Blow, Notch, Fish....seems to be a common trend among these Indie devs.
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Jonathan Blow doesn't read contracts carefully.
- Thread starter Zombie James
- Start date
Blow, Notch, Fish....seems to be a common trend among these Indie devs.
FairXchange
Member
In what world would someone pay 1200 MSP/$15-20 for Braid in 2014?
As great as that game was from a design perspective, does he really think people would pay that much when it was 'pay what you want' on Humble Bundle numerous times?
As great as that game was from a design perspective, does he really think people would pay that much when it was 'pay what you want' on Humble Bundle numerous times?
Estocolmo
Member
He even threatened to pull the game from Xbox Live because it "makes more money on Steam anyways". Thats so nice shutting down potentially 80 million customers on Xbox 360 just because it earns more money on another plattform anyway.
Blow = Antigamer.
DidntKnowJack
Member
Oh my God, he made a mistake. Hang him from the highest rafter.
you don't have to be famous to use your common sense
walltowall
Member
I disagree on both counts.
Sony trotted him out on stage because he is/was an indie darling they gained more than MS lost with that move because it fit their narrative.
The indie landscape is different than it was when Braid was released. For one games are more a commodity now and two, individual indie games have less staying power because EVERYBODY is spitting out games.
sixteen-bit
Member
wahjah
redtails64
Member
His twitter posts are pretty hilarious. He's definitely a guy who likes to speak his mind, and isn't afraid to do so.
ArtHands
Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
The indies do not need to express that thought in order to have thought. There might be some indies who only read the initial tweets and think that way and didn't follow up the 2nd half of the story
It doesn't help when his response to being called out on it basically amounts to "Well, it sounds like something MS would have done, so..."
https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Blow/status/450402350419550208
That was him acting tough so no one would realize he made a mistake.
Edited out the off-topic nonsense.
I, for one, have no problem admitting that boredom is my sole motivator for even reading this thread, let alone posting. So far, it's been moderately entertaining, but I think we're already almost out of material.
Unreal Champ
Banned
Agreed. I will never buy a game from that guy again.
This thread is going well.
i'm going to stick my neck out here
there are no indies that had that thought after seeing his tweet
maquiladora
Member
What the....
Yeah, people make mistakes, but not everyone insults a former business partner in public without checking to make sure they are in the right before hand (and especially make sure you did not agree to the very thing you are protesting).
Yep, total whiner. His games speak for themselves...he should talk less.
thewhitehawk
Member
I would like to see a bit less condescending of independent developers who released software with Microsoft during the 360's life cycle and more remembrance of Microsoft's actions.
If I were an independent developer I would be very wary, at this point, of striking any deals with Microsoft as they were wronged more than once and apparently, even now, continue to be so. Having Braid a bit cheaper might not have a lot of impact on users, and most who are interested in it will thank the lower price, but in all honesty, do you think that this type of communication, or lack-there-of, with developers is the proper way to act? Specially in the light that the said developer happens to be making a game for your main competitor.
How can you, as an independent developer, trust a company that continues to do these types of things, even now?
If I were an independent developer I would be very wary, at this point, of striking any deals with Microsoft as they were wronged more than once and apparently, even now, continue to be so. Having Braid a bit cheaper might not have a lot of impact on users, and most who are interested in it will thank the lower price, but in all honesty, do you think that this type of communication, or lack-there-of, with developers is the proper way to act? Specially in the light that the said developer happens to be making a game for your main competitor.
How can you, as an independent developer, trust a company that continues to do these types of things, even now?
Haha, even when he realizes that he's wrong he still rags on Microsoft.
not psycho
Member
Whoa, careful now. You sure you want to quote me?
My post was so incendiary that even having it quoted in yours could get you in trouble.
You could have at least edited out my use of the word intentional. Typing that word is illegal in 10 states. Scary stuff.
I'm guessing you didn't follow the rest of this thread? Don't think the price was recently changed, and it was something he apparently agreed to.
And most people in the new ID@Xbox program have great things to say.
Did MS fuck up previously? Yes, but they are trying to right the ship. That release parity clause seems to be the last thing that needs to go, and even that they waive on a case by case basis.
maquiladora
Member
Twitter is a terrible thing sometimes.
Conciliator
Banned
This is exactly the kind of mistake I would make; however this is the reason I make it a point not to flip out about stuff so I don't embarrass myself.
HadesGigas
Member
Should have handled things the Lang way!
@JosephJBroni Dave Lang 7:31 PM
The best thing about the @ID_Xbox program is I can text irrational requests to @iocat and say "come through or I will tweet about this"
https://twitter.com/JosephJBroni/status/450414956035313664
@JosephJBroni Dave Lang 7:31 PM
The best thing about the @ID_Xbox program is I can text irrational requests to @iocat and say "come through or I will tweet about this"
https://twitter.com/JosephJBroni/status/450414956035313664
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Twitter: Drama Excreting Application
what does this have to do about the fact that blow ran to twitter to complain about something that happened two years ago with his consent
graywolf323
Member
why are they only just getting around to dropping the price if he agreed to it 4 years ago?
edit: this entire situation even with the updates is rather confusing
edit: this entire situation even with the updates is rather confusing
Sho_Nuff82
Member
Twitter really brings out the worst in everyone.
IncandescentPrecept
Banned
Lucky for him that he doesn't have a GAF account or he'd be perms banned.
Conciliator
Banned
It would be cool if we as the gaming community - devs, fans, whomever else - could follow these two rules:
-Be hesitant about starting a giant thing just because you really like to hate some publisher or manufacturer and you get really excited if they might have done something wrong.
-Be hesitant about running a hate train on a public figure in the industry when they make a dumb mistake on the internet.
However, that will not be happening.
Not talking about this thread in particular, these days we have at least one of these threads a week where there might be some dirt on some company or person and then we have a little flip-out party, and then as often as not it comes out that things are not really as simple as we once thought.
-Be hesitant about starting a giant thing just because you really like to hate some publisher or manufacturer and you get really excited if they might have done something wrong.
-Be hesitant about running a hate train on a public figure in the industry when they make a dumb mistake on the internet.
However, that will not be happening.
Not talking about this thread in particular, these days we have at least one of these threads a week where there might be some dirt on some company or person and then we have a little flip-out party, and then as often as not it comes out that things are not really as simple as we once thought.
Yeah. That's why I said would have, about Hyper Light Drifter. They kinda wasted that announcement. But I disagree with the indie advantage thing. The sheer volume of games announced for Vita/PS4 on a weekly basis should be proof enough. Is MS doing much better than it was a year ago? Yes. But their popularity is noticeably different.
Sony trotted him out because he's the other most known indie developer that isn't Mike Bithell or Phil Fish. Mike, whose Volume is "PlayStation Exclusive" and PC. And Fish whose consoles for Fez 2 would have been "Not Xbox". Neither of those were I think not ready to be announced at the time, so they got Jonathon Blow and The Witness.
The Indie Landscape is different because they now hold more weight. There's a certain sect of gamers who are more excited for indie games than any announced AAA title.
From what I gathered reading this thread, I think this is what happened. The price drop happened 4 years ago to 800 MSP. Blow forgot about his contract and also was somehow unaware for 4 years what the price of his game has been all this time. Right?
Saintguine
Member
Read your contracts. Or pay a lawyer to do it.
It's not a common trend among indie devs, it's just how some people are. If you work for a big company you have people trying to reign in your public persona a bit, so you might just notice it less from them. Dennis Dyack and David Jaffe have struggled with this when not indie.
FloweryMarston
Member
they dropped the price 4 years ago
@the discussion: Braid is a fantastic game and i look forward to the witness, but blow and others indie developers need to be careful with comments like this, not only you burn bridges with potential business partners, but with future fans too. His success won't bring the best out of people too, so he really needs to think twice about public comments that might cause some controversy
AyaisMUsikWhore
Member
So what? It isn't something no one on GAF doesn't say every damn day. Oh please. He made a game, is human and can speak his mind all he wants. Last time I checked he wasn't in the runnings to be a CEO