From: Fib Dynamo Subject: Re: Thoughts from outside...(BC3K) Date: 23 Aug 1999 00:00:00 GMT Message-ID: <7ps87p$imc$1@nnrp1.deja.com> References: <37b8d314.50656411@news.mindspring.com> <7pcnfu$rtl$1@216.39.134.9> <37be3f48.1908554@news.mindspring.com> <37BB4015.2F0A57A@flash.net> <37BC3614.647CF69C@fenomedia.nl> <37BC7B24.481DD16F@flash.net> <37BCAB33.80598C3A@flash.net> <37BD026B.38F16EA6@fenomedia.nl> <7pn886$qmt$1@nntp4.atl.mindspring.net> <37C000BB.8617FFFE@fenomedia.nl> <37C1145B.BD2287CB@ionet.net> X-Http-Proxy: 1.0 x29.deja.com:80 (Squid/1.1.22) for client 192.75.23.74 Organization: Deja.com - Share what you know. Learn what you don't. X-Article-Creation-Date: Mon Aug 23 19:42:52 1999 GMT X-MyDeja-Info: XMYDJUIDfib_dynamo Newsgroups: alt.games.bc3000ad,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.space-sim,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/4.06 [en] (X11; U; SunOS 5.5.1 sun4m) Prophet seeker Mark "Zamfir" Kuykendall wrote: > Of course, Mr. Smart is not making things easy on himself. He has managed to > alienate nearly the entire industry with his antics. He does come off as something > of a crank. But hell, what visionary hasn't, at one time or another? Do we really > want our dreams to be mass-produced by Disney or some other vanilla corporate > empire? Nah. No fun at all. I would rather see this project continue as it has, > piecemeal and by the seat of its proverbial pants. It will get there one day, > unless Mr. Smart is broken by those who wish to shut him down. Or worse, someone > might take his idea and create a blander, more commercial version without so much > as a "thank you". > I guess what I'm trying to say is that I for one would rather ride this crazy > out of control rocket ship to nowhere than to just jump on the latest knockoff. > Getting there isn't half the fun, it is nearly ALL the fun. Yes, Derek Smart is a > freak of nature. I mean, he is more than just a little "rough around the edges", > he is quite possibly the freakiest dude I've ever had the pleasure of vicariously > enjoying. So Derek, if you're reading this, I have an anticdote for you... My > psychiatrist told me he thought I was a narcissist. I replied, with venom, "Who > the fuck are YOU to call ME a narcissist?" > I am obviously not a "detractor", but neither am I a toady. Hell, I'd argue > with God, and Mr. Smart is no exception. But the honest truth is, it is just the > kind of eccentricity that Mr. Smart possesses that makes him capable of doing this > right. I suggest we support the effort, if not the man. Sorry Zamfir, you're barking up the wrong tree here. I'm a big supporter of the iconoclast, the rules-breaker-to-get-things-done, the visionary genius, and the eccentric. I love those guys. Unfortunately, Derek Smart is not one of them. I would say he's just a simple con-man - a con-man that's been caught and has lost most of his power. No one should be tricked by him again. If you just got here I can see where you you might have been fooled, so I'm not blaming you. Derek plays the role you've described pretty well. He likes to wear that 'rebel' costume. He postures and poses like a surly teenager at the mall, claiming (falsely) that he doesn't care what other people think and that he (unlike all those other developers) is the real thing. Sorry, not true. He's just a liar, a fraud, and a big bag of wind. So he's got a dream, so what? Lots of people have dreams. So he's a 'lone wolf', and 'plays by his own rules', big deal. Lots of other people are assholes too. No reason to give this guy any special respect. No, the only reasons to give people respect is for their actions (skill, bravery), their accomplishments (industry, perseverence) and if their deeds match their words (honor). Let's see how Derek stacks up - I'll try to be as generous and fair as I can. - Derek started promising some amazing game way, way back in time (early 90's?), telling people it would be out soon. - It finally came out (christmas '96?) and (to put it mildly) it didn't work very well. - He encouraged people to buy it nontheless, spamming, hyping on the net. - When the game became generally known as a piece of shit, Derek blamed others, refusing to accept any responsibility for the poor quality. - He told people not to return the game. He said he would fix it, and would supply a manual. These things sort of happened, but took much, much longer than he said they would. Anyone who asked when they would be able to play the game they spent $50 on got flamed. - He further flamed anyone who said anything negative about the game, or about him. - He has claimed to be a PhD, a member of Mensa, and an author of white papers on Neural Nets - all without supplying any evidence. - He has claimed to be suing people that publicly doubted some of these statements. Of course, there is no evidence of this either. - He re-released his game when the bugs were finally cleaned up (well, most of them) but the original buyers were forced to pay again if they wanted to play it. - He has relentlessly spammed multiple newsgroups with the most trivial nonsense connected to his game and its vaporware sequel. Any infinitesimally small mention in the gaming press, any tiny new feature he just dreamt up (but hasn't implemented), any new screenshot will be broadcast on usenet (and probably sent as a 'news release' to all the gaming sites). - He requires the posters on the forums to be the most pathetic toadies under penalty of being banned. - There's more, but that's enough for now. OK, I wasn't very generous to the guy. I have a hard time thinking of one trait he has that deserves admiration. If you can think of one, I'll honestly consider it. Basically, he's the best example of 'all talk, no action' that I can think of. A con-man, always promising - never delivering. And if you think he's cool because "he doesn't care what people think of him", well *surprise* - that is exactly wrong. Derek is desperately concerned with his image on the newsgroups. He boasts constantly and makes elaborate excuses in order to look good for his imagined audience. That his attempts are so pathetic and transparent is just evidence of how much he respects the intelligence of the readers here. Derek Smart is the last person deserving of your respect. In another post on another group, you said you were looking for slack. Well, you won't find it with Spambo. Derek is *the* false Bob. Be not deceived... -- Fib Dynamo Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Share what you know. Learn what you don't.