Brad Wardell: "I’m too old and too rich for this shit”

[sheek]

Re: Brad Wardell: "I’m too old and too rich for this sh

As I get older I am coming to understand the phrase “I’m too old and too rich for this shit”. I hang out on forums and each year, I get a little less patient for the basement dwelling idiots who seem to exist in the comments section of most websites.

It’s not that I think that I’m better than these losers rather than I think they’re just a lot worse than I am. Most of these people (and I use the term loosely) have some serious misconceptions about the nature of the world.

#1 Companies don’t need nor want everyone as a customer. There are people who simply cost more than it’s worth. If you’re the dumb ass who’s calling (on the phone) for tech support for a $10 program, please stay the hell away from us.

Then raise the price asshole. If you advertise customer support I'm going to use it if I need it. I would complain about a $1 bottle of milk that's off, because price has nothing to do with it.

#2 Similar to #1, if you’re one of those Internet trolls who becomes a zealot about some piddly irrelevant thing and feels necessary to whine about it on every forum post, please go away. Take your money with you and tell your friends (if you have any) to please stay away also. This comes up in discussions on Impulse and “DRM”. Stardock’s probably the most flexible company out there when it comes to DRM (we generally don’t like DRM) but it’s still not enough for some kooks (and yes, they’re kooks, don’t like being called a kook? Then don’t be a kook).

Fuck you. Don't like us complaining? Then don't make "piddly" mistakes.

#3 Armchair anything. There are few things more annoying than some idiot who has never done anything trying to say definitively how something should be done. If you think you know everything, then go away and do it. If you haven’t done something, learn some basic humility.

#4 CEO of $20million company... [snip bullshit]

Lol.

 

[Jeff Graw]

Re: Brad Wardell: "I’m too old and too rich for this sh

As I get older I am coming to understand the phrase “I’m too old and too rich for this shit”. I hang out on forums and each year, I get a little less patient for the basement dwelling idiots who seem to exist in the comments section of most websites.

It’s not that I think that I’m better than these losers rather than I think they’re just a lot worse than I am. Most of these people (and I use the term loosely) have some serious misconceptions about the nature of the world.

#1 Companies don’t need nor want everyone as a customer. There are people who simply cost more than it’s worth. If you’re the dumb ass who’s calling (on the phone) for tech support for a $10 program, please stay the hell away from us.

Then raise the price asshole. If you advertise customer support I'm going to use it if I need it. I would complain about a $1 bottle of milk that's off, because price has nothing to do with it.

#2 Similar to #1, if you’re one of those Internet trolls who becomes a zealot about some piddly irrelevant thing and feels necessary to whine about it on every forum post, please go away. Take your money with you and tell your friends (if you have any) to please stay away also. This comes up in discussions on Impulse and “DRM”. Stardock’s probably the most flexible company out there when it comes to DRM (we generally don’t like DRM) but it’s still not enough for some kooks (and yes, they’re kooks, don’t like being called a kook? Then don’t be a kook).

Fuck you. Don't like us complaining? Then don't make "piddly" mistakes.

#3 Armchair anything. There are few things more annoying than some idiot who has never done anything trying to say definitively how something should be done. If you think you know everything, then go away and do it. If you haven’t done something, learn some basic humility.

#4 CEO of $20million company... [snip bullshit]

Lol.

win

 

[Vibalist]

Re: Brad Wardell: "I’m too old and too rich for this sh

As I get older I am coming to understand the phrase “I’m too old and too rich for this shit”. I hang out on forums and each year, I get a little less patient for the basement dwelling idiots who seem to exist in the comments section of most websites.

It’s not that I think that I’m better than these losers rather than I think they’re just a lot worse than I am. Most of these people (and I use the term loosely) have some serious misconceptions about the nature of the world.

#1 Companies don’t need nor want everyone as a customer. There are people who simply cost more than it’s worth. If you’re the dumb ass who’s calling (on the phone) for tech support for a $10 program, please stay the hell away from us.

Then raise the price asshole. If you advertise customer support I'm going to use it if I need it. I would complain about a $1 bottle of milk that's off, because price has nothing to do with it.

#2 Similar to #1, if you’re one of those Internet trolls who becomes a zealot about some piddly irrelevant thing and feels necessary to whine about it on every forum post, please go away. Take your money with you and tell your friends (if you have any) to please stay away also. This comes up in discussions on Impulse and “DRM”. Stardock’s probably the most flexible company out there when it comes to DRM (we generally don’t like DRM) but it’s still not enough for some kooks (and yes, they’re kooks, don’t like being called a kook? Then don’t be a kook).

Fuck you. Don't like us complaining? Then don't make "piddly" mistakes.

#3 Armchair anything. There are few things more annoying than some idiot who has never done anything trying to say definitively how something should be done. If you think you know everything, then go away and do it. If you haven’t done something, learn some basic humility.

#4 CEO of $20million company... [snip bullshit]

Lol.

He means humility in the sense that you shouldn't talk about something you know nothing about, not in the sense that you can't brag about your achievements. Two different things.

 

[Jeff Graw]

Re: Brad Wardell: "I’m too old and too rich for this sh

He means humility in the sense that you shouldn't talk about something you know nothing about, not in the sense that you can't brag about your achievements. Two different things.

But his entire "don't say you know better than me unless you've made a game" rant is so full of shit it's not even funny. Not only is it an obvious fallacy -- the classic argument from authority -- but I doubt he even stopped to consider the fact that his statement also applies to almost every game reviewer out there, a crowd I doubt he has a problem with. Being able to program, or make content is completely separate from the ability to distinguish good and bad design. All of this: The argument from authority, applying his argument only to the people who criticize him when it also applies to the other side, failing to recognize the difference between game creating skills and game designing skills; all of this points towards a lack of both logical thinking as well as humility.

 

[Vibalist]

Re: Brad Wardell: "I’m too old and too rich for this sh

He means humility in the sense that you shouldn't talk about something you know nothing about, not in the sense that you can't brag about your achievements. Two different things.

But his entire "don't say you know better than me unless you've made a game" rant is so full of shit it's not even funny. Not only is it an obvious fallacy -- the classic argument from authority -- but I doubt he even stopped to consider the fact that his statement also applies to almost every game reviewer out there, a crowd I doubt he has a problem with. Being able to program, or make content is completely separate from the ability to distinguish good and bad design. All of this: The argument from authority, applying his argument only to the people who criticize him when it also applies to the other side, failing to recognize the difference between game creating skills and game designing skills; all of this points towards a lack of both logical thinking as well as humility.

All this is true. But I still think some people will sometimes have unrealistic expectations that might change when they learn how much work it really takes to program and design games.

But generally I don't disagree with you. I just wanted Sheek to see the distintion between humility in one sense and in another.

 

[obediah]

Re: Brad Wardell: "I’m too old and too rich for this sh

He means humility in the sense that you shouldn't talk about something you know nothing about, not in the sense that you can't brag about your achievements. Two different things.

But his entire "don't say you know better than me unless you've made a game" rant is so full of shit it's not even funny.

Yeah, that's about the lamest fanboy position there is (even above "how can you criticize a game that isn't out yet"). Brad is a fanboy of himself, which brings on self loathing (see #6), and forum breakdowns.

 

[Seboss]

I like the jab at Linux in #6. Not hypocritical at all.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Hahahaha. Way to go Brad. You tell those customers to fuck off. You don't need them, you have a $20 million company.

 

[mondblut]

Dunno, I think he makes good points at pretty much everything. Except maybe overgeneralization @ #3, but indeed, 10 out of 9 of those tutoring the developers on making games know jack shit about making games.

DRM? The policy of "you need online registration to download patches" has been around from day 1, long before Impulse.

Not willing to kiss up and bend over for any random faggot just because he bought or might consider buying a product you made? I can very well understand that. You hand them the purchase they paid their cash for, there is nothing you owe them on top of that.

 

[Talonfire]

I will give Wardell some credit, at least you don't need to use any form of DRM, or keep the disc in the drive for Stardock released games... until you need to update the game due to the game breaking bugs.

This rant is somewhat ironic, he's more or less whining about whiners. Not only that, he's calling them childish names. Brad Wardell has officially descended down to the lowest level of internet immaturity, let's invite him to the Codex.

 

[Xi]

10 out of 9 of those tutoring the developers on making games know jack shit about making games.

The real point is that just because you know how to code a game doesn't mean you know how to make a good game. I call bullshit. Most developers are bad game designers and simply know a specific technical trade that allows them to attempt one.

The best game developers will never actually get their day. Their lost songs of game design echo through the halls of many gaming forums. Call them crazy, but some of those people are brilliant.

Humility is also admitting the failure of a poorly designed product, not just admittance to a poorly designed game play concept. What a fucking hack!

 

[Monocause]

10 out of 9 of those tutoring the developers on making games know jack shit about making games.

The real point is that just because you know how to code a game doesn't mean you know how to make a good game. I call bullshit. Most developers are bad game designers and simply know a specific technical trade that allows them to attempt one.

I believe Wardell was talking about these guys who come up with these great moronic ideas like "it would be cool if we could buy a house and arange furniture and maby get a wife so it would be liek the sims a cool minigame and you could skip it if you wanted to. maby also introduce minerals in the sequel, starcraft has minerals and its a good game so logic dictates that your game should have minerals also"

And @Sheek: you failed to notice one thing. He mentions "phoning a customer support line" for a "10$ product support". What he meant was the moron who phones his company instead of checking the forum or sending an email will pay more for the phones he'll make than for the actual game he bought. I suppose there were many of such morons if he got pissed off enough about it to say that.


All in all, I don't see anything bad about what he wrote, except the DRM part, perhaps - but hell, business is business, and from what mondblut said I gather that the "DRM" used by stardock is bearable and fair. For the record, I'm not a fanboy. I've played a couple of pirated Stardock games and enjoyed none of them. Waiting now for MoM clone at works, somehow I have a feeling that it'll be good - unless it'll be one of these cheap and shallow quick gaming fix games that Stardock recently loves making (like Demigod or SoaSE)

 

[Jeff Graw]

unless it'll be one of these cheap and shallow quick gaming fix games that Stardock recently loves making (like Demigod or SoaSE)

I haven't played Demigod yet, but spot on for Sins. It's like somebody took Homeworld, decided to take everything out that was remotely good and enjoyable, tacked on some mediocre 4X features, and released it as a multiplayer focused game while forgetting to actually design a multiplayer implementation that doesn't make you want to tear your hair out. No way that shit would have sold without the Stardock label attached to it.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Humility is also admitting the failure of a poorly designed product, not just admittance to a poorly designed game play concept. What a fucking hack!

He was getting pissy at reviews giving Demigod a poor score because it was almost unplayable at launch and still IS pretty buggy, as far as I'm aware. Apparently Demigod phones home to Stardock, and they got swamped when all the pirated copies started phoning home. Kind of a mess of their own making but whatever.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Wow, I read the comments too. Terrible how happy his post made people. Christ almighty.

I think I was happier before I started reading gaming forums. Game developers were just vague names, not horrible fucking dicks I don't want to send a dime to. Shit.

 

[Shannow]

I think the problem with his comments are the generalizations. As they stand they could apply to any and every criticism. If he'd gone with a lot more examples I might have agreed with mondblut. But as it stands he sounds like a butthurt internet homogay.

 

[MetalCraze]

Dunno, I think he makes good points at pretty much everything. Except maybe overgeneralization @ #3, but indeed, 10 out of 9 of those tutoring the developers on making games know jack shit about making games.

So we should stop criticizing developers for the hype bullshit which lies about game having some features and when the game comes out they are not there because OMG You can't criticize developer because you don't know how hard it is to make a game?
Who gives a shit. You were promising that it is there up to the release date, you didn't deliver a quality product, you deserve to be treated like a bitch.
It's like people were driving a car and breaks stopped working and the car crashed. But no you can't criticize car manufacturer because it is so hard to make a car and you don't know jack shit about making it.

 

[mondblut]

Oh, you are perfectly entitled to criticize anybody for anything. But whoever you criticize is perfectly entitled to consider you a clueless and ignorant moron.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

http://forums.demigodthegame.com/355476/page/1/#replies
More weird shit from Wardell (Frogboy). Sneaky fucker, "WELL IF YOU GUYS ARE GONNA SAY MEAN THINGS, GOSH, MAYBE WE SHOULD JUST STOP PATCHING THE GAME." manipulative son of a bitch FUCK. Don't want to buy Stardock games any more.

 

[Redeye]

sounds like he would both fit right in and absolutely hate the codex at the same time.

Which is to say he would fit right in.

 

[Talby]

This Brad Wardell guy sounds like a douchebag. I'll be avoiding StarDock games in the future.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Seems like he's stating the obvious to me.

 

[Hory]

Only wussies avoid a product based on their emotional impressions of its creators. Probably the same kind of losers that appreciate art based primarily on how much effort the author put into it. Who cares about the men behind the work, as long as they're not using your money for some evil purposes. Should Fallout be avoided if it was discovered that Tim Cain is a rapist? Only the work counts. Go watch soap operas if you're so interested in other people's character. On the other hand, Demigod is technically a super-shitty game and Galactic Civilizations are overrated.

 

[shihonage]

Dibs on that sig.

 

[Frogboy]

Hi all,

Brad here. I'm a lurker here and couldn't help noticing this.

The article you're pointing to is from my personal blog site.

While I do agree that it's not a smart business move to make blog posts on such things, I think context really matters.

The post in question was written back last Winter and was largely a response to Object Desktop users who were complaining about having to switch from Stardock Central to Impulse and a few users on WinCustomize.com were (to put this as delicately as I can) were insisting that we could not do that because they were the customer and the customer is always right.

I don't know how many of you have started your own business but even if you haven't, if you were to do so, would you try to do things differently than what other companies do? Things that you think are better in the bigger scheme of things.

For one thing, I've always had a pet peeve about the lack of direct communication between the leaders of a company to individual customers. Customers are the ones who pay the bills. So when users have a problem, I'll happily step in and try to help.

But at the same time, I don't think someone paying money for a product or services gives them the right to abuse me or my coworkers.

Here's something I wrote a year ago that sums it up:

http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/312130