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Why are you taking the time to extensively attack a project on the sole basis that it is headed by Mark Kern? You have only attacked his character, and while I understand the arguments, I don't quite comprehend your fervor. Yours is one of the longest and most eloquently worded arguments against him I've seen, and while you claim to be a veteran your account here remains largely anonymous. If you message me on the old Firefall forums, I'll believe you have a personal stake in this, but until then it is a point of credit against you.
As far as Mark authorizing a fan-based "Hey, remember how Firefall used to be amazing? We're trying to recreate that over here! Here's an aggregate list of all relevant information!" spam email, I don't fault him for it. His coworkers had all left the company (Red 5 is essentially empty), and the parent investment company that ruined his game, ousted him, squandered tens of millions on unnecessary "interventions" and bad advertising, and then refused to pay its employees, withholding pay, is the only one that could possibly be impacted negatively. Steamcharts show an estimated ~170 daily users (if memory serves), with peaks not much higher than that. This does not account for users of the proprietary launcher. Of the apparent 85,000 people who received emails, a next to insignificant 0.2% of them were even active players. Any business The9 still had was destroyed by The9 a long time ago.
As far as Mark authorizing a fan-based "Hey, remember how Firefall used to be amazing? We're trying to recreate that over here! Here's an aggregate list of all relevant information!" spam email, I don't fault him for it. His coworkers had all left the company (Red 5 is essentially empty), and the parent investment company that ruined his game, ousted him, squandered tens of millions on unnecessary "interventions" and bad advertising, and then refused to pay its employees, withholding pay, is the only one that could possibly be impacted negatively. Steamcharts show an estimated ~170 daily users (if memory serves), with peaks not much higher than that. This does not account for users of the proprietary launcher. Of the apparent 85,000 people who received emails, a next to insignificant 0.2% of them were even active players. Any business The9 still had was destroyed by The9 a long time ago.
First, I want to make this insanely clear for any moderators. I read the forum rules and personal attacks are not allowed. I absolutely did not attack Mark, the man. In all my posts and in all cases possible, I referred to his position as the Ember CEO. It is the position that I am referring to, not the man.
Secondly, ... I respect your opinion on your view of the mass spam email. Not much else to say there.
My FF in game name is [J0KER] DeadDuck1 -- my FF forum name was kc5teg ... the one who fixed BoingLFG ....
My forum name is my FCC call sign, you can look me up in the FCC database by FCC-FRN #0003803772 to find my licence information -- maybe this proves I'm not a shill since I am a US licensed radio operator? iuno... but its public info, so I don't mind sharing this.
Secondly, ... I respect your opinion on your view of the mass spam email. Not much else to say there.
My FF in game name is [J0KER] DeadDuck1 -- my FF forum name was kc5teg ... the one who fixed BoingLFG ....
My forum name is my FCC call sign, you can look me up in the FCC database by FCC-FRN #0003803772 to find my licence information -- maybe this proves I'm not a shill since I am a US licensed radio operator? iuno... but its public info, so I don't mind sharing this.
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I appreciate the honesty, and while I don't personally recognize your IGN, kc5teg sounds familiar, esp. in relation to BoingLFG.
You're likely not a shill, and if you really are a concerned veteran with an inherent dislike of Kern's ability to manage or serve as CEO of a company then I applaud your tenacity, though I don't understand it.
Your FCC call sign certainly provides a host of information, which clears up many doubts in my mind. So, moving forward, I must ask. Why the dedication? To go to such lengths as to predict the self destruction of Crixa Labs in 3-5 years because of a community spat, and then defend it for hours requires motivation, and I'm curious as to what that is.
You're likely not a shill, and if you really are a concerned veteran with an inherent dislike of Kern's ability to manage or serve as CEO of a company then I applaud your tenacity, though I don't understand it.
Your FCC call sign certainly provides a host of information, which clears up many doubts in my mind. So, moving forward, I must ask. Why the dedication? To go to such lengths as to predict the self destruction of Crixa Labs in 3-5 years because of a community spat, and then defend it for hours requires motivation, and I'm curious as to what that is.
Likes:
Sandsnake
WARNING: Below is opinion because I was asked, I do not intend to defend this because its my opinion.
99% of it is from the fact that I am capitalist at heart and I believe with all my heart that customers are the king, not the provider(s). This is not true here. People here, in general, are so desperate for a reincarnation of Firefall that they, and Mark, forget that he works for them. How else can he make his comments except because he believes that we'll follow him regardless? A man will generally act honorable if he feels obligated, be it to his mother, his country, his wife, God, or his customers. The Ember CEO has at least the last one that obligates him to act honorably. My wish is that we, the customers, would unite to show him that he is accountable for his actions. We must demand better of him. Then, when he does the right thing, we must forgive, forget, and support him.
He, as CEO, is responsible to us, not the other way around.
Add that to the fact that I love the Firefall community so very much that its out of respect for them that I feel they must be made aware of my findings. The rest, is their decision 100% and I absolutely respect what they decide, as it should be in any customer oriented business. You can tell someone that the product they're about to buy is crap, but they're still free to buy it. That's on them. But, if I don't do my part to let them be informed, that's on me.
99% of it is from the fact that I am capitalist at heart and I believe with all my heart that customers are the king, not the provider(s). This is not true here. People here, in general, are so desperate for a reincarnation of Firefall that they, and Mark, forget that he works for them. How else can he make his comments except because he believes that we'll follow him regardless? A man will generally act honorable if he feels obligated, be it to his mother, his country, his wife, God, or his customers. The Ember CEO has at least the last one that obligates him to act honorably. My wish is that we, the customers, would unite to show him that he is accountable for his actions. We must demand better of him. Then, when he does the right thing, we must forgive, forget, and support him.
He, as CEO, is responsible to us, not the other way around.
Add that to the fact that I love the Firefall community so very much that its out of respect for them that I feel they must be made aware of my findings. The rest, is their decision 100% and I absolutely respect what they decide, as it should be in any customer oriented business. You can tell someone that the product they're about to buy is crap, but they're still free to buy it. That's on them. But, if I don't do my part to let them be informed, that's on me.
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Likes:
PCMasterReece and Brezals
I share this sentimate and the critical thoughts of Grummz, even if I do not go as far as BrutalWhimsy did in his allegations.
Grummz has a lot to prove in himself, as he doesn't seem to have had very much success in his own bussinesses for a while. I think he is competent enough, I respect him for his own tenacity to do what he is doing. That is what I most like about him, and that we share a lot of opinions. But him making a game, a project, I think he knows what he wants and what we want, the question remains open. Can he deliver? nobody has the answer to that.
Grummz has a lot to prove in himself, as he doesn't seem to have had very much success in his own bussinesses for a while. I think he is competent enough, I respect him for his own tenacity to do what he is doing. That is what I most like about him, and that we share a lot of opinions. But him making a game, a project, I think he knows what he wants and what we want, the question remains open. Can he deliver? nobody has the answer to that.
Likes:
DARKB1KE and DeadDuck
He knows there is a certain demand for the product, as evidenced by the petition we all signed. As far as I know, he has not made any movements or decisions that directly conflict with our shared vision of how Ember should be laid out. You may consider his condoning of targeted advertisement reprehensible, but that doesn't conflict with how we as the consumers receive his product. If anything, he was acting in our best interest, as a larger playerbase inevitably means more funding, and a better product in the end.
From what I've read, I don't think you think that Ember will be bad. It sounds like you have a reasonable amount of faith in the team's ability to create Ember for the next few years, your only doubts stem from his track record as a CEO when it comes to divisive community issues. I am under the impression there were a number of external factors, from investor pressure to personal issues, and as he admitted, alcohol, that influenced his behavior to a certain extent as CEO of Red 5. Those pressures are gone in this scenario, and my current fears are alleviated.
I am not able to accurately predict what will happen three years down the road, and while we can make inferences based on the past, we are missing a good deal of contextual evidence in order to make the most accurate assumptions possible.
Not only that, but when a project is in this stage, where publicity is key, the consumer can support it in more ways than with just money. Word of mouth, signatures, public support. There are many free ways to encourage the growth of crowdfunded projects. While many consumers can and will appreciate your efforts towards transparency, I cannot, as a member of the capitalist USA, see why you would also discourage free participation.
If your argument were "Mark cannot make good games, therefore his game is not worth investing in, because it will fail", I would understand completely. However, all of us are here because he can make pretty damn good games, and we have a level of faith in the team's ability to execute properly on what we share a vision on. Your argument is "The game will likely implode in 2-3 years time, after it has been realized to an extent, because of drama". While that may be valid, it does not hold nearly the same sway as if he were bad at design, and therefore should not discourage support of a non-financial nature.
From what I've read, I don't think you think that Ember will be bad. It sounds like you have a reasonable amount of faith in the team's ability to create Ember for the next few years, your only doubts stem from his track record as a CEO when it comes to divisive community issues. I am under the impression there were a number of external factors, from investor pressure to personal issues, and as he admitted, alcohol, that influenced his behavior to a certain extent as CEO of Red 5. Those pressures are gone in this scenario, and my current fears are alleviated.
I am not able to accurately predict what will happen three years down the road, and while we can make inferences based on the past, we are missing a good deal of contextual evidence in order to make the most accurate assumptions possible.
Not only that, but when a project is in this stage, where publicity is key, the consumer can support it in more ways than with just money. Word of mouth, signatures, public support. There are many free ways to encourage the growth of crowdfunded projects. While many consumers can and will appreciate your efforts towards transparency, I cannot, as a member of the capitalist USA, see why you would also discourage free participation.
If your argument were "Mark cannot make good games, therefore his game is not worth investing in, because it will fail", I would understand completely. However, all of us are here because he can make pretty damn good games, and we have a level of faith in the team's ability to execute properly on what we share a vision on. Your argument is "The game will likely implode in 2-3 years time, after it has been realized to an extent, because of drama". While that may be valid, it does not hold nearly the same sway as if he were bad at design, and therefore should not discourage support of a non-financial nature.
I wouldn't discourage free participation, only un-informed free participation would be what I wish to discourage.
Semantics aside, I only didn't tackle the issues you addressed here because it would require citing BrutalWhimsy and other so called ex-Red5 employees, which opens a whole new can of worms. I do absolutely have my own thoughts regarding these issues, but my intent was never to create drama, so I intentionally avoided referencing these sources. Furthermore, their posts / information is out there. Any customer wishing to be informed can find it. So, no need to reaffirm it here. Again, I only want people to be informed. I respect what they decide afterwards.
Semantics aside, I only didn't tackle the issues you addressed here because it would require citing BrutalWhimsy and other so called ex-Red5 employees, which opens a whole new can of worms. I do absolutely have my own thoughts regarding these issues, but my intent was never to create drama, so I intentionally avoided referencing these sources. Furthermore, their posts / information is out there. Any customer wishing to be informed can find it. So, no need to reaffirm it here. Again, I only want people to be informed. I respect what they decide afterwards.
As an aside, to those sources you're referencing, especially the unconfirmed exr5s reddit drama, I haven't seen a single piece of tangible evidence crop up from those things in regards to behavior behind closed doors. Our justice system states innocent until proven guilty, and while an anonymous bandwagon might seem like evidence, I wouldn't interpret it as such, though it does raise questions.
Anywho, I certainly can't prevent you from providing your own side of things to newcomers, just know that you are essentially playing the opposition here, and I seriously doubt moderation will take kindly to you peppering general forum threads with references to this topic, in case you were considering it. I also understand your concern in regards to his ability to unite the community on a divisive issue, though I too don't think it will be a problem for another few years, if it becomes a problem at all. The current community is largely united on many things, except recoil, and truly divisive issues won't appear until the game is made known to a chunk of the mainstream.
If you want to warn people about to sign a petition and get on with their day that the game might fail 5 or 7 years from now, so be it. Based on the cases you've made, you might need to consolidate more convincing evidence, though it's in the project's best interest if you don't. If anything, I'd prefer it if you waited until after the first major milestone to do anything really driven, because it might turn out fantastic.
And if it does fail for the reasons you've listed, I will mail a tray of average fudge with a handwritten card to you. If it fails after 2026, or you move, renew your operator's license so some bloke in TX doesn't get the most confusing September apology card of his life.
Anywho, I certainly can't prevent you from providing your own side of things to newcomers, just know that you are essentially playing the opposition here, and I seriously doubt moderation will take kindly to you peppering general forum threads with references to this topic, in case you were considering it. I also understand your concern in regards to his ability to unite the community on a divisive issue, though I too don't think it will be a problem for another few years, if it becomes a problem at all. The current community is largely united on many things, except recoil, and truly divisive issues won't appear until the game is made known to a chunk of the mainstream.
If you want to warn people about to sign a petition and get on with their day that the game might fail 5 or 7 years from now, so be it. Based on the cases you've made, you might need to consolidate more convincing evidence, though it's in the project's best interest if you don't. If anything, I'd prefer it if you waited until after the first major milestone to do anything really driven, because it might turn out fantastic.
And if it does fail for the reasons you've listed, I will mail a tray of average fudge with a handwritten card to you. If it fails after 2026, or you move, renew your operator's license so some bloke in TX doesn't get the most confusing September apology card of his life.
Likes:
DeadDuck
but did he had much chances to prove himself in the past? I think not.
That's why I'll support him, giving him the opportunity, the chance, the possibility to get the max out of him
without someone booting him, without someone bossing him around (except us the community lol)
now to my flames'n *bleep*
funny how someone judge a non existing game by mere forum activities
you no reallife? no job? no friends? no hobby? wasting all your time on puny stuff?
I avoid reddit, they seems to be full of miscreant that tend to hate everything outside of reddit (not a reliable source in my opinion).
same goes for deviantart, they tend to ignore copyrights and claim everything as their own creation.
it's like saying "is fallout 4 worth the money? NO!" but still bought by *bleep*load of ppl
Hell, even I bought FO4, only 11 hr playtime and uninstalled it. why? because I wanna support Bethesda, thought I AM afraid they might equally *bleep*up The elder scroll 6.
remember when Bethesda said how they gonna make FO4 better than any games by "not making the same mistake like others company", we all know that was a lie. soooooooo?
[I BET YA'LL BOUGHT FO4, BUT TO PUSSSSSSY TO ADMIT THAT YOU KNEW IT GONNA BE *BLEEEEEEEEEP* AND STILL BOUGHT IT]
half the internet hating on watchdog, yet watchdog 2 is confirmed. though, according to the internet, watchdog was a failure and shouldn't make a sequel.
seems the haters/flamers in the internet are just a [minority].
I myself enjoyed Watchdog and definitely gonna buy Watchdog 2.
[BET YA'LL ONE OF THOSE SORE LOSER HATING ON WATCHDOG 2 WITHOUT EVER PLAYED IT. BECAUSE *BLEEPING* PUSSEEEEEEEEY]
I'm also hyped about Mass Effect: Andromeda.
<insert internet logic> But ME3 was *bleep*! they should just stop making ME, they'll just ruin it even more.
ME3 was *bleep* so Andromeda will be *bleep* too. Andromeda will be *bleep*, because ME3 was soooo *bleep*. </insert internet logic>
would write more, but my nerd rage is destroying my fantasy/creativity
That's why I'll support him, giving him the opportunity, the chance, the possibility to get the max out of him
without someone booting him, without someone bossing him around (except us the community lol)
now to my flames'n *bleep*
funny how someone judge a non existing game by mere forum activities
you no reallife? no job? no friends? no hobby? wasting all your time on puny stuff?
I avoid reddit, they seems to be full of miscreant that tend to hate everything outside of reddit (not a reliable source in my opinion).
same goes for deviantart, they tend to ignore copyrights and claim everything as their own creation.
it's like saying "is fallout 4 worth the money? NO!" but still bought by *bleep*load of ppl
Hell, even I bought FO4, only 11 hr playtime and uninstalled it. why? because I wanna support Bethesda, thought I AM afraid they might equally *bleep*up The elder scroll 6.
remember when Bethesda said how they gonna make FO4 better than any games by "not making the same mistake like others company", we all know that was a lie. soooooooo?
[I BET YA'LL BOUGHT FO4, BUT TO PUSSSSSSY TO ADMIT THAT YOU KNEW IT GONNA BE *BLEEEEEEEEEP* AND STILL BOUGHT IT]
half the internet hating on watchdog, yet watchdog 2 is confirmed. though, according to the internet, watchdog was a failure and shouldn't make a sequel.
seems the haters/flamers in the internet are just a [minority].
I myself enjoyed Watchdog and definitely gonna buy Watchdog 2.
[BET YA'LL ONE OF THOSE SORE LOSER HATING ON WATCHDOG 2 WITHOUT EVER PLAYED IT. BECAUSE *BLEEPING* PUSSEEEEEEEEY]
I'm also hyped about Mass Effect: Andromeda.
<insert internet logic> But ME3 was *bleep*! they should just stop making ME, they'll just ruin it even more.
ME3 was *bleep* so Andromeda will be *bleep* too. Andromeda will be *bleep*, because ME3 was soooo *bleep*. </insert internet logic>
would write more, but my nerd rage is destroying my fantasy/creativity
Likes:
Sandsnake and Nunaden
People are waiting for development, it's going to be slow, of course there's going to be natural times of inactivity until more news happens from the people actually making the game.
http://kotaku.com/how-not-to-complain-to-a-developer-1505848316
http://kotaku.com/how-not-to-complain-to-a-developer-1505848316
P
On the bright side, hey you've all now seen my junk.
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NitroMidgets
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