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A big day

July 1st, 2006 (Visited 3888 times) Tags:

Today is a big day, because yesterday, my contract with Sony Online expired.

Alas, I now officially have no paycheck either.

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35 Responses to “A big day”

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Faith wrote on July 2nd, 2006 at 7:22 pm:

[...] Comments [...]

forums.swgemu.com :: View topic - Raph has left SOE and more! wrote on July 3rd, 2006 at 8:29 pm:

[...] http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/07/01/a-big-day/ Sorry to necro a thread, but some might be interested in this. [...]

Reader Comments

Wilfried said on July 1st, 2006 at 10:30 am:
So well, uhm, congrats, I think

What I ever liked to ask - dunno if you can answer it - may you go on with work now or is there still a non compete period? Guess if you like to go on with your own studio it doesn’t matter anyway - nobody can stop you from planing. But I’m just curious
Prokofy Neva said on July 1st, 2006 at 12:18 pm:
Great news! Hey, if you’re in New York City still, let me buy you a drink.
: )

Now, you’re going to go and do real stuff instead of games?
Prokofy Neva said on July 1st, 2006 at 12:21 pm:
Wait. Let me rephrase that. You actually *did do* a lot of real stuff when you made games. Imagine all those people online for all those hours for whom you were the center of their universe…metaverse. So…are you going to leave this world of games and go get that kind of job that’s more of a game than the games you used to make? Or are you going to invent a new game with those perfect 40 things? I hope so.
Curtis said on July 1st, 2006 at 5:02 pm:
Cool, as you talk about SOE, Raph

Who owns Pre-CU codes? I really want to know because we still have hopes for your “good ol’ game”

And can you tell us, is it possible to revert SWG back to CU or Pre-CU? And does SOE have any plans?
Morgan Ramsay said on July 1st, 2006 at 7:12 pm:
Simply because his contract expired doesn’t mean his nondisclosure agreement also expired…
helpfulharry said on July 1st, 2006 at 8:15 pm:
Hey Raph, let me say that I had some friends who worked at Sony and they all thought you were really wasting your talent there.

That place was a chaotic nursery for junior developers.

Anyways, let me agree with Prokofy. Hopefully you start doing some serious things now
Slyfeind said on July 1st, 2006 at 10:31 pm:
Memoirs! Deconstruct! Debrief! Post-mortem! DETAILS, man! Start talkin!

And yes, I agree with Curtis. We need another uber-sandbox.
Michael Chui said on July 2nd, 2006 at 1:05 am:
I have to wonder what people are reading on here. It’s remarkably as if his poems were trivial in comparison with the triviality of games. I would hate to be defined by my industry…
Abalieno said on July 2nd, 2006 at 1:18 am:
If he’s going indie I doubt we’ll see an uber-sandbox.
Amaranthar said on July 2nd, 2006 at 8:30 am:
Michael Chui said:
I have to wonder what people are reading on here. It’s remarkably as if his poems were trivial in comparison with the triviality of games. I would hate to be defined by my industry…

Good point. I guess Raph and many others are defined by their industry. Look at how I sort of drug him over the coals not too long ago over the industry’s choices on PvP and player justice, or lack of.

But people will be defined in such ways. Political leaders of the past are defined by what went on around them as much as what they did. On the other hand, they are also defined by what they did about the things that went on around them.

I leave you with this quote:
“I regret that I have but one life to give to my gaming community. But wait! I hath been ressed.”

My appologies to the real heroes of history. But let them know, as we approach the 4th of July, they and their deeds are not forgotten.
Amaranthar said on July 2nd, 2006 at 8:33 am:
Abalieno said:
If he’s going indie I doubt we’ll see an uber-sandbox.

I don’t know. Raph’s name might bring new investment. It would certainly be worth looking into.
Raph said on July 2nd, 2006 at 9:10 am:

The NDA runs pretty near interminably. That doesn’t mean there aren’t questions I can answer, however.

There is no non-compete. Work already started. Yes, on something indie, and yes on something that I hope is disruptive and different and not games as usual.

Michael, I do believe that most people think that the poems are trivial compared to the writings on games. Never mind that I sometimes think I have a higher batting average on the poems than on game systems.
Morgan Ramsay said on July 2nd, 2006 at 9:39 am:
Michael Chui wrote:

I would hate to be defined by my industry…

Perception is definition. I know Raph as an incredible guitarist who also designs games, not as a game designer who also plays guitar.

I am not a noun. I am an adjective. I am anything that behaves in a John-K-Clarkish way.

— John K. Clark, from Eliezer Yudkowsky’s FAQs about the Meaning of Life
SirBruce said on July 2nd, 2006 at 10:38 am:
I feel I’m far less qualified to comment on the quality of someone’s guitar or poetry than I am on their work on computer games. And although I’m a writer myself, poetry never really interested me beyond very simplistic forms. I can apprecaite the poetry of words, but trying to convey ideas through poetry often seems to me like trying to paint ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with only a toothpick. Yeah, you could DO it, but why deliberately make it harder on yourself?

I wrote a poem when I was five, and I’ve written a few song lyrics, which to me are very different from poetry since they rely heavily on melody to make them work. I do wish I could write music; I hope someday computer AI is advanced enough that I can just sing a few bars of what’s in my head and it’ll automatically fill in the rest.

Bruce
Amaranthar said on July 2nd, 2006 at 11:25 am:
Raph said:
There is no non-compete. Work already started. Yes, on something indie, and yes on something that I hope is disruptive and different and not games as usual.

“Disruptive and different” sounds pretty interesting. I’ve found myself hoping lately that you’d be doing this. But not just with any game, there’s one in particular that I hoped you’d join forces with. I know it’s unlikely, but untill we hear who you’ve joined up with I’ll hold out with it.
before today said on July 2nd, 2006 at 11:58 am:
The NDA runs pretty near interminably. That doesn’t mean there aren’t questions I can answer, however.

are any of these those questions?

Who owns Pre-CU codes? I really want to know because we still have hopes for your “good ol’ game”

And can you tell us, is it possible to revert SWG back to CU or Pre-CU? And does SOE have any plans?

and a note on another discussion going here. unfortunately when you are defined by your industry it is usually because you have changed it or are well known in it. and when you step outside it people become uncomfortable with it, like actors in politics.
Raph said on July 2nd, 2006 at 12:52 pm:

Pre-CU code, if it exists on some ancient backup, is owned by the same people who own the current code: LEC & SOE.

Is it possible to revert? Almost assuredly not without undoing everything (including all characters and their advancement!) since the date of the change. And on top of that, that would also mean undoing years worth of bugfixes and improvements that you wouldn’t want to lose, along with the “improvements” that you do want to remove.

So it’s theoretically possible, and in practice, unlikely to the point of impossible.
Curtis said on July 2nd, 2006 at 1:52 pm:
And what about CU? It’s most likely still there but SOE just disabled.
Raph said on July 2nd, 2006 at 2:11 pm:

Same deal. Basically, it’s been overwritten, since once you commit to going in a direction, you don’t leave the old code path in there, that’d be sloppy. It may exist in an ancient code backup, but likely very difficult to integrate. Plus there’s tons of other dependencies to worry about.
Lobosolitario said on July 2nd, 2006 at 2:12 pm:
Grats Raph. Weird when something that’s taken up years of your life just ends, isn’t it? Ah well, now anything is possible for you
Curtis said on July 2nd, 2006 at 2:42 pm:
Thanks for answers Raph. Since we know SOE is …. they never “work” then to do these.
Lobosolitario said on July 2nd, 2006 at 3:34 pm:
Curtis,

If you look at Darniaq’s Blog, you’ll find a post about a SWG Emulator project. As the post says, it’s A)Probably a hoax and B)Has absolutely no chance of getting round SOE legal team. More interesting, though, are the comments towards the end, about returning to old-school SWG. I know that they’re accurate for me, and they may well be accurate for you - sometimes things are best just left as fond memories.
Prokofy Neva said on July 2nd, 2006 at 3:46 pm:
>yes on something that I hope is disruptive and different and not games as usual.

That sounds promising!
Curtis said on July 2nd, 2006 at 4:50 pm:
Thanks for this Lobosolitario,

I know about Emulator but including me, not many people will play on an emulator if this ever comes out. SWGemu’s supporters only hope is; if it ever comes, maybe SOE will put some “Classic” servers.
Almagill said on July 2nd, 2006 at 6:44 pm:
“Work already started. Yes, on something indie, and yes on something that I hope is disruptive and different”

Oh good That is possibly the most positive thing I’ve read this week.
Grimwell said on July 2nd, 2006 at 7:36 pm:
“Deer Hunter Online, by Raph Koster”

That’s my guess.
Michael Chui said on July 2nd, 2006 at 7:40 pm:
Starring Dick Cheney. </rimshot>
Athela said on July 2nd, 2006 at 8:01 pm:
Congrats on your freedom to move onward! I can’t wait to see what comes from your fascinating mind next. Best of luck.
Tess said on July 3rd, 2006 at 4:25 pm:
Congrats on your independence! It’s funny, because I said to a colleague about two years ago that I imagined you’d probably be happier off working on a renegade project, rather than being all big-corporate. I’m glad to see that you’re getting that chance. I, for one, won’t ask what in the world you’re working on, because silence seems to be de rigeur for this generation of projects. Everyone has learned their lessons about too much hype too soon.
blur said on July 3rd, 2006 at 6:24 pm:
There is no non-compete. Work already started. Yes, on something indie, and yes on something that I hope is disruptive and different and not games as usual.

This thrills me greatly. Will stay glued to the site to find out more
Toonces said on July 3rd, 2006 at 8:16 pm:
Can’t wait to see what you do for your next project. I’m sure alot of the old SWG community will be following your progress.
Adam MacDonald said on July 4th, 2006 at 9:55 am:
heh I guess congratz are in order Now, if you hurry up and finish that new book, I’m sure you’ll have some revenue for all your music making. Have a good one.
Distiler said on July 5th, 2006 at 10:53 am:
Salute!
Will you, some day, write an article about SWG telling, as far as you can go, things us former pre-nge players deserve to know about all the process the game has went through?

I think we are the most screwed gaming community out there and we deserve a little love. I want to be able to say “I told you so!”. You know, as far as you can go

Salute from Barcelona!