Quote from: laurel&hardy;637452Why can't you guys look on the bright side?

Welcome back, _kent_.

Quote from: The Butcher;637489Tavis could've rang up his lawyer and sue the shit out of James (who probably wouldn't even show up in court) and deprive a man whose (likely uninsured) father is dying of money he likely desperately needs.

Sorry, but if (stressing the 'IF') this is the situation then this is in no way appropriate. Do not pass Go! Do not collect $200! The backers did NOT sign up to fund hospice care (or anything similar) for James' father. A lot of that money raised was to be used to pay for artists and the publication of Dwimmermount. Whatever "desperate needs" James or his family may have they are not entitled in any way to spend that money intended to bring Dwimmermount to fruition if doing so negatively impacts publication. If Dwimmermount was completed then the remainder truly is James' money/profit to do with as he wishes, but that hasn't happened yet.

When tragedy strikes some people do have fund raisers (pancake dinners and such) to help pay for medical bills, etc., but the Dimmermount KS is no such thing.

If James did spend the money intended to publish Dwimmermount then he might be guilty of criminal fraud (not a lawyer, but that's what it sounds like to me), which in turn could result in prison time. I hope to God this isn't what happened.

There would be nothing noble about this on Autarch's part either if this was the case. I think the reason why Autarch hasn't begun legal action yet in the form of a lawsuit is that it would be expensive to start and take a while to resolve, and they want to exhaust all of their remaining options to salvage this situation first. However, given Autarch's last update they might be running out of non-legal options.

Quote from: jeff37923;637488And yet you manage it on a regular basis....

Kudos?

Shut up, fatbeard. Adults are talking here

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637458Gee, sorry....I guess.

I always thought of him more as a "guy blogging about his hobby" rather than an icon though...

His detractors have been working hard for the past several years, to turn him into an icon/target.

Quote from: wmarshal;637494If James did spend the money intended to publish Dwimmermount then he might be guilty of criminal fraud (not a lawyer, but that's what it sounds like to me), which in turn could result in prison time. I hope to God this isn't what happened.

The word you're looking for is probably conversion.  It's not likely a criminal matter though, particularly since the product was partially delivered, and it would be nearly impossible to prove intent in this kind of case.  It's more likely a civil matter, not a criminal one.

Quote from: jasmith;637497His detractors have been working hard for the past several years, to turn him into an icon/target.

Indeed.  This is why I don't understand why people cut RWS any slake.  The dude hated James BEFORE this kickstarter.  He invested the minimum amount of money purely to be able to cuss at James on the comments page of the Kickstarter, and to get the updates, and give himself some sort of ground to complain from.  He got his refund, but is still crusading against James.  

If you're legitimately aggrieved by these events, fine, complain.  But RWS is just an an asshole looking for a forum to vent his assholeness.  James is just a convenient mechanism for crusading - an excuse for RWS to tell you why he hates.

Quote from: Haffrung;637380This is my takeaway from this (and other) kickstarter fiascos. It's all hip and noble to hate on proper businesses and support the individual auteur designer doing stuff off the grid. But maybe after a few more of these fuck-ups, people will start to recognize the value of a capitalized business run by professionals. Sure, they have to make some decisions based solely on money. But they're also run by people who have a track record of actually delivering real product in some sort of timely fashion. In a traditional publishing model, this guy wouldn't have been let anywhere near a project of this scope until he delivered several modestly scoped projects on time and to spec. Even then, he'd be working under a project manager who had a plan B ready in the wings when things started to go pear-shaped.

I agree. Business skills are nothing to be sneezed at and little snafu's like this help show it.

IMO due diligence would have showed Jmal for the flake he is; abandoned pbp games without ever an explanation or apology (not rare or damning at all admittedly by similar pattern here); several promised but never finished SWN supplements; Petty Gods; The Dwimmermount Codex; Monsters & Treasure for Dwimmermount- all things Jmal promised were ready, almost ready, about to be sent off to rpgnow etc that never arrived.

Hardly a stellar record of producing on his own (freelance work for others excepted).

I really do sympathize with Maliszewski and his various problems, but he brought this shit upon himself. He's screwed a lot of people over, and he'll never be trusted in a professional capacity again. The end.

Quote from: Mistwell;637498The word you're looking for is probably conversion.  It's not likely a criminal matter though, particularly since the product was partially delivered, and it would be nearly impossible to prove intent in this kind of case.  It's more likely a civil matter, not a criminal one.

Thanks for the link to the legal definition of conversion. I'm not sure I understood all of it, but I think I got the basics.

In terms of "partially delivered" if what James has delivered so far (basically a draft) meets the minimum to avoid a charge of conversion then that is one heck of a low bar to meet to avoid the charge. If I give James $100 to buy the high school concession stand 100 bottles of Coke, and he takes $99 to buy stuff for himself and delivers only 1 bottle of Coke that means he has partially delivered and avoids a charge of conversion? How does anyone get charged if it's so easy to avoid?

I'm also not sure how intent would come into play. IF James spent the KS money on his dad that didn't happen by accident. And it doesn't seem to matter whether or not James didn't start off thinking about doing this. It seems that conversion can happen after the beginning of the KS.

Okay, I'll admit that I didn't follow the grognard blog or others like it they're too boring but technically the guy has some leeway to burn out, right? I'm thinking why would anyone invest in this venture in the first place and get upset about it?

I'd say give him a year to recover and if not then count the loss as a lesson learned.

Honestly? I did the same with GaryCon. When I found out it wasn't going to be a meeting of like-minded individuals I told them to keep the money for the ticket. Last thing that I want to do is spend a whole weekend travelling, getting bored with random gaming people and travelling again. I'll wait twenty more years until something comes along that is more my cup of tea and worth the lag.

Quote from: Mistwell;637496Shut up, fatbeard. Adults are talking here

Thus proving my point....

Quote from: Gene Weigel;637514I'd say give him a year to recover and if not then count the loss as a lesson learned.

That wouldn't be doing right by the artists whose work James took without paying for, by Autarch who's on the hook for 50k and their reputation, nor by the 1,000+ backers who pledged to the KS.

Should the artists whom James has yet to pay just write off their work as a loss?

Should Autarch have their future plans curtailed and run the risk of bankruptcy because of James' inaction?

Do you think all of the backers will write this off and just leave Autarch alone? Even though some backers, particularly those who pledged at the lower amounts, might be willing to write this off there are many who won't which puts guys at Autarch in a real bind.

It would take James 5 minutes to write the checks to the artists he owes. It would probably take less than an hour to sort things out with Autarch to return those funds needed to finish and publish Dwimmermount with some kind of a license to do so.

The upside for James would be that the vast majority of the grief being directed at James would die down after a couple of weeks. James could let go of at least having to worry about Dwimmermount and have a greater opportunity to get his life back in order.

The cost if this "lesson learned" (and I consider myself already learning a lesson without the need to write off my pledge) may be small to some backers, but it is certainly higher for the artists James has stiffed so far and to Tavis, Alex, Greg and others at Autarch.

"Leaving James alone" isn't a practical option. James can take actions for himself to be left alone.

Quote from: Melan;637133Devilmount? Please elaborate.

That would be something misterguignol is working on. I think it's sort of a plug-in de-borification and filling in of missing stuff.

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027It sounds to me like Dwimmermount became something much more "professional" than that.  I know for myself, as soon as something becomes "work" I start procrastinating.  Due dates suddenly become "the day when I need to really get down to work on that project thats been due for 2 months."  I was a poor student.    That may have contributed to JMal's problems...

None of the above absolves JMal of responsibility or blame of course, but it might cast the situation in a slightly different moral light.  I could at least sort of understand the situation under those circumstances as opposed to the idea that a guy who'd spent years taking part in a community and had developed a pretty substantial "name" in that community would just take off with 40 grand...

Hrrmm? I try to have my work done at least a month before any "due date". If it's a game or other publication, ...it is complete before I even start any fundraising or sales for it. There are a few areas I have problems with. I simply abhor paperwork, and believe everything but a well written novel and tech manuals should be supported by no more than a one-page brief. I also have problems with videography, namely editing when I get hours and hours worth of videotape, and have to trim that down to a bitty five or ten minute segment. Some of these projects get a bit behind the eight ball.

The lack of communication at this point is reprehensible. If I had to guess what happened, I would venture the guess he spent all that money, but not on the development of Dwimmermount.

Quote from: Black Vulmea;637166"You cheated!"

"Pirate."

"Parley!"