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I sure screwed the pooch on that one...I am, of course referring to my prior posts taken by many to be in defense of Langdell and much of the communication with his numerous critics that followed.
The whole thing seemed pretty simple...trademark, alleged trademark violation, legal dispute...heck, this is just part of the world I live in every day. So, I was insensitive to the mood of things and ended up getting seriously trashed on many of the indie game boards like TIGsource and the Chaos Engine for saying that maybe Langdell had a point. Yeah, I did smell a lynch mob forming and I responded very defensively to the trashing of the IGDA, an organization that I support and believe in, but that's not much of an excuse. And I took more than a few lumps for speaking my mind. I have since realized that I may well have appeared to be on the wrong side of the dispute, though I never really did feel I was taking sides, just advocating for a fair fight. That's not the point of this post though...the point is that I did not really comprehend the impact of my actions had on my relationship with many of the indie developers who don't know me until later.
When I got to Austin GDC a few weeks ago I found that there was an Independent Game Summit going on there. I was surprised that I had not been informed of it as I have spoken at the past two IGS programs and even was honored to be an IGF judge last year. I have also been a "prize" in the IGF at GDC at the suggestion and request of the organizers, contributing over $14,000 in products and legal services to the finalists and winners each year for the last two years. But in Austin, not even a heads up.
As I walked toward the room where the indie sessions were happening I got a horrible hollow sinking feeling in my gut. When I entered the room and walked over to Matthew Wegner, the IGS program director to ask him what was up, the dread on his face as I approached confirmed my suspicions. He was honest enough to tell me that to some indies I was a persona non grata. I am also pretty sure that Simon Carless, the publisher and editor who runs Gamasutra, Game Developer magazine and GameSetWatch, as well as being Chairman of the Independent Games Festival was none too happy with me either. I was sick about it and still am.
I am not going to go into how committed and devoted I am to indie developers too much here...but it is a core mission for me in my legal practice and in my life. I contribute time every day to "my peeps" giving advice and counsel to indie developers without charge and writing articles to help indies avoid getting screwed.
This quote from my email sig pretty much says it all:
"There's been this tradition in the [video-game] industry that everybody gets screwed on their first deal, I'm doing my best to make sure that that becomes a historical anecdote instead of the way we do business."
Tom Buscaglia, The Game Attorney - Lawyers Weekly, December 3, 2007.
Sure, when I reach out to independent developers or provide them with free advice I am building relationships that may result in work later...but then, making a living doing what you love for people you like is a good thing, right? Besides, that's not the reason I do what I do. Nor is it the reason I developed the Game Dev Kit, write articles, do free webinars, contribute my time to the IGDA or give legal services to the IGF winners each year. I am driven by a passion for indies, just like they are driven by a passion for making games. You can imagine my dismay and disappointment at realizing that I had damaged my relationship to a community that I have dedicated myself to.
I am not sure if I will ever be able to get back the cred I have lost or heal some of the relationships I have damaged. I have decided that all I can really do is keep doing what I do and hope that those who may need my help or counsel will see through this stuff and still take a listen or give me a holler...
As for anyone I offended with my thoughtless, blunt and often surly manner, I sincerely apologize if I offended you...it was not my intention.
GL & HF!
Tom B
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Knowing your reputation and having been aware of your activities and statements for several years, I admit I was somewhat surprised to see your take during the whole Langdell mess. I would imagine though that most indie devs are down to earth enough that if they see someone acting in the best interests of their community, they wouldn't let one particular past issue overshadow that. I think it says a lot that you'd make a post like this, and I hope we can all move on.
And this: http://chaosedge.wordpress.com/
You must realise by now that Tim Langell has repeatedly misrepresented evidence and therefore does not have a valid trademark claim. i.e. Tim Langdell is nothing but a trademark troll who has misrepresented his claims.
I think if you want to start to get back the cred you lost and heal some of the relationships you damaged then a good place to start would be to help defend those independent devs (your "peeps") against the actions of Tim Langdell. I'm sure those devs would find a pro-bono lawyer in the US to be very useful.
ps: you understand my analogy with the Schrodinger's cat now
Are you willing to at last make a definite statement of your opinion on the man and his actions?
I suspect not, you've let others do that up till now while you and the rest of the IGDA board cowered in a corner while Langdell ranted about his rights and threatened to sue everyone.
This is also part of the reason the indie community has turned against you and the IGDA, when they really needed you, where were you? I mean really...where were you?
Yes it may indeed have seemed like a lynch mob...but it was in fact an organized and active protest group with a genuine grievance and desire to see action that forced Langdell out into the open. Organized by industry pros and indies alike and you had the nerve, the gall, the utter idiocy to question their qualifications to comment on the situation....
Things needed to be done and they were not. Things still need to be done and people are still waiting to see if their supposed representative body, of which you are one of the more vocal members is going to do something.
you want your support back Tom....Help the people Langdell has harmed, publicly.
Perhaps atonement or reparation are closer to mending your troubles than apologies. Thankfully I wasn't involved in all of this, but best of luck to you in getting your mojo back.
Simon, thank for you gracious and insightful comment!
David, the reason you never got anything from me as an IGF finalist is because the folks who run the IGF never asked me to provide any "prize" benefits in the Mobile or Student categories, only in the main one. If asked, I would.
Brian, there is truth in your comments about my actions and I was wrong in responding the way I did on the forums. As for the IGDA, it is making huge strides forward to serve all of the IGDA members and and industry at large. Online educational Webinars, a new (and almost functional :( ) web site, soon to be available health insurance for members and affiliate studios, the IGDA Leadership Forum in a few weeks and more. Moreover, the IGDA is doing all this at a time when we are breaking in a new Executive Director and revenues are falling due to the poor general economy. Brian, you have been one of the most vociferous critics of the IGDA and as someone who supports the IGDA through volunteering instead of criticizing, I disagree with your approach. So, trash me all you like, but cut the IGDA a little slack here would ya?
Timothy, I am an attorney, waddaya expect?
Benjamin, as for the impact on my cred in the indie community...you may not believe this, but my main concern is that some inexperienced indie developer forgo reading my articles or contacting me for a consult because of this BS and end up getting screwed. I just hope that they don't throw out the baby with the bath water.
Tim A, thanks for the good words...I am sure that my reputation with developers who know me, my work or have experience with me is just fine and a got plenty mojo where it counts, in the services I deliver to my clients.
As for me, I am doing just fine. I work exclusively in an industry I love, my clients are my best friends and I am having a great year. It just saddens me to have any ill will out there in the indie community, that's all.
GL & HF!
Tom B
Kudos for the admission, now, are you going to help Langdell's victims?
Now...as for the huge strides of the IGDA....where?
The Webinars have so far been uninspiring and largely irrelevant..sorry but yours too, I just don't know what you guys are trying to achieve with spouting personal opinions and ideas as some kind of problem solving panacea, you expose your own lack of understanding of the reality of the industry rather than provide any useful information..
The website should go down as one of the biggest cockups in the history of IT mismanagement and you want to hold it up as an example of moving forward??
Health insurance...oh yes...and who for..the US and how far will it go?
Breaking in a new ED? dear god....are you telling me he's learning as he goes?? So...another cockup on the hiring front.
Are you really holding this up as examples of why I should cut the IGDA some slack? do you honestly thing these are things to crow about?
No...I'm sorry Tom, its really not a personal issue, even though I make it sound like that sometimes, but the fact is the IGDA is not fit for purpose, the professional development community is deeply unimpressed and one of the reasons I am such a vociferous critic of the IGDA, is not just the fact it got the Langdell situation wrong, its because its often wrong on so many other matters. So often in fact that I'm not quite sure it can re-arrange the words [brewery, in, a, organise, couldn't pissup, a], into a coherent sentence and then trumpets non-events as some kind of triumph for the development community.
I do think your heart is in the right place, people I trust and who know you tell me this, but if you really want to support the community, start kicking the IGDA into the 21st century and make it a representative body and not a social club for people with grand ideas but no actual solutions.
You were pretty abusive (and occasionally profane) toward those who were concerned about Mr. Langdell's pattern of behaviour. I think maybe we deserve an apology for the behaviour, more than for our feelings.
I know Tom Buscaglia personally, and he is a great man to have in your corner. He has a great heart and nothing but the best of intentions for independent developers. He has worked with them for years and that is what he represents. Initially I believe Tom defended the snake Langdell because he was a fellow IGDA board member and that alone compelled Tom into defense.
David, you are emotionally attached and I understand it's hard to let go. I don't blame you, but Tom is one of the good guys. There's more here. http://ezgamerz.com/the-results-are-in-tim-langdell-is-pinhead-of-the-year-by-a-
landslide/3877
In 2003 I left the game dev industry destitute and broke after i sunk everything into my team, studio and project only to leave E3 with a lot of "well the industry has no numbers to quantify what a western shooter would do in the market place" only to see 5-6 of them and 1 blockbuster hit the market 6mths to a year after-wards. Tom was a huge part of whatever measure of success we had as an independent developer then. It may be hard to imagine any success shrouded by so many mistakes in a sea of piranha , but there was, and you build from there.
So David, I understand your position intimately when this leech does this to you and your company! Nothing about Tim is right. In no way is he interested in protecting his mark. His mark exists like a dead-fall in the wilderness awaiting some unsuspecting victim to encounter it. My fingers are dbl crossed that EA is able to put an end to this guy! What I can say is my dartboard has a new favorite picture:)
Equally important, Brian Beuken, thank you for your enlightening post (and a great picture) as I have been unattached to the IGDA for a while now and unsure of how i felt about them. Your comments have helped steer me towards some perspective, and I couldn't agree more on many points! I guess I just needed to hear someone articulate them.
_IGDA_Langdell_Capps_and_quotPolicingquot_the_Board.php and understand that I prefer to see Tom taking some actions before commenting anymore.