Please don't make Sapkowski another Bob Kane or Shuster and Segal.
I enjoy your products, I respect your business ethics, and I admire how far you have come on the reputation of quality (you still have to sort out your UI's though
) but as much as you have accomplished, it hasn't ONLY been about your work, you also made a very shrewd decision with the subject matter you chose for your debut, so I ask a very serious question..
Would you be where you are without Sapkowski's creation to base your works on?
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-witcher-a...it-was-stupid/
Ok, fair enough, I do recognise that you offered it at the time (kudos due on that also BTW) and he chose a bird in the hand as opposed to two in the bush. That seems utterly justifiable to me, and a sensible decision to make and I would probably have made the same one.. we don't always recognise our own worth or genius.. and had the first one flopped and you had made a loss then the decision would have been correct, but it didn't flop.
Your work and his creation struck a cord and cemented your reputation with people like me. It has allowed you to build not only an industry-wide reputation but allowed you the freedom to form your own very successful and profitable company. I can easily draw parallels between you and Sapowski, and DC with Kane, Shuster and Segal, and look at how we regard that situation now.
I will admit to a few differing details, but that's all they are... details.. the over-arching situation is exactly the same, you have made more from his creation than he has, and built a perpetuating company on those shoulders into the bargain... and in all morality and ethics, that isn't right, regardless of the agreement made at the time (I recognise that your work and ability brought it to fruition,, but would your work have been so appreciated without his captivating characters? After all, plenty of dev houses have worked their arses off and not succeeded, so graft and ability aren't the only factors to success)... At the time did you realise that you would make 3 games and build such a company? Did the deal that was offered at the time truly represent what we now understand to be the true worth of his contribution? How much would you offer him now as a deal, under the exact same circumstances, simply by virtue of having more money and being able to offer more?. Can it really be expected for him to have seen it's worth when you probably didn't either?
There are plenty of precedence for revisiting a deal when the true worth of that deal as finally been realised, and a 'windfall' has been claimed/awarded at a later date.
If you, CD Project, truly are a company who cares about ethics in business, as I think you certainly are, then regardless of the relationship you have with him now (I fully accept I may be wrong, but I get the impression from articles over the years that your relationship with him may have soured a little), as one voice amongst millions, as one of your customers, I ask you, PLEASE, revisit the deal you made with him... if for no other reason than Karma, but preferably because you know it's the 'right' thing to do, which I think you do.
At the very least, Sapkowski is due more than the regret of a bad choice.
Thank you for reading.
(To the forum members.... this post isn't meant to be a subject for debate, it isn't meant for conjecturer into "well, he made his bed", or "tough titty" and if those are the only comments you have an intention of making, I would rather you didn't do it in this thread... make another by all means, but please don't derail this with endless internet opinion. Thank you.)
I enjoy your products, I respect your business ethics, and I admire how far you have come on the reputation of quality (you still have to sort out your UI's though
) but as much as you have accomplished, it hasn't ONLY been about your work, you also made a very shrewd decision with the subject matter you chose for your debut, so I ask a very serious question..Would you be where you are without Sapkowski's creation to base your works on?
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-witcher-a...it-was-stupid/
Ok, fair enough, I do recognise that you offered it at the time (kudos due on that also BTW) and he chose a bird in the hand as opposed to two in the bush. That seems utterly justifiable to me, and a sensible decision to make and I would probably have made the same one.. we don't always recognise our own worth or genius.. and had the first one flopped and you had made a loss then the decision would have been correct, but it didn't flop.
Your work and his creation struck a cord and cemented your reputation with people like me. It has allowed you to build not only an industry-wide reputation but allowed you the freedom to form your own very successful and profitable company. I can easily draw parallels between you and Sapowski, and DC with Kane, Shuster and Segal, and look at how we regard that situation now.
I will admit to a few differing details, but that's all they are... details.. the over-arching situation is exactly the same, you have made more from his creation than he has, and built a perpetuating company on those shoulders into the bargain... and in all morality and ethics, that isn't right, regardless of the agreement made at the time (I recognise that your work and ability brought it to fruition,, but would your work have been so appreciated without his captivating characters? After all, plenty of dev houses have worked their arses off and not succeeded, so graft and ability aren't the only factors to success)... At the time did you realise that you would make 3 games and build such a company? Did the deal that was offered at the time truly represent what we now understand to be the true worth of his contribution? How much would you offer him now as a deal, under the exact same circumstances, simply by virtue of having more money and being able to offer more?. Can it really be expected for him to have seen it's worth when you probably didn't either?
There are plenty of precedence for revisiting a deal when the true worth of that deal as finally been realised, and a 'windfall' has been claimed/awarded at a later date.
If you, CD Project, truly are a company who cares about ethics in business, as I think you certainly are, then regardless of the relationship you have with him now (I fully accept I may be wrong, but I get the impression from articles over the years that your relationship with him may have soured a little), as one voice amongst millions, as one of your customers, I ask you, PLEASE, revisit the deal you made with him... if for no other reason than Karma, but preferably because you know it's the 'right' thing to do, which I think you do.
At the very least, Sapkowski is due more than the regret of a bad choice.
Thank you for reading.
(To the forum members.... this post isn't meant to be a subject for debate, it isn't meant for conjecturer into "well, he made his bed", or "tough titty" and if those are the only comments you have an intention of making, I would rather you didn't do it in this thread... make another by all means, but please don't derail this with endless internet opinion. Thank you.)
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