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Q&A w/ PEGShane
AngeluxMedia
Member Posts: 47
Let's condense this to one thread...
For those who don't know, PEGShane (President of Cheyenne Mountain) has surfaced here, and has agreed to answer resonable questions.
Here's the history so far from other threads:
PUGLA WROTE:
Feel free to copy these questions and answer them into the SGW official forums with your status clearly indicated to show the world. This is your chance, man: shoot down ALL of the rumors right now.
1. Tell us that everybody is getting paid on time
2. Tell us that MMOGULs was never the official plan for SGW from the boss (not from the lowly developers who have no say)
3. Tell us when you will start the next beta
4. Tell us when the game will be finished
Unless you're happy with Lisentia, supremeaaron, Loheat, Asrayel, and xxxRetsopmi as your only subscribers, you need to start marketing your game and reaching out to potential customers. And if you EVER want my money (meager contribution though it may be), you need to prove to me that MMOGULs either is NOT owned by Gary Whiting or that he will never see a penny of my money.
SHANE'S RESPONSE
Hi Pugla,
1) We haven't been paid in a long time--over four months as of this Friday. I don't think we've ever denied that. And no, "Khestral" hasn't been paid either, despite what someone here said. If we were silent about it, frankly it's because all of the people who usually handle all the forums and public relations left some time ago.
I made it a priority this week to try and share some information--good or bad--so you would know the truth about what's going on here. It's far less mysterious than the silence may have made it seem.
The employees who are left aren't looking for your sympathy, though of course well-wishes are always appreciated. We all know the risks and are big boys and girls. And if we do manage to get the game out and you folks like it, we of course will be rewarded for sticking it out, so that's what's in it for us.
2) MMOGULS was never the official plan for anything directly related to CME. Gary Whiting does own MMOGULS and CME, and if he makes money on one it's certainly his perogative to support the other with *his share* if he decides to do so. Whether you care for him or not, Gary has put everything he owns into the company and is the most passionate person in the world about SGW.
Moguls did originally show SGW and other internal projects at their presentations. I know because some of them went up on Youtube. But they also showed World of Warcraft and other games. We at CME asked them to stop showing our projects because we felt it would be seen exactly as you've seen it, and it would imply an official relationship since Gary was involved with both. But an MLM gaming site is not illegal and no different than Amway or Avon from a business perspective, as far as I know. And if it ultimately proved to be a "pyramid scheme" rather than a legitimate MLM, those behind it would be prosecuted, I'm sure.
How it all works I'm not privvy to--MLMs are definitely not my cup of tea either--and as I said before we have no official involvement with them whatsoever. We don't know the people who work there and they don't know us.I beileve some of our artists did a few pieces for their website at one point, but that was before I was involved with that group, and those people are gone now. We also had some people do some freelance work for them way back in March, I think.
3) I have no idea when we'll start the next beta. We have to solve our financial issues and re-hire staff to finish the excellent work that Dan Elggren, Chris Klug, Howard Lyon, Demetrius Comes, and all the rest of the SGW team put into the game. Some of the original SGW folks are left, but a good number of us who are still here were working on other projects previously. There's no doubt that means a significant delay at best.
4) See #3. But marketing is our least concern right now. I understand you need more information than you've been getting, and I'll do my best, but our problems are far deeper for the moment and we're working hard to solve them.
I understand I need to answer these questions on the SGW forums as well--I just don't know my way around over there very well yet--but I will. I don't have a "red name" yet either so people probably wouldn't believe I was real if I posted without it.
I also have an email interview with "JStrike" that I'll post here and on the SGW forums when I finish it.
I'm happy to continue asnwering any reasonable questions you have.
Thanks,
Shane
_______
SHANE RE: AUG 1st Deadline from MGM
August 1st is a milestone in the MGM contract, but they've so far made no indication that they're going to pull the license. My firm belief is that if we have committed investment they'll be *very* happy to see us re-staff and refocus on SGW. If not, I would guess they'll just let us fade away and see if someone else is interested down the road sometime.
But as I confirmed in the other thread, those of us who have gone four months without pay are simply at the end of our ropes. I am one of these. There were about 20 people in the office today though--that's how many we fed--so I won't speak for all of them.
My personal plan is to stay in town for another couple of weeks and see if things work out. If they do and the management wants me back, I'm very likely to do so. If things don't work out, I'll continue to help as much as I can, and continue to help other employees get jobs at places where I have strong contacts and can personally vouch for their skills.
I hope you'll reconsider the invite, Kyrie. It's a genuine offer and you're welcome to walk around and talk to whoever you want with no restrictions.
Shane
Comments
Q: Who is handling the forums and public relations then? Why are negative comments on the official forums being censored?
Also...
Q: You say that assuming you still have the license after the August 1st "milestone" in your contact with MGM you plan to "re-staff" and continue work on the game. I assume that by "re-staff" you mean to hire new people to replace those who are no longer willing to work without pay. Now, considering the fact you openly admit you have not been paid in four months, what incentive is there for new employees to come work for you? What will you say if during a job interview with a prospective new employee you are asked about payment?
The History of the Order of The Golden Shields
Q: Who is handling the forums and public relations then? Why are negative comments on the official forums being censored?
Valid question. Why ban Mershu and permit the forum members to attack her? She was only telling the truth according to the answer we get from PEGShane. Meanwhile, other forum members were allowed to violate several forum rules of conduct in their attacks on her. She got the ban, and they got the "internet hero" badges.
Geeked for FFXIV
Freelance FFXIV guide author for Ten Ton Hammer.com
Hi Raltar,
I admit to being rather ignorant of the SGW forums, but I certainly don't blame any moderator of any forum if blatantly hostile comments are deleted. Constructive criticism is appreciated--the rest just keeps us from trying to make good games. I know this topic alone could likely turn into a flame war with passionate people on both sides of it, so please just give me a little time to get immersed in the SGW culture a bit more and meet the moderators. Thanks in advance.
Our first choice to re-staff would obviously be former SGW folks--they know exactly what to do and I think a fair number of them are still around. Both those team members and any new ones would not be hired back if there's no further investment, however. I wouldn't ask them to. I don't ask the people who are here now, either. It's completely their choice, and many of those who have had to move on got great letters of recommendation from me or others here.
Shane
Q: Who is handling the forums and public relations then? Why are negative comments on the official forums being censored?
Also...
Q: You say that assuming you still have the license after the August 1st "milestone" in your contact with MGM you plan to "re-staff" and continue work on the game. I assume that by "re-staff" you mean to hire new people to replace those who are no longer willing to work without pay. Now, considering the fact you openly admit you have not been paid in four months, what incentive is there for new employees to come work for you? What will you say if during a job interview with a prospective new employee you are asked about payment?
Q: So are you saying that you will NOT continue development on SGW if there is no further investment from new and/or current investors? What will happen to the game and the progress that has been made so far if the decision is made to stop development?
The History of the Order of The Golden Shields
I know this may be a tough one to answer, but how do we know you are indeed Shane Hensley?
With a game surrounded in near-conspiracy-level speculation, it isn't beyond the reach of logic that some investor/employee/troll is upset and just wanting to trash SGW... Unfortunately, it's just too easy to lie on the internet, so I'm sure you can see how people could easily dismiss this all as a hoax.
I guess I'm saying that even those of us who have stuck it out this long won't be able to stay much longer. After that, I won't be involved and have no idea what will happen.
As I've said before though, Gary is passionate about it and will do anything and everything in his power to recover if it's at all possible.
Shane
Q: So are you saying that you will NOT continue development on SGW if there is no further investment from new and/or current investors? What will happen to the game and the progress that has been made so far if the decision is made to stop development?
He is the real deal. I will even vouch for him until he gets a more official color on these forums.
How do you know it's me? Hmmm. I dunno. Got a question for me?
Maybe one indication is that a pretender probably would have used a different screen name that looked more CME-like. I've had this one on all my accounts for over a decade. (The PEG in my name is for Pinnacle Entertainment Group, which is my personal company.) Someone said I've been registered on MMORPG for 3 years under this screen name too so if I'm a pretender I had a LOT of foresight. :P
Shane Lacy* Hensley
*Named after my grandfather, Lacy Ellis Davis. My kids have the same middle name.
How's that?
Shane
With all due respect, I believe the only thing Gary is "passionate about" is getting some more investor money in his pocket.
Here's a question: You guys have no money. Why? With all the money that was thrown at the project, why is there none now? We know very little made it to the actual dev team and development. So where did it go?
Thanks for taking the time to anwser my questions. I don't have anything else to ask and I'm pretty sure that lots of other people want a chance to ask their questions.
And you seem like the real deal to me, Although the endorsement from "Mershu" hurts your credibility more than it helps it in my mind.
The History of the Order of The Golden Shields
Thanks Raltar, you are swell! I take back my endorsement then. Getting answers is more important than your petty bullshit.
Last one for tonight--I gotta go to bed but will dive back in tomorrow.
You said:
Here's a question: You guys have no money. Why? With all the money that was thrown at the project, why is there none now? We know very little made it to the actual dev team and development. So where did it go?
SGW had around 80 people or so for 3+ years, I think. (I've been here since November of '06.) That's a ton of payroll, insurance, taxes, etc. Then there's the cost of the Unreal engine, BigWorld, facilities, etc. Some went to the other studios (like mine), and a bunch went to the publishing operation (too early, in my opinion). What it adds up to exactly I don't know--not my thing--and I have no doubt those who raised money took a finder's fee as they were entitled. But to say "not much went to dev teams" just isn't accurate in my opinion.
Shane
So far, I believe he's real. I've already emailed Jon earlier to look into getting Shane his forum title. Probably won't be until sometime tomorrow, asthings will have to be verified with Shane.
Well, I'll amend to say we've been given the impression that not much went to the dev team, which is why I asked the question. I'd like to get some of the "ugly" stuff out in the open and out of the way as much as possible. Anyway, thanks for the answers and have a good night.
Shane I'd like to thank you for being the first and only CME employee to "man up" and actually be prepared to speak on the current situation. Yes I've been harsh towards Khestral but I offer my frustration at being decieved or atleast the deafening silence as an excuse.
As for questions,
Q: "We don't know the people who work there and they don't know us.I beileve some of our artists did a few pieces for their website at one point, but that was before I was involved with that group, and those people are gone now. We also had some people do some freelance work for them way back in March, I think.". This statement appears to contradict itself, you say CME staff don't know MMOGULs staff. However you've worked for them and have arranged work to be done for them. Also their offices are one floor above yours and owned and run by your CEO and are selling the product you make. Also they've put cash into CME (which Whiting would have to ok with his business partners I suppose), I've also read the internal emial to staff selling MMOGULS to CME staff. My question, have you or any staff you know of been approached by other members of CME/Firesky/Cash sink studios, offering a financial contract of any type concerning MMOGULs?
Q: What do you know about Brad Wright and Michael Shanks comments? Why do you think they made them? How do you think they may have come to the conclusions they did? Was there any official comment on them at CME to staff?
Q: Why did your studio (superstion studio) get money that was meant for SGW? What does it do that CME can't?
Q: How long have you been President of CME? Doy you think CME will get SGW to launch anytime next year?
It's fine to just say "I don't know", I'd rather that than some bologne "Team Whiting justification" post. Since Mershu vouches for you then I'll take it you are who you say you are, which makes me suspicous of your motives for posting here. You are a minion of "Team Whiting" and only post after the first picture of Whiting ever seen in the 5 years of SGW gets slapped on the internet and just before the license comes up again.
Q: So my last question would be what is your motivation for posting here and not on the official site?
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
Hi Shane,
Vincent is speaking (CEO of VWORLD). I do have a question for you:
so, SGW makes use of the BigWorld technology suite and also makes use of the Unreal engine. Why? I mean, why would you need two engines since BigWorld is sold as a complete turn-key solution allowing to spend less time on the development per se , and for less money than many MMOs usually need, according to their marketing heads?
Thanks!
No, it's not only a flight sim
Current Work In Progress
Heya, _Pix_! Long time no see.
Agricola1 and myself were pondering that same question in another thread just the other day. Glad you brought it up.
Heyahhh Zorvan, good to see you haven't exactly quitted there too! Well, I've been a bit busy with a few things over the last few months (as you may check on my new sig).
Well it seems that I 'm good at bringing things up to the surface of the World
No, it's not only a flight sim
Current Work In Progress
Thanks Shane!
My understanding is that Big World didn't meet the client requirements of some members of the team back then. I wasn't around so I don't know first-hand. The solution was to blend the Unreal front-end with the Big World back-end.
Shane
Hi Shane,
Vincent is speaking (CEO of VWORLD). I do have a question for you:
so, SGW makes use of the BigWorld technology suite and also makes use of the Unreal engine. Why? I mean, why would you need two engines since BigWorld is sold as a complete turn-key solution allowing to spend less time on the development per se , and for less money than many MMOs usually need, according to their marketing heads?
Thanks!
Q: "We don't know the people who work there and they don't know us.I beileve some of our artists did a few pieces for their website at one point, but that was before I was involved with that group, and those people are gone now. We also had some people do some freelance work for them way back in March, I think.". This statement appears to contradict itself, you say CME staff don't know MMOGULs staff. However you've worked for them and have arranged work to be done for them. Also their offices are one floor above yours and owned and run by your CEO and are selling the product you make. Also they've put cash into CME (which Whiting would have to ok with his business partners I suppose), I've also read the internal emial to staff selling MMOGULS to CME staff. My question, have you or any staff you know of been approached by other members of CME/Firesky/Cash sink studios, offering a financial contract of any type concerning MMOGULs?
I've been president only for about 2 months. Prior to that I was head of Superstition. The people who did the work for Moguls did it directly for Gary or some third-party contractors who also did work for Moguls. We don't know the Moguls employees. Their offices *were* one floor *below* us, but they moved out a while ago and I don't know where they are now.
If you have an email to all of us about Moguls' memberships I've never seen it. But so what if he did? If Gary owned an ice cream company I would hope to get ice cream coupons as well.
Q: What do you know about Brad Wright and Michael Shanks comments? Why do you think they made them? How do you think they may have come to the conclusions they did? Was there any official comment on them at CME to staff?
I've never had direct contact with the MGM folks. That's handled by Tim Jenson and Chris Klug, to my understanding. I have no idea why the two you named would say anything, but certainly it was a blow to everyone when people like Dan Elggren had to move on.
Q: Why did your studio (superstion studio) get money that was meant for SGW? What does it do that CME can't?
Who says it was meant for SGW? The investors invested in a publisher with multiple projects. Some of them invested directly in the sub-studios and specifically *not* in SGW.
Q: How long have you been President of CME? Doy you think CME will get SGW to launch anytime next year?
About two months. I hope so.
It's fine to just say "I don't know", I'd rather that than some bologne "Team Whiting justification" post. Since Mershu vouches for you then I'll take it you are who you say you are, which makes me suspicous of your motives for posting here. You are a minion of "Team Whiting" and only post after the first picture of Whiting ever seen in the 5 years of SGW gets slapped on the internet and just before the license comes up again. Q: So my last question would be what is your motivation for posting here and not on the official site?
I find personal attacks like that despicable. And frankly, Gary has family too. One of whom I work with and have great respect for. How would you like to see your father, husband, son, etc made fun of in this way? I haven't asked for it to be taken down or anything like that--you have to live with your own moral choices. But I'm telling you my point of view. I wouldn't want that kind of personal attack leveled at anyone--you, me, Gary,or anyone. Just my personal values.
Just because you and others have tarred and feathered Gary doesn't mean we have. As far as I can tell the guy has been working 24/7 to bring in new funding and get SGW back to full-steam ahead. He (along with Jim Brown and Todd Ellering) created this place and gave us all a chance to make SGW and other games, . As I said before, if it had worked out, he's a genius. If not, well here we are...*so far*. We'll see how it ends.
Shane
I'll make this simple,
Q: " My question, have you or any staff you know of been approached by other members of CME/Firesky/Cash sink studios, offering a financial contract of any type concerning MMOGULs?"
Answer:
A: Yes
B: No
C: I don't know
Please select from the above.
Q: " What do you know about Brad Wright and Michael Shanks comments? Why do you think they made them? How do you think they may have come to the conclusions they did? Was there any official comment on them at CME to staff?"
Answer:
I'll take your answer as an "I don't know"
Q: " Why did your studio (superstion studio) get money that was meant for SGW? What does it do that CME can't?"
Answer: "Who says it was meant for SGW? The investors invested in a publisher with multiple projects. Some of them invested directly in the sub-studios and specifically *not* in SGW."
I don't believe your answer and I'll state why. Firstly most of the initial investment was made before the plethora of sub studios were created including firesky. Secondly if investor had invested directly in Superstition Studio and not specifically in SGW how come your staff are not getting a paycheck in Superstition Studio? Superstition Studio would have had a source of financing seperate from CME, so what happened to that? A mere coincidence it ran dry the same time that CME/Firesky/all other cash sink studios did?
Let's face it you're the defacto President right now, kind of like in war time when men from the ranks would get promoted to say Captain. Not because of any skill but because they were the only ones left alive and someone had to lead. As for accusing me of despicable behaviour, and then going on to praise Gary Whiting, you've got a fair bit of brass neck there mate! I don't owe you and everyone else at CME four months of unpaid back wages! I didn't cause children to go without medical care and houses into foreclosure. I don't owe the landlord of the building your working in back rent and am in court with him now! I'm not the one that spent company money setting up a pyramid scheme to prey upon the poor and desperate! I'm not the one setting up a phoney divorce with my wife to shift assets before the company goes bankrupt or I'm sued into oblivion. I'm not the one caught embezzeling funds from MMOGULs (set up with investors cash).
I called Khestral on some obvious mistruths he's told on the forums, accused him of recieving a paycheque (which seems to be an insult at CME now!), made fun of Gary Whiting. Well big deal! Booo hooo MR. Whiting having to suffer some ridicule on the internet after ripping a hole in a bunch of peoples lives and crapping on families, must be a real tough life for that poor soul! But yeah he's out 24/7 getting funding to pay you wages right? Well maybe he can use that to pay back the hundreds of thousands of dollars he ripped off his own family?
" If Gary owned an ice cream company I would hope to get ice cream coupons as well.
"
That made me laugh, you do know one of his biggest investors is MR Sutherland owner of a large Ice cream franchise in Arizona? Why not ask the kind hearted Gary if he can throw some Ice cream coupons with the bread and water free lunch you guys have been working for, for the last four months now? I doubt MR. Sutherland would be amused, probably be the first time he's seen Gary since he wrote him a cheque!
If you don't know an answer try saying "I don't know" instead of blowing rainbow cloured smoke up my behind and telling me Gary Whiting is a fabulous and misunderstood human being.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
Shane,
I would like to thank you first for being open and frank about the situation. Although unfortunate it had to be during such a bad time of events. Dialog such as this does help to reduce the negativity. Unfortunately due to the history of other companies of using spins or being silent of problems causes a negative cycle to occur (ie: Sigil and Perpetual Entertainment... and *cough* SOE). So keep it up.
The question I have is why not take a Phased Approach for Launching the game?
Granted the game would not be fully functionally complete, for example only one world can be visited, combat only, or crafting to be added in later, etc. The cost for players would be low as well since the game is limited. BUT at least there will be some income generated, as well as some interest, which could be used for user feedback. Some income is better than none. Although this may tarnish the game (not fully completed, paying for beta, etc), I think it is safe to say that the game has already been tarnished due to the events going on.
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.
One more question er... two, these are easier!
Easy there tiger... Shane has taken it upon himself to be here and answer our questions... which is 1,000 times more than anything we've gotten from anyone else. That act alone should be reflected with our respect. Whether or not you like and/or believe any answers you get, just remember the fact that you're getting them at all.
This may very well be the community's one-and-only chance to get answers other than "No Comment" and "Company Line." Why try to incite rage on a guy who's doing the right thing by giving us that opportunity?
Ask what you will, but at least have the courtesy to do so with some civility. Instead of charging with accusational comments like "...setting up a phoney divorce with my wife..." why not be less troll-like and just ask: "I've heard that Gary is trying to shift funds to his wife and then divorce her to protect his share of money from being sued... Shane, you know Gary, what do you know about it?" ...And, don't expect Shane to know everything about everyone... If Gary's trying to do something illegal, I don't think he'd be telling people about it, so why badger anyone but Gary for answers about Gary's actions?