solidcorp, on Fri Jul 29, 2011 8:43 PM, said:
I don't understand the desire to lock this thread, is it simply because you don't like it?
I shouldn't reply, but I'm going to.
But I'm only going to because I honestly don't think you understand.
This thread feels like one giant troll.
In short, it's "Look-- I made something. You can never have it. Well, you can if someone pays me an insulting price, maybe. But that doesn't guarantee that you'll have it anyway."
Maybe you don't understand the community here. We're a dying breed. As time goes on, this hobby has less and less followers.
We're really far removed from the 80s. A few people have brought new life into the hobby, and one of the cool outcomes was the creation of this site.
It's a place where a few of us who can't get enough of the Atari's heyday can hang out. I remember the Atari 2600 I got when I was 5, and it defined a major part of my life. It led me to be a programmer, and to homebrew a few games of my own. This community has been VERY good to me, so I have always shared what I have with them. But, still, I recognize that times change. The older I get, the more people I meet who have no idea what an Atari was. It's kind of sad.
As there become less and less of us, and as time goes on, this community only grows in respect for one another. I'm blown away by things I've seen.
People on these forums defend each other when attacked by jerks. We are brought together by our love of Atari. Homebrewers share new creations, and people lovingly test their code. New finds are brought forth to keep that flame of excitement from being extinguished. People disassemble old ROMS to find new secrets. There is a lot going on here, but our common ground is love for Atari, and trying to keep this thing alive for as long as we can.
So, why lock this thread? Well, there's a LOT of very good people on here. This isn't an outpost of pirates. It's people who love a hobby. Your initial posts were fearful of that. But, we're the good guys. Our love of the hobby is what brought us together. So, think about this long and hard-- what value is this thread? You're dangling a carrot in front of a bunch of good people. And, they'll never be able to reach it. I know you think that's not true because you've offered a "fair price", or at least fair to you. But, it's not fair to us. Let me explain why.
To the good people here, there are only a handful here or less that could afford your asking price. So, you're putting pressure on a few fortunate souls. They could buy it; sure. If they do, you need to understand that they'll never get their money back from resales. Ever. It's not possible. One-of-a-kind protos usually can recoup a couple of thousand dollars in sales. As I said, it's a dying community. So, whenever one of those people who can afford a prototype has one from "back in the day" come across his or her way, the sell price is typically a few thousand dollars. People in this community have taken THOUSAND DOLLAR LOSSES to "do the right thing". They resell copies to make back their money, but still lose money. We respect those who do that, with our meager 50 dollar contributions. It's history, and those that can afford to do whatever it takes to help.
Forget about the Boxed Air-Raid-- that has special sentimental value to some collectors, and it's a special piece of history, so it doesn't count. Apart from that, a few thousand dollars for a single copy of something is the general norm. It's a price that's fair for the buyer to possibly make their money back in sales (though they usually don't even break even), and to satisfy the programmer for a job well done. So, your price is exceedingly unfair. Most of the community seems to have resolved that they don't care. We don't want to pressure the few that can purchase this take a $25,000 or more loss just to keep people here happy. It's not right. I think even that if you did have a tentative buyer, we'd try to talk them out of it at this point. I don't want anyone putting themself that far out for a game. And, it really is just a game.
You've also done something very wrong by not guaranteeing a ROM release. "It's up to the buyer". Well, thanks a lot. The community here takes a back seat I guess. Let's say some guy here or on ebay did buy it and said not to release. Then you've wasted our time with a story about something we didn't buy and can never play. And, that's a really sad story to put on a website that celebrates and breathes life into Atari. This is your most egregious error.
I don't know where your confusion comes from. Many of us are tired of this, and the points made above are detailed in many posts.
Look, then From one programmer to another, I respect your past and current work.
However, you're not respecting ours. We built this site and community.
We watch out for each other, and we try to be fair to each other.
From this point forward, this thread will be people trying to convince you to lower the price, for reasons above, and to consider full release if sold.
Sounds like you're immovable in that area. So, then what's left to talk about in this thread?
Questions have been answered, and we've seen all that we're going to see.
So, what else could anyone have to say?
And, if people are going to pat you on the back about previous work you've done, do it in another thread.
It's your move. But, if you're just going to sit on this with an unfair price, then you're wasting our time.
You've moved a lot of respected people on this site from curious to angry. That's not a good way to act in this community.
You really ought to think about what your actions are doing. The longer this thread goes nowhere, the worse you're making yourself look.
You're not a contributor. You're not being fair. And, you're wasting the time of the only people that care about this stuff at all.
-John
Edited by Propane13, Sat Jul 30, 2011 6:59 AM.
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