Holy shit - this thread
Where to begin? As someone who's only been involved with Interceptor since ROTT, I can't comment as to the development process of Duke 3DR but I was privy to the goings on between GBX and IE (Frederik) at the time. It's no secret that Fred and the guys put everything they had into that project only to have to shut it down, and it killed him and his team to do it. But had Duke 3DR never been born, neither would have Interceptor.
When I came on board for ROTT, the first thing I asked was to play Duke 3DR. I was given a working multiplayer build, played a few rounds, and immediately knew I had made the right decision. There was a lot more finished than I'd thought and
I have no question that had the project continued, there would have been something very playable for the fans by 2012. It would have been fun, it would have been free, and it would have been very very Duke. If anything, you can't deny Frederik's reverence for the franchise, and the way in which he managed to capture the atmosphere of what made Duke 3D so great in the first place. Sure, Interceptor has a very different vision of Duke than Gearbox does, but
let it be known that we harbor no ill will toward them and certainly would not support a boycott.
And if you think Fred has taken a lot of guff for not being able to see Duke 3DR through to completion - just imagine what the Black Mesa guys had to go through over the years and years of getting that project done. Fan remakes are a labor of love, but love don't pay the bills. Hell, I hope one day Interceptor is the kind of company that has the opportunity to fuck up as royally as Gearbox has on these high profile titles with big budgets. Sometimes it's only when you come back from failure that your true talent really shines through. Just like Duke3DR led Interceptor on the road we're going down today.
Speaking of that, and to the name of this thread, I don't think you should boycott any video game company, regardless of what you may think of their practices, or how they've managed development. Behind all the marketing and PR bullshit and over hyped CEO speeches are developers working their asses off to meet deadlines, pay bills, raise families and lead normal, active lives. Don't take the opportunity for success away from a talented artist, coder or animator because you don't like Randy Pitchford or how Gearbox lawyers treated Frederik. A developer is made up of the sum of its parts, and I'm willing to bet most of the parts of Gearbox Software are made up of hard working guys and girls down in Texas who just want to make kick ass video games.
If you don't like a certain game or certain person, that's fine, shout it form the rooftops, this is America, vote with your dollars, freedom of speech, baby. But please don't boycott an entire company because of a few bad decisions, even if those decisions directly affected us here at Interceptor. However, we're thankful for your kind words, support, and even your harsh criticisms of Fred's hair.
As far as the future of Interceptor and Duke? I think you know who to bet on.