Quote of the Day – The Dreaded Rear Admiral

Most who don’t understand how the industry works, the technical challenges etc, were quick to discount this as just another Derek Smart rant, or hyperbole. Regardless, even those who doubted the statements, were forced to stop and think. According to online metrics, this single article, has set practically every gaming forum talking about this game, and the impact it will have when (not if) it fails.

-Derek Smart, Interstellar Discourse

It would be hard to argue against the fact that, in his attempt to shine a bright light on the on things, Derek Smart did indeed get people talking about Star Citizen, the promises, made, and what crowd funding is, where it may head, and what those who fund projects in this way really owe people.

As I noted in the comments of my previous post, even the team at Cloud Imperium felt the need to respond in the forums to the issues  he brought up.  They did not address him directly, but it was clear that Derek Smart’s post set the ball rolling and put them on notice.

At which point a mere mortal might think the job was done.  Pot successfully stirred, people talking, issues being discussed, recognition of some sort from the developers in question, and some “yeah, what he said!” sentiments still ringing in the Star Citizen forums, meaning the question wasn’t just going to die off with a simple “Everything is fine” response.

But this is Derek Smart, and the quote at the top is from his second post on the topic, another epic collection of words under the title Interstellar Discourse, from which Massively OP distilled a central theme and a list of seven demands.  (The full, yet to be shared list is reported to be a beyond-Wilsonian 33 points to date.)  And then the comments section for the post at Massively OP went through the roof, drawing in Derek Smart himself.  It is past the one thousand mark with no end in sight.  I hope Syp gets paid by the click.

In an addendum to the post, it was announced that Cloud Imperium had disabled Derek Smart’s account and refunded his money allegedly because he was using his posts… on his own blog… to draw attention to Star Citizen simply to promote his own game.  Kickstarter’s terms of service allow companies to refund money and lock those deemed “trouble makers” out of their campaigns.  And so Derek Smart’s rank as a Rear Admiral was revoked.

Your credentials are now invalid

(Image from Derek Smart’s blog, for which he no doubt holds any copyright, and which I have used without permission.  But I cannot resist a Simpsons reference.)

And it is certainly true that Derek Smart makes reference to his own games, including his upcoming title Line of Defense often and at great length, arguably beyond the point needed to establish his credentials or support his points.  But that is a pretty subjective line.  I could personally take 90% of what came under that as read, but I have above average familiarity with the topic of Derek Smart.  Somebody unfamiliar with the him might need all that background and more.

And lest you think that things are over, with RSI having evicted the dreaded Rear Admiral, there is a mention of a third post in progress from Derek Smart and legal issues and even a theory that RSI plans to refund all $2.1 million in Kickstarter pledges to rid themselves of any crowdfunding FTC issues.  The fun never stops.

It is summer.  This is the silly season.  At least we have entertainment.

Addendum: Some are looking at this more abstractly than others.