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Chris Roberts Responds to Attacks


Jon1812

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@Arcanus

Thank you for the mirror.  There's not a snowball's chance in Hell that I'll give The Escapist page impressions for this.  In fact, where's that Youtube unsubscibe button, since the only thing of any worth they've ever offered are Youtube jokes.

According to several sources, being an employee of Cloud Imperium Games meant subjecting yourself to public insults, screaming, profanity, racism, and stress so powerful that some people would become physically ill.

Oh, like retail.  Or law enforcement.  Or construction work.  Or ...  Let's shorten the list.  So, like every job, ever, that involves dealing with the public to any capacity whatsoever.  So, what The Escapist is trying to say is that they don't understand gaming culture where works in progress are concerned, and the author has never had a job.  Okay.  Thanks for poisoning your own well, Escapist, as it makes it that much easier for anybody with two brain cells to see how full of crap you are.

A note to future job-seekers: If you can't handle the heat, then stay out of the kitchen.  Gamers are passionate and vocal.  Gamers can be insulting without meaning to.  It takes uncommon empathy and patience to interact with gamers discussing a title in production.  Not everbody is cut out for it, and that's okay.  

The community for a game in development is more like a family than nearly any other loosely associated gaggle of strangers on the Internet.  For the developers in question, that community will dish out criticism mercilessly, and say things more harshly than they're intended.  But they'll also defend those developers just as passionately.

By the way, twisting a community attitude (that's actually far more constructive than most gaming communities I've been a part of) so it can be attributed to the company instead is pretty perverse.  

I can't read any more.  If one line takes this many characters to dissect, then it's not worth my time to think about the rest.  But since I'm trying to nurture a habit to say something positive where I say something negative, let me just point out that The Escapist has gotten so good at bullshit that it takes lambda calculus to fully appreciate the layers they pile on.  If they were to forget gaming and start working for politicians, they could no-joke use that skill to change the world.

Edited by insomnia_shipping
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Here's the really sad (and diabolical) point to all this about he should not be named:

1) If he is proven correct in his mad assertions, he will be labeled a Savior (oh, wouldn't he love that), and

2) If he's proven wrong (and we all know this is the true state), he'll be lauded (mostly by himself) as the one who lit the fire under CIG's posterior.

Win-Win for him and he'll STILL be the same person he's always been - a delusional, sociopathic megalomanical narcissistic Catalyst Troll, as it t'were.

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Thoughts from a person @ Kotaku over on GaF 

by dethavin

Thoughts from someone who works over at Kotaku regarding the Escapist Post.

Originally Posted By: jsschreier

Yeah, we've been hearing from and talking to various current and former employees at CIG for a while now. I've spent a ton of time editing and working with others on the team and we've published a couple of things so far. Part of our job is to determine what's relevant, concrete information that's actually worth reporting and what's just gossip from employees who are angry for one reason or another.

FWIW, this is one of the most disgusting pieces of reporting I've ever seen, and I'm legit shocked that any professional website would publish something like "It was also claimed that Gardiner used race as a determining factor in selecting employees, allegedly once saying 'We aren't hiring her. We aren't hiring a black girl'" without crystal-clear sourcing and evidence (and without giving the person in question a chance to defend herself).

What's really ironic is that the Escapist article's author is a huge figure of GamerGate, a movement about ethics in journalism.

 

 

Massivelyop: Star Citizen’s Chris Roberts Responds to Publication’s ‘Long Troll’  

STAR CITIZEN’S CHRIS ROBERTS RESPONDS TO PUBLICATION’S ‘LONG TROLL’

starcitizen_0-860x280.jpg

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you probably know that Star Citizen and its creatorChris Roberts have been under siege from a certain indie game developer in recent months. The crowdfunded sci-fi sandbox has also had its legitimacy questioned in the gaming press, notably by The Escapist, which today published an antagonistic article sourced from anonymous, allegedStar Citizen employees and ex-employees.

Roberts, apparently, has seen enough and broke his silence on the topic in a new post on the official site. He writes,

I have, to date, attempted to stay above the internet drama currently surrounding Derek Smart and his claims about Star Citizen. My feeling has been that it is most important to speak with actions instead of words, and to date I feel that we have done that with the multi crew demo, the launch of the social module and everything else you see here in this space on a daily basis. However, with the publication of today’s article (I can only call it a hit piece) on The Escapist, I believe it is necessary to address the issue directly. In the interests of openness, I am making available right now my correspondence with The Escapist’s managing editor. What follows is his original e-mail to our Director of Communications, David Swofford, and my response, sent to them three hours before their deadline and not included in the piece.

 

I have to say that I’m incredibly disappointed in all of this. This sort of drama is not what I, or you, signed up for with Star Citizen. Thanks to your support, the project has become bigger than I ever thought possible and there’s no question that opens us up to criticism from anyone looking to make a name for themselves. I know that every company goes through such things, especially with regards to unhappy former employees. It is unfortunate that our open nature makes us a bigger target, and going forward we will do the best we can to refute such baseless accusations. But most importantly, stay tuned to see the actual work we’re doing, which should put any questions to rest.

I will update this piece with a direct response to the article later in the day, but I wanted to go ahead and show you what they left out; hopefully it will calm some nerves now.

The letter itself is published in its entirety over on the RSI website. The Escapist has since published parts of Roberts’ letter, citing an email reply mishap for the original exclusion.

Source: Chairman’s response; thanks everyone who tipped us!

 

 

Working at CIG... From a CIG employee 

thennessy-cigCIG Community Teamx3

Hey guys, Thomas Hennessy here, Videographer from CIG. First off, this is not an official statement from the company, and simply me wanting to get some stuff off of my chest.

I first started working for CIG during The Next Great Starship, and came on the project full time at the beginning of this year. I’ve worked a lot of places over the last 20 years, including 11 years of military service, and a lot of work in the film industry. This is my first job working in the video game industry, and to be honest, I had never even heard of Star Citizen before I worked for them.

I’ve been hearing and reading a lot of junk lately about CIG being a toxic work environment, and Chris and Sandi being difficult, if not impossible to work for, and I really wanted to just put it out there, that this couldn’t be further from the truth. I honestly think that working for CIG is one of the best gigs I’ve ever had, and part of what makes it so great are the people.

Are there bad days? Sure, what job doesn’t have good and bad days. Do my bosses have high expectations and demand excellence? Of course, and well they should, and the more I am challenged, the better I become, not just at my job, but as a human too. Am I sometimes asked to do things with too few resources and not enough time? Yep, welcome to the real world. This is how real life operates. We used to joke when I was in the military that you could take a group of Navy cooks, and assign them to build a house. You provide them a pallet of rotting wood and rusted nails, and tell them it needs to be done by tomorrow morning. The first thing these Sailors would do would be to start incessantly complaining what a raw deal they were getting, and that what they were asked to do was impossible, but the next morning low and behold, those cooks found a way to build that house.

Those are the teams that I want be a part of. The kind of teams where we make the impossible happen. There is an incredible level of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment taken from being able to overcome obstacles, and push yourself to do good work, even in less than ideal circumstances.

It literally hurts my heart to read some of the things people are saying about Chris, Sandi, and Ben, because from my experiences, it’s just not true. I feel quite fortunate to be a part of this project, and am incredibly grateful to all of the people out there that have supported us.

Anyone who wants to reach out to me, interview me, talk more about my experiences here at CIG, please do, because there is always two sides to every story, and at this point, I feel like only one side is being put out.

Once again, I want to say thank you so much to all of our wonderful fans who are allowing us the opportunity to make the impossible possible. I know I am not the only one here he takes the responsibility you have bestowed upon us quite seriously, and we are all working hard to help make dreams reality.

See you in the verse,

TH

 

 

therealdiscolando 221 points 3 hours ago 

I'll add to this. X-Post from:https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/5678014/#Comment_5678014

 
 
 
DiscoLando-CIG
 
 
 
 

Developer

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Posted: October 1
 
 
 
I've had a lot of jobs over the years, because I recognized early on that I learned better from experience than from schooling. Because of this, I took a lot of jobs and left a lot of jobs when I felt I'd learned what I could from them. I've worked as, in no particular order:

a Construction Contractor, a Barista, an IT Professional, an actual High School Drama Teacher, an Audio Engineer for both Television and Radio, a Retail Supervisor or Manager several times over, a Professional Baseball Mascot, a Telemarketer, a Stage and Film Actor, a WoW Game Master, a Prosthetics Support Specialist, a Home Improvement Professional, a Director of Operations for a Professional Baseball Team, a Cashier, a Mr. Trash, a Theme Park Performer, a Truck Loader, a Published Author of textbooks and magazine articles, a Hospitality Worker and a few others that escape recall at this moment.

I mention all this because there are all kinds of jobs, and all kinds of workplaces, and what's right for one isn't necessarily right for another, and for many workplaces, you never know if it's going to be a good fit between employee and employer until you get there. Before I came to Star Citizen, as a devout backer, I thought I knew everything I needed to about working for Star Citizen.

And I've never been more wrong in my life. 

This is so much better than I expected.

This is a place for gamers, and when I say that, I mean people that come READY TO PLAY. The work is hard, the hours are long, and the rewards... well, the rewards are history in the making.

The people that are here are as dedicated as any I've met on any job I've had. They come in early and stay late, and they work under the light of a community that can be both supportive and demanding in equal measure. I've seen every emotion in the human specturm from my fellow employees in the time I've been here, because for many, this isn't just a job: you build a very real attachment to the thing. It resonates deeply when people are pleased with what they're seeing, as much as it does when they do not. This collective endeavor to do the thing they say can't be done, that's never been done, and then to do it in a form and manner that's scares the industry must scare the crap out of some people. It makes sense that it would.

But courage isn't the absence of fear, it's the ability to let that fear inform your actions and proceed intelligently anyway. 

Ands that's what I see people doing here each and every day. It's hard work building the impossible, and it's not for everyone. People will come and people will go because of this. Speaking only for myself, this place quickly became a home. My co-workers were dedicated, my superiors easily approachable, and it's a rare day that some aspect of this amazing development doesn't surprise or astonish me. I feel like I wandered in the desert for so many years, looking for my place in things, and I don't feel that way anymore. 

This is the place where I belong.

With Chris and Sandi and Ben and Alexis and Thomas and Toast (I still can't call him Steven) and everyone else that comes in each day to make the impossible possible. It's okay to be afraid, but it's even better to have the courage to succeed as well. And to those of you that do:

I'll see you in the 'Verse.

 

@TheEscapist Your journalism is evidently wrong. 

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Edited by VoA
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Hit concierge level today.  In direct response to the bullshit spewed by some e-mag with no integrity and nuked by CR. 

Ok, I was only $15 away, but whatever. I would have gotten it eventually, but I got it today as a statement of continued support for this project.  I'll melt the three ship skins down for something I really want at a later time.

 

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What I think is the worst about this whole drama is that it discredits legitimate concerns about flight model, controls and gameplay.

Like me I have my problems with those in AC currently and the design decisions CIG made for those and the philosophy behind that.

I am very happy with CIG's progress on this including the power of fixed weapons vs gimble weapons (+ The raw data - published a couple of months ago supports the fact that controllers are much more balanced than people think).  Keep in mind CIG is still tweaking things too - but in the meantime - check out this video on tweaks you can make on your own.

 

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Looks like somebody over on Reddit found Lizzy's 'anonymous sources'.

Escapist "Anonymous" Sources Uncovered - CIG thread

Escapist "Anonymous" Sources Uncovered - Reddit

I have uncovered the anonymous sources mentioned by Lizzy from Escapist...they are posts on Glassdoor Australia. Quotes taken literally word for word. Trolls will be trolls, what can you do?

https://www.glassdoor.com.au/Reviews/Cloud-Imperium-Games-Reviews-E776546.htm?filter.employmentStatus=REGULAR&filter.employmentStatus=PART_TIME&filter.employmentStatus=UNKNOWN

Update: FYI, anyone can post on Glassdoor, there is no verification process.

Update 2: Interestingly enough, all these 1-star negative reviews were posted this week. The ones that were heavily quoted were all posted on 9/28. HMM...Lizzy?

Update 3: Per request, I have included screenshots. http://imgur.com/a/xXyaC

Keep in mind that all of the other reviews were months apart. Then suddenly, 5 in the same week while 2 articles are published :)

Update 4: To be clear, I have no evidence that Lizzy posted these reviews herself. I just find the whole timeline of events to be suspicious. First, Lizzy's first article "Eject! Eject!...." came out this week on 9/25 and went largely unnoticed. Next, there are reviews being posted everyday this week on Glassdoor through 9/28. Finally, she posts a new article today on 10/1, citing these very recent reviews posted this week, exacerbating the allegations in her first article. If she was fact checking these sources or verifying these sources, she would have had less than 48 hours for the 9/28 source.

Update 5: So I took a look at Glassdoor and its accounts system and I see that there is NO private message system. Personal information is hidden by design to protect user anonymity. How did Lizzy verify or follow-up with any of these sources she is quoting???

aEmVmGx.jpgHSO7EKy.jpg

 

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Hit concierge level today.  In direct response to the bullshit spewed by some e-mag with no integrity and nuked by CR. 

Ok, I was only $15 away, but whatever. I would have gotten it eventually, but I got it today as a statement of continued support for this project.  I'll melt the three ship skins down for something I really want at a later time.

 

Welcome to the club friend :)

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A Forbes "gaming contributor" posted up an article today that basically regurgitated the Escapist article, then wrote addendums below it to account for the letter and then bitched about people attacking him with comments about his lack of journalistic integrity. It's amazing how people think they can get away with libel in this day and age...

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I think we seen both sides reply, seen where this employees reviews were coming from,what ppl working in CIG believe(RP stand or not ),what other e-media believe. I would say lets wait a week for Citizencon, not for the PR talk but to see the what CIG will actually release. The progress on Social/MCrew/FPS modules, the ORG2.0/Star map and all the new Gameplay designs that haven't released or expanded the past 2 months since Gamescom. Time will tell if investing our money and time worth it and better give constructive criticism on the SC ,than caring about every self proclaimed know-it-all out there, saying that he is the expert. From the moment they do not manage the project or having a birds eye view of it, whatever they post in the internet without actual facts of figures directly provided by the Company and especially from the ones managing it does not hold water.

Edited by JamesFV
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Disgusted with the recent Escapist article and lack of credible Journalism self.starcitizen

Submitted 7 hours ago by sludgebeard

I have no affiliation with the Escapist or Star Citizen so I decided to make a video saying why I'm disgusted with the "Journalism" and lack of credible source checking.

In Short: If your going to be on a website like the Escapist, that has as much reach for the gaming audience, you need to be fact checking your sources and not using what is essentially the "Wikipedia for Corporate Reviews" as your source of information.

In case anyone is unaware, the Escapist article lifted their "Anonymous Sources" from the site "Glassdoor.com" that was posted here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/3n6lum/escapist_anonymous_sources_uncovered/

 

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Side note:

Holy bajeebus mother of Glob! Line of Defense looks like garbage! I can't decide whether to laugh hysterically or projectile vomit! I've seen better graphics (and certainly better gameplay) from games a decade old!

I had heard the game was bad... but I had no idea it was THAT bad.

Edited by Masokas
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Side note:

Holy bajeebus mother of Glob! Line of Defense looks like garbage! I can't decide whether to laugh hysterically or projectile vomit! I've seen better graphics (and certainly better gameplay) from games a decade old!

He who shall never be named wants $150 for all his dlc plus the game, and THEN wants to charge a MONTHLY fee to keep playing that game. It's literally like the guy is doing exactly what he's trying to preach against and has been doing that for 25yrs.

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Side note:

Holy bajeebus mother of Glob! Line of Defense looks like garbage! I can't decide whether to laugh hysterically or projectile vomit! I've seen better graphics (and certainly better gameplay) from games a decade old!

I had heard the game was bad... but I had no idea it was THAT bad.

Just watch this, its german but english subtittles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7n29gEV18w

Edited by zerkerz
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CIG NEEDS TO WATCH THIS EPISODE OF Babylon 5... as they bring in an Escapist Reporter....

Babylon 5Season 4, Episode 8

The Illusion of Truth(17 Feb. 1997)

We do plan on taking Chris Roberts up on his offer to tour the various CIG studios and talk to current employees about the development of Star Citizen. We will be setting that up soon.

The Escapist's Position on Our Star Citizen Story --->> http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/14727-The-Escapist-Explains-Its-Star-Citizen-Sources-Vetting-and-Respo

 

The Escapist's Position on Our Star Citizen Story
JOHN KEEFER | 2 OCTOBER 2015 11:00 AM

Video Games - RSS 2.0

5 
Star Citizen Employees Respond

Because our story on Star Citizen yesterday caused quite a bit of controversy and raised questions from the community, we will add more details on our sources without revealing them.

After our original story on Star Citizen by Lizzy Finnegan, she was contacted by seven ex-employees and two current employees about their experiences at Cloud Imperium Games. She exchanged emails with all of them, but then spoke with all of them via phone and Skype. Six gave their real names, while the seventh did not use his real name, but did show pay stubs and a Cloud Imperium Games ID with the name blacked out.

Two others who identified themselves as current employees contacted the writer via Lockbin, but we could not verify their identities so did not quote them. Their responses reiterated claims by the other seven, however. Lockbin disposes of messages after 24 hours, another reason the comments were not used.

Of the seven former employees used for the story, more than half said they quit CIG of their own accord.

Here are the exact details of our interactions with our sources:

  • Using the source designations from our story, three sources (CS1, CS4, CS5) initially contacted Lizzy via separate phone calls on Sept. 26 with information they wanted to share after seeing the initial story about CIG on The Escapist. They got her number via a mutual contact. No emails were exchanged. The sources and writer agreed to chat in-depth at a later time.
  • Four other sources (CS2, CS3, CS6, CS7) initially contacted Lizzy via email on or before Sept. 27 The emails, numbering 32 from these four individuals, were forwarded to our EiC and Publisher, who passed that info by our legal department. It was cleared and we pursued individual personal contacts beginning the following day.
  • The two emails (CS8-CS9) from current employees came into Lockbin on Sept. 27. in the early morning. Lizzy exchanged at least 5-6 emails each with these sources, but they did not disclose their identity.
  • When it came time for followup, three sources (CS1, CS4, CS5) were contacted via phone by Lizzy on Sept. 26. One call started at 5 p.m. and lasted for an hour and 15 minutes. A second was at 6:45 p.m. and lasted for 45 minutes. The final call was at 9 p.m. for an hour an 8 minutes. All three were contacted via Skype as well to verify visual identity.
  • Three more sources (CS2, CS6, CS7) were contacted on Sept. 27. One call started at 9 a.m. for 30 minutes and was Skype only. This was the caller who did not give his name, but verified employment with ID and pay stubs. Call #2 was at 2 p.m. for an hour and 52 minutes, while call number 3 was at 5 p.m. for an hour and one minute. Again, all callers were visually verified after the phone call via Skype.
  • The last call (CS3) was on Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. for 50 minutes, again visually verified on Skype.
  • All sources via Skype had their pictures compared to their LinkedIn profiles or other images of them on the web to verify identities.
  • Chris Roberts' response to me was at 9:10 a.m. almost three hours before publication time. Unfortunately, the response ended up in my spam folder, as it came in unformated and the pictures did not load. Since Roberts did not copy Lizzy or the Editor-in-Chief, who were on my original email to CIG PR head David Swofford, they did not get them and there was no back up to ensure someone saw it. Swofford emailed me at 12:40 - after I had sent him a link to the story - asking if I had received Roberts' response. It was then that I checked my spam folder, found the response and forwarded it to Lizzy to integrate into our story, minus any personal attacks on the sources. I called Swofford at 1:02 p.m. to personally apologize for the oversight and let him know how we would be using the response in the story. Roberts' entire response on the official site showed up roughly 10-15 minutes before we updated our story on the site.

To be clear on further allegations: None of our sources were Derek Smart and we did not get our information from Glassdoor. However, we do know that a couple sources did post on Glassdoor after talking to Lizzy.

We know the pitfalls of using anonymous sources. A major tenet of journalism to to verify your sources and get them on the record. Unfortunately, because of job security, threats, or whistleblower ramifications, providing the identity of a source is not always possible. According to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, it is our job to seek the truth, but also minimize harm. Video evidence was sent by a source, but was not used because we felt it was ambiguous and could not be properly verified. If and when we get verifiable documentation to support the allegations, that will be published.

Ideally, if you can get two people on the record saying the same thing, or at least three anonymous people saying the same thing, then the information is good to run. We got our information from nine independent sources talking about the working conditions at Cloud Imperium and their take on the status of Star Citizen, and all were properly vetted. We also gave CIG 24 hours to reply to the various topics addressed, longer than usual since we knew Roberts was currently in the U.K. When we integrated Roberts' comments, we made sure he addressed the specific points raised, as well as gave him the final word in the article.

If factual errors exist in our report, we will happily retract and correct. But as it stands, the report presented two sides, the allegations and observations of former and current employees and the response to them from Chris Roberts for CIG. We understand that former employees may have an axe to grind, hence the need to get several of them to say the same thing. We also understand that there will be people who are happy with CIG and enjoy their employment. Our job was to present both sides and let you, the reader, make your own determination.

We do plan on taking Chris Roberts up on his offer to tour the various CIG studios and talk to current employees about the development of Star Citizen. We will be setting that up soon.

- John Keefer
Managing Editor
The Escapist

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