Just curious, but exactly who is running Sports Mogul?

[knightly]

I have been very vocal the past month or so and have some very basic questions.
Who is making the decions about Sports Mogul, especially BMO? Who does what and handles what?

I realize it take time to explain this, but when Clay the president left, Dee bowed out and Ian cut back - who is left tending the garden?

I and many other have offered assistance only to be ignored or dismissed. What would happen if someone really wanted to run this thing?

I am also curious as to who will answer or read this question.

Sometimes I feel like I am on a sinking ship and I look around for the captain and the deck hands only to see them rowing as fast as they can away from the ship.

[sevenseas]

It's my understanding that Clay didn't leave, he simply cut his time in the forums back to only the most critical of issues.

[knightly]

Ok, reading between the lines from their posts, Dee is gone, Clay might be programming, Ian might be doing some support, and jokerswild might be the moderator - but there is no one accountable. I would like to see some one step up to the plate.


Clay's Big News...
(posted by Dee for Clay)

Dear Sports Mogul Fans,

I am writing today to let you know that I am no longer working full-time for Sports Mogul, and haven't been for some time. In fact, I have not received a paycheck from the company since last year, and was forced to take a full time job with another employer to support my family.

We've had difficulties in the last year with one publisher, and despite our great current relationship with Softek (not to be confused with Softwrap) our revenue has not grown enough for this to again be my full time job. Sports Mogul is still financially solvent (and even rebounding somewhat). Eventually, it will recover completely from these setbacks. However, the company will remain forever changed by them.

For myself personally, the daily hassles of running and trying to grow a business ate into my time to the point where I was hardly programming at all. Now that we've scaled back, I'm able to focus more specifically on improving the game, just somewhat more slowly.

My wife Dee also doesn't have much time to give to Mogul. She has her hands full with a hyperactive 3-year-old and a modest attempt to return to school and finally finish her undergraduate degree, with hopes of eventually re-entering the job market herself to further support our family. She is not paid a wage by Sports Mogul Inc. commensurate with her hours or the stress some customer service issues have placed on her. However, she will continue to provide customer service for our products and sales to the level she has been currently.

Ian Smith is also only able to contribute part-time -- we simply haven't been paying him enough to work full-time. As many of you know, James Grove left the company months ago.

The long and the short of this is that we are not going to be the Mogul of last year or the year before. We are officially ending our 7-year policy of trying to respond to every e-mail we receive. For now, when you write to Sports Mogul, you will either receive a form letter, or no response. We have created a number of FAQs to answer frequently asked questions. These are available from the Sports Mogul Technical Support page
(http://www.sportsmogul.com/support/index.htm). If you have a question that isn't answered on these pages, we will try to post an answer at some point in the future.

Any time that I can give to Mogul will go directly into features. If you send me an e-mail requesting a feature, I will read it but I almost certainly will not respond.

At this point, I do expect that we will publish another Football Mogul for this Fall, and another Baseball Mogul for next Spring. As the time nears, I will let you know whether each release will be a minor update posted on our website, or a major revision with the full backing of a major publisher. I still dream of building Basketball Mogul (and eventually Hockey Mogul) -- but you can understand why we haven't found the time to get these products done.

This isn't good-bye. This is just a letter to let you know that for now, you won't be getting the features and responsiveness from me that you did back when I was working 100-hour weeks in my basement. Those days are gone. We'll do what we can, when we can, but the corporation is no longer our sole focus.

We still feel a debt of gratitude to every single person that buys our products and supports our efforts -- and we want to do what we can to continue to improve those products. Right now we simply aren't able to put the effort in that we would like to. I want to make sure you are all aware of this, and the reasons behind it.

Thanks for listening. I will be sure to give you any updates as I am able.

Best regards,

Clay Dreslough
President
Sports Mogul Inc.




Originally posted by Dee Dreslough
Yep. I'm outta here.

I feel badly, because frankly, 99% of you are people I would give my left arm for. But, the stress of the credit card situation, the run-ins with some truly baffling personalities for whom no amount of customer service would be enough, the never ending stream of problems I can't solve...problems that are keeping me from getting the improvements in place that I can do...it's just not working out. The toll on my life just can't be justified anymore.

I have been proud to work for you all. You have, on the whole, been amazingly helpful and supportive through every difficult time this company has faced.

And, I'm sorry I won't be here to continue some of the projects I'd be working on to improve the game. I will post the two custom leagues that I do have pending so they can start, but after this, please consider the custom league program fully closed until further notice.

Thank you for some wonderful times. Good luck with all your future endevors.

-Dee Dreslough

[willat]

Well, I think that no one has been running things for a while so, as usual, after a certain amount of time the computer has stepped in and is now running Sports Mogul.

[edeutsch77]

Will the computer be signing free agent programmers and moderators? Or will the computer win the World Series? :)

[Tdks]

the computer will sign overpriced talent until it gets into debt and has to cut back on benefits like medical and farm... I mean dental....

[iansmith]

Don't worry, the computer that is running Sports Mogul is not going to sign high priced talent. My paycheck is proof of that.

Seriously though, Clay has not left the company. He has stopped posting to the boards as they were taking up more and more of his time that is better spent programming. He still looks them over, but isn't reading them 24/7 like in the past.

We respond to critical issues with the sim, and major bugs that need addressed quickly.

What we have cut back on are responding to debates like this one about how the company is run.

To answer your question: Clay and Dee and I run the company. Clay and I program. We all make decisions. We talk with Jokerswild about how the community as a whole is feeling.

We have not ignored offers to help. I read the thread on how to grow our customer base with interest, I know there is a way to do this without spending millions of dollars.

But... we are not responding to (except for this message) threads that want us to spend hours in endless arguments about how we are not running our company correctly. I'm waiting for the thread to start, "Why doesn't Sports Mogul have a Mission Statement? How can they expect to survive without one?"

--
Ian Smith
Sports Mogul Inc.
We are a company devoted to integrating customer enjoyment with advanced technology in a compatible matrix that engages creativity and energy in a synergistic combination to provide a paradigm shift in how sports are interacted with in an expertly mixed vertical and horizontal market of endless opportunities. Worldwide!

[knightly]

Thank you Ian, sorry if I touched a nerve it just seemed that some more communication is important and I appreciate your response.

I do not expect you all to respond to every inane detail, however, I do think it is in Sports Mogul best interest to occassionally as part of the customers enjoyment, communicate a message. An active presence is key to an online experience.

It is painfully obvious that:
a) The customer enjoyment has fallen short the last few weeks
b) As a result you have lost customers
c) The trend for both a) and b) is continuing.

Good luck
Andy Reed (aka knightly aka Tween) and customer on the brink of leaving.


Originally posted by iansmith
Don't worry, the computer that is running Sports Mogul is not going to sign high priced talent. My paycheck is proof of that.

Seriously though, Clay has not left the company. He has stopped posting to the boards as they were taking up more and more of his time that is better spent programming. He still looks them over, but isn't reading them 24/7 like in the past.

We respond to critical issues with the sim, and major bugs that need addressed quickly.

What we have cut back on are responding to debates like this one about how the company is run.

To answer your question: Clay and Dee and I run the company. Clay and I program. We all make decisions. We talk with Jokerswild about how the community as a whole is feeling.

We have not ignored offers to help. I read the thread on how to grow our customer base with interest, I know there is a way to do this without spending millions of dollars.

But... we are not responding to (except for this message) threads that want us to spend hours in endless arguments about how we are not running our company correctly. I'm waiting for the thread to start, "Why doesn't Sports Mogul have a Mission Statement? How can they expect to survive without one?"

--
Ian Smith
Sports Mogul Inc.
We are a company devoted to integrating customer enjoyment with advanced technology in a compatible matrix that engages creativity and energy in a synergistic combination to provide a paradigm shift in how sports are interacted with in an expertly mixed vertical and horizontal market of endless opportunities. Worldwide!

[thoma]

LOL, love the mission statement, Ian -- worldwide!