Rebecca Heineman says she can't finish Bard's Tale 1-3 Remastered because inXile haven't paid her

[Infinitron]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQsRuLp ... .be&t=2181

inXile, what is your response to this?

[Breshard]

Something obviously been going on with this, like no word about this or progress made on it for most of the year seemingly. Would be nice to hear some word on this, even if it's bad.

[sear]

Olde Skuul and inXile both agreed to terms where payment would be delivered once the game was finished. Those terms haven't changed, and we look forward to the game's completion.

[thebruce]

hm.
Methinks on the surface this appears to be an impasse, and we may not see Remastered unless either side changes or clarifies their position to the others' satisfaction :(

[ZZGO]

Hm. Listening to the interview, she doesn't actually say that "she can't finish BT1-3 Remastered because inXile haven't paid her".
What she said is that the project is on the backburner because she's not sure if/when she's going to be paid - which, to wit, is not the same as inXile refusing (or having failed to meet an obligation) to pay her. I hope she and inXile can sort out whatever the issue is.

I'm actually intrigued by the other things she said about the remastered version, and am now looking forward to it even harder.

[_noblesse_oblige_]

My only interest in the remasters is bug fixes and the possibility of taking the best graphics and best audio from the platforms of the day and putting them together in a consistent manner across all three games for continuity of experience. This talk of adding "additional humor" and various other extras, such as auto-mapping in BT1, strikes me as being "scope creep" in the project. I really wish Olde Skuul would just focus on delivering the basics and not feel compulsion to do all this extra stuff. At this point, I am becoming more inclined to continue playing the original games in an emulator and am not very hopeful about the remasters.

Also, this notion of providing more frequent beta releases to people who connect with Old Skuul via social media is a bit shifty. I don't know what arrangement inXile has with Old Skuul, but I was under the impression that backers were getting exclusive access to the remasters as one of our rewards. According to https://bardstale.inxile-entertainment. ... arts?id=53, the item description reads (emphasis added):

An exclusive remastered version of The Bard's Tale I-III. This re-release of the classic series comes with improved compatibility for modern operating systems, new features, and other improvements.

At least we don't have to worry about the final release being held hostage on a floppy until payment is received....

[IHaveHugeNick]

Strangely enough, she also can't finish Battle Chess after taking the money from Early Access.

[Crosmando]

Oh ffs, I was looking forward to these

[ZiN]

At least we don't have to worry about the final release being held hostage on a floppy until payment is received...

[_noblesse_oblige_]

Haha - wicked ZiN.

[ZZGO]

I have to say, I'm not comfortable with the direction this thread is taking.

Heineman didn't actually say she wasn't paid by inXile, nor that she had stopped working on the Remastered edition. She merely said she feels she can't be sure about the payment, and put the project on the backburner (but also that she is indeed working on it and has already fixed the known bugs).
Since I for one don't know the actual contract between inXile and OldeSkuul, I cannot tell if one, the other, both or indeed any party is at fault here; it's entirely possible that an unforeseen conflict arose from an unclear contract that is interpreted differently by the parties.

And about the infamous BT1 "hostage disk" - I've always felt that the fan base blew something way out of proportion here that the involved parties would prefer to forget anyways. After reading Michael Cranford's statements on the matter (check his posting in this very forum) I get the impression that he, too, may have had a very valid point - ironically a similar situation to what Heineman apparently finds herself in now.
Note that Brian Fargo himself said in his MattChat interview, when specifically asked about the situation, that what Heineman had said was basically correct yet still defended Cranford, and didn't throw blame around.

My take on this all is that we should leave an awkward situation from 30 years ago at rest, and should not jump to conclusions regarding the Remastered edition either.
I just want my Bard's Tale. All four parts of it. (Oh, and that letter from Fargo about pirating... but that's another matter from 30 years ago that I prefer be left alone. )

[Dork Mage]

She mentions more up-to-date beta versions are available but clearly InXile doesn't have access rights to them or we would be playing the latest beta. Sounds like an expectation of payment for the beta that didn't happen so no more progress (beta updates being held hostage instead of a floppy).

[JasonJoel]

This whole thing is kind of a bunch of B.S... And *we* are the ones getting screwed, not them.

They need to work this out between themselves, not in public, and then give us a status update. If they have to cancel it, then cancel it and quit stringing us along. That is the right way for the two parties to proceed.

Jason

[_noblesse_oblige_]

Heineman didn't actually say she wasn't paid by inXile, nor that she had stopped working on the Remastered edition. She merely said she feels she can't be sure about the payment, and put the project on the backburner

Correct. And, I hope that my statements have not been construed as accusing Heineman of not working on the project.
However, putting the project on the backburner is a pressure tactic. And going public with said pressure tactic, perhaps in the hopes of rallying fans to amplify pressure on inXile or as way to try saving face while dropping the project, is a somewhat below-the-belt tactic, in my opinion. (I, for one, won't let myself be manipulated in this way.) There is a contract and both parties need to follow the terms of the contract.

After reading Michael Cranford's statements on the matter (check his posting in this very forum) I get the impression that he, too, may have had a very valid point

Yes. Again, I hope my statements have not been construed as accusing Cranford of any particular action to induce or change the payment he was to receive for work performed. My allusion to that episode was merely to point out the irony of Heineman leveling this accusation at Cranford and then apparently engaging in not-so-dissimilar behavior.

She mentions more up-to-date beta versions are available but clearly InXile doesn't have access rights to them or we would be playing the latest beta. Sounds like an expectation of payment for the beta that didn't happen so no more progress (beta updates being held hostage instead of a floppy).

Right on. And, as a backer, I feel like my "exclusive access" reward is being somewhat violated by no longer having exclusive access to the release candidates for the remasters. I can understand distributing an alpha release to a select group of people, who may not be a wider audience, such as backers. But, once a product is nearing the feature complete state, it should be distributed under the same terms as the final product.

[Qoojo]

Hopefully, they get it worked out soon. From what I saw of the remasters, it still needs a lot of bug fixes.

[JasonJoel]

I'm optimistic they will get it all sorted out. But what do I know? Lol

In the end I can still play the emulated versions, which work pretty well, and while I would like the remastered versions they aren't the reason I backed BT4.

Every update for BT4 still looks great, so I'm still happy.

[Gizmo]

Sounds like an expectation of payment for the beta that didn't happen so no more progress (beta updates being held hostage instead of a floppy).

Sounds like it might be that payment was to come upon delivery of the entire series remastered; and not per game/per milestone.

**Like a caterer realizing they have to fully service several events throughout the year, before getting paid for any of them.

[Just a guess of course.]

[Dork Mage]

Sounds like an expectation of payment for the beta that didn't happen so no more progress (beta updates being held hostage instead of a floppy).

Sounds like it might be that payment was to come upon delivery of the entire series remastered; and not per game/per milestone.

**Like a caterer realizing they have to fully service several events throughout the year, before getting paid for any of them.

[Just a guess of course.]

I agree with you that that is the stated InXile position. Just wondering what the holdup is, if that was the up-front agreement.
[maybe it is a lot more work than anticipated? (not saying justified excuse)]

[dflatline]

She has a history of being very awkward to work with.

[marceror]

Olde Skuul and inXile both agreed to terms where payment would be delivered once the game was finished. Those terms haven't changed, and we look forward to the game's completion.

T'would seem she's not happy with the arrangement. Apparently payment was addressed in the terms, but a delivery date was not? It seems she has no sense of urgency as to when she needs to get this completed. :/