Oleg had a wreck reportedly, was slightly injured and suffered the loss of his car. he was released from the hospital, then was "agan" rear-ended in yet another accident. poor chap! but everything's supposedly okay and he'll be fine in a week or two, though he did again suffer the loss of a vehicle and with Russia's crappy auto insurance, it does not look as if he'll recieve full benefits upon either the first auto loss, nor the second, nor his hospital bill.
a sad thing to be sure... and something i wouldn't wish upon anyone. also scary, for him as a person and family man, and also for his friends, family----and many, many world wide fans. namely many of us---the users and enjoyers of his wonderful flight sims.
ah, but then some on UBI got the idea to 'aid' Oleg, and set up a relief fund for the man, payable by visa, mastercard or paypal.
a relief fund?
despite the loss of two vehicles and possible out of pocket medical charges, a relief fund for a game designer?
is this a 'proper' sign of thankfulness, admiration, thougtfulness, kindness, friendship?
did Oleg 'ask' for such a relief fund?
will he even be okay with such a thing?
will he be insulted or feel 'under the gun' by having such 'thrust' upon him?
such are only a tiny 'few' of the questions flying fast, thick and furious on both UBI and SimHq and no doubt 'other' sites... and its all raising quite a ruckus as you might imagine... with pros and cons of both sides shouting to be heard.
on the one hand you have the true fan-bois that force god-dom upon the man (whether he wants it or not) and worship the air he breathes and feel it all quite proper to sell everything they have and donate the proceeds to him, then move into a cast-off whale skin tent and camp out their poor, remaining years in his back yard hoping to catch a glimpse of him.
then you have the 'well, sure, we ought to give him a hand' guys that feel bad about his losses and think giving a bit is okay.
then you have the guys that... feel sort of funny... donating money to someone they really don't know and a game designer/developer that quite possibly may have plenty of cashola in the bank and hasn't asked for a handout anyway.
then you have the guys that feel it 'totally' wrong, to up and give money to someone that's just had a run of bad luck...when there is so many other people that's had a lot worse...and NO ONE is helping them because they're not highly visible game designers with a near cult following.
and EVERYBODY and EVERY SIDE feels that ONLY 'they' are right upon the matter!
and then there's the hapless, clueless sots like myself... who are completely confused by all of the above. i'll completely agree, IL2 and its follow ons are at the present time---the best WW2 flight sim in existance. and the games have given me untold hours of enjoyment and pleasure...and for that, I am very thankful to Oleg and company. yet on the other hand, i must confess that a couple of non-life threatening, auto accidents happening to Oleg does NOT exactly have me reaching for my wallet or credit card. sure, its tough breaks for what seems a real life, honest and decent man... but its not any WORSE breaks than i've recieved, nor you've recieved, nor any other man jack (or woman jack) amongs us. is it?
and we made it through...with nary a whimper (though possibly some forceful bitching and cursing) and survived intact to carry on with our lives.
now of course if the man and his family was on the edge of ruination or starvation...why of course, that goes without saying... help when and where ya can... but is he? i don't know. does anybody? and keep in mind, as best i can find out, he has not personally asked for help or even suggested it was needed.
i'm feeling confused over the whole entire issue, or even WHY it was brought up and suggested in the first place. to me, would seem proper that if one personally felt he ought to help, he'd just do it on his own and quitely...not BLATHER it about for all and everyone to know of.
but mayhaps i'm old fashioned and behind the times here. and very possibly a bit daft too. but daft or not, i do know that when my own father passed away, and our family had some dire bills to take care of, some kind and generous souls that wanted to help, simply slipped money into un-marked, un-signed envelopes and mailed them descreetly to my mother. and never said a word or bragged about it to anyone that i'm aware of. no flash, no big show...just silent kindness from the heart that was much appreciated. and WE WERE on the verge of starvation, and about to loose the farm that my dad had worked so hard to pay for all during his adult life.
yeah, i'm confused... not about wanting to help mind you. but about the 'look here at me' attitude that prevails throughout the whole thing.
perhaps some of you fine gents are as well.
Beowolff
