MDrake SC
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More news. LTI fraud, and CIG customer service antics.
CIG customer support contacted him saying two of those packages were charged back by the other party post-transaction but he is liable. CIG claims he must pay them either by melting one of his current ships or adding funds to his account so they can recoup costs which are $450 or $475. Obviously in this situation there is a simple way to see who the other party is and he has all of the data (CIG as well) to back-up everything he has said. They have the transaction log that is kept and they can see the package that he melted and purchased and sent the new ship back to in addition to all of the other people. In addition they could view his Youtube channel and see that he was in fact doing this for people at this time. So to sum this up, one person buys a ship sends it to him, then does a charge back to their financial institution and he sends them a ship back which that criminal has now just obtained for free. Two to three years later CIG says, “Pay up for the other guy buddy.”
http://www.ultraimg.com/images/lolepic.png – Will Leverett, Game Support Manager at work
Wowza. CIG is so poor, they gotta screw their current backers over more. I feel really old thinking back on LTI flipping after the new website launched. CIG could’ve made things easy and fair with LTI for all cash purchases before launch, but nope.
If your bank is willing to do a chargeback, they work, and they hurt. I think the EU folks will love that.
Goon leak says,
Remember ‘They said I was dead,the future is not console games, blah blah blah I am a pc game’….. well something is transpiring that Mr Smart probably knows about and the howling of the spergs will be most pleasing to him when it gets announced
Derek replied to something else on it,
They can’t bring Star Citizen (PU) to the console. It’s virtually impossible. Heck, they can’t even get it working on the PC and you think they will pass ANY Microsoft certification? Shirley you jest.
However, it is very possible that they will try to do a console port of SQ42; which is one of the reasons for the split.
And the only way they will do SQ42, is if they maintain two different code bases between SC and SQ42.
Which is going to be very interesting because he extolled the virtues of the PC right off the bat. So to announce a console port of even SQ42 is going to be very interesting.
Our goon investor says,
You have no idea how much I wish some of this stuff isn’t true.
Spiteful belittling and vicious demeaning of media and CS staff in office. Abusive verbal behavior towards lower development team members. Petty grudges and scare tactics towards senior staff.
I don’t care about the money questions, or the production questions. I leave those to Derek and other goons to question and probe.
I care about the treatment of employees. And what I’ve heard from past and present employees is disgusting, and has no place in this industry.
Yes, Sandi is the primary culprit in these grievances, but they also all make the point to say “Chris could have stopped this”. By all accounts, CR has allowed Sandi to run roughshod over the whole organization with no accountability for her actions.
EDIT: I do not do my investigations to “find someone to pin to the wall” for shits’n’giggles. I do my investigations so I can find out what went wrong and why, and to determine responsibility for such actions.
So many trash posts to go through. Though, I was very amused to see a cultist attack Beer, then back away like a coward when confronted, while defending Sandi as a friend. Claims to have made $750 in store credit for participating (and losing) in TNGS contest.
If Chris really does announce a console port plan for SQ42, I predict the zealots will say “it’s perfectly fine.” They consider CIG to be better than EA and Ubisoft and all of the evil microtransactions that poison videogames… so I can’t expect logical thinking at this point.
Well reddit, likely Dolvak, deleted the post that offered free SA accounts for banned folks.
Going from memory, you email webmaster at somethingawful dot com about your ban, and Lowtax will take it on a case by case basis.
I did notice a few new faces who claim to be banned from RSI chat. Apparently mentioning Derek Smart is still not allowed in the slightest.
The former SC investor, also a goon, dropped a massive bomb…
Speaking of thought crimes…
You all know the two narratives, either Derek Smart is trying to ruin Star Citizen, or CIG et al is ruining Star Citizen themselves.
So a long while ago I received an anonymous, unsolicited tip about an interesting spat within the Star Citizen drama. A third narrative appeared: An ex-producer was setting each side against each other in vindictive spite. This producer was setting up current CIG employees to be fired for espionage, waging a personal war against Chris Roberts. These pawns would be fired and would blame Sandi for their termination. Not only that, he was targeting me and high-level backers. “There are evil people at work here, but it is neither Chris nor Derek.”.
I thought this was interesting, a third narrative out of nowhere. What ex-employee, specifically a producer, would hate CR and SC so much as to see it burn to the ground? I have my theories about who it could have been, but the messenger didn’t interest me, just the message.
As I’ve stated before, CIG hired an internet detective in October. Perhaps I understated this. They hired an actual security consultant with FBI credentials to perform a full investigation of the Santa Monica office, CIG email/Skype database, and the personal phones/computers of any suspected employee (everyone not an executive). As far as I’m aware, this consultant is still on the books, paid with backer money (but most likely having switched to private funds after the first 2 months, wrote off as “Security Consultant”).
The rumor, as I personally have not had it confirmed by more than one source (nor inquired beyond that source), is Dan Tracy was approached by this investigator to turn over his computer, phone, and emails under threat of firing and deportation. Dan immediately quit on the spot and walked. It is also rumored that this whole investigation resulted in the firing of James Pugh for obstructing the investigation.
But still, the major ex-producers had already left, and the investigator was still operating. Obviously they didn’t get who they wanted. Who was going to be pinned to the wall as THE Judas?
A few conversations with sources NOT within CIG pointed to one candidate. They wouldn’t dare go after Wingman, CR’s personal and professional relationship with him would override any decree from other CIG executives, and Wingman was long gone and busy with his own game by the time the “witch hunt” started. Alex Mayberry was a possibility, but he folded back into ActiBlizzard very quickly after his departure and wouldn’t have time or desire to see CIG burn (and attempting to assault the fortress ActiBlizzard at such a high level would infer stupidity). Any lower-level ex-producers/managers wouldn’t have had such the ire and effort leveled at them, and this would have ended quietly and badly for the fall guy.
No, the one they wanted to pin to the wall was someone who would have had deep burning resentment for the CIG executives for treatment not just personal, but also treatment upon someone else.
I have it under authority that many attempts of scare tactics and privacy invasion were used to coerce a confession. I am happy to report that all those attempts were rebutted with the legal equivalent of “Go gently caress yourself”, and said person is on the legal high ground.
Why would they pin someone to the wall for the leaks? Someone really hated this ex-producer. It wasn’t CR or Ortwin (though they are not without blame for pursuing this action), nor Erin or Elms. There should be an obvious answer here.
So if my source is reading this, thank you for the tip. I am behind Derek and other ex/current employees as far as knowledge of the full story, but your tip was a necessary step into understanding the private security consultant situation.
Oh snap. I cannot remember where Derek dropped major hints of Dan Tracy’s situation, but this is crazy.
In the new blog, I was hoping you’d reveal Erillion. I think I know who he is, thanks to his constant feud with Manzes, but not enough very concrete proof. I am also curious why Wulf hasn’t said much hate speech about you. I miss his narcissistic unification speeches.
Dolvak is still a terrible human being. After seeing him speak on the INN show, now I see why he issued all those threats. He is visibly unstable.
The big Star Marine thread on the official forums is now closed by Lando. The censorship continues. Slightly funny that only Star Marine wakes people up. Not coop, not private servers. Guess mouse flight is not on anyone’s mind.
I wonder what happened to the Saitek HOTAS.
Well, crowdfunding is screwed. Star Citizen continues going with the help of idiotic consumers. Ant Simulator gives an idea of how “consultants” can embezzle fast and hard.
The question now is how SQ42 will be split from SC. Will it be actual separate game packages or will it be based on your pledge date and title? The key thought process being, can original and veteran backers continue buying packages that include both games? Or will older backers only be able to buy new packages with separate games, if and when they melt their older items? Basically, CIG is creating an even bigger mess, and backers are too stupid to question how their future purchases are affected by the split.
Heck, the split may not even matter because there is no game. It only affects new victims. Maybe no one should care if their money goes poof. I don’t know what info Derek or the goon leak are sitting on, but if it is as nasty as they hinted, I hope those results show up soon.
I am truly sad with how idiotic folks can be. Even with so much information and warning signs, there is just no limit to utter stupidity.
I agree with CIG clutching at straws. The only rumors I know of regarding USA jobs is that Sandi may be trying to bring back CS over to the USA, in order to keep proper tabs on everything that occurs. Which I find odd and a waste of cash (unless UK is that much lower in pay), because CS was all based in the Santa Monica office originally.
Adapting (anything) to criticism is not new. When the Escapist article alleged of Sandi’s racial discrimination hiring practices, shortly afterwards a black woman was featured prominently in a show, and an older developer (for age’s sake). CIG’s response to criticism is too obvious. You probably scared CIG too.
I wish I could find info regarding the server architecture changes, but ever since Star Marine has been quietly canceled, errrr delayed till launch, there has been a lack of weekly updates that contain dev comments on what has been done and what needs fixing. All that’s left now is the monthly studio updates, like this one for Dec 2015, and it lacks sufficient technical comments under Live Ops, IT, support, QA.
Honestly, I never considered these Monthly Reports, 10 For the Chairmen, Around the Verse, or any of these shows to be proof of CIG’s transparency of development, even before the media mess. They are carefully written and vetted to produce an image of progress, with a few technical summaries to make technical customers feel confident. True transparency is forensic accounting, disclosure of salaries, disclosure of motion capture studio and celebrity rates, knowing the actual number of backers and ships sold. Oh, and disclosure that Sandi is the wife of the CEO. They kept it a secret since the kickstarter here, and only publicly announced it in Chris’ reply to the Escapist here, 3 years later.
This is no longer incompetence. I strongly suspect CIG are more than capable of intentionally making calculated mistakes, to earn the sympathy and understanding of the overly invested. Especially when sales are involved, such as the extremely exclusive Origin Racing suit being sold outside of its original package. Ben is quite adept at playing on backers here and here. Of course, Chris, Ortwin and Sandi are bumbling amateurs and wrecking their own project in plain sight once the pressure accumulates. They are incredibly scared of Derek Smart, and the proof is evident in the replies to the Escapist.
Fresh stuff. Our goon leak says in 3 posts,
On another note entirely look out for a high profile art resignation in the not too distant future.
Sandi has a far more complex and darker history than has been talked of. She is independantly wealthy and from a rich and privalleged background.
To expand on this however is to enter creepy land.The stuff I’m referring to is smack bang in the middle of creepy central. So lips are sealed…….. Until everyone is safely locked up
Derek replies to the middle post with,
No it’s not creepy at all. It’s in my blogs. I already mentioned that prior to Star Citizen, Chris they were broke. Aside from that, my sources tell me that some of the initial seed funding (2011) prior to Star Citizen came from her (or her family; this part isn’t clear). And possibly that’s how/why they were able to pay themselves from initial crowd-funding. That’s the sort of thing you can only get evidence of from a lawsuit.
It’s a fun Sunday morning. Of course, the other goons continue with their trash posts.
Wow, that’s a crazy good follow up post. Love the “extras”. Over on the goon forum, Derek and the leak were both hinting that something really big happened, but both could not drop any further hints to protect others.
My guess is that there was more than just 1-2 people quitting. Probably 4-8, most likely customer service. I know Patrick Probst is in the UK, and is the CS manager and lead moderator. He also handled the Sandi email poorly (probably forced to). I would expect him to be mutilated by Sandi and Chris. Thus the search for CS and moderators.
I am really curious if Sandi is the one still hiring people. I doubt competent folks are allowed, especially those that “Work well in a cooperative team environment”, but have the slightest audacity to question the leading authority of Chris Roberts. Who has been out of the game industry since June 2000.
It’s really funny. All of the “leavers” (thanks Ben) free up money, but without actual employees that can do things, they can’t release a product that fulfills the bare minimum legal and advertised requirements. Normally, thats a big mistake. At CIG though, especially under Sandi’s qualified eyes, and is “the most formally educated person in this whole company”, it’s not an issue.
Sandi will be able to find and interview the right folks to finish this ponzi-project, no problem. It’s all in the double P’s. PAAAARRRRRP.
