The company was in charge of selling the homes of employees who relocated? Is that a common practice?

    Sometimes, yes. Apparently in this case, as incentive to get the employees to move to RI, they bought the mortgage to get them out of the house and into RI to work.
    When my father was transferred, his company did this, to get him moved as soon as possible and not worry about the house where we lived at the time.

    Same thing happened when my father transferred and we moved. IBM bought out the mortgage and sold the house on its own. I'm pretty sure my parents took less than it was "worth," but it was a buyer's market then too (20ish years ago).

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    Xenogears of BoreXenogears of Bore Registered User regular
    Sad shameful shit is what it sounds like.

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    CadeCade Eppur si muove.Registered User regular
    Has any stories come out that the workers have gotten new jobs? There was a considerable effort on twitter to make them aware of new jobs in various companies.

    Probably too soon to really know but if lucky a good number of them will get something decent.

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    KiplingKipling Registered User regular
    Allforce wrote: »
    I would say having the bank call you up wondering where their money is for the second mortgage you didn't know you had the definition of a blindside. Especially when the company flat-out said "We sold it".

    We don't know all the details, just random postings on forums that state this and that with no sort of evidence. I would think if they told them "we sold it" the common response to that from an employee would be "how much?". Were they given fair market value for their home when the company agreed to sell it for them? Or just a cut of any profits? Nobody knows shit

    I don't understand how you can be surprised by this - a real estate transaction is recorded. If you didn't actually sign paper work transferring it over, you still own the house and any associated mortgage. I think that part if it does exist is really the employee's fault. You should never skip reading the paperwork on something that expensive.

    I think third parties usually handle this process for more large companies, because a large corporation doesn't want to keep track of houses on the books along with their offices and factories.

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    FairchildFairchild Rabbit used short words that were easy to understand, like "Hello Pooh, how about Lunch ?" Registered User regular
    mrt144 wrote: »
    tyrannus wrote: »
    Typically it is either better to incorporate in the home state or in Delaware, which is very favorable to corporations. As for State Corporation Codes, Delaware actually uses their own and not (R)MBCA, like Rhode Island does. But all I've seen so far was that the loan was contingent on moving jobs and nexus into Rhode Island.

    Which just boggles the mind. Moving jobs into a state for gaming is just asinine considering the way the gaming industry works.

    Roger that. The videogame industry, except for a handful of large, stable companies, is extraordinarily volatile with companies liable to fold up and vanish with only a few days' notice, as we've just seen. A foolish place for a state to invest $75 Million in taxpayer money. I think Rhode Island did it more to ad Curt Schilling's name to its masthead than they did to make a sound investment.

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    Xenogears of BoreXenogears of Bore Registered User regular
    It's because Schilling was in with the old governor.

    I'm not saying that giving out money for one of the bigger studios isn't a good idea, it actually is. Those are well paying jobs you'll add to the revenue base and anything to attract software engineers to an area is a good idea.

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    FairchildFairchild Rabbit used short words that were easy to understand, like "Hello Pooh, how about Lunch ?" Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    I am totally against government at any level giving out taxpayer loans or tax credits or bonds; long, repeated history has taught us that government is a horrible investor.

    Enterprise zones and similar steps to lower tax costs for businesses, that I'm very much in favor of, altho they are poor substitutes for cutting taxes across the board.

    Fairchild on
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    OneAngryPossumOneAngryPossum Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    I'm bothered that coming out of this the narrative will be how foolish it is for government to court the game development sector. It's an industry that would only benefit from a more diverse geographical presence, and one where upstarts should be supported where possible. Clearly Rhode Island's government weren't doing their due diligence, but I have no problem with the intent behind it (the good parts, not the do Curt Schilling a solid parts).

    OneAngryPossum on
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    The WolfmanThe Wolfman Registered User regular
    I don't see anything overtly dangerous about government funding games. I mean sure, it is more fickle and volatile than most other things, but as long as you do your homework, it shouldn't be all that bad. Problem here is, Rhode Island obviously didn't do said homework.

    -Unknown game studio (strike 1)
    -Wants to make an MMO (strike 2)
    -And makes another game who's profits will fund it, but more or less requires it to be a box office smash hit (strike 3)

    That's the obvious definition of a Hail Mary if I ever saw one. Or whatever the baseball equivalent would be. Could it work out? Sure, anything is possible. But the safe money is on no money. Only a fool would drop $75 million dollars into that portfolio.

    "The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
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