[TheVirtu]

Originally posted by Setekh


Man, I appreciate you trying to inject some humour into this, but I seriously encourage you to edit your post and delete that. We've got enough discontent flying around, and the situation was just calming down.

Something tells me that this is the calm before the storm...

Oh, and welcome to page 21 (If you use 20 posts a page that is...)

[TopAce]

The storm was yesterday. This thread would still be burning if Smart continued to post here. It will take some days until thing cget completely calm, and two or three weeks until this thread sink to the second page, and from there, it sinks down into forgetting.

[Rictor]

If this is the calm, I don't want to see the storm. I don't think I could keep up, I only have two arms and two eyes you know. Yesterday, posts were going at a rate of like 3/minute, it was kind of tiring

[IPAndrews]

Proof he can learn from past mistakes.

[Zarax]

Well, if all else fails we could mail this guy...
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/blee/default.asp

[TheVirtu]

I dont know, this thread, or the subject at least, is probably going to lurk here for a loooong time to come if a certain someone gets some certain rights...

[Unidan]

A short discussion on IRC with a friend of mine.

Note: I'm not bashing Smart here, this is just the opinion of an individual whom I am acquainted with.

DoesNotExist> ...so? Most probably, it's going to take the storyline in an entirely new direction, using only the surface elements of the original plotline.
DoesNotExist> I mean, new games tend to do that.
NekoUni> he can't take it in a new direction, Freespace 2 was like one big cliffhanger
DoesNotExist> Like hell it can't.
DoesNotExist> There've been greater travesties in the computer game market, man.
DoesNotExist> I mean, note the lack of Arcanum 2.
NekoUni> yeah but Freespace 2 is like, my favorite game of all time, I dun want to see it trashed
NekoUni> I think this guy might do alright
DoesNotExist> It isn't going to be trashed. Freespace 3 will just most probably add very little to it.
DoesNotExist> Not familiar with the name, though. Derek Smart - he big?
NekoUni> this is even if he gets the liscense though
NekoUni> he made some other space sims I never even heard of
DoesNotExist> Toss out a few names.
NekoUni> people seem to like him.. I think on HLP, Steak said he wasn't anything special
NekoUni> well, lemme google it
DoesNotExist> ...wait, he made "Battlecruiser"?
DoesNotExist> Uni, you're screwed.
NekoUni> he made UC
NekoUni> which I never played
NekoUni> well how long ago was battlecruiser?
NekoUni> I never heard of it
DoesNotExist> Battlecruiser was one of the crappiest, crappiest games ever made, ever.
NekoUni> why?
DoesNotExist> PC Gamer gave it a 2% back when PC Gamer was actually reputable.
NekoUni> someone says it had a large learning curve
DoesNotExist> Ludicrously buggy.
DoesNotExist> Not really fun.
NekoUni> which battlecruiser did you play?
NekoUni> he says there were two generations
DoesNotExist> I believe that is Derek Smartese for "I released a ton of patches and put it out as a new game"

I then posted various parts of an interview with Mr Smart.

DoesNotExist> Well.
DoesNotExist> Let's just say this: "Something Awful" reviewed Universal Combat.

That was pretty much the end of the discussion right there..

NekoUni> but he's not exactly making a whole game from scratch here
NekoUni> he has limits
DoesNotExist> Yeah. Well, good luck.
NekoUni> XP
NekoUni> we'll see
DoesNotExist> Derek Smart also threatened to sue a company who gave his games a bad review!

Okay, that's where the convo REALLY ended.

Also: I haven't read the full thread yet.. better get crackin.
Also also: It was Ice, not Steak who said that.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Crazy_Ivan80


Something just hit me: does smart actually know about the existence of Counterstrike?

Imagine if Valve had said no to the original Counterstrike mod... They'd be a couple of million dollars poorer now.

Allowing free mods = allowing talent to flourish and extra cash for the creator of the game due to increased sales.

If you made mods, that would imply Derek Smart had not made TEH ULTIMATT GAME EVER! and that it did not have EVERYTHING YOU WILL EVER NEED IN A GAME AND IF YOU DONNOT AGREE YOU R A F00L!

Seriously, I think he considers it an insult if anyone want's to change 'his' designs or games.  Possibly has a severe lack of confidence in his own ability, leading to arrogance in order to compensate.


NB: the SomethingAwful review of UC - http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=2010 - and the legal action threat letter - http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=2010&p=2

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by DSmart [3000AD]

How can I forget the group of people who couldn't make Freespace2 a retail success worthy of its effort? Do you REALLY want to go there?
 

Lack of proper marketing is what made FS2 less of a success than it should have been. You, as an expierenced game dev, should know that.

Unless there's some sort of insider's secret the world doesn't know.

Originally posted by an0n
Styxx, honey, check Derek's IP.

I wanna make sure it's not just Rictor being a tool.

The IP resolves to Miami, Florida. Or thereabouts. Close enough to the stated Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Hmm, I grew up Ft. Lauderdale.

Gamespy forums have the news: http://www.forumplanet.com/gamespy/topic.asp?fid=1422&tid=1421939

[an0n]

Florida. Gotcha.

That was one of the 3 I'd narrowed it down to.

[Setekh]

Apparently, Derek has just posted his 'last' message.

Originally posted by Derek Smart [3000AD]:
Last night when I retired for the evening, it was with mixed feelings. The flaming didn't bother me much - like someone said, I'm pure carbon.

So this morning, it came as no surprise to me that my original poll thread was locked and a bunch of people (mostly from HLP) were banned and/or warned.

What bothered me was the vitriol, disrespect, rudeness that was perpetrated by the vast majority of the HLP community. I got PMs and emails from AVault regulars, regulars from my forums, people from around the world (some I didn't even know) and no less than THREE leading industry game devs and some media people. Those emails were pretty much on par with what one - in a sane world - would come to expect from a rational free thinking person.

The general consensus is this. If you DO get the license, give it your best shot and don't make it another Battlecruiser game. But no matter how it turns out - like EVERY game - you're going to still find a bunch of people who are going to be pissed about it.

Game development is not fun anymore and most of us only doing because it is our career. Our lot even.

As a faithful fan of the Freespace series and as a   game developer with nothing but the highest respect for the Volition devs, it would be foolhardy and disrespectful of me to make a Freespace game that is a reflection of my own games. At the end of this post, I will quote all my posts on this matter, so that they are all in the same place for those who are having a hard time keeping up with this fiasco.

Gaming is my passion. EVERY publisher I have EVER worked with - including Dreamcatcher - will tell you the same thing. I am passionate about my work. I don't take it lightly. And the financial gain takes a backseat to my desire for staying true to my vision.

Every interview, every review, every profile you read about me, point to the same thing, I'm not easily rattled and when I set my mind to something, I just do it; regardless of the consequences. I live by my dreams and unlike most, I am one of very few people who actually DO get to realize their dreams - especially as it relates to this rapidly degenerating game industry that is more about the bottomline than about delivering a worthy game.

Many, many indie devs and studios have gone out of business. Some were bought out (which is merely a stay of execution), then gutted and the talent thrown like chaff to the wind. Volition brought us the likes of Freespace and Freespace2. Make no mistake about it, Freespace2 was a retail failure. Independence War begat IW2:EoC. Another retail failure. Both Volition and Particle Systems, once great studio names, are merely figments of our imagination and the only ties to these once great teams (they're still great no doubt, not just in our space-sim framework) we have is what lives on in their work.

Nobody is going to fund and develop a game in a FAILED franchise. Yes, like most, the Freespace2 was a retail failure.

The same can be said for IWar and many others. David Braben has been making Elite4 for almost a decade I think. And up to the recent issue of PC Gamer UK was literally and clearly taking potshots at the Egosoft guys over their cloning of his Elite series while bringing nothing new to the table.

The XWing series seemingly dies with XvTF. And in between, there have been many other retail failures in the space sim genre.

Listen to me folks. Publishers don't fund the development of games from the goodness of their heart or for the love of the game. They do it for money. The business of game development is big business. To this end, any corporation that gets their hands on the Freespace license, is going to get it for cheap because that is the ONLY way they are even going to think of acquiring it. And if/when they do get it, as we have seen in the past when most franchise properties change hands, there is a very good chance that it will end up being a dismal failure and outside the scope of the franchise.

NO publisher who picks up the Freespace license, is going to be doing it because a bunch of disgruntled, disorganized and rude fanboys want them to. Nor are they going to give two farking Farthings what YOU think. Sure - at the very least - they'll assign some poor sap, clearly set up to fail - to be the good community relations face. This is the same poor sap who is going to be feeding the corporate crap, right up to the point where you get to be told that, hey, its only on the console - maybe we'll do the PC later. Or hey, no cut-scenes. Or hey, no joystick controls. Or whatever.

I am a small indie dev. Sure, my games are not massive sellers, nor are they retail popular when compared to other properties. But there is a reason why I am still in business and why I keep doing them. The reason is simple. I love what I do. I have a dedicated team who share my vision. I have a highly dedicated fanbase who I know I can rely on every few years to be there when I need them most. Because at the end of the day, when it all comes down to it, any dev worth his salt, can develop a game, stick it in a box and get some poor sod to buy it.

My games are consistent money makers. Sure, I make less money than the publishers, but I make enough to justify my time and effort spent. My guys are not paid according to industry standards, but there is a reason its the same crew game after game. That reason being that we all share a common passion and as long as I stick within my budget and vision, everyone gets paid, I don't have cost overrun worries, I don't have investors breathing down my back etc.

For e.g. a publisher who spends money to develop and market a game, would likely need to sell 10x as many units to break even than I would. For a self-funded indie dev, I can hang my hat on a 100K units and call it a day, while my counterparts are having hernias trying to reach 250K to break even.

In the hands of a mainstream publisher, a game like a Freespace sequel will - make NO mistake about this - cost upwards of $2-3m and 18 months to develop. At those numbers and given the sales of mainstream space sims, is it a wonder that there are no mainstream space sims outside of the niche series such as mine and the X series?

Everyone is asking for a game that is true to the Freespace series. Well, hey, why make a clone of Freespace2 when you already have Freespace2 on your shelf? There are lots of Freespace type games     that have come and gone without fanfare. For e.g. our Russian friends are developing Starwolves - a game you'll probably never get to hear about unless you know someone who knows someone who has played it.

The only way this Freespace sequel is going to get made, is if Interplay funds its development or sells the license - for cheap - to another publisher who can fund its development. And from where I am sitting, WHY would ANY publisher want to purchase the rights to a - for all intent and purposes - failed license? Especially when they can take that same money and develop a new game based on the spirit that was Freespace? You think they care if the fanboys think its just a Freespace clone? No, they don't.

At the end of the day, only TWO things form the cornerstone of this [game] industry. Credibility and money. While some would regard suing publishers as career suicide, I do it in the interests of that which I have created, that which  I OWN and because when I sign a contract, I STICK to it and fully expect the other party to do the same. I'm nobody's b*tch. Before I sued Dreamcatcher (over the UC fiasco) I already had a substantial funding sitting in an account waiting to be spent. Luckily, I only get to spend barely half of it. THAT money could have been spent on my company, my games or whatever. Anyone can sign a piece of paper. Getting them to abide by that piece of paper is clearly another matter. So naturally, you have to do what you have to do, if you can. Developers don't sue publishers. And for good reason. I'm already the industry bad boy and the last time I worried about that, it was 1996 and I was in my car driving down from Latrobe, PA after telling Take Two I was going home and planned on suing them. I wasn't bluffing.

My POINT is that I have done/said a lot of things which most normal and sane people wouldn't do/say. There is nothing normal about me and even I question my sanity sometimes - and I would be the first to tell you that I'm one stark crazy don't-give-a-sh*t SOB. Just to save you the trouble of having to figure that out on your own or getting to read about it on some libelous website.

But at the end of the day, I do what I have to do and I do NOT like people testing my resolve because I never met a challenge I didn't like. If I let things slide, it is because I tend to excercise common sense and restraint while weighing the pros and cons for what would come if I were to proceed.

Given all that, I am usually the easiest target of abuse by people who find it normal to behave online badly, disrepect others and put developers under siege. When you act like a person, you get branded. Those who say I make bad games, read it somewhere having NEVER played ANY of my games. Most who HAVE played them and found it not to their liking, don't go around sending me hate mail, harrassing, stalking and libeling me at every opportunity. Someone declars war on you, insults you etc, you're supposed to suck it all in because they want to feel better about themselves. If that was acceptable public behavior, a lot of people with either be in jail or worse. They do it online because this is the age of the lawless frontier where bad behavior and libel is just as prevalent as child porn and abduction.

So, the fate of that thread or anything that I do and which comes under scrutiny by those who would seek to continue harrassing, libeling and character assassinating me, is EXACTLY the reason I am the way I am and don't take crap from anyone.

Least of all from rude fanboys who lack the basic reading and comprehension skills.

A LOT of industry people know me personally. Some like me. Some don't. I don't lose sleep over fickle alliances. I do lose sleep over that new bug I have to investigate and fix so that the poor guy whose money makes my life and career possible, can continue to play my game and remain faithful to me because he knows that I care. And if anyone wonders why I am still in business and have a loyal fanbase, it is for the simple fact that if you treat someone with RESPECT you deserve the same back. No compromises. No excuses. No waffling.

My history with Interplay. A backstory:

I am an exceedingly loyal person and always have been. Loyalty is something I don't take lightly. My fans know this. My contractors and employees who have been with me for many, many years, know this. The media folks who have known me since (according to some) I was a seemingly incompetent no-talent-having loudmouth, know this.

When I was in trouble after my first game tanked (thanks to Take Two) and was determined to push on, I went to Interplay. All I had was a failed game on my resume. Major financial losses and mounting debt. And the recovered rights to MY dream. I didn't care about the money. I just wanted my property back and the chance to move on. So I settled out of court with Take Two and moved on with my property and what little money I got from it.

I had failed at my first attempt of making a commercially viable game. That was late 1996, a game that I had conceived as far back as 1988 when I could barely program.

Knowing ALL this (since they knew me back when I was with Mission Studios, later bought out by Take Two), Interplay treated me with nothing but the utmost respect and regard. They (at least those I dealt with directly, such as Phil Adam, Jeff Jirsa etc) didn't care that I had - merely months prior - been in every media news bit over the BC3K 1996 farce. Didn't care that I was the butt of every imagineable joke. Didn't care that - to anyone - I lacked the experience to do a retail game. Most of all, there were those at Interplay who were clearly opposed to the idea of bringing me onboard. All the Interplay execs cared about was if I could deliver on what I promised. I gave my word that I would and got to work with merely a virtual handshake even BEFORE the contract was signed.

Several months later, I delivered BC3K v2.0 as promised. On time. Within the budget. And without fanfare. It was a budget release. It made money and I proceeded to work on the game (to which Interplay had the first rights of refusal) that was to become BCM released in late 2001. They were never late in royalty reporting. They were never late in paying me. The books were always clean and clear. I never had to audit (as I have a right to) them ever.

Interplay was already headed for trouble around that time and this was attributed to their inability to fund BCM. Know what they did? They gave me back the rights. No fuss. No aggravation. And wished me well.

Further along, several months before their BC3K v2.0 rights were to expire and revert back to me, I asked them if I could have the rights back so that I could release the game for free. Without any fanfare, they agreed. Shortly after, like my first BC3K game, I released BC3K v2.09 on the Internet for free. To this day, it is still one of   highest Internet game downloads in history and still pops up on the download charts every now and again.

This industry is all about alliances and loyalty if and when you find it. When I needed a reference for some industry deals, programs (e.g. to be one of the first indie game devs to be admitted to the MS XBox dev program), my Interplay contacts were my first reference. When people were sending all sorts of rubbish emails, weblinks etc to Interplay, sure they all made their way to me and all I needed was to offer a reasonable explanation and truth of same. No judgement calls. No yelling. No disrespect.

The behavior of the HLP fanboys is NOTHING compared to what Interplay had to go through when word got out that I was about to sign  with them. Despite the derogatory, libelous email campaign (you who were doing it, know yourselves) they still signed and stuck by me.  And I delivered like I ALWAYS do. Fifteen years. Five games. Millions of dollars in revenue. Yes. I said millions. And my publishers and distributed/sold my games, know this to be the 100% truth.

Sure, all corporations have their problems and nobody is immune to them. When I heard of Interplay's troubles, I started looking for my friends. Most of them had moved on just before the sink started sinking;others stayed.

Recently when I heard of the final impending doom, I became concerned. Good people DO always land on their feet when they move on and the troubles at Interplay cannot be attributed to any one thing or any one person. Though everyone would like to think so, it is a LOT bigger than that and unlike most, I know a fair bit about the troubles, bad decisions, internal politics and whatnot.

Shortly hearing about the sale of the Fallout3 rights to Bethesda, the first (I kid you not) thing that came to mind was, Freespace!!!! I don't know why and I simply cannot explain it. I mean, its not like I was crying when other properties failed. I mean, what do I have at stake? Nothing. Thats what. Devs fall by the wayside every other week or so and the flurry of emails and outcries, dies in less than a week. No consequences. No recourse.

If Interplay is selling properties, they are no doubt attempting to stay affloat (what they've been doing for years) for as long as possible. My first thought was, what if I got the Freespace license, what would I do with it?

I had no frigging idea. All I knew is that if I could get the license, make a GOOD game out of such as highly regarded (albeit in a small circle) franchise AND help keep this once great company afloat that much longer, it would be my way of saying thanks to a company that was loyal to me, from start to finish; and also a way to retire a franchise that ended abruptly (if you've playing FS2 to the end, then u know what I'm talking about), in style. THIS was the reason why one of my poll questions asked if the franchise should die with FS2 instead of being messed with.

I didn't expect ANYONE to understand the logic in all of this, hence the reason I didn't even mention it in my first feeler post. Obtaining the license was one thing. Funding and developing a game was clearly another.

So, those [fanboys] who regard my intent as something other than what it is, are barking up the wrong tree. Which, in itself, is not entirely surprising. People fear that which they don't understand. And there is a good reason why I am feared in all industry circles. Apart from my industry contacts, my loyalties run deep and those who deal with me, know this full well. Thats why I'm still around while others have fallen.

What I wasn't prepared for over this Freespace3 intent, was the vehement response I got from the so called fanbase. Its like crowd control. To regard those unruly members of the HLP community as fans, would be the same as saying that the Freespace franchise is worth saving because of them. I mean, which publisher in their RIGHT minds would want to?

It is a well known fact and part of the industry mythos that fanatics (not to be confused with fans) are injected into any product fanbase. These are the anti-social misfits who have nothing invested other than they want to be a part of something, even if it means being a part of the wrong thing. For anyone who did sociology and or psychology, it is a  known fact that the premise of anti-social behavior is borne of the need to belong to something and the need to gain attention and recognition whether misplaced, misunderstood or otherwise. The enemy of my friend is my enemy, is the foundation upon which gang warfare is built.

In the previous thread (and parts of this), all you see are personal attacks, links to websites with personal attacks, derogatory comments etc. NONE of which have ANYTHING to do with the discussion of whether or not the Freespace franchise should end up in my hands.

THIS behavior is not uncommon and these fans are using this discussion as yet another vehicle to attack Derek Smart. What they haven't learned is, this [abuse] has ALL been done before, better and by people who are slightly more competent than a pack of one eyed gerbils on acid. In short, it is of ZERO consequence and makes NO difference in the general scheme of things. Its all just noise.

But this is not a thread about sociology and I'm not running for office.

Before I close this post (and then post ALL my comments so far on this matter), I'm going to make some things painfully clear once again, since most  of what I've been saying has been lost amidst all the noise and smoke.

[list=1]

• I have every intentions of obtaining the Freespace license. If Interplay is willing to sell it and for the right price, I'm buying it.
  
• Despite the niche nature of my games (all of which are successful in that they MAKE money), I have NO intentions of making another Battlecruiser game with a Freespace title. For that, I can use my time, effort, resources and money to develop a new action based space sim franchise that is true to the premise that was Freespace. Since I'm not in the business of developing clones, thats not going to happen. I mean, why would I? If I can't develop a Freespace title, I'm going to stick with my own valuable industry recognized properties.
• IF I DO get the license, my first port of call is to reach out to the original Volition devs whose vision it is that shaped the franchise. I have no expectations about the outcome and I don't care. If I don't expect anything, I can't be disappointed.
• IF I DO get the license, I have absolutely NO intentions of contacting, nor getting ANY Freespace mod developer involved in the project. NONE of them. Not a single one.
• As for the existing Freespace fanbase, I will continue to regard them as what they are, fans of a game series. Nothing more. Nothing less. I don't need advise. I don't need input. I don't need direction. Support is all I need. I won't be making a game for someone else's vision. I would be making a game that speaks out to the premise and legacy of the Freespace mythos but with my own ideas for what I believe will take the franchise to new heights. Anyone wanting to make a Freespace clone, are welcome to do it. The FS2 source code is out there. Go do it. Let ME do what I want to do!!
• And yes, if I do get it, there is a slight chance that I can and will screw it up. Thats a risk I have to take and something the fans will have to live with. So, you all might as well start praying about that right about now, as it is a best time as any, to find religion. Seriously.

Chronology of events...

07-15-04 12:52pm

A poll thread designed to solicite results from the AVault Freespace fanbase, is created by me.

In post #12 and #23 I try to outline my formulating plan.

In post #28, Flipside, a HLP community member, posts here first, then takes the news back to HLP.

In post #30, I respond - once again as clearly as I could - to growing concern.

By post #31, the abuse starts when people start registering just so they can, once again, start behaving badly because they've found another reason to hide behind the mask of Derek Smart is all things bad.

I get an email pointing me to a thread on the HLP forums. When I got there, I got the least of what I expected. Before you spend hours going through 19 pages of mostly bad behaviour, libel, character assassination or whatever, here are my three and only posts to that forum, to which I have no intentions of returning. Ever.

Where appropriate, I have - as always - quoted the post to which I am responding. This way, you don't have to go searching for the topic flow.

Before I do that, let me quote Flipside's post to that forum. Its on the first page of the thread.

         

Well, remember, he's a 'cut throat, no holds barred, no mercy' business man, he's trying to make this community sound like a half-confused muddle for his own gain.

After his comments on Adrenaline, I wouldn't touch his game with someone elses bargepole.

post #1, page 4

 

Originally posted by DSmart [3000AD]

First Post

Gents, some of the posts in this thread, are EXACTLY the reason why game developers AND publishers hardly pay attention to a game's fanbase.

So, go ahead, insult me all you want. Fat lot of good THAT is going to do. If anything, your posts will serve as indication to the industry in general, that well, those of you who want to turn this into a pissing content, are NOT worthy of anything tangible with regards to this franchise or anything associated with it. Look, they're not giving out library cards for bad behavior. So, if you can't behave at home, at the VERY least, have some self respect and behave yourself when in the company of others who are deserving of respect.

Now we're got that out of the way, lets see....

I'm not here to win any hearts, blow any minds, organize cookouts, take long walks in the park or pass around the walm milk. All I want to say it if anyone has played ANY of my games, not to mention the recently released Universal Combat, it should be clearly apparent that you're not dealing with some fly-by-night developer of a mod crew thats going to disappear overnight.

My games have been around for almost fifteen years, believe it or not and I have so far released five games - all of which made money - and I have an install base that clearly eclipses you lot. By a galaxy wide margin. My game - believe it or not - was one of those that made money for Interplay. They didn't lose money on it, not matter how much or how little it made. I got paid. They got their money's worth and I join the ranks for those who are saddened by their demise as I had some really good friends there.

So, lets cut the crap and get real here. Now. Would you rather NOT see another Freespace title in the retail channel, with high calibre values and from a team with a HISTORY and EXPERIENCE in making SPACE games? Or would you rather see it go to some larger company who is going to turn it into some unrecognizeable crap so they can leech off the Freespace name?

I'm ACTIVELY trying to get the license and given that I had a really good relationship with Inteplay (they published my second game), it will all boil down to money and whether or not Interplay is willing to let it go.

If I get it, I'm going to develop this game. NO amount of crying, magic, spellcasting, running outside naked and yelling or coming to my house with +2 Armor of God and +6 whupass, is going to change that. So, the ones making these crazy posts (the attention must be nice - try dating) might as well go to sleep tonight knowing that as tenacious as my reputation is, if there is ANY chance of obtaining this license, I'm going to get it.

YOU insulting lot have VERY few choices and options. You are either going to be a part of the end result or you remain a part of the problem that will let this legacy and much regarded franchise die with Freespace2. Think about this. It makes NO difference to me. I CONSISTENTLY develop, publish and sell games. So, its not like I don't have a project (considering that I have no less than THREE in development right this minute) to fund and develop. I do this out of love for the Freespace franchise and out of respect for what I - as a gamer and a space sim developer - deem to be a legacy and one of the greatest space sims ever developed.

That is all. As you were.

post #2, page 5

         

Originally posted by DSmart [3000AD]


uhm, huh?

[list=1]

• I didn't insult anyone. I wrote in plain English. And if there is anyone here who doesn't understand English, they need to get someone transllate my verse for them.
• I NEVER said that all posts here were insulting or flaming. Again, my post was written in PLAIN English and where necessary, I tried to make the distinction when address those who HAVE been insulting and inflammatory.
• I'm not here to be a part of anyone's Q&A session. If I wanted to host one, I'd create my own thread and discuss it within. I do NOT intend on answering ANY questions as it relates to my plans if I do in fact get this license. IF I do feel the need to solicit comments, feedback etc, I know where to find the relevant parties.
• Yes, I have an ego. But thats not MY problem to deal with. I am quite comfortable with it just the way I am. I am an Alpha male. A leader. Not some snivelling idiot who gets to be anyone's ***** or Yes- man. Having an ego is a pre-requisite for being a stong person. Most people who bandy the word ego around, have NO frigging clue WHAT it even means. The word itself has just been passed down from one uninformed and ignorant generation to the next. Next time you get the chance, find out what the word really means and you will immediately see how out of place and out of context it is as is popularly used. Yes, I have an ego. Deal with it. I don't have a problem with it. So why should I care what a bunch of people think?
  

How can I forget the group of people who couldn't make Freespace2 a retail success worthy of its effort? Do you REALLY want to go there?

You have issues. I don't remember ANY post ANYWHERE where I even came ANYWHERE close to saying or infering that which you speak of. So please stop putting words in my mouth.

post #3, page 6

         

Originally posted by DSmart [3000AD]


Blaming someone else for your actions is a sign of weakness. You are weak.

People usually fear that which they do not understand. I am a very complex and hard person to understand. I like it like that because - at the very least - it means that everyone knows where they stand with me.

As for greatest. A game does not have to be great. It just has to be FUN and PROFITABLE.

If you knew ANYTHING about the business of game development or the responsibilities of game developers and publishers, you would immediately recognize the ludicrousness of your post.

My plans for Freespace3, if I get it, are memorialized in these posts. I have nothing further to add until the time comes.

This will be my last post.

During this time, most of the core HLP community had already registered here and turned the AVault forum to a mirror of the battleground that the HLP  thread had now begun.

Amidst (as seen in several HLP posts) several calls from his community of wannabes, Derek "Kazan" Meeks, registers here on AVault and posts
this nonsense (which he SAYS was polite!!) to which I then replied.

Back on HLP, on page 12, he posts this

         

sorry i just had to own him on AVault for his arrogance

...and it doesn't get better than that.

The end result is that, not only did a whole bunch of people get banned from here, the actions by the HLP crew (not all of them of course), ended up doing what crap like this usually does. NOTHING. It is of ZERO consequence. If anything, they've pretty just tested my resolve and if they've never had to deal with Derek Smart before, before long and if things go as planned, they soon will. THEN they'll have something to really, truly ***** about, given my very low tolerance threshold for crap perpetrated by anti-social misfits.

That is all. And this will be my LAST post here or anywhere else about my bid to obtain the Freespace license.
 
 [ July 16, 2004, 11:00 AM: Message edited by: Derek Smart [3000AD] ]

[Crazy_Ivan80]

you honestly don't want us to read all of that do you?

[Turnsky]

Now, as a developer, i'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, but as a person, i'm sorry to say, his posts, and the way he worded them, it made him sound egotistical, arrogant, and "twitchy"..
now, if he delivers, that's all good, but, Derek, if you read this, you have to realise that modders can be the life of games, i mean, look at half-life..
Treat gamers, and modders with respect, they are, after all, paying your bills.

now, i hope i'm not coming off as being nasty, but, like i said, you need to keep that ego in check.. it's gonna give you more trouble than its worth.

"How can I forget the group of people who couldn't make Freespace2 a retail success worthy of its effort? Do you REALLY want to go there?"

you are being asinine, by the way.. it was the screwed advertising by interplay that led freespace to be underrated as it is.

[mitac]

I'm totally, absolutely and definitely lacking any vocabulary that would be necessary to describe even the size or shape of this guy's ego's shadow, seen from 200 miles distance.

[an0n]

BUH!?!

[Cabbie]

argh too long, head hurts....

[Taristin]

"How can I forget the group of people who couldn't make Freespace2 a retail success worthy of its effort? Do you REALLY want to go there?"

So wait... he's saying that by us buying the game, and getting our friends to buy it, we did FS2 an injustice?

Twisted logic indeed.  I bought FS2 the first day it  hit the shelf. And paid full price. I did my part. Did he do his?

[Tiara]

BY DEREK

Anyone wanting to make a Freespace clone, are welcome to do it. The FS2 source code is out there. Go do it. Let ME do what I want to do!!

What are we waiting for? Seriously, a community wide project in conjunction with the SCP could be a major success. Especially since we don't ask gamers to pay for it. the right media coverage et all would make for a pretty damned good game. We have the talent, so I ask you: Why not?

[Kazan]

I'll own him again If I have to..



I'm just waiting for him to file his unfouded lawsuits against the SCP and Ferrium so I can call the EFF in and go to bat against him

[kv1at3485]

Originally posted by Tiara

What are we waiting for? Seriously, a community wide project in conjunction with the SCP could be a major success. Especially since we don't ask gamers to pay for it. the right media coverage et all would make for a pretty damned good game. We have the talent, so I ask you: Why not?

I thought that was what the Ferrium Project was all about.  Or has my interpretation skills deteriorated that badly?