I’ve got some news that s a bit touchy, but I’ll do my best to approach it tactfully.
Some Background
IC Radio has been running without my direct involvement for awhile now, thanks to @MTG_Dad’s time and effort. He did a great thing by taking the initiative to continue the show after I stepped away to focus on development.
Unfortunately, however, there was a recent disagreement over priorities and publishing. MTG_Dad has decided to, against my request, start publishing the shows on his personal soundcloud account.
This is a bad thing for the show, because it dilutes traffic and also negates the benefit of having them posted on our Patreon account, which helps us raise funding to run and maintain the game.
He did ask me to publish them alongside the other episodes, but I told him that it needed to wait until we organize and publish our backlog. We’re still waiting on episode #5 from several months ago.
It’s important for IC’s current plans that these shows get published in order, hence the focus on sorting the backlog.
Resolving Differences
MTG_Dad felt differently about the priorities, and let me know that at this point, it’s his thing.
Doing a show and a podcast takes A LOT of work, so I 100% understand the sense of ownership that he may feel, but “IC-Radio” doesn’t belong to a single player. It belongs to Imperial Conflict. Its production is accounted for in the game’s budget and marketing strategy.
MTG_Dad informed me that despite my request, he will be posting the show today anyway, and that it is his show.
I let him know that if it is his show, and he chooses to operate independently, it can no longer be the official “IC-Radio” show and that I will need to make the necessary announcement (this post). He acknowledged and repeated his intention to follow through, and has since done so.
That means there is no more “IC-Radio” at this time, nor can his show accurately bear the following variants on “IC-Radio” that the official show has been using thus far:
IC-Radio
The IC-Radio Podcast
The Imperial Conflict Podcast
I still support him and wish him the best with his show, but it is no longer an official IC product. This is not a personal slight in any way, just a business consideration for Foohon Pie LLC, the company that IC operates under.
It’s not the most pleasant situation, but it may be for the best in the end. It’s very possible that MTG_Dad’s show will be even better now that he has 100% control over its production and publishing.
Will IC-Radio come back?
Maybe. I don’t have plans to right now, and I didn’t account for this situation. I need to adjust for how this impacts existing development and marketing priorities.
As of now, MTG_Dad’s show is still there to listen to. I understand that he has some cool things coming.
Thank you all for bearing with this transition, and best of luck to MTG_Dad and his new show.
I think there’s better collaboration potential here in the end.
I’ve always liked what @MTG_Dad has done, this is just an unfortunate ownership dispute. It’s really my fault for not being more clear that hosting IC Radio does not mean owning IC Radio. I thought that was a given, but it seems not.
There is some understandable tension that needs to settle, but I hope that MTG_Dad is open to the possibility of working alongside other players and possibly myself for different types of shows.
The opportunity is definitely there for a mix of official shows that adhere to IC’s publishing goals and unofficial shows that do whatever they want.
Zero involvement, outside of one interview i did. Until recently, when I have been more critical of Pies decision, he had nothing to do with it, but since i have been vocal, all of a sudden he wants oversight.
I requeted for the most recent shows to be posted on the official site asap. Pie disagreed and wanted to post backlogged shows first. I felt it was more important to get current content up, and get back log up as we could. I posted the shows as i get very good feedback on both episodes and wanted the larger community to hear them.
That has been one of the larger feedback i have received, is that we took to long getting old shows up.
These “plans” for ic radio have never been discussed with me in any fashion. Might be important to have the person running the radio, to know what the plans are? or am i wrong
Not sure where my piece of that budget is, i have received nothing for running IC radio. IC radio is not part of teh LLC, nor is it its own LLC or entity. So saying that anyone owns it is kind of funny.
what other names am i allowed or not allowed to use? just saying as it seems you are insinuating possible legal action if i use these names. What am i allowed or not allowed to say during the show?
Disagree, you had no interest in IC radio until recently when i have been critical of you
Seems like having an official radio would be a great way to market the game, but what do i know
This is currently up in the air
Not a transition, not a new show, same thing that I have been doing for months, with 0 involvement from you.
and your posts harken to what i told you in pm pie, you want me gone because i was critical of you and thats fine.
No offense here! To either of you as it seems really personal and y’all should work it out but I like to call it like I see it… @MTG_Dad Pie has a right to say anything that is Imperial Conflict Radio is his…fortunately I don’t think IC Radio is something that can ensure legal action as the letters IC together can mean many things…but what do I know.
This I feel is a bad move. Start your own thing and make it yours, where you have 100% control. You can still talk about the game but this way it’s not tied to it. I would feel more comfortable this way because you get to be you, you already have a fan base that you could grow if you do a good job that can go beyond the IC
community!
I just hope that’s not true, but you start being critical of someone they obviously won’t like it.
You sir have really not been involved with the show for as long as i been back. I am a big supporter of your but I have a few grievances with what you mentioned
Bad move my friend. I don’t care about what happened 10 rounds ago, I care about whats happening now. This is a product, people don’t want the product of yesterday the want the product of today. Your failure to produce said product make people lose interest. I believe that the current ones should take priority because they are current…while someone else works on the older ones. Or even have them released side by side…but you continue this and you will always be behind, no? That’s just my opinion though.
And from not supporting the product well you go on to kill it…are you trying to compete with Sony??? Epic Games? I sure hope not. Support the product. Imperial Conflict Radio has been something I always look forward to…but I always miss it becuase I may work. So I love when the audio is posted on the forums…but I hate when I have to wait so long for it, now your telling me that I have to wait even longer. I’d rather not support it.
Dont wana break your balls pie, but mtg got a point here no? If marketing IC is a goal, having a volunteer doing a IC podcast will for sure dont work against that goal A good or bad show it will eitherway create a hype and commitment among its listeneres and in this particular case the whole show is based on the game you wana market
Seems odd to wana sabotage or unwillingly stop that due to a publishing issue. I as one of the listeneres want the podcast posted. if it dont get posted when fresh i wont listen to it.
From a completly unbiased and without knowing all the back story this kinda seem like your not letting mtg use the name for radio becouse you can and not becouse it has anything actually to do with marketing the game… if this means radio stops, i am pretty sure we can all agree this is taking away from game not adding
I hear ya @kingray. I’m treading carefully here because there’s a prior private conversation where I, to be blunt, have been receiving no shortage of insults and vitriol.
I’m trying my best to be positive and professional, but it’s a tough situation for both of us.
I do sympathize with @MTG_Dad too, but I also have a business to run and am not really interested in a player telling me that they own something that is not theirs to own.
Yeah it’s messy, and dirty laundry smells bad, but on the other side there is value in transparency.
I have nothing bad to say about MTG_Dad
I’m doing my best here to talk about IC-Radio itself, and I have nothing but positive things to say about @MTG_Dad and his work.
He’s an excellent host, and it is a loss for me that he chose to operate independently because he did not want to take direction.
However, that does not take away from any value that he’s provided and I am thankful for his work. I have nothing bad to say about him.
If he chooses to slander me, however, I do have a right to address it. On that note:
There is more to the show than recording and editing.
When I’m not developing, I’ve spent a lot of time and effort on how the shows are presented, including organizing their transcripts and getting it all in the wiki and sorted on patreon.
While you discount my involvement as a single interview, I’ve been working with other players to transcribe and organize the show. You can see this TICP Episode 1 Transcript as an example.
This is something we’re specifically doing for our deaf and hard of hearing players, something that costs additional money, and something that I’ve reached out to /r/deaf on reddit for guidance on.
So please don’t discount my work there, because you are also discounting the work put in by other players and even 1 player who paid to cover the cost of the automatic transcription that IC has to pay for somehow.
You worked on IC-Radio for free. Just as every other host and editor has.
The budget I’m talking about is part of the cost of running Imperial Conflict, something that I’ve been operating at a loss for since I bought it.
If you’re expecting to get paid, join the line. It’s been 3 years for me and I’ve still yet to pay myself.
Yet, you told me that it’s your show. Repeatedly.
IC-Radio predates you hosting it. We hosted it an entire year before you joined on for the second version of its talk format. It’s always been an Imperial Conflict-owned property.
IC-Radio is part of Imperial Conflict. It is Imperial Conflict Radio. Imperial Conflict and its properties are owned by Foohon Pie LLC.
Say whatever you want. You now have 100% control of the show you host, which is what you wanted.
As for the naming, “IC-Radio” is reserved for the official radio show, which you decided to move on from when you posted the recordings to your personal sound cloud. You told me that you understood this would happen, and told me “so be it” before you did it.
There is no surprise here. IC-Radio is not your show. It is an official Imperial Conflict show.
My record speaks for itself with regard to criticism. I’ll debate with players all day, and plenty of players here know that. What I won’t do, however, is censor anybody.
I have no problem with criticism. My problem is with a player telling me “no offense, but this is my show” when it isn’t.
The timing here also speaks for itself. You had 100% creative freedom to say whatever you want, which we both knew.
The change here happened when you decided to post these recordings on your personal sound cloud account when I asked you not to do that.
It would be. However, an official show means the hosts cannot operate independently. You can’t have it both ways.
Let’s be clear on this.
You were hosting IC-Radio until you decided today that you don’t want to operate within IC’s oversight. You knew this, I informed you about what that decision would mean, and again you did it anyway and told me “so be it”.
Whatever show you are doing now is not IC-Radio. I have zero control over what you do now, because it is no longer IC-Radio.
Despite this dispute, I hope it is successful.
I don’t want you gone. If a player tells me “no offense, but this is my show” as you did, then I am inclined to make it true that you are in control of your own show.
The show you run is now your show, as it is no longer an official show. It has to be one or the other, it can’t be both.
Regarding the backlog and “stopping”
I understand, and this was MTG_Dad’s point too. The issue is that the backlog has been sitting and will never be prioritized if we never find time for it. We need those episodes up, which is why I told MTG_Dad that they are the priority.
I do get why people think that’s a weird way to go about it, but in the end somebody has to be able to say “Ok, enough debate. This is what is happening.” MTG_Dad felt like he was that person, despite the fact that he doesn’t own the show.
If it wasn’t this issue, it would have been something else. MTG_Dad felt like he owned something that he doesn’t own.
No, not at all. The opposite will likely happen imo.
This is the positive that I’m trying to show here: MTG_Dad no longer has to bother with me. He no longer has to ask me anything. He can record what he wants, publish it when he wants, and even talk shit about me if he wants to.
He is in 100% full control over his own show, and he’s more than welcome to keep posting it in the forum and/or on his personal soundcloud. This is a good thing!
The thing I’m stopping, at least temporarily, is “IC-Radio” because that is an Imperial Conflict property and it can’t be ran by somebody who fails to acknowledge that fact. With MTG_Dad choosing to operate independently, the official show is now without a host.
I’ve been hesitant to restart “IC-Radio” in response because I don’t want MTG_Dad to think I am trying to compete with or squash his show. Why would I? I want his show to succeed.
It’s just a boundaries issue. IC owns IC-Radio, and MTG_Dad claimed otherwise.
This announcement is me being clear to our audience that MTG_Dad is now operating independently, which is what he wanted.
You can’t operate independently and also expect to carry the official name. You can’t have it both ways.
He absolutely does. He is 100% correct about an official show being good marketing.
The thing is, he also wants to have 100% control and decision making over it. His decisions conflict with the existing roadmap, which is a problem for me on the business side of things.
I may not always have time to explain myself to him, nor am I obligated to. If he is hosting an official show, there’s a level of trust involved to take direction and an implicit agreement that he is working for the show.
I believe that is the root issue of all of this. He saw himself as owning the show, not working for it. That is a very important thing that has to be addressed. The community is owed an explanation if he chooses to operate independently, which he did.
I agree, if it does stop. That isn’t the plan though.
Ideally he will keep his show running. We may bring back an official show if necessary.
The problem here is ultimately an ownership dispute. He told me that IC-Radio is his show, which is a problem, because it isn’t.
He hosted for IC-Radio. He never owned it.
This sucks for everybody, but we can find positives here if we choose to. He can still do his show and I hope that he does. We can also keep an official show if we need to, that adheres to IC’s business decisions and direction.
I appreciate the support guys, and we should support MTG_Dad and his show too.
It speaks to his patience that he is willing to keep going despite all of this. I may not agree with what is saying about me, but I respect his work ethic.
Here’s to turning a difficult situation into an opportunity for growth for all parties involved.
Confused why the radio is a good marketing tool. you’d only listen to the radio show if u play/played IC, it’s not like possible new players go ‘omg they have a radio show. Kewl let’s join as they have a radio show’.
I imagined I was cartman from south park for that part.
.
A good or bad show it will eitherway create a hype and commitment among its listeneres and in this particular case the whole show is based on the game you wana market 
lol