Curt Schilling, 38 Studios, and Rhode Island

don't really follow MMOs, but does this article seem on point?
http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2012/06/04/what-happened-to-38-studios/

also like this comment:

Some more details:

-This particular loan was backed, in large part, by stimulus funds. The stimulus which Curt railed against.

-They laid off the entire staff Friday. The staff got an email from
Schilling and the board which consisted of three lines. Not even a good
luck or goodbye.

-38 Studios helped lure people into Rhode Island by helping them sell
their homes. Except they didn't and now some of the laid off staff are
getting messages from the bank wondering why they haven't paid their
second mortgage.

-Schilling claimed to have put 30mil into the project, when papers
revealed he only put in the 4mil. There's evidence that the first thing
he did was pay back the 4mil he put in.

-The state borrowed from the banks in order to do this. The banks made 7% on this and have already been paid in full.

-I read the Facebook wall post of a friend of a friend who was part of the 38 studios layoff. His resume? Full Sail University.

curt schilling is the worst person.

― judas, a homo (elmo argonaut), Friday, May 25, 2012 11:37 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― lag∞n, Friday, May 25, 2012 3:49 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I wish Karl Ravech or somebody, anybody, would just ambush the hell out of this guy on Baseball Tonight.

when was the last time he was on ESPN? i don't really watch baseball tonight anymore, so i'm genuinely curious. imagine he'd have more important things on his hands.

He was on Baseball Tonight a couple of nights ago, so I guess he's still doing his regular ESPN gig! I had the sound off, waiting for something else at the top of the hour.

that's insane!

Seriously! ESPN has suspended the talent for cuss words, racist headlines, sexist behavior, etc, but apparently bilking RI out of millions and "o snap we didn't really sell your house for you" is ok.

http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/38_Studios.jpg

drown curt schilling in a vat of pig shit imho

not to lol at laid-off workers in this economy, but this:

-I read the Facebook wall post of a friend of a friend who was part of the 38 studios layoff. His resume? Full Sail University.

wanna bet the Full Sail University was one of these dudes?!?

http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2012/05/25/1337919654_0011/539w.jpg

Full Sail University ALUMNI, even!

Bankrupt.

http://news.providencejournal.com/business/2012/06/schillings-38-studios-declares-bankruptcy-law-enforcement-investigating.html

Meanwhile, Col. Steven G. O'Donnell, superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, says that his agency, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's office and the Rhode Island attorney general "are working together to investigate activities that have recently come to light at 38 Studios."

cmon "curt schilling is a sex trafficker" sideplot

well RI has already had its laws changed by anti human trafficking pressure groups, for instance the legal prostitution loophole was closed a couple years ago

haha m bison

i feel like this is the right thread to tell the world that i would love to play a baseball RPG

omg if he went to jail that would be the greatest thing ever.

btw, what i got out of reading some articles on the providence journal's site is that 38 managed to secure an $8.5 million cash loan from a bank with $14.5 million in PROMISED tax credits??? how the fuck can you use theoretical tax credits (which i imagine assumes that you're making enough money as a company to even owe $14 million in taxes it he first place) to secure a cash loan?

i know shit about the financial industry but isn't that fraud?

haha yeah i think that's what the police / FBI investigation is gonna be about. well, that and state political corruption leading up to the initial EDC loan guarantee, probably?

seems like when youre engaging in corruption its prob a good idea to stay away from celebrities as they tend to generate headlines

thought u were suposed to be pro at this rhodey

ha my manager hipped me to buddy cianci, i'd love to hear his radio show these days

i feel like this is the right thread to tell the world that i would love to play a baseball RPG

― Mordy, Thursday, June 7, 2012 2:34 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there have definitely been baseball MMOs, they all look hilariously low-budget and ive never played them

thousands of virtual people roaming the mediaeval countryside playing baseball against each other

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cal_Ripken's_Real_Baseball

there have been tons of stat-based baseball board games - there have got to be video game RPGs out there

When investing in celebrity-founded gamedev studios, stick with Vin Diesel's.

curious how 38 studios could possibly owe north of $150 million to over 1,000 creditors? here's some light reading from their chapter 7 filing: http://www2.turnto10.com/mgmedia/file/552/38-studios-creditors-holding-unsecured-nonpriority/

their office lease is $10m. that seems a bit high, doesn't it?

what a mess

yeah i saw that--they've been there for a while and it seems like they may have never paid rent, or actually every paid for anything?

pay for everything with loans, set up in prime real estate, generate no income for years while hiring expensive talent. who could have foreseen the failure of such a flawless strategy?

lock everyone responsible inside a dilapidated house in south providence and torch it

http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2012/06/08/could-big-huge-games-have-saved-38-studios/

Citizen's bank has filed a lawsuit against Schilling for $2.4m

The RI EDC and Bank Rhode Island have both been subpoenaed in the investigation over the company's collapse

Also:

A confidential investment memo obtained by GoLocalProv reveals in painstaking and dramatic detail the true risks of the 38 Studios venture back in 2009—in marked contrast with the highly optimistic picture that consultants and staff presented to board members of the state Economic Development Corporation one year later.

The document, technically known as a Private Placement Memo, was issued on May 1, 2009 by 38 Studios in a bid to secure $25 million in investment funds. The memo pulls no punches in describing the investment opportunity as “highly speculative and inherently risky.” It warns that membership interests in the company should be purchased only by those “who can afford to lose their entire investment.”

http://www.golocalprov.com/news/investigation-edc-board-kept-in-dark-on-true-risks-of-38-studios/

hilarious and insane.

excerpted memos here: http://www.golocalprov.com/news/secret-documents-see-copies/

Gamasutra received the letter below on Tuesday evening. In it, the wife of a former 38 Studios employee describes a uniquely heart-wrenching story about uprooting a five-person family for an exciting new opportunity in Rhode Island, where now-defunct 38 Studios was located.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/172303/38_Studios_Spouse_speaks_out.php

that story is pretty fucked

disgusting behavior

something about that picture of the superfan with the bloody sock is putting me in mind of all those fake relic salesmen in the late middle ages

waving the bloody sock

BOSTON -- Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said Friday that the collapse of his 38 Studios video game company has probably cost him his entire baseball fortune, and he placed part of the blame on Rhode Island officials, including Gov. Lincoln Chafee.

Schilling said during a 90-minute interview on WEEI-FM in Boston that he put more than $50 million of his own money in the company and that he's had to tell his family that "the money I saved during baseball was probably all gone."

"I'm tapped out," he said.

lol

"You could hang yourself!"

http://images.wikia.com/avenueq/images/5/54/Bad_Idea_Bears.jpg

He should go on the road with Pete Rose.

oh come on, dude has a secret cache of gold bullion somewhere and we all know it

what kind of dummy puts all of his money into any one thing, unless that one thing is a magic money copying machine

haha for sure, both schilling and the RI EDC both were like, "wow, this basket is huge! i bet we can all fit all of our eggs in it!"

tbh I think if you manage to tank a state's economy, you should have to go down with it, so I am very light on sympathy for Herr Schilling