First, let me commend Marc Nelson for a first-rate apology -- a rare
thing on UseNet! Having lurked through this whole thread, and having
observed for a couple years Papyrus/Sierra's on-again, off-again
participation in this newsgroup -- certainly the largest of its kind on
the planet, and the closest thing to a public grapevine there is in sim
racing -- I wonder if the apology is entirely warranted. Papy's in a
tough position regarding what information (and patches, beta or
otherwise) they release and when, and are largely "damned if they do and
damned if they don't;" but, first and foremost, they are a consumer
product manufacturer. While it may be thought by some that the retail
truism "an informed consumer is the best advertising" doesn't
necessarily apply to the *** market, where apparently any old piece
of codswallop (Spirit of Speed, you name it) can be dumped on a
brain-dead public and make money, it just ain't so. While GPL is a
niche-market product that has had (understandably) modest sales, its
very excellence has polished Papyrus' star among those who know the
difference. NASCAR sims make the money, but a sim like GPL makes a
reputation. The problem with a company's reputation is that it's very
easy to besmirch -- they're the professionals after all, and are (like
it or not) held to a higher standard than Joe Blow NG poster -- and not
at all easy to reclaim.
People come to this NG largely to ask questions and get answers. No one
knows the answers to questions about Papyrus products better than the
people who make them. Whether Papyrus decides to share their information
is their decision, but a large part of any reputation is consistency, so
Papyrus needs to decide whether they're going to participate in this
newsgroup or not, as their consistency in this area has not been exactly
uniform, and they need to decide *how* they're going to participate, if
at all.
A statement like "...and people wonder why we are reluctant to involve
the racing community on a large scale" is neither useful nor
professional. In no way does it promote Papyrus' best interest, and if
it doesn't at the very least serve Papy's self-interest (let alone
answer anybody's question), what possible purpose *does* it serve?
Individuals can be arch and peevish in a public NG (though wouldn't it
be nice if they weren't?), but manufacturers can hardly afford that
selfish luxury without taking some of the gloss off their reputations.
Take enough of the gloss off, and your reputation goes into the negative column.
IMHO, before Papyrus got swallowed up by Sierra, there was a much more
open exchange of information between Papyrus and this NG. I'm sure part
of the lessening of the dialogue has to do with Sierra's more strict
corporate culture and quite possibly downsizing. Whatever the case,
Papyrus has to make a choice: either they're going to participate here
or not. If they're not, for whatever reason, fine. If they *are*, then
they have the professional obligation to act as model citizens, not to
contribute further to the muck. We are *not* Papyrus' "enemy," unless
Papyrus itself casts us in that role, as the quoted statement above
seems to do. We buy your products, we support your products through word
of mouth and the practically idolatrous labor of the many people who
have built websites devoted to your products -- you couldn't BUY
advertising like that, but you CAN throw it all away with a poor
corporate attitude.
Please think about it.
Bart Brown
