Star Citizen – Scoops

[dsmart]

KOTAKU (UK) ON-GOING STAR CITIZEN INVESTIGATION

Kotaku (UK) is working on a five-part series of Star Citizen articles as part of their on-going investigations into the project.

1. Inside the Troubled Development of Star Citizen
2. The 24-Year Feud That Has Dogged Star Citizen (English translation of “Star Crisis” article in Swedish LEVEL mag, June 2016)
3. Who Are the Star Citizen Superbackers? (re-print of an August 2016 article)
4. What Happened to Star Marine, Star Citizen’s Missing Module
5. What to Make of Star Citizen (added on 09/30)

The Star Marine one is pretty interesting as I had already covered it extensively in one of my blogs; and is also covered here. I had even hinted on Twitter that the problems with that project being scrapped, were not solely (if at all) the fault of Illfonic. Since last year I had said that due to the NDA, Illfonic couldn’t defend themselves from the accusations from backers that they were responsible for the fate of Star Marine. Reading the 1st and 4th articles above, it becomes clear that the same problems that plagued Star Citizen proper, also plagued Star Marine.

The interesting part is that, even after going on the record and saying that Star Marine was already released and in Star Citizen, he recently (coincidentally just ahead of GamesCom2016) started talking about it again as coming soon; no doubt to reduce the liability associated with the cancellation of a prominent module that backers had paid for – in full.

This is Star Marine in 2014. Nope; definitely not in the current Star Citizen build.

Then there’s the wall of lies by Ben Lesnick, which also mentions Star Marine back in 2015.

Another titbit, we got word of how Chris Roberts became involved in that first Kotaku article.

“I alluded to this earlier, but the original article was due to come out before Gamescom and initially contained no Roberts at all. Then, during the standard request for comment, the Big Man himself couldn’t resist handling things personally, thinking there would be no better source for disproving the vicious rumours (or, you know, doing anything because he’s the best and knows all the best words) than himself.

Prior to him getting wind of the article, it was probably going to be some F42 people (presumably Erin and an equally cagey backup), and you can imagine how different the final article would have been in that situation.

All in all its just a repeat of the Escapist fiasco from last year. At a time where no info is still the best info for the project, he waded in there and needlessly made another mess. If the gossip about Ortwin turns out to be true I don’t doubt it’s because he’s finally realised Chris is a liability beyond anyone’s control.“

Chris truly is his own worst enemy. Seriously, if he wasn’t involved in that first article, it would certainly have not only read differently, but also won’t have cast him and the project in such a poor light. It’s quite revealing, and shows all the same behavioral traits from his past (solo or joint) endeavors (all of which btw, ended up being catastrophic failures) after Wing Commander.

STAR CITIZEN 3.0 (JESUS PATCH) COMING IN 2016

Chris lied (again) to raise money at GamesCom2016. It’s just not happening. The End.

Even the upcoming 2.6 patch (the last one before the big leap to all the 3.0 promises) is currently in the first Evocati testing stage. It doesn’t contain Star Marine. It’s now Oct 2016.

UPDATE: In today’s pre-recorded AtV broadcast (16:19), they’ve now gone on the record saying that what Evocati are now testing, isn’t even 2.6, but 2.5x. Which means that 2.6 – whatever that is – will be their end of year patch. My sides.

CHRIS IS AT IT AGAIN

So last week, two new interviews (1, 2) popped up over at GamersNexus. This time he’s gone on the record again promising even more new features. This time, seeing as he is on the procedural planets roll, he’s gone and promised planetary weather patterns and solar positioning of stellar bodies. In a game where every asset that’s part of the scene is either static or with an animation (e.g. the rotating parts of the station) controller. Aside from the fact that it’s all blatant lies, it’s yet another example of the feature (assuming they actually do it) creep that has plagued this project. Remember, they don’t even have planetary landings yet; let alone a fully built star system from the 100 that was promised during the campaign back in 2012.

Oh, and it’s no longer the Best Damn Space Sim Ever. It’s now the Best Damn Everything Sim. Yeah. Of course those key parts are now being picked up by the media and propagated.

Some hilarious titbits from the GamersNexus interview.

1. Says the Sun doesn’t move around our solar system (6:50). Which most of us who are into the sort of thing, know to be false. The Sun is actually moving through our galaxy. The gravity of the stars (billions of them) within it, are what keep the Sun at the relative center of the galaxy where it maintains an orbit. But yes, it does move.
2. Thinks The Morrow Tour (SQ42 reveal) from CitizenCon2015 looked terrific (4:37). Here, you take a look.
3. Talks about the short term thinking that drove all their previous iterations & presentations (11:18). Gee, who knew? We’ve all known and seen how they end up showing material as “Coming Soon“, yet never to see the light of day. The trend continues as recently as this past GamesCom2016 presentation, and is expected to continue again in the upcoming CitizenCon2016 fundraiser on Oct 9th.

What’s even more hilarious in all these recent interviews is that he keeps talking about Elite Dangerous as a competitor. This despite the fact that not only is that game (also crowd-funded prior to release) out, and making vast improvements in leaps and bounds, but is also technologically superior in every way. And even so, they aren’t modeling our galaxy at a 1:1 level of fidelity. Yet, there he is, talking up a bunch of crap about a sci-fi based universe that’s supposed to be competing at the same level.

He is never going to learn. At all.

AND THEN CAME BEN

This (we have history) clueless, racist, incompetent buffoon, is the single worst thing that could have ever happened to this project. Next to Chris, and Sandi, he’s this project’s prime liability. And I for one, can’t wait to read his deposition. For those of you who have forgotten how this fool got involved in a project that many believe is now an on-going scam, go watch this interview segment from Feb 2014. And you can read his legacy (1, 2, 3) archived for posterity, complete with homophobic, racist, antisemitic comments. Then there’s this rant against backers. Yes – he works for CIG/RSI.

With the Star Marine fiasco in full swing, and backers expecting (<— LOL!!) it to be in upcoming 2.6 patch as promised (<— LOL!!) by CIG/RSI, he recently went on an interview (5:59) in which he was asked a specific and direct question about it. He was taken off guard. Seriously, this is a 100% accurate transcript of that answer.

Batgirl
“You have had an opportunity to PLAY and not talk about yet, STAR MARINE, that’s gonna be coming to us in a few short weeks, I hope SOONER than that, but… since the EVOCATI doesn’t have it I’m gonna say ‘a few short weeks’, um…”

Ben Lesnick
(grins) fingers crossed!

Batgirl
“Yeah, fingers crossed, I know how you go, there’s always SOMETHING that’ll keep it from coming out and we wanna know and make sure that it’s ready to be TESTED and not just be BROKEN… so… I mean that’s what we’re DOING… um… but… but… even FPS in this game is more about SUPPORTING each other than just KILLING each other, what are your thoughts from the few hours that you got to spend in STAR MARINE?

Is that… am I getting that same feeling?”

Ben Lesnick
“EEee-yeah it’s very team based… but uh… it… it’s still that kinda FPS experience… definitely you fighting other PEOPLE. Uhh… I… I… I think it’s more than just the GAMEPLAY with STAR CITIZEN, it’s more… we have all these people behind the IDEA of doing FPS differently… an-ya-nuh nobody goes into… the latest BATTLEFIELD er… BATTLE… I keep calling… CALL OF DUTY saying, ‘oh what, what kind of technological improvement is it’, it’s more… you know…

I don’t know where I’m going with this…

But…

Duh… it… it feels like we have all these people with a FULL UNDERSTANDING of what goes into the GAME, ah… we… I think… which helps you a lot“

Yeah.

STAR CITIZEN ACCOUNTS VS CITIZENS NUMBERS

I have a high profile source who has managed to explain to me just how exactly the funding chart (powered by Turbulent) works. And I have a new blog in the works related to that one. I have written many times that most of us have reason to believe that the chart is inaccurate, and that it appears to be manipulated to show health and interest in the project. As these things go, nothing short of a State or Fed investigation, or a lawsuit, will be able to get to the bottom of that. Naturally, some people have resorted to scraping it as well. Heck, this is Chris himself proclaiming one million citizens milestone back on Oct 4th, 2015.

This project has so far raised over $124 million with zero oversight and financial accountability – both of which were promised to backers (see Section VII) from the onset. Notwithstanding the fact that with the June 2016 ToS, they not only removed (see comparison) the ability to get refunds, but also changed most of the terms related to that, as well as financial accountability.

To compound the issue is the fact that, all this time, nobody in the media has seen fit to ask Chris the real backer numbers for the project. If they did, they were probably told off-the-record, or the question wasn’t answered. In either case, why is it such a secret? The simply answer is that it’s better to say the game has 1.5 million backers, than to say that’s 1.5 million accounts, of which barely 500K (as of when we last scrapped the metrics) are backers (who put money into the game).

In fact, just a few months ago, a statement made to the media as to the veracity of this 500K number, went largely unnoticed, as it was made to an obscure magazine in an interview of Turbulent, the guys who built, and run it for CIG/RSI. Here, take a look at the original French version, and the English version. See anything missing? Well, this part does not appear in the English version.

BREAKING NEWS! EXPLOSIVE NEW LEAKS!

The rumors and leaks keep on coming – and from most of the studios associated with the project. The most prominent rumors that seem to be picking up steam are that layoffs and high-profile exits are coming, that they’ve literally run out of money to build Chris’s dreams in the long term, and that Sandi and/or Ortwin may be on the way out.

Though we’re still trying to get first hand confirmation with the authorities, there is also word that a complaint was filed with the CA Department of Labor regarding overtime at the studio. This is a very big deal because the labor dept in most states, are very strict about this sort of thing. Just ask the many companies – including game companies – who have run afoul of it and came away with heavy fines, time consuming investigations etc. Note that this overtime crunch period also appeared in the first Kotaku article.

“The fines are the least significant cost. I had a couple friends who had a job where they apparently had to be there at work 15 minutes before their shift due to IT shenanigans but were never paid for it. This went on for years. Apparently, Department of Labor got an anonymous letter from someone working there, they investigated and found the company violated labor laws. This opened them up to a civil class action suit which resulted in not just the current employees of the company but former employees as well getting paid that extra 15 minutes at time and half for every day they worked there, minus lawyer fees. My friends got about $2000-3000 each for working there almost ten years.

Now, here, we have CIG employees that have over 80 hour weeks and 36 hour days and not getting paid for overtime. Even the 90-day probationary employees who worked then left would probably be looking at 250-500 hours overtime in their work history and (I’ll pull $20/hourly for entry-level creative work), that’s about $5k to $10k per those employees. And CIG was a revolving door. They’re looking at least $2- to $3 million in overtime pay alone.“

Whale backers are still frantically trying to get their money out of the project. In the past 24hrs, a backer with over $11K finally got a refund after almost two months of wrangling.

TheAgent is back!

Once again, TheAgent is back with more leaks and rumors. As always, a hefty vial of salt is highly recommended.

• the leaker back in august told me there was new mocap going to be put in after citcon in october
• but! sandi has been getting paid to do the fill in mocap for the female models for the last few months
• and! sandi will also be in the new scenes in october/november
• these are not technically “reshoots” since its new material, but had to be added since some actors are no longer available or desire to work with roberts and the script was rewritten (again, for the 3rd time after principle shooting)
• the last leak on mocap shooting was $29m, is now a projected $40m+ (one person said 60m but I dont believe that
• unconfirmed: ortwin is now distancing himself from the project, requesting a buyout
• confirmed: legal ramifications for unpaid overtime due to an “anonymous letter” sent to the california labor commissioner
• 3 absolutely key guys are leaving
• the money has run out
• les dennis is appearing in sq42
• cig are being sued for 50 mill + by a group of investors and whales
• an ex senior staff member has been questioned by police after a xxxxx was brutally xxxxx in a xxxxxx

CITIZENCON 2016 CASTING CALL

So, in what can only be called filler for the show, CIG/RSI put out a call for backers to do a short video. Not judging though, but here, please introduce yourself to “saviors of PC Gaming“. Enjoy.

[dsmart]

STAR CITIZEN FINANCIALS – THE SMOKING ROCKET LAUNCHER

Back in 2012 when Star Citizen went to crowd-funding on Kickstarter, one of the most important carrot sticks that was dangled in front of potential backers, and which remains in place today (even though the wording has been changed with the June 2016 update), was financial accountability for the project if they failed to deliver within 12 months (later changed to 18) months of the promised Nov 2014 deadline. There are two sections of the ToS which tie into i) refunds ii) use of funds iii) accountability for funds

In v1.2 of the ToS, which was current up until June 10, 2016 the following appears in Section VII

“RSI agrees to use its good faith business efforts to deliver to you the pledge items and the Game on or before the estimated delivery date communicated to you on the Website. However, you acknowledge and agree that delivery as of such date is not a firm promise and may be extended by RSI since unforeseen events may extend the development and/or production time. Accordingly, you agree that any unearned portion of your Pledge shall not be refundable until and unless RSI has failed to deliver the relevant pledge items and/or the Game to you within eighteen (18) months after the estimated delivery date.

For the avoidance of doubt, in consideration of RSI’s good faith efforts to develop, produce, and deliver the Game with the funds raised, you agree that any Pledge amounts applied against the Pledge Item Cost and the Game Cost shall be non-refundable regardless of whether or not RSI is able to complete and deliver the Game and/or the pledge items. In the unlikely event that RSI is not able to deliver the Game and/or the pledge items, RSI agrees to post an audited cost accounting on the Website to fully explain the use of the amounts paid for Pledge Item Cost and the Game Cost. In consideration of the promises by RSI hereunder, you agree that you shall irrevocably waive any claim for refund of any Pledge that has been used for the Game Cost and Pledge Item Cost in accordance with the above.”

In the June 10, 2016 ToS, the above section was changed to the following. This widespread outcry sparked numerous backers to immediately ask for a refund. I covered some of those issues in my Refund Debacle blog back in July.

“RSI agrees to use its good faith business efforts to deliver to you the pledge items and the Game on or before the estimated delivery date communicated to you on the Website. However, you acknowledge and agree that delivery as of such date is not a firm promise and may be extended by RSI since unforeseen events may extend the development and/or production time. Accordingly, you agree that any unearned portion of your Pledge shall not be refundable until and unless RSI has ceased development and failed to deliver the relevant pledge items and/or the Game to you. (Pledges made under previous Terms of Services continue to be governed by the corresponding clause of the Terms of Services, or of the Commercial Terms, as applicable, which were in effect at the time of making the Pledge).

For the avoidance of doubt, in consideration of RSI’s good faith efforts to develop, produce, and deliver the Game with the funds raised, you agree that any Pledge amounts applied against the Pledge Item Cost and the Game Cost shall be non-refundable regardless of whether or not RSI is able to complete and deliver the Game and/or the pledge items. In the unlikely event that RSI is not able to deliver the Game and/or the pledge items, RSI agrees to refund any unearned portion of your Pledge, and to post an audited cost accounting on the Website to fully explain the use of the amounts paid for Pledge Item Cost and the Game Cost. In consideration of the promises by RSI hereunder, you agree that you shall irrevocably waive any claim for refund of any Pledge that has been used for the Game Cost and Pledge Item Cost in accordance with the above.“

You can see all the material changes to both the old and new ToS versions.

Here’s the thing. As per the above, backers who don’t agree to the new ToS, are 100% entitled to a no-questions-asked refund. Until this ToS change fiasco, coupled with the numerous complaints to State and Fed officials, it was very difficult – and near impossible – to get a refund. But people (recently a whale pulled out $11K) are getting them now, though the process is reported to still be fraught with complexities, numerous back and forth shenanigans, delays etc. But the new ToS makes it near impossible to get a refund.

Those who agree to the new ToS, either as existing or new backers, are faced with the possibility that they will never get a refund. Most people (especially gamers who think they’re rubbish anyway) don’t read the fine print. So let me interpret that fine print.

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If RSI is unable to complete the game, that means they have run out of time and money. So where exactly would the refunds be coming from? If the funding chart is accurate (it’s not – but wait for my upcoming blog), it stands to reason that after raising $124 million (see breakdown) from backers over a four year period,  if they failed to deliver, even without refunding media subscriptions – which they don’t – they would still have to refund the cost of undelivered physical goods, as well as the pre-purchase (no, it’s not a pledge – so stop it) of the game. Last we checked, subscriptions hadn’t even broken the $1 million barrier. So when RSI fails to deliver – as they already have, two years later – it will be a total loss; and there would be no money left to give refunds. Think about it; if they had money to give refunds, they won’t be closing up shop, would they?

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Now here’s the fun part. Outside of legal, State or Fed action, they have no incentive to provide the financial accounting promised to backers. If they had nothing to hide, and they intended to provide it, there would be no need to keep revising (it’s on its 4th revision btw) the ToS, even as they reduce their liability, and hang backers out to dry with those changes. So, most of us believe that they won’t provide it because aside from wasteful spending, unjust enrichment by the execs, and claims of malfeasance, revealing those financials would give backers cause for concern, and of course give people like me even more reason to be shouting from the rafters. It would also no doubt show that not only are they running on empty – as claimed by several sources – but that’s why they have to keep using objectionable (creating canned demos to show progress, selling pictures of ships etc) tactics to continue raising money. It’s not unlike a Ponzi scheme; seriously. And that’s precisely how most of us expect it to eventually collapse. It won’t be a slow burn (see Godus and its ilk); but a sudden, catastrophic collapse. With four official studios worldwide, and almost a dozen more operating as contractors, and with over 300 employees/contractors, they have to be burning around $3 million or more per month – easy. Which means that, for all intent and purposes, unless they are making that kind of money each month, they’re probably running at an operating loss (spending more than they are making each month).

The question of what happens to money given to companies, is one that most backers aren’t focused on; even though it’s the smoking rocket launcher in the case of Star Citizen. Which is why, even though private US companies aren’t required to share their financials with the public, over in the UK, they are required to do so. Heck, Frontier Developments Plc, makers of Elite Dangerious, have theirs regularly filed (1, 2). And so, with three (1, 2, 3) entities still late on filing their 2016 accounts, we are still waiting to see what those numbers are; as they will in fact shed light on the financials of the US companies associated with them. As of this writing, they are late – again – on those filings. But according to discussions with Companies House, companies have two (it used to be three) months after the deadline in which to file, before facing higher fines and ultimately criminal prosecution of the directors. Which means that they have until Dec 1st to file.

Problem is, unless and until State or Fed agencies, banks, or investors takes action, the only way for backers to get these financials, is to file a lawsuit and obtain them either through discovery, or as a resolution to the suit. Right now any backer on the old ToS – with or without an attorney – can sue them for those financials seeing as they have missed the 18 month cure period to deliver as promised. But they are bound by arbitration (see Section XXII) which heavily favors (1, 2, 3, 4) corporations. But guess what? Even so, CIG will just refund them; and probably (depending on the arbitrating judge) never have to provide those financials. That would be the end of the matter. So they might as well give refunds; which is cheaper and has less PR nightmares for them.

In one of my blogs, I stated the following related to the financials as it ties into the executives who are relatives (Chris, Sandi, Erin – Roberts) and lifelong friends (Nick & Simon Elms, Derek Senior), most of whom were part of the Gizmondo collapse from a few years back, and which I covered in an earlier blog. Notwithstanding the fact that every single known venture that Chris has been involved in since leaving the games industry over a decade ago, has ultimately collapsed.

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“Please ask them if it’s true that: after they founded a studio (Foundry42-UK) to help develop this game, and Chris pulled in his brother and childhood friends in from another company to head it, that less than two years later, another subsidiary (associated with the project) then turned around and bought the company back from those very people. Thus taking out a significant amount of wealth out of the project and putting it into the pockets of those very friends and family. While still paying his brother Erin, what amounts to almost $250K in yearly salary; not including benefits or bonuses – which aren’t disclosed. Aside from this being reported to be almost 3x what he was making at his previous company, it’s also 2x the average for a director in the Manchester region.”

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For those of you clueless as to how a business runs, note that just because you have several shell companies, multiple studios, and hundreds of employees, doesn’t mean squat in terms of longevity, or financial health, let alone the internal state of the company. It’s all in the financials. And for a $124 million crowd-funded project – not taking into account investor amounts, loans etc – those financials are vital in determining whether or not they can in fact deliver on promises. Obviously RSI knew this, which is why they put that clause as a carrot stick in the ToS right from the beginning. Then, as with everything else, have thus far failed to keep their promise; even as they float the money across several shell companies.

Homework: Go look at Frontier’s company/team size, and their burn rate (it’s in their financials). And that’s one studio.

THE LUDICROUSNESS CONTINUES

RSI isn’t operating like a company that is flush with cash, let alone one that has ample cash reserves as Chris Roberts – who has the uncanny ability to lie on cue, even without reason – has claimed. They have continued to use a series of carefully planned and staged tactics designed to continue bilking backers (probably investors as well) in order to raise money. And with a few backers (approximately 2000 last time we ran the metrics), still funding the project, there is seemingly no incentive for them to stop using these practices. They pulled the same stunt this past August at the Gamescom2016 event – to the tune of $4.4 million total take for the month. Based on what many believe to be lies. Multiple sources have in fact confirmed that the demo shown – aside from the analysis by myself and others following the event – was staged for the event in order to show progress. Just like they’ve done before in the past.

 

And naturally, as part of the on-going fundraising effort, they’re still selling JPEGs of ships. The latest being the above concept ship. This aside from the fact that the engineering debt on those is currently so high, that last we checked, not even 50% of the ships sold, have been created, let alone implemented in the game. And with the upcoming yearly CitizenCon2016 event on Oct 9th, they announced another “concept” sale.

From the latest upcoming sale, ponder this. That’s $750 (not a typo) for an image of a ship, for a game that doesn’t yet exist.

Amid all this, remember that Chris Roberts this past April, came out and flat-out said that the first official release of the game, will be a Minimum Viable Product, instead of the full game promised back in 2012. This after five years, and having raised $124 million.

All of these actions and statements are enough for backers to have questions about how long the company can be a Going Concern, and also what has happened to all this money.

As I’ve stated before, how people choose to spend their money, is up to them. However, the few who, going through Sunk Cost Fallacy, and continuing to pour money into this train-wreck, can only speak for themselves. There are others who just want the game they were promised, or a refund in full. RSI cannot deliver the product promised; this is no longer in question because it’s now a foregone conclusion. What’s in question is what will they have achieved and delivered before they either start the inevitable down-sizing, or when the predicted catastrophic collapse comes?

And what should be even more concerning is that this game – as designed – relies on a very expensive server backend to operate. Built like an MMO, complete with cloud server backend, with database access etc, it simply cannot operate without someone footing the expensive monthly bill. There is no single-player. There is no peer-to-peer networking with private servers which ensures players can play the game once the servers go dark. That’s what a catastrophic collapse of the project means. And anyone still giving them money, knowing all this, amid the high risk and broken promises associated with this project, will lose their money when they fail to deliver.

[dsmart]

STAR CITIZEN PROGRESS

Ahead of the GamesCom event in August, I had said that Chris was – again – going to be making stuff up in order to raise money. During that event, he – again – made some lofty promises in relation to a much touted 3.0 (aka Jesus Patch) patch. Aside from the fact that sources had claimed that most of that stuff wasn’t even implemented at the time he made those statements, he has again used a tech demo as a means to show progress. A demo which, much like the one shown in the CitizenCon event of Oct, wasn’t even part of the current game proper. And so, here we are at the end of October, and not even the much awaited 2.6 patch is in community (Evocati) testing.

 

And the hilarity of it all is that even though Chris went on stage and claimed that 3.0 would be coming at the end of the year, in keeping with the tradition (NOTE: That’s only happened once, back in Dec 2015. So we have no clue what tradition he’s talking about), some in the community are now trying to pass it off as if he never did say that. Well, he did (start at 23:42).

To say that the natives are getting restless (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) would be an understatement. I mean, threads like this, in which almost 50% now don’t expect the game before 2019, which would normally be hidden away in the “concern” sub-forum, are still visible. And it’s not just on Reddit or the official forums; the dissent is getting louder by the day.

Not to mention the fact that the needle on the stretch goal promises list as of this writing, hasn’t even moved; and there’s nothing in 2.6 that would even cause it to do so.

Amid all that, you’d think that CIG/RSI would be focused on showing backers relevant development progress, instead of spending time on tech demos designed specifically to portray progress, while milking backers for even more money. But as we’ve now learned, the upcoming holiday stream is going to be showcasing ships (their primary commodity and source of income btw) as well as other peripheral irrelevant nonsense; all designed to continue raising money.

SQUADRON 42 PROGRESS

Sources say that it’s coming along, and that a trailer is quite possibly coming by year end. Which doesn’t mean squat; seeing as it was touted to be released back in 2014; and nobody has seen anything of it in over a year since the rubbish Morrow Tour tech demo was shown in late 2015 – at yet another event.

The issue with SQ42 is that a trailer is just going to be regarded as just another trailer in the list of trailers and tech demos they have been releasing; and in which most are either not reflective of the game, or which will never make it into the game. That fact that it’s over two years late, no demo for, or testing by backers, is testament to the fact that not only is it several months away, but simply isn’t in any production ready state which would facilitate even a live demo walkthrough.

On the tech side of things, aside from the fact that it shares the same engine as Star Citizen (aka Persistent Universe), it’s going to be interesting to see how exactly it is they are planning on shipping Squadron 42 ahead of Star Citizen, when in fact they both share an engine which, for all intent and purposes, is still very much in a major state of flux. For example, SC is currently at 2.5 (the Evocati testers are at 2.5.1). So let’s assume for argument sake that they do release 3.0 patch in Mar 2017, then SQ42 EP1 comes out in May. That would mean the latter is based on a subset of the 3.0 engine kernel, seeing as 4.0 is now targeted for end of 2017. Now they have to issue on-going patches for a released game (SQ42 EP1) and a work-in-progress game (SC) which has several interconnecting modules.

So basically, they would be releasing a “finished” game, based on an engine that’s still very much work-in-progress. Not to mention the fact that he’s recently been going on about having procedurally generated planetary terrain, when in fact what was shown, and what they seemingly have, is basically a pre-generated height map with 3D assets manually placed on it. Like this (that’s based on the same CryEngine3 sub-set from which they built this StarEngine btw).

That aside, if you have seen how they literally abandoned the Hangar, Arena Commander modules, canceled Star Marine etc, while focusing on the PU, it’s easy to see what will happen when SQ42 gets released and enters the mix.

Read more about this scheduling nonsense in my recent Shattered Dreams blog.

But it gets better. At $5 million funded, Chris promised 50 (!) missions (among other vague things) for SQ42. That was back when the package was the game, plus a “Behind Enemy Lines” mission disk for all backers who pledged before $6 million. Then in an April 2015 “10 For The Chairman” broadcast, Chris again not only made lofty promises, but he split the game into episodes. This time, the base game would be EP1, the mission disk would be EP2, and the story would continue in EP3. There’s a long Reddit discussion about that, if you want to look it up. Despite the fact that I had reported it long before he even made it public, in Feb 2016, he officially announced the split of SQ42 from SC. We all laughed.

What’s interesting about all this is the fact that most of the backers are already entitled to ALL these games. So if you consider that the funding is all pre-orders, it’s easy to see how this scheme is going to absolutely collapse if they can’t somehow monetize these games going forward. They’ve been doing just that with SC, but so far, no clue on how they plan on doing it with SQ42. One theory is that, seeing as nobody knows what EP1 to EP3 are supposed to contain, it’s feasible that the 50 (disregard that Reddit nonsense of 70 missions; he never said that) missions are going to be spread out in some fashion. In that aforementioned broadcast, he mentioned EP1 as having “about 21 chapters with over 70 Wing Commander style missions, spanning about 20 hrs of gameplay”. Nobody knows how many missions are in a chapter. So ponder this. Do you really think that the running time for 50 missions is “about 20 hrs”?

Seeing as they change things on the fly, my guess is that they are going to release a Minimum Viable Product for both EP1 and EP2 since they’re already in “debt” to backers for those; then try to somehow monetize EP3 to everyone. This is all assuming that they even survive 2017.

The other thing to remember is that once they release EP1 as a finished product, it is going to be reviewed as such, and automatically be associated with Star Citizen proper. If what sources are telling me turns out to be true, that the visuals look good – not great, the script is atrocious, the cut-scene acting piss-poor, the game rife with cut-scenes, and the “gameplay” is the usual cookie-cutter nonsense, it’s going to get absolutely ripped by media and gamers. Completely. All of these things contribute to Chris’s hesitation at showing this project to media, let alone the backers who have paid for it. He knows fully well that the minute this gets shown in any playable form, if it’s not the masterpiece that he thinks (only he thinks this btw, several sources have unequivocally stated that it’s crap) it is, then it’s game over.

Which brings me to today’s Sandi hilarity. At the 0:40 mark, after Forrest talks about what they are working on, she made a comment “so nothing’s happening then” after the mention of Squadron 42. No doubt this was meant to be a sarcastic jab at dissenters who have been upset about SQ42 not being shown at the recent CitizenCon, let alone released in 2016. Of course, since she has no training in media relations – let alone marketing of any kind – this sort of comment, in complete disrespect to the very backers who made them rich, is somehow perfectly normal.

In case you missed it, read more about the SQ42 fiasco in my Star Citizen – The Shafting blog.

MEMBER OF STAR CITIZEN COMMUNITY ARRESTED, ARRAIGNED ON PEDOPHILE CHARGES

On the darker side of The Farce, we have reports that one Shawn Thomas Weixelman (aka Fuzzy Modem), who has been prolific in attacking me and others for “saying bad stuff about the train-wreck that is the Star Citizen project” has reportedly been indicted in Alaska on serious felony charges. This was first spotted about two months ago in a comment posted on his YouTube page, but it wasn’t until the last 24 hrs, that more details came to light. As reported in the news and court reports (case # 4FA-16-01486CR <– if that doesn’t work, search by the case number), he was arraigned on July 22nd and held without bail, less than 24hrs after his last activity in the Star Citizen community.

As someone with a Shotgun (Star Citizen’s dev feedback platform) he interacted with some members of the team, including Sandi Gardiner (who he goes out of his way to defend at every opportunity) who mentions (18:37) him in the Oct 22nd 2015 episode of “Around the Verse: Episode 2.04” broadcast. And this is him from the May 2, 2014 episode of “The Next Great Starship Episode 1.11” broadcast. Apparently the Polaris ship that CIG/RSI have been flogging since CitizenCon2016, was either his original design, or the inspiration for the final version.

As I’ve stated before, the vocal backers in the toxic cesspool that is the Star Citizen community, who (aka Shitizens) are waging an Internet war of attrition against dissent, are the project’s biggest liability; bested only by Chris Roberts, his wife Sandi Gardiner, and community person, Ben Lesnick. Amid a lot of hate filled rhetoric, attacks, harassment etc, I have received death threats since my first blog. In fact, one such threat was traced to this fellow who is also a backer.

When you consider the fact that these people reportedly knew about allegations of sexual harassment of a community member by another, Wulf Knight (aka Dick Wulf, the delightful fellow written about here), and chose not to act, but to allow the accused (being long time friend of Ben Lesnick) to remain within their ranks, it’s hard to disregard. Heck, just weeks ago we raised the alarm after this same person, boasted on Twitter about handling security for the CitizenCon 2016 event earlier this month.

All that aside from the uncovering of Ben Lesnick’s website (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) earlier this year which was rife with not only racist, homophobic and anti-semitic posts, but also years of questionable commentary which would have certainly guaranteed the firing of anyone at any other public facing company. Shockingly, as I write this, though reports are that he is no longer actively on the payroll, having been “phased out” of the limelight and the project, he is still active at the CIG office in LA. We’re still investigating that one. But if true, it could only mean that he’s now a contractor (probably with a Golden parachute exit that’s normal for people who “know too much”) of sorts, and CIG/RSI have chosen to remain mum about his current role on the project, let alone his exit. Recently, he’s been seen begging for money in order to buy legacy Wing Commander trash (aka paraphernalia) which even Chris Roberts doesn’t seem in the least bit interested in. I kid you not.

[dsmart]

THE DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN

Oh this one is good. Real good.

Earlier today, an absolutely crazy review of Star Citizen showed up online. Like seriously, it was here. Not only was it not even based on the game as we know it, but most of the outrageous claims were straight out of their marketing campaign. Even the tribe over on Reddit were aghast (which is a stretch, even for them).

Shortly after the outcry reached crescendo, the article was taken off line; mere hours later. You can find an image of the original, as well as an archive of the most outrageous parts highlighted. What’s worse, even David Swofford, head of PR for the project, re-tweeted the article earlier in the day.

Upon further research, it was discovered that the author was non other than Rick Hudson who just happens to live in Manchester where one of the studios (Foundry 42) is located. Here is an article from March 2015  which was preceded by this missive which he wrote a month earlier in Feb 2015.

“Rick Hudson, a well known horror and sci-fi writer, who lives in Manchester, stopped by the Foundry 42 offices a couple of weeks ago to have a look at Star Citizen. He came away impressed. He plans on writing a story on his visit and impressions at some major outlets, but in the meantime he posted his early thoughts on Indiebration. “Unusually for a computer game, it had me gripped. First off, the game looks amazing – don’t ask me about gigabytes and the like, I know nothing about that stuff – but in terms of graphics Star Citizen is phenomenal.”“

UPDATE: There is mounting evidence that CIG may have hired a “reputation management” firm as a result of all the negative press on the project. The way those companies work is that they flood the Internet and social media with positive articles, social media posts etc in a bid to drown the negative stuff. e.g. my blogs, the media (e.g. Kotaku articles etc). We’ve so far found other articles (1, 2) which have been shoved into the metrics. And it’s also duplicated, with different wording. Thing is, they’re mostly fabricated statements and outright lies touting features that are either non-existent or not even promised to be in the game. Any reader with a working knowledge of the game, can easily see this.

LATEST INSIDER SCOOPS

TheAgent (man on the inside looking at the abyss outside from the inside) is back with more outrageous insider scoops.

Let’s start with the most outrageous one.

Went out drinking with a friend last night..

“We are, we do! Work towards something. We work hard at making progress. We do! But that progress is changed every week. Every day sometimes. How can anything ever be finished if entire teams of employees are retasked at any moment? People lose momentum. You lose sight of what the project is. It just becomes one unfinished thing after another. One of Roberts’ lackeys tells you to drop something, you do. Then two weeks later Roberts is screaming at some poor guy because he did as he was told. “Not by me.” That’s the response you hear a lot from Roberts.”

“The best one, absolutely, deals with [a brand new employee]. It’s his, what, third day? He’s in the break room and Roberts storms in but is real quiet. Pulls the guy out and walks him in front of some other workstation. “What is this?” Roberts goes. The new guy, right outta college, is shitting himself. What could Roberts mean? Was something wrong with the desk? Was this where he’s supposed to be sitting? He’s got no idea. 

“You know what this costs? You’re taking my time, everyone’s time,” and now Roberts is shouting, “it’s like you don’t care how much you’re costing us. Do you like spending my money?” Chris stands there, arms crossed, waiting for a response.

[The new guy] is scared stupid. He starts blubbering and apologising without having any idea what’s going on, right?

Chris points to the chair, “Sit your ass down and get it right.” He then storms off again. Poor guy has no idea what the fuck to do. 

Turns out Chris thought he was [completely different employee]. He never apologised. Never went back to check if anything was fixed. [New guy] quit by week three.”

The on-going 2.6 patch debacle..

“if they don’t push out 2.6 before 2017 hits, they are done

if they push out 2.6 before 2017, its going to be a terrible, contrived, bug riddled mess and then they will be done

they are seriously weighing those options right now. like having closed door, “what will we do about 2.6” meetings

I mean 3.0 is supposed to be here in less than 9 weeks, but is roughly a year+ out. 2.6 is the last saving grace for them before they start shitting out sq42 episodes and preludes and interludes and prelude dessidia final fight squadrons or whatever fucking kingdom hearts titled shit they have stored in the back there

do you know that they are talking about doing another crowd funded project? I’m not even kidding“

On Squadron 42. Apparently still a thing…

“sq42 prelude in q1 2017, 100% confirmed today

its now more like a demo showcase, but its playable

and its awful

lol

honestly I don’t see it hitting until q2 because chris is still reshooting

but they do have march 31st, 2017 on internal mock ups

remember this isn’t a full episode. a full episode or whatever is 20+ hours of content

this ain’t

not even close“

The on-going fps shenanigans (we assume it’s Star Marine)…

“one of the biggest problems with the cover system right now is that when you peek out from wherever you’re hiding, your gun just sticks into the fucking wall or

you don’t shoot where your crosshairs are aiming or

you pop out of cover but can’t be hit because you’re still registered as being covered or

you vault over another player and kill him instantly (I think they should keep that in) or

you jitter out of the map when you go into cover most of the time or

you fall through the map because you switch guns while in cover or

the animations get totally fucked when popping into or out of cover and you turn into horror spaceman and your guns warp and bend and then you start shooting everyone like you just watched christian bale’s gunkata for beginners“

Oh, but it get’s better..

“roberts wants projectiles fired from guns to actually come from the barrel

that means you aren’t actually shooting where you are pointing the crosshair, you’re pointing the crosshair to point the gun that fires a round

which means a lot of coding to get that working

which also means a shitload of networking to figure out trajectories and shit because the gun isn’t static, its constantly moving

it also means you get fun ARMA type bugs where suddenly you die because you just shot your own neck“

EightAce (the other man on the inside playing tag with crobert’s wig) chimed in with this gem:

“Sq42 ep 1.01 is coming out around feb/march next year. Brace yourselves, it looks like a mid term submission off a half competent student on a games design course that has learnt to use Cry engine. I cannot wait to see the reviews“

I swear at this point, even though most of their scoops tend to pan out, I have to wonder if these two aren’t taking the piss now. Seriously, some of this stuff is so bat-shit crazy, that it’s unbelievable. But as the saying goes: “It’s CIG. There’s always more; and it’s always worse“

[dsmart]

STAR CITIZEN – A DISTURBANCE IN THE VERSE

Things are rapidly going from bad to worse over at the ranch. In my 16-10-25 update, I had pointed out some cracks which appear to now be getting larger. In fact, just the other day, multiple sources informed me that things were so bad now it would be a miracle if they are able to push the 2.6 patch out before year end; let alone the 3.0 Jesus Patch. As a result, I sent out some tweets (1, 2) of what I had learned, while awaiting further information.

In their defense, this sort of thing happens in game development and it’s par for the course. As I’ve stated over and over, as a gamedev myself, I simply cannot fault them for having major blockers in a game which, for all intent and purposes is basically a glorified tech demo; and with nothing that even resembles a vertical slice, let alone a pre-Alpha (as they’re calling it). However, the fault lies squarely on Chris Roberts due to having significantly increased the scope of the game, even as the engine chosen for the original vision, could only marginally have made that original vision possible.

The other side of this coin is that he has – repeatedly – lied to backers about the state of the project, withheld critical information, and intentionally failed to communicate to backers the true state of the project. Why? Because the truth will let backers see that not only is the entire project FUBAR, but it’s an impossible vision for a game which – as I stated over 18 months ago – simply cannot be made.

With the anniversary events mere weeks away, and during which they intend to again raise money through selling ships, the silence on the state of the 2.6 and 3.0 patches shouldn’t be surprising in the least. This has been the on-going theme. It happened with Arena Commander, then with Star Marine which was later flat-out canceled before being resurrected after an uproar. Then it happened with Squadron 42 (I wrote about that in my Shattered Dreams blog). Now it’s continuing with Star Citizen (aka Persistent Universe).

The biggest issue here is not that the 2.6 patch is late, it’s that the current 2.5 build is in a terrible state; and as some backers have said, very few people (even the pro streamers have either bailed or on their last legs) are even playing it now. The results and commentary for the latest free fly period which ended Oct 31st, should be yet another wake up call for the project. Most backers – rightfully – don’t have a problem with 2.6 being late. For a game that’s in constant development, this should be expected. But nevertheless, when you are touting “open development”, even as you focus on non-essential updates, selling in-game items etc, amid the uproar, information about a much awaited patch, should be front and center. They spend so much time writing and filming a bunch of nonsensical fluff – most of which, being R&D aren’t even likely to be in the game. That time – all of it – is better spent outlining specifically what is going on with the patches, how they are being addressed, what the delay looks like etc. That’s how you keep a community on your side, while keeping stragglers, dissenters, and trolls, in check. By doing this, you completely disarm them. Yes, there will still be some dissent, but then you can point at a bulletin, or a video and say “This is what we said. Go read or watch it“. Case closed.

When it comes to the 3.0 patch, backers may as well just reconcile the fact that they were lied to – again. It’s not even a case of a missed schedule. He basically came up with a list of features (none of which, according to sources, exists or in a form that would have lent any credibility to his “end of year” promise) he knew backers would fall for, then put it out there as “coming soon”; thus – like the demos at GamesCom and CitizenCon – raising money from the few whales who are still dumb enough to keep giving him money.

The issue with Star Citizen is that $130 million comes with a lot of strings, and accountability. Especially when, not even 15% of the larger game is completed; and by all accounts, won’t even be 50% completed (this promises list is 100% accurate and derived from the stretch goals, and updates from Roberts himself) by the 4.0 release slated for end of 2017 (which we all know is rubbish anyway). Since there is no publisher, the strings are the money that backers keep giving, sans the accountability that should go with it.

What backers are experiencing right now should come as no surprise that the accountability that comes with delivering a product, let alone accounting for the money given, went out the window with the June 2016 ToS update. They had no other reason for doing that as anyone can see. Most believe that they were basically preparing – well ahead – for the ultimate collapse and total loss of this project because it will end if they can’t keep raising the money to sustain it. Hence the on-going lies which are mandatory to keeping the money flowing.

Rumors and source leaks aside, the writing is on the wall. They are either going to move 2.6 into 2017 – as indeed they should if it’s not ready for test release – or they will try to push some interim 2.5.x minor branch out in order to quash some of the dissent. But the fact remains, waiting until the last minute, or at a time when the bad news won’t affect the anniversary stream, is just another dishonest plan, and one which has become a staple for them.

My advice remains the same. STOP giving them money; and just let them continue with their dev schedule and plan, release their patch updates as they see fit, then wait to see how things pan out. And if you’re sick and tired of waiting, the lies etc, do what others are doing, go get a refund. If you backed the game ahead of the June ToS, you are 100% entitled to it. If you backed after that date, and agreed to that ToS change, then you have 14 days from your purchase to get a refund. When all else fails, you can be like this guy, sell your ships on the Grey market, and buy a car, house or something.

With that editorial out of the way, here is how things stand as I understand it from my sources.

2.6 status: Not even close to ready for Evocati, let alone GA. Star Marine still laughably doesn’t EXIST because they are still trying to cobble together many bits in order to make that one happen – again. There are said to be many old and new blockers which are creating lots of problems. And sources say the 2.6 list (see above pic) is rubbish because a good portion of that, as basic as it looks, isn’t in a working state. And sources say that most don’t even have a clear understanding as to why Star Marine was even promised for this release; when it could very well have been pushed into a 3.0 point release, which – seeing as it’s nowhere near reality – would have given more time for implementation and testing further into 2017. For my part, I still maintain that Star Marine being back on the schedule (even though Chris went on the record saying it was already released and in the game) as a standalone” module is just a check mark against the liability based promises made to backers years ago.

3.0 status: sources say all are still laughing at this one. It simple does NOT exist as was communicated to backers. It was basically a wishlist of items they wanted to see in a point release; and which Roberts when on the record (again) as saying was coming by “year end, and not on Dec 19th like last year“.

As a result of all this, many threads (1, 2, 3, ) are now popping up all over the place, questioning not only the “silence” on the part of CIG as per the status of these two patches, now that the year is close to an end, but also whether or not, Roberts – again – went public with a litany of lies in order to continue misleading backers and raising money. When Shitizen #3 has a top Reddit thread about how he’s “bored”, you know you done goofed, and should probably start planning for inevitable conclusion of the in-progress E.L.E.

Here are some backer comments.

Even as Rome burns, Lando, a CIG community member, instead of providing info to backers as to the state of progress, instead decided to point out that:

“Updates on the development of the game: while the Comm-Link Schedule has never been the place for this, I certainly understand (and even share) your voracious appetite for updates. The primary source of updates to Star Citizen’s continuing development is in Around the Verse. “

Which was met with accurate responses like:

“I appreciate the sentiment but I believe you would agree that ATV has been mostly looking backwards since CitCon and not the future. At this stage the “we are working on it” that we got last week on ATV is not really an update – unless anyone thought you guys were all just partying instead of “working on it.”

“Sadly last 3 ATVs and RTV were about things you got had to get done for CitCon. There have been no word about what have been done since CitCon so you have to understand the frustration. We know that you are working on the game… But we would “really” like see that.”

“Curiousity here. Not hostility.

Can I ask why you have to show before you tell? That doesn’t really make sense to me. I have personally seen a lot of feedback on requests for telling us more about where 2.6 and 3.0 are in development.

I work in project management and when my team is late on delivering storyboards or late on a project in general (this can be date or not date focused, as a project manager, I can just gauge when it has been a while since a client has heard something) I give a list of what is keeping things back. Do you guys have a protocol for responding to the community until you have something to show? Again, for the love of god, I am just asking/curious.“

LATEST INSIDER SCOOPS

TheAgent (man on the inside looking at the abyss outside from the inside) is back with more insider scoops. Most of them echo what I said yesterday, but with more details (I tend to be vague in some regard, so as to protect sources).

---

here’s the problem

CIG has to push out a new patch before years end. this cannot be 2.6 (with FPS mechanics) or 3.0 or anything star marine related because its so fucking broken

• their current matchmaking breaks every damn thing on the server
• it also breaks your client when two people try and use cover at the same time
• half the time you still respawn inside your bunk during a match
• the new arena FPS maps are still buggy as hell (clipping, wall walking, etc) and have to get redone
• the replacement arena maps are areas that have been wholly lifted from current areas, like grimhex
• roberts doesn’t want “maps” but entire seamless areas (“Shoot in the same universe you can fly in.”)
• this is not so good for the servers or players in ships flying around outside the hostile zone (which is why the arena style maps are still being worked on)
• the team is confused on what exactly they are putting together and what roberts wants to release
• there’s a separate module for SM but roberts wants it folded into the universe
• lag is bad, really fucking bad, even with less than a dozen players
• the instance network code is six months to a year out for rudimentary matches (24 to 36 players, small arena type maps, etc)
• a year+ out for higher matches (multiple areas, surface to air combat, 50+ players etc)
• the much touted “local physics grids” don’t work for shit with FPS stuffs

they are discussing prepping the flight model changes and releasing that as 2.6 instead, with star marine being totally folded into 3.0. but this is a big problem, because chris said star marine is weeks away back in september

they are kinda fucked either way so I’m really interested to see what they do. if they really do end up pushing out 2.6 with star marine in its current state, I don’t think the game will survive. its like, not playable. you can only wave your hands around and say alpha so many times before people start figuring out this is the game they just paid $2500 to play

current standing at the office is there will be no more numbered releases until 3.0 in late 2017/2018, after the sq42 prelude/episode 1 is released. I posted that awhile back but it’s looking more and more like 2.5 will be the last patch for SC for quite awhile

---

[dsmart]

SHILLIZEN DOWN!

So amid the rising unrest (1, 2, 3, 4) in the Star Citizen community, the #1 shill (aka: fan) site has apparently suffered a coup d’etat in the past 48hrs.

Yesterday, this cryptic thread about a new INN site popped up on Reddit. Speculation was that they were just moving hosts – or something. Then today, Wolf Larsen, who I outed in an article (The INN Conspiracy) about INN months ago, create a page that there was a foiled coup d’etat. Then a follow-up thread popped up on Reddit shortly after.

Not sure how this is a coup, but apparently the four guys who used to post – highly questionable content – on the site, decided to split, with everything, leaving only Jake (who wasn’t active on the site anyway), the owner.

The exchange below from one of the primaries (Erris) indicates that Jake is on his own once again. So the fifty people who actually read the site, are probably giving a collective yawn. I am asking around, but this all probably went down because Erris and co found out that Jake, being paid by CIG, was probably stifling what the guys could or couldn’t write about. And given the current actions by CIG, and which has the community up in flames, it makes sense that no matter how much of a shill the INN guys are, they know that before long, they’re all going to be left with a lot of explaining to do, so they probably want the autonomy to get in front of it. You know, much like how even the most dedicated shills, the latest (Twerk17 had his share couple of weeks ago) being WTFO (1, 2, 3, 4), are currently having spectacular meltdowns.

This INN drama has been fermenting and going on for quite sometime now, and long before I wrote the blog. In fact, at some point last year someone at INN was calling Jake out a year ago. The person claimed that the r/star citizen/ sub-reddit was controlled by INN. Subsequently, one of the mods, /u/dolvak, who worked for INN, stepped down as mod, then deleted his entire comment history. So seeing as CIG was funding Jake’s INN, it stands to reason then that CIG was in control of the sub-reddit, which is possibly a violation of the Reddit rules.

The whole INN thing has been murky from the start; which is why I investigated it and wrote the blog. In fact, this image shows all the changes they made to the ownership section of the site in May 2016 following my INN conspiracy blog.

UPDATE: Erris, the believed leader of the coup d’etat has issued an a statement. Also, earlier this evening on Discord, I asked Erris (the more prominent member of the INN group) whether or not he was aware that Jake DiMare (aka Wolf Larsen) had in fact received funding from CIG (something that various sources have told us). His response is below.

Jake also issued a statement shortly after Erris posted his. Some past members have also weighed (1, 2) in on Jake being a scumbag.

TheAgent (the premier Star Citizen insider info leaker), weighed in:

here’s what I can 100% confirm (and they are lying if they tell you different):

– INN/Redacted receives money from CIG both directly and indirectly
– this includes gifted ships and donations
– several members of INN and Redacted have given away these ships for events or to increase subscriptions to their channels
– members have also, directly or through 3rd parties, sold CIG gifted ships on the grey market for cash

When all is said and done, it appears as if while Jake was being paid by CIG, he wasn’t paying the guys like Erris who were working on the site, creating content, engaging the community etc. Heck, as of this writing, Jake hasn’t even logged into his RSI account since June 2016.

However, now that Erris is saying that they never received any funding from CIG, though he doesn’t know about Jake, it appears that someone is lying. This image below of a discussion shows a QA session with Erris back in January and again yesterday. On Jan 8, 2016, he says “No-one at INN works for CIG in any capacity“. Now on Nov 13, 2016, he says “We don’t know. I never was. Wolf has (per the whole issue here) not been very open, ever”

[dsmart]

THE E.L.E MOVING AHEAD FULL STEAM

The recent INN coup is even more poignant as the community is currently up in flames over the fact that not only is the long-awaited 2.6 patch not out yet, but 3.0 – as I predicted – was just lies (again) by Chris Roberts, and is neither a “thing”, let alone being released this year as promised at both GamesCom and CitizenCon.

To make matters worse, just a few days ago, instead of showing progress on the game, they announced yet another JPEG (!) concept ship sale, the long promised Prowler, at the ridiculous price of $425; even though the furor over the recent Hornet ship sale hasn’t even died down yet.

I have no idea why these backers are now all of a sudden acting as if ANY of this is new. Regardless of what I’ve said in my blogs, posts etc, the warning signs were there all along.

See the thing is that for a long time we’ve all been saying that betting on SQ42 is what’s going to be the last straw. Most whales didn’t back for SQ42, which basically was just a peripheral project. Then, because he figured out that he could make a movie, Chris and Sandi decided to use it to buy their way back into Hollywood, even as they squandered away millions on it.

“I am concerned that our money has gone into building a corporate empire, rather than a game – backer on Reddit“

Engine issues aside, seeing as the tech can’t even run a single-player game – which should be shocking enough. When I wrote this missive ahead of CitizenCon about the engine, the fact that the event was just going to be more smoke & mirrors, the hardcore backers laughed, and some skeptics just discarded it. Well, as we came to find out, that’s precisely what happened: smoke & mirrors. And CIG themselves helped prove and confirm it with their “Road To CitizenCon” post-event video. Every backer – right now – should be asking themselves why they still have nothing show of SQ42, if they were claiming that they wanted to show it at CitizenCon, but that it wasn’t ready. It’s been a month already.

In my latest blog, Shattered Dreams, I again said that if they were having engine difficulties, that it’s bound to also affect SQ42. In fact, I said:

“While others have taken it apart, the glaring issues* are that things like AI, pathfinding, proper vehicular dynamics/physics, atmospheric conditions – or even the expansive planet promised, are just missing. So, if the tech demo showing the new terrain tech is missing such fundamental building blocks of the game, all of a sudden it makes sense that both Star Citizen and Squadron 42 (which uses the same engines and tech) are so far behind in development.”

So it stands to reason that if they can’t even get 2.6 out this year as promised, let alone 3.0 (<—- lmao, I called that one the minute he uttered it), that they’re having some very serious technical issues. I don’t even think that anything less than a playble 2.6/3.0 or SQ42 in a live stream, is going to quash dissent. They’re at the cusp now whereby the skepticism is at an all time high and nothing short of tangible delivery is going to curb it. These posts (1, 2) below from the “We didnt fund a company – we funded a game. Remember the pledge” thread is an example of where things are now.

When all is said and done, despite what some fringe think of me, I have made a career out of developing massive games. I have extensive knowledge in all forms of game design & engineering. Which is why once back in the Summer of 2015 I saw that Vision 2.0 was now the end goal, I realized that the project was FUBAR because they simply couldn’t do it with that base line engine. Not to mention the fact that they don’t have ANYONE in the team who has ANY experience building MASSIVE games; let alone MASSIVE SPACE GAMES WITH FPS.

When I was calling for financial accountability, some backers kept giving them money, even as Chris Roberts continued to lie, and make false promises. The fact is that it is 100% illegal for a company to make false statements and warranties, in order to convince the public buy their products. There is absolutely no getting around this.

This is no longer about a game, it’s all about money now; and has amounted to what many of us believe to have evolved into an outright scam. When this collapses – and I have every reason to believe that it will in the coming months – the ramifications are going to be unprecedented. All the signs are there already. As if there was any doubt, when that happens, I am going to make a new mission out of ensuring that ALL the leading execs (friends and family such as Chris & Erin Roberts, Chris’s wife, Sandi Gardiner, Nick & Simon Elms, Derek Senior) as well as the leading studio heads and devs (Tony Zurovec, Sean Tracy, Brian Chambers et al) answer to the authorities for what they’ve done. And I will continue to turn over any/all material that comes my way in the pursuit of this because I had swore that I would never let them get away with this. This whole thing has all the undertones of the Gizmondo collapse (I wrote about that here) which some of these people were previously involved in.

Back in April, I wrote the Extinction Level Event blog, and espoused that it was already in progress due what my sources were saying, what CIG itself was doing publicly etc. It’s only a matter of time now.

[dsmart]

PSA: TO THE SHITIZENS PARKED ON REDDIT

So a thread on a sub-Reddit popped up about that time when Chris Roberts took 8hrs writing a diatribe about The Escapist article. An article which didn’t even mention me once; though Roberts decided to mention me 24 times, while blaming me for the “unfounded” dissent against the project.

A year later, that dissent is even louder. The hilarious part is that, to this day, as is normal for those clowns, they’re blaming me for The Escapist article – because Roberts said so. So I decided to give them a wakeup dose of reality; something they’re not very used to.

Oh, and just the other day, one of the pro Star Citizen streamers (this guy) confessed to it being a “job”, and also spending $13K on it.

---

Easy claim to make. Especially since it’s patently false.

So please, by all means, post your evidence that shows I had any prior knowledge of, let alone gloating, about any such article before it was published.

And no, this nonsense you guys keep parroting as proof is just that, nonsense. My tweet was clearly referring to my original July 2015 blog, which was the first time anyone went on record and detailed why the project couldn’t be made. A small fact that most of you tend to ignore because it hurts your feelz. And since my blogs, then following The Escapist article, many other similar articles about the demise of the project, have been written. Heck, look no further than the most recent flurry of articles from Kotaku. I had a hand in those too, huh?

That aside from the fact that people – including the media – excerpt and quote things all the time; and has nothing to do with collusion or what you’re inferring. How did you think my original July 2015 blog in which I said they were lying and couldn’t build the game pitched, got picked up? Oh, that’s right. I went around to all the media outlets and asked them to read, let alone excerpt my blog.

You see, this is the problem you guys have, and aren’t willing to accept. YOU are the reason for where we are today. You’ve elevated me to a position that, never in my wildest dreams did I ever ever aspire to be in with this whole Star Citizen farce. And your penchant for waging an Internet war of attrition across the Internet has only served to magnify the problem, while showing off the Star Citizen community as a toxic cesspool of malcontent. I didn’t do that. You did.

And even though the Derek Smart Was Right movement is moving ahead full steam, having proven beyond any/all reasonable doubt that I was RIGHT about them never – ever – being able to build the game pitched, this hate-Red will be here as a reminder that the harassment & attack campaign were all for naught.

You think the growing dissent is loud now? Wait and see what comes next. I’m not even going to say anything further about that because I think the conclusion needs to be shocking for it to have any effect.

You’re all in denial. Attacking & harassing me and other dissenting opinions has proven to have zero effect in the general scheme of things. It hasn’t made Star Citizen:

• a “game”
• less of a scam
• less of a frantic cash grab
• a project that looks like it will ever be a “game”

Instead, the dissent has grown louder, the project has failed harder, it is the laughing stock of the ENTIRE gaming industry, people are rushing to get refunds etc. Even as CIG/RSI continue to beg backers to reconsider refunds; which btw is hilarious, when you consider that croberts had stated in past that if funding stopped, they had reserves to finish the game. Just one in a string of blatant lies he has told in order to keep milking gullible backers.

And hardly anyone is even playing the tech demo now; and even the popular streamers are now having frequent meltdowns – live on camera.

All you guys have done is made a group of friends and family in exec level positions, rich. And some of you even agreed to a ToS change that says they neither have to provide the financial accountability promised nor the games promised!! And that’s just hilarious AF.

I didn’t do ANY of the above. You the toxic backers aided CIG/RSI to turn the project into what many of us now believe has evolved into an epic SCAM.

ps: Go ahead and down vote; it won’t stop the signal because that’s louder than your exclusive toxic hug box.

[Author]

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