Star Citizen – Extinction Level Event

[MDrake SC]

Update #3

Remolode returns with more. This time he is posting the letter Derek sent to the mod jester86, which was made public elsewhere. This image is the whole topic.

And of course, they just love to harass Derek further.

[dsmart]

[dsmart]

Well yeah; that’s what I was going on about last year in my first blog. And here we are.

UPDATE: So a few hours after I made this post, and also sent out a tweet, this Tweet appeared in my feed from Ben. I don’t know him, and we don’t follow each other on Twitter. So someone must have alerted him to either my Tweet or forum post.

I recognized his comment as a tongue-in-cheek because, after all he is British. So I refrained from taking the bait. If he meant it as a slight, that’s on him. I tend to have the last laugh; so that sort of thing doesn’t faze me in the least.

Regardless, sticking to the technical aspect of my original comment, I responded to him in kind.

However, what’s missing in that curt exchange – and the part that the Shitizens are of course twisting – is the fact that my response had nothing to do with their choice of engine. No, it has to do with what I’ve been saying all along in terms of needing a custom engine to build a game like this; and that their simply isn’t an engine on the market to build it with. And that is because, while the CryEngine3 was perfectly capable of building the original game pitched in 2012, once the scope changed and it became this behemoth, the design/scope outpaced the engine. So they had to build on top of that.

We faced the same challenge (which he described in the post above) with Line Of Defense because from the onset I already knew what game I wanted to build, and that the top engines (Unreal, Unity, CryEngine, Unigine, ID Tech9 et al) at the time simply wouldn’t be able to build a game of that scope.

So after dumping the in-house engine we were building (as I had done in the past with my other games) from scratch, I licensed Trinigy (which became Havok Vision Engine) and used that as the graphics engine core for the custom game engine we ended up building for the game. And the parts of that Vison Engine engine which we didn’t like, we replaced in-line. e.g. water, sky, lighting etc.

So that’s why, what he stated, made sense to me because that’s precisely what would need to be done to build the new game because the base CryEngine simply won’t cut it.

Regardless, they’re never – ever – going to build Star Citizen as pitched. So this is all a moot point. They know it, I know it, they know that I know it. And in the not-too-distant future, after the inevitable collapse comes, everyone is going to be coming up with their own theories of why they failed. Ben, as someone who works on the custom engine, will be one of those people.

[Ranger Man]

Thank you for the research that is exposing the sham that is Star Citizen.  I was a WC fan (I have all the CDs of the Windows versions) and was excited when I saw Star Citizen and the goal to create the Wing Commander we always wanted so I subscribed and ended up at around $2500 USD.  However, by then I began seeing the signs.  I have project management experience both in heavy industry (projects around 2 mill) and IT projects and there were too many red flags such as adding new features and apparently just taking resources from one place and throwing them at other projects.  There was no apparent direction but  more – “oooh.  Shiny. Let’s chase it”  Instead of ships and a game we were given fish tanks and liquor cabinets for the hanger.  This was before your work but given the red flags I suspended any giving or subscribing.

Yesterday I requested a refund based on non-delivery and got the standard letter of how it’s over 14 days, etc.  I responded that I expected this answer but was aware many had gotten refunds after the 14 days and wanted to give them the chance to do the right thing before I contact the FTC and Better Business Bureau which I am now going to do. Once I contact these agencies I’ll let CIG know but I don’t expect much.

Keep up the good work.

[MDrake SC]

@ Brett

I do not know if you are an original, veteran, or simply 3rd or 4th generation backer, but the only way to actually get your money back this late into the scam is to open up a dispute with your bank, and ask them to perform a chargeback against CIG under the basis of false advertisement and failure to deliver. Send them emails and documentation as additional proof.

Chargebacks have conditions, and usually a time limit. Act fast. Much easier if you purchased from a credit card.

Just google “star citizen chargeback” and the first few links should give you what you need.

[dsmart]

Yeah, that’s how it is now. Your only recourse is a chargeback through the bank.

Also, if you paid through PayPal, then you should do it quickly because effective June 25th, they will no longer do refunds for crowd-funded projects.

Also, key to your claim is that come May 31st when the current ToS 1.2 expires, you have a right to a refund, and a full accounting for the project.

If you are planning on reporting to the FTC and BBB, here are some resources on how to do that.

 

[Ranger Man]

Thanks.  I’m not hopeful but I will pursue all these avenues.  Even if I get nothing I’ll cause some grief.

 

Edit:

I used the Amazon services and it was on my Amazon card.

I’m a little unsure about TOS v1.2.  Since I did access my account I’m under it which means no refund or accounting as I read it.  Is that correct?

[Ranger Man]

I’m not a kickstarter but did start around June 2014 if the records are right.  I’ll follow up with the credit card company and anything else I can do.  I may not get much or anything but it will be worth trying.  I think they are simply denying refunds and hoping we don’t followup.  From what I’ve seen here and elsewhere if you push you may get some refund.  At the least I can cause them a little grief <G>.

 

 

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