CIG updates response to Escapist

BeardWonder · 12時間前

then you verified a company an unidentified employee by examining his "company ID card with the name blocked out." You might be interested to know that CIG does not issue any company ID cards at any of its studios!

Rev up that lawsuit!

aqualung01 · 9時間前

Ortwin loves lawyering so much he was the lead promoter for the arbitration stretch goal; basically he loves lawyering enough so he even wants to be a space lawyer. And they wanna mess with that? Say what you want about the current progress of the game, but the people who work and stick there are not only dedicated, but incredibly talented! Not just on dev side, but on the business side as well. Good luck on your side of the fight Escapist, you're going to need it.

wilic · 11時間前

We have since been advised by several reputable gaming publications that they have been offered these stories, but refrained from pursuing them because "there was no hard evidence and not enough sources." This indicates that these fabricated stories had been collected and were shopped around by a common source to find somebody who could be fooled into publishing them. It would explain the haste with which you wanted "to go to print" - you may have been sold a load of goods that otherwise another publication would get the privilege to break this "scoop".

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

SowakaWaka · 12時間前

I'm honestly surprised this has escalated so much, it'll be interesting to see where it goes. I actually find this a bit relieving, I don't think CiG would be making a fuss out of this if they were actually on the verge of collapsing and had little to no money left, if any of it were true then they'd really be shoving a shoe in their collective mouths if they had to shut down in a few months.

My takeaway: CiG is confident in their current financial situation and The Escapist shouldn't be trusted.

Shrike99 · 8時間前

"He has publicly doxed me, sharing the address of my home in LA, pictures of my wife and five year old daughter." This is disgusting, Sub-human beyond even my lowest expectations of DS.

irsteve · 7時間前

This is the badge she thinks she saw:

https://twitter.com/lizzyf620/status/650619240559546368

Now here's a closer view:

http://www.bravoid.com/products/lg/HID%20ProxII%20lg.jpg

Very common in the USA (I work for an access control company).

Here's the fob also attached to the lanyard:

http://www.hidglobal.com/sites/hidglobal.com/files/proxkeyiii.png

You can print to the proximity cards, but usually to the shiny side that's already been pre-printed with HID's logo (in this case).

wreckage88 · 12時間前

I think I just got a legal boner.

UncleMalky · 12時間前

I'm going to have to name one of my ships "Ortwinning".

Probably my Herald, its the closest to a lawyer-esque ship.

Or maybe my Glaive, earned through trial by combat.

I mean, reading that letter almost feels like watching someone take actual physical blows.

DickyBrucks · 9時間前

This will be buried, but I don't think they need an investigation into who the source is. Derek looks like he's taking credit for the Escapist's sources http://imgur.com/rxwsR3D

GreyGryphon · 11時間前

This isn't surprising. Just Google Star Citizen, the top links and news are mostly repeats of the Escapist publication. The worst are the Forbes opinion pieces. That brand bears weight, and not everyone knows the site is basically a Forbes branded blog, not subject to the usual checks and editorial integrity of Forbes the magazine.

All this stemmed from the Escapists inability to deferentiate evidence from opinion. The fact that even after an 'explanation' about having fulfilled their journalistic duties, they STILL went online to have a chat about the issue, repeating allegation after allegation without talking about CIG's side of the story.

Ortwin's reponse is spot on. Journalistic freedom =/= to the right to publish opinions as fact.

And does anyone find it interesting that these allegations were shopped around to other games news sites as well? Its as if some people had an agenda and wanted as many publications as possible to shoot out the same opinions on the same day (which did happen). Perhaps they thought that if many sites had the same news story, that level of 'authority' would turn fiction into fact.

lord_nagleking · 8時間前

As a backer. I support CIG's pursuit of legal action!

beanbaz · 11時間前

I love how the parent company wanted them to wait while they asked the escapist wtf is going on and Ortwin is like... nope.

"Corporate at Defy Media asked us to delay publication of this letter while investigating, but we feel strongly that the record needs to be set straight without further delay."

kaputtmachaa · 9時間前

BOOM! Very well written, Mr. Freyermuth. If you can't remember, who that exactly is: Meet the Devs: Ortwin Freyermuth (2015.02.03) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mhyO26bVVw

psay · 11時間前

Ortwin completely wiped the floor with them. Holy shit.

_3ntr0py · 9時間前

I think that is more than just response to the escapist. Its a statement to all media that if you want to fuck with us, we will fight back.

InSOmnlaC · 11時間前

Looks like Chris......

Talked to Legal

Impulse93 · 12時間前

And it's signed!

Masento · 12時間前

I honestly never thought I'd see the day that CIG would have to bring in Ortwin Freyermuth. I hope the folks at the Escapist have a whole lot of lube.

Brock_Starfister · 11時間前

Meanwhile, Derek Smart vanishes into the shadows. I have to give him this, he is a cunning little bastard.
Derek made sure that his name was never mentioned in the article, thus no action can be levied against him. He masterfully manipulated others to take the fall for him whilst still getting his message out.

Rarehero · 9時間前

So glad to hear that they are finally preparing legal action. At this point - since "The Escapist" is usually considered a source that is good to quote by other media outlets - legal action is the only way for CIG to get their version of the story out and to let world and other media outlets hear about the many justified doubts about the credibility of these sources.

Seijin8 · 9時間前

Mr. Smart hinted in an email to me just hours before you posted the Article that CIG employees "departed, fired or laid off are now talking."

The villain foreshadows his dastardly plan. What a cliché.

KaichiroAmane · 12時間前

Corporate at Defy Media asked us to delay publication of this letter while investigating

Should have given them a short deadline, then posted it anyway even if they replied. . . oh wait that's been done before by someone

SmashedBug · 11時間前

This is like fuckin' word salad. I have never seen such documents perfected in such a small amount of time.

God damn.

InSOmnlaC · 11時間前

I found this part especially interesting.

"And then you verified an unidentified employee by examining his "company ID card with the name blacked out." You might be interested to now that CIG does not issue any company ID cards at any of its studios!"

That alone destroys all credibility of their sources. They weren't just lying, they were manufactured.

CmdrCruisinTom · 11時間前

I've said it before, I'll say it again. All this insanity is just motivation for me, personally, to be better. Be above this.

Journalism is about truth. Thanks Ortwin for shining more light on it.

Sniperhid · 6時間前

I feel the need to say: I whole heartedly want to say that I fully support Chris Roberts and CIG here. In the off-chance anyone from CIG read this: keep up the great work and thank you for working on this game.

umbralupinus · 12時間前

It's a shame it had to come to this, but you know what they say - Mess with the bull...

rips10 · 11時間前

Damn, that's lawsuit language all over the place.

drogvokun · 12時間前

ahh...get rekt Escapist...

Xellith · 9時間前

The Escapist is so fucked.

alexnedea · 6時間前

holy fucking shit this letter is so harsh i had to hug a pillow after reading it. Well played CIG well played

rsuplink · 6時間前

This is how "research" is done by Liz http://i.imgur.com/ukdA7D5.jpg

StoopidSpaceman · 4時間前

Corporate at Defy Media asked us to delay publication of this letter while investigating,

Isn't that rich? They just had to post the article with utmost urgency and barely gave CIG any time to respond to the extremely serious allegations made in the article (and then proceeded to ignore their response anyway despite it being completed 3 hours early of the extremely short deadline), but now they have the balls to ask CIG to delay publishing this letter to give them time to investigate? No, fuck that shit. This is what they wanted, this is what they're getting.

vogon_poem_lover · 11時間前

I'm only on page 3, but found this and had to post because it needs to be read by everyone:

We have since been advised by several reputable gaming publications that they have been offered these stores, but refrained from pursuing them because "there was no hard evidence and not enough sources." This indicates that these fabricated stories had been collected and were "shopped" around by a common source to find somebody who could be fooled into publishing them. It would explain the haste with which you wanted "to go to print" - you may have been sold a load of goods that otherwise another publication would get the privilage to break this "scoop".

Here's that mic drop for which everyone's been looking.

EDIT: Just finished the whole letter. Page 4 - DAMN! - Shit is about to go down!

CaptainChaos74 · 10時間前

We should kickstart a dramatic reading of this by Samuel L Jackson.

Osric_Rhys_Daffyd · 10時間前

Personally my favorite bit was the following:

when kids like this run rampant you as the Managing Editor and professional journalist are supposed to provide the adult supervision.

That is one serious dig. Ouch. Not that they don't deserve it, especially having listened to the podcast, I have no idea what was going on over there, it was like watching a very public professional suicide in the last half, where they openly deride the company and play a linguistic game of Twister where they first mention the allegations are unsubstantiated, and then later just keep making bolder and bolder restatements of them, with much sarcasm and mockery. I felt like I was watching a bunch of people talking at a lunch table, not professional journalists who were being knowingly recorded. It was just astounding.

I'm not a fan of this kind of waste of backer money, as I've said many times. Sadly at this point the defamation is just too specific and damning for CIG to reasonably let lie, let alone what is I'm sure their rapidly shrinking patience at these rapidly escalating antics.

Longscope · 11時間前

RELEASE THE ORTWIN!

chemist6913 · 6時間前

Just to make sure I'm not the kool-aid drinking, brainwashed, CR worshipping, cult member that anyone on CIG's side of all this gets accused of being, I have run this debacle by third parties who have no prior knowledge of CR or Star Citizen in general.

Nobody can believe that The Escapist would run with this story. "Ex-Employees think Former Employer is an Asshole!" couldn't be less newsworthy than "Water is wet!"

In other words, I can't imagine what judge wouldn't have a big WTF moment if/when this gets in front of them.

MrHackworth · 11時間前

Weapon naming suggestion; "Ortwin class Mass-drivers".

MadnessHel2o · 10時間前

Mr. Smart should take note, this is what a demand letter with weight behind it looks like.

Several facts point to the latter scenario.

Whole passages of the Article which the Author also repeated in the Podcast, were lifted from anonymous "reviews" posted on glassdoor.com which the Author could not have verified since the site does not offer any messaging options.

Conspicuously, those "reviews" were posted very recently, i.e. after the Author had posted a previous article about Star Citzien and the self-appointed agitator Derek Smart, and just shortly before the Article went online.

Mr. Smart hinted in an email to me just hours before you posted the Article that CIG employees "departed, fired or laid off are now talking."

The "story was obviously collected and "shopped" to several other gaming outlets which calls very much into question the Author's contention that these sources contacted the Author independently of each other.

As we pointed out in our response to your original (incomplete) inquiry, the Author appears to have been biased due to previous involvements with known detractors of CIG, its executives, and the project Star Citizen.

and onto the demands

We hereby demand that you, as the responsible person in charge,

personally apologize to Ms. Gardiner and our HR Manager for the tremendous emotional distress and potential reputational harm that you have caused to them by violating the most basic journalistic duties of fair and balanced reporting,

Publish said apology on your magazine's website, together with a retraction of the Article until such time as the murky backgrounds of its creation have been investigated,

Engage and empower an independent party to fully investigate the events and circumstances that led to the creation and publication of this Article, including any bias of your staff and their involvement with other interested parties and any conspiring arrangements between them.

OrtWIN > DeREKT

WaytoomanyUIDs · 8時間前

The Escapist has gone down the tubes since Susan Arendt left. It's painful to see a once great website reduced to this.

Furlock_ODonnell · 11時間前

That... was the single greatest piece of legal discourse I have EVER had the pleasure of reading. The righteous fury with which it was written was palpable.

InertiamanSC · 7時間前

Haha make them work the weekend. GJ.

RoscoStigson · 5時間前

you are supposed to provide the adult supervision

Tyranosoreass Rekt

4esop · 4時間前

hey Derek, I think you better run this through legal.

bwahahahahaha

BOBMUNZ · 11時間前

I know I'm biased and I am a big supporter of the game (I can talk for hours about the game to somebody who knows nothing of the game but is interested), but even if I weren't, it's hard to ignore just how well formulated this whole response is. Even though its directed at the publisher of the article, its a clear message to all the detractors, "speak only the truth or get rekt!"

Constructive criticism? Ok. Slander and lies? nope

Edit for my poor grammar.

lordx3n0saeon · 11時間前

This is it. THIS is the response to all this bullshit.

FUCK them and fuck their playing games bullshit, you're gonna make claims and make them with your public ID? Get sued mother fucka.

This is the reality of the situation. If you are so legally challenged (aka lead poisoned) that you think it's a good idea to make criminal legal claims in public and back it up with editorial weight and NOT have to defend that from legal scrutiny.... please remove yourself from this planet. Go ahead, call me mean and call me non-nice. FUCK these stupid people and their stupid games. I really really hope CIG fucks them to the greatest extent that the law allows.

NO other game has had to deal with this bullshit. Stop playing pacifist CIG, hit 'em back!

Broken_Blade · 11時間前

Reading this I had the battle music from Dune going through my head.

sloopieone · 11時間前

Oh man, The Escapist is in for a hell of a ride.

I gotta go heat up some popcorn, this is about to get intense.

Halacron · 10時間前

They should add to the Code of Ethics for Journalists: Have no dealings with Derek Smart.

samfreez · 4時間前

HAHAHAHAHA OMFG Best way to wake up.

Fuck Folgers in my cup, I'll take Ortwin over that swill any day.

Hello Sunday, you beautiful bastard.

Kurt_M · 11時間前

Sadly, it doesn't matter. The Escapist and the Troll have already obtained what they wanted: notoriety.

Cursed tabloid jounalism and cursed sheeps who read and trust it.

NoodlyManifestation · 12時間前

Well, tell me you didn't see that coming 1oo miles away.

Nyzean · 11時間前

I'm naming my first child Ortwin in honour of this glorious happening.

Brock_Starfister · 11時間前

I think we all now know what the new stretch goal is.

TotesMessenger · 10時間前

I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:

[/r/dereksmart] They've released the Ortwin!

^{If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads.} ^(Info ^/ ^Contact)

Zmajuga · 7時間前

I just had to. :D

https://youtu.be/4phT2Vukvn0?t=150

McWabbit · 5時間前

CIG finally and rightfully has had enough of the disingenuous assertions.

thaliff · 2時間前

https://twitter.com/banditloaf/status/650689330264936448

ID card proof from Ben himself!

Gromitt42 · 7時間前

I used to visit the escapist. They had this cool d&d cartoon and i liked zero punctuation. Ill certainly never be back.

mithikx · 10時間前

CIG about to decapitate someone with a fucking shovel.

And Mr. Feyermuth you dropped your microphone, even though the letter was typed you somehow managed to drop your mic due to the copious amounts of burn.

letslipthedogsofwar.gif

CMDR_DrDeath · 11時間前

I will buy another Endeavor Master set, if CIG sues them.

Selbie_LeGrille · 11時間前

Ortwin Freyermuth: Destroyer of Egos

Krivvan · 8時間前

Yeah, this was a good response to be posted. I sorta wish the original CR response was never put up and this was just their first longer response.

Mydian_13 · 3時間前

Unlike Derek, I believe Ortwin when he says he will pursue litigation.

thecjm · 3時間前

"Based on the generous standards set by you, we believe that 24 hours should be sufficient to hear from you."

That's some good judo right there. Take what they gave you and throw it right back at them

knoxknight · 3時間前

This was a great opening salvo by Ortwin- very strategic.

False claims of racism, bigotry and discrimination are literally textbook examples of defamatory statements in tort.

Provided CIG can prove that the statements aren't true, then the Escapist folks are in an unenviable position. Also, if this is the only matter they bring up in the suit, there's no reason for lots of expensive and potentially embarrassing deposition about Sandi, CIGs finances, and game development.

I'm surprised that the Escapist's attorneys haven't put a lid on the Escapist and Lizzy while they sort this out.

I'd look for a similar move against Derek Smart once he inevitably slips up and makes a similar mistake. He probably has already-you can't aggressively tweet derogatory messages a hundred times a day without making a mistake.

CMDR_DrDeath · 11時間前

The Escapist went over the line with that article. Especially, with the racism allegations. I have no doubt they will end up complying with the demands or else they will pay a healthy junk of change. The timing of the article suggests it was intended to inhibit Endeavor sales.

unkerr · 11時間前

i remember liking Ortwin from his interview on ATV. man, what i would give to hear him reading this out loud.

ICStarzICstarz · 10時間前

with all the recent drama that's been going on I wouldn't be surprised if there is a movie made about this someday.... maybe Mark Hamill can play Chris Roberts!

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