[QforQ]

Originally Posted by Atoyota

Just read the rant (OP)

1st off Brad had to have spent more than 5 minutes... look at all his posts on the OVF.

Brad, just like you and I, could post from home and did so.

[Atoyota]

Originally Posted by QforQ

Brad, just like you and I, could post from home and did so.

that is true, but working from home is still work.
Just like you and I we can be paid by an employer and never leave our doorstep.

I'm not defending Brad, just stating this rant is most likely "over the top"

[Molpadia]

A million forum posts, e-mails and phone calls does not equate to 'face time'. An absent boss who's input is remote control can never be an effictive boss. Imagine controlling the Titanic by remote control, you would get a disaster. Oh wait, that did happen, wasn't the captians name Dave somethingorother?

Anyway, the one person that has posted on this that I have confidence in, is Genda. His confirmation of that basic accuracy of tec's post, is enough for me. A person that has earned my respect, as Genda has, is in fact believable and carries more weight than any vanboi or vanhater can muster.

[Poke]

Originally Posted by Atoyota

that is true, but working from home is still work.
Just like you and I we can be paid by an employer and never leave our doorstep.

I'm not defending Brad, just stating this rant is most likely "over the top"

He was not a Developer at home working on putting a loot table in a zone. He was the CEO. There is no excuse to not be in the office. You think the CEO of IBM, Sam Palmisano, runs the company from home in his 'jammies?

[Genda]

Originally Posted by Atoyota

I'm not defending Brad, just stating this rant is most likely "over the top"

Believe me, if anything it's understated. As was stated above, the full version of the truth will probably never be known to the likes of us, all we get is the odd sample.

[rhagz]

None of this really should come as a surprise. I mean, it's already known that nepotism was rampant. Many of the team was inexperienced (amateurs). Butler was boinking an employee while his wife worked there. We knew the workplace was terrible. People fired in the parking lot by people they never even knew they worked for while Brad ran and hid. Brad being hooked on pain-killers shouldn't be some inconcievable thing.

[Atoyota]

Originally Posted by Poke

He was not a Developer at home working on putting a loot table in a zone. He was the CEO. There is no excuse to not be in the office. You think the CEO of IBM, Sam Palmisano, runs the company from home in his 'jammies?

I've read the replies to my post... I'll just use this one.

What's the difference if he's in his office and does'nt tour the cubicles on a regular basis, or at home in his jammies.

I agree he should have, the argument is during the entire project he put in 5 minutes? I'll even go as far to say say an hour a week? He did more than that...

I expect early on while with MS he put in a lot more than that, but once he saw the writing on the wall... little if any (because he knew the score that the "others" did'nt know) From that point on he knew his energy was better spent trying to push the project with BS, and snow the vanbois in the hopes of some extra subscriptions.

I still believe the early concept or 'vision' was sound. Just that inept and over zealous managment got them out on a limb, and it got yanked. Leaving everyone with a game that was not as billed. Probably a game most of you would not want to play anyways, because it would have been too difficult or challenging.

As soon as beta started it was over for Brad.
They needed a few more years to keep the original game intact and fix the bugs. They only had one....

[rhagz]

Originally Posted by Atoyota

I agree he should have, the argument is during the entire project he put in 5 minutes? I'll even go as far to say say an hour a week? He did more than that...

I doubt it. Don't you remember all the 'Where the hell is Brad?" posts on the beta forums? He'd pop in once a month or so, spend a couple of hours responding to a few posts and be gone again for another month or 3.

[Mreynolds]

Originally Posted by rhagz

I doubt it. Don't you remember all the 'Where the hell is Brad?" posts on the beta forums? He'd pop in once a month or so, spend a couple of hours responding to a few posts and be gone again for another month or 3.

In fairness though, how is that any different than the current staff? They pop in for a day or 2 and then 2 months later some more trickle down news to keep people interested to renew another month

[Loampounder]

Originally Posted by Genda

Believe me, if anything it's understated. As was stated above, the full version of the truth will probably never be known to the likes of us, all we get is the odd sample.

Please, can you get more vague? If you are unwilling to say anything, why should we believe you? How about giving us an odd sample (without names of course)?

[Choctaw]

Originally Posted by rhagz

I doubt it. Don't you remember all the 'Where the hell is Brad?" posts on the beta forums? He'd pop in once a month or so, spend a couple of hours responding to a few posts and be gone again for another month or 3.

I'm gonna disagree with this one. As CEO I don't feel it should have been his job to hold the beta testers hands via a forum.

I do feel it should have been his job as CEO to *know* what the gist of the forums were saying and to properly surpervise the person responding to beta testers.

And it *was* his job to come into the office, look over the cubicle walls and talk with his employees. Ten minutes of "What are you working on? How's that going for you? Are you having any problems with it?" once a week is more important than 1 e-mail a week during the same time frame.

It shows your staff you're engaged in their project. That you are paying attention to their work and that you value their time and their input. Working from home as a CEO for more than 1 or 2 days a week is neglect. You're basically just hoping whoever is currently in charge is doing what you'd like. Yes, I said *hoping*. Because if you're not in the office more than that then hope is all you have: You won't have the time for follow up.

Follow up is the only way delegation works.

McQuaid may have been there the first one or two years...you know when all the ideas were coming together. But he wasn't there during the important time...the managing your staff to get the job done time.

[rhagz]

Originally Posted by Choctaw

I'm gonna disagree with this one. As CEO I don't feel it should have been his job to hold the beta testers hands via a forum.

No one said anything about holding hands via the forum, but when he doesn't say ANYHTING for months on end.. and in fact no one else would respond to the query, with hindsight it's rather clear. He wasn't around to respond, couldn't respond even if he was around and his employees clearly couldn't say 'well, we only see or hear from once a month ourselves'.

[Loampounder]

Originally Posted by Choctaw

It shows your staff you're engaged in their project. That you are paying attention to their work and that you value their time and their input. Working from home as a CEO for more than 1 or 2 days a week is neglect.

I agree with your idea of a CEO needing to be at work to lead the troops and focus efforts. Asside from the "posting is work time", the point that Tec brought up was 15 minutes of "cumulative face time with sigil designers in the most crucial final years of development". The time is sure to be an exaggeration (in a year?) but the fact is Tec fosued on lack of face time at the office with designers.

[acrobat]

Originally Posted by Choctaw

I'm gonna disagree with this one. As CEO I don't feel it should have been his job to hold the beta testers hands via a forum.

He wasn't just CEO though. They needed to fill a position as a community representative or something like that, and he decided that who better than him to do it? So he became the community guy, and that's why he spent a lot of his time on FOH and on the official forum. Unfortunately, he didn't really do enough, and he also didn't go to the right places. He seemed to get more and more obsessed with the FOH forum and he focused on that place far too much, and everybody noticed, and he rarely went anywhere else. I think he paid a few token visits to places like MMORPG.com.

So he actually chose the role for himself, and then didn't do a good job of it. It's a shame because there are many people who could do a good job at that kind of role. In the end, it seemed as though Glip and Elrar took over - out of desperation.

[Loampounder]

Acrobat, they had community people. He felt comfortable at the FoH forums. He made a few, albiet long, posts there. He also posted on OVF. He had ten times as many posts in OVF, and in less time. I don't see everyone's disgust at him posting on FoH.

[Choctaw]

Originally Posted by acrobat

He wasn't just CEO though. They needed to fill a position as a community representative or something like that, and he decided that who better than him to do it? So he became the community guy, and that's why he spent a lot of his time on FOH and on the official forum. Unfortunately, he didn't really do enough, and he also didn't go to the right places. He seemed to get more and more obsessed with the FOH forum and he focused on that place far too much, and everybody noticed, and he rarely went anywhere else. I think he paid a few token visits to places like MMORPG.com.

So he actually chose the role for himself, and then didn't do a good job of it. It's a shame because there are many people who could do a good job at that kind of role. In the end, it seemed as though Glip and Elrar took over - out of desperation.

Yes, completely agree with this.

[Choctaw]

Originally Posted by acrobat

He wasn't just CEO though. They needed to fill a position as a community representative or something like that, and he decided that who better than him to do it? So he became the community guy, and that's why he spent a lot of his time on FOH and on the official forum. Unfortunately, he didn't really do enough, and he also didn't go to the right places. He seemed to get more and more obsessed with the FOH forum and he focused on that place far too much, and everybody noticed, and he rarely went anywhere else. I think he paid a few token visits to places like MMORPG.com.

So he actually chose the role for himself, and then didn't do a good job of it. It's a shame because there are many people who could do a good job at that kind of role. In the end, it seemed as though Glip and Elrar took over - out of desperation.

Originally Posted by Loampounder

Acrobat, they had community people. He felt comfortable at the FoH forums. He made a few, albiet long, posts there. He also posted on OVF. He had ten times as many posts in OVF, and in less time. I don't see everyone's disgust at him posting on FoH.

Likely because FOH wasn't one of the official sites that was out there pounding the pavement so to speak trying to get people interested in his game.

[Atoyota]

Originally Posted by Loampounder

Acrobat, they had community people. He felt comfortable at the FoH forums. He made a few, albiet long, posts there. He also posted on OVF. He had ten times as many posts in OVF, and in less time. I don't see everyone's disgust at him posting on FoH.

And the point I made was that he was spending time. His time posting was probably when it was already too late for the game. I think by then the path of development was out of his hands.

If you look at his time prior to 06 while before and during the MS period, then Brad may have been a lot more hands on. I can't say... but that was the period that dictated the course of the game in the following years.

[acrobat]

Originally Posted by Loampounder

Acrobat, they had community people. He felt comfortable at the FoH forums. He made a few, albiet long, posts there. He also posted on OVF. He had ten times as many posts in OVF, and in less time. I don't see everyone's disgust at him posting on FoH.

No, they had Glip who was a forum moderator, and they brought in Elrar nearer the end, but Brad was supposed to be the community guy! There is a post about it on the forum, where he specifically says that Sigil needed some kind of community officer or something, and Brad chose the role for himself. He gave all kinds of reasons why he wanted to do it. He wanted to keep himself busy, and he enjoyed it... and he thought that who better to promote the game to forums and websites than the CEO himself.

He was meant to do all the kind of stuff Moorgard did for EQ2 etc.

So he took a specific job position for himself, and everyone thought it was a good idea. So it sounded great in principle, but then he went and ****ed it up.

Also, a lot of people DID make comments about his FOH obsession. He was rarely seen, and then would show up on FOH and the official forum, and a Brad post on the official forum got everyone cooled down again. But it was still very clear that he wasn't doing enough, and he wasn't visiting the right places. It's like he spend 49% of his time on the OVF, and 49% of his time on FOH, and then just 2% of his time on "Other". The "Other" places should have been a major priority.