EightAce (an account we suspect is used by various people), one of the original leakers, is back with this gem over on SA
Fellow commandos. Prepare yourselves for a hilarious announcement at the end of March /start of April. A Stimperial address is planned to explain where sq42 is , or indeed isnt. Its going to be even better than 'You've had it all along stop fucking whining'
I don't even know what to believe anymore. For one thing, there is a very good chance that the much rumored major layoffs are coming. They already started this back in Q4/16, even as some people left, or were converted from employee to contractor status.
I had written before that making SQ42 a game mode/module like the hangar, arena commander, star marine etc, makes the most sense at this point. So maybe that's what they're going to be announcing; though I doubt it. We just have to wait and see.
I’ve been asked on Discord for my take on the most recent developments and leak from EightAce from a super backer (> $10k) who seems to have concerns recently, plus three smaller backers. Initially it was difficult to come up with a somewhat balanced response, hopefully this should lend some credibility that not everything is quite as straight forward to development as CIG is making out and clear up how it’s imported. Decided to post it on here instead of repeating the same subject to individual folk on Discord.
In the event these leaks do marry up to, fact as of say March / April time then there is more concern on delivery than just the PU itself.
What I think Derek Smart was hinting at in his latest blog, sorry if I’m barking up the wrong tree but I get the impression that some of the easy work has been done but they’re stumbling at the hard / difficult task at fitting it all together. No so much as just the engine anymore if not the actual gameplay and everything else in between, instead they’re switching focus to non-important deliverables like the O2 oxygen system which should be considered less important or a lower priority.
DisclaimerWhen it comes to theory crafting we all have our own take and biases on all news that comes from CIG or from leaks and it’s important to identify that to take it into account.
Coming from a gaming background and as a cloud architect I have my own bias in that I do not agree with CIGs approach, all other matters aside and on the bench until my view on Derek Smart as below.
My takeNow the difficult case may be that any announcement CIG will promote MVP (minimum viable product) or that a large section of the current offering indeed forms part of the final product. I think in this case it’s not really set in stone as they count literally announce anything and we don’t have specific data or knowledge on what is going to be specifically said. If anything it will be complete speculation on my part as I do not have all the facts, only indicators which is not the same thing.
Indications would suggest that it would point to bad news based on the current state of the engine and game mechanics on 2.6.1, and the general slow pace of development. Considering all the fighting CIG are doing locally in Manchester which you are now painfully aware of, that all critics of CIG don’t come or root from Derek Smart. He is not the proverbial “bogey man” and certainly does not have the power to influence other companies near CIG locally nor ability to slow down development. My take is that Star Citizen is a bad kick starter due to massive scope creep and that CIG do not have the business acuity or skills to run a large crowd funded game development studio.
My narrative would be to request a refund, however my urge to any Star Citizen backer is to look at the facts. How long has the project being going, versus what is the current state of the project. Are you happy with 2.6.1? If you are then jolly good, if not then look at getting a refund. This is not about the current state of the game, it’s where you will think the game will be in three months? Based on the current release cycle, do you really see 3.0 being released in three months?
Derek SmartI was also asked my opinion of Derek Smart repeatedly, I think although he can come across as very strong and very abrasive which I think is part of an act or persona on his part, his heart seems to be in the right place. Personified reactions of Derek Smart on Star Citizen and CIG aside, I think he does deliberately push the proverbial buttons of groups like /r/dereksmart and his detractors and he knows how to get them to bite “aka 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months”.
If anything the responses to Derek Smart by detractors do more to leverage and help Derek Smart’s viewpoint than Derek could reach himself. If anything broadcasting what Derek Smart is doing on a tweet to tweet basis only enhances his standing and promoting his viewpoint as a legitimate source for criticism of the Star Citizen project and CIG. What people forget is Derek Smart is one person and there are a collective group of people lashing out against Derek everytime he mentions Star Citizen.
It’s not what detractors see; it’s what other people see outside the Star Citizen group. Good point is if any normal, rational human being looked at /r/dereksmart, outside of CIG / Star Citizen Universe, what would they think about Star Citizen? If anything Derek should put /r/dereksmart on his payroll as they’ve done more to promote the idea of Star Citizen as a cult, hate group, Star Citizen as an ineffective product than anything Derek Smart could ever say. This also expands to /r/starcitizen, Chris Roberts official response to The Escapist Article and even the CIG forums. Basically Derek Smart baits them into lashing out and recording / reporting his views.
As an outsider, my initial take on CIG and Star Citizen was very different – that was as a potential employee. It was only until viewing /r/dereksmart that I reached out to Derek Smart’s forums in the first place. What I’ll be interested in and some backers should watch, is if this post ends up on /r/dereksmart or not, bearing in mind it has not been written by Derek Smart and only relates to Star Citizen / CIG, although I am seen as a detractor of Star Citizen / CIG / Chris Roberts.
Remember this all started when Derek Smart apparently broken the rules and got a refund for promoting his LoD game series on the Star Citizen forums despite there being no posts from Derek there.
TL;DR is /r/dereksmart played right into Derek Smart’s hands by legitimising talk on the toxic star citizen community by doing the very same thing he wanted them to.
