Square Enix Collective no longer publishing Boundless

[anon3411475]

[Rydralain]

Some potential options if the current state isn’t viable:

• Kill of most or all homeworlds and ensure sov costs cover server fees & admin cost
• Release the update as-is, either disabling the DRM or leaving an auth server up, and let the community self-host. Hopefully this would include publishing the world files for all public worlds.
• Create a player-funded maintenance account. Publish the costs of the servers, and allow players to contribute to an account to fund it. Make the number of funded months visible to all.
• Go full open source and let the community figure it out from there
• Sell the game to a maintenance company and let them figure it out

[Redlotus]

I truly hope the best for the game I always have. I have put in a godly amount of hours in a much shorter time frame than most people.

Where I disagree is communication. I’d much rather have a “Hey we can’t talk about Fight Club” due to contractual agreements or an apology for the lack of communication.

I respect you @Xaldafax as a community member and applaud your ability to accept no communication, but what I don’t applaud is your acceptance of that lack. You should want at least some sort of statement, but not because you want it but because many of the community does.

[bucfanpaka]

Related to the third point, but could create a mandatory subscription cost… though I prefer your way there, since a mandatory fee would probably lose many of those we have left. Better to let those who can see if we can carry it. I really don’t want to play on private servers myself, so if it is contribute or lose the public servers I’d be happy to contribute.

But on what @majorvex said. Hopefully it won’t have to come to that and we can keep going like now at the very least!

[Redlotus]

I by no means want to sound negative about the situation it doesn’t affect me playing the game as I always do.

There is no communication so as @Rydralain graciously pointed out there are many things to speculate.

Before we all jump to any conclusions let’s be patient and see what happens.

[MadManMoon]

This is a good thing.

Rights reverting to the IP holder means that the devs are free to do what they want.

The pure speculation within me says that this feels like something that has been done intentionally.

Like … if you don’t keep re-publishing a comic book, the rights revert to the creators (that’s a horrible mangling of the truth, but bare with me) … so my thinking here is that if they didn’t make any changes to the game, and Square didn’t either … then the rights revert to the the team here.

Obviously nothing is that cut and dried, but I’m sure it was all mutual, and the only way to revert it out.

I’m of the optimistic thought that this means only good things for Boundless.

@bucfanpaka

Not sure what is going on but since it is out there on their site, I decided I’ll share. It DOES say the game will continue to be sold. And too much speculation isn’t a good thing I know. As someone heavily invested in the game, I’m more posting this to try to see, with them saying this, if the devs can give us any updates on what the public server status is now?

And of course I hope it is/will be picked up by someone who can bring the game to the potential I know it has.

[Goblinounours]

()

I’d be curious to see if @james will FINALLY say something important about the future of the game.
'Cause I’m sorry, but him only chiming in after 3 months of silence to tell someone his world is live is almost insulting when you know he knows people are getting desperate for actual news about the status of the game, down here.

Now, for better or worse, Boundless isn’t tied to Square Enix anymore, so from now on, if James keeps ghosting us, we’ll know it won’t have ANYTHING to do with them.

[Xaldafax]

@Rydralain

Some potential options if the current state isn’t viable

Yup I agree those are certainly viable. I think if the update was viable it would have been released. There is some reason he hasn’t otherwise he darn well would have - their policy was always to release something if they could and to cut parts of the update out if they could. They haven’t done this so there is a clear reason.

Right now this is where I am at:

1. What they’ve been communicating is clear - BG3 impacted their time line severely and when that is done they will be able to shift a resource back to Boundless or as Covid kind of disappears they are finally able to get that focused headcount they want on the game.

2. We still have the Sony deal (which I have no data on when that agreement expires). So until that is cleared up I’m not sure how things move forward unless the financials do sink the boat. But, I agree with Vex that now that SE is out of the picture at least money is directly flowing to them. Additionally, in EA they used a lot of outside development with other companies to fund the game. So they could go back to that.

I guess the financials will only prove out over the next few months… either they sink or swim. I for one, will just continue to play and enjoy every moment I can since that is what is important to me… I’ll pray for an update and that they do get the “at home universe” working fully so the game could go away from perm planets and still survive…

[Redlotus]

@Xaldafax

What they’ve been communicating is clear

With one post in regards to MY post on the Larian forums?

There is little communication so NOTHING is clear.

[majorvex]

He made a post about it. Turbulenz supporting Baldur's Gate 3 development 🛡

Also, there is something being added/tested/worked on in the past week -

[Kal-El]

You are aware that James works for Larian UK now

LARIAN STUDIOS UK LTD people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK (company-information.service.gov.uk)

So I am not sure how it works that BG3 being complete has anything to do with Boundless development picking up unless James is going to do this in his spare time. Most of the rest of the former Wonderstruck team also work directly for Larian UK. So unless they quit and rejoin Wonderstruck there are no resources to shift around.

[MadManMoon]

I have had multiple permanent jobs, and still managed to maintain control of my own, private limited company.

Working two jobs just means annoying tax nonsense, @Kal-El, that’s all.

@Kal-El

You are aware that James works for Larian UK now

LARIAN STUDIOS UK LTD people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK (company-information.service.gov.uk)

So I am not sure how it works that BG3 being complete has anything to do with Boundless development picking up unless James is going to do this in his spare time. Most of the rest of the former Wonderstruck team also work directly for Larian UK. So unless they quit and rejoin Wonderstruck there is no resources to shift around.

[Goblinounours]

@Xaldafax

What they’ve been communicating is clear - BG3 impacted their time line severely and when that is done they will be able to shift a resource back to Boundless or as Covid kind of disappears they are finally able to get that focused headcount they want on the game.

Clear?

Whatcha talkin bout Willis

@james

Larian is not related to Boundless in any way. So please do not approach them about Boundless. They genuinely have zero information about the game.

There are some incomplete changes in the next update that need to be completed before it can be released. At the moment we’re struggling to make sufficient time to complete the work.

But we do continue to maintain the game and live servers. Fixing issues that appear where possible. Manage the service. Respond to queries and issues where possible about the current game.

Last I heard, he never said they would “shift back to Boundless”, that’s what WE’ve been hoping they’d do.
I mean, how many devs from the original Wonderstruck team are still around to work on the game?

[Kal-El]

I will strongly disagree with that. If that was the case, why are we still waiting for the release?

[MadManMoon]

Yeah, I think this pushes my thinking even closer to what I mentioned previously.

@majorvex

Also, there is something being added/tested/worked on in the past week -

[Xaldafax]

Sorry I snapped back a bit too harsh.

@Redlotus

Where I disagree is communication. I’d much rather have a “Hey we can’t talk about Fight Club” due to contractual agreements or an apology for the lack of communication.

I respect you @Xaldafax as a community member and applaud your ability to accept no communication, but what I don’t applaud is your acceptance of that lack. You should want at least some sort of statement, but not because you want it but because many of the community does.

Thanks for clarifying. I have never been happy about their lack and stated it many times pretty clearly in the forum. I agree clarify and transparency would have been better through all of this especially since it was causing people to leave. If I was able to talk to James right now I would be saying that the total silence was a mistake.

As I said I talked a lot with him via voice and we discussed how they approach stuff and what he thinks and believes and how he makes his decision. So I felt I knew him well in this regard. Once I saw in the beginning of all of this how they approached “communication” I was willing to accept their decision. This is because it is THEIR decision and whether I agree with it or not, they have their reasons for it. Nothing was going to be said in the forum that was going to sway him – there is too much history here on how the community responds to posts and how the developers approach things.

So for me complaining about it was just adding toxic noise and driving people away. Instead of felt, keeping people enjoying the game was best for it until the Devs started being active again (if ever). People can certainly share their disappointment and I won’t say that is wrong - I was just trying to advice people that it wasn’t really going to help change things as I saw it.

[MadManMoon]

What do you strongly disagree with, @Kal-El?

That I didn’t have a permanent job (granted, I’m pretty unemployable) or that I also have my own company?

I mean … I did sweet eff all with my company whilst I had the permanent job. Quite rightly, I wasn’t going to take another contract whilst concentrating fully on my main job … that would be sheer craziness.

@Kal-El

I will strongly disagree with that. If that was the case, why are we still waiting for the release?

[Redlotus]

Well regardless, it’s a wait and see game as it has always been. Nothing has changed communication wise and I don’t expect it to.

So I’ll be waiting hopefully.

[Rydralain]

@majorvex

Also, there is something being added/tested/worked on in the past week -

Unfortunately, with this news, I now suspect that this may just be the removal of Square Enix logos.

[Kal-El]

I disagree with the conclusion trying to be made that James and the former Wonderstruck team are working two jobs. It is something you have done and I am sure here are others, but most of the people I know in software development would not have the time for two full time jobs. And if James and team were working two fulltime jobs, why is the release still on hold?