back to plan b
run for congress and reload

Added Schilling: “In my mind we were on our way to building literally a world-changing company.”

I do not doubt that in his mind this was true, though I wonder if the guy who programmed Defender thought the same thing back in the day? Look at all these buttons, he might have thought, the human mind will have to ####### EVOLVE to deal with all these buttons. Pacman doesn't even have a button.

Maybe I'm being cynical, but I really doubt Schilling's life going forward is going to be that much of a struggle financially.

“In my mind we were on our way to building literally a world-changing company.”

I sympathize with Schilling here, he had a dream and he went for it and he didn't notice when his dream script and reality diverged. But unless he was delusional he must have known that he was on thin ice financially ever since 38 Studios cash position went below their debt* a year os so ago. I certainly think I would have been panicking if all my wealth was steadily being incinerated in a giant money bonfire, but then I have also felt the awesome power that denial has for investors.

*) I assume they still had a nice positive equity based on immaterials like their half-finished MMO.

Maybe I'm being cynical, but I really doubt Schilling's life going forward is going to be that much of a struggle financially.

No, it's not. He can earn good money in media and he probably still have a few emergency stashes of Krügerrands squirreled away.

On the other hand, what is the point of life if one can never realize the dream of making a better Everquest, the MMO that is just right? That is never going to happen now. He had a chance and he blew it, that is going to hurt.

The idea that he invested $50 million of his own money is insane to me. I don't buy it.

I like Schilling as a ballplayer and I don't care one way or the other about his politics, but I'll buy every bridge connecting Manhattan to New Jersey and Brooklyn before I'll believe that Schilling won't return to an upper 1% lifestyle before the year is out, if indeed he'll ever lose that status in the first place.

EDITED: Yeah, I guess it's plausible, if he really did invest $50 million, that he'd be about tapped out by now had he just lived a normal top 1% lifestyle on the income that was left over after taxes.

A perfect Red Sox parable. Dumbass Schilling uses his own resources to go for the pie in the sky, and Joe DiMaggio never picked up the tab for drinks or food in his life.

Maybe I was sick the day they taught math in math school, but b-r says that Schilling made $114 million in his career. So even if he did invest $50 million, how is his money all gone? Did he use up ALL of the remaining $64 million over the past 20 years?

Obama took the rest, Ray, to give to deadbeats and welfare queens!

Naw, but really, figure he probably bought himself a big old house, had to pay taxes, had to buy a big ol' pillow for his big ol' head, and he probably only has a few million left.

edit: Not fast enough! Ha!

If we weren't already doomed to years of looking at his smug face on the TV, we definitely are now.

Assuming that he's not simply lying, what a ####### dumbass. You get $50,000,000, you put at least $3,000,000 in a market tracking fund and don't ever, ever touch it or the money that comes out of it, so that you can live a somewhat comfortable upper middle class lifestyle for the rest of your life without working no matter what happens to the other $47,000,000.

(Yes, of course there's a chance that you'll lose the $3,000,000 too, but if that happens then essentially the entire world is screwed, not just you, and nothing you could have done would have prevented you being screwed anyway)

Maybe I'm being cynical, but I really doubt Schilling's life going forward is going to be that much of a struggle financially.

My wife was watching that game show "The Choice" where contestants vie to become dates for celebrities, without being seen. The "celeb" was Warren Sapp, who after making $60 mill in his career recently declared bankruptcy to avoid going to jail. I guess he is quite a catch.

I'll want to see a picture of the house that Schilling is living in at this time next year before I start believing his "tapped out" story.

i have seen a lot of people fritter a lot of money away via galactically poor choices. schilling has plenty of company

andy, house might be paid for in full and if he doesn't have to sell it to settle other debts why dump it?

or if he does stop paying his mortgage foreclosure can take a long time so he and his family could be there for over a year before having to move.

not nitpicking. just sharing facts.

I'll want to see a picture of the house that Schilling is living in at this time next year before I start believing his "tapped out" story.


This one might be affordable.

house might be paid for in full and if he doesn't have to sell it to settle other debts why dump it?

Taxes, if he lived in my township with its Taj Mahal High School. Grumble.

Assuming that he's not simply lying, what a ####### dumbass. You get $50,000,000, you put at least $3,000,000 in a market tracking fund and don't ever, ever touch it or the money that comes out of it, so that you can live a somewhat comfortable upper middle class lifestyle for the rest of your life without working no matter what happens to the other $47,000,000.


I suspect he's exaggerating his personal losses in a public forum with sympathetic hosts. I've read other articles and info indicating that his losses might be closer to "only" $10 million instead of $50 million.

I'm a gamer and had some sympathy for what he was trying to do, but if he really thought his new MMO set in a thoroughly bland world was "world-changing" he's a damn fool. He aimed too high and got burned. Had they stuck to Reckoning and perhaps tried to build off that they might have succeeded for a little while.

I'll buy every bridge connecting Manhattan to New Jersey and Brooklyn before I'll believe that Schilling won't return to an upper 1% lifestyle before the year is out,

Define upper 1%. I wouldn't take that bet either, but depending on your cut-off there might be some non-prix fixe menu dinners in the Schilling's future. Not that his kids will have to take out loans for college, but that they won't be the type of heirs/esses that they might have assumed- which certainly would necessitate sitting down with the family to discuss the change in circumstances from rich as Croesus to rich as a professional class person who worked a fairly high paying job in their profession and saved wisely for their career.

The idea that he invested $50 million of his own money is insane to me.

There's no way that we can really know outside of his accountant leaking his bank statements, but I can believe it. This is the same guy who had experimental surgery on his ankle to pitch in a game when that surgery could have ended his career. That doesn't mean I think he made a good choice, but that's a whole other kettle of fish. Also, while people do lie about their financial status and activity all the time, I don't see why we shouldn't assume good faith given that he's exactly the type of blowhard who talks without a filter while believing he speaks truth to power.

Assuming that he's not simply lying, what a ####### dumbass.

Again, I don't know why we should think he's lying. Being a knucklehead who doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut, sure. Lying, eh, benefit of the doubt. Also, eh, it was a labor of love and there's far better and worse people than him who've blown their own nest eggs trying to create something in an industry they think they'll love. Talk to most restaurateurs, for example.

The only thing I hope that Schilling takes out of this is a better understanding that you can work really really hard and really be driven to succeed and still fall flat on your face, and that applies to everyone in every walk of life but not everyone has the same opportunities to help pick himself back up that he does after his fall.

The game supposedly needed 3 million sales just to break even. That's...probably not the best plan for a studio's first game. Did they spend that much money on the MMO development before scrapping it?

Maybe I was sick the day they taught math in math school, but b-r says that Schilling made $114 million in his career.

114 million
minus taxes
minus agent's fee
minus living expenses the past 15 years


if he really did spend $50million on this thing he could be "tapped out"- depending upon how you define tapped out

he may have a $10mm house with a $5million mortgage and $2.5 million in the bank- he's "tapped out" because he's going to have to go back to work and generate income unless he's gonna have to sell the manse and get something smaller... which doesn't mean that he's "poor" or "broke" as us peons understand those terms

of course it is entirely possible that he blew $50million on this, bought a bunch of "investments" from 1996-2008 that are now worth 60% of what he paid for them, and has a $10million mortgage on a house now worth $7.5million... In which case he could be in deep doodoo and a CH 11 filing is in the cards before year out.

I like Schilling as a ballplayer and I don't care one way or the other about his politics, but I'll buy every bridge connecting Manhattan to New Jersey and Brooklyn before I'll believe that Schilling won't return to an upper 1% lifestyle before the year is out, if indeed he'll ever lose that status in the first place.

While I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for Schilling himself (this was a risk he willingly took on), it can still be a major change in lifestyle, particularly for the kids. It is not hard to imagine needing to change schools (if they were attending an expensive private school), moving because of downsizing a house, and having to be more selective with activities. None of these things are necessarily bad, just that it is stress and upheaval in life.

Also, there is a big difference in being a 1% at 500K a year, and a 1% at 500k a year with $50 million in the bank and/or invested.

I'll buy every bridge connecting Manhattan to New Jersey and Brooklyn before I'll believe that Schilling won't return to an upper 1% lifestyle before the year is out,

Define upper 1%.

It's a bit north of $500,000 in income, and that's for households. I'll be genuinely surprised if Schilling's income doesn't exceed that before long. His pension alone is about $175,000 a year, and he's got the perfect mix of bluster and baseball experience for a lucrative job as a sports network commentator.

And yes, I realize that his net worth has taken a nosedive, but when Schilling moves into a cheap condo in a middle class neighborhood that he's unable to buy outright with cash, I'll then start paying attention to his cries of poverty.

The only thing I hope that Schilling takes out of this is a better understanding that you can work really really hard and really be driven to succeed and still fall flat on your face, and that applies to everyone in every walk of life but not everyone has the same opportunities to help pick himself back up that he does after his fall.

We should live to see the day.

He's making at $160,000 in pension a year and can probably land a 6-figure broadcasting job with one phone call. He'll be OK.

I'll want to see a picture of the house that Schilling is living in at this time next year before I start believing his "tapped out" story

Haven't we learned from the past few years that there are tons of people living in houses that don't reflect their financial situation?

Schilling's statement that Gov. Chafee had an agenda to cause the failure of 38 Studios makes no sense:

Asked if he thought Chafee was disappointed in the studio's demise, Schilling said: "No, not at all. I think he had an agenda and executed it."

The state of Rhode Island guaranteed the $75 million in bonds (although it is a moral guarantee not an absolute guarantee). So it either has to pony up $75 million to bond holders, or walk away from a moral guarantee bond - which means that Rhode Island will never again be able to tap into that sort of funding.

No, I know that the threshhold for 1% is about 533k for households, I meant "upper 1%." There's a big difference between 1m a year and 10m, and I agree that there's no way his lifestyle drops even to upper middle class standards. I also don't think he's so much crying poverty, but maybe I'm being too charitable.

[21] seems about right and I agree it all depends on the definition of "tapped out"...and where you're coming from. Unlike Warren Sapp, I doubt Schilling has a negative net worth.

If "tapped out" means no more money to invest, he's probably "tapped out".

He probably still has a fully paid off house (or 2), sevral luxury cars and $1-5 M in liquid assets, plus his future income from his handsome 200k MLB pension. For just about everyone, that would be considered "flush", not tapped out. For Schilling, losing $50M in investments and an average annual income of $11M (his last 7 active years), could legitimately cause him to feel "tapped out", when most would legitimately consider him "rich".

Why do you guys find it so hard to believe that he spent all of his money? Almost every other athlete does it. I actually respect Schilling more than most because he didn't let an entourage fritter it away, even if the "business venture" he invested in was crazy. Like I said on a previous post, he's a prototypical crazy entrepreneur - they often fail, but they sometimes succeed spectacularly, and it's surprisingly hard to tell which category one will fall into.

At the minimum, I bet he has the comfortable MLB pension and significant retirement account savings (401k, IRA, etc) so he's not going to miss many meals. However, the difference between living on $175k of real dollars plus whatever he can earn broadcasting, and that plus a $50mm nest egg throwing off 4% interest is HUGE. If his family is used to a $1-2mm income and they have to scale down to $250k, that is going to be a big difference. The vacations won't be nearly as nice, the cars won't be nearly as nice, private school will be a much bigger stretch financially, etc. Schilling is clear that it is all his fault. And he's not asking for anyone to feel sorry for him.

That said, his whining about how Rhode Island treated him is idiotic. To burn through $50mm in a year takes some talent - that's a $4mm monthly burn rate. The period of time between when Chafee started questioning his company's solvency and when it actually ran out of money was less than 1 month.... so Chafee was right to question its solvency! 38 Studios was out of money! in the absence of a signed term sheet from other investors, he should have been making worst case plans well in advance of actually running out of cash, but his "plan" was to hit the wall at 100mph. Curt, i'm glad you owned up to your family about your poor capital allocation decisions, but it's time you owned up to your former employees about your poor business decisions too.

I'll want to see a picture of the house that Schilling is living in at this time next year before I start believing his "tapped out" story

Haven't we learned from the past few years that there are tons of people living in houses that don't reflect their financial situation?

We certainly have, but when their financial situation actually forces them into the sort of living conditions that their alleged financial situation would seem to call for, then I think we're getting into something a lot more serious. The fact that there are former millionaires in bankruptcy living in gated communities speaks to little more than the skill of their lawyers in applying the fine print of the bankruptcy laws to avoid a full payment to their creditors. If a middle class person can lose his home and possessions because his debts overwhelmed his income and net worth, why should someone like Schilling be exempt from that sort of consequence, assuming that he's really as "tapped out" as he claims to be?

But again, I don't have anything particularly against Schilling, and I hope for his sake that he's exaggerating the extent of his current financial plight.

why should someone like Schilling be exempt from that sort of consequence, assuming that he's really as "tapped out" as he claims to be?

Dykstra went straight from a $18M mansion to sleeping in his car. He has found a place to live now, though.

Coming soon to Dancing With the Stars, the Celebrity Apprentice and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: Curt Schilling!

If he really has nothing left, he'll still be able to earn a nice income through at least:

- a tv or radio gig
- speaking engagements
- coaching/etc

Presuming he's not done anything so crazy here that will make him a pariah/unemployable to the entities that would otherwise employ him.

So he's not going to be poor. It's just that he will now have to work again, rather than sitting around dreaming about how he's going to change the world through video games.

MLB Network needs to develop a reality show with Jose Canseco, Lenny Dystra, Curt Schilling and Darren Daulton. Special appearance from Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry.

Dykstra went straight from a $18M mansion to sleeping in his car. He has found a place to live now, though.

Well, for his sake I hope it's in a North Face or a Mountain Hardwear. I'd hate to have to see a classy act like Lenny have to resort to the Sunday newspaper.

MLB Network needs to develop a reality show with Jose Canseco, Lenny Dystra, Curt Schilling and Darren Daulton. Special appearance from Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry.

I like to poke fun at Schilling, but I wouldn't lump him in with those guys. Schilling seems like a normal enough guy who read Ayn Rand and thought it was about him except, instead of trains, he was going to seize the world through the power of role playing video games.

If he really has nothing left, he'll still be able to earn a nice income through at least:

- a tv or radio gig
- speaking engagements
- coaching/etc

This is the Mike Matheny plan for recovering from really bad investment decisions, only scaled-up 2x - 4x.

(Yes, of course there's a chance that you'll lose the $3,000,000 too, but if that happens then essentially the entire world is screwed, not just you, and nothing you could have done would have prevented you being screwed anyway)

Well, you could invest in weapons.

Well, for his sake I hope it's in a North Face or a Mountain Hardwear. I'd hate to have to see a classy act like Lenny have to resort to the Sunday newspaper.

That's attorney/dumpster privilege.

I like to poke fun at Schilling, but I wouldn't lump him in with those guys. Schilling seems like a normal enough guy who read Ayn Rand and thought it was about him except, instead of trains, he was going to seize the world through the power of role playing video games.

He's a wonderful complement to the others. We have the sleazeball, the clown, the drunk and the nerd. But the show really would need a Casanova too.

Well, you could invest in weapons.

I'm pretty sure that Curt already have that covered.

I like to poke fun at Schilling, but I wouldn't lump him in with those guys. Schilling seems like a normal enough guy who read Ayn Rand and thought it was about him except, instead of trains, he was going to seize the world through the power of role playing video games.

He's a wonderful complement to the others. We have the sleazeball, the clown, the drunk and the nerd. But the show really would need a Casanova too.

Elijah Dukes would pick up the phone if called...

He's a wonderful complement to the others. We have the sleazeball, the clown, the drunk and the nerd. But the show really would need a Casanova too.

In Alfonso Soriano-like fashion, Steve Garvey is available.

@40 Pat Burrell

So I became curious if Dykstra had started serving time yet. That he had, the three years he got for grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. He also got nine months for indecent exposure earlier this year, I presume he will start to serve that after the first term is over.

What I didn't realize was that he will be on yet another trial in July. This one for bankruptcy fraud and embezzlement. "Prosecutors said that after filing for bankruptcy, Dykstra hid, sold or destroyed more than $400,000 worth of items without permission of a bankruptcy trustee.". He could get 80 years. I'm pretty sure he won't, but it seems he don't have to worry about living on the streets for quite a while.

And yet if Dykstra had to do it all over again, how many people actually think that he wouldn't?

Surely the Red Sox would give him $1 million to attempt a comeback.

I agree it all depends on the definition of "tapped out".

Right. Like, if it just means he's out of land, then he has no mana until his next upkeep phase but he should be good to go after that.

I like to poke fun at Schilling, but I wouldn't lump him in with those guys. Schilling seems like a normal enough guy who read Ayn Rand and thought it was about him except, instead of trains, he was going to seize the world through the power of role playing video games.

Sure, but I need someone to play the blowhard.

Sure, but I need someone to play the blowhard.

The Trump, as it were...

Pick a Steinbrenner, any Steinbrenner.

To burn through $50mm in a year takes some talent

Actually it was more like 3-4 years, 38 Studios was around since 2006 and really ramped up after Schilling retired at the end of 2007. Not saying that makes it much better, I have a friend who works for Turbine and he thought they were insane for trying to build an MMO as their first release with 350 people on staff. But not as profligate as it sounds. Otherwise, mostly agree.

The fact that there are former millionaires in bankruptcy living in gated communities speaks to little more than the skill of their lawyers in applying the fine print of the bankruptcy laws to avoid a full payment to their creditors.

Well, it's also that the banks don't want to write down the bad loan so they'll just let it ride given that actually undertaking foreclosures on every delinquency would create an even greater REO overhang than is generally acknowledged.

The fact that there are former millionaires in bankruptcy living in gated communities speaks to little more than the skill of their lawyers in applying the fine print of the bankruptcy laws to avoid a full payment to their creditors.

Well, it's also that the banks don't want to write down the bad loan so they'll just let it ride given that actually undertaking foreclosures on every delinquency would create an even greater REO overhang than is generally acknowledged.

That's a true point that doesn't negate the fact that bankruptcy laws often work to those millionaires' big advantage, as well as to the advantage of outright flim-flam artists. I am not putting Schilling in that latter category, but it's true that the bankruptcy laws protect the honest and the dishonest alike.

Far too kind here. Dude got addicted to video games and blew his family's fortune chasing some mythical perfect game. How ridiculous. He deserves all the scorn and ridicule he is getting.

I do enjoy that he has found a scapegoat. That mean politician who wouldn't let him blow through another sucker, I mean investors money. How very right wing of him.

What a maroon. ESPN or MLBnetwork? Or FOX?

Schilling may have a very different definition of "tapped out" than the rest of us. Maybe noting having a $10 million+ cushion feels tapped out to him. Or maybe he's very broke.

Let's see, he made at least $114 million in his career, not including endorsements. And he invested at least part of that in gold, which has done quite well over the past few years, thanks largely to tea baggers like himself. I'd say he's worth $50 mil at minimum and probably closer to $100 if his investment strategy worked out.

I don't think he's going to be pulling his kids out of private school anytime soon.

Assuming Schilling isn't getting financial advice from Lenny Dykstra, I can't imagine a responsible accountant/money manager telling him, "Yes, Curt, invest all your savings in selling an unproven video game in the middle of the most dubious economy in 80 years."

Far too kind here. Dude got addicted to video games and blew his family's fortune chasing some mythical perfect game. How ridiculous. He deserves all the scorn and ridicule he is getting.

I don't understand this. Withholding sympathy? Sure. But scorn and ridicule for simply making a poor financial decision?

"A poor financial decision" is a massive understatement.

Schilling blew a massive fortune that is probably more than the net worth of everyone who has posted on this thread combined.

Oh, and his plan was stupid all along (yes, easy to say with hindsight, but the math is pretty grim).

Oh, and even if it was a good plan, he was massively underqualified to execute it, but he couldn't see that because of his hubris.

Oh, and he screwed over hundreds of employees, lenders and vendors in the process.

If this doesn't deserve ridicule and scorn, what does?

re: 61

Gee, I dunno. maybe some of us don't like kicking a man when he's down? As many have said the smart thing would have been to avoid dumping so much money where his mouth was. But that wouldn't be in Schilling's character (good or bad). As you say, hubris. But I wasn't ridiculing and heaping scorn on that hubris when he beat the Yankees on one leg. He's the same man he always was. Schilling employed 350 people for awhile and blew his baseball money swinging for the fences. I don't feel all that sorry for him, he knew (or should have known) the risks. But I'm not going to mock him either. He failed. It happens.

Schilling employed 350 people for awhile and blew his baseball money swinging for the fences

Oh, good Lord. How is this different than a guy betting his life savings on one spin of the roulette wheel? That guy went down swinging for the fenses too. Chasing the dream. And the money he lost will provide employment for any number of casino employees. At least the roulette play has some chance of success.

Oh, good Lord. How is this different than a guy betting his life savings on one spin of the roulette wheel? That guy went down swinging for the fenses too. Chasing the dream. And the money he lost will provide employment for any number of casino employees. At least the roulette play has some chance of success.

This is starting to get ridiculous. It was a failed business that could have been a successful business. It had nothing in common with roulette.

This is starting to get ridiculous. It was a failed business that could have been a successful business. It had nothing in common with roulette.

It was never going to be succesful. MMOs are expensive. Hellishly expensive. And have sunk lots of video game developers - hell - they've made serious dents in the profitability of publishers. And if the mechanics of Amalur were any indication of what they had planned for the MMO then it *would* have failed. No doubt about it because the game would have been way too close to WoW without the latters social aspect and end-game content.

I have zero understanding of MMOs, beyond just looking at Wikipedia. What is the economic model? Do player's pay recurring subscription fees? One time payment? Are there significant costs for the vendor other than development? I'm trying to grasp how this magnitude of investment could possibly pay off,even ignoring risk/reward.

It was never going to be succesful. MMOs are expensive. Hellishly expensive. And have sunk lots of video game developers - hell - they've made serious dents in the profitability of publishers. And if the mechanics of Amalur were any indication of what they had planned for the MMO then it *would* have failed. No doubt about it because the game would have been way too close to WoW without the latters social aspect and end-game content.

It's easy to say now, in 2012, that investing in AAA MMOs is a terrible idea. It wasn't quite so clear 3 or 4 years ago.

Schilling is a hypocrite for taking the government loan, but otherwise he's just a guy who started a business that failed. He hired (supposedly) qualified and experienced management to run the thing, and it's not like he was wandering the corridors looking over everybody's shoulder saying things like, "That elf should have bigger boobs!" or "Change that dwarf's accent from Scottish to Welsh!" There's no evidence the business failed because of Schilling's ego and incompetence. Hell, most new businesses fail, you don't need to create personality narratives to explain it.

The MMO model used to be that a player would buy the game for $50 and then pay a monthly subscription fee, typically $15/month. And that still exists, with The Old Republic. There are also expansions if the game is successful. Everquest, for example, releases an expansion or two per year for $30.

The Free To Play model has become the norm, now. The game itself is free, and players will have the option to buy access to quest areas, or mounts, or cosmetic upgrades to gear, or gain access to advanced classes that aren't available to the free to play masses. Everquest currently does both. It still has the $15/month fee, but people can pay $5 for an experience potion to double experience for a few hours, or spend a few dollars to buy a pet that looks cool or a cosmetic change to gear that has certain visual effects. It will go free to play while still maintaining a subscription model, but the free version will gave access to only a few classes, and those players won't be able to gain access to all the advanced abilities of the class.

I played Lord of the Rings Online when it was free to play. I could get up to level 30 something without having to buy anything, but beyond that, it would be hard to level without buying access to a quest area for $5. That would still be good value, compared to paying $15 a month, but I just wanted to keep that strictly free to play. I could also have bought a horse for $5 or so. I think there was also a fee to get access to bigger bags, but it's been a year or two since I played that.

So, Schilling was probably hoping to get 1 million subscribers. They would have bought the game for $50 or $60 and there probably would have been a collectors edition that would have sold for $99. And then a million people would pay $15/month to play. If you have a million subscribers, that's $180 million in revenue for a year on subscriptions, plus there would be $50 million in revenue from selling the game, minus marketing and distribution (and I don't want to minimize that, I just don't have the knowledge to know what those costs are). So let's say Schilling was pretty close to staffed for designing the game at $4 million/month cost. There would have been extra cost for customer service and whatever it takes in technology to actually run the game for a million subscribers, but it would have been profitable in the 2nd year, and then it can stay profitable for as long as the game offers new experiences for the players.

But that's a lot of assumptions. Maybe the game gets a couple hundred thousand subscribers (or less, if it tanked). Also, the Free to Play wasn't the norm when Schilling started, so there would have been an adjustment period deciding how to monetize the game experience while keeping the ideal of what Schilling wanted to do with his dream game.

I disagree that the concept of doing a MMO was destined to fail. It was long odds, but there could have been a chance for success. Schilling just didn't raise enough money to finish the project. Horrible decision, but it's that simple.

I disagree that the concept of doing a MMO was destined to fail. It was long odds, but there could have been a chance for success.

This is really all that I meant. And as Good Face said, businesses fail, and even if the odds were longer than in other businesses, that's what happened here. To equate it with a roulette wheel is a real overreach.

I have zero understanding of MMOs, beyond just looking at Wikipedia. What is the economic model?

Dayne Meyers, is that you?

I disagree that the concept of doing a MMO was destined to fail. It was long odds, but there could have been a chance for success. Schilling just didn't raise enough money to finish the project. Horrible decision, but it's that simple.

I'd like to refer to this thread and particularly the above quote anytime some one complains about a free agent taking more money because "What could he possibly buy with another $30 mil that he couldn't with his first $100 mil?"

#70:
I'd like to refer to this thread and particularly the above quote anytime some one complains about a free agent taking more money because "What could he possibly buy with another $30 mil that he couldn't with his first $100 mil?"

#67:
I could also have bought a horse for $5 or so.

The answer is six million more horses.

#69 -- I guess I'm uncool enough to have no idea what your cool joke means. Meta uncool, I guess, which must be cool.

I'd like to refer to this thread and particularly the above quote anytime some one complains about a free agent taking more money because "What could he possibly buy with another $30 mil that he couldn't with his first $100 mil?"

The problem wasn't really that he didn't have enough money. He could have had another 50 million and he would have lost that, too. He could have had another 200 million and have had the game be a commercial failure for two years, too.

Every company that's tried to develop MMO's like he was in the last 8 years has failed.* Give Schilling more money and all that would have changed would have been the size of his losses.

*Failed in that they didn't achieve their goal, which was to be the new WoW. They're all failures in terms of market share and revenue compared to their early projections.

Except that there's a lot of profitable MMOs out there, even though they're only 1/10th the size of WoW. And if it had only done as well as TOR he'd have made a crapload of money.

People here are just as likely to impute failure to moral failings of the individual as the people like Schilling who they decry for doing the same thing. Stop being ########, and think.

And if it had only done as well as TOR he'd have made a crapload of money.

The problem, of course, is that TOR is, in fact, based on Star Wars. Schilling had some names involved on his project, but I don't think it needs to be said that those names didn't carry the brand recognition and loyalty of STAR WARS, for cryin' out flayven.

So you're getting very few buys based off an existing fanbase, and, then what? Now, I'm sure Schilling could have rattled off all kinds of ways that his game was different and better than WoW. But I'm also sure they were almost entirely the type of things that only true geeks-beyond-geeks like himself care about, rather than the type of things that are going to convince a prospective buyer who was willing to pay $0 for WoW to pay $250+/year for his game. I'm sure some would have. The problem was that, given the amount of money he put into it, he needed a lot.

All this doesn't mean that the project had zero chance to work out; that, even knowing it was very risky, it shouldn't have been attempted; or that Schilling deserves scorn for having tried it. But I definitely can't rewrite history enough to say that it was a business plan with even a moderate percentage chance to succeed.

The problem, of course, is that TOR is, in fact, based on Star Wars. Schilling had some names involved on his project, but I don't think it needs to be said that those names didn't carry the brand recognition and loyalty of STAR WARS, for cryin' out flayven.

It's also backed by companies with money and resources far beyond what Schilling could have produced even if he made twice as much in his career and spent it all on his business. A Star Wars game can afford to take as much time as is needed and possibly start out slower than hoped in revenue because they aren't going to sink no matter what happens. 38 Studios needed to get the game done faster than they were able to and if they hadn't been successful immediately they still would have failed. As has been pointed out repeatedly here it's moronic to attempt a project of this scale when there's only marginal revenue coming in. Almost all the money to pay for the game's development was from the owner and government funding, the company itself had no ability to support the project.