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OFFICIAL Star Citizen

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That Nyx video is awesome!
 
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Citizencon is this Saturday - going to be a ton of new info out there about SQ42 hopefully. Thought I'd mention it now so anyone wanting to catch the stream will be able to. As a pro tip for anyone tempted to visit the subreddit - there's a bit of a troll campaign trying to stir up drama, and the mods there have let it get a little out of control. Just ignore it and it will pass once Citizencon hits.

I was lucky enough to snag a ticket so can't wait to meet some of the team and see what progress they've been making :D
 

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I still need to reconfigure my controls for this game. Haven't played it in some time now...but was starting to have fun again before I got too busy to play and then did the fresh W10 install.

Enjoy your visit to Citizencon! I expect some epic updates from you when you return! :D
 
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Citizencon is this Saturday - going to be a ton of new info out there about SQ42 hopefully. Thought I'd mention it now so anyone wanting to catch the stream will be able to. As a pro tip for anyone tempted to visit the subreddit - there's a bit of a troll campaign trying to stir up drama, and the mods there have let it get a little out of control. Just ignore it and it will pass once Citizencon hits.

I was lucky enough to snag a ticket so can't wait to meet some of the team and see what progress they've been making :D
sweet!! Have fun at the event. Wish I could go. :D
 

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Wow, Chris Roberts barred no holds, did he? That's sad.
Chris Roberts said:
The only person who is famous for being a blowhard, bully, an awful game developer and human being is Derek Smart.
...as if I needed more proof Twitter is trash...

Chris Roberts should have wrote a paragraph to The Escapist saying he opposes the publication of the article because it is slanderous and direct Keefer to Cloud Imperium Games' legal counsel.

So is this demand letter merely a strong-arm tactic to bully The Escapist into retracting the article, or will Cloud Imperium Games actually deliver on their threat and pursue a libel lawsuit?
You bet your ass a libel lawsuit is coming.

Could a defamation suit like this actually even make it to court?
Definitely. Defamation lawsuits happen, they do go to court, and court orders are issued.

Would funds obtained by Cloud Imperium Games from their ongoing Star Citizen crowdfunding campaigns be used to finance the lawsuit?
Does it matter? This kind of rhetoric can lead to lots of financial problems for CIG if left unchallenged. As a business, it is their duty to combat it.

Is involvement with GamerGate really fueling any of this, as so many of my comments on my previous article claim?
My gut says yes but for it to stand in a defamation lawsuit, proof and not hearsay must be presented. It sounds to me like Chris Roberts should consider a defamation suit against Derek Smart directly; he appears to feel very strongly about him.

All of these questions deserve answers, because we’ve reached a point in this…I can’t think of any word more fitting than scandal…where enthusiastic backers of the game stand to lose faith, development of the game itself is potentially affected, and a press outlet is facing a lawsuit for allegedly not doing their job. All sides become impacted by this now — gamers included — and despite any personal doubts I have about Star Citizen getting completed in any reasonable amount of time, all of these questions warrant further investigation. Sadly, I think is only the beginning of this drama.
I agree on all accounts.


Edit: Getting my head around all of it, I don't know who to believe. As always, I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle.
 
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All leads on this story (The Escapist) pretty much are leading to Derek Smart. I stopped caring about it then and there and won't follow it any further. The guy is a con-man and is worth no one's time.

Of course, Derek is the perfect delivery device for drama for drama seeking internet users. I learned at least 10 years ago that anything that comes out of the guy's mouth isn't worth a nickel.

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14979-Chairmans-Response-To-The-Escapist
 

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That's only true if you believe Chris Roberts and completely disregard The Escapist. Reading through the Escapist article, I wanted a better feel for the sources so here's what each source said unabated.

Edit: I'm bolding the statements that are plausible/matter. I'm assuming anything related to money is hearsay because it is a private company and the actual numbers are held close to the chest at the highest echelon of the hierarchy.
Lizzy Finnegan said:
Nine people reached out to us - two were completely anonymous and were used to corroborate information. The seven quoted below identified themselves, but will be referenced by number (CS1, CS2, etc.) at their request.

CS1 said:
"$90 million for what he's pitching, even with a competent leadership, you couldn't do," CS1 said. "The thing you have to remember about Chris Roberts is that, before this, he hadn't made a game in 12 years. He has no concept of what can and can't be done today with that amount of money, or for a game like this. Chris Roberts hadn't made a game in 12 years, and he was actively ignoring the input of people who have been in and a part of the industry that entire time."

CS1 reported that they were instructed to, first, check the education field on a prospective employee's resume. If too much time had passed, Gardiner reportedly informed people not to hire them, because "they may be over 40, which makes them a protected class and harder to fire." It was also claimed that Gardiner used race as a determining factor in selecting employees, allegedly once saying "We aren't hiring her. We aren't hiring a black girl."

"With Star Citizen, the metric is how much money you've made, not what you've done with that money," CS1 stated.

CS2 said:
"He doesn't set out in the morning to screw anybody over. He's just incredibly arrogant," CS2 stated.

"They've spent $82 million dollars, and what is there to show for that? There's a demo, a racing demo, a single first person shooter level, and an area where you can walk around. For $82 million," CS2 stated.

"The thing I noticed when I started was that we were making commercials. We weren't making a game," CS2 said. "It was all about what was on the screen behind [Roberts] during the presentation."

"You pick up a book, and what's the first thing you do? You read the back. The back is the best part of the book, because you can project what your experience is going to be. And usually the book isn't as good as what you imagine it will be," CS2 said. "With [Roberts], it would be, like, 'look at these beautiful renders of characters, and of this spaceship.' But none of it was real. He shows some artwork, and then people project what their experience is going to be. Like the back of a book."

"Fans would come into the studio, and I wanted to be like 'Dude, run. Take your money and run.' I felt like I was part of a con," CS2 added. "This could really severely damage crowdfunding, at least for games. Who's going to want to do that again? People will look at everything and think 'but what if it's another Star Citizen?'"

"Games are made like houses. You want to make the foundation first and the wallpaper last. With Chris Roberts, everything is the wallpaper," CS2 added. "I think there will be a game. But it will be a shell of what was promised."

Chris Roberts thinks he's George Lucas. He thinks he's a genius," CS2 asserted. "He's a fraud, pure and simple. If he was just a salesman, or he worked in marketing, or he was answering to a producer, he would do well. But the emperor wears no clothes. Anybody who has worked with him will tell you the same thing. The difference is that lots of people have a dream, but only some can communicate it. I don't think he's sinister, or a bad person. He's Donald Trump. He thinks that if he wants to do something, he can. Because he's Chris Roberts."

CS3 said:
"I realized it was affecting my health, my home life. I needed to get out. So I left. I had no job lined up. I just had to get out. I looked at my situation, I had enough in savings, so I left," CS3 told me. "I couldn't take it. It was by far the most toxic environment I have ever worked in. No one had clear direction about how to do their jobs well. No one was empowered to do their jobs well. Everything was second guessed, and the default reaction to everything was blame and yelling and emails with all capital letters and curse words."

"Sandi is very jealous. She has to be the queen bee at the company. Whenever I was around her, I felt like I was in the presence of a cobra who, at that moment, might not have been inclined to strike but was completely willing to. You don't get on her bad side," CS3 added. "There were two things you were told, when you were hired. One, you don't talk about [Roberts and Gardiner] being married, to anyone. Ever. And two, you don't make Sandi mad."

CS3 stated that it wasn't uncommon practice to round up four or five people to review an email intended for Roberts, to make sure there was nothing potentially upsetting in the wording. "His immediate response to everything was to insult people, and accuse everyone of being idiots," he said. "It was like the Eye of Sauron. You never wanted to say anything in an email or a meeting that would bring the Eye of Sauron on you. He couldn't control his temper, and had no problem making a public scene of it."

"Personally, I felt like the company was understaffed for what they were trying to do," CS3 stated. "Building these spaceships - every ship is equivalent of a game level. They're supposed to be something where you can examine the entire outside, and then go inside and walk around the entire inside. And that's a huge amount of work. And they had just a handful of people working on this."

"The money is running out and they're cutting wherever they can - but they're cutting people, not frills. Chris Roberts wants a certain game - practically a movie - and doesn't want to compromise on anything but staff. "He's letting go people (sic) necessary to complete the game, but then wants to hire a professional linguist to create three brand new alien languages. He's making this entire project impossible," CS3 added.

"A lot of people would be like "Where's the game? When is this going to turn into a game?" CS3 added. "It was all about making pretty spaceships and brochures and commercials and hiring big name Hollywood actors to do voice-overs for the commercials. We were never working on a game."

"You have to ask 'at what point are you taking advantage of someone?' There's a certain responsibility," CS3 said in regards to the backers who have contributed large sums of money. "Like, I felt like we should have gone to their homes and made sure their kids were eating and dressed. It starts to feel like a gambling addiction after a certain point. It was hard not to feel guilty."

"I'm guessing something will come out," CS3 said. "What format or who will publish it, I don't know. I think it's unlikely that CIG will put something out. They will be bought, or some angel investor will come in. I just really don't see them coming out with anything as they are. They need to be bailed out."

CS4 said:
"She would write emails with so much profanity. She would call people stupid, retard, faggot. Accuse men of not having balls. And she was incredibly hostile to other female employees," CS4 stated.

"Games are not a professional environment by default, by their nature," CS4 said. "That's one of the great things about working on a game. But there are certain levels of unprofessionalism that you don't go beyond. Chris and Sandi made it part of their job to go beyond those levels."

"We were always building towards the next event," CS4 stated. "It wasn't about making a game. it was about a flashy demo for Gamescom, or PAX, or the next commercial. It never felt like they were trying to make a game, as much as digital spaceships to sell."

CS5 said:
CS5 stated that Gardiner would be out of the country on vacation or auditioning for movie or television roles, allegedly paid for with company money, but would post images of the office - taken by another employee - to make it appear as though she was at work. Multiple sources confided that several videos were filmed using company resources and employees, both in Cloud Imperium Games' offices and in the couple's home.

"This isn't going to make the game better. This is throwing away money because, deep down, Chris Roberts wants to make movies," CS5 stated. "He failed in Hollywood, but he never made peace with that."

"There won't be a game. It's not going to happen. But then again, I am a pessimist," CS5 chimed in. "The entire production process is circular. You spend six months proving that what you said wouldn't work won't work. There is no progress happening."

CS6 said:
"The firings are both saving and costing money," CS6 said.

CS7 said:
CS7 indicated that Cloud Imperium Games Montreal entered into a joint venture partnership with Turbulent to continue to develop and sell the crowdfunding platform that was built for Star Citizen to other companies - and that backer money was being used for this project. HEAP C3MS is described as "the first platform to combine content, community, and commerce within one integrated platform," and was used for the design of the RSI website.
CS1 appears to have worked in HR. Other than one statement about discrimination (a thread for government "equal opportunity" enforcers to pull), the other two don't seem to carry much weight.

CS2, let's assume that this third statement is truthful and Chris Robert's response should be easily verifiable. Assuming both are true, CS2 wasn't an employee since at least 2014. The fourth and fifth statements sounds like this individual was frustrated with the progress being made. Also gives the strong impression of being a disgruntled former employee.

CS3, the third statement (I bolded the important part) certainly seems to be true of Roberts' message on the Cloud Imperium Games blog. Almost immediately he attacked everyone that's named in The Escapist piece. I pointed it out immediately in my response because it stood out like a sore thumb and it is entirely unexpected of someone in his position. He should know better.

CS3, this statement feels familiar: "I felt like we should have gone to their homes and made sure their kids were eating and dressed." Google was no help finding if it was pulled from somewhere else. A few of the words may have been changed (which beats Google) but I don't believe that statement is original. It raises concerns in the back of my mind but, I have no proof at this point.

CS3 is clearly a former employee (note the language in the first and last statements).

CS4 is clearly a former employee (use of past tense words).

CS5 and CS6 don't appear to have much to add.

It is important to note that CS2, CS3, and CS4 all used the word "commercial" at least once. Going by what Roberts said and also my conclusions above, none of them have worked at the company since 2014.

CS5 used the word "movie" instead. I don't know if it is safe to group CS5 with CS2-4.

CS7, as Forbes pointed out, does raise concerns. Do they really matter? Not to me. I think it was money well spent because the website is incredible. If they're trying to sell it for another revenue stream, I don't have a problem with it.

I think CS6 and CS7 are current employees. CS5 might be but there is a lot of anger in the statements so I lean 80% towards being a former employee. If CS5 is a current employee, the first statement is very concerning.

I really only see two things that are potentially proof of something bad but both of them happened a long time ago. The former (CS1) may have been rectified and the latter (CS7) may have turned into a profitable venture. I hope Roberts will announce whether or not it was.
 
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DS claims CIG has 8 million left
CIG just signed a 5 year lease for a studio in Germany
:roll:
 

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Roberts was mostly responding to this article which is almost exclusively about Derek Smart. That article caused 9 sources to come forward which lead to the second article. CS2 practically cites Derek Smart and the first article which, in my opinion, discredits that source.

It should be noted that it is never said what the two anonymous sources collaborate.
 
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That's only true if you believe Chris Roberts and completely disregard The Escapist. Reading through the Escapist article, I wanted a better feel for the sources so here's what each source said unabated.

Edit: I'm bolding the statements that are plausible/matter. I'm assuming anything related to money is hearsay because it is a private company and I assume the actual numbers are held close to the chest at the highest echelon of the hierarchy.

Other media outlets are discrediting The Escapist. The follow ups, the ID tags, the things Derek is saying on his own Twitter feed. It all adds up to Derek "shopping his info" around and finally got someone to bite (the author of the story Lizzy Flannigan). This is what Derek Smart does, is doing and has no reservations saying he's doing it. It's just drama for drama's sake and Derek's gain. Meh, I'm not very concerned and talking about trolls bores me.
 

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I hope you're right, I do, but there is credibility to the claim the scope of the game has outpaced development just as it happened on Freelancer. Peter Molyneux is also known for this.

GTAV cost $265 million to make by over 1000 people. SC earned at least $90 million and has 261 employees. If they aren't making serious progress on Squadron 42...
 
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srsly. did you come here and post this FUD?
What purpose did your comments have apart from spreading FUD?
expected better from you. lol


We all just have to wait until the game comes out.
 

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No, I just don't click into this thread often. As a "Citizen" ($40 if memory serves) the link @FreedomEclipse posted piqued my interest. I then set on a several hour long discovery quest and posted my thoughts/findings so others in the thread can quickly get caught up to speed on what is alleged.

I have high hopes for this game but if the alleged statements are true, those hopes pretty much vanish. That's apparently what Derek Smart wants. Everything else--I don't know what to believe. I really hope Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) jumps in and tries to head it off before it turns into another GamerGate. Case in point, The Escapist failed this from the Code of Ethics: "Explain why anonymity was granted." They also gave Roberts a deadline for publication failing this: "Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing."

Michael Koretzky organized the SPJ AirPlay event about GamerGate:

This snowball only started rolling.
 
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As others have said I'd ignore the Escapist article and the drivel DS is spreading - it's all drama by DS in a vein attempt to stay relevant and to attack what he considers a competitor to his own game (which fails to compete against a first year comp sci student's work tbh, let alone what CIG has already released).

You can safely ignore it - if you look at how much development of this scale costs against the money raised CIG have plenty left in the bank (or, more prudently, in investments which give a better return). The fact CIG are still hiring shows they aren't worried about their funding, and the allegations that they will close the Austin office have already been proven false, in addition to the fact CIG are still hiring for positions in that office.

On the subject of what GTA V cost to develop the entire budget was $265 million - including marketing which takes a bigger proportion of funds than the development (TV spots, magazine ads and online ads cost a lot). Star Citizen doesn't have those costs to worry about, so the funding is fine (and if you look at the fact that the public funding doesn't include subscription income or income from deals like the AMD never settled bundle which will be in the millions).
 

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The fact CIG are still hiring shows they aren't worried about their funding, and the allegations that they will close the Austin office have already been proven false, in addition to the fact CIG are still hiring for positions in that office.
Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't they replacing people they are firing? That suggests Austin isn't closing but it also suggests they aren't expanding. I'm not saying that is a bad thing because, given enough time, 261 employees should be enough to deliver what was promised. Expanding could jeopardize the financial stability of the company.


Remember, CIG already did a great deal of marketing. I think it mostly stopped in 2014 though.
 
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Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't they replacing people they are firing? That suggests Austin isn't closing but it also suggests they aren't expanding. I'm not saying that is a bad thing because, given enough time, 261 employees should be enough to deliver what was promised. Expanding could jeopardize the financial stability of the company.

The roles that went in Austin were moved to other studios, so the new hires are to bulk out the MMO universe team which is based in Austin. CIG are led by industry veterans so they know what they're doing staff wise and as one of the original studios Austin hasn't been short staffed for a while, so they don't necessarily need a ton more devs.

The studios are working on the following areas:

- Santa Monica: Ship pipeline, marketing/community, art/assets & devops
- Austin: persistent universe (MMO portion of game) & devops
- Manchester, UK: SQ42 (single player campaign) & ship pipeline
- Frankfurt, Germany: Core engine, FPS & SQ42 (working with UK team)

As you can see they can't drop the Austin team as they're making a key part of the game, and if they were planning to shut it down they'd let the staff numbers drop through natural attrition without back-filling or getting new hires. 300+ people plus contractors is certainly a big enough team to get the game made.

As for marketing CIG have not paid for any marketing campaigns at all beyond the regular content updates that are paid for from subscriber money (which are YT videos for backers - not TV spots, online advertising or printed media advertising which is what costs money).
 

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Well, you have to admit that if CIG is financially struggling, the persistent universe is the most costly and easiest part to drop. Look at Kingdom of Amalur for proof of that (shipped the equivalent of Squadron 42; never delivered the MMO that was building up to). It would also likely be a sudden closure and not attrition; a skeleton crew could finish the devops portion.
 
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Well, you have to admit that if CIG is financially struggling, the persistent universe is the most costly and easiest part to drop. Look at Kingdom of Amalur for proof of that (shipped the equivalent of Squadron 42; never delivered the MMO that was building up to). It would also likely be a sudden closure and not attrition; a skeleton crew could finish the devops portion.

They're not struggling though, so this is a moot point.
 

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I hope you're right.
 
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I hope you're right.

The only person casting doubt on that is a self-confessed troll who has a vendetta against Chris Roberts, has no experience in developing games with a games studio, has no insight into CIG's spending or funding and who would benefit from Star Citizen failing. Others reporting on the matter have all been contacted by said troll who is trying to make it sound like his insane rants are legitimate (most media outlets have told him to piss off, as he has no evidence and fabricated sources). He showed his hand early on by saying Star Citizen is inferior to his game, and that he should be placed at the top of CIG to replace Chris Roberts, so of course he will try and cast doubt on it.

Reasonable looking estimates put CIG at spending $32 million so far (since 2012) plus voice actor fees, when they likely have $100 million + in funds available now. They're averaging $17,000 per day in revenue as well, so it's not like they are running out of money either.
 

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$17,000 per day = $6 million and some change per year. At $60,000 for your average game development studio per year, that comes to earning enough money in a year to pay for 103 employees in said year. They have 261. The revenue needs to be more than doubled to sustain their base spending rate. Nevermind licensing, building rent/utilities, cost of relocating employees, employee termination packages, taxes, and so on.
 
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