Curt Schilling Points Finger at Rhode Island Governor

[Artemicion]

On the other hand, perhaps RI and EA would have been more supportive if you weren't trying to put out a generic MMO, Schilling. Maybe if your battle plan wasn't so inherently flawed and you tried releasing another fantasy RPG instead of a gamble in a genre that is showing a negative trend, Schilling. Maybe you should accept some of the blame for 38's missteps instead of blaming it on our Governor, Schilling.

 

[medv4380]

What you are saying is true. However once the deal was made and the money spent there is not much anyone could do about it. Now, if 38 Studios goes under, the Rhode Island tax payer gets to pay back some 60 million+ dollars for the next decade. So don't you think this new Governor, regardless of his previous feelings on the deal, ought to have acted in the best interests of the company to try and keep the Rhode Island taxpayer out of the fire? Instead the way he went about things undoubtedly contributed to their difficulties. Would Schilling have found a rich drooling idiot investor to save them? We'll never know. Either way Governor Chafee is either stupid, or spiteful or he was trying to cover his own ass at the expense of his taxpayers.

Have you head of the term Money Pit? When the Governor of RI said that they were "trying to avoid throwing good money after bad" that is exactly what he is trying to avoid.

If your opinion of 38 Studios is that it is a Money Pit then the best option for the RI tax payer is for the governor to get out before that 60+ million turns into 100+ million.

Also, it is unlikely that Schilling would find an investor. Part of the problem that he has is that the companies IP is collateral in the loan. What an investor wants is to own the IP, but because it's already collateral for the State they have a problem. It's not the States fault that the only thing they had to get the loan was the companies IP, but using the IP in that fashion stops you from being able to get most venture capital.

If the numbers are what they have been reported to be then the company as it stands is a money pit, and RI will end up owning the entire company. At that point the best interest of RI would be to ether sell what they have to someone, or put in new management to get the company sell-able, or bought back and put up for IPO.

 

[Frostbite3789]

Oh look EA helping screw over another independent developer.

How dare they fund and publish a game! Evillllll!

Edit:

 

[Baresark]

snip

If I recall reading on another article, it was actually guaranteed by the previous governor, but I do not have the willingness to search that information out. But, if that is true, this governor was not actually on board at any point. He may just consider this a waste of tax money (which is definitely an arguable point) and does not want to give them any breaks at all.

All of that said, pointing fingers at any one individual is stupid. No one person could be responsible for what happened at this company. It is a series of events that leads to this, not the actions of one man or group.

What you are saying is true. However once the deal was made and the money spent there is not much anyone could do about it. Now, if 38 Studios goes under, the Rhode Island tax payer gets to pay back some 60 million+ dollars for the next decade. So don't you think this new Governor, regardless of his previous feelings on the deal, ought to have acted in the best interests of the company to try and keep the Rhode Island taxpayer out of the fire? Instead the way he went about things undoubtedly contributed to their difficulties. Would Schilling have found a rich drooling idiot investor to save them? We'll never know. Either way Governor Chafee is either stupid, or spiteful or he was trying to cover his own ass at the expense of his taxpayers.

Oh, I'm in complete agreement with you. It doesn't matter if he was on board or not, because the previous governor was. When Obama got into office, he didn't just abandon everything GWB did, that is just childish and stupid from a political perspective. As a governor I feel it was his duty to see this thing through because it was only through success that the taxpayer stood a chance of not footing the bill for this.

 

[UnderGlass]

What you are saying is true. However once the deal was made and the money spent there is not much anyone could do about it. Now, if 38 Studios goes under, the Rhode Island tax payer gets to pay back some 60 million+ dollars for the next decade. So don't you think this new Governor, regardless of his previous feelings on the deal, ought to have acted in the best interests of the company to try and keep the Rhode Island taxpayer out of the fire? Instead the way he went about things undoubtedly contributed to their difficulties. Would Schilling have found a rich drooling idiot investor to save them? We'll never know. Either way Governor Chafee is either stupid, or spiteful or he was trying to cover his own ass at the expense of his taxpayers.

Have you head of the term Money Pit? When the Governor of RI said that they were "trying to avoid throwing good money after bad" that is exactly what he is trying to avoid.

Maybe. I think the chances of him finding a fairy godmother may have been slim, but it's conjecture now and there's little point dwelling on it. As I said, the lion's share of the responsibility has to fall on Schillings shoulders of course. I don't believe I ever inferred that RI should have released more of the loan to 38 Studios. In fact keeping it in reserve from that nincompoop, to assure the next few repayments, will prove a welcome reprieve for all concerned I'm sure.

Still, none of that means that as the first order of business the Governor should have thrown the company to the sharks. I just find that in very poor form and a little suspect tbh given his previous history with the deal.

 

[Gather]

I doubt the company will get itself out of this hole. It's a pity but that's life. I do wonder just how much money was spent on the creation of KoA and how much was put towards the MMO to be.

If only they could create a $25 steam daily special some funds might be raised.

 

[HobbesMkii]

While this whole debacle is undoubtedly Schilling's responsibility first and foremost, it seems clear the Governor of RI was hostile to the cause from the get-go. It doesn't take a financial genius to understand that public doomsday alerts blurted out by their guarantor on the company's solvency wasn't going to do it any favors during the hunt for ripe targets bridge investors to help keep them afloat. He saw a sinking ship and thought to cover his own ass while putting the boot in to a project he never supported. The man is either a complete buffoon or acted quite pointedly against the best interests of the citizens of his state. It's shameful and I hope you Rhode Islanders vote this snake out of office.

Screw that noise. The majority of us Rhode Islanders didn't want the deal in the first place, either. Schilling even says in the Providence Journal article that Chafee was amenable to them getting another tax credit (for film, if you can believe it), but the RIEDC dragged its feet and torpedoed that. Then, after they can't make the first loan repayment, Chafee makes the announcement that they're heading toward insolvency and Schilling claims that that's what scared off investors. But (in the same Journal article) the state's negotiator is in talks with investors right now, and he says he's not experiencing any trouble attracting them.

It'd be silly to vote Chafee out for this. It's the state legislature's fault, it was their crummy deal, not Chafee's. And now it sounds like Chafee did what he could, but was able to read the writing on the wall and cut the state's losses. I'd vote the legislators out of office, but this is a Democrat-controlled state, and I'd rather have a rep with a voice than one without. So, instead, I'll tell Schilling to take his terrible business model and bite-the-hand-that-feeds mentality and take a hike, just as I (and the majority of Rhode Islanders) suggested he do when the deal was being struck in the first place.

 

[Hungry Donner]

If I was less tired this post would have a killer zinger involving Vincent Cianci.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Aww . . . You didn't have a picture of Adam West. I consider that a wasted opportunity.

 

[UnderGlass]

While this whole debacle is undoubtedly Schilling's responsibility first and foremost, it seems clear the Governor of RI was hostile to the cause from the get-go. It doesn't take a financial genius to understand that public doomsday alerts blurted out by their guarantor on the company's solvency wasn't going to do it any favors during the hunt for ripe targets bridge investors to help keep them afloat. He saw a sinking ship and thought to cover his own ass while putting the boot in to a project he never supported. The man is either a complete buffoon or acted quite pointedly against the best interests of the citizens of his state. It's shameful and I hope you Rhode Islanders vote this snake out of office.

Screw that noise. The majority of us Rhode Islanders didn't want the deal in the first place, either. Schilling even says in the Providence Journal article that Chafee was amenable to them getting another tax credit (for film, if you can believe it), but the RIEDC dragged its feet and torpedoed that. Then, after they can't make the first loan repayment, Chafee makes the announcement that they're heading toward insolvency and Schilling claims that that's what scared off investors. But (in the same Journal article) the state's negotiator is in talks with investors right now, and he says he's not experiencing any trouble attracting them.

It'd be silly to vote Chafee out for this. It's the state legislature's fault, it was their crummy deal, not Chafee's. And now it sounds like Chafee did what he could, but was able to read the writing on the wall and cut the state's losses. I'd vote the legislators out of office, but this is a Democrat-controlled state, and I'd rather have a rep with a voice than one without. So, instead, I'll tell Schilling to take his terrible business model and bite-the-hand-that-feeds mentality and take a hike, just as I (and the majority of Rhode Islanders) suggested he do when the deal was being struck in the first place.

Let me preface this by offering my condolences for this crappy situation. If you indeed live in RI then you're looking at a pretty bleak annual budget for the foreseeable future. It sounds like you're a lot closer to the situation than me so take my comments for what they are -- armchair commentating from an ocean away. If you think Chafee is on the level and he's competent in other areas then I've no reason to doubt you. I still find his treatment of the situation highly questionable but since the house is completely on fire now I guess what matters is how it's handled from here.

All the best for this news of investors. We're in complete agreement that Schilling's pie-in-the-sky deal making was terrible for RI and the MMO story was always going to end badly. The collapse of the company and it's IP though is the absolute worst thing that could possibly have happened. If they'd managed, in the next 6 months to a year, to get a second game out the door based on their original work -- plus any extra dlc they were able to bang out for Reckoning -- then their cashflow situation might have improved considerably. Perhaps enough to prop up final development of the MMO and push it out the door. Even if the MMO bombed something would have inevitably come back from it. If it wasn't enough you'd still have a service that could be re-purposed, made f2p etc.

As it stands no one is going to pick up a partially developed game sans team and inextricably tied with the IP, whether it be single-player or massively multi-player. Right now you have potentially a hundred times nothing as soon as that reserve is gone. The IP might still be worth something but the work that's been done is next to useless, may as well set a match to it

 

[loch belthadd]

If I remember correctly Chafee was against the whole deal since before he became the governor.