I really have no idea what point you are trying to make (as Telefrog said, your definition of obligation seems off), but I nominate you for Jon Shafer’s PR team. Perhaps his next Kickstarter is hiring.
I’ll say that I like Jon , but I expect a product eventually, and will be upset at him if it doesn’t happen.
I can still be patient, I knew he wouldn’t make his original timeline- it was too ambitious. I was expecting it sometime this year though.
Here’s my take on the situation (and yes I backed this one). Let’s say you’re Jon and you want to continue working on the project but there’s zero money for whatever reason. In fact there’s less than zero money because you (reportedly) cashed out your 401k and sold your house to work on the project. Given this do you:
- Take a part time job to be able to continue working on the project and be upfront about it
- Stop working on the project
- Take a job but keep it quiet
Are we really upset about Jon choosing 1?
So…
[quote]STOCKHOLM - May 12, 2017 - Paradox Interactive, a global publisher and developer of genre-defining games, today announced that Jon Shafer, the award-winning designer of such strategy titles as Sid Meier’s Civilization V, has joined Paradox Development Studio to work on new projects. A twelve-year veteran of game development, Shafer has won a BAFTA award for his work on Civilization V, and is now working on a new game with Paradox with details to be announced in the future. Shafer joins the creators of such iconic grand strategy franchises as Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, and Crusader Kings and will help to drive Paradox’s continuing growth and domination of the strategy genre worldwide.
“Bringing Jon Shafer onto our team is exciting for all of us; there’s probably nobody here who hasn’t personally played and enjoyed his work,” said Johan Andersson, EVP of Creative Direction at Paradox Development Studio. “Adding a new designer to our studio is always a significant challenge. Our fans have very high expectations for us based on the games they play – deep, complex titles with long-lasting, replayable experiences. I’ve known Jon for 15 years now, and I’m excited to have him join us. Jon has the expertise to create more of those experiences, and he shares our core design philosophies; we can’t wait to share his games with our fans.”
“I’ve been a fan of Paradox’s games for years now, and moving onto the team behind some of my favorite titles is an exhilarating moment for me,” said Jon Shafer, Game Director at Paradox Development Studio. “I’ve been drawn to strategy games for as long as I can remember, and it’s harder to find a better selection of rich strategy experiences than at Paradox. I look forward to working on the next big title in their catalog – stay tuned!”
Shafer is best known as the lead designer for Civilization V, though his work also includes designing the Beyond the Sword and Warlords expansions for Sid Meier’s Civilization IV, and he is also currently developing At the Gates, a Kickstarter-funded strategy title of his own creation. He will continue development of At the Gates independent and separate from his work for Paradox Development Studio and Paradox Interactive.[/quote]
Good for Jon. Seems like the right fit.
I was just going to post this.
How is going to finish At the Gates, while working at Paradox?
Why not get Paradox to publish it?
He’ll have to work on it in his spare time.
Who says they won’t publish it? Seems like a natural fit if the game ever is finished.
Yeah, I’d not be at all surprised if, down the road a piece, ATG finds a Paradox home somehow. From their perspective, if he turns out a winner, they can step in and benefit from it as well as making it more available, etc.
I didn’t think that designers or programmers had spare time working for a game company. I guess we will see
Hmmm, wouldn’t be surprised if the core game is cut back and all the cool stuff gets made into DLC size chunks.
Eh, it’s possible that he has a 4-days/week arrangement or something, giving him slightly more time to do AtG work than just weekends and evenings. Plenty of companies are offering such an option if it means being able to hire someone they really want to have onboard.
Also, many game companies actually do have a healthy work-life balance these days.
Martin Anward of Paradox is/was making a game in his free time. Some of these guys just really love their work I guess.
I think a lot of his backers are really upset that things got to the point where this choice was necessary in the first place, especially given the lack of communication.
I think this is probably a really good thing for Jon and almost certainly a really bad thing for At the Gates getting finished. Yes, every game studio has a different culture, and game director can mean many things, but it’s the kind of job where the responsibilities tend to fill up however much time you have.
Another Game Director there has been working on an individual side project for some time now.
“Working on a side project” and “Getting a commercial product into a release-able state” are not necessarily cars driving the same way down a similar avenue to a common destination.
I was responding to the statement that the Game Director position fills up all of a person’s time. That’s clearly not the case (EDIT: At PDS, I mean, I’m not speaking of the industry at large).
I wonder how many people here would be as forgiving if Jon did not post on this forum from time to time.
I’m glad for Jon and think this is the right decision. At the end of the day even if the backers lost their money it’s still just $20+, so whatever. He clearly made a good faith stab at it and failed. Also; Stockholm. Hell yes.
This is good for Jon and good for Paradox.
I would guess this will be good for At the Gates because having a job now allows him to pay bills and eat, which is obviously better than him not knowing how to make ends meet while trying to work on a game.
At the same time, @triggercut is right. It sucks that Jon wasn’t able to make this project work in the time frame his budget allowed, and it sucks that he kind of blew it with the initial communication when he went on hiatus.
Hopefully, his employment allows him the resources to get this done in a timely manner.