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A quick history and timeline of Derek Smart vs. Chris Roberts (Star Citizen)
- Thread starter Spladam
- Start date
Richard the Lionheart
Neo Member
I'm surprised so many people in this thread (and on GAF) are totally partisan with this whole fiasco when they should, in fact, be more agnostic and skeptical of all parties involved.
is this kind of like those 'both sides' posts regarding Gamergate?
Irobot82
Member
Wow, Dr. Smart is really going off the deep end. His upcoming blog post is about how Chris and Co are connected to the mob and a gizmondo ponzi sceme. He just can't scream loud enough to get all the attention.
Someone should photoshop his head on one of those animated gifs where the person is connecting everything to a giant conspiracy.
Someone should photoshop his head on one of those animated gifs where the person is connecting everything to a giant conspiracy.
When one party is a pathological liar with a twenty-year history of trolling the internet, it's not necessary to maintain an egalitarian perspective.
oh are you talking about the guy who claimed he was politically neutral but only @s far right conservatives in his tweets?
the one that claims he's going to subpeona google because his twitter account is on a blocklist - functionality that has been around since usenet and has never, EVER held up in court as being defamatory?
Derek Smart said:
Derek Smart threatens to turn people's lives inside out when he can't even unwrap his goddamn UVs properly.
And he's always had this behavior, for more than a decade.
MrCunningham
Member
Spladam
Member
An all time peak of 111 players, ouch. I did not know about Steam Charts, cool tool, thanks for that.
Saw this and at first thought it was a fake post troll. Seemed a little too obvious.
But then gem gets posted and has me second guessing myself. In either case, Derek Smart has produced nothing of value himself and instead dedicates his time to tearing other people and other things down. His career has been one giant shitpost. Seems like every generation of gamer is doomed to experience this.
I suspected by reading your Twitter that you have narcissistic tendencies. After reading this paragraph, I am now of no doubt.
OrlanisWorks
Banned
So Derek has a GAF account, but can't handle comments that oppose his views, at least not in a rational manner.
Heheh
Heheh
Xaero Gravity
NEXT LEVEL lame™
That's fairly common around here.
Xplatformer
Member
LOL...yup. Dat guy.
br0ken_shad0w
Member
Plenty of people, me included, are skeptical of Chris Roberts (read up on Freelancer's development history). It's just Derek Smart is a complete joke and the last person I would want to lead the side of skepticism.
Roberts has had some issues with troubled development and budgets in the past, but he's also been responsible for some of the best games ever made and -- for me at least -- defined an entire genre. (I'm undoubtedly biased because the Wing Commander series is one of the reasons I got into video games so much in the first place. Hell, I associate Mark Hamill with Christopher Blair more than I do Luke Skywalker, and that's saying something.)
I'm skeptical of Star Citizen too at this point, though, and I donated quite a bit of money at the start of the campaign, but I'm still holding out hope.
However, I also "played" Battlecruiser when it came out, and went my entire gaming career without knowing who Smart was. These two guys aren't even close to being on the same level.
I have seen him run from Penny Arcade, RockPaperShotgun and now NeoGaf forums, but this has been the fastest yet. Any more to add to the list?
Also he should get out of this discussion, any merit that his claims has are going to be drown by his own person like we have seen in other webs and in the discussion in here.
Also he should get out of this discussion, any merit that his claims has are going to be drown by his own person like we have seen in other webs and in the discussion in here.
Except that one side is not just Derek Smart.
I am really beginning to wonder why people think the one and only person in the entire world that is skeptical of Star Citizen is Derek Smart.
Seriously, people have been skeptical of Star Citizen before Derek Smart started his fued.
Must be because Derek Smart is an easy target. They can just say stuff like "LOL Derek Smart is a fucking idiot" and obfuscate the discussion.
There's plenty of people sceptical of the project, it's very ambitious after all, a lot can go wrong.
However, a lot of sceptics, especially those that wonder if money is being mismanaged, often turn out to not know what they are talking about and be very badly informed about the project in adition to that.
when "concerned" people put out articles like the Escapist did, the mockery is the expected reaction.
Messofanego
Banned
"This popped up in my Google Alert"
Of fucking course.
Of fucking course.
And what about when "concerned" people put out articles that arent The Escapist?
Like MMORPG.com or Tentonhammer? They were quickly dismissed or ignored.
Without the narrative being dominated by insults towards Derek Smart or The Escapist then people would have to have an actual discussion about this.
Irobot82
Member
What's really great is the goons on SA are patting him on the back and feeding his massive ego. He thinks it's real, so he tend to go there to drop his latest nonsense. It's entertaining if you can also get past their disdain for CIG now too. They just want to watch the world burn at this point.
UpDownLeftRight
Banned
Never even heard of Tentonhammer, but MMORPG? You mean the place with a pro Derek Smart group that bows and worships him? Yeah sorry, I couldn't care less what they have to say.
CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls
Banned
Jesus, Dennis. Savage.
Anyway, I really appreciate the summary, OP. I found myself lost in the SC drama originally and knowing their history--or lack thereof--makes this more understandable.
At the end of the day, it's a man jealous of another man's work. Someone who cannot and will not take criticism and refutes any claim that they are in the wrong. Bury the hatchet, let Roberts continue on with his project, and force Smart to actually create something worth a damn that's as big and important as his ego has become.
Lalalandia
Member
Oh my God I said Derek Smart out loud three times last night on a dare!!!!!
Is he in my house right now???!!!?????
Because neither of those sites had anything to add beyond concern.
ItsFuckingNothing.gif
Kotaku, IGN and other reputable sites have run articles using anonymous attribution before but both spent months verifying employment and corroborating stories, the 'verification' Escapist performed was laughably weak. Kotaku and IGN spoke to ex and current employees and despite speaking to some pretty disgruntled people managed to avoid outright calling someone racist or suggest that the business owners outright stole money. Until someone who understands the concept of ethical standards, beyond their usefulness as a rhetorical cudgel, writes up CIG I'm going to assume there's nothing much here.
Is he in my house right now???!!!?????
Probably, seriously though DS release a video of it working and maybe we'll believe you're a game maker rather than an elaborate performance artist of dubious talent
Because neither of those sites had anything to add beyond concern.
ItsFuckingNothing.gif
Kotaku, IGN and other reputable sites have run articles using anonymous attribution before but both spent months verifying employment and corroborating stories, the 'verification' Escapist performed was laughably weak. Kotaku and IGN spoke to ex and current employees and despite speaking to some pretty disgruntled people managed to avoid outright calling someone racist or suggest that the business owners outright stole money. Until someone who understands the concept of ethical standards, beyond their usefulness as a rhetorical cudgel, writes up CIG I'm going to assume there's nothing much here.
Green Wiggly
Member
When GAF reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled.
In that case you should suggest to Derek that he stop trying to dominate the narrative, it's clearly been counterproductive so far.
The narrative has really been dominated by ignorance more than any single person or place. Considering the amount of communication between CIG and backers (which is a metric fuckton) there's really little excuse for it.
Raging about how other people spend their money is another thing that dominates the discussion. Its either out of complete ignorance again or its intentional because of people that very much distrust crowdfunding.
When you have all this dominating the conversation from pretty much the beginning, it colors the legit concerns. CIG certainly shares a portion of the blame, but how much? How different is CIG compared to other developers? How much of the "concern" is actually warranted? It's really tough to tell at this point.
Adding Derek into the mix makes it all worse. This is a developer attacking another's work before its even completed. Worse still Derek has very little room to talk. His singular contribution to gaming has been his ego, not his games. He could retire tomorrow and gaming will have lost nothing, except a negative personality. No Derek, no BC3K. No Chris Roberts, no Wing Commander. One of these games brought happiness and fun into my life and the other was
BC3K
Ultimately the narrative has been entirely fucked by the enormous amount of hyperbolic bullshit being tossed around from the beginning. Derek should just let the game stand or fall on its own merits and focus that energy on his own game. People should stop trying to tell others how to spend their own fucking money. Then, when things quiet down, genuine concerns might be readily heard.
Spladam
Member
Quadraphonic
Member
There's no use getting wrapped up in it since one side clearly has an end date when it will be revealed as a complete fabrication.
So until that date comes and goes, it's not worth giving a damn.
Holy crap, there's no way possible this is a serious post.
You actually believe there is a pro-Derek Smart contingent within MMORPG.com that worships him?
Am I really reading that correctly?
Proof? Links? Are they part of the staff? Anything besides lunacy?
This is exactly the kind of dismissal I was talking about.
I tried to advocate sanity but that is clearly a lost cause.
jakonovski
Member
Let's be real on why the discussion is so partisan: a lot of people have a shitload of money riding on Star Citizen.
Dictator93
Member
Clearly the only reason other news outlets have not run derek smart's and the escapist's story is because "a lot of people have a shitload of money riding on Star Citizen".
OrlanisWorks
Banned
Yep, It's the money. Not the evidence that points to Derek Smart being insane.
This is an argument that can be used from both sides. This kind of money doesn't matter to me. SC has been discussed before, but didn't hit this level until Smart and The Escapist entered the ring and started handing out low blows.
A post in the style of Derek! How apropos. You've really managed to nail the sarcasm and the indignation quite well, and you worked in two insanity references. Bravo!
This post in the SA thread is getting some attention.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...rid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=452#post451403347
and the first post was just updated to include this:
For context, "DickWulf" there is referring to Accelerwraith, a prominent supporter of SC (frequently opposing Derek) who has backed for 20k and had previously posted on reddit about struggling with depression.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...rid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=452#post451403347
and the first post was just updated to include this:
For context, "DickWulf" there is referring to Accelerwraith, a prominent supporter of SC (frequently opposing Derek) who has backed for 20k and had previously posted on reddit about struggling with depression.
Well, those forums are aptly named. A fitting place for Derek to dwell.
You mean like he, as always, ignored any critical question about his own game, made a couple of accusations and then bailed?
Yeah, that's certainly commendable.
You mean like he, as always, ignored any critical question about his own game, made a couple of accusations and then bailed?
Yeah, that's certainly commendable.
Off-Kilter
Banned
Derek, for what it's worth, I appreciate that you took the time to stop by and provide your perspective on matters.
RubberJohnny
Banned
DickWulf is a creepy guy who keeps harassing women by sending them dickpicks, his dick is on Something Awful because he sent it to a members wife, but CIG banned the guy who complained about him from their convention because DickWulf is such a big backer.
I don't.
I really think lots of people on the internet today are simply too young to understand just how batshit insane Derek Smart is. I'm usually the first one to caution against judging the messenger rather than the message, but a cause's credibility truly gets tainted merely by him championing it.
Me neither.
I'm certainly interested in buying SC when/if it comes out though.
I'd have to buy a new PC first.
That's my impression, too.
I thought people were kidding, but no, the legends were true. The man is actually some sort of internet-based Lovecraftian horror.
The Jackdog
Member
I think derek smart is pretty terrible.
But i think people SHOULD be skeptical of star citizen. theres a ton of money there. A ton. And the ONLY return backers are going to see from their investment is a game. The quality of that game is under scrutiny till we all have it.
As for why other new outlets havent run anything from this story, a major one just got caught running an uncharted 4 preview that was actually uncharted 2. lets not pretend game journalism is hard hitting and far reaching.
But i think people SHOULD be skeptical of star citizen. theres a ton of money there. A ton. And the ONLY return backers are going to see from their investment is a game. The quality of that game is under scrutiny till we all have it.
As for why other new outlets havent run anything from this story, a major one just got caught running an uncharted 4 preview that was actually uncharted 2. lets not pretend game journalism is hard hitting and far reaching.
Same. I'm not a backer for SC but I remember Derek. I can't take anything he's involved in at face value. The lengths he goes to to disrupt things are incredible, and many of the things happening here I would not think are beyond what he's done before. I'll hold off on judgment until a more credible outlet says something that is verifiably not tracing back to him.
SC has a lot of money riding for it, and its development is taking time, but it's not really different than any other AAA game, they also cost hundreds of millions, take a lot of time to make, and have snags in development. They seem to give out in-depth weekly progress reports, so things are happening. It's not like they're some other devs who fucked off with people's money and haven't issues an update in like a year.
There's no reason to "sit on the fence" here. To do so is either concern trolling or doing exactly what Derek wants you to do, aka creating an imaginary disaster scenario via FUD and making you think sitting on the fence is a neutral position whereas it's far off from the reality, but the spectrum is skewed by his bullshit.