OP should probably change thread title

it was in March. So that’s a little weird. But “beginning of the year” might mean February and that Stern pushed the update after he was gone. Or now he’s just a 1099 and can do whatever he wants, like destroy noobs in tournaments

Oh hell no. EHOH kind of sucked when it was first released but the next code update, and EVERY ONE after that have been amazing. It’s not even in the same universe. They were just so good, it’s too bad there won’t be a final couple of modes as were projected.

An educated guess since this is my job: He almost certainly did do that update - just not in March. Stern has to QA it, which I’m sure they did. Say Lyman finished it in January, Stern QAs it, found a bug or two, somebody else has to step in and fix said bug, takes them a month because it’s not their code.

Of course. But it takes significantly more time for someone else to come in and figure everything out. Even the best developer in the world can't make understanding the rules, understanding the code structure and bug hunting take less time.

The legends of him doing code updates from home make clear that probably no one could ever pay him what he's worth. Companies are kept afloat by employees like that, which makes this all the more shocking (no I don't mean Stern is about to go under).

I just want him to know he’s awesome and wherever he ends up - or doesn’t - I’ve appreciated (and owned!) every game he’s worked on.

Well said. My god, after spending just a couple days on Pinside I’d never want to work in this industry! Love for the game has to be the only reason everyone puts up with all this. Or does the sensible thing and quits Pinside! I’ve never heard anyone say anything negative about Lyman, but it doesn’t matter. People are dunking on Steve Richie now! It’s ridiculous

Yeah, I mean that is kind of BS. "bare to the bone"? Even Monster Bash which is lighter on the rules is a killer game

Same exact thing stand up comics say. It’s impossible to work out material on stage (which is a necessity to make it good) because 2 minutes later it’s posted on YouTube as “worst comedian ever”, and suddenly they can’t get booked.

Wow, what a huge pickup for CGC! I am really bummed Lyman won't be able to finish Elvira's HoH, which I think(?) was his last game at Stern, but this is going to mean CGC can really get out there and compete with the other manufacturers directly - especially as I understand they are doing an original theme after CCr.

If it's true, of course.

We have “marketplace healthcare” (I have a small LLC), and I pay LESS than I did for our family than when I was a W-2 for the exact same coverage. Depends on what you need I guess

I use a Rabbi’s trust for retirement plan. As long as I don’t dissolve the company, I can put up to 100% of annual revenue into the plan, tax free. We need living expenses obviously, but it’s a pretty damn good setup.

Yes, faxed as income at the time you take it out - but the plan is to not have other income at that time, so I’d be taxed in the lowest bracket. Our house is almost paid for so I don’t plan on having a mortgage, unless my kid goes to some super expensive school (not currently the plan!). We live in an area which isn’t predicted to be dramatically affected by climate change, other than the awful heat, so I dont expect we will move any time soon either.