rickythepenguin: Shakes999: Deadspin has more info on the story. What a farking douchebag. Link

Missed this the first time around, but worth noting. Last year Schilling told Reuters that he had invested "$30 million to $35 million" in 38 Studios. A disclosure filing obtained by WPRI shows that Schilling only advanced the company $4 million of his own money, and has already been paid back-with the funds from Rhode Island loan.


ha what a douche. not that 4M isn't a lot of cheese, but....."i've invested 30M in this company!" yet in fact it was 1/7th of that, aaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnd he got paid back out of taxpayer funds?

keep sucking that government teat, Curt.

It's the Romney investment strategy™

Small down payment, take out huge loan (debt), pay back self +300% from loan, have company file for bankruptcy when they can't make good on loan leaving the rest on the taxpayer dime. Congratulation, like Bain Capital you just made an obscene profit on a failed investment. Achievement unlocked: Vulture Capitalism Douchebag

/shiat should be illegal

tlchwi02: TyrantII: If you mean by vilified, "told no one wants to hear about your politics", sure. Boston and NE love our sports heros. We hate them running their mouth about politics on either side of the isle, because they're sports players. We got to deal with politics in every other stupid facet of life, and we don't want it polluting our sports.

plus the vilification has taken place largely since he pulled his RI move hijinks. He'd been going on for years about the evils of big government, then he suddenly demands/begs for the government to give him cash and then takes a bunch of jobs out of MA to a neighboring state who does give him a pile of free money. Nobody likes a hypocrit, its not wonder he got ragged on for it.

Yup, and I generally agree with him. Just because someone comes around and say "I'm Curt fraking Schilling" give me money, the state shouldn't be in the business of handing out line item tax breaks when a politician says, "We got this dudes back".

I'm a little more tolerant if they have funds to promote industries, but only if they have very strict definitions of eligibility and put prospective companies through brutal audits, and do not allow politician meddling.

State funding heathcare, technology and green energy isn't necessarily bad, as long it's kept away from politics and done with investment in mind. MA actually did look at 38 studios, and said it wouldn't be a good candidate for a technology program.

shiat like Boston just handing Liberty mutual 10's of million in tax breaks to keep their corporate office where they were going to keep it anyways is just fraud and misuse of public funds.

TyrantII: shiat like Boston just handing Liberty mutual 10's of million in tax breaks to keep their corporate office where they were going to keep it anyways is just fraud and misuse of public funds.

yeah that was horsecrap. there was no way they were going to really pick up and leave. The other thing that kills me about those sorts of deals is that the pols *immediatly* cave. If Liberty had come in and said "NH has offered us 5 million to move there" and MA had counter offered, then that might make sense. But all they do is just announce "oh we're considering moving...." and the state cuts them a check right there.

but schilling... he burnt a lot of bridges when he left MA. even if he was doing the best possible job of all time in RI, there'd still be hard feelings in boston after the way he left.

Primitive Screwhead: is overrated more than Twin Oaks (which also sucks)
//Thank God for Trinity Brewhouse
/Go P-Bruins

All of these things are awesome.

RI has not been able to recover from the collapse of industry. Our state government has been treading water for a long time and now we are starting to drown.

/or something

So is "I know a guy at 38 Studios..." gonna be a new meme or what? Because I totally know a guy there high up on the ladder and he says things are moving forward on KoA.

It should also be noted that the 38 Studios that's on the hook here isn't the 38 Studios that put out KoA.

Huh. I guess it's true. Everyone on Earth must know at least one guy who works at 38 Studios. A friend of mine works there. I should ask him what's going on.

Kudos to Massachusetts Governor Patrick who told right-wing Schilling to look for his corporate welfare elsewhere.

meddleRPI: Considering I know people working on Copernicus, 38 Studios is fine.

This is just the political drum machine beating against Schilling, because he doesn't fall in lockstep with liberal policies. Maybe he should re-brand his games as "green technology".

I read your first sentence and felt relieved, since I know their first game did not do particularly well.

Then I read your second sentence, and realized you are a complete farking idiot.

I suspect then that 38 Studios is not long for this world since we've got a rightwing dipshiat in here talking about them.

Called this problem from the get-go. Like Beerguy I would've liked to be pleasantly surprised, but while Curt Schilling is a tough pitcher, he knows jack about running a business. Making a decent product isn't good enough, decent sales isn't enough. You're not a solvent for-profit business unless revenue > costs. And I had zero confidence a guy whose career was throwing a ball could manage that.

What pisses me off is because RI guaranteed the loans for the private investors, the endgame is that the taxpayers of RI, who need money the most (state has a nasty unemployment rate), are going to have their money taken and thrown at people who need it the least. Ain't greed grand?

Well shiat, the other Joystiq article posted in the thread mentioned that they were audited last year by PwC and they noted a going concern. If the corrupt morans at a Big Four firm of all places noted a going concern with your company.... Yeah, 38 and RI taxpayers are farked. I'm glad I don't live there anymore, but I feel bad for my friends and relatives who do. 2nd highest unemployment rate in the country, and now this.

This needs to be Rhode Island taxpayers right now.

Update, guys: 38 missed a loan payment in May of $1.125 million.
http://www2.turnto10.com/business/2012/may/15/10/chafee-state-must-he l p-38-studios-ar-1037673/

/sorry for the three posts in a row
//not really

TyrantII: Shillings got money, if he believes in his company he can self fund it. He's got star power and a deep pocket. Time for him to put his money where his mouth is and line up some real investors, instead of gambling with RI taxpayer money.

Why? Sounds like he's got the best deal in the world. Use others peoples money and when it fails, have taxpayers foot the bill.

ElwoodCuse: Can't wait to see him run for office after this flushes. he's got the right-wing asshole playbook down pat. Complain about government spending and taxes then take a giant handout for himself, tout "creating jobs" and then not actually create the jobs you promise, put up as little of your own money as possible and use the govt. money to get it back out as fast as possible, play the race-to-the-bottom card to exploit tax breaks, etc. Good job!

It's funny, you are basically describing a left-wing asshole.

Trackball: ElwoodCuse: Can't wait to see him run for office after this flushes. he's got the right-wing asshole playbook down pat. Complain about government spending and taxes then take a giant handout for himself, tout "creating jobs" and then not actually create the jobs you promise, put up as little of your own money as possible and use the govt. money to get it back out as fast as possible, play the race-to-the-bottom card to exploit tax breaks, etc. Good job!

It's funny, you are basically describing any left-wing political asshole.

Fixed that for ya. Neither side has the monopoly on screwing taxpayers out of money and then claiming incompetence to not be sent to jail

I think you're all missing the bigger picture here, which is that video games are completely lame. I won't talk to a human being over the age of 13 who plays video games. Get lives.

TeddyBallGame: TheSelphie: [www.understandablyupset.com image 475x327]

This needs to be Rhode Island taxpayers right now.

It won't be. My fellow RIers will just biatch and do nothing.

First to meh, last to whatever

JoanHaus: I think you're all missing the bigger picture here, which is that video games are completely lame. I won't talk to a human being over the age of 13 who plays video games. Get lives.

You must not have any friends.

More than half of Americans videogame regularly.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2012/05/surv e y-more-than-half-of-americans-play-video-games/1

Primitive Screwhead: Gunny Highway: DrippinBalls: Honest to God, I wished I cared. I don't care who loses, as long as schilling AND rhode island both lose.

When was the last time RI won?

LMOA/CMAO It hurts because it's true....

Not fah nutt'n but we get screwed over so much in this state another 75 mil ain't sh*t
Like we're gonna see a dime of it anyway.

/Still love my hometown
//has an auto-graphed Cianci photo
///but The HiIll sucks and is overrated more than Twin Oaks (which also sucks)
//Thank God for Trinity Brewhouse
/Go P-Bruins

Twin Oaks is overrated, wouldn't say it sucks. Not a whole lot better than farking Chelo's.

It's funny because it's true!!!

The combined friends of this thread that work for 38 studios is fast approaching the purported 450 employees at the company. Something's amiss...

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa ... I'm from the South and we're a little dense down here, me included.
This article is saying - correct me if I'm wrong - this article is saying that an entity representing the state of Rhode Island thought that a good investment was to sink $75 million into video game development??

*snert*

Suddenly NASCAR doesn't looks so stupid. And I'm not even a fan.

TheSelphie: [www.understandablyupset.com image 475x327]

This needs to be Rhode Island taxpayers right now.

$116 million? That isn't even real money. This is how economic stimulus works, you knuckle-dragging troglodytes. Now shut up and pay your taxes.

Wasilla Hillbilly: The combined friends of this thread that work for 38 studios is fast approaching the purported 450 employees at the company. Something's amiss...

Not only do I know a guy that works at 38 Studios, I also know a guy who knows a guy who works at 38 Studios. And that guy knows a guy who knows a guy who's best friend once drove by 38 Studios, and that guy said it looks like they are doing fine. And I'm going to take his word for it.

My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw millions passed out at 38 Studios last night. I guess it's pretty serious.

Reckoning was pretty decent for a first outing, gave the impression that they could progress pretty far in the next game. I have a soft spot of R. A. Salvatore so perhaps that colored my vision a bit. An MMO would probably kill the company though. Poor/over-saturated market for that, and anyone that is missed by WoW/TERA/SWTOR/GW2 will be picked up by TES online or tentatively The Secret World (though Conan squandered my AO goodwill for funcom.)

TeddyBallGame: TheSelphie: [www.understandablyupset.com image 475x327]

This needs to be Rhode Island taxpayers right now.

It won't be. My fellow RIers will just biatch and do nothing.

Very true. I lived in RI for more of my life than anywhere else (10 years, more if you count when I was on college vacation).

I've seen Schilling in person and the man is so huge, he has his own zip code. He's also disingenuous enough to figure out a way to blame the libruls for this outrage: "There was a massive left wing conspiracy against my video game!"

meddleRPI: Considering I know people working on Copernicus, 38 Studios is fine.

This is just the political drum machine beating against Schilling, because he doesn't fall in lockstep with liberal policies. Maybe he should re-brand his games as "green technology".

Uh, he missed a 1.2 million dollar loan payment to the RI state government who graciously loaned him $75 million of taxpayer money. This produced a whopping 430 jobs at 38 Studios. Oh, and btw, the governor is a Democrat.

Love Schilling the ballplayer. Hate Schilling the partisan political hypocrite.

Close2TheEdge: meddleRPI: Considering I know people working on Copernicus, 38 Studios is fine.

This is just the political drum machine beating against Schilling, because he doesn't fall in lockstep with liberal policies. Maybe he should re-brand his games as "green technology".

Uh, he missed a 1.2 million dollar loan payment to the RI state government who graciously loaned him $75 million of taxpayer money. This produced a whopping 430 jobs at 38 Studios. Oh, and btw, the governor is a Democrat.

Love Schilling the ballplayer. Hate Schilling the partisan political hypocrite.

I agree. I mean, i met him once in person and was pretty cool. I still enjoy when he pops up on the instance podcast every now and then or when he calls in to give his opinion on espn radio, but once politics are involved... Bleargh...

Close2TheEdge: meddleRPI: Considering I know people working on Copernicus, 38 Studios is fine.

This is just the political drum machine beating against Schilling, because he doesn't fall in lockstep with liberal policies. Maybe he should re-brand his games as "green technology".

Uh, he missed a 1.2 million dollar loan payment to the RI state government who graciously loaned him $75 million of taxpayer money. This produced a whopping 430 jobs at 38 Studios. Oh, and btw, the governor is a Democrat.

Love Schilling the ballplayer. Hate Schilling the partisan political hypocrite.

They didn't produce 430 jobs. I read in one of these articles in the thread that it's only 288 employed in RI. Also, the governor is NOT Democrat, he's Independent, and used to be Republican. And he wasn't the one who allowed this in the first place, it was the former Republican governor who was term-limited (meaning he could do whatever the hell he wanted with no consequences). The current governor railed him for it in the campaign.

zarberg: Neither side has the monopoly on screwing taxpayers out of money and then claiming incompetence to not be sent to jail

But enough about MLB owners. . .

Am I the only one who found the article unintelligible?

The headline and the article just made me feel ignorant.

I'm going to Google the stuff in the article so that I'll know what it's talking about because it's my job to fix it when I don't know something, but I wanted to know if anyone else had to do the same.

TheSelphie: Well shiat, the other Joystiq article posted in the thread mentioned that they were audited last year by PwC and they noted a going concern. If the corrupt morans at a Big Four firm of all places noted a going concern with your company.... Yeah, 38 and RI taxpayers are farked. I'm glad I don't live there anymore, but I feel bad for my friends and relatives who do. 2nd highest unemployment rate in the country, and now this.

In this situation, what happens to the assests of 38 Studios? Schilling couldn't just take what he's created so far, let 38 Studios die and then open another company to continue development on the game could he?

Because if he could, that sounds like a crafty but dickwad way of getting out of a large loan.

lilbjorn: Kudos to Massachusetts Governor Patrick who told right-wing Schilling to look for his corporate welfare elsewhere.

I'm looking forward to seeing him come cap-in-hand for government money, just like Ayn Rand had to in the end.

Nothing like established reality to piss on greed-centric talking points.

Mike_LowELL: JoanHaus: I think you're all missing the bigger picture here, which is that video games are completely lame. I won't talk to a human being over the age of 13 who plays video games. Get lives.

Submitted links approved: None

Stopped caring there.

That person is obviously a troll but your post doesn't make sense to me. What does "submitted links approved"(or the lack thereof) have to do with anything?

Lumbar Puncture: TheSelphie: Well shiat, the other Joystiq article posted in the thread mentioned that they were audited last year by PwC and they noted a going concern. If the corrupt morans at a Big Four firm of all places noted a going concern with your company.... Yeah, 38 and RI taxpayers are farked. I'm glad I don't live there anymore, but I feel bad for my friends and relatives who do. 2nd highest unemployment rate in the country, and now this.

In this situation, what happens to the assests of 38 Studios? Schilling couldn't just take what he's created so far, let 38 Studios die and then open another company to continue development on the game could he?

Because if he could, that sounds like a crafty but dickwad way of getting out of a large loan.

Maybe all of the company's assets will be sold by the state of RI so they can recoup a tiny bit of the loan that the taxpayers have to repay. That probably won't happen, but one can dream.

Across the stratosphere,
a final message:
"Give my wife my love."
Then nothing more.

TheSelphie:
Maybe all of the company's assets will be sold by the state of RI so they can recoup a tiny bit of the loan that the taxpayers have to repay. That probably won't happen, but one can dream.

They've already paid back 29 million of the loan, and just missed a 1.something-million payment.

I don't think this is anywhere near as dire as the media is making it out to be. It's Rhode Island, there isn't much to report on anyway. The lead in to this story on last nights news was a driving school that closed and a student was out $700. OMG something is happening! Fire up the Turn to 10 Copter and call Kathryn Sotnick!

TheSelphie: Close2TheEdge: meddleRPI: Considering I know people working on Copernicus, 38 Studios is fine.

This is just the political drum machine beating against Schilling, because he doesn't fall in lockstep with liberal policies. Maybe he should re-brand his games as "green technology".

Uh, he missed a 1.2 million dollar loan payment to the RI state government who graciously loaned him $75 million of taxpayer money. This produced a whopping 430 jobs at 38 Studios. Oh, and btw, the governor is a Democrat.

Love Schilling the ballplayer. Hate Schilling the partisan political hypocrite.

They didn't produce 430 jobs. I read in one of these articles in the thread that it's only 288 employed in RI. Also, the governor is NOT Democrat, he's Independent, and used to be Republican. And he wasn't the one who allowed this in the first place, it was the former Republican governor who was term-limited (meaning he could do whatever the hell he wanted with no consequences). The current governor railed him for it in the campaign.

Yes, my error. I realized later he was an Independent. Didn't know it was the previous administration that authorized it. The More You Know.

starvethemonster: Am I the only one who found the article unintelligible?

The headline and the article just made me feel ignorant.

yeah, they don't do a really good job of explaining the background... basically the former pitcher curt schilling is an old-school EQ addict. When he retired from baseball he opened a game studio to create RPGs in MA. During the recession, the state of rhode island promised him a 75 million dollar loan if he would move his game company to RI and create 450 jobs. He took the money, used it to pay himself back the 4 million of his personal fortune he had put into the company, and has proceeded to release one reasonably well reviewed game that sold at ok numbers, but under performed for what its budget was. It now appears that the company is not going to complete their big MMO that they expect to make their real money on without a large influx of more money, which the state is not going to give them. Because of the state politics behind the situation, there is a lot of anger from taxpayers who feel like they've been forced into a bad deal, and this is probably the first part of what will become a legal battle to recover some of the states money.

Kreigenstein: TheSelphie:
Maybe all of the company's assets will be sold by the state of RI so they can recoup a tiny bit of the loan that the taxpayers have to repay. That probably won't happen, but one can dream.

They've already paid back 29 million of the loan, and just missed a 1.something-million payment.

I don't think this is anywhere near as dire as the media is making it out to be. It's Rhode Island, there isn't much to report on anyway. The lead in to this story on last nights news was a driving school that closed and a student was out $700. OMG something is happening! Fire up the Turn to 10 Copter and call Kathryn Sotnick!

For 120 million the state could have just given every citizen $100. Probably would ave been better money spent.

Iceberg659: Mike_LowELL: JoanHaus: I think you're all missing the bigger picture here, which is that video games are completely lame. I won't talk to a human being over the age of 13 who plays video games. Get lives.

Submitted links approved: None

Stopped caring there.

That person is obviously a troll but your post doesn't make sense to me. What does "submitted links approved"(or the lack thereof) have to do with anything?

It's a GameFAQs joke. And yes, I'm ashamed that I know this.

Kreigenstein: I don't think this is anywhere near as dire as the media is making it out to be.

It's not dire; as $50 million or whatever they owe is pocket change to most state governments. But if you have any principles left in that shriveled, cynical heart of yours, this is the sort of scandal that should make you rageguy. Just to review:

1) Entrepreneur makes start-up game company with little experience. Outrage factor: zero.
2) Business borrowed a lot of money. Outrage factor: zero.
3) Business hasn't released anything it didn't get through aquisition. Outrage factor: zero.
4) Business is in financial trouble. Outrage factor: zero.
5) Business' loans are GUARANTEED BY THE STATE GOVERNMENT THANKS TO A TERM-LIMITED FORMER (read: untouchable) GOVERNOR. Outrage factor: Eleventy zillion.

Consider the case where this company goes Chapter 7. Schilling's paid his own money back to himself and his private assets are untouchable, so he's scot free. He hasn't lost a dime. The investors have their loans guaranteed so even in the worst-case scenario they will MAKE money. But the taxpayers? They're screwed in the worst possible sense of the word. The government can fire-sale the company's assets but at auction prices it won't be anywhere near what's owed. Every missed payment will be footed by RI taxpayers, whether or not the company exists. And because RI has sales tax, that means even those who can't work (retirees, the homeless, the disabled) will be paying back loans to rich investors for a company they have nothing to do with.

To put it more simply, if the studio goes under then the middleman goes away and this deal becomes, in the most simplest terms, a government action to take money directly from even the poorest Rhode Islanders and shovel it into the pockets of out-of-state investors.