Quoted from boo32:I need to hear from GLM and the programmer.
I have largely just been mulling through the information and am still processing things as new information comes to light. I am being kept largely out of the loop, only getting information when basically everyone else does (the secret owners group is apparently only the first dream level of the Inception).
Currently my viewpoint on this whole situation has not changed any, since I have yet to be contacted by anyone other than a few concerned owners who are still looking for shreds of validation to the current situation. Unfortunately I just don't know anything more than anyone else.
My current thoughts are these:
1) I would not sign anything that waives your rights to sue or seek damages. EVER.
2) Until the "joint venture" with a known reputable pinball team is announced (and confirmed), there really isn't anything to get excited about, and all the more reason to believe that this is yet just another stall tactic that we should all be concerned about.
3) There is definitely a problem with the "need all owners on board" but ignoring the fact that the unpaid vendors/suppliers can still bankrupt Zidware and kill the whole thing.
4) I'm quite tired of the "for the love of pinball" statement being constantly thrown around. Simply because as a business owner who manufactures pinball parts, some which were made for the very same reasons that are being thrown around here (because if I don't do it, nobody will), I still have to make money at it. If I can't do that, then it's not worth pursuing, love or not.
And by various statements made by Pintasia, it would appear that they are like minded. If the numbers don't work, it's not worth pursuing. So again, hard to get excited about anything when Pintasia hasn't fully committed.
5) Apparently nobody seems to want to respond to Jim's (Applejuice) questions about the money he's owed. And that is really bad. Jim is very much the main reason why I raised my voice about the whole vendor/supplier thing. It was purely one thing for GLM or any other vendor (that can afford) to take a loss, but to nearly bankrupt a single individual out of his livelihood, that was the unforgivable act.
So where does all this go from here? I don't know. There are still too many questions that remain unanswered.
But it does lead me speculate...
Keep in mind that as an engineer, I am very much used to having to think about the "worst possible scenario", so my mind naturally keys into what every possible outcome could be. Unfortunately there is a lot of past precedence to lead to the conclusion that "ultra" collectors are the ones that are going to make out.
So to that end, I offer this as one "potential" outcome of the current state of things...(conspiracy theorists get in here!)
<conspiracy>
Don't you think it's a bit strange that all of a sudden there's a huge push to get a completed game done by June and out to Seattle without points 2, 3, 4, and 5 being addressed?
Maybe the plan isn't to save Zidware (or anyone else) at all. Maybe the plan IS to let Zidware go bankrupt (in spite of all of the behind the scenes murmuring), and that all of this is a huge stall tactic. Keep reading...
Maybe if I was an MG owner (and were still in JPop's good graces), I might want to throw some personal money in to get the three nearly complete prototypes done, get one (or more) shipped out of the state (or even better...into another country) and then let "the deal with the owners falls through" and have the wolves devour Zidware.
Seems like someone (or a couple of people) could come away with "the only known completed Magic Girl's (and RAZA) in existance", of which any would be worth a shit ton more than 16K (IE, they make their money back and then some).
Maybe, just maybe that would be my plan if I saw the writing on the wall...
One might suggest that a similar grab would occur in a bankruptcy, but at that point, you'd have a lot more people bidding for it and likely paying a lot more for it. So getting a game completed (and out of John's hands) before bankruptcy makes the most logical sense.
</conspiracy>
Okay, I gotta go mow a lawn. Will return later...