Derek Smart · @dsmart
1st Jul 2016 from TwitLonger
Star Citizen - They're building a movie set!!
So AroundTheVerse had their 100th show yesterday. Today they had another ReverseTheVerse as well. These, along with the 104TC nonsense, are supposedly "paid for by subscribers". Which doesn't make one lick of sense when you consider the fact that EVERYTHING at CIG/RSI is paid for with backer money. And the people on the show, are all staff with paychecks. So what exactly are the subscribers "paying" for in order to host these shows?
And just as they announced that "subscriptions are up" (they would be, since they were using it as a way to get people to download the 2.4 patch if they didn't want to wait), they just started sending this email out to backers.
http://i.imgur.com/PsRmeuL.png
It's the usual CIG branded bullshit. Moving along...
In case you didn't watch it, AtV was the usually rubbish. For a milestone show, it was as flacid as the character models in this $116 million train wreck.
Interestingly enough, Chris was showing off the LA office. Again. And in what we believe was an edited section where they probably removed it, they not only didn't even show the space door entrance, but they took great pains not to show the rumored 20K espresso machine.
Last I heard - and as claimed by CIG two weeks ago - this week was supposed to have something special. In fact, I was expecting them to follow through on what sources told me was an attempt to necromance Star Marine - again - and "prove" that it's not dead. Though Chris has gone on the record as saying that what was planned for SM was already in the PU.
Yeah, we're still laughing at that one.
Seriously, there is simply NO GAME. Word is they're still trying to build a CryEngine fps level to pass off as a new FPS (aka Star Marine Necro) "coming soon" as part of their usual begging drive which goes on during August (Gamescom in Germany) and Oct (CitizenCon). Thing is, they've done that many times in the past, and all that Cinebox created content never made it into ANY version of the game. And only the truly gullible backers are going to fall for that one now.
Yes, Chris was showing the LA office, instead of, you know, showing off the game they're supposedly building. I'm guessing this is a play on that whole "how can it be a scam if they have offices and staff?" <---- if you're thinking, let alone saying this, congrats, you're an idiot. With a pulse.
As I said in my latest blog*, I believe it to be totally a money-grabbing scam now.
What Chris didn't mention was that while furious backers are wondering where the money has gone, even as CIG/RSI comes up with every trick in the book to deny refunds, Chris is reported to now be building a FUCKING MOVIE SET at Imaginarium studios in the UK where they've done some mocap work. If you know anything about that place, then you know it's one of the most expensive studios in the entertainment world. And this one is said to be for Mark Hamill's performance in SQ42. And they're also shooting at Ealing Studios.
Meanwhile, five years and $116 million later; not a single in-game footage of SQ42 has been seen by backers or the media.
And it's already July and no official word yet that BOTH projects have in fact been delayed and will NEVER release (I called this one months back. You're welcome) in 2016.
Even as key dev staff are bailing (several in June, more coming in July I've heard) on the project, he's off making a movie. With backer money.
And as if the recent ToS fiasco wasn't bad enough, now they have a new form letter for denying refunds; even to those who haven't agreed to the new ToS.
http://www.dereksmart.org/2016/06/star-citizen-fidelity-of-failure/#comment-3422 (scroll down to the July 1st comment)
And in one other recent response to a backer, they are now saying that CIG is not the "correct" entity to address grievances to; that is should be RSI. This despite the fact that they only made that company liability change (it's in my recent blog) in the latest ToS...which this person hadn't even agreed to.
Yes, you heard that right. They're now actively saying that CIG is no longer the entity with the Star Citizen liability in the US, and that RSI (just a shell company up to the 2.4 ToS change) now is. Even though this particular backer, and thousands of others, have email receipts that clearly show they purchased goods from CIG...which still happens to be an active entity.
Something is amiss. Just trust me on this.
More soon.
* http://www.dereksmart.org/2016/06/star-citizen-fidelity-of-failure/