Pisscubes Bitches About Curt Schilling: The Thread

[Blair]

... Moreover it's unlikely that the company had D&O insurance so any fines likely won't be paid.

I'm pretty sure that they must have had D&D insurance though!

[Blair]

Article written by a wife of one of the employees:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/1723 ... ks_out.php

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

I want to tell a different, but not impartial, side of this story. I am telling this for two reasons. First, to raise awareness and help for any of the family or employees involved. Second, so other people know what companies can do.

I am not a 38 Studios employee, a big baseball star (who may or may not have trusted the wrong people), or some politician trying to prove a point. I am very involved though and affected by this disaster, as a wife and mother, who has moved the most important people in my life to a new state. I knew Rhode Island would be different, but hopefully still an adventure and maybe a home eventually.

We moved to Rhode Island at the end of December 2011. We opened our presents on Christmas Day, took down our tree on the 26th, and began packing and loading moving trucks on the 28th, all because my husband was hired by 38 Studios and told he had to start work as quickly as possible. We spent a month living out of a hotel searching day after day for a house to rent. My children could not get back into school and could not start a new life until we found a place to settle. Finally we found a place to live, paid deposits on the house, utilities, etc. and moved. We registered all three children at all three new schools, because we do have one in each - elementary, middle, and high school. Finally, our stuff is delivered and our life can start again. It's always hard to move and this is our second big move, but we finally made it to the point where we can re-build our support system and boy were we ready.

My husband has been in the gaming world for a long time. Most of his life has been spent working in this industry and he is well equipped to deal with the problems that go with it. He is usually hired when things are ready to be tied up and finished or they need someone with experience who can tell the left hand how to work with the right hand to meet the release dates set.

The first week he worked at 38 Studios he was concerned about the different teams and their ability to work together. He went to more than one executive during the weeks that followed encouraging them to make changes or deal with the release date issue. The company was not ready for him to do the job he was hired to do, therefore he was placed on other projects to wait it out.

Obviously, in the weeks to come our family had less trust in what we were being told. We did not have a chance to love 38 Studios or [founder and ex-baseball pro] Curt Schilling. We really only saw the landslide of mistakes and ultimate failure. We did not see this coming or could we have ever imagined how in 2012 a company could get away with treating employees this way. There have to be laws or safety nets or something … right?

So, on the 15th of May I sat down to pay bills and upon checking our bank account noticed we had not had our direct deposit made by 38 Studios. I called my husband and asked him to check on it when he got to work. When he came home that night he told me that he had to stay for a 5 o'clock meeting to find out they didn't make payroll. He was unhappy, but said that he was promised they were working on the problem and sure they would have it worked out by the next day.

The next day began at 7:30 am and ended at 7:00 pm. It took 10 1/2 hours to find out that they still could not pay him and didn't have any answers. On the May 16th-21st, my husband returned day after day, told to drive in to work and promised pay, but every day came home empty handed after late meetings and more promises. The longest day was 12 hours and each day we were spending more money on gas and more hope going out the window. During this time, we were also trying to keep our children from worrying while they spent each day hoping to catch a glimpse of their dad before they went to sleep.

By the 22nd we were really scared and feeling lied to, my husband decided it's time to work from home to save the gas money as did many others at the studio. At many times it occurred to us to just give up and move on, but we didn't. There was one main reason. If we left the company we would be responsible for the relocation costs of moving to Rhode Island from just five months ago and we did not have the funds to pay for that after not receiving paychecks. From May 22nd-24th, my husband worked from home trying to come up with ideas to get anything out the door and bring in some money to save 38 Studios. We also get another kick while we were down on May 22nd, when one of the employees' wives is at her pregnancy check up and is told that her insurance company has notified the doctor that it was ending at midnight on the 24th of May. When confronted, 38 Studios admitted they had been aware since the 21st of May that due to lack of payment for several months, insurance was going to be canceled on May 24th.

Again, they knew the problem existed and chose to not tell us or give us any notice. On the 24th of May, my husband was laid off officially after six days of wasted gas, with no payment of wages for all of May (1st-24th), no insurance, slim chances of ever seeing any money since the State of Rhode Island would be paid first by all asset sales, and had to drive in once more to get his belongings and attend a meeting on unemployment benefits.

Ok, so time to lick our wounds, get back on the horse, and find a new job. At least we stuck it out and won't have to pay back our relocation costs according to the Chief Operating Officer. Wrong! On June 1st, we get a letter from Atlas Van Lines with 10 days to pay our overdue moving bill of a sizeable amount. Six months has gone by since our move. There was no notice at any point that this had not been paid and now we get a bill with 10 days to pay. Why now? Haven't they had 6 months to collect this? Didn't the company say we would be let out of our contract since they folded? Couldn't they have given us a heads up at any point before we were broke and our savings gone to feed our children? After all, a heads up on this might have alerted us to a problem with 38 Studios before we got to this point. Well on one page in a series, of approximately 45, we signed a document stating in tiny print that we would be responsible if the company does not pay. I don't know if most people are aware, but moving with three kids, a dog, and a cat from one coast to another is a bit tiring and this document was of course presented on the day our stuff arrived in Rhode Island, which was chaos.

So, there goes our credit rating no matter how hard we are trying to still pay for all bills with no income. We have no income, no time to prepare, and I will not let my children starve to pay for a move that did not exactly work out. Why hadn't Atlas collected from 38 Studios? We were told by an Atlas representative that they had a special working relationship with Curt Schilling, therefore they were trying to work with him. Must be nice to have at least 30 days, let alone six months to pay for this bill.

Am I angry? You bet! I have been taken for a ride and am having to take a handout from the government for the first time in my life. Who do I get to direct my anger at? Nobody! The ones responsible aren't around to chat with or pay for the consequences of their actions. At moments I think Curt Schilling trusted the wrong people, but at least he is having to deal with this mess too. At other times, I am angry and think Curt Schilling is a smart man and should have done better!

Where will we go and what is next? I have no idea and am just trying to feed my family and love them and hope moving my kids again won't completely break their trust in us or hurt them too much. I think we could have liked Rhode Island. I think of all the supportive people and friendly faces and how much kindness we have been offered since this happened from people we barely know. We will probably be moving away from this state and paying taxes and working somewhere else soon. It is a shame that certain politicians couldn't get past the need to prove a point about being against 38 Studios and see they were harming their state in the long run. I mean 38 Studios was already here and the way I see it anything that could be done to make it a success would only benefit Rhode Island. As it stands, there are close to 300 very talented people dispersing all over the country and out of Rhode Island. There is an empty building with no game to be sold and a bunch of equipment that will not come close to paying for what is owed more than likely. And worst of all, there are some great people here in Rhode Island that will not benefit from the boost in economy.

My husband is interviewing daily thanks to an amazing industry trying to make up for what has happened. He is a talented man, who feels somehow responsible for moving our family into this mess and wishes he could have saved this company and every person at 38 Studios' jobs. He is just trying to take away what lessons he can and move on.

Me? I blame a company named 38 Studios and all of their executives for moving so many families while knowing they weren't paying bills, weren't going to hit their dates, and were running out of money. Learn this lesson from our struggles so you never have to experience it first hand. Protect yourself and family any way you can, read the small print, and realize no matter how big the company is if they run out of money there is very little you can do to get what is owed to you.

I'm surprised the husband in this article didn't sew a baseball glove to Sshitlickings face while shoving a ben wah string constructed of baseballs and razorwire up his ass. That article makes me want to stomp in the skulls of republican's babies as their parents watch while wearing a che guevara shirt.

The part about Atlas Van lines and their special relationship with Shilling really brought the hategasm.

[Gunther]

"The money I saved and earned playing baseball is probably all gone. Life is going to be different," Schilling told family members, according to the website.

[TF@work]

Countdown to Schilling lashing out at America's tax system for pre-bankrupting him ("paying a 36% top marginal rate is socialism!") in t-minus 10... 9...

[Gunther]

doesn't he still work at ESPN or MLB network or something? i'd imagine they're throwing him like 100k a year to show up in studio a few times to talk about fastballs. he really seems like a legit bad person.

[Spooky Apparition]

Countdown to Schilling lashing out at America's tax system for pre-bankrupting him ("paying a 36% top marginal rate is socialism!") in t-minus 10... 9...

hey, you'd be lashing out too if your standard of living went down several notches from preposterously higher than the average human being to simply ridiculously higher

and i won't mention anything about losing a sense of personal ethos as well, because schilling definitely won't

[Zap Rowsdower]

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Governor Chafee says former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's video gaming company had been "living high on the taxpayer's dollars" before it collapsed into bankruptcy last month.
WPRI-TV reports that 38 Studios spent $15.4 million during the first three months of this year, including $5.4 million in March.
Economic Development Corp. records show the firm spent $118 million between its founding in 2006 through the end of 2011.
It had no revenue during that time. Expenses were paid from Schilling's baseball fortune and the proceeds of bonds floated by the state as part of a $75 million loan guarantee.
Chafee told WPRI there was "not a startup atmosphere in the company, where you really hunker down and have macaroni and cheese."

5 years of no revenue...

[Wang Mandu]

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/ ... -end-game/

Great article about the whole situation. Schilling really is a moron.

[Zap Rowsdower]

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/ ... -end-game/

Great article about the whole situation. Schilling really is a moron.

It's really amazing how all he kept thinking was "It'll work out somehow" and just continued.

That's the motivation behind all corporate fraud. It just becomes to large to keep going, but during that time, the person running the illegitimate books believes that it will somehow turn itself around through their acumen. Look at Peregrine/MF Global. Then everyone involved has their arms up like "we don't know what happened to all the money."

[Wang Mandu]

I don't think it was fraud. He had no clue what he was doing....which seems to be quite common among large game studios, ha.

[takeasneededforpain]

So, based on the performance of this studio, have they been contracted for the sequel to Duke Nukem Forever?

[Zap Rowsdower]

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/ ... -end-game/

Great article about the whole situation. Schilling really is a moron.

It's really amazing how all he kept thinking was "It'll work out somehow" and just continued.

That's the motivation behind all corporate fraud. It just becomes to large to keep going, but during that time, the person running the illegitimate books believes that it will somehow turn itself around through their acumen. Look at Peregrine/MF Global. Then everyone involved has their arms up like "we don't know what happened to all the money."

So do you think this was fraud? I'm wondering what will come out in the audits.

Well not fraud in the deliberate sense, but fraud in the misleading sense. If he gave RI a rosier picture of his studio through balance sheets and unaudited financials, it could be "fraud," even if he had no fucking clue what he was doing. Luckily, his ass might be saved by the fact he didn't get many, if any, outside investors, so any fraud isn't complete. He won't be in much real trouble since it was a public company and any investor putting money in a company like that ought to know better, assuming of course they didn't use fraudulent materials.

I suppose I meant the Peregrine/MF Global comparison to be more of an analogous situation where the person on top is blinded by their own hubris and inflated perception of ability where they fail to realize how much of a clusterfuck they let develop.

[Zap Rowsdower]

Curt Schilling sock could be for sale

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling might have to sell the famed blood-stained sock he wore during the 2004 World Series to cover millions of dollars in loans he guaranteed to his failed video game company.

There's a good chance Curt Schilling's bloody sock is one of the biggest money-raising items he owns, and he may need to sell it to get out of debt, writes Darren Rovell. Blog

Schilling, whose Providence-based 38 Studios filed for bankruptcy in June, listed the sock as collateral to a bank in a September filing with the Massachusetts Secretary of State.

Schilling also listed a baseball hat said to have been worn by New York Yankees great Lou Gehrig and his collection of World War II memorabilia.

The Boston Globe first reported the filing Thursday.

38 Studios was lured to Rhode Island from Massachusetts with a $75 million loan guarantee. The state is now likely responsible for some $100 million related to the deal, including interest.

Haha god, I'd love to see that financing statement:

Collateral: All of debtor's equipment, tools, inventory, and socks.

[Zap Rowsdower]

I wish I could buy it.

Cum inside of it then wipe my ass; proceed to give it to the Yankees to display a shit and cum stained Red Sox relic.

[DR. THRAXX]

I could just squirt a packet of ketchup on my own sock.....

[Ipswich]

Shilling's Medfield home is now up for sale. He bought it from Drew Bledsoe in '04.

take a tour of the estate

[Zap Rowsdower]

I feel like Schilling deserves some credit for coming around to the fact he made stupid decisions. I still can't get over how he's blaming others though for not telling him he was being dumb.

[soiled depends]

I like the fact that while I am no fan of baseball and don't really know who Curt Shilling is, that reading abou this bankruptsy in the local daily newspaper yesterday made me think of this fantastic thread and all the lulz it has brought me since it's creation.

It's now a huge news story and the whole time this thread knew exactly what the fuck was going on...

[godofdeadlydeath]

And it begins...

http://www.boston.com/business/news/201 ... story.html

The suit says the video game company failed because of risks that were not disclosed to the board ‘‘but were or should have been known’’ by all of the defendants.

The suit also says the EDC board was misled about whether 38 Studios would have enough money to finish the video game that was critical to its success.

[Necrometer]

I want to express my overall appreciation and admiration for this thread

[Zap Rowsdower]

As much as I blame Schilling for all this failure, this lawsuit is total bullshit.

‘‘My message to Rhode Islanders is this: I know that you work hard for your paychecks, and for your tax dollars to be squandered is unacceptable,’’ Chafee said in a video statement. ‘‘The Board’s legal action was taken to rectify a grave injustice put upon the people of Rhode Island.’’

...

The "grave injustice" was the one you authorized.

The suit says the video game company failed because of risks that were not disclosed to the board ‘‘but were or should have been known’’ by all of the defendants.

So it was failed due diligence on the part of the state agency? Rhode Island fucked the pooch on this and it's reminiscent of Schilling how they're blaming everything and everyone else but themselves.

[Zap Rowsdower]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/busin ... d=all&_r=0

Great account by the NYT.

[Spooky Apparition]

not to support schilling's viewpoint in any way, but it also does sort of show how clueless government can be sometimes. the current treasurer seemed to be the only person who was like, "hey isn't it weird to you guys he couldn't get money from any of boston's hundreds of venture capitalists?" before everyone else just hopped on board

[Spooky Apparition]

It also shows how much being a super-star athlete can get you. Had this been some chubby typical video game dude, I doubt they would have looked twice.

yeah, for me that was probably the weirdest part of the article, how he basically pitched the idea at a party and because he was a celebrity they bought into it.

then the crazy salaries for a startup, paying mortgages of people who had to relocate... the whole thing never ceases to amaze me. so it is possible that schilling could actually go to jail for this? that's one thing i'm not clear on

[Spooky Apparition]

yeah, absolutely. it'd be like starting a mall instead of a single storefront as a new business owner. and did you see he paid the writer $2 million? (which he's yet to be paid for, of course). i'm curious how that compares with writers of games with... actually good writing. it's easy to forget about the game itself, but i thought KofA was generic in most ways, and the same applies to the writing. probably could have workshopped it with a bunch of grad students for free and come up with something as compelling. so many bad decisions!