OP
OP
Remember that time Tim Schafer insulted Bobby Kotick?
- Thread starter mindsale
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Yes and like I said you're making it more about Tim than Bobby. We all knew even back then that Bobby is shit. Like this vindicates Tim or something? Did he even need vindication? It's just really weird framing, and clearly I'm not alone in thinking this going by the replies
I helped fund Double Fine's adventure game and one of the perks was that I got to see a mini documentary of it as it was being developed. Of those entries, one of the ones that stuck out to me the most was when John Romero came to visit him with some fancy car and convinced him to get his car fixed up and Schafer said something along the lines of...
"when I see the path my peers have taken with their careers I wonder if I'm really doing the right thing"
He founded and managed one of the most beloved studios in the industry but drove around a pretty old beaten down car that needed some TLC.
It was a small throwaway moment but it's one of the reasons why I like Tim Schafer, not just as a creator, but as a person. There are few gaming executives who I'd believe in when they say something like this:
...but I believe it if it came from Schafer's mouth.
I hope he doesn't prove me wrong in the future but he genuinely seems like he's one of the nicest people we have in the industry.
"when I see the path my peers have taken with their careers I wonder if I'm really doing the right thing"
He founded and managed one of the most beloved studios in the industry but drove around a pretty old beaten down car that needed some TLC.
It was a small throwaway moment but it's one of the reasons why I like Tim Schafer, not just as a creator, but as a person. There are few gaming executives who I'd believe in when they say something like this:
(from this thread)
...but I believe it if it came from Schafer's mouth.
I hope he doesn't prove me wrong in the future but he genuinely seems like he's one of the nicest people we have in the industry.
Tim Schafer has a special role in all of this. In a way, he's vindicated, yes. After being mistreated by multiple publishers and not knowing if Double Fine would be open every few months, he now has financial security and just helped make a game he wanted to make for so long with full creative freedom. In the meantime, Bobby Kotick and Activision-Blizzard have to hide the publisher's name from Call of Duty Vanguard, every studio they have is only working on Call of Duty and Blizzard titles, and, the most pressuring issue of it all, there's all kinds of abuse happening at the company, which included the death of an employee and more. Activision-Blizzard will likely (hopefully) lose the lawsuit and will have big consequences.
I don't think Tim is truly concerned about any of this, though. He's probably just celebrating how well Psychonauts 2 is doing with everyone at Double Fine. And, after so many years of struggling, they all deserve it.
OP
OP
Tim has been public in the documentary that the crunch on Psychonauts 1 was brutal and he would never go back to those days, so has made sure they don't employ crunch on their games ever since. It seems a lot of the developers are still there or have worked for many years, so the turnover isn't as big as other AA or AAA studios.
Hasn't Bobby Kotick always been hated? I remember people kept shitting on him even in the original Guitar Hero days. That's what happens when you only care about money and have the most punchable face in the industry.
Came to post this. Most industry folks just aren't willing to rip on him in public.
No, you guys are sorely missing the point of what people are trying to tell you.
Like was said before: this isn't how life works, and the need to turn this into some tv show dramatization is, quite frankly, childish and overly simplistic.
You guys are acting as if this is a finale of a tv show where there's been this narrative of sympathic guy Tim Schafer finally has his comeuppance over villain Kotick because Tim insulted Kotick once ten years ago and now happens to release a well reviewed game at the same time while Koticks company is in legal trouble.
No one here is saying Kotick is a guy worth defending. Quite the opposite, Kotick has always been hated. 2010 was the period when Activision was grinding franchises like Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Skylanders into the ground. Schafers insult didn't go unnoticed back then either and it wasn't even controversial since he was saying what everyone was thinking. This isn't about defending Kotick at all.
What this is about, is frustration at this framing where this is some kind of victory. A narrative created so you can do some empty, meaningless dunk on Kotick and feel good about it because obviously, since Schafer insulted Kotick once and is now releasing a good game, the good guys must be winning. You get to feel good, score some internet points and go onwards to the next A vs B narrative.
It's unhealthy behaviour because not only does life just not work that way, it's also just incorrect framing. Kotick has been hated for over a decade, and he's still one of the richest men in the business. Activision is under the spotlight but it'll have zero effect on Kotick. And even if Kotick would ever get fired from his profit making machine, he'd still be personally fine. Meanwhile, while Schafer is a genuinely nice dude with loads of creativity who I wish nothing but the best, his deal with Activision broke off for good reasons, Double Fine was never very comfortable in its position in the industry and ultimately had to sell itself to Microsoft (who by the way, was the bad guy in a previous A vs B narrative tv show starring Tim Schafer which you could create a decade earlier. Which only drives my point on how useless and empty it is to do this).
So instead of making this about two people in an imaginary battle of right and wrong so you get a fabricated feeling of cosmic justice, just be glad that Tim Schafer is finally in a safe position to make the games he wants and support the Activision employees who want positive change in the company/industry.
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I remember a lot of stuff being said of him after his "taking the fun out of making games" comment, and that was in 2009.
Tim Schafer is an exemplary game developer, not being afraid to mock gamergate, call out bigots, support under priviledged in gaming, admitting and learning from his mistakes and yes calling Kotick a prick. This on top of being a legendary developer and creative genius. There should be more like him and less developers attacking journalists for crunch articles.
Maybe it's partly how the OP was framed about Schafer wounding up on the right side of history, but the "Bobby makes money" and "others hate him too "replies are still fucking weird. If there's no point to OP, what's the point of those replies? If anything they come off as antagonistic towards Schafer. The premise for the thread might not generate good and insightful discussion, but it's also ok not to post. Especially if the contribution will be "oh yeah, well bobby is rich".
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Gotta have some friction in the discussion. Some people just go the opposite way regardless hah.
He was right then and now. If anything changed it was your perception of it.
Ive been wondering this for so long, MS hasnt exactly been above cooperate mismanagement, greediness, monopoly and underhanded tactics. I really feel people let their love for Xbox cloud their judgment of Microsoft the company. Not saying you cant like the brand but dont treat MS as some "good guy" ,they really arent, just a bit less bad becuase there hasnt be reports of widespread abuse like Activison. Getting bought by MS isnt a one-up.
I don't think anyone is framing it like a TV show. It was just a thread remembering what Tim said while noticing the difference between now and then.
I also don't think anyone has said Microsoft are "the good guys." Tim said on an interview that they now have financial security without having their creative freedom sacrificed in any way. So far, that's a pretty good deal for Double Fine, wouldn't you agree?
Wow, you're reading waaaaaaayyyyy too far into this. I don't see this is a finale of a TV show, or Tim Schafer defeating a villain, or a "narration created so we can feel good about it".
I just read the quote and went "Haha yeah, Kotick IS a dick. I like Schafer", and posted a comment. It was nothing more than that. It's not about "a fabricated feeling of cosmic justice" or "an imaginary battle of right and wrong" or whatever the hell weird narrative you're talking about.
Sheesh, talk about being dramatic from someone complaining that everyone else is overdramatizing the situation.
Personal spats we know no details about between two kinda famous people none of us really know anything about. Honestly, sounds like "emotional reaction - the thread" as there's nothing of substance to discuss. Bobby - bad, Schafer - good? Feels like gossiping in high school.
Idk man, Kotick is a dick, but a business oriented one, and Schaffer did fail as manager in a joint business…
