Star Citizen.. Looks like it was never meant to be

Forbes assessment of star Citizen

So it looks as though Star Citizen may not coming after all. I've been saying this for over a year, even had a thread locked by the mods for (in their own words) 'not knowing what I'm talking about' (not complaining mods, just pointing out a fact that can be seen on this forum publicly) yet it would seem Chris Roberts has fluttered away all that hard earned cash of yours

It's a real shame and I feel for all you people who backed this total arse. Genuinely, rising above platform fanboyism, my heart goes out to all of you.

What are your thoughts system wars?

Lock if this is a repeat thread

Read this

Try and get a picture from both sides of an argument.

This is all Derek Smart's (I didn't even know who he was until recently) hate campaign being pushed out by his click bait journalist twitter flunkies.

Yeah I read that. Given the accusations it makes sense for Chris to try and calm people down. I mean what would you do when multiple journalists are running the same (verified by multiple 'inside' sources) incredibly damaging story.

If this is all true (and forbes doesn't run shit for the sake of news) then he is in the worst trouble he's likely to encounter his entire life. Wouldn't you do what he's done?

It's all rumor, but the simple fact that this story even exists is worrying.

Also it's believable, what is the motivation for slandering SC? It's universally loved by the PC community of which the escapist is a big part.

Holy crap, that chick is getting fired. Who the fack would dox Chris Roberts? Chick is crazy.

@GarGx1:

bro, the fact he is using gamergate to kind of discredit the writer, who BTW is female, all based on a mere mean tweet to a feminist should tell you a lot about what Roberts wants to accomplish with that letter.

For starter this has nothing to do with Derek Smart. This is about 9 employees, verified by not only the escapists staff but by real life lawyers too (7 are verified), blasting Cloud Imperium with truth bombs.

And yes, I'm enjoying the butthurt of the whole PC community. ;)

and here we go again, people that never wanted Star Citizen to succeed spamming s*it sources with no evidence as fact....

"Multiple Journalists" all quoting the same source.... the same nameless source that a certain psychocotic mr smart made up in his head.

@Gue1 loving the one sided idiotic mantra... keep it coming. He mentions Derek Smart, because that is where all this s*it comes from. stop pretending you have any idea whats going on, you probably didn't even know anything about this discussion prior to this.

@RedentSC: What verified inside sources, they are all anonymous, if you are telling the truth why hide behind anonymity? There is nothing in The Escapist article that is backed with any facts, other than these so called reliable ex-employees, who were likely sacked and are bitter about it.

The letter Chris presented to The Escapist was received by them before they ran their article, the same article the click baiters are now circulating, and yet they did not add any of his replies to it because it would remove the sensationalism from it. Forbes happily run articles from third parties and are just a susceptible to click baiting as Gamespot, IGN, or Polygon. They are normally more reliable but they have posted an article based on another websites article, that in turn has no proof or evidence to back up its content. That's would really stand the test in a court of law as evidence of corruption. After all that's what we're talking about here.

The fact that the story exists shows nothing but David Smart has a twitter following that are willing perpetuate his bile and hate for Chris Roberts (you can see the two of them have a history as old as Wing Commander itself, as confirmed in Chris's letter)

In what way is it believable? It's on believable if you want it to be. The game has been in development for less than 3 years (I thought it was January 2013 when Austin started work but the letter says February) I have no idea why there is so much hate for Star Citizen. I can only think there are interested parties who see gain in the project failing. Publishers perhaps? I'm sure there are people with major shares in games publishing who see crowd funding as a major threat, especially when it comes in the shape of AAA games. (My theory on Publishers wishing to sabotage the SC project has been confirmed by ex-employees with inside information)

Did you see the Gamescon presentation? Did you see any progress in that from the last public showing? Perhaps see what happens this month in Manchester and see if there has been no further progress since Gamescon.

@Gue1: There have been as many high profile females in C.I.G. as male I'm not sure why you're trying to bring sexism in to this, especially when most of the reports of mistreatment of staff are aimed at Sandi Gardner.

The escapist claims the C.I.G. staff contacted Lizzy under their own steam and yet

https://twitter.com/lizzyf620/status/647201153709699072

It's a shame that Gamer Gate appears to have been infiltrated and corrupted into the thing they hate most.

Edit: Fucking glitchspot, made an edit and it deleted my entire reply

Every time I see a Star Citizen hate thread/article I just see butt hurt console users.

Throw millions at someone and they have no accountability to anyone what did ppl expect? Don't take ppl word for stuff that's why there's lawyers and contracts etc. SC best hope is someone buys it and finishes it. Shifty deal

I hope it comes out, gives me a reason to build a new PC.

They are not "almost out of cash". That's a blatant lie by an obsessive maniac who wants to see Star Citizen destroyed. The Escapist's "article" was literally copying and pasting brand new Glassdoor reviews of Cloud Imperium Games and citing those completely anonymous reviews as their sources.

This is all a fabrication to get more hits. That's it.

People want Star Citizen to fail and are just eating it up.

Here we go again....

Only "truth bomb" here is you're gullible and want this game to fail so you can feel better about your poor choice of fanboyism.

You can deny that all you want and tell me Star Citizen is a sinking ship, but in a year or so while the content for Star Citizen is still pouring out and the game is getting nearer and nearer to completion, you'll just look like a bigger fool.

The entire article is a complete scam to get more hits and to keep pushing this ridiculous agenda by Derek Smart to smear CIG because he's a little attention whore who made a really shitty game once and feels he deserves more than he earned.

I find it hilarious that the same people that mock backers for their supposed naivity then proceed to swallow Derek Smart's BS. I mean FFS people, show some dignity, this is ****ing Derek Smart we're talking about! There is literally no "dev" (hurts me to call him that) in history with less credibility than that pathetic piece of shit.

Consolite: "Forbes assessment of star Citizen"

Reality: a random blog on Forbes. lol

Its like republicans talking about climate change and "science".

@GarGx1: I don't get why people hate Star Citizen so much either. Maybe it's people jealous they can't afford to spend the kinds of funds the hardcore supporters of the game do? Maybe it's just people that are so jaded by the games industry that it seems too good to be true?

I dunno, but if you love gaming you should be cheering for it to succeed not fail even if you aren't a PC gamer or interested in playing it, since its success could lead to a game that you do like being made.

@oflow: Absolutely, it's completely baffling to me (as a gamer who has been playing video games for over 40 years) why anyone would wilfully want this project to fail. There have been dozens of people started and then left C.I.G. since the project started, it's very likely that some of them just didn't make the cut and others were downright useless, when these people get sacked, they can be very bitter and jaded.

I'll give a real world example. One day my office received a phone call from an ex-temporary employee, who had been laid off from site, by my supervisor, for not pulling his weight (in less than a week he'd been late twice, caught hiding round the back of the site a few times and did not show up at all one day). Anyway he was calling to complain about the way my supervisor was running the job and how he was treating the staff. I took it through all the correct procedures and investigation (very time consuming and wasteful) it went all the way to our Managing Director, I'm sure you can guess the conclusion we came to the end. This C.I.G. thing just seems so similar it's uncanny.

@GarGx1: "for the lulz man"

That's basically it. Or they've become so cynical over the years of bickering on the internet over other people's tastes in gaming that they just want or expect all good thing to fail.

@Wasdie: It has to be. There's either an awful lot of them or a handful of very determined people, every time there's a Star Citizen article comment sections fill with haters. I've even seen copy/pasted, long winded hate posts on different sites.

This is just sad. Derek Smart is a fucking tool and has been the joke of the industry for many years. Chris Roberts on the other hand is a well respected developer oozing with passion and the experience to make Star Citizen happen. Chris Roberts is a very smart man. He is not going to alter the scope of the project without first making sure it is possible in terms of funding and technology. People need to chill the **** out. Get off their backs and let them make the game. We are in it for the long haul.

I'm curious to know more about this article and the sources. If Derek Smart were in any way involved (and I know Escapist's position is that he's not) I wouldn't be surprised. That guy is a tool of epic proportunes and I don't usually say that about people in the industry. Star Citizen is in many ways the game that he failed to build 15-20 years ago. I thought we had heard the last of that guy until he popped up on the SC forums.

-Byshop

Derek Smart .... "industry Vet", who started all this drama.... has stated his newest game is his "best game yet" .... complaining about a 2 1/2 year old project's progress when his 5 year EARLY Access (£5 game... but with £100+ DLC) is in MUCH WORSE shape ....

Guess how popular it is...

This... is the guy saying Chris Roberts is a bad project leader.... is squandering money, and ripping off his userbase....

Derek Smart.... the man that actually argues with his customers (even on the steam forum) ... bans them for critism .... and loves to fight everyone on the internet.... a man that spends more time on forums getting in pointless arguements than the worst of us here.

If, by any chance, Star Citizen turns out to be the scam many seem to think... will you guys that defended it admit you were pretty gullible and own up to it or will you make more excuses?

I got zero take on Star Citizens, I don't play space games in general but I am mainly a PC gamer. But I do read about it, and to me it seems like a vaporware waiting to happen and broken promises, a game that will totally tank and will never live up to the expectations.

I don't care if it successful or if this Chris runs off with the money, it just doesn't smell right.

Read Chris "letter", they way he tries to discredit people and try to get one fired by mentioning Gamers Gate isn't professional at all. I wouldn't trust Chris as far as I could throw him

I see the team has already posted, but I'm just gonna remind you all:

- Keep any unnecessary (aka, anything that is not pure context ) discussion about GG out of this thread. Please head to Games Discussion own topic for that.

- Keep it clean. I know SW has a tendency to turn these threads into a mess, so here is your friendly reminder to not do it :)

Carry on System Warriors!

Well obviously we would have to own up? but given that there is a product, and by the time money does "run out" (if it does) ... there will be enough of a game there anyway, already spent a lot of time on it to justify my backing. despite popular stupid belief on the internet.... the majority of backers are sub $100.

I find it funny how you slander Chris Roberts ... when his opposition has done EXACTLY what you accuse him of... for the last 4 months straight... this article writer has known ties with Derek Smart ...

You people see what you want to see. as someone who has followed this nonense, and as someone who often criticised Star Citizen's progression (HINT: Im not happy with the progress.... but in reality its nowhere near as bad as some games yet). Chris' response was just blunt, and it was pretty damn factual on the situation. Why is it that they are allowed to dox his family? use un-proven sources ... and allegations without a shred of public proof.... but he isn't allowed to respond and show proof/evidence of their shinannigans?

Pleanty of what he said in that letter was pretty rational.... and spot on. Regardless of what the underlying truth is.

@MBirdy88 said:

Derek Smart .... "industry Vet", who started all this drama.... has stated his newest game is his "best game yet" .... complaining about a 2 1/2 year old project's progress when his 5 year EARLY Access (£5 game... but with £100+ DLC) is in MUCH WORSE shape ....

Guess how popular it is...

This... is the guy saying Chris Roberts is a bad project leader.... is squandering money, and ripping off his userbase....

Derek Smart.... the man that actually argues with his customers (even on the steam forum) ... bans them for critism .... and loves to fight everyone on the internet.... a man that spends more time on forums getting in pointless arguements than the worst of us here.

This helps put things into perspective and sheds a bit of light on to why he's so bitter and jealous.

He He. I remember when Star Citizen was a mere rumor and I expressed fears about it suffering the same fate as Battlecruiser 3000 AD. I didn't think Derek Smart would stoop this low though.

Here's hoping Chris follows through.

They literally can't not follow this thing through. The potential is just rediculous.

Anyone with any sense knew that Star Citizen was going to fail.

It's just too ambitious.

If Star Citizen actually came out and was good, it would essentially be the absolute best game ever, but we all knew that it wasn't going to live up to what it initially said it would be.

as a PC fan i never understood Star Citizen, dont see no "incredible graphics" or something special about the space battles or the sci-fi FPS mode

that much hype always lead to frustation

If nothing else, articles like this wouldn't be possible if the development wasn't taking so damn long.

It's been in development for 3 years, which is by no means "long".

This is how long it takes to make an annual Call Of Duty these days.

Should make the next conference rather interesting, in the very least.

As someone who keeps up with current developments with the game, I find it hard to believe how it COULDN'T come to fruition. They keep releasing new content, and are keeping the community up to date with everything.

The funniest thing about the SC development, is that if it were done the "traditional" method, where no one but the developers themselves know anything about it, no one would complain. It's been in development for two years and looks to be on track to release next year in near-full form. That's a three year development cycle... for a game of that scale, that is incredible.

Hermits bought Chris a mansion apparently. Damn isn't that nice.

I actually want to see this thing succeed.

+1

Not to mention the content that HAS been released (like Arena Commander) is really good. So good in fact, that if the that was all the game was ever to be (with maybe some more ships/weapons), I'd STILL be happy with my pledge.

But the scale and scope they are trying for is massive and is going to take more than 2 1/2 years to make. I hardly see that as a problem. I don't get why people call it "vaporware" when YOU CAN PLAY the game RIGHT NOW. There are dev updates almost daily (see Star Citizen YouTube channel) and there is a steady stream of content updates and (slower) releases. This whole smear campaign of "it's going nowhere" is BS.

Do I wish it were being completed faster? Yes. But I'm also a realistic person and realize something like this is going to take time. Remember, when the crowdfunding started they had next to ZERO done. All they had was a proof of concept tech demo because they didn't know if anyone would bite. But the community did. If this were a traditional game, it probably wouldn't have even been revealed yet. I don't know about anyone else, but I am prepared to wait another 2 1/2 years (or as log as it takes) for the game to be completed. And for something like SC, that's just fine.

With so much conjecture flying around, it's only safe to look at the actions of people, not what they're claiming. So far, the only people who have acted transparently are the backers. The developers have not released a suitable amount of content for the budget received. The buck stops with the developer, but they are acting like the victim.

"Three more sources (CS2, CS6, CS7) were contacted on Sept. 27. One call started at 9 a.m. for 30 minutes and was Skype only. This was the caller who did not give his name, but verified employment with ID and pay stubs. Call #2 was at 2 p.m. for an hour and 52 minutes, while call number 3 was at 5 p.m. for an hour and one minute. Again, all callers were visually verified after the phone call via Skype."

No, not a fabrication.

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.

It appears aside from being scammed in the hopes of saving a dying platform, pc gamers have also been unintentionally bankrolling a prolific racist.

Shocking.

Considering they've been doing updates every few months, yea calling bull**** on the Star Citizen hate.

No it is a fabrication. Do you think random employees have any financial data? No they don't. No business in the world operates like that.

It's bullshit. You got some pissed off employees smearing their past company to get The Escapist some hits.

You also think Far Cry 3 and 4(?) have a racist theme. So, I'd take whatever you say with a grain of salt.

@RedentSC: my thoughts? I just want to give you recognition for predicting this over a year ago. That's impressive. Kudos to you, I'll keep you in mind for all future predictions.

I don't think iv ever seen a game garner this much butthurt.

I try not to get excited about games that don't actually exist for me to play yet. Seems like the best policy. Hope Star Citizen is ok but the level of hype, to the point of spitting on most other games, that I've seen from some PC fans is too much for one game, I think.

Huh? I know tons about my companies financial side, they send out company wide email updates regularly (even with bad news) and there's also a lot of informal chat in the office too, I'll often hear about big contracts won/lost etc. I'm a software engineer with an American multinational, I've no need to hear about this stuff, but I still do.

I would have actually thought it stranger for an employee to have NO idea of the company's financial side. It's their livelihood, it's good to know how things are going financially.

I doubt the game will be finished to the over hyped levels of expectations people have, companies are foolish to market a game that is nowhere near being finished.

How is PC a dying platform when it has vastly increasing hardware/software revenue yearly, increasing games and developers yearly (not including browser/casual, and goes for if u take out indy's) and a higher online population every year? Also more than multiple consoles combined in those facets.