One part really caught my eye.
"
Surely, you can have no objection now that you no longer care about the game, it's users, and Microsoft customers."
Surely they can object. Microsoft is interested in one thing...Selling products to make profits, nothing else. Giving us the source code would generate nothing for the company.
The longer MTM2 endures, the less chance we would move on to buying something else from them. MS makes no more profit from this game, and they would LOVE to see us buy newer MS products. In fact, I bet today they see the flaw of making a game we can keep fresh for years by making our own tracks/trucks/etc...I got my copy in the 90's, and have stuck with it due to the ability to build trucks for it. I have never encountered any other games that had that effect on me. I played Sports Car GT for a few months until I won all the races, then shelved it and bought a new driving sim....Same with Viper Racing, Driver and a few others. Not so with MTM2.
The only way I can see those greedy MS dudes agreeing to providing us with the source code would be to charge us for it, such as with monthly lease payments, and those payment w. I bet they are just hoping mtm2 will finally fade away, and well will spend fresh funds for newer products from them.
So why do they still have game rooms at the Zone for MTM2? Of course they could drop MTM2 from the zone to try and persuade us to move on to a new game sooner, but such an act might make users feel that MS can no longer be counted on to support their online games, and move on to someone else's game products.
I don't see them ever producing and distributing a new MTM game, as the market for monster truck related stuff is not that large, and chances of recovering investment funds are poor for games where you can provide your own add-ons and keep the game alive for years......Driving games in general are not selling well.
Techland can't even find a USA dristributer willing to sell the new
Xpanded Rally racing sim for them since publishers don't see much profit potential in racing sims anymore, and don't want to chance the high costs of distribution. TRI dropped driving sims for the same reason (they lost their shirts with EVO2). Games like GTA and Half-life are the winners. Seems like what most gamers want these days is to blast guns and blow things up
The video game industry has become cut-throat, many famous game companies have folded or been bought out, and the survivors are being much more cautious over what they spend their funds on. It cost millions to develop and distribute video games these days, so they will only develop what appears to be the best possibility for big sales, and they won't do anything that might jeopardize those sales (like giving away source codes for free).
PLEASE let me be wrong, and MS suprises us with a new and similarly modifiable driving sim at some point in the future. Providing us the source code? I just can't see it happening unless we buy it outright for a large sum (and sign a promise to not use it to develop and sell/give away a new version of the game).