Star Citizen – The War Of Attrition

Star Citizen – The War Of Attrition

This blog presents a double edged sword. I was in two minds about writing this one because I didn’t want to deal with the backlash. But then I was reminded that this is how character assassination works. If I don’t step out in front of it, they will just continue with the bs and trying to pass it off as fact. And once media articles started popping up and making a big deal out of her leaving social media, complete with people trying to make it about me, they left me with no choice.”

The TL;DR recap on how I got involved in this farce

sc-vp-marketing

FREE SPEECH – THE BATTLEGROUND

Gaming tends to bring out the very worst in people. And it’s not just gaming. Go into any heated discussion about anything from politics to religion, and you will come away a changed person. However, there is more to be said about the people who use abuse, harassment, and bullying as weapons in the war of attrition. They are cowards. But here’s the thing, in a society where it is perfectly normal for politicians, govt officials, role models etc to engage in wanton needless attacks against one another – with impunity; why would we expect anything but that sort of behavior from common folk? As I type this, take one look at the on-going presidential race and you will most likely be ashamed that you actually live here in the US. But that’s how things are.

On the Internet, it is very easy to destroy someone’s life and livelihood with the mere use of words committed to writing. In fact, there are entire enterprises which make money off this specific practice. The law is virtually useless for the most part. To the extent that law enforcement, without an active and credible threat of harm or similar act deemed criminal, are seemingly powerless to do anything. And if your harasser is in another country, you have absolutely no recourse. Which is precisely why, as welcome as it was, Section 230 of the CDA continues to be very controversial since it was first passed in 1996. The downside to this is that on any given day, someone from clean, clear, across the world, can post anything they want in a website forum, news item etc, with ease. Then it is up to the host of the site to actively moderate what’s written. Most simply don’t. And thus they provide a platform for the spread of hate, harassment, protracted attacks etc. Because they can. Even on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram et al, which have staffed community members whose job it is to curb this sort of activity, more often than not, they fail to do an adequate job of it.

In the pursuit of Free Speech, our society has lost the accountability that goes with responsible online behavior. In fact, the EFF has an excellent article (see Free Speech Weak Link) about specifically this. A fetching quote from that article:

Speech on the Internet requires a series of intermediaries to reach its audience. Each intermediary is vulnerable to some degree to pressure from those who want to silence the speaker. Even though the Internet is decentralized and distributed, “weak links” in this chain can operate as choke points to accomplish widespread censorship.”

The EFF also has lots of fantastic resources (see Bloggers Rights) which serve to teach bloggers like me what our rights under the law are, how we can protect against frivolous lawsuits, illegal intervention, and everything in between. Quoting from the Legal Guide For Bloggers:

But here’s the important part: None of this should stop you from blogging. Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Internet bullies shouldn’t use the law to stifle legitimate free expression.

There are numerous (e.g. see popehat) resources online, all of which provide ample guidance not only for dealing with harassers, but also for defense against harassment.

Knowing the law, your rights, and having robust liability insurance – like most of us do – also goes a long way. And if you live in a State that has robust anti-SLAAP laws, well then.

THE HARASSMENT FACTOR

Harassment is HORRID. I know ALL about it. I neither support, nor condone it. People who KNOW me, know very well that I take a VERY hard line stance against harassment and bullying. I always have, and I always will. It’s who I am.

There are varying degrees of harassment, both civil and criminal. On any given day, you can go on any social media site, e.g. Twitter, and pull up a profile for someone who is actively discussing a topic related to either a person, a business, a product, a game etc. If someone makes 500 posts about any such entity, regardless of merit, is that harassment? No. By that definition, we may as well stop online discussions entirely. Targets of heated discussions are always quick to pull out the harassment card in order to silence and/or intimidate their opposition. This was more prevalent and in full view during the Gamergate fiasco (I was on a panel discussion about this last year). To the extent that some people even went to the extent of creating alt accounts which engaged in harassment against themselves, in order to make the case for harassment.

As gamers, we’re very passionate. However, there are those among us who are anti-social misfits, have psychological and/or mental issues. Drop those people into the hotbed of malcontent that is gaming, and you’ve got a potpourri of wanton abuse. Heck, look no further than the recent furor over the No Man’s Sky game, whereby the developers have had to deal with all manner of attacks, abuse, harassment – including death threats – over a f@cking video game.

Horrible people don’t need an excuse to be horrible people. It’s who they are. It’s what they do.

Similarly, going online to read what people are saying about you, isn’t harassment. It’s a bruised ego. You know why all the major social media sites have tools to block unwanted engagement? That’s why. If you are on a site where you are being attacked, the simple solution is to not engage. Because if you engage, the chances of being attacked are likely higher than expected. There are those (they’re idiots) who would say that going the route of disengagement empowers the abusers, while blaming the victim. It’s pure and utter bullshit. If I know that going down a dark alley in a city known for crime is going to get me mugged, there is no way in hell that I’m going down that alley. If I am not interested in topics which offend me, or know that engaging in topics in which my opinions are likely to get me attacked, I’m not bloody likely to go to 4Chan, 8Chan, or even Reddit (which, contrary to popular belief, has sub-Reddits with an amazing, and helpful community. But if you go looking for bad stuff, you will find it).

But here’s the thing; even when people use anonymous aliases online, the psychology of engagement is so profuse, that even though people are very well hidden behind the veil of anonymity, they still take offense to some discussions. On social media sites which use your real identity, it is easy to see how harassment can play a huge role in heated discourse. To the extent that even the abusers tend to hide behind the veil of anonymity, even as others go about trying to unmask them in order to hold them accountable for what they say online. For my part, I have no problems unmasking those who would otherwise seek to engage in the harassment of others. Seeking anonymity for your online protection, is completely different from seeking anonymity in order to behave badly online, engage in attacks, abuse, and harassment of others. I have unmasked several people for specifically this reason, and I will continue to do it. Actions have consequences, and the causality of actionable consequences cannot be understated.

As a gamer, game developer, and avid blogger, being harassed – incessantly – is par for the course. How you react to it, makes all the difference. I just happen to be the guy who brings a flamethrower to a knife fight.

STAR CITIZEN – THE WAR OF ATTRITION

A lot has been written about Star Citizen, the co-creators, the fans (both normal and rabid), the companies surrounding it etc. The general consensus at this point in time is that the entire project has devolved into a scam. To the extent that recently some backers looking for refunds started mass reporting the company to State and Federal authorities, who then had to step in. My sources tell me that investigations are on-going. By the time the dust settles on this, lawsuits (trust me, they’re coming), my guess is that not only will the fallout involve State officials, but also various Federal agencies including the FTC, the FBI and even the IRS (more on this in an upcoming blog). I have specifically remained silent on most of the these because obstruction is not to be trifled with. So I’m just going to leave it at that.

As of this writing, over $118 million has been invested into the project by gamers over a four year period. And though Chris Roberts has gone on the record as saying that development started in 2011, one year ahead of the 2012 crowd-funding campaign, five years later – there is still no game. Nor will there ever be one, by all accounts.

My involvement in this farce which started over a year ago – and long after many people were already voicing the same or similar concerns – has not only been distorted, twisted, and misinterpreted, but also a dedicated group of rabid fans (aka Shitizens) have taken upon themselves to dox, harass, and attack myself and anyone – even other backers – who expresses any dissent against the project. To the extent that they have an entire sub-Reddit dedicated to doing specifically that to me. Even on the game’s own official forums, any dissent is squashed, other backers are incessantly attacked, mocked, banned etc. Routinely. None of this is fiction, it is a well known fact. Heck, even in legal letters written to govt. officials, this same company routinely (1, 2, 3) disparages their own backers, lies to said officials etc. All with impunity.

The co-creator of the project, aspiring actress Sandi Gardiner, who also happens to be the wife (something they hid for over three years, until I made it public) of Chris Roberts (creator), and the VP of marketing, is not a nice person. She is an habitual liar, an academic fraud (multiple claims of earning a marketing degree from UCLA, or anywhere on the planet, have proven to be false), and as several sources have stated, someone with an abusive personality, to go with a short and volatile temper.

Quite recently, a lot of personal stuff from her acting (e.g. her staring as Mae Demming in tickle porn videos, currently up on Pornhub and elsewhere) past popped up online, and was being shared. I had some (there were no links to NSFW content) of it included in this section for context. But as I suspected, I caught some flak for it, in addition to the fact that it detracted from the purpose of the blog. So I opted to remove it shortly after the blog went live. True or false, the point of the inclusion was that there is a lot of stuff out there. True or false, that’s the Internet. When you’re a public figure, people go digging. When you’re a public figure attached to a much maligned project, people will go dig deeper. It has happened to all of us, including Chris Roberts, at some point or another. To be clear, I don’t care about her past, nor what she has done. It is largely irrelevant, and immaterial to the matter (Star Citizen) at hand. But here we are. Especially in light of all the drama surrounding her and everyone involved with this project.

As the VP of marketing, as well as the #2 person associated with this project, she is the de facto face of the company. She is a public figure. And as these things go, while it is easy to ignore and discard people’s past – and personal lives – there is the question of accountability and character. There is a very good reason why those two things tend to come up in almost every single legal case.

A lot has been written about how toxic the Star Citizen community is. To the extent that the recent rush on the bank for refunds, stems directly from backers who, aside from no longer having any faith in the project, are simply disgusted with the community. Even as recently as last month, Streetroller, a wheelchair-bound backer, and the subject of my recent blog on refunds, has been subjected to all manner of abuse by the community – including death threats. I get those, and similar, all the time; so to me, it’s not even newsworthy anymore.

Sandi Gardiner is an attention magnet, and a drama queen. Literally. And she is part of what is turning out to be a $118 million scam.

Though I am in fact writing a book on this Star Citizen fiasco, just when I thought I had run out of material, a whole heap gets dumped in my lap. I have written extensively on Sandi’s involvement in all manner of questionable behavior and decisions on this project. Ranging from the customer service furor over tagging backers with derogatory terms, to leaked emails in which she engages in the most abusive and questionable behavior for an exec of an $118 million crowd-funded company. Not to mention the Escapist article from 2015 in which several current (at the time) and ex employees came forward with a lot of damning information from behind the scenes. The writer went on to win an SJP award for the article. What followed those events can only be described as the most destructive act by the company. For legal reasons (pertaining to my defamation claim), I can’t link to the diatribe written by Chris Roberts following the article; and which followed a baseless legal threat (to the article writer and the site) by yet another co-creator of the project, Ortwin Freyermuth – media attorney, and long time business partner of Chris Roberts, through a litany of failed business enterprises. In his diatribe, not only did Chris make blatantly false allegations of being doxed, he also went as far as to try to link myself and the writer of The Escapist article to Gamergate, in a failed bid to ride on the wings of that particular outrage that was in full swing at the time.

And to this day, leaks continue to stream out of every single one of the four studios (CA, TX, GER, UK) associated with this train-wreck. The latest being that not only are the games, Star Citizen and Squadron 42 not coming out in 2016 (note that they are both two years overdue, having missed their Nov 2014 delivery date), but that the development is so rife with problems that even the top developers know, without a shred of doubt, that the project is FUBAR. But hey, it’s a paycheck derived from free money.

As I write this, unknown to the public and the backers, they are actively engaged in what amounts to the harassment of an ex- employee who they accuse of leaking critical information to the media and to me. It’s patently false. First they tried to intimidate this person by sending a PI to his home. Then they had, at last count, three attorneys from different States, write this person intimidating letters in a bid to get him to admit to things he hadn’t even done. He laughed them all off. In the end, having grown fed-up, as per his contract, they ended up in arbitration – which he is currently fighting. These are the people that we’re dealing with. And as of this writing, they still haven’t dragged me into that particular farce yet. Though I don’t expect that they will.

All of this with backer and investor money.

Which brings me to the latest drama. But before I go into it, let me mention that, this year alone, amid backer unrest, and all manner of looming legal threats, not only did they skip a major PC Gamer event at E3, and which they had previously committed to, but they skipped E3 entirely. And the upcoming Gamescom event in Germany has been pared down to a barebones presentation in which they are said to be streaming a broken (hey, it’s pre-alpha, don’t complain) version of the tech demo (it’s not – and never will be, a game), while showcasing even more R&D (the latest buzz word they have been using) of features which, like similar presentations from years past, is unlikely to see the light of day in the project. Let’s not even go into the recent interview which Chris did in which, as every other time before, he made the most alarming statements to date. In fact, back when I wrote my first blog in July 2015, it was due to all the reports I was getting about the project in trouble; and which prompted me to read the June 2015 dev report. This time, Chris’s statements in this interview are so alarming, that I am in the process of doing a video blog taking it apart. As I mentioned on social media, I expect to air that next week, either before or after the Gamescom showing.

Then, this past June, in what is the single most egregious act against backers who have given them $118 million, they issued a new ToS which retroactively removed two key components that backers previously had. That being a right to refunds, as well as the right to have financial accounting of what happened to their money. That June ToS is what has now sparked numerous refund requests, along with investigations by govt. authorities. It’s all carefully documented in my blog (see The Refund Debacle).

I get harassed on social media by Shitizens. Like a lot. Heck, even the support people at Twitter can attest to this; having suspended and/or killed abusive accounts. As of this writing, they are still at it. Even though blocked, they will create a throw-away account and use that to harass myself and my followers in my feed. To the extent that it’s literally a game of whack-a-mole now. Reporting to Twitter is a wasted effort since these are throw-away accounts for which no accountability exists.

Last year during the CitizenCon (a Star Citizen backer event) celebration, Sandi Gardiner pulled a tearful performance in front of backers and those watching the stream. As sources tell me, she was planning to resign from the project, but at the last minute, pulled an audible when she was interrupted by Erin Roberts, brother (and lead of one of the UK and GER studios). Seriously, you should watch it.

Then there was that time when she posted this award in her Facebook feed, and which was spread across social media.

sc-award

So imagine my surprise when, yesterday, out of the Blue, she posted that she was quitting social media due to “harassment”. As we are both blocked from each other, I first got wind of it when I was alerted to a media account of her statement.

Here’s the thing. Just mere hours before that post, she was celebrating reaching 9000 backers. There were NO other posts in between.

sc-sandi-tweet

Guess what happened next? Despite the fact that she never named anyone, nor has any history of harassment anywhere in her social media feed, the Shitizens immediately descended on my social media feed and elsewhere, to blame me for it.

Fact is, as Twitter can attest to, she and I have blocked each other for almost a year now. And we were never Facebook friends; though I have her and several of them blocked there as well. But somehow, just because you are writing and talking about a public figure who happens to be a central figure in an on-going major public event, you’re a stalker, and an harasser. They even have a list that they’re now spreading as evidence of me harassing her. In fact, she’s never – ever – claimed harassment anywhere. Until now.

Again, as I stated on social media, let me be crystal clear, I have never harassed her, and she has never claimed anywhere that I have harassed her. Because the minute that she does, knowing that it’s false – I will immediately take legal action.

Here’s the thing. The “VP of marketing”, for a $118 million train-wreck, suddenly decides that one week ahead of a major gaming event in which backers are expecting answers for the project, makes a statement about quitting social media due to harassment. And with zero evidence of same. No, that’s not odd at all. It’s all deflective noise. And on the face of it, her claims of harassment have zero merit. But by her standards, we who are the targets of sustained harassment, should just quit the internet. And right on cue, Shitizens immediately descend on their goto fall guy, me, to amp up their attack. This is what she expects.

And before I forget, let me point out the funding metrics for yesterday.

sc-funding

Ponder this. For as much as they blame me, someone they continue to claim is insignificant, for the unfolding catastrophe that is the project, do you for one minute think that she – or her PR mouthpiece – won’t have taken the opportunity to name me as harassing her? Heck, the last time they singled me out – back in 2015 – they issued a press statement. Right up to the part where they were caught blatantly lying. And that was the event that thrust me into this farce.

This person lies. Like, a LOT. This has been proven time and time again. And even MORE to come that isn’t even public yet. But somehow, it’s OK for her “fans” and minions to harass myself and others who direct any dissent at the project.

So the media wrote bad stuff. How is that harassment?

So myself and others wrote bad stuff. How is that harassment?

So a bunch of people found imdb profiles, LinkedIn profiles, videos, photos etc – all shared by the very same person – and then got shared and spread on social media. How is that harassment? Let alone doxing? It’s like that whole doxing nonsense whereby you can’t even post a LinkedIn profile without some clown screaming doxing.

People trying to modify and/or revise the social construct are idiots who should be laughed at. That’s why we make and share memes. Then laugh at them. Incessantly.

She has lots of legal recourse to take action, against me or anyone that she has evidence of harassing her. Just because someone says bad stuff about you on the Internet, stuff that you seek out, and read, doesn’t make it harassment. In this case, it’s yet another deflective tactic to draw attention away from the main event:

WHERE IS STAR CITIZEN AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE MONEY!?

sc-crap-i-made-up

Fact is that no such evidence of harassment exists. And the minute they even try to make shit up and directed at me, we’re going to be involved in the much anticipated legal battle that is sure to be the single most historic legal event in gaming history. I guarantee it. After my attorneys toss the harassment bullshit, and we get to peel away the layers of lies, deceit, unjust enrichment, and everything in between, we’ll get to the very heart of the matter.

At the end of the day, this is yet another attempt to rally and wind up the Shitizens so that they can continue their pattern of harassment against me, the bogeyman – one person – who is somehow responsible for all the problems of a $118 million crowd-funded project.

Like everything else – including attempts at making it about “A woman in  gaming being harassed” – it will fail. This war of attrition against me is a pointless effort. It has yielded zero results since it started last July. The only thing that it will succeed in doing is showing that the Shitizens are the most toxic community in gaming, that the execs behind the Star Citizen project are actively engaged in what most of us now believe to be an on-going scam, and that the enablers and those engaged in money laundering and all manner of fraud, will continue to attack anyone who threatens their enterprise.

And I dare anyone in the media or in public to even infer that I have been engaged in any harassment, and without any proof or evidence of same. And those of you doing this shit, trust me, if I read it, I’m going to unmask you. Then I will make that info public. There is absolutely NO VERSION of this whereby I let such accusations go unpunished.

Nobody is writing flattering articles about the train-wreck that is Star Citizen anymore. So ahead of Gamescom, let’s just create drama because, you know, that usually gets headlines. And right on cue, there are now several such articles floating around. This despite the fact that – as of this writing – there haven’t been ANY accusations against anyone, nor ANY evidence of harassment taking place. That’s gaming “media” for you. Most of them are complicit in the whole Star Citizen drama. And when the shit-show ends, and the dust settles, we will remember them. We’re gamers, and we hold onto shit forever.

That is all.

UPDATE: During this latest flap, some people (see morons) were making feeble attempts at making this about “A woman in gaming being harassed“. So I wrote a sequel. Also, though she “quit” social media due to “harassment“, she was still liking stuff days later.

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24 thoughts on “Star Citizen – The War Of Attrition

  1. Thing is, though she claims harassment where none exists, she’s been retweeting an account (which I’ve since had yanked) which we believe to be a False Flag op as mentioned below. Then just this past week, the same thing happened whereby she was retweeting yet another account (also now yanked).

    https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/770009168224915456

    They want to talk about harassment; meanwhile, I’m still getting death threats over a damn video game.

    https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/770070739273781249

     

     

  2. In the UK the vast majority of women in the media spotlight (particularly politicians) tend to ignore their social media feeds until something suits their purpose.

    I think it is probably the best thing to do, but certain posts will be being reported to the police.

     

    what sensible women do not do is make a big deal of it and try to use tweets etc to [play a victim card, becasue they know that only has so much mileage and ultimately makes them look like weak individuals thant cannot stand up for themselves.

     

    It is poor marketing for a politician but it remains to be seen if it is useful marketing for Mrs Roberts to have done what she has.

    Her behaviour withdrawing (so she says) from social media is certainly consistent with the idea of presenting herself as a celebrity to a lot of sex starved dweebs and is in the same vane as  hiding the fact she is married to Croberts, to attract said dweebs in the first place.

     

     

     

  3. I really can’t say much about that since all we have to go on, unless I missed a tweet, is him saying that he’s helping organising it. That may be everything from him finding  location to something else that’s not related to the actual event, we have no clue what he meant by helping to organise it. We don’t even know if that’s a fact or he’s just inflating his ego.

  4. Although I feel everyone should just quit the drama and focus on game development, or lack thereof if that is the case, I also feel that CIG opened this pandoras box the day the decided “hey, let’s start a reality show with computer artists to create the next great starship!”. Not only did that show that the fanbase did a better job than the CIG team at the time (so no wonder some of them got hired) when they managed to produce ships faster than CIG could – for free, but it also opened it up for stuff like this and drama.

    But it all should be less drama, more game…

  5. THE SANDI GARDINER HARASSMENT FALSE FLAG OP

    So out of the Blue on 08/11, mere days before Gamescom, Sandi Gardiner, “VP of Marketing” for Star Citizen posted on Twitter that she was quitting social media.

    It should be noted that since that point in time, she continues to like and use social media.

    This would have only mattered to the Shitizen (the anti-social Star Citizen fans waging an Internet war of attrition against dissenters of the project) sperg horde since most of us don’t give a shit either way. However, this time, just like last time, it has proven to be nothing more than more drama, and a pitiful attempt to get Shitizens and anyone who wasn’t paying attention to, nor following the Star Citizen train wreck, to point the finger at me. Because, you know, writing and/or talking about a PUBLIC FIGURE who just happens to be an exec and co-creator of what MANY now believe to be the LARGEST on-going SCAM in video game history, is somehow harassment.

    So on 08/12, amid a flurry of attacks*, I wrote a blog.

    Then the usual Shitizens and other clowns started playing the “woman in gaming being harassed” card. Not that anyone EVER considered Sandi to be a “woman in gaming”, but I digress. So I shut that one down rather quickly with another blog on 08/14.

    Then I asked the investigative firm that I use, to scrape her entire PUBLIC social media feed, including the Star Citizen ones, to find and provide me with ANY evidence of her EVER being subject to ANY social media – or Internet – harassment. Being the target of all kinds of attacks, death threats, and harassment, throughout my gaming career, it’s just something that I don’t take lightly.

    That, I thought, was the end of that.

    Shortly after, the very same people started using the #istandwithsandi hashtag to continue to propagate the lies, as well as point the finger at people who literally had NOTHING to do with ANY harassment.

    As these things go, the hashtag got hijacked and was used to set the record straight. That one died a quick and hilarious death.

    As if on cue, days later at the Gamescom show in Germany, a group of “fans” showed up with cue cards. I shit you not. Here, take a look. http://imgur.com/a/7ACPd

    That one got hijacked (1, 2, 3) too. Because you know, that’s what the Internet does to pretentious clowns with too much time on their hands.

    It didn’t end there though. On 08/23, someone posted a Tweet on Discord in which someone purporting to be an ex-backer ($6K+) was now sending Sandi death threats. So I immediately reported it, and asked my follows to report it.

    The Twitter account was new and had created all 9 tweets the same day.

    Twitter subsequently suspended the account.

    The actual backer who was refunded, had previously tweeted about that, and there was already a thread on Reddit about it.

    While we were pondering whether or not it was in fact real (and not an impostor account), and that an ex-backer was dumb enough to send death threats to a company exec who already had their personal info, Sandi meanwhile decided to – get this – retweet the threats!! No, I’m not kidding.

    And we believe that she did this because

    i) it’s her one and ONLY proof of ANY social media harassment – like EVER

    ii) I was tagged by the account. So again, this was also about pinning the actions of a third-party on me.

    By the end of the day, the conclusion was that Shitizens were most likely running a False Flag op; and using it as a way to give Sandi some evidence of social media harassment, while blaming me, my followers, and the Goons for it. You know, the people who keep calling them out consistently. Remember, their #istandwithsandi bullshit was hijacked right off the bat; which made their Gamescom drama even more hilarious and pathetic. So this was a new wrinkle in their plan.

    Of course, knowing how these people have a long standing history of fucking up, they did just that. i) the PI guy came back with ZERO evidence of ANY social media harassment against her ii) there was NO police report filed by Sandi related to any such harassment or the death threat communicated over Twitter.

    I was personally hoping that she would have filed a police report, because that would have dragged me into that; and we would finally have our day in court and/or in front of the authorities. Also, it would have involved Twitter; and CA detectives would have carte blanche to delve into the entire farce that is Star Citizen because, at the end of the day, all roads lead to it. I would have immediately involved the FBI.

    Then earlier today, someone claiming to be a friend of the ex-backer (who can’t post on the RSI forums since his account was refunded and closed already), created a thread to explain that his friend was NOT the one behind the threats, and that the Twitter account was an impostor (a common problem on Twitter).

    Shockingly (not!) CIG killed the thread, but you can see his post.

    The person claiming to be the real ex-backer, also created a new Twitter account

    This is how things are. This is the lengths that these people will go to. It makes absolutely NO sense that someone who backed this project, and got a FULL refund, would do ANY of this. Especially knowing the consequences. Not to mention the fact that CIG already have their information which could then be used to identify them.

    We don’t know who ran this op. But I believe that it stems from Sandi Gardiner’s FALSE claims of quitting social media due to harassment. Then we come to find out that NO evidence exists of that EVER happening ANYWHERE.

    We have seen the effects of how social media can be used to spread false information, ruin people’s careers and lives etc. Not to mention how people can run afoul of a mob’s actions, which in turn end up putting the blame on a third-party just because they have unpopular opinion. This bullshit is prevalent on Twitter.

    For my part, they’re fools if they think that ANY of this is going to stop me. As I said in a live stream which I did (I come on about 1hr in) yesterday morning, they simply have NO clue the kind of person they’re dealing with. I’m in this for the long haul, and will continue my fight until either they give up, or we reach the final conclusion (it’s FUBAR and there is NO saving it) of the Star Citizen fiasco; with me being proven 100% RIGHT.

    * want to talk about harassment? my Twitter blocklist is currently at 2,911 entries.

  6. You’re wrong. Harassment is 100% legally actionable. At least here in the US it is. Aside from the fact that victims of online harassment tend to provide proof of it. Has nothing to do with whether or not it is legally actionable.

    Also, Twitter is pretty strict about that. Since I only write in my blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and SA; at least the first two would have terminated my account if it were true. Just as they’ve done with others.

    The “social media harassment” claims by her have ZERO MERIT as NO evidence (yes, we’ve been looking btw) of it exists ANYWHERE on social media. As exposed as she is, if there was any such evidence, there would be dozens of articles about it by now; not three (one of which is by a Shillizen on a German site) click-bait articles on two MMO sites.

    And again, you’re wrong. The story article you are talking about, was fake. It was a meme created by Goons to troll Star Citizen. And I was the one who shared it from SA. And the game was Mass Effect Andromeda. The Shitizen writer who subsequently went on a meltdown over it – saying he was “digitally raped“, didn’t even know it was a meme. He thought it was real.

    People are entitled to their opinions and interpretation, it doesn’t make them any more or less valid; especially since facts are harder to disprove.

  7. Feels like we’re repeating ourselves here now 🙂

    But you retweeted this the other day – “‘Evidence’ is not a magic request that makes the bad words hurting your feelz go away.” I don’t know about everyone else but what I read is “even though it’s not illegal it could still be hurtful”. Which is exactly my point and the reason she hasn’t pointed the finger at anyone, because it’s not legally actionable.

     

    And remember that Halo story you linked about the other day. It said getting Derek’s attention on you was “a fate worse then death”. I know you might not care what people think about you, but that tells you a bit why it’s not a big leap to think that’s why she took a time out after suffering that fate for a year.

    But as you say, you don’t invent the stories, they just keep coming. Although you add colorful commentary that may twist and bend the story so even the easter bunny turns into the evil bunny from Donny Darko, but that’s a different argument we’ve already had 🙂

  8. heh, good thing that the law is pretty clear on what constitutes harassment, and what doesn’t. Just because you write about someone, doesn’t constitute harassment. Even perception is largely irrelevant.

    For the record, in every blog that I’ve written, she’s only appeared in three of them; and only in the context for which she is relevant.

    Further, and this is the funny part, by your submission, that means when media writes articles about a specific person over a period of time, of people on social media are having a discussion about someone which spans a period of time, that means they are being harassed. Which of course is rubbish.

    Funny thing is, all this is pure speculation because she hasn’t come out and said I was the one harassing her. People can make all the accusations they want, it doesn’t make it true. Opinions aren’t facts.

  9. That was a long read and it addresses the issue of “woman in gaming harassed” issue and the fact that it really should be irrelevant if she’s a woman or not in a pretty good way. If someone is doing a good job, great. This person isn’t, so not great.

     But in absolutely full honesty if I were summoned to a trial as an independent witness and asked the direct question “has Mr Smart harassed Mrs Gardi… I mean Mrs Roberts” I would have to say “in my opinion, yes”. (and before Ortwin says “great, let’s do it”, I’d like to point out I’m not an american citizen so good luck with that). It just feels that there’s been a witch hunt and you’ve lead the charge. That may not be correct factually correct but that’s the impression one has. It may be completely unintentional but that’s the result of over a year of posting and commenting on everything she says, does or posts on instagram and digging up dirty laundry. Even if sometimes you haven’t been the one digging, when you report it it goes from an obscure fact to public knowledge. Like that picture of their daughter – it was totally public for everyone to see on IMDB so it shouldn’t matter that you post it? Well, if you listened to Disco’s commentary about it in an INN interview a way back (I linked it a while back) it’s clear as day that there was a “shit just hit the fan!”-moment for the Roberts which coincided with that retweet of yours as well as the Escapist article.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukn3mARbI0Y , forward to 50 minutes, he specifically says “and he brought their kids into it”)

    But to make it a gender issue is just reaching for more tissues.

  10. To the shitizens:

    Star Citizen is a shit tech demo/pre alpha/whatever. Changing the narrative to whatever the flavor of the month is does not in the slightest help avert SC from its 2 possible and obvious fates (commercial release and pure shit or failure before release) as cash reserves dwindle. Yes I admit I though it would fail around the $100m mark, they went by that far faster then I thought possible. It is just that you can say “never underestimate peoples stupidity” all the time, but you inevitably do so anyway. But how could they last to as some say 2022 (lol 11,12 years since project start. Note if you dispute this start date you need to study project management 101 and get a brain), or even 2018 without serious downsizing.

     

    As for harassment? Yes I have seen this and more since I started following SC in 2013. All I wanted was a space sim to fly around in. Instead what I saw since then was abuse, vitriol, threats (including the worst kinds), harassment and tons of shit tier passive aggressiveness directed at those who deviated from the fanaticism ‘hype’ and asked important questions/raised concerns and ultimately asked for refunds.  The amount of justice that will be delivered when SC failcascades will be off the scale.

  11. Hello Mr. Smart,

    I just want to leave a bit of a female perspective of this whole thing here. When I read your posts, I can tell that you are against harassing Sandi. You’re posting real stuff that is happening in her life, and the things happening in Star Citizen. However, as a woman, I can definitely see where Sandi is coming from, and why she (or her fans) might pin this on you, or interpret your reporting as harassment. The effect is amplified because you’re also an outspoken male game developer (and everyone still has “gamergate” on their minds).

    Nobody likes it when someone airs out their dirty laundry in public or exposes skeletons in their closet. If someone did this to me over a prolonged period of time (especially given Sandi’s past), and then I got a bunch of tweets from other people about it, I would probably think that whoever disseminated the information is responsible for harassment, too, especially if it was a man.

    Please, please please, I ask you to be careful about how you bring up criticisms of Star Citizen (especially related to Sandi). Even your valid points will be ignored because fans will constantly point to the fact that you’re talking about a woman who is part of the project. They’ll warp whatever comment you make about Sandi or her family to make it look like you’re harassing her. They’ll make posts that say you’re obsessed with her, and they’ll paint you as a stalker. All the while, they will draw attention away from the valid criticisms you are making on the game itself.

    I know you feel like you have to stand up and defend yourself (and you should), but in a case like this, the femme fatale has the media’s attention. She’s going to play the damsel in distress card for as long as she needs to, and you’ll be the dragon. I’m sure you’ve already got self-proclaimed “knights” on your doorstep.

    Just my concerned two cents.

     

  12. If you haven’t agreed to the June ToS, you should get a refund. Then if they ever finish the game – which is highly unlikely – you can always buy back in.

  13. No, absolutely not. I play EVE Online and it has some of the worst sociopaths I thought I’d run into in online gaming. I have apparently been mistaken. None has ever told me they hope I die in real life. As for Star Citizen, I haven’t fired up the tech demo…errr…”game”…since they changed the TOS. If this is what I have to look forward to, I’m seriously considering trying to get a refund now, even though it’s only for my original pledge (I never bought anything from their cash store).

  14. Oh that’s nuthin’. There’s more. And it’s a lot worse. As I’ve said before, even if the game(s) were to ever see the light of day, Shitizens have already completely killed it. This being a multiplayer game, are these the guys anyone would even want to play online with?

  15. I can see why you call the zealots of this game “Shitizens”. I jokingly commented recently on a popular MMO site that I would be dead before Star Citizen made it to release (I’m still sadly a backer, although only in for a small amount of money – I even stated that in the post). A “Shitizen” then told me he hoped I do die so I can’t see how wrong I am about the game, blah, blah, blah. And his post had LIKES and he wasn’t banned by the moderators (who are also pro-Star Citizen). Seriously, what kind of sane person says something like that?

  16. For context, this is a thread going on right now on the game’s Facebook page, where they are getting slaughtered over the upcoming Gamescom show which I mentioned in the article.

    Some choice comments:

    I would follow and play more, but this company is the slowest at putting new content in, Unless its a new ship that they can sell. It kinda stupid with how much money this company has made off us dumbass who gave them money. No mans sky, already has SPACE travel, Elite dangerous has SPACE travel, Star citizen has the smallest piece of space to fly threw and omg comm array missions so FUN!!! If star citizen got off their asses and actually did more with the game then just make more ships to PAY FOR, then the game would actually be worth a shit.”

    Any chance on a finished product for the con? The original release date for my Kickstarter backing passed and I’m still waiting to see a beta version...”

    Guys, I’ve spent decent amount of money even before the Lamp joke was made… I’m considering selling my license and the ship right now...”

    you guys better announce the release of commander 42 or you will have disappointed every star citizen out here, its getting old with all the excuses,”

    I better see a fuggin Banu merchantman at this god damned presentation.”

    Gamescom exclusive “It’s not finished but we are releasing a special edition ship. Please buy it for an inflated price before we release a pared down version that does everything a little bit but not noticeably differently. More $$$ please.” Let me know when SQ42 comes out. Meh.”

  17. Hey Kris. I get your points. However, even though to some it may not have seemed appropriate to have retweeted the discovered pictures, they were not something that people went looking for. These were images from an acting profile put up by the parents. There are lots of child actors in Hollywood, and their pictures are all over the Internet. So to me, the noise people were making over that, were just baseless.

    Further, the context was clear. It was one of several pictures found online that without a shadow of doubt, proved (to the backer public, since I already knew – and never needed to prove it to anyone) that Chris and Sandi were in fact married. Something as you know, they had suspiciously kept secret, and as sources have said, forbade even their own employees from divulging to the public. That’s not harassment, nor is it stalking. If that were the case, then all of us on social media, let alone the Internet, are stalkers and harassers. It’s a bullshit argument that has no merit.

    And no, that was NOT the only explanation for Chris’ outburst. You read his diatribe. He spent more time attacking myself and others, than he did addressing that specific issue. In fact, he spent barely a paragraph on it. So no, he was more pissed about The Escapist article, and also took the opportunity to rage at me for my other blogs.

    As to this recent issue, I have no reason to believe that her leaving social media has anything to do with me. I am hearing that it was due to the Mae Demming stuff from her past, as well as other things which recently came to light, and were being shared. I have nothing to do with that. I didn’t go digging them up.

    These people have a lot of legal resources, and millions in backer money. So if for one minute there was any evidence that I was the target of her harassment comment, that would have been the focal point and I would have been facing a legal issue. Fact is, the defamation laws here in the US are very strict, clear, and to the point. And it won’t cost me a single dime to defend. It’s all speculation by Shitizens. To the extent that I have NO reason to believe that her comment had ANYTHING to do with me. That’s why I felt that it was only fair that I made it clear in the blog that she had never made those claims. Basically Shitizens heard her blow a fire whistle in a crowded theater; and took upon themselves to amp up their harassment campaign. If she wanted to do the right thing, she has a PR dept, she has social media – which she posts on constantly. So she could have issued a statement, and made it clear. To be honest, I don’t blame her one bit for the fallout, whether she intended it or not. It is the media, and the Shitizens reading her feed, who made the choice to use that as another reason to attack the most vocal voice against them and project.

    I never meant for any of this to be as personal as it has gotten. THEY made it that way since the beginning. Heck, you READ the unfounded personal attacks in a legal letter written by Ortwin back when we were asking for accountability and refunds. A letter for which my attorney gave him a righteous lashing. So it’s common human emotion to act accordingly. The same way that Chris took upon himself to write a multi page diatribe that caused more damage than he could ever have anticipated. And in fact, as I get more mindful of the personal nature that this discourse seems to be taking, I subsequently removed an entire paragraph from this latest blog because it contained highly personal stuff* which detracted from the gist of the blog. Sometimes, in the heat of the moment – whether your are right or wrong – it’s hard to remain objective. My blogs are not Gawker, TMZ or the like. In fact, now that I think about it, Sandi is in Hollywood; so do you think for one minute that if she were ever to be famous, that tabloids etc would give a shit what she thinks and/or considers to be private? No. That’s what happens when you are a public figure. And there is no escaping it.

    The point remains: harassment, in any form, like cyber-bullying, is HORRID. There is nothing to be gained by making light of it. And if I had ever come across ANYONE harassing her, I would have stepped in. Heck, there is NO love lost between Ben Lesnick and I, but I genuinely sent him well wishes when he was in hospital, Tweeted that to his wife etc. That’s who I am. Being engaged in social discourse doesn’t mean that you lose the part of yourself that governs decency and morals. I know who I am, and I was raised right. I don’t always get it right, nor do I consider myself to be the beacon for good behavior. But I DO consider myself to be a decent person; and as result, I always try to make an effort to do the right thing. There is no shame in that, regardless of who the opposition is.

    By the same token, accusing someone of harassment – or anything for that matter – without merit, is the sort of thing that ruins and/or tarnishes reputations. It’s no different from any other false claim, whether civil or criminal, and which have the potential to ruin people’s lives and/or reputation. Why is it OK for Shitizens to consistently harass, abuse, and attack me, in the name of the defense of a fucking video game? It’s no secret, you’ve seen it happen – consistently. The hypocrisy of the situation is the sort of thing that protracted discourse comes from. It never ends unless and until you take a stand.

    As always, thanks for your insightful comments and thoughts. We don’t always see things the say way, but more often than not, you’ve always tried to be neutral and objective in your commentary. Even when we argue about opinions. 🙂

    * If the cache has already updated, you should see that all the Mae Demming stuff is gone. If you still see it, just hold down the SHIFT key while refreshing your browser.

  18. Well “harassment” is a pretty subjective thing, what the “victim” feels and goes through is sometimes not even known to the “abuser”.

    (I admit I’m going into speculation mode here, but I’m just offering a different perspective on things!)

    After all your posts about her, all your research into her and Chris personal life (I seem to remember you mentioned you had even been in contact with people who had worked for them in their house?), your research into her academic background and name calling, and now the “outing” of her past career I’m pretty damn sure she feels that is harassment. Everyone has different threshold for how much they can take of this. You have very thick skin, I’d like to think I could shake things off, but either there’s some harassment we don’t know about or you poked where it really hurt (either that or she just wants attention and hugs and will be back within a week). That Chris diatribe you talked about came just mere days after you had retweeted images of their daughter to the world, which in my opinion was totally uncalled for and could be likened to a stalker saying “I know where you live and where your children goes to school”. That is the only explanation for Chris’ outburst and showed just what an affect this had on them.

    And to name you would mean it had reached the point where it was a legal matter and I’m sure she just didn’t want to get into that. But you can’t honestly think you’re not the major driver behind this, even if it’s not legally persuable?!

    I’ve tried to be objective in the matter. But the main problem I’ve had with CIG is their lack of delivering actual content to “the game”. And the main problem I’ve had with you is how personal you’ve made it with Chris and Sandi – but you already know that. At this point I don’t think you even need to do that, you can just stick to what they fail to deliver and do as a company.

    Anyway, that’s what I think!

  19. Hi DerekS,

    I am writing this in support for “defining harassment”. What you are doing is courageous journalism. There is no slander in what you do, but the shit others write about you, is something else.

    I had an opportunity to work with, and later, part ways from one of the persons (a “shitizen”) who sent you death-threats. That person was friends with other shitizens who were doing the similar manner of abuse.
    That person used to be a “friend”, until I got wind of him making insults/death-threats at you, from social media. I didn’t know about it, until I got wind of it from social media. That person denied it, and I parted ways with that person.

    It doesn’t make any sense. Some of the IP addresses (of those postings) have been traced to his employer’s place. His employer got wind of it, and later, that company was forced to shut-down in lieu of overwhelming evidence against that Shitizen.  (I am not able to comment about it, or describe about it, but DerekS knows about it).

    So whose fault is it for making stupid comments on social media? It defies any logic or sense to attack Derek. I don’t post often, as I don’t want to be involved directly or indirectly at the shit-storm that DerekS is facing.

    I’m working, I don’t want to be linked or involved with shitizen nonsense. It’s like a cult of nuts and idiocy. You don’t defend a bad game by calling out people who tell about how bad the game is.

    As an artist, you need to have a portfolio of prior works and need to do art-quickly, and if you do AAA, it’s all supervised and you have set-schedule to deliver.

    Believe it or not, that shitizen doesn’t have any, and his LinkedIn is littered with false employment history… And not just one person, many of those shitizens have similar, too. That raises lots of red flags.

    If you’re planning to doxxing someone, is calling out someone’s fake work-employment, fake-portfolio and fake-education doxxing? My god, if I was to work in a game-studio, that is full of this kind of artists, dummy developers, management staff with dubious credentials, the project is going down the drain very soon.

    It’s beyond me, how a shitizen can get a job as senior artist without portfolio. If you see some of the blocky-modelling  and stick-drawing-concepts in Star Citizen YouTube, I would wonder who the hell, the art director is, cos, if Derek Smart points them out, that’s like junior or art-interns doing art and claiming to do a super-job afterwards.

    No wonder Star Marine, Squadron 42 is delayed for months and months, or cancelled/canned, then have to be re-done again

    I’m not saying bad things about others, put that fact in the back of your head. It’s free money, so there’s no accountability.

    In comparison, in U4, each art piece has to be original and unique –
    http://kotaku.com/ubisoft-devs-call-out-uncharted-4-trailer-for-taking-as-1761033812
    Any way you argue it, about Star Citizen taking other people’s art and claiming as their own, is at the lowest levels, only an art-intern or some scummy-artist would do. Nobody would even do this. Any art-lead or artist in senior position wouldn’t even approve of this.

    I’m willing to bet my money, in a few more months, if Star Citizen doesn’t get rid of those kind of artists and developers, SC will be the biggest scam-job ever.

    Don’t blame Derek Smart for blogging this. He’s doing his job by pointing out those people with fake credentials, fake work-history (and he should point out artists with no portfolios!!!!!!)

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