There is a peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown looks at Linus and says “That’s just an old wives tale” – to which Linus replies, “I don’t know, some of those old wives were pretty sharp.”  As trite as some of us think “old adages” are, the thing about them is that they are based on some truth.  Had they not stood the test of time they wouldn’t be “adages” at all.  Yet as old as many adages are, we keep repeating them. Why? Simply because they teach lessons that many people are too hard headed to learn.

And there seem to be hard heads aplenty over at Activision these days.

Many of you may have noticed how much we seem to favor the independent developer here at No Prisoners, No Mercy.  This isn’t simply because the big fish like Time Warner continue to acquire smaller fish like Turbine Studios, resulting in far fewer smaller studios.  As true as this might be, this is simply because we appreciate the willingness of the independent developer to be part of the community that constitutes their customers.  While Activision COO Thomas Tippl is busying telling us all how well they treat their developers  things aren’t as rosy as Activision continually tries to paint them.  No matter how the lawsuit between West and Zampella vs. Activision turns out, the stream of employees leaving Infinity Ward has become a raging torrent – now totaling 26 as reported by Gamasutra .  This all seems to have Dan Amrich, Activision Social Media Manager, confused.

“I’m confused, because by leaving, they are giving up their bonus—and the more people that leave, the bigger the bonus gets for the people who stay. I’d think if you are young and hungry and have a vision for a new game, IW would be a really good place to be right now.” – Dan Amrich, Activision Social Media Manager

It’s too bad Dan Amrich doesn’t read Arstechnica like we do.  If he did, all he would have to do is read a recent article by Ben Kuchera, and page half way down for his answer under the heading, “So why are people leaving.”

“The problem with Activision management is that it often comes down to money over talent, and no one realizes that the promise of hypothetical future bonuses isn’t enough to get people to stay.”  – Ben Kuchera, Arstechnica

Even those who have given the tale of two studios, Activision vs. West and Zampella, even passing attention will see that the bonus that Dan Amrich feels former Infinity Ward employees are leaving with Activision are actually being left with the courts.

In the end, even if Activision doesn’t end up killing the proverbial goose that laid the golden egg (the Golden Egg being talent that created the Call of Duty games in this case) they are hemorrhaging talent. Oddly enough, it is a wound that could have been staunched with the application of a bit of courtesy and kindness. In other words, be nice to the people you meet on the way up, you will meet the same people on the way back down.

The No Prisoners, No Mercy Team

Update:

Contrary to what Dan Amrich may feel, it appears that at least one group of Infinity Ward employees, both past and present, are not quit leaving bonus’ on the table as he thought they were:

“The ongoing friction between Activision and its internal development studio Infinity Ward has reached new heights, as several dozen current and former Infinity Ward employees have banded together to file suit against Activision, claiming breach of contract and seeking unpaid royalties and bonuses. According to documents obtained by G4tv.com blog The Feed, the suit is being collectively filed by the “Infinity Ward Employee Group,” comprising 38 developers.” – Gamasutra,  Infinity Ward Employees Group Up to Sue Activision for Compensation

There are some lines that you can’t cross and some that you can.  In Washington D.C., for example, you don’t threaten social security and expect to get re-elected to any position short of dog catcher. There are other lines you can cross, but like a dog who gets beat, you can only beat him so long before he will bite you back – and that is what Bobby Kotick, et al, have been finding out lately.

You can only beat a dog so long…

I wouldn’t exactly call it an “exodus”, as does Arstechnica.com, however  as we reported on Tuesday more important than how many people have left Infinity Ward is  who has departed for sunnier climes.  If nothing else, the message is clear – even in a down turned economy, even if you are the 800 pound gorilla on the block, you can only throw your weight around so much. 

It appears that some of the more naïve (and blasphemous)  elements of the blogosphere feel that only a fool follows the splinter group…you know, splinter groups like, oh say, the United States of America.  If no one followed that splinter group we would still be sending our 1040 forms to London. Fortunately tort law, and not history, will determine the success or failure of messers West and Zampella versus Activision. No matter how you look at the situation with Infinity Ward and Activision, it only matters what messers West, Zampella and Kotick (and those working for or with them) think – the rest of us are merely spectators. There is one sage observation to be found over at Indie Game Producer in the article West and Zampella vs. Activision part 2:

“What’s conspicuously missing is the explanation that Jason and Vince were warned that their behavior was unacceptable and that their jobs were in peril as a result. The reason that doesn’t look good for Activision is that Activision is asking for reimbursement of everything Jason and Vince have been compensated since they first demonstrated the alleged disloyalty and insubordination.” -  Indiegameproducer

Indie Game Producer goes on to point out, “If the insubordination was so dire and obvious, then they could have fired Jason and Vince long ago, or at least warned them. Instead, they kept them on, and Jason and Vince delivered the best-selling console game of all time.”  In short, everyone is entitled to due process .

Another line you don’t cross, or at least create, is one that leaves a “paper trail” back to you, even if that “paper” is electronic.

The Hartford Courant, via Gamepolitics.com, reports that “23-year old Anthony Hayward was arrested in New Haven last year for allegedly having drugs and a stolen gun in his car…”  After he posted $75,000 bond Hayward is reported to have logged in to his Xbox live account and threatened a witness saying “rats die slow” and referring to the witness as a “dead man walking”.  

Not so much a line as line of red tape…

Reports from Gamepolitics.comhave it that “The USA Today piece reported that Erskine Bowles, who’s heading up President Obama’s ‘war on the federal deficit’ talked to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about making a video game that would let anyone ‘take a stab at balancing the budget.’”  While it is all we can do to hold our collective tongues at No Prisoners, No Mercy might we humbling suggest that Mr. Bowles seek the services of Sid Meir whose “Civilization” series has enthralled us for more hours than we care to admit publicly.

The Line between “spirited” and “mean spirited”

“They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.” Sean Connery as “Malone” in The Untouchables

It was not that long ago that we read how the organizer of  certain in game Eve Online player event admitted he did so because he was “evil and mean spirited” – and then marveled at why so many players reacted the way they did.

Having recently returned to Eve Online, our own Julie read a similar letter marveling at the reaction of someone they had “podded” which consisted mostly of the pirate being told to “know thyself” but in the biblical sense.   The difference in this case is that the letter was addressed to a member of a corporation (the equivalent of a guild for all you World of Warcraft players out there) who’s CEO (read guild master) is an acquaintance of our own Julie.

Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer for Star Trek  Online was quoted as saying, “we don’t want you to spend 80 hours getting that Sovereign class vessel, get owned, and then lose that ship.” That is, of course, one of the dividing lines between Star Trek Online and Eve Online. In fact on Show 57 their marketing specialist, Joe Blancato, spoke about this indicating the two markets are not the same.  As regular readers and listeners know, both Fran and Julie enjoy spirited PvP – but it is always consensual.  But where is the line between consensual and non-consensual pvp?  Certainly one can say the Eve Online event vaguely hinted at above (ok perhaps not that vaguely) is non-consensual.  There will be some players that say anyone who takes their ship out of the hanger is “consenting”. Others will argue that anyone who ventures into unprotected low security space (below .5) is consenting.

Where is the dividing line?

The ships that get blown up in Eve Online may be pixels but the players behind them are real, as are the hours spent training to fly the ship and earning the money to build or buy it.  Is it all in good fun? Perhaps. We all have images of pirates created by actors like Johnny Depp and further back Errol Flynn. But if it is all in good fun then why don’t the victims dismiss it off hand?  More often than not, the attitude involved in organized corporate warfare (which is planned for in Eve) is similar to the one espoused by “Malone” as played by Sean Connery.  Piracy in Eve Online, on the other hand, is about little more than who can bring a gun to a knife fight – the battles are decided before they start.   Pirates, of course, come in many varieties; the more cowardly are those who roam the asteroid belts stealing from miners as they fill local chat with taunts such as “come teach me a lesson mofo.”  What if you or I join a pirate corp and only prey on those who venture into low security space? Are they fair game? Do they have it coming? Again is it all in good fun?

Where ever the dividing line may be in this case, there IS one line we are absolutely sure should never have been crossed – and whoever designed Sean Connery’s costume for the movie Zardoz crossed it.

The No Prisoners, No Mercy Team

When someone acquires a business, usually through sale but not always, part of the value of the property in the transaction is “good will.”  Basically this accounts for the value of the business beyond its physical assets.   Now some of you may say at this point “what has that got to do with anything?”  Well, when you are in the same business as Activision that is a very, VERY large part of their value.  That is why, of course, they were so keen to protect the intangible assets that constitutes Infinity Ward.  The problem is, of course, that the value of Infinity Ward goes far beyond Intellectual Property (IP).  To be blunt, no matter how good an IP may be, without the proper talent to carry it forward, as grand dad would have said, “it isn’t worth a tinker’s damn”.  And there, as the immortal bard put it, “lays the rub.”  Without the talent that made the Call of Duty Modern Warfare series great all you have is the equivalent of the proverbial “dumb blond”…

…she may look good for awhile. She may be fun to have on a date the first few times, but once you have had a bit of fun she is going to one boring individual to be around.

Think of it as the problems that has beset one corner of the produce industry (huh?). Yes, another tangent.  For some time now, those growers who produce the “red delicious” apple where so concerned about the way it looks that they began to ignore the way it tastes.  So what you ended up with was something that was all polish and no substance.  Start to ring a bell now does it?  Activision may be famous for putting polish on their products but no amount of polish will make up for a lack of substance.  Now mind you I am not saying the Call of Duty series lacks substance. Far from it – not after $1 Billion in sales.

But as Bobby Kotick et al may be finding out these days, while you can acquire a business, that doesn’t mean you acquire all the talent that goes with it and in this business that is a very large part of the value (see the term “good will”).  After all, that nonsense went out with the emancipation proclamation.

The news feed this morning contained word that two more Infinity Ward employees have left the company, bringing the total to six.  Perhaps not to shocking on the face of it, but when those two happen to be programmer Jon Shiring and lead designer Mackey McCandlish it’s worth taking some note.  When the six names of departed employees also include lead designer Todd Alderman and lead software engineer Francesco Gigliott  it just might be time for Activision to start looking for a ladder to start climbing down off its pedestal.  If the litigation between Activision and messers West and Zampella do not resolve in Activisions favor, and do resolve in the full light of day without the words “out of court settlement” then Activision may end up with so much egg on its face that it would take a bucket of cleanser so large that it would float the aircraft carrier Nimitiz to clean up its reputation.  

In the mean time it might behoove Bobby Kotick to begin pondering how many boots over at Infinity Ward are made for walking.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

(posted for Julie Whitefeather by The Webmaster)

It’s hard to imagine that anyone who reads this web site (there are some of you out there we can hear you breathing) hasn’t heard of all that has transpired between Activision and the two former heads of Infinity Ward Jason West and Vince Zampella.  For those of you who have not heard of the suits, and counter suits that began with lengthy interogations and the seizure of computers by Activision (or at least the attempt) you can catch up with it all here in a source that comes to us via Scott Jennings Broken Toys Website with an analysis by of the legal proceedings here.  The claim by Activision studios is that “”West and Zampella’s misdeeds formed an unlawful pattern and practice of conduct that was designed to steal the [Infinity Ward] studio”.  The counter claim by messers West and Zampella is that Activision fired them as a way to deprive them of royalties earned from the sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

West and Zampella, apparently not to the surprise of Activision, have gone on to create the aptly named  Respawn Entertainment and have signed a deal with Electronic Arts.  In an article over at Arstechnica.com available here  Vince Zampella had this to say:

“Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me,” said Vince Zampella, General Manager of Respawn Entertainment. “For the past decade we led a great development team and poured our hearts into creating an epic game franchise. We’re very proud of what we built—and proud that so many millions of fans enjoyed those games. Today we hope to do it all over again—open a new studio, hire a great team, and create brand new games with a new partner, EA.”

The right or wrong of it will of course, be decided by the California court system.  The response from Activision, cited in the La Times Business section noted above, is as follows:

“West and Zampella’s misdeeds formed an unlawful pattern and practice of conduct that was designed to steal the [Infinity Ward] studio, which is one of Activision’s most valuable assets — at the expense of Activision and its shareholders and for their own personal financial gain.”

Activision was  quoted as saying, “We look forward to continuing to work with Infinity Ward’s deep bench of proven talent on exciting new projects”.  Of course, there is little doubt that there is alot of talent over at what is left of Infinity Ward.  Still, Activision is starting to look like a guy who hires someone to go on a date with him at a restaurant  where he knows he will see his ex-girlfriend, so the ex will know “I am doing just fine without you.”

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick once said he would raise the price on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (which has already exceeded the $1 Billion sales mark) “if he could”. Now, if the article over at Arstechnica (available here ) is correct, we may see subscription fees for the Call of Duty Franchise soon, as Kotick is quoted as saying, “If you think about the success we’ve had in other product categories on subscription, you can get a sense of the direction that we want to take that franchise”. No matter how the litigation turns out, right or wrong, Activision comes off a lot like the Gordon Gekko character in the movie Wall Street of whom Bud Fox asks “How many yachts can you water ski behind?” There are, of course, enormous sums of money involved. And considering we live in a society where there are businessmen would sell their mothers into prostitution for an extra dollar, the whole thing is starting to sound like the days of our childhood when “Oh ya? Well your mother wears army boots!” would have been shouted across the playground.  Now that I am older, hopefully wiser, and also a veteran my answer (where the claim actually true) would of course be…

Damn straight she does!

See you online

Julie Whitefeather

(posted for Julie Whitefeather by The Webmaster)