Nemodomi, I get where you are coming from, but the way you phrased your "choices" was, well, a little harsh. My impression, and it is STRICTLY an impression, is that Tom was getting somewhat burned out by DMB. After version 9 came out, the newsletters slowed to a trickle (yes, I know he also started his work with the Red Sox), and when they did come out, they weren't as informative as they had been in the past (I'm sure many here remember the infamous "Poker" newsletter). It very well may have come down to selling or dropping the enterprise entirely, so at least he chose the former. I can't find any fault in that - it's hardly like he sold thousands of long-term employees off to a corporate raider who took the pension fund and fired everybody. We don't know the terms of the deal, so it's entirely possible that Tom did the best he could to see that the buyer would continue to offer the game he built.