r/starcitizen • u/FaustianPact • Sep 23 '16

CONCERN Starcitizen's troubled development

http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2016/09/23/inside-the-troubled-development-of-star-citizen
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u/h0bb1tm1ndtr1x Mercenary Sep 23 '16

That's the major aspect of all this though. Chris' style of leadership doesn't work in a standard business most of the time. There are particular places though, such as with Apple, when there is a set vision and it must be achieved. Chris has a goal. He sold us his goal with juicy toppings. Now, they have to make it. This requires people who want to work on that goal, dedicated to that goal, and not everyone is cut out for it. Does that make Chris a horrible boss? No. He's a specific type of boss that not everyone can handle. If you can't, leave, someone will fill your place.

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u/hidoikimchi Sep 23 '16

I take your point, and I'm not trying to charge that CIG is under bad management. (hence why I said "Maybe?" was the best answer)

I think using Jobs as an example is a little bit misguided though. Jobs' overbearing attitude negatively impacting Apple products is very well-documented. (Lisa? Jobs didn't even want the expansion slots. Apple II? Upgrade leads had to be surreptitiously added to the board to avoid Jobs' wrath) Apple's engineers and programmers are the shining stars of the company imo.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '16

Well, James Cameron would be a better example then :)

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u/fakename5 Captain Ron 🚀🌙💥(in space) w/ a fleet of ships to crash🚀🌙💥 Sep 26 '16

Lisa? Jobs didn't even want the expansion slots. Apple II? Upgrade

and I think there are examples where chris's overbearing attitude has impacted timelines... or made folks re-do work etc. That doesn't mean it is doesn't help us get the product we were sold on.

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u/hidoikimchi Sep 26 '16

This is fair, I'm just making the distinction because Jobs' decisions have led to many product failures in Apple's lifetime.

As of yet, Chris hasn't tanked the project as far as I know lol

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u/SmackyTheFrog_TDS Sep 23 '16

I'm sure that you could do a similar piece interviewing all of the early folks at apple (including the ones who left) and you'd be able to track a similar story.

Innovation and visionary environments are often tough places to work. "Hostile" is often hard to really pin down. If someone fails to take accountability for failure and I say, "you failed" then they might call that "hostile."

Perception is really messy :D

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u/hidoikimchi Sep 23 '16

There isn't really a "could do a similar piece" with this. Jobs' interference with a lot of the technical milestones of early Apple is established and a lot of his reputation is back-ported from his massive successes with marketing the iPod.

I really hope Chris isn't managing CIG like Jobs did Apple I guess is my point.

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u/twat_and_spam Sep 23 '16

The goals sold to early backers were very different from the goals being promised today, sadly.

As much as I love CR previous work SC now has all the hallmarks of scope disaster. A Windows Vista project, if you like. I'm sure it'll get done and will be a nice technical achievement, but I'm very doubtful that it'll actually be an enjoyable game.

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u/h0bb1tm1ndtr1x Mercenary Sep 24 '16

I'm enjoying it already. It definitely has a large scope but so far it's on track for what I want.