Diagnosis of Derek’s disorder from his Blog

As an interested onlooker of the saga of Star Citizen, I have come across Derek Smart online.

Derek appears to be creating as much smoke, where there is no actual evidence of fire, in the hope that people will assume some fire, because of all the smoke he has made. But having now read his latest blog a few times, I think that as well as attempting a hatchet job on Star Citizen for commercial reasons, because he believes he has a rival game, he has another compulsion. I find it difficult to be aware of some of the background, read his blogs and not deduce that there is a serious personality disorder on display.

It is my thesis that Derek Smart is almost certainly suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder and that he may also be at a crisis point. When it finally becomes apparent to someone with this disorder, that their “false self” differs from reality, they can lash out at others, become pathological liars in their attempts to marry their self-view with reality and can exhibit extreme behaviors. If this is the case, then Derek is a vulnerable and unreliable commentator, he should be treated with care and understanding and his views should not be given credence.

In his latest public blog, I see that Derek, while making some damaging claims, is pictorially self-styling himself as Tony Stark in his battle against Loki. This seems to demonstrate a fair old gap between reality and what is going on in Derek’s head. I have analysed some of his blog below to provide evidence for my thesis regarding his mental/personality disorder. Derek’s personality disorder is his attempt to protect his self-view from actual reality.

I have tried to keep innuendo out of my comments and just deal with what is known, or what there is evidence of, or what can fairly be deduced or even what might just be fair comment. An ethical person should treat with care people’s lives and careers, Derek’s condition appears to be preventing him from doing so; but I hope my comments, if he ever sees them, will contribute to his convalescence. Most people don’t really “get better” from NPD, but with support and good group therapy, they can learn to deal with their symptoms until the disorder becomes a smaller part of their total personality and so they become less anti-social and happier with themselves.

I invite you to read my analysis below, which I believe provides evidence for my views regarding Derek’s disorder.

In short, Derek can be diagnosed with each of the following symptoms (from DSM-IV — The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) to greater or lesser extents:

Grandiose sense of self importance,

a. exaggerates achievements,

b. exaggerates talents,

c. expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements.

2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of success/power.

3. Believes he is special.

4. Requires excessive admiration.

5. Has a sense of entitlement, or an unreasonable expectation of favorable treatment.

6. Is interpersonally exploitative.

7. Lacks empathy.

8. Is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him.

9. Shows arrogance or haughty behaviors.

Most people would consider the disorder to be in place if you exhibit 5 of the above symptoms. DSM-V, has updated the criteria and may require more personal information to make a clear diagnosis, but given that what I have to go on is the blogs, I have chosen to apply the previously used criteria from DSM-IV. As it appears Derek has a clean sweep of 9/9, so I think the diagnosis is strong, but please judge for yourself. In the text below I refer to the traits above in square brackets after comments relating to the paragraph of his blog, e.g. [1,3,5]. So if his blog appears arrogant, I have placed [9] after the notes I have made on that paragraph. Sometimes, it is easier to conclude certain traits from the blog than others; I have expressed my view, but the pattern of behavior seems undeniable. I have not yet extended the analysis to other publically available Derek comments, for example twitter. In his blogs on his own website, Derek is not limited to 140 characters and is free to write exactly what he wants, so no excuses can be made for the content, it is undoubtedly representative of the actual Derek.

There follows Derek’s publicly available blog analysed paragraph by paragraph:

“THE BEGINNING OF THE END

The four year, $90m+ Star Citizen video game project, is no longer a going concern. The project is FUBAR and there is no going back.

First, for Derek to be able to assert that the project is no longer a going concern he would need a working knowledge of the finances of the company — he has shown no evidence of this. He may have hearsay, there may be numbers “circulating”, but he has not seen their private financials and just can’t make an absolute assertion like this. Perhaps, he could say that he has done some rough math, with some assumed financials and he thinks there might be a problem, but he has made an unsupportable assertion in his first sentence. Second, “FUBAR”, well this is hard to assert too, because the project has been carried out in the most open way, more open than any other project of its type and so we all “recognise” it all the time. We get regular updates and regular insights, I just don’t see any evidence to back up the term “FUBAR”. [9].

Now that multiple sources are saying that RSI/CIG only have around $8m of operating cash left, when you consider that with over 260 people working at four (CA, TX, Germany, UK), they must be burning around $3m per month, you quickly understand why they have been doing layoffs (Chris Roberts calls it down sizing) recently.

I can find only one source for the $8m of cash that Derek mentions here — Derek himself. He may have said it more than once, but that’s not the same as multiple sources. I believe Derek to be the only source for this and Derek has chosen not to list the “multiple sources” in order to support his assertion. They might be burning $3m, but again there is no evidence given for this assertion. “Layoffs”, again, there is no evidence quoted for this, it is another assertion unsupported in this blog. Having searched, I can’t find evidence of Chris Roberts calling it “down sizing” and Derek has again chosen not to share his evidence of this in this blog. What I can find is partial evidence of recruiting (vacancies advertised on the website).

Since June when, with the aid of researchers, I started my independent investigation into this project and its creators (Chris Roberts, Sandra Roberts, Ortwin Freyermuth), the picture of where things would be six months out, was a bit murky to me. In fact, when I wrote the first blog, Interstellar Citizens that sparked this discourse, I had no idea that I was remotely close to being right about the end result. And it’s all neatly tied up in the Star Citizen — The Long Con blog.

May I suggest that an independent investigation would really need to be done by someone who hasn’t been trying to create rival games to Chris Roberts’ since Wing Commander first came out? Who were the researchers in June who also felt they were well placed independently to “investigate” this project? Do these researchers really exist? It would appear consistent to Derek’s pattern of behavior if they were imaginary. It is revealing that Derek says he has no idea if he was right back in June. Because, even with no idea if he was right, when he published back then, he did still happily publish his assertions anyway. It confirms to me that, even if he has no idea now if he is right, he feels it is completely acceptable to publish unsupported assertions. This is unethical. [3,5,6,9]

I was originally looking at it purely from a design, development and delivery perspective. Having designed, developed and built massive games myself over a 30yr period, I knew that I had enough experience to weigh in. Especially after looking at what they had delivered up to June, and sifting through their dev logs.

Derek here asserts that he is an expert because he has built games over a 30 year period. He has checked his expertise with himself “I knew that I had enough experience”. I believe that Derek’s games were known for being published late, unfinished, and very buggy. So, I believe that Derek’s soi-disant “expertise” should be treated with scepticism; we shouldn’t really take his own word for it, however personally he is convinced of it; expertise should be determined by peers not self-announced. I have personally done a little research online, and I don’t think Derek is reliably an expert. I would like humbly to suggest to any other reader, that before accepting Derek’s assertion of his expertise, they do a little of their own digging too. This seems to demonstrate that, without evidence, Derek has the fantasy that he is a success or even a high achiever — he isn’t. [1a,1b,1c,2,9]

I said that they didn’t have the tech to build the “vision 2.0” game pitched. They don’t. They are still trying to build it.

I believe that is what development is. Doesn’t new tech have to be developed to create a game with new technology in it — that seems self-evident?

I said that they couldn’t build the “vision 2.0” game as pitched. They can’t. They are still trying to build it.

We are all clearly still waiting for it. So this assertion seems OK. Of course the word “trying” does not need to be pejorative, in fact, most normal people see trying to do something, especially something new and hard or creative, as a positive human endeavor and backing that is similarly a positive thing to do. It is antediluvian and peevish to sit at your PC doing nothing but denigrating people who are setting about doing something great in their field, especially to the benefit of so many other people involved. According to Derek, it seems OK for Derek to try, try again and fail at making good games, but when others try to do something, that is actually ground breaking in the games world, he thinks that’s different and it is somehow wrong. [3,5]

I said that it would cost over $150m, and another three years, to build the game they pitched, assuming they build the tech. Four years and over $90m later, they are still raising money.

If people buy the game, then the money goes with previous backers’ towards the game development — that seems to be a good thing for all the current backers. I believe I am right in saying that backing rates are very healthy right now too. There seems to be an overwhelming confidence in the game and more and more people are buying in as the game gets closer to completion — just what you would expect.

HOW THINGS GOT THIS FAR

In July, after I got wind of the Star Citizen project in trouble, unable to deliver, backer money being wasted, I started to investigate it. I got in touch with Chris to try and get some more details from him. He ignored both of my inquiries on LinkedIn (1) and Facebook (1). I even wrote a lengthy Facebook post (1) and included shared “friends” in it, hoping that someone would reach out to him. Nothing happened. The Interstellar Citizens blog was live and was propagated and quoted by media.

“Wind of the Star Citizen….” Again, Derek’s receipt of “wind” is announced without substantive example. For me, it shows a lack of self-awareness and a huge and unjustifiable self-importance to think that Chris Roberts should or would even want to communicate with Derek, who says he is making a rival game and threatened to sue Chris Roberts after he released Wing Commander. That Derek thinks Chris Roberts should have to talk to him, demonstrates a misplaced sense of entitlement. He is a comparative nobody with delusions of self-importance. [1,5]

It was downhill from there.

Then, in what can only be described as sheer madness, they lost their minds and made it personal. They canceled my backer account, and refunded me. Without my requesting it. Then to make matters worse, they sent out a press statement to various outlets (1) about my being refunded, and my account canceled. They tried to make it look like I had somehow violated their ToS for the game and the website, and was using Star Citizen as a platform to promote my Line Of Defense game. Then they doubled down when Ben Lesnick in customer service, made a snarky public forum post (1) about it.

Derek was causing trouble and trying to get noticed in Star Citizen areas, so they asked him to leave and refunded him. To me this seems a reasonable course of action. But it is not just reasonable, it is also covered in the contractual terms that both parties are legally subject to. The only fowl here, of which there is evidence, is that Derek was causing trouble and promoting his game, where the legal terms and conditions forbid it. The only description for this is not “sheer madness”, as proclaimed by Derek, but good common and corporate sense. There is no evidence for his assertion that this was personal, I believe anybody would have been treated just the same, and quite a few have been treated the same way, not just by Cloud Imperium, but by similar companies too. This shows an arrogant unreasonable expectation of entitlement to special treatment and a lack of empathy for how others must feel about his behavior. [5,7,9]

Problem is 1) I have never posted on their forums 2) I had never downloaded the game due it not being complete nor playable. They actually confirmed this in their legal response letter as mentioned in the Star Citizen — The Long Con blog. I currently have access to three accounts through friends and contacts. I used those to test the latest modules, write about them etc.

Having read the legal response to Derek’s earlier blogs, it is clear that Derek was making complaints before he had downloaded what was available to play, i.e. without really having tested what he was complaining about. I see that Derek is here careful to state that he “currently” has access to three accounts. He does not deny Star Citizen’s assertion that he had not downloaded what he had been sent to play by Star Citizen before complaining. For me, this is another factor that goes to the heart of Derek’s real mentality and personal compulsions. Certainly, he got called here by Star Citizen. If Derek complains about something he could have tested, but deliberately didn’t test it, why should the reader pay him the attention he craves? You have to be special, to analyse without even looking. [3]

All these actions were taken in obvious retaliation for the blog and the fact that it got widespread release in the media. As you can now see, they simply made it worse by making themselves subject to the The Streisand Effect. That aside from the fact that they decided that taking on the one person who simply can’t be intimidated or scared, was the best path forward. They bet on my being completely vilified for writing an opinion based and technical blog; while forgetting that I have been a fixture of this industry for almost 30 years and that sort of tenure has its merits.

The Streisand effect is an effect named after one of the most famous people in the world. Well before photographs of her house were suppressed, Barbra was a very famous person. All over the world people were interested in her, her life and her home. Derek is not famous, no one is really interested in him, his life or his home. Derek is not famous, but talks like he expects to be recognized as such, he seems to believe he is something that he just isn’t. [1c,3,9]

Once that started, I knew they had something to hide. So I kept digging and writing (six blogs to date). All the while Chris and Sandra kept making defamatory statements about me both in writing and in person. And there are people willing to be deposed under oath about the aforementioned statements.

Derek asserts defamatory statements have been made, but provides no evidence. Elsewhere, in this blog he says that statements are not defamatory if they are true — so why can’t Derek just say what the lies are? Having mentioned the existence of these statements, but not what they are or where they were made, he then asserts that there are people willing to be deposed under oath, but provides no evidence of this either. This really makes no sense at all, if these “people” really would be willing to be deposed. They are in effect saying they are happy to be named and Derek is choosing supposedly to ignore this and not name them, because he thinks he knows best. Derek is not only casting aspersions, but appears to be attempting to exploit other people to do so to — if they exist. [6,9]

THE SURGE AND THE SPIRAL

Since 2012, they have been building the hype machine. This is gaming, we thrive on hype, hyperbole and drama. Lots of drama. So it wasn’t enough that they had a robust PR machine, that had the overblown promises to go with it. And so the media helped build up the hype, spread it, and in the end helped them perpetrate what, in my opinion, is turning out to be the greatest disaster in the history of gaming.

“We thrive on hype, hyperbole …… “. Derek is recognizing in himself a propensity to exaggerate, you might even call him a ‘drama queen’ too. This is a rare flicker of self-awareness, but this propensity to exaggerate is not a plus point in an “independent investigator”. [1a,1b]

My analogy to this is that research shows that when innocent people go to jail, they are more likely to come out as criminals. Chris Roberts left the industry, went to Hollywood, and returned….something else. For the record, I still don’t believe that he set out to con or mislead anyone. But there are influences (personal, circumstantial, financial etc) which drive good people to do bad things. And if you knew how broke (he was), down and out as he was prior to the 2012 Kickstarter, you can quickly understand how circumstances can influence people.

Derek seems here to be suggesting that Chris Roberts is a criminal because not all of his films were as successful as his games were and other films demonstrably were too. The irony of this, when I believe Derek’s life has been comparatively unsuccessful, seems to be lost on Derek (is Derek now a criminal, having had so many failures in his life?). Circumstances do influence people, it is to Derek’s discredit that he believes that difficult circumstances should lead people into crime, rather than them just trying again or trying harder to succeed. In trying to somehow explain away Chris Roberts’ successful crowd funding, Derek appears envious and shows an inability to rationalize the feelings of others, this is a classic effect of NPD. [possible7,8]

Despite what he says about me, I don’t personally believe that Chris Roberts is a bad person. A largely incompetent and egotistical person, yes. A criminal? No.

But from what I know and have access to, not to mention the many sources who have come forward, by the time the dust settles on this, by all accounts, all three of them are going to be in some serious legal trouble. There is absolutely no versionof this where they get away with this without shipping the game as promised.

Derek is sharing here that he knows more and has more access than the reader, but doesn’t need to demonstrate that with evidence. It’s an arrogant attitude. If Derek, knows more and tells us that he does, without telling us what more he does know, it implies an arrogance looking for admiration, as there is no point otherwise mentioning it to the reader. [4,9]

HOW TO KILL A PROJECT AND COMPANY

A lot has been written about the hype machine, the media’s culpability in all of this, as well as ignorance of the signs that this project was in trouble and destined to fail. But I’m not going to dwell on that because I will leave that up to the gaming industry and gamers to point the finger and assign blame.

I don’t think a lot has been written saying that this project was in trouble and destined to fail; certainly, not compared to the favorable press, which seems overwhelming. Neither is Derek “leav[ing] that up to ….”. Derek is here doing exactly what he says he will not do; he is pointing the finger and telling the reader what to think and then saying he will leave that to the industry and gamers, this appears to be pathological lying or a complete lack of self-awareness. [9]

Chris Roberts killed this project when he changed from the original “vision 1.0” to the current “vision 2.0” they embarked on. He did this. There is nobody else to blame. I invite you to take a look at the original “vision 1.0” pitch from back in 2012 and which was later migrated to Kickstarter where they ended up making over $2m.

Since Chris Roberts did this, the total raised has topped $90m. This is not evidence of “killing” a project.

And he’s done this all before as I’ve written in my blogs.

Chris Roberts, a self-professed “visionary” has never — ever — been able to complete a project on his own. Like ever. This fact is lost on those who aren’t really familiar with his industry track record. He is one of those artistes who works best when directed. Put him at the top of any project, and the potential for the project to fail, increases. This is not hyperbole, it’s amaterial fact. And it’s all right there in the industry history.

To me, the evidence seems to point in the other direction, but again Derek hasn’t actually given any clear evidence to support his assertions. At best, this does seem to be clear exaggeration and envy. [8]

Just because Chris happened to “work” on arguably one of the biggest space combat games in history, doesn’t automatically qualify him to repeat that success on his own and in an industry that has moved on fifteen years later. If the trail of failed Hollywood movies he went on to make, and the failure of his Ascendant Pictures aren’t an indication of a pattern, then you’re a fool to think that the word “success” should be in any statement that also has “Chris Roberts” in it.

These sentences are a logical mess. Derek, first admits Chris Roberts’ game to be “one of the biggest space combat games…..”, and that it was a success (in the same sentence). In the second sentence, Derek suggests that because Chris Roberts has had failures, then the word “success” should not be used in any statement that also has ““Chris Roberts” in it”. But Derek has immediately previously done just what he says would make you a “fool” to do, i.e. mention Chris and success in the same statement (what he did in the first sentence). Derek really is ridiculous here, in the second sentence he says not to do exactly what he does do in the first sentence, so he is calling himself a fool. This is another symptom of a troubled mind, muddled between its self-view and reality. [3,9]

At the start of this project, he went out and hired some of the best people in the industry. Then didn’t let them do their jobs, guide him, direct him, teach him. This was his gig, he wanted to be boss — all the time. And now it’s all coming out little by little.

It is true that Chris Roberts hired some of the best people in the industry, all seem to agree on this. Where is the actual evidence that he didn’t let them do their jobs etc? There are hundreds of experienced people working hard for Chris and Erin Roberts, where is the evidence that they are not allowed to do their jobs etc? This is another assertion, without evidence, that exploits other people to try to make a personal hit. [6]

THE MONEY PIT

Aside from making all the mistakes that put the project and backer money in jeopardy, the issue of nepotism simply cannot be ignored. Especially where it involves incompetent and inexperienced family members in control of over $90m in public money. And with zero accountability.

Which family member is Derek calling “incompetent and inexperienced” without evidence? Public money is “money that has been collected by the state usually through taxation”, this is not the case here at all, it is a clear misnomer. “Zero accountability” — this project is more open than any similar one before and is also subject to law, finance and accounting law and the T&Cs. It is much more accountable than the average privately owned company — it is just wrong to suggest that there is anything other than lots of accountability. Derek is seeking to use a perceived personal failing in a “family member” to make a point supporting his view, which is wrong. [6]

Aside from reportedly being just a horrible person, as has been reported, Sandra Roberts is ill suited to handle HR. Let alone manage the offices of professionals who are far more educated and/or experienced then she is. The fact that she is the wife of Chris Roberts, something they have tried very hard to hide, but which they have now admitted to, due to my bringing it to light, should be serious cause for concern. My theory is that they have tried to hide this union because they know that for such a high profile project, the creators would come under intense scrutiny and she simply won’t pass muster.

That something is reported does not make it true, so you can’t say that, because it has been reported, she is “horrible”, therefore, she is “ill suited…..,”, that is a non sequitur, proof is required. An online magazine has reported some allegations against her, but out of the seven sources quoted, I can only find one (CS4), that actually said she did something “horrible” to any other employee and one (CS1) that she broke basic HR practices and no actual evidence at all of either of these is provided anyway. They are allegations, not truth, so you can’t extrapolate from them reliably. Anyway, if you can manage over 260 people for up to 3 years or so and there are only 2 reported and unfounded complaints and absolutely no complaints with evidence at all, that seems quite good to me.

Derek theorises a) because they know the project is high profile that they, b) tried to hide the relationship. For this theory to be proven, a) and b) must be shown to be true and that b) logically follows from a). I think we all agree that a) is true. There is no evidence provided for the assertion b). However, it seems to me that the more true a) is, then the less likely b) is to follow; as the higher profile the project, clearly the less likely someone would be to believe that they could successfully hide an obvious relationship; it follows therefore that they must be less likely to try. Derek’s theory is not only unproven, but the required evidence is not provided and the deduction is also illogical, it’s actually the opposite of the logical deduction of a sane mind.

The final comment, “she simply won’t pass muster”, is also unsupportable. So far, she seems to have done exactly that. Under her partial supervision, the company has raised $90m and set up 4 offices, with but a few unsupported complaints — sounds good to me. [9]

My theory is that it is no one else’s business and that she sought no favor by using her relationship, so kept it to herself where possible. That seems sensible and laudable, not dishonest. I have personally worked in offices with married relationships, living together relationships, father and son relationships and, in offices of any size, there are always relationships of one sort or another going on; they are deliberately not referred to during the working day as they are no one else’s business.

She didn’t “market” this game to raise $90m as she’s tried to take credit for. The media, the PR and the gamers who believed in Chris’s vision, made that happen. Confusing PR with marketing is the sort of mistake that people who don’t understand how that works, make. They are not the same thing.

Derek is here again giving us the benefit of his soi-disant experience (this time in PR and marketing) so that we can admire his insight on the difference between the two. What’s important is that all those involved at the beginning can pat themselves on the back for a crowd funding job so well done it has never been done before and they even managed to do it while “confusing” PR with marketing. [4,9]

Before this project, she had no marketing history, marketing work records, marketing digital footprint, or any of that. Prior to this, and working for Chris at Ascendant Pictures (where they met) as his intern, she was just another aspiring actress in Hollywood — reportedly with an expired Visa. Then married Chris, got divorced, marries him again, has two kids. Star Citizen comes along. Here she is, one of the key players in a $90m project.

Again, I don’t believe these assertions are true and there is no evidence that she was an intern or that she has no marketing history or that she had any visa problems at all. Their personal life is just that, it’s just not our business if they have children — what have they got to do with it? Again Derek is demonstrating the ease with which he will exploit others to make his point, whatever that may be and the way he puts it seems envious to me. [6,8]

She has gone on the record as saying that she has no clue what the VP of marketing does; but yet claims to have two marketing degrees. By all accounts, and based on our extensive research, those claims are false.

Derek knows this is not what she said about VP of marketing, but is deliberately misconstruing what she actually said and I have read. Derek should again provide clear evidence for any claims made that he thinks are false and provide actual evidence that they are. “By all accounts” is not evidence. Does Derek have any qualifications, does he provide evidence of them, or is he a special case? [3]

And while Chris is head of the project, she is head of the office while calling the shots in customer service, HR, community events etc. And is reported to be pulling a hefty salary as a result. All because she’s married to the boss, not because she’s qualified for the job. Imagine hiring an intern — with zero experience — then giving them a high profile job with matching salary, benefits and perks.

“Is reported to be…..”, Derek provides no evidence for this assertion. “Because she is married to the boss, not because she is qualified”, Derek provides no evidence for this assertion either. Actually, the evidence of her actual performance to date is that she is doing a very good job. “Imagine hiring ….” — why imagine? I don’t have to imagine; what I can actually see is the most successful crowd funding project to date, with overwhelmingly happy backers and not one disgruntled employee on the record; even with over 260 employees — that’s pretty special when building a company from scratch, in such a short time. If you were studying for business it would be hard not to cite this record as a good example. [9]

And because she and Chris are both reported to have toxic personalities, then it should come as no surprise that those who are still working (we all have bills to pay) for them or who have left, are now coming forward with their stories. It is important to note that the one or two people who have come forward in support of this company after The Escapist article, are not high level employees or contractors.

Again, Derek has given “reported” a much higher credence than it deserves. That something is reported does not make it true, so you can’t say that “because it has been reported they have toxic personalities……it should come…..still working…….forward……stories”. As far as I can prove, nothing negative said about them by employees has been reported in the Escapist or anywhere else at all. Nor is it logical to say that, because only one or two have come forward to support the company it indicates problems at the company. Derek is happy to rely on the supposed reports of one or two employees in the negative to suggest a completely negative total picture, so why not rely on the positive reports of a couple of employees to suggest a positive total picture? A few employees might be representative — they might not be, but, Derek can’t have it both ways, that shows a misplaced arrogance of thought. [9]

No, I’m not going to say anything about Erin’s role in this project as I have no cause to. As I’ve said before, he has his track record, has largely kept himself focused on the insurmountable task at hand, and that’s all there is to it. Though someone needs to remind them to file the required financials for the UK studios and businesses because we need access to them. If those aren’t filed no later than Oct 30th, we’re sending a letter over there and reporting it to the UK authorities because any actions taken by the authorities against this entity, affects backers investment in the entity. UPDATE: I have been notified that they filed an extension to Dec 31st, 2015

Again, Derek styles himself as the independent investigator helping out the UK authorities but doesn’t even fact check before making assertions — at least he put it right when someone else checked what he was saying, to be fair.

Ortwin is just an incompetent fool out of his depth. I don’t even need to dwell on him because the trail of failed ventures speak for themselves. Plus, I feel sorry for the guy to be honest. He should’ve known — right off the bat — what he was getting himself into pairing up with these two and getting thrust into the limelight of what is on track to be their biggest failure yet. Yes, he already had a prior business relationship with Chris, but he should’ve known that teaming up with those two unhinged characters was a recipe for disaster. It’s happening right now. Aside from that, it has been reported to me that Ortwin’s law firm (which he owns), gets paid a monthly fee to do a set amount of legal work for all the companies associated with this project. And that he himself gets a money for apparently other related work for these companies. If that’s true, yes you guessed it: double dipping.

Calling a well-respected attorney an “incompetent fool……”, another assertion, without evidence and without the “need to dwell” is plain arrogant. Where is the evidence of “failed ventures”?

“unhinged characters”, what does this mean, where is the evidence? This is just more flimflam trying to create smoke where there is no evidence of fire. “it has been reported to me”, who has reported it to Derek? Where is the evidence for payments to Ortwin’s firm or Ortwin? Derek is here attacking Ortwin’s reputation on the flimsiest evidence of “someone told me”. You can’t question an attorney and his reputation on the back of “it has been reported to me”, you need hard evidence that it is true and evidence that shows that what’s being done is actually wrong. The assertion is that payments are being made twice for the same piece of work — the evidence is “it has been reported”. Derek is again making assertions about a person and his career with absolutely no evidence given. [6,9]

So, these are the four characters, three family members and one long-time friend and biz partner, who are controlling over$90m in public crowd-funded money. With zero accountability. That should concern everyone.

LEGAL THREATS, POSTURING & INTIMIDATION

“This section of the blog contained a lot of material that legal felt were best removed as they were suited in a legal complaint. So it’s a bit skinny from the original version“.

“Legal felt”, not “my attorney suggested”, Derek seems to be trying to suggest that he has his own legal department at his disposal, but there’s just him, he doesn’t have a department called “legal”. I think he uses two “legal” firms occasionally, not even on retainer; so most normal people would refer to that as “my attorney” or similar but certainly not “legal” in the way he does. He seems to need us the readers to think of him as more than he really is. [1,2]

Last week, The Escapist magazine wrote a scathing investigative report (follow-up podcast) into this project. Something that no other media outlet had done before regarding this project. As they have said, I was not their source. In fact, only an incompetent media person would use me as a source. Given how close I am to all of this, the fact that I could not be regarded as an unbiased source even if I swore on a stack of Bibles to be unbiased etc.

“only an incompetent media person would use me as a source”, we are in agreement, but it is still, in its own mixed up way, a very arrogant statement. [9]

“Given how close I am to all of this”, “I could not be regarded as an unbiased source”, Derek is deluding himself to think he is close to all of this, he is not a backer and has nothing to do with Star Citizen et al. But Derek has himself chosen to use and rely on reports from people who are claiming to be much closer to Star Citizen than himself, such as actual employees and ex-employees. By Derek’s own reckoning, using those people closer to Star Citizen than himself, makes him “an incompetent media person” too. This paragraph is an example of the paradoxes that appear in the muddled mind when it is torn between its own false truth and the reality of the real world around it. [1,3]

Earlier Derek put himself forward as an “independent investigator”, where is that assertion now that he says he is actually so biased he couldn’t be trusted even if he “swore on a stack of Bibles”? Another internal paradox demonstrating the stress of a false self-view, occasionally trying to come to terms with actual reality, leading to muddled thought.

For the purposes of full disclosure: What I did do, as I’ve been doing since July, was made contact with some mainstream (names withheld as per legal) media sources, trying to get them to investigate this project. This was as per my July 10th blog,Interstellar Discourse in which, right at the top, I had called for the investigation of this project and all its creators. This was because I had already been made aware of most of what is now coming to light as portrayed in The Escapist article.

Derek is not really saying this for “full disclosure”, this is an attempt to tell or remind the reader that Derek was first to make allegations; he wants us to know that he was well aware of everything way before the Escapist, who took so long to see what he was saying etc. [4]

As part of that effort, I gave them some of my credible sources, along with an overview of what I had uncovered and why I simply wasn’t the one to investigate this any further, due in part by information that I had access to and which was better off being in the hands of those same people (the media) who helped hype this project to what it is today.

“Credible sources”, but they are not credible according to Derek’s own words, because they are biased, as they are closer to Star Citizen than ‘even’ Derek. If Derek is not a credible source, because of how “close” he is, then why does he contradict himself by calling sources that are closer (ex-employees and employees) credible, this is nonsensical? This is an arrogant paragraph, assuming that he is the help they need and that something special about him prevents him from being the one to investigate, despite at the same time presenting himself as the champion independent investigator. This odd paradoxical thinking is typical of a deluded mind in a separate reality that occasionally touches actual reality and then has to somehow reconcile itself. [3,4,9]

I was wrong in making this decision and thinking that anything would come from it. They all chose to bury the story.

Right, this sounds as if Derek thinks they were all wrong but he was right — again. Perhaps they just thought he was still crazy. [9]

I had previously warned about this in my previous blogs. In fairness to some of the credible media in the pool, there is only so much that you can do without the right sources. And most of these sources simply do not trust the media. And for good reason. Chris Roberts, his top team members and primary PR person, David Swofford, have lots of industry contacts; and so leaks of identities of these sources presents a clear and present danger to their livelihood. Which is why when I made this Tweet, I again reminded them of this.

“In fairness to some of the credible [added emphasis] media”, so he is now sitting in judgement on the “media” too, personally deciding who is credible or not. “Leaks of identities …. danger … to livelihood”, this is disingenuous, actual proper media have systems and legal departments in place to protect sources, furthermore proper media follow a code of ethics, thereby affording them some trust when they report (if they follow the code). If you are a source and you go to Derek, you have no legal protection, yet he seems to think these sources should see him as special, that they should treat him differently. Indeed, I wonder how quickly Derek will give up his sources when he is in court and required to do so. Derek seems to be exploiting these sources to make arguments he was already trying to make anyway. If his only defence for saying defamatory things against individuals is that he had sources that told him, it is much more likely that he will have to reveal those sources than a media outlet would. If I was a source for any of Derek’s harsher comments, I would be very worried, particularly if it turns out people have been asking for refunds as a result — that puts Derek firmly in the sights of the damages attorneys, unless he in turn points them at his sources. I know what I think he would do. [4,5,6,9]

Plus, since this started in July, the narrative has now shifted to “Derek Smart v Chris Roberts”, instead of “Where is Star Citizen? And where did $90m go?” And once it becomes a matter of picking sides, as unflattering as that sounds, it is highly unlikely that I’m going to be favored to be sided with in this fight. That’s just how life works.

This is not completely clear, but it seems to me that Derek is the one that has made multiple personal slurs and worse about employees of Cloud Imperium, while they have been quite restrained. [6,9]

My question is that, with all the numerous articles out there, interviews, visits, face time etc. Why is it that nobody wants to ask the tough questions about this project? Primary question being, where did ALL this money go? We have pretty much nothing to show for it — four years later.

In response to the article, Chris Roberts, in continuing the downward trend to disaster, wrote a scathing diatribe that, on the face of it, looks like you’d have to be high to unleash that sort of tirade into the public domain. From the CEO of a $90m+ company no less. And clearly it wasn’t vetted by legal (LOL!! that would be Ortwin). It’s a Gold mine of actionable legal liability. And all it did was lend credence to some of the things being said behind closed doors about him, and which were now coming to light via these sources talking to the media.

In this “Gold mine” where is the gold? Derek is again using broad descriptions without any specifics. If there is so much “Gold” then he could name a nugget or two to be tested or the reader may just sensibly deduce Derek has struck fool’s Gold.

The gist of it was that “Derek Smart is bad, this was all his fault, and he was the puppet master”. Oh, and GamerGate. He mentions me a total of 20 times. The author of the article got a single mention. And I didn’t even write the damn thing.

Sound familiar? Yes, that’s the blame game. The same thing that has plagued Chris throughout his video game and movie career. It’s always someone else’s fault.

Anyone reading that can easily see that it was a manifesto of sorts to the Star Citizen White Knight (all apparently going through the motions of sunk cost fallacy) community, in a message that was indicative of “..this is how we are, if you are not this, then you don’t belong here“. We who aren’t part of a cult, just LOLed and went “…OMG!! He’s totally rekt! This is a beautiful thing!”

This appears to just be plain ranting — I am not sure where he is going? To be fair, I know only a little about GamerGate, and can’t see why Derek has got so mixed up in it — it should be nothing to do with him, shouldn’t it?

While my original section here was a detailed section by section take down of his entire diatribe, these are the main points that I can now only address unfortunately, as statements of fact and for the public record. There is only so much you can reveal to the public, without revealing your legal strategy.

But Derek is the public, he seems to think there is a special category for him for some reason. [3]

In fact, this may very well be my last Star Citizen blog until some legal action goes forward. So here it goes:

1. I have never written a Glassdoor review about this or any other company.

2. I have never been the quoted source for anything written in The Escapist article, nor the other upcoming reports I have been made aware of recently.

3. I have never had any prior contact with the author of The Escapist article, let alone during the GamerGate uprising.

4. I am not involved in GamerGate and never have been. In fact, look no further than the SPJAirplay event I was invited to as a neutral party.

5. I have never made any defamatory statements (truth is an absolute defense btw) against any of the creators of this project.

6. I have never “doxed” the Roberts Family. Despite people misinterpreting what that even means, posting links to online images, is not doxing. This is not doxing.

7. I have never written him a letter accusing them of stealing my ideas or anything of the sort. Decades ago, smack talk may have been said that is no different from how things are now when comparisons are made between two products in the same genre.

8. I have never advocated nor campaigned for this product to fail. My first blog, as well as my communications with Chris, are evidence of my intentions. Couple those with my legal demand letter, and my intentions are clearly communicated and leave no room for interpretation as to the intent of same.

Is Derek trying to get some denials in? Many of these points are highly qualified, e.g. “quoted”, “prior”, “neutral”, “truth”, “posting links” and “smack talk”. Derek seeks to make the reader believe he hasn’t done something that actually he seems to have largely done and then admits to having largely done it in the same comment by using qualifiers. By phrasing things in such a way and using qualifiers as he does, to disguise what he is actually saying, it is not the same as denial; in many cases it is actually affirmation. For example, when he says he is not the “quoted” source for the Escapist, the implication is that he is a source after all (just not “quoted” by the Escapist). When he says he did actually post links to images of Chris Roberts’ house, this is clearly what most people would consider to be in the same bracket as “doxing” and not something normal reasonable people would ever do. If there is even a very fine dividing line between the absolute legal definition of “doxing” and what he did, the moral/ethical implications of what he actually did are unaltered. When he says “smack talk may ….”, he is confirming that he did actually say something along the lines of the accusation. This consistent tactic in each of the denials above shows a real disdain for the reader, Derek seems to think that he can use such tactics to deflect the reader, to make them see him like he sees himself and wants to be seen, and not for the reader to determine their own view for themselves using their own knowledge of what he has actually done. It is dishonest and exploitative and it is another clear indicator of a mind, detached from reality. [3,5,6,9]

DOXING

The doxing rhetoric was a bad attempt at generating outrage. Like everything else, that attempt failed. The material that’s out there, was put out there by them. And what has been linked to, are not public records (State, Federal etc) of any import. We have those. But they have never — ever — appeared in any of my blogs. I know better.

And nobody dragged their children into this. He, right off the bat in 2012, had his entire family in the original pitch video where, like a televangelist, he was begging for money to build his dream. Then, when in the face of claims of nepotism people started trying to prove that Sandi Gardiner was in fact his wife, and amid Star Citizen White Knights claiming that I was making stuff up, people went digging. This is the Internet; when people go digging they find stuff. So they came across an image of Sandi — with her daughter — on pages which linked her to “Roberts”, thus confirming the connection. I didn’t need to do that, we’ve had access to the public records since Summer this year! Without that verification, it would never have appeared in my blogs that they were in fact married. I didn’t use links to public records or pictures to prove this.

From what I can tell, Derek has made reference to, pointed to and made links to personal information. From my point of view, whether actual doxing or not, this is unethical and surely unnecessary to make the points he purports to be trying to make. Normal reasonable people just don’t refer to other people’s personal details online. He seems to believe he is somehow not like normal people or subject to normal morals and so it is acceptable for him to behave differently from society in general. It also reinforces the accusation that Derek has a personal vendetta. [3,6]

GAMERGATE

Chris Roberts does not have a notable social media footprint of any import. Don’t take my word for it, go look. I should know. I was on his Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn lists. And of course I have access to the RSI forums.

So in trying to connect Liz and I to GamerGate, it was — again — a poor attempt at generating outrage by using a gaming uprising that he has never — ever — before weighed in on, in any capacity. He has no clue what has been going on. All they (Ben, I’m looking at you) did was data mine our social media feeds to find “stuff“.

Then they took it all out of context, mixed it all up in an attempt to cast us in a poor light in order to discredit us and cast a shadow over the article and the integrity of the author.

This was just another attempt to see if he could blame GamerGate for this article and my actions, thus getting his media friends to jump on that bandwagon and deflect attention away from this mess. Once again, blaming the group for something that they didn’t have anything to do with.

This doesn’t seem to make sense, but I don’t know enough about GamerGate, so I will leave this.

MEDIA INTIMIDATION

When it was clear that he had screwed up, and not having gained the media support that he was looking for, he took it one step further by writing up and releasing a five page legal threat to Defy Media, the owners of The Escapist. That legal travesty of epic proportions, is now at the top of his original diatribe.

Again, assertion “travesty of epic…”. Why is it a travesty? Arguments please.

This immediately set the Internet ablaze and all armchair attorneys were quick to chime in. White Knights were rejoicing about the take-down of an industry publication that had dared to speak out against their cult. You know, pretty much the same thing they do to anyone, backers or not, who voiced any sort of dissent.

More delusions of grandeur with “set the internet ablaze”; really not that many people out in the real world are bothered about Cloud Imperium and even fewer about Derek. Also, it is interesting to note the disdainful “armchair attorneys”, as this seems to describe quite well someone else (Derek). [1]

Ortwin, as he had done with me, gave an artificial self-imposed deadline of 24hrs.

I swear, no joke, I laughed so hard I felt something shift in my spleen. I immediately sent out a flurry of Tweets indicating that i) they were bluffing ii) the cc of the attorneys in the letter was just a veiled toothless threat iii) The Escapist won’t blink

Seriously, it was one long weekend, and the Internet was ablaze with anticipation, flame wars, speculation etc. It was like waiting for election results. Or pregnancy test.

Are we to admire Derek for his ability to laugh so hard; does he want us to think he treats this all as some sort of game; because, at the same time as laughing, he seems to be obsessing? Either it is a laugh to him and he wants us to admire him for treating it as such (or he would not tell us he laughed), or it was serious enough for him to spend “one long weekend” dealing with it all and in anticipation. Laughing about it, when it is a real situation (not a joke), that involves actual people’s personal lives, the careers of hundreds of people and so many backers, is an extraordinary thing to boast about. Normal people don’t behave like that. While there are other things going on in the world, the reader might wonder whether Derek has anything else in his life, let alone a game to get on with. I don’t think the Internet was ablaze with anticipation anyway, that seems like an exaggeration based on a misplaced concept of self-importance. It can be hard to suppress pity for someone who confuses “the Internet” with himself, sitting alone in a room, at a tired keyboard.[1,4,7]

The Escapist didn’t blink.

In fact, they doubled down and issued a short statement at the top of the article.

Update: The Escapist, notwithstanding Cloud Imperium Games’ notice and posting, stands by its coverage of Star Citizen and intends to continue to investigate the developing story. Since publishing our original stories, we have been contacted by, and are currently interviewing, additional sources corroborating a variety of the reported allegations. Additionally, if Mr. Roberts’ offer for The Escapist to “meet the developers making the game and see how we’re building one of the most ambitious PC games first hand” remains open, we take the opportunity to accept such invitation so as to hopefully provide the public with sufficient information and opportunity to vet such sources’ allegations and claims for themselves. We have also communicated the foregoing directly to Cloud Imperium Games.

Disclaimer: A bunch of people got in touch with me following Chris’ diatribe and follow-up legal threat, inquiring about Liz’s contact info, as well as offering support, willingness to be deposed if I was moving forward with a lawsuit or if The Escapist was sued etc. And from their statement above, it appears that those same people reached out to them as well.

“If? I was moving forward with a lawsuit”, I thought Derek said he was moving forward with multiple lawsuits. What are the lawsuits — what reason has Derek for lawsuits?

So Derek is saying that despite him not knowing Liz before the article, he helped people who “reached out” to him to get in touch with her?

As was expected, the media fallout, even while everyone was waiting to see what Defy Media would do, was fast and furious. Information Redux has a detailed write-up of his diatribe and the legal letter, while Forbes and others (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) weighed in on the legal ramifications, media ethics — and Derek Smart.

“fast and furious”, no one really noticed did they, there are a few articles mentioning it, but when I searched in Google, I didn’t find much; I have to follow Derek’s links to find all he is going on about. Overwhelmingly, the Star Citizen world seems to be engrossed in the updates and Citcon etc. It’s not really fast and furious. And is this Derek Smart — referring to Derek Smart himself in the last sentence? Talking about himself using his own name — this is not normal. [1,4]

GOING ALL IN

If you recall, in August I had sent them a legal demand letter. Their response was boilerplate personal attacks. Which is why Chris’s diatribe and Ortwin’s legal letter to The Escapist which contained the same, should have come as no surprise. My attorney — the consummate professionals that they are — didn’t take that bait. Instead sticking to the facts in their follow-up response.

Chris Roberts’ diatribe? A diatribe is a verbal attack, so I think that is a much better description for much of what is in this blog than for Chris Roberts’ response, which seems quite restrained and factual comparatively. [5]

Here is where it goes completely — and utterly — bonkers. Seriously. Read on.

No Derek — that boat has sailed.

On Sept 30th, my attorney emailed me a Cease & Desist letter from Ortwin. That letter had been sent to one of my addresses (I have more than one residence) via FEDEX and I had not received it at the time. Since it was a separate matter from the Star Citizen fiasco, I sent Ortwin a stern but polite email (which is what Chris alluded to in his diatribe). It was a pretty lengthy email which discussed their baseless claims, pattern of conduct etc.

It started with this:

“Dear Ortwin,

While I have yet to receive your letter sent by FEDEX because it was sent to my beach condo (not my permanent address), Keith forwarded a PDF copy of it yesterday. As this is a separate matter from the Star Citizen issue currently being discussed, and not yet assigned to legal counsel, I wanted to send you this email response ahead of my discussing this with Keith and my Florida attorneys.

It appears that this is not the first time Derek has given a false address? Still it is another opportunity for us readers to marvel at the successful Derek with his multiple residences, including his occasional beach condo (really?). I wonder if any other readers have the same doubt as I do about these multiple addresses? Is it possible that Derek is trying to hide his actual address because it would betray him for what he is, rather than how he sees himself and believes others should see him? We all have to live within our means, I wouldn’t disregard Derek because of where he lives, but the false self-image resulting from NPD means Derek has to create an elaborate story around his actual residence in case it conflicts with his projected self-image. [4]

INTIMIDATION TACTICS

You can’t intimidate me. It really is that simple. So just stop that already! I don’t scare easily. Having started this in your profoundly ludicrous letter of this past Aug, you appear to be engaged in the same pattern of conduct.

It simply won’t work.

I am willing to discuss matters with you in an amicable and non-threatening manner in order that everyone get on the same page, and hopefully we can resolve these on-going issues before things get completely out of hand. That was the reason for my having Keith send you a letter in August.

But now, you’re starting something else that’s just not going to have the desired results. In fact, all you’re doing now is leaving you all open to the risk of even more causes of action, both civil and criminal.”

Bit of a rant but still, he is obviously a bit angry. What are the current causes of action, both civil and criminal and what further actions are they leaving themselves open to? I just can’t see what they have done so far that is actionable or what they have done recently? Why does Derek not just tell us? [9]

And ended with this:

“WHERE WE GO FROM HERE

I simply won’t stop pursuing this crowd-funded Star Citizen issue unless and until I get satisfactory answers from you or Chris.

Any attempts to try and silence or intimidate me, will fail. And in turn, must make things worse and continue to cast you all in a poor light. Your conduct only continues to show that you have something to hide.

As I have stated publicly, I do not believe that you all intended to commit consumer fraud. However, given your past endeavors both here in the US and abroad, coupled with the manner in which this project has been conducted, you all have yourselves to blame for any appearance of malfeasance or improper conduct.

If it looks like a duck.

In fairness to you, I will give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume that you simply have no clue what is going on with this project. Similarly, I will extend to you the courtesy of further discussions, without accusations or hyperbole or personal attacks. None of which you and your partners have accorded me.

If and when you are willing to talk, with or without attorneys, and find a way to settle our differences, you know how to reach me.”

Derek seems to be saying here that it looks to him like there is something wrong, but that he has no real idea or proof and yet is still prepared to say that there is something wrong. He also says that he doesn’t think anyone has intentionally done anything wrong, even if they have or have not — he seems very unsure. He doesn’t seem to address the issue that making accusations that may be baseless, indeed accusations that he himself thinks might be baseless (he’s not sure), is completely unethical because it has an effect on people and their careers in the real world. Much of what he refers to as the “appearance of malfeasance” seems to me to be in Derek’s false world view and what’s in the real world comes from Derek himself anyway. So, if you want it to be a duck, and you think it is saying “quack”, it might just be telling you what Derek should be looking for. [6,7,9]

When my attorneys had finished laughing, this reply was sent to them yesterday. Yes — it coincides with The Escapist decision. It’s not a conspiracy; we have better things to do with our time.

It is hard to imagine Derek’s attorney’s not having a good sense of humor.

THE ENDGAME

I am in the process of taking legal action against all of them. This is not a matter of if. This decision was made back in August following their response to my legal demand letter. Which is why, knowing that I’m not bluffing, they’re trying to bring criminal activity into play.

It appears to me that Derek has said he is taking legal action a few times, but nothing has come of it. If legal action is underway, why hasn’t Derek just been clear with the reader. What legal action? And what is this about “criminal activity”, has Derek been warned about criminal activity? Or is this an historical thing? What is Derek referring to regarding his “criminal activity”? If Derek has been involved in criminal activity, then he should be held responsible just like anyone else, he is no different to any of us in that regard. [2,3]

The issue is that there is so much stuff that needs to be sourced, verified, written, corroborated, people to talk to etc, that this is not something you toss into the legal system to see what sticks.

Hang on — isn’t this exactly what Derek did when he decided to start lawsuits back in August, before anyone else mentioned the legal system? Didn’t Derek just say in the last paragraph that he is taking legal action against “all of them” and he decided to do that in August? I.e, before the “stuff” is “sourced, verified, written, corroborated ….” . This is another Derek contradiction from one paragraph to the next. [9]

Especially given the number of law firms it involves. That’s just recipe for wasted time and resources; especially if parts of the claims just end up just being thrown out of court. Key to this is the ToS which has a looming deadline of Nov 2015 at which time the refunds and disclosure of financials become key to it.

As if that wasn’t complex enough, as alluded to in my attorney’s latest letter, Chris and co decide to give us even morematerial to throw in there, with his diatribe and letter to The Escapist which also involved me.

Derek needs us to know here that despite not being a “quoted” source for the Escapist, the letter did also involve him — don’t forget — it’s really all about him. [4]

All these recent legal actions, aside from the reports of them actively seeking investors, are also likely due to CitizenCon which is being hosted this Sat in the UK. It is a major pledge drive and the timing of The Escapist article couldn’t have come at a worse time. That, coupled with the baseless C&D letter sent to me were designed to keep the drama at bay during this week.

As is already evident, these efforts have failed.

I don’t think there is any evidence they have failed as the new backer rate seems high. It also appears to me that the media attacks, especially with Derek beside them, which seems, to lower general credulity, have resulted in backers uniting in support. Everywhere neutral online I look at comments, they seem overwhelmingly condemning of Derek, people are very dismissive of him and his blogs and generally quite disrespectful, while supportive and respectful of Star Citizen, Cloud Imperium and all its employees. His view of what people actually think of him online, seems distant from his self-view. [3,9]

Here is what backers of this game don’t know. CitCon is going to be more smoke and mirrors. Just like GAMESCOM and every event before it. They have nothing tangible to show. If they did, all the stuff they have recently shown, would be in backers hands by now and in decent form. In fact, you heard it here first:

1. They are going to parade all the A-List actors — all of whom cost a ton of money — for SQ42. This despite the fact that the stand-alone game is reported to be almost fifteen months away from completion.

2. They are going to show the opening cut-scene sequence for SQ42 with Gary Oldman giving his speech, someone flying and landing, NPCs waving etc.

3. They are going to show Star Marine. Again. It’s still a mess — and nowhere ready for production release. Reports tell me that if it gets released before year end, it would be a miracle.

4. They are going to show multi-crew. Again. Problem now is that, as of the last report I got, it doesn’t run smoothly at all. And so they are now running the demo on super computers with 16 cores, loads of memory etc. Again, not production release ready.

5. There is nothing new being released to backers, other than another AC patch apparently.

Derek appears to be trying to boast that he already knows the content of CitCon “you heard it here first”. Maybe he is right, maybe he is wrong, but he is telling us because he appears to need the admiration, and would like to stick it to Cloud Imperium, despite stating that he does not want to see them fail. Envious people typically seek to destroy what they do not have. [4,8]

I have said this in my blogs. The sources coming forward have said similar: these events are designed to be fluff pieces in order to raise money for a game that, for all intent and purposes, will never see the light of day as pitched.

Why can’t these events just be what everyone else thinks they are? Derek is again sitting on top of his mountain looking down at all the “little people” explaining what they don’t know but he does. For all intents and purposes, I think these events are a great chance for the real fans to get together, catch up on the latest news and get to meet lots of the hard working creators. Why is it more complicated than that? [4]

The $90m+ of crowd-funded money that has gone into this project, is on track to be a total loss when this project inevitably faces a catastrophic collapse from running out of money, key talent departing etc. That aside from the fact that they have no choice but to reduce the scope of the project, cut costs etc in order to stay afloat for as long as possible.

It’s not “inevitable”, no “key talent” has left and there is no proof that there is a problem that needs cost cutting. I hope they do keep cutting costs, that seems like common sense and I hope they do try to stay “afloat” as long as possible, that again seems like common sense. [9]

And when it collapses and companies start sifting through the debris in bankruptcy court or auction, my guess is that you can probably pick up that $20K (!) cappuccino machine purchased for the new LA office (the one where all work has stopped due to a dispute with one of the contractors), for less than $5K. No, I’m not kidding. They apparently have a $20K cappuccino machine that backers paid for. Because Chris always wanted one. Go ahead, ask him.

What’s the make of this coffee machine? Any details? What’s the dispute with the contractors? I don’t think work has stopped, I can’t find any evidence of that.

My estimates, based on cash on hand reports, had pegged them lasting around 90 days. So if this doesn’t all fold before the end of Q1/16, I would be pleasantly surprised.

Just where is Derek getting cash on hand reports for a private company? I can’t think of any source that doesn’t involve some form of criminality. Is Derek saying he is part of some covert criminal action? If not, then he doesn’t have the reports at all anyway. There is plenty of research to suggest that those suffering from NPD are more likely to commit crime, both, of the sort suggested in this paragraph, but also violent crime. I am not sure how old Derek is, but I would not be surprised if he has had run ins with the law in his past, this is common in people who live with NPD. Does anyone know if he has been in trouble before?

Finally, I have recently been made aware that they are now shopping around for investors to shore up their finances or get a bail out. Problem here is that there is nothing there to bail. And with a $90m+ financial liability, which amounts to people who have legally pre-purchased a product and are awaiting delivery, it’s simply too late. The design of this product, ensures that anyone even trying to pick it up for pennies on the dollar, is looking at spending another $50m+, and two years, to finish it as designed. Even if they throw everything out, and just stick with SQ42 and/or Arena Commander, that’s another two years of work. At best.

Again where is Derek’s evidence for any of this?

Chris Roberts no longer has the money to finish this game. If he did, they won’t be raising funds by selling concept art for a game that has yet to be developed. If what he said was true, that if funding stopped that he could still finish the game, go ahead and call him on that. STOP funding the project. Test him.

Or sit tight, test Derek and be a productive part of the largest crowd funding project for the best space sim ever. No one has pledged more than they want to, we are all having a great ride, I want the game now, but patience is a virtue and, even if something does go wrong (I doubt it), I would rather be virtuous and wrong than mixed up, envious, spiteful and right.

I don’t build dreams. I build games. I know these things.

Classic Derek [1a,1b,2,3,4,5,9]!

Star Citizen is finished. THE END.

Star Citizen is not “finished” yet, so why don’t we let them get on with it, what I have seen so far is amazing, that’s the real life story.

ps: They are doing refunds if you are persistent. Only now they are asking for a reason. You are NOT legally bound to give a reason. So don’t.

I don’t think they are legally bound to give refunds either. So if they do, it might be fair to let them know why you are asking, anyway that is up to you, not Derek — make up your own mind.