An open letter to James and Alexander

[Hagi]

Dear James and Alexander,

James, what the fuck are you doing? In your plan you promised us: ?You, the Extra Credits community, will know everything: when we fail, when we succeed. There will be no PR spin; you?ll be involved in everything we do. ?, you promised us transparency. Transparency does not mean giving us your limited side of the story, that's exactly what you promised us you wouldn't do. No fucking PR spin. You give us the full story or you give nothing at all, you do not give us half-truths designed to generate an outcry to put pressure on the escapist. As Wikipedia says: ?Transparency is performing in such a way that it is easy for the agent or others to see what's wrong?. We can't see anything right now due to the blame game you two are playing on each other.

And stop bitching about the Escapist using you. When they asked you about your pay you bent over and spread your cheeks for them. You're acting like the 'nice guy' we all love to hate. You didn't have any money when your brother and Allison needed it because you didn't stand up for yourself. When the Escapist couldn't pay you should have seen the warning lights and demanded a quick resolve of the situation or taken your business elsewhere. You decided to take the crap, now stop bitching about the smell.

Alexander, are you incompetent or just too inexperienced to handle this role? The Escapist didn't fail here, you failed. And you failed horribly. As CEO your job is to ensure that your company fulfils all it's contracts and that all these contracts are certain and complete. The fact that this situation arose in the first place means you failed disastrously, not only did you fail to uphold your contracts towards your employees by not paying them on time you also failed to ensure that whatever contract you had with EC about the donation money was certain and complete.

You should have made a formal agreement with EC in regards to the overflow donation money. If you failed to do this then you've got no rights whatsoever to any of this money, that's the price of a failure as fucking big as yours. Now I suggest you review whatever agreements you have with the EC crew and uphold these even if it ends up costing you. You don't screw others over because of your own incompetency, even if they're nice enough to bend over for you. If you're incapable of doing even that I suggest you find another job because seeing this mess here you're not even close to being competent enough to handle this.

Your sincerely,

Hagi.

PS. Escapist community, stop acting like a bunch of morally outraged teenagers. We don't know anything about what's going on due to the large amount of pretty looking bullshit these two idiots are throwing our way. The only thing we need right now is real information, the only demand is access to the e-mails detailing all the conversations between both parties.

 

[CarlsonAndPeeters]

Okay, this post is a little angry, as are most of the posts about this topic. But it really does sum up everything I was thinking. The issue is in transparency. We know so little, and people are choosing sides based on nothing. Everyone is at fault in one way or another, and saying otherwise is pretty ridiculous. Wait for the dust to clear, keep demanding more information, and don't attempt to destroy Extra Credits and/or the Escapist...at least not until we know what actually happened.

 

[Giest4life]

I don't agree with your first point. I'm siding with James and the EC crew till I get an adequate explanation from The Escapist. The one they provided earlier raised more questions than it answered.

Your second point is utterly retarded. Acting out of goodwill and sincerity is not accepting "crap". Your understanding of business is depressing.

I agree. Alexander has shown a prodigious amount of incompetency in handling this situation. But is more than that. Extra Credits and previous other shows on The Escapist are demanding more equitable contracts.

 

[zvate]

I'd rather agree... even handed at this point is a healthy smack upside the head to both parties. Seriously, arrangements without clear understanding of where and what money will go to is just asking for this sort of trouble...

 

[Hagi]

Okay, this post is a little angry, as are most of the posts about this topic. But it really does sum up everything I was thinking. The issue is in transparency. We know so little, and people are choosing sides based on nothing. Everyone is at fault in one way or another, and saying otherwise is pretty ridiculous. Wait for the dust to clear, keep demanding more information, and don't attempt to destroy Extra Credits and/or the Escapist...at least not until we know what actually happened.

Watched the new Zero Punctuation just before writing this. Not really angry, just imagine this being read by Yahtzee in ZP style.

I don't agree with your first point. I'm siding with James and the EC crew till I get an adequate explanation from The Escapist. The one they provided earlier raised more questions than it answered.

Your second point is utterly retarded. Acting out of goodwill and sincerity is not accepting "crap". Your understanding of business is depressing.

I agree. Alexander has shown a prodigious amount of incompetency in handling this situation. But is more than that. Extra Credits and previous other shows on The Escapist are demanding more equitable contracts.

A contract is a contract. Upholding it is goodwill and sincerity. Ignoring it, especially if not in your own benefit, is utterly retarded.

You uphold your contracts. You meet your responsibilities and you do not accept others to fail theirs. It's not being kind and sincere to allow others to fail their contracts. That's how you treat children, you save children from the consequences of their actions because they didn't know any better. You allow adults to suffer the consequences because they deserved them.

If James wanted to be kind and sincere he should have negotiated an alternate contract with exact terms on the delay of his payment. Now he was just postponing Alexander's failure so that when it hit it just hit so much harder, that's not kind or sincere.

 

[King Toasty]

I like this. We still shouldn't be too hasty to judge, because details are still emerging. But I like that you look at both sides of the story.

 

[chronicfc]

Yes, this was my thoughts exactly, when I was reading the article that had James' and Alexander's responses to one another

 

[Macgyvercas]

Snip

So since a contract was broken, does that mean we send the guy in red out?

 

[Puzzlenaut]

It is pissing me off the number of people who jumped to some crazy ass conclusion with no info at all and then proclaiming they will never visit the Escapist again because of it.

Actually no, that doesn't piss me off: Now they are away from this site, making it better for everyone else.

 

[Mangod]

Snip

So since a contract was broken, does that mean we send the guy in red out?

1st: where's the picture from?

2nd: I agree with the OP, there's too little information on this subject atm to start demanding that someone be given the guilliotine.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Dear James and Alexander,

James, what the fuck are you doing? In your plan you promised us: ?You, the Extra Credits community, will know everything: when we fail, when we succeed. There will be no PR spin; you?ll be involved in everything we do. ?, you promised us transparency. Transparency does not mean giving us your limited side of the story, that's exactly what you promised us you wouldn't do. No fucking PR spin. You give us the full story or you give nothing at all, you do not give us half-truths designed to generate an outcry to put pressure on the escapist. As Wikipedia says: ?Transparency is performing in such a way that it is easy for the agent or others to see what's wrong?. We can't see anything right now due to the blame game you two are playing on each other.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure James wasn't expecting a legal battle. Ever notice how, when most legal battles start, both sides clam up pretty tightly? There are reasons for that. James has already said more than he should, likely out of the delusion that the Escapist was still dealing in good faith. The minute he hired a buisness manager he should have made a simple statement saying that he was in legal negotiations with the Escapist.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Okay, this post is a little angry, as are most of the posts about this topic. But it really does sum up everything I was thinking. The issue is in transparency. We know so little, and people are choosing sides based on nothing. Everyone is at fault in one way or another, and saying otherwise is pretty ridiculous. Wait for the dust to clear, keep demanding more information, and don't attempt to destroy Extra Credits and/or the Escapist...at least not until we know what actually happened.

Watched the new Zero Punctuation just before writing this. Not really angry, just imagine this being read by Yahtzee in ZP style.

I don't agree with your first point. I'm siding with James and the EC crew till I get an adequate explanation from The Escapist. The one they provided earlier raised more questions than it answered.

Your second point is utterly retarded. Acting out of goodwill and sincerity is not accepting "crap". Your understanding of business is depressing.

I agree. Alexander has shown a prodigious amount of incompetency in handling this situation. But is more than that. Extra Credits and previous other shows on The Escapist are demanding more equitable contracts.

A contract is a contract. Upholding it is goodwill and sincerity. Ignoring it, especially if not in your own benefit, is utterly retarded.

You uphold your contracts. You meet your responsibilities and you do not accept others to fail theirs. It's not being kind and sincere to allow others to fail their contracts. That's how you treat children, you save children from the consequences of their actions because they didn't know any better. You allow adults to suffer the consequences because they deserved them.

If James wanted to be kind and sincere he should have negotiated an alternate contract with exact terms on the delay of his payment. Now he was just postponing Alexander's failure so that when it hit it just hit so much harder, that's not kind or sincere.

In general, I agree with the OP that we know to little, but I am also leaning in this direction. Keep in mind, the fact that EC was not paid on time is pretty much the only thing both sides agree on. Whether or not EC accepted it, the fact it went on at all, let alone for almost a year, is fucking disgraceful. I have argued as such in the other threads.

I'm waiting for those emails before I make any rash decisions, but that's the way I'm leaning now.

By the way, OP, you had a very good point about transparency. In my mind, that doesn't change the situation itself, but I really DID expect better from James on that end.

 

[Macgyvercas]

Snip

So since a contract was broken, does that mean we send the guy in red out?

1st: where's the picture from?

2nd: I agree with the OP, there's too little information on this subject atm to start demanding that someone be given the guilliotine.

Monster Manual 3.5 Edition

These are the Inevitables, contructs built with the sole purpose of enforcing the three fundimental laws of the Universe: Oaths must be kept, Lawbreakers must be punished, and Everything dies eventually.

The white one is a Zelekhut, charged with hunting those who flee from justice. The one in the red robe is a Kolyarut, charged with hunting those who break oaths or promises. The gold one is a Marut, charged with hunting down and destroying those would cheat death itself.

 

[Archon]

Alexander, are you incompetent or just too inexperienced to handle this role? The Escapist didn't fail here, you failed. And you failed horribly. As CEO your job is to ensure that your company fulfils all it's contracts and that all these contracts are certain and complete. The fact that this situation arose in the first place means you failed disastrously, not only did you fail to uphold your contracts towards your employees by not paying them on time you also failed to ensure that whatever contract you had with EC about the donation money was certain and complete.

You should have made a formal agreement with EC in regards to the overflow donation money. If you failed to do this then you've got no rights whatsoever to any of this money, that's the price of a failure as fucking big as yours. Now I suggest you review whatever agreements you have with the EC crew and uphold these even if it ends up costing you. You don't screw others over because of your own incompetency, even if they're nice enough to bend over for you. If you're incapable of doing even that I suggest you find another job because seeing this mess here you're not even close to being competent enough to handle this.

Your sincerely,

Hagi.

Hagi,
You are right that I should have made a formal agreement with EC in regards to the overflow donation money. Because I did not, the result is the situation at hand. That was a huge error on my part. I don't think either party expected that overflow would even be an issue, so we both had different expectations as to what would happen when overflow did develop. As I have said repeatedly, we retracted our request that they use the overflow money on Extra Credits weeks ago when the sharp difference of opinion on this matter became clear. I do not understand why it is being brought up now other than as a straw man.

As for my inexperience, I've never disguised that I founded the company when I was 25 and have run it since. It was literally my first job out of school. Every day that we experience growth is the first day of my life running a company of this size. So, yes, I remain inexperienced in many matters. Hopefully I have done more good than harm overall in serving in my role at The Escapist, but that is ultimately for others to judge.

Thanks for attempting an even-handed response.

Regards,
Alexander Macris

 

[Giest4life]

Okay, this post is a little angry, as are most of the posts about this topic. But it really does sum up everything I was thinking. The issue is in transparency. We know so little, and people are choosing sides based on nothing. Everyone is at fault in one way or another, and saying otherwise is pretty ridiculous. Wait for the dust to clear, keep demanding more information, and don't attempt to destroy Extra Credits and/or the Escapist...at least not until we know what actually happened.

Watched the new Zero Punctuation just before writing this. Not really angry, just imagine this being read by Yahtzee in ZP style.

I don't agree with your first point. I'm siding with James and the EC crew till I get an adequate explanation from The Escapist. The one they provided earlier raised more questions than it answered.

Your second point is utterly retarded. Acting out of goodwill and sincerity is not accepting "crap". Your understanding of business is depressing.

I agree. Alexander has shown a prodigious amount of incompetency in handling this situation. But is more than that. Extra Credits and previous other shows on The Escapist are demanding more equitable contracts.

A contract is a contract. Upholding it is goodwill and sincerity. Ignoring it, especially if not in your own benefit, is utterly retarded.

You uphold your contracts. You meet your responsibilities and you do not accept others to fail theirs. It's not being kind and sincere to allow others to fail their contracts. That's how you treat children, you save children from the consequences of their actions because they didn't know any better. You allow adults to suffer the consequences because they deserved them.

If James wanted to be kind and sincere he should have negotiated an alternate contract with exact terms on the delay of his payment. Now he was just postponing Alexander's failure so that when it hit it just hit so much harder, that's not kind or sincere.

Agreed. A contract is a contract. But in the writing and publishing industry where the revenue is not instant, a lot depends on goodwill. I have allowed people to pay me late (based on goodwill) and in turn I've paid people late because things didn't go as planned.

Perhaps James was a bit naive or perhaps Themis Medis is truly evil, we won't know for sure till the dust settles and more information comes out.

 

[LobsterFeng]

I'm completely neutral, I'm just enjoying the drama.

 

[dancinginfernal]

I hope this somehow leads to an Escapist Civil War. That'd be glorious for the intertubes history books.

OT: Well-written, concise, if not obviously a little aggravated. Conveys my honest thoughts about the topic, good job.