Letter from MediaWhoreNetwork to The Silver Lining Movement

[oberonqa]

I got this email this morning and wanted to share it with you all:

Hello David Reese and members of the Save the Silver Lining Movement,

As the writer of said article, I'm pleased to see that I've contributed in some way in the battle to get this project back in development.  I would be happy to provide follow-up articles to keep our readers informed of the project and any subsequent developments of the cause.

Also, I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to interview members of the Phoenix Online Studios staff to get their perspective on these unfortunate recent events.  If there are any burning questions you or fellow members of the movement would like asked to the team, I'm very willing to ask them and include them in the published article.

Thank you again for contacting us with the opportunity to help your cause.  Hopefully with our efforts this won't be the last we hear of the Graham lineage.

--
MediaWhoreNetwork.com

If Phoenix Online Studios does an interview, what questions would you like to see answered?  Post those questions here and I will forward them along.

The article in reference can be found at http://www.mediawhorenetwork.com/2010/03/activision-pulls-the-plug-on-kings-quest-revival/

[Erpy]

I gotta say the team itself has been rather quiet on the issue, so I'm not certain if there's stuff that they didn't care to disclose on these boards, yet would speak of in an interview.

One thing I guess is okay to ask is...are there any plans to do projects beyond TSL? They mentioned they wouldn't do anymore free stuff, so if Activision would not budge on their stance, would there be a future for a commercial branch of POS? It's been suggested before, but times change. Former college students may now have a full-time job...Cesar already has a job at Telltale. Is this still a prospect? And if so, would any team member who was interested be included or would you limit yourself to a select few staff members? (if it's commercial, you can't make the team as big as you want anymore)

[tessspoon]

Random question, but what is tiddlywinks? (from the picture in the article)

[mateo360]

It's a game where you push a coin or other flat disk on the edge of another coin or flat disk and try to get it to flip into a cup, bowl, goal of somekind.

(I think that what I remember it is)

[tessspoon]

Ah. Looks like that's what he's doing then.

[Yonkey]

I gotta say the team itself has been rather quiet on the issue, so I'm not certain if there's stuff that they didn't care to disclose on these boards, yet would speak of in an interview.

Actually, it's more due to lack of time than anything else.  We've been pretty swamped last week with e-mails.  Ironically, we're able to discuss more in an interview than we can here, so I highly encourage you guys to come up with questions.

[Erpy]

If that is so, I'll just pretend the confidentiality barrier does not exist and post some more potential questions without taking into account what can and cannot be said.

- Are you guys still actively taking steps to try and either salvage the project or convince Activision to retract their C&D? Or are you currently stuck hoping the fanbase can somehow make a difference? I realize that C&D's are specifically designed to discourage any further activity regarding the things they're meant to stop, but still...it's a question.

- If TSL remains in its current state, are there chances that people will get to read the story anyway? I don't think I'd really enjoy reading through a 5000-page screenplay that's more intended to help programmers piece the game together than to draw readers into the story the way a novel was, but maybe if it was truncated and released as a fanfic, I'd read it.

- Any details about the negotiations mentioned in the press release? Did you guys try to pitch the game as a commercial option?

- Any details about the exact reason given for the shutdown? (other than a "we're not interested in granting you a fan license") It was mentioned before in another thread, but a C&D is kinda overkill if you already have a license that demands production or distribution to stop immediately upon termination. Were there circumstances that caused the license given in 2005 to expire or something?

- Have you heard anything from Activision after the initial press release was put on the site?

- Kinda morbid, but if you had a one-time-only time machine that could be used to change a single event/decision/process in the game's history, what would you do differently?

[oberonqa]

I need to get these questions forwarded along to MediaWhoreNetwork... so please have your questions posted to this thread before 10pm PST tonight.  When I get home from work I'm going to email the questions we have.  So if you have a question you'd like to see asked, now is the time to ask. 

(Posted on: March 09, 2010, 11:33:00 AM)

Questions have been emailed.  Thank you Erpy for the questions.

(Posted on: March 09, 2010, 11:04:00 PM)

The first part of a two-part interview with the TSL development team is now up

http://www.mediawhorenetwork.com/2010/03/restore-restart-quit-an-interview-with-phoenix-online-studios-part-one/

[mwn_ryan]

I created an account just because I was excited to let you guys know that part 2 of my interview has now been published. Hopefully this helps answer some of the burning questions you all had.

[UPDATE] Forgot the link: http://www.mediawhorenetwork.com/2010/03/restore-restart-quit-an-interview-with-phoenix-online-studios-part-two/

[oberonqa]

I created an account just because I was excited to let you guys know that part 2 of my interview has now been published. Hopefully this helps answer some of the burning questions you all had.

[UPDATE] Forgot the link: http://www.mediawhorenetwork.com/2010/03/restore-restart-quit-an-interview-with-phoenix-online-studios-part-two/

Great interview Ryan.  Thank you for everything you have done to support The Silver Lining.

[KatieHal]

Thanks so much Ryan! It was great reading and answering your questions.

[Yonkey]

Thanks again, Ryan!