The Test: LucasArts' Loyalty

[Joshi]

Time to see where the true loyalty lies. With the fans? Or the money?

 

I've conducted a small test to see the outcome and for some reason, no ones thought about this yet.

 

Basically, as we all know, LucasArts haven't been overly thrilled with the invention of ScummVM because in this day and age, they probably don't want people playing the old quality stuff they used to make. Makes a lot of sense really, don't show people the quality they were capable of and we won't actually know that they've gone downhill of late.

 

But anyway, what I've done is gone to their official technical support forum and posted a message under the alias Shneil (I don't care what you say, that name's cool!) and asked them simply, how to run Monkey Island 2 under Windows XP.

 

This Thread can be viewed here.

Now, the basic idea is, there are only a handful of programs on the web that can help you do this (I'm guessing, I only know of ScummVM, but if they're against that, they'll be against any others out there). So there will be a choice, if their loyalty lies with us, then they've fully accepted ScummVM as something that can help the gaming community and will embrace it by suggesting I use it to play the game. If not they'll probably close my topic because it's ludicrous that I even think of playing a game so old or just tell me to play it in compatibility with another system, which doesn't work anyway.

 

Of course now, there is the possibility that someone who doesn't work for the forum (i.e., a non mod or admin) will answer for me and probably tell me to go the scummVM, but I’ll just have to prolong the thread for a bit until some mod comes along and tells me not to or embraces it or whatever.

 

We'll see.

 

Also, with the introduction of the new official gaming forums, I’ve decided to post another thread in their feedback forum (it should be the first one there) asking why there is only 4 forums for 4 games and why not a general forums for other games or for just fans (and if they make one, then we can simply go in and start asking about Sam n Max). Annoyingly, I have to wait for a mod to allow this thread to be viewed, but fingers crossed, and then we can move along with it.

 

Watch this space.

[Jake]

The LucasArts forums aren't new... the Support Forums have been around for months, and there have been quite a few classic adventure help requests in that forum. Instead of "chosing between the fans and the money," the LucasArts.com forum mods have been clever enough to let the fans speak for them.

 

As you surely noticed, a random fan already suggested you use ScummVM. There are probably a dozen similar threads in there discussing that very thing already, though I suspect the majority of them were posted with more honest intentions than yours

 

It seems to me that a better way of showing LucasArts that there is interest in their classic games is to quickly respond with solutions to people who post in there with problems, instead of trying to post some insidious "test" aimed at the LEC web team (who obviously has nothing to do with the LEC Legal, LEC Upper Management, or any other dept within LEC who the fans have a beef with).

 

How do you show that you have interest in these titles and LucasArts doesn't? Beat the Company forum mods to the response, with a very polite informative answer that quickly solves the persons problem. Odds are you'll be able to innocently, but loudly, drop in ScummVM and a couple other fan tools that are "shady" in the eyes of those departments at the company you seem to have a grudge against, too, if that sort of thing does it for you.

[Laserschwert]

Actually I joined into the test, and asked them if there are or will be any XP-compatible versions of the first two MI-games, or if I should continue using ScummVM.

 

I guess that's a question only one of the mods could answer (or delete)... so, we'll see.

[cappuchok]

Can't be bothered to post in that thread, but I did post a thread of my own.

[Alien426]

Nice!

[Joshi]

Originally posted by Jake

The LucasArts forums aren't new... the Support Forums have been around for months, and there have been quite a few classic adventure help requests in that forum. Instead of "chosing between the fans and the money," the LucasArts.com forum mods have been clever enough to let the fans speak for them.

 

As you surely noticed, a random fan already suggested you use ScummVM. There are probably a dozen similar threads in there discussing that very thing already, though I suspect the majority of them were posted with more honest intentions than yours

 

It seems to me that a better way of showing LucasArts that there is interest in their classic games is to quickly respond with solutions to people who post in there with problems, instead of trying to post some insidious "test" aimed at the LEC web team (who obviously has nothing to do with the LEC Legal, LEC Upper Management, or any other dept within LEC who the fans have a beef with).

 

How do you show that you have interest in these titles and LucasArts doesn't? Beat the Company forum mods to the response, with a very polite informative answer that quickly solves the persons problem. Odds are you'll be able to innocently, but loudly, drop in ScummVM and a couple other fan tools that are "shady" in the eyes of those departments at the company you seem to have a grudge against, too, if that sort of thing does it for you.

 

I knew about the texh foums already, but the other gaming forums are new.

 

But I suppose you're right, I'm not likely to get any information based on LA's status with it's fans from this forum.

 

Even still, I've at least acheived something. Surely the mods there have been briefed about what to do with people asking such questions.

[James Isaac]

I don't think it's really a fair test, because SCUMMVM can do more than just run the games (I heard you can use developer commands in it), which can probably mess up the game. So even if LucasArts liked it, they probably couldn't tell you, because they don't want their games' code and developer commands being used. Even if LucasArts are a company that were the most fan loving company in the world, they might not want to publicise SCUMMVM.

[Murray the Chao]

It's pretty obvious that they are only interested in the money by the way that they promoting their current crap

[jp-30]

And yet a good number of their legacy titles still have sections in the lucasarts site;

 

http://www.lucasarts.com/products/windows/classics.htm

[Laserschwert]

The nice thing is that the "Hot Topic"-feature of the "Support Forum" actually shows two topics:

 

"New Game Discussion Forums"

 

Of course dealing with their new forum... and curiously enough:

 

"Sam & Max: Freelance police"

 

Not dealing with the game, but simply that they don't want any discussions about the cancellation in this forums...

 

Yeah, giving "Hot Topic" a new meaning, since both threads were started by moderators, and - funnily enough - both topics having no replies (plus the S&M one being locked).

[Joshi]

Originally posted by James Isaac

I don't think it's really a fair test, because SCUMMVM can do more than just run the games (I heard you can use developer commands in it), which can probably mess up the game. So even if LucasArts liked it, they probably couldn't tell you, because they don't want their games' code and developer commands being used. Even if LucasArts are a company that were the most fan loving company in the world, they might not want to publicise SCUMMVM.

 

Before XP, people could do most of that anyway, scummVM just helps you do most of teh stuff you could do with the games before XP came along. ScummVm is not designed for those reasons, it was designed primarily to run old dos based games in XP.

[smokes o' pot]

They have to want the money more. Thats what capitalism is all about. Otherwise they would be just plain dumb.

 

It's a matter of if they care enough to try make adventure games that sell or not.

[Joshi]

True, that's the whole reason the cancelled, Sam n Max 2, they didn't think it would sell enough to make a good enough profit.

 

But the fact is, they're not taking risks anymore. How did they know that Monkey island or Maniac mansion would sell that well. I'm betting someone up there, back then thought, "wow! this is a great game, lets finance it!" and apose to now where it's "wow, it''s got starwars in the title, any fool will buy this, lets finance it!"

 

They can't be fully blamed, the world is like this now, if Lucasarts want to find their place in it, they'd ned to make more money than quality games. Still, a chance, here or there wouldn't go amiss.

[Murray the Chao]

I think that petition proves that Sam & Max:Freelance Police would make a profit if it were released.

[samandmaxfiend]

i just find the fact that they have to make a post telling people they cant talk about sam and max 2 funny.. yeah theres no interest in the game at all!! i hope lucasarts folds soon for that decision..which is where they are heading.. theres ya marketplace realities suckers!

[Joshi]

At a guess, I'm thinking someone else started that thread and then thery just deleted the posts but kept the first post as their own to say that they can't talk about it.

 

just to note, no new revelations, and my totally harmless post in the feedback forum for there new forums was rejected for some reason.