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[frankie_baby]

Dyack should be unbanned so he can defend himself.

Dyack should be unbanned just to give us all a laugh

 

[fabricated backlash]

Thanks for all the kind words you folks have written about Andrew's piece. He worked his ass off on it, and I was proud to publish it.

Good Journalism will be recognized and appreciated. I think I speak for everyone that we would want more of this kind of reporting.

 

[SniperHunter]

I read the full article and I was blown away! It must have been a nightmare to work at the company, I felt bad for all the employees. And not crediting people for their work? Wow, looks like karma caught up with Dennis and his assholish ways.

 

[iosef]

NO ED2

ETERNAL FAREWELL

(sorry, too much Siglemic)

 

[clem84]

Doesn't look good for them. I'm still hopefull we'll get ED2 someday.

 

[Forkball]

Dyack and Curt Schilling should run a company together.

 

[Emitan]

Read this article yesterday. It was an absolutely fantastic piece of journalism. Good show, Kotaku.

 

[nmanma]

Thanks for all the kind words you folks have written about Andrew's piece. He worked his ass off on it, and I was proud to publish it.

It was a great article, so praise was bound to come. Hopefully another great article about the Florence/Eurogamer affair is in the works, the journalism ethics side of the gaming media/PR relationship is an issue that's often overlooked but now seems to be a good time to cover it

 

[McBradders]

I mean, this sounds worse than most, but... in my experience, every single project goes like this to some extent.

Jesus Christ no it doesn't.

 

[Pyrrhus]

That certainly explains X-Men Destiny's ghastly character designs.

Hell, every game they ever made had subpar visual design. Even the good ones, the ones that had a decent aesthetic like ED and BO:LOK had shitty 2D elements and models. Remember how the character in Twin Snakes models were all kind of polygon starved and anorexic looking and made the stuff from MGS2 look like it was made two years later instead of two years before?

 

[Jackpot]

Thanks for all the kind words you folks have written about Andrew's piece. He worked his ass off on it, and I was proud to publish it.

Congratulations. You regained your reputation for all of one day:

I don't think it's a pretty important story. I think it's the same tired nonsense about games journalism that some folks love to carry on endlessly about.
.
.
.
But that would take reporting to find it out, and I just don't care enough about the latest supposed media scandal to ask my reporters to look into it.

Next time let's aim to double that record!

 

[JDSN]

But that would take reporting to find it out, and I just don't care enough about the latest supposed media scandal to ask my reporters to look into it.

Supposed, you might as well used "alleged".

 

[indigo-cyclops]

ED2 Kikckstarter plz

It shocks me that after reading this article people would want Ed2 from this fucking bonehead.

Great read nonetheless, thank you for posting.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I know this is adding nothing that isn't covered, but I feel like it needs to be on every page of this thread

Dyack's wife was the company's HR rep

 

[chertipros]

I know this is adding nothing that isn't covered, but I feel like it needs to be on every page of this thread

Dyack's wife was the company's HR rep

I'm wondering who the other 4 employees were

 

[Sadist]

Horrible stuff.

 

[BeauRoger]

Brendan Mcnamara and Denis Dyack should start a studio together.

 

[Cheerilee]

I'm wondering who the other 4 employees were

Actually, the article said that SK today has "less than five" staff, including Denis. That means four or less. So...

#1 - Denis Dyack
#2 - Joanne Dyack (assuming she is still there)
#3 - ??? (assuming they are still there)
#4 - ??? (assuming they are still there)

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Actually, the article said that SK today has "less than five" staff, including Denis. That means four or less. So...

#1 - Denis Dyack
#2 - Joanne Dyack (assuming she is still there)
#3 - ??? (assuming they are still there)
#4 - ??? (assuming they are still there)

I'm pretty sure his wife was fired, it's not like you'd need a head of HR for 2 other employees...

 

[Ninja Scooter]

I'm pretty sure his wife was fired, it's not like you'd need a head of HR for 2 other employees...

She then sued Denis for firing her because she wouldn't put out.

 

[Rehynn]

Horrible stuff.

Indeed.

And goodbye, dreams of ED2:-(

 

[Talladega Knight]

Indeed.

And goodbye, dreams of ED2:-(

nintendo owns the IP. the fact that silicon knights is more than likely toast doesn't mean some other developer can't be contracted by nintendo to develop ed2 (however unlikely this is)

 

[runnin_blue]

Thanks for all the kind words you folks have written about Andrew's piece. He worked his ass off on it, and I was proud to publish it.

Oh man I'm choking up with all the GAF/Kotaku love at the moment...'bout time I say lol.

Do I dare ask if someone could post a link to Dyak's "meltdown on GAF"? I must have missed it the first time 'round.

 

[Plywood]

Got around to reading the full article and it sounds like SK will be closing soon:

Several sources report that the company today exists as a shell of its former self, employing less than five staff—including Denis Dyack.

Counting Dyack and his wife who heads up HR that leaves the place with 2 other employees.

 

[Paladin CL]

Im really disappointed that he ruined Xmen game because he wasnt a fan. Also stupid Activision, you could clearly see that it wasnt going to work.

 

[Drinky Crow]

didn't brad wardell of stardock also have his wife run stardock's hr?

we really need an article titled THE GAMES OF AYN RAND about silicon knights, stardock, and schilling's former studio. crazy libertarian studio ceos are the BEST.

 

[Polari]

I thought Nintendo trademarked it (Eternal Darkness) again in 2011. Might be wrong but how could do this if they don't own the IP. Didn't dyack say Nintendo were still a 'silent' partner regarding a sequel?

Yup. Nintendo have the trademark. I wouldn't mind if they farmed the franchise off to a competent Western developer, the first one was decent.

 

[Fewr]

Ok, if Nintendo still owns ED, and they were just working on a spiritual succesor (i.e. Xenogears - Xenosaga) then that means we may still get ED on Wii U virtual console. I wouldn't buy the game again, but some people might want to.

 

[frankie_baby]

Ok, if Nintendo still owns ED, and they were just working on a spiritual succesor (i.e. Xenogears - Xenosaga) then that means we may still get ED on Wii U virtual console. I wouldn't buy the game again, but some people might want to.

If there are GameCube games on wii u VC I can see Nintendo throwing it up fairly quickly as there's certainly a lot of internet buzz regarding the game and a possible sequel so they may put it up to gauge reaction before considering a sequel

 

[Trigger]

Do I dare ask if someone could post a link to Dyak's "meltdown on GAF"? I must have missed it the first time 'round.

Someone posted this earlier. Stand and be counted!!

It's a reference to Dyack's ultimatum regarding Too Human.

 

[mattiewheels]

didn't brad wardell of stardock also have his wife run stardock's hr?

we really need an article titled THE GAMES OF AYN RAND about silicon knights, stardock, and schilling's former studio. crazy libertarian studio ceos are the BEST.

Someone write a juicy book. I'd buy it.

 

[Cartman86]

didn't brad wardell of stardock also have his wife run stardock's hr?

we really need an article titled THE GAMES OF AYN RAND about silicon knights, stardock, and schilling's former studio. crazy libertarian studio ceos are the BEST.

Is Dyack a libertarian? Schilling comes off as more of a Conservative from what I've read on twitter, but it's a spectrum I guess.

 

[Dead Man]

So the problem was Dyack? Dead Mans lack of surprise is around here somewhere.

I don't think this is the first company I've heard of with the wife as the HR person, but it's definitely the biggest.

And, yeah... with a boss as problematic as this, having their wife as the HR person effectively means that there's no one to go to when things inevitably go wrong.

Pretty much.

 

[runnin_blue]

Someone posted this earlier. Stand and be counted!!

Ah, thankyou kind sir

EDIT: At the time it was a ballsy thing to do but in hindsight, considering how badly Too Human was recieved, it was oh so stupid.

 

[MWS Natural]

Dyack's wife is the HR person?

Holy shit.

Uh...I've seen this more than once with small to mid sized companies.

 

[Azih]

The article was amazing and a fun read, but stuff like this really requires there to be a ton of ex-employees willing to speak to a journalist off the record. That only really happens when people get *really* screwed by someone who has burned a lot of bridges (Schilling, Dyack etc.). Otherwise it's better for them to stay quiet and remain professional to continue in the industry.

 

[Messofanego]

Former employees say Dyack was confident that history would repeat itself, and that yet another publisher would cave to his demands for extensions and further funding injections. He was wrong. “SK kept getting stonewalled by Activision regarding extensions for the game and pushing back the launch,” says a source. “However, SK management was convinced they would have to delay; as a result, they started shifting a few more resources very quietly to ED2.” The idea was to slow down production more than ever before, to try to apply pressure for an extension.

It didn’t work. Instead of offering an extension, Activision turned up the pressure by publicly announcing the game, and attaching Silicon Knights’ name to it prominently.
...

Impossibly tight deadlines and publisher-pushed rush releases are two of the most commonly-cited factors when poor-quality games appear on shelves. Yet none of my eight sources believe that Activision was putting undue pressure on Silicon Knights. “They gave SK enough time; SK just didn’t use it wisely at all,” says another source. “SK over-promises to get a contract, and then always under-deliver. Activision was just the first publisher to hold their feet to the fire, so to speak.”

I actually feel bad for Activision being ignored all that time. We decry publishers but they're crucial to help the game's production along. We all need deadlines, some pressure or we'd never get any work done.

 

[dantevsninjas]

In this story, we learn that no matter what, you do not fuck around with Activision.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Uh...I've seen this more than once with small to mid sized companies.

Holy shit.