Matrix Games Forums

Dear Erik,

The credits for the game list one Erik Rutins as Executive Producer. I am from Wall Street ... we didn't have Executive Producers, but it sure sounds like you are the guy who is ultimately responsible for all.

I payed full price for this title. I purchased it due to:

* Gary's reputation for excellence.

* Full, complete, and clear documentation.

* And a novel way that integrated changes into the documentation that I did not have to figure out how 20-50 pages of release notes apply to my play; the living manual.

All the above well demonstrated by WITW.

You have made it clear that no customer, no beta, no developer is beyond the jurisdiction of forum rules. You are the Executive Producer and have done as you have seen fit. No dispute here.

The living manual represented true value of this product to me just as patches do. In fact patches are worthless if I am unable to integrate them into my play style.

So please, Erik, are living manual releases to be a continued aspect of games that carry Gary Grigsby name? Do you have plan how to replace the resources who were tasked with their production?

Thank you.

The living manual was updated in the last beta patch.

So my guess is that Loki is alive and in charge of it

Hi Mark,

We all agree that the living manual is of great value, even though it's not part of the base product.

It will continue to be updated as long as someone is willing to update it. It is not something the core development team has bandwidth to do. The living manual has been a project of Roger/Loki and as far as I am aware he is still part of the team and working on it. If in the future he decides not to continue working on it and no one else is willing to pick up that task, then it will cease to be updated, though we will always release full change notes with each update to keep customers informed regarding gameplay and rule changes.

Regards,

- Erik

Dear Erik,

Some of us have made an effort to get in touch with Loki (not so much about the Living Manual), but his frame of mind. I think one might reasonably speculate that he may not pick this task up again.

However, I don't think this is something which should result in a loss of value to the player community.

Why?

* These documents were distributed by Matrix as part of installers/patches leading one to conclude they are official.

* There is no indication on the cover that these are not a 2by3/Matrix product as opposed to a "Loki Only" optional download. Thus, I am led to form a reasonable expectation; that future releases will support artwork in 32 bit color and not be down graded to 16 bit color, because an artist might happen to resign.

* I will upload just 3 pages that leads the purchaser to conclude that this is the documentation set.

* And you will also notice that your name figures prominently in this document as the EXECUTIVE PRODUCER. I don't think that is the result of a typo.

Matrix seems to want to reduce the value of the product in a retroactive and unilateral move. I would like to propose an option such that Matrix may still do right by it customers.

* In real estate if you rent a unit with 3 showers showing in the listing/lease terms, but then only 2 showers can be used. You may apply for a rent abatement. A reduction in rent which brings it in online with the true value being offered.

* Now, clearly, refunding to customers would be a can of worms. Especially, because some customers are not committed to WITE-2 and will put no further money into the game. Should they receive an abatement when they have incurred no actual loss? I think not.

* I think the fair thing to do is deduct $2 USD off the price of the at which next expansion pack will be offered as an abatement for lost "official" value. Because it looks like a duck and walks like a duck calling; a Loki optional document is with inconsistent its with marks and distribution.

Thank you for your consideration.

There's never been a promise of maintaining a living manual. However, after seeing what happened to WitE1, we started a living manual for WitW a few versions after release. Thanks to some testers that helped out, we were able to catch up and then I was able to maintain that living manual. Thankfully Roger was willing to work on the living manual for WitE2. He's continued on with that work, and is now working on the Steel Inferno documentation. Over time it should be easier to maintain the WitE2 living manual as the number of changes should diminish. There's no reason to believe that Roger is going to stop working on the living manual anytime soon. If he did, I would try to see that the living manual was continually updated. At a minimum, we would continue to attach the readme notes for any new rule changes to the document. The WitE2 manual is huge, and I'm not as familiar with it as I was with WitW, so if I would have a harder time incorporating changes into the guts of the manual. We all hope Roger will continue updating the living manual since he's done a great job and knows what he's doing.

If loki wont make a living manual i know plenty of people can would be willing to step up so dont worry

Thank you.