But! Oculus Rift’s problems are now Facebook’s problems.
On the flipside, the core Oculus strength was from the community that supported it. The same community that they threw under the bus and is none too pleased at this point. I hope the community rejects this move and shifts to a new VR project that blows Facebook Oculus out of the water in terms of functionality, openness, community, ethics, security and privacy in mind.
And that is why the Fascists won the Spanish Civil War. 
I hate to pick out one part of your comment (the bit about the VCs controlling things behind the scenes, like the Wizard manipulating Oz the Great and Powerful behind the curtain, also bears merit), but I’ve seen the above in BB over the years, as well as other tech sites and blogs. Apple certainly belongs to that group, although they’ve faded into the background recently. And quite a lot of the enthusiasm for Oculus seems to be coming from people who still dream about jacking directly into cyberspace and being that console cowboy of their dreams. (I’m slightly amused by the number of articles on this acquisition that use the concept illustration of Oculus Rift, rather than the product already shipping (admittedly, the new developer kit looks sleeker than the first one).
I truly fail to see how any Kickstarter funders are being ‘thrown under the bus’ by this. Now, granted, I didn’t actually fund them on the Kickstarter - I ordered my original devkit when they first started accepting orders after the Kickstarter had closed. However, I imagine most people funded them because they:
There’s nothing on their Kickstarter page promising they’d stay independent and not get bought by a big company. The closest it gets is saying that it’s “Designed for gamers, by gamers”.
Let’s have a look at what the backers got:
… and that’s ‘throwing [them] under a bus’?
From Palmer Luckey himself: “We promise we won’t change. If anything, our hardware and software will get even more open, and Facebook is onboard with that.”
So! Will the geek community dutch the future of VR out of insecurity, or can we collectively just sit on or hands & see how this turns out? I have less faith in y’all right now.
I truly fail to see how any Kickstarter funders are being ‘thrown under the bus’ by this.
Maybe you should listen to more of what the community who supported Oculus has had to say? Something Oculus clearly ignored.
Oculus as a company have become successfu.l
That’s yet to be determined. Then again, your idea of success may be very different than what many of the rest of us think it is.
They delivered on all their devkits and are now rolling out improved versions.
You act as if that would be impossible to do without selling out to Facebook. You sound more like an apologist for Oculus/Facebook than anything else at this point.
… and that’s ‘throwing [them] under a bus’?
Once again, if you actually listen to the community they’ll tell you exactly how and why they got thrown under the bus. However, being purposefully obtuse will get you nowhere with me.
It’s as if the early-backers are saying, “Of course we wanted you to be successful… but not that successful!”
It’s as if the early-backers are saying, “Of course we wanted you to be successful… but not that successful!”
It’s actually not that way at all. That’s just a rather obtuse and insulting way to put it if you don’t listen to what many have to actually say.
Then again, your idea of success may be very different than what many of the rest of us think it is.
… and that’s ‘throwing [them] under a bus’?
Once again, if you actually listen to the community they’ll tell you exactly how and why they got thrown under the bus. However, being purposefully obtuse will get you nowhere with me.
All I have heard from “the community” is typical FUD based on a knee-jerk hate of Facebook. Even if one accepts the premise that “Facebook is Bad” (which I largely do), it does not logically follow that “Oculus threw people under the bus”.
Maybe you should listen to more of what the community who supported Oculus has had to say. Something Oculus clearly ignored.
Oculus is in the business of delivering a commercially viable VR headset. If those in “the community” would prefer that they continue doing it in the scrappiest, most independent way possible why does Oculus have a responsibility to do it that way? Is it the best route for them to get their product out? Would Apple funding have been better? Costco? IMF? Teh default “Facebook can only bring shame and ruin” opinion is fairly obtuse as well.
But guys, Farmville… IN VR!!!
“What’s that finger doing, ohmygod it’s getting closer WHATTHEHELLISTHIS??!?!?!?!?”
poke
I hate you, Facebook.
All I have heard from “the community” is typical FUD based on a knee-jerk hate of Facebook
You obviously hear only what you want to hear.
All I have heard from “the community” is typical FUD based on a knee-jerk hate of Facebook
You obviously hear only what you want to hear.
And you have failed to provide any credible evidence. An example, good sir, is all that I ask.
Would Apple funding have been better?
Why are you comparing apples to oranges?
Is it the best route for them to get their product out?
That’s over-simplistic.
The best route for the Oculus founders in the short term if one defines success only by how much money gets pumped up their asses? Yes, huge success in that regard.
Was it the best route for the community in the long term that helped support the Oculus founders along with the best, ethical route that benefits society? Nope.
And, I’ll be here in these forums for you to adjust position from kissing Facebook’s and Oculus’ asses to my ass down the road when we’re proven right.
Teh default “Facebook can only bring shame and ruin” opinion is fairly obtuse as well.
It’s already brought shame. You’re just not willing to see it. As far as ruin goes… like I said, give it time and be ready to pucker up.
I’m not a very close follower of the whole Oculus story, so I definitely would not have been following especially closely what the community is saying. Do you have text or links that actually lays out what the objections are (rather than the meta-converation that’s going on here)? Not saying I disagree with you, per say, but I’ve seen a lot of quotes about how the “community” has been sold out, but not a lot of explanation of what that actually means. (other than the usual, ‘large companies tend to mess up startups when they buy them’ which is largely true, but that remains to be seen.)
Star Citizen and Elite: Dangerous spring to mind. Star Citizen has made over $6.2 million dollars through a combination of Kickstarter and their own site. Elite: Dangerous has made over $3.5M. To the best of my knowledge no venture capital or publishers’ advance is involved.
Of course, developing a video game has a different cost structure than producing hardware — there’s next to no manufacturing or distribution costs — but the point is that crowdfunding large-scale projects can work on its own.
You must be loads of fun at parties.
All I have heard from “the community” is typical FUD based on a knee-jerk hate of Facebook
You obviously hear only what you want to hear.
And you have failed to provide any credible evidence. An example, good sir, is all that I ask.
You have hypocritically failed to provide any credible evidence that “all you have heard” is nothing but FUD based solely on an blind, knee-jerk hatred of Facebook. I’d like to see you support that crock of shit with sources.
You are making wild claims that no one has any valid complaints and concerns. Back it up.
provide any credible evidence. An example, good sir, is all that I ask.
Ever heard of Minecraft?
“Facebook is not a company of grass-roots tech enthusiasts. Facebook is not a game tech company. Facebook has a history of caring about building user numbers, and nothing but building user numbers,” he wrote on his website. “People have made games for Facebook platforms before, and while it worked great for a while, they were stuck in a very unfortunate position when Facebook eventually changed the platform to better fit the social experience they were trying to build.”
more:
Who hates the Facebook/Oculus deal? Kickstarter backers
(You know, those knee-jerk FUD merchants you mentioned?)
more:
https://developer.oculusvr.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=7216
more:
more:
There quite a bit more, you know, if you bother to actually listen to a community of people instead of focusing on being an apologist for corporate greed.
You must be loads of fun at parties.
My friends certainly think so. But assholes who walk in and start being assholes at the party tend to not think I’m very fun. But, no one really wants them at the party anyway.
By the way, you seem kinda new to posting around here. You felt the need to make a new account on this bbs just to insult me, huh? Don’t you have some astroturfing at reddit, etc. to keep up?
Nobody forced Oculus to sell. Therefore this IS their idea of success. People paid them to launch a product. To do that, they started a company. They then sold that company at a price they thought was fair to another company that they deemed worthy.
We all suppoted OR in our own ways. For most people that meant an “investment” of 300 bucks. For others it meant a literal investment of two billion dollars.
