Lucky (the nickname of Grubby Games founder Ryan Clark) managed to go from "guy with a Visual Basic programming site" to "commercial game developer" in the span of a decade, give or take. He is also the founder of gpwiki.org (The Game Programming Wiki) -- which has been around since mid-2004, and is still running (though it is certainly not bustling to such a degree lately).

Once Grubby Games was founded, and Lucky got married, had a kid (maybe more), and achieved indie-game stardom, he became more or less a mascot for GPWiki -- he didn't run things much beyond being a positive role model to whom one could aspire. And, after a few years of acute scarcity (a pattern first exhibited in "Lucky's VB Gaming Site" -- the precursor to GPWiki and Grubby Games), he finally passed the torch.

I gather from knowing Ryan to some extent for the past dozen years that he is very much a reclusive entrepreneur. He gets the ball rolling, lets it go, and moves on to other things. If there are others to keep things rolling, they will do so. Lucky's VB Gaming Site ran for at least a couple years with Lucky himself being virtually impossible to contact. Yet, it continued to live, and eventually gave way to the GPWiki of today.

I don't know much about Ryan Clark -- the man behind the facade known as "Lucky" -- but I suppose that if I had to describe him in my own terms, I would simply use one word. "Legendary."

He has a sort of air of mythical stature about him -- the kind of person you could never get a real handle on, but whom people would gravitate toward. A sort of romantic ideal that with the right approach and attitude, one's dreams may be reached -- and at the same time, he inspired others to believe the same of themselves.

Whether you agree with his decision to sell his company to Big Fish, it was, in fact, his decision. As for the lives he has touched, I do not believe he will be forgotten anytime soon. With any luck, his legacy will live on through these people in the form of being an inspiration and an encouragement to others -- regardless of the "brand" afforded by his Web pseudonym "Lucky," or his real name, "Ryan Clark."

That, in my opinion, is far more important than any actual commercial product or service he sold. It is something that will remain long after Grubby Games, its products, Big Fish Games, and Ryan Clark himself are all a distant memory.

And to the issue of:

“Note of advice to indie game developers: *never* sell the company to a bigger fish.”

While I don't necessarily consider this "bad" advice, it is typical knee-jerkery. There is much to be found beyond first impressions.

The common notion that revolves around concepts such as "the sell-out," and "selling souls," while they appear on the surface to be idealistically driven, I am of the opinion that this type of notion is -- in the end -- based in materialism (among other things).

I do not believe that any product-related transaction (whether using a free product, or agreeing to a corporate merger, or anything in-between) is, in any way, "greater than the sum of its parts." A product is merely an end-result. What I find more important than a product is the means in which it is produced.

The issue is not a dichotomy of riches worldly or spiritual. The issue is bigger than that -- it is a plethora of dichotomies through which one must sift to find the most palatable option, while having no expectations of finding an option that doesn't include a "season to taste" clause.

People tend to ignore the fact that this kind of transaction goes in two directions. Big Fish bought a product; Ryan Clark sold it to them. An agreement was made in the form of a legal contract to close the transaction.

If Ryan didn't know what he was getting himself into, he should have read and understood the contract. That way, he would have known what to expect -- and if the other party became involved in "changing the rules of play," Ryan would know about it, and could use the money he received from Big Fish to hire a legal team and gear up for a fight.

It is amazing how many bad situations may be avoided if one were able to accurately analyze all the risks and rewards. That said, there is no way to remove risk from the situation. What gets to me is that people who don't even bother to *try* and formulate a risk-assessment succumb to the risks inherent in the transaction, and cry shenanigans.

Every action in which we participate requires a give-take transaction. If you are too ready to take what others give, you don't realize what you've given in return.

This is materialism of the "eat your cake and still have your cake" kind. We all are guilty of this -- don't assume I'm only pointing outward. Sometimes we simply get so caught up in routine that we forget what we're doing until someone yells at us, exclaiming "WTF r u doin?!?!??!!"

It's all a matter of doing what you feel is best -- *conscientiously*.

“I can’t find any URLs pertaining to the developer any more and especially can’t find any site or contact details for the old CEO Ryan Clark.”

The Answer: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/ryanmclark

One of the "old guard" from Lucky's/GPWiki happened to drop by the GPWiki forum a bit ago, and was courteous enough to provide a link to Ryan's profile at LinkedIn.

According to his profile, he left Big Fish about four months ago -- after two years and eight months as their Vancouver Studio Director.