Star Citizen Media Musings

[dsmart]

Just a heads up, links are not working, at least for me.

I read the NYT article and tbh, its more like a lukewarm enumeration of past events without really going into the concerns this game has brought up so far, which is sad. Interesting read nonethless, thanks for bringing this to attention.
Hopefully the coming articles will be a bit more scrutinizing.

OldSchoolCmdr's post though, is once again spot on. That guy is absolutely awesome and relentless! Plus he has such a good way with words it's just a pleasure to read his posts.

Links fixed. Thanks.

And yeah, that guy is something else. You know what's hilarious though? Some of those guys think I'm him. Which is hilarious because if I am him, that would mean I've been causing them a lot new and improved aggravation these past two weeks. Man, those guys are dumb. 

[dsmart]

Crowdfunded Star Citizen raises over $148 million, but release date has been postponed indefinitely

[dsmart]

Example of the effect Star Citizen has on the industry. From a weekend panel. Jonny Watts on the left (CCO of Frontier) / Mariina Hallikainen (CEO of Colossal Order) / Johan Andersson on the right (EVP Creative Direction, Paradox Development Studio)

https://clips.twitch.tv/MiniatureUglyGoblinFeelsBadMan

https://clips.twitch.tv/TiredProtectiveGarbageBudBlast

[dsmart]

I am completely shocked Star Citizen is #2 "Failure To Launch: The 15 Biggest Kickstarter Fails"

[Motto]

Their latest financial move has made it to CGMagazine

[dsmart]

Star Citizen studio responds to rumors of financial crisis

Star Citizen gives bank rights to game as collateral for loan

Star Citizen studio seeks to calm fan fears it faces financial issues

[dsmart]

https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/880152129087963143

UPDATE: 06/28/17:

I ran through this with an attorney who deals with IP law, as well as another that works for a bank on software company acquisitions, loans etc. The main issue of contention and ambiguity are: does Coutts Bank now own Squadron 42 or Star Citizen, and is Star Citizen excluded from the security pledge?

As the bank isn't a publisher, the word "ownership" is tenuous in this regard. Fact is that, the bank has a "controlling interest" in Squadron 42 (which we assumed to be the "Game" defined in the charge), and in so doing, also has some interests in various aspects of Star Citizen. If this were a publisher, such an interest would give them the means to exercise various types of actions (e.g. design input, marketing, distribution etc) in exploiting the property. But the bank, while having this same insight, isn't likely to exercise it because, well, they are bankers, not publishers or game developers.

Instead, the bank has i) secured the aforementioned aspects, while giving to the studio, the rights to continue working on, and exploiting the product as they have been doing ii) excluded specific (the ambiguous part) aspects of Star Citizen.

For this to be a bit clearer, we have to take a close look at the these two definitions which appear on p22 - 23 of the PDF filing (29 page JPEG album).

Collateral means the Chargor's right, title and interest in and to (i) the property charged pursuant to Clauses 4.1 and 4.2 hereof and (ii) the property assigned pursuant to Clause 5 hereof; excluding in all cases the Excluded Collateral;

Excluded Collateral means (i) the assets that have been charged pursuant to the Nat West Security Agreement; and (ii) all Intellectual Property Rights and all exploitation and distribution and other rights and all title, interest and materials with respect to the video game provisionally entitled "Star Citizen";

We also have to look at sections 4.2.2 and 4.2.5 on p7 of the PDF.

4.2.2 the Game Assets and the Distribution Rights

4.2.5 all digital material and sound and visual material made or to be made incorporating or reproducing all or any part of the Game; and

The ambiguity (to those who don't know software development, or that Squadron 42 is built from Star Citizen code, engine, assets etc) is in whether or not Star Citizen is really excluded in toto from the "Collateral". It is, but only certain aspects (e.g. the name) of it. In Section 4.2.5 "digital material" is blanket coverage of everything digital, which includes source code. Since Squadron 42 uses engine code and other assets from Star Citizen, it stands to reason that those assets are also secured.

And this how all Star Citizen tech and assets came to be inadvertently secured in this Charge. Of course if they don't default on the loan, or go bust at some point in time, none of this matters because then there won't be any dispute as to how much of Star Citizen is contained in Squadron 42.

[StanTheMan]

The fact that there could be a legal issue of how much of the code of Star Citizen Coutts have a charge and controlling interest on is no help for Backers wanting to ignore this loan and the issues surrounding it.

Not that you would think that to read the nonchalant cursory replies of most on the Star Citizen Reddit that demonstrate they don't care for facts and want thin reassurances from Liarmouth instead.

[dsmart]

The fact that there could be a legal issue of how much of the code of Star Citizen Coutts have a charge and controlling interest on is no help for Backers wanting to ignore this loan and the issues surrounding it.

Not that you would think that to read the nonchalant cursory replies of most on the Star Citizen Reddit that demonstrate they don't care for facts and want thin reassurances from Liarmouth instead.

Precisely. And it's not even that they don't care for facts, they will just disregard such serious things out of hand because any manner of dissent - especially one that I am apparently the instigator of - is an act of war.

In this instance, they know - fully well - that without Star Citizen tech, assets etc, there is no Squadron 42. Yet, despite the fact that this is true, and SHOULD be a cause for concern, they would rather disregard and wave it off. Luckily not all backers are in a cult, or stupid enough to not understand what they were reading.

[dsmart]

The Master of None

An extreme example would be to compare, say, House of the Dying Sun with Star Citizen. House of the Dying Sun is a pared-back, bare-bones space combat simulator reminiscent of the old X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter games. It offers a modest selection of short, intense dogfighting missions and literally nothing else. Meanwhile the harried Star Citizen devs are modelling everything from office furniture to working toilets, and the space combat side of things, ostensibly the beating heart of the game, has kind of fallen by the wayside.

[dsmart]

Guard Frequency » Guard Frequency Episode 174 | It’s not Rocket Finance

http://guardfrequency.com/174

The "Coutts loan" fun starts around 08:00

ps: Don't everyone chant "Derek Smart was right" all at once. Do pace yourselves.

[Ghostmaker]

Guard Frequency » Guard Frequency Episode 174 | It’s not Rocket Finance

http://guardfrequency.com/174

The "Coutts loan" fun starts around 08:00

ps: Don't everyone chant "Derek Smart was right" all at once. Do pace yourselves.

Well. Hm. That was a thing.

They don't seem very fond of Freyermuth, either.

[StanTheMan]

Guard Frequency » Guard Frequency Episode 174 | It’s not Rocket Finance

http://guardfrequency.com/174

The "Coutts loan" fun starts around 08:00

ps: Don't everyone chant "Derek Smart was right" all at once. Do pace yourselves.

Well. Hm. That was a thing.

They don't seem very fond of Freyermuth, either.

Surely the thing to take away from this is - little to see here - potentially.

Freymouth doing what he does, Coutts not likely to have taken the business if they thought a default was on the cards ?

Perhaps I need to listen to it again.

[dsmart]

Guard Frequency » Guard Frequency Episode 174 | It’s not Rocket Finance

http://guardfrequency.com/174

The "Coutts loan" fun starts around 08:00

ps: Don't everyone chant "Derek Smart was right" all at once. Do pace yourselves.

Well. Hm. That was a thing.

They don't seem very fond of Freyermuth, either.

Surely the thing to take away from this is - little to see here - potentially.

Only if you're a Shitizen who didn't understand any of it.

[dsmart]

Star Citizen - Procedural Moons - My Analysis