Quote from: Exploderwizard;637030I don't see this as sneaky. Its an attempt to pick up a ball that someone else dropped.

They can't refund people. JM's got the money and it's probably all gone now. They can't refund themselves either because no, a company like Autarch is not signing checks for 50 Grand without having BIG problems of cash flow.

So the next best thing is to ensure that people get some form of rewards out of that, and that's where the coupons come in, because it does represent value for people who funded a project that worked with ACKS in the first place, while guaranteeing that gift doesn't break the bank at the same time. Seems pretty crystal clear to me. Nothing sneaky about it.

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027JMal has a history of producing stuff in the past.  He's got a couple published adventures and a full game (Thousand Suns) to his credit.  However, unless I'm mistaken I think those previous items were produced solely of his own volition according to his own time table.  There was nobody holding him to any specific production schedule.  It 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...

For the most part.  The worst is when one's passion and/or hobby becomes professional "work".

Over the years when I was doing full-time IT and programming work for a living, the last thing I wanted to do is go on the computer and internet when I got home.

Quote from: Benoist;637033So the next best thing is to ensure that people get some form of rewards out of that, and that's where the coupons come in, because it does represent value for people who funded a project that worked with ACKS in the first place, while guaranteeing that gift doesn't break the bank at the same time. Seems pretty crystal clear to me. Nothing sneaky about it.

Plus since the coupons are transferrable you can pretty quickly get your own refund: find someone who's out to buy ACK, sell them your $10 coupon for $5 of real money. If you sell all your coupons that way you get all the money you put into Dwimmermount back (since you got double that value in coupons), it's a good deal for the person you're selling it to because it still means they spend $5 less on a shiny new copy of ACK than they otherwise would have, and it's a good deal for Autarch because they get a new customer. Everyone wins except James.

Hell, if you sell your $10 coupons for, say, $6-8 each you could well end up turning a profit.

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027Also, I think I read somewhere that JMal's dad had substance abuse issues.  If that was the case, its pretty possible he had no health insurance.  I could see a terrible situation where JM's dad is in the hospital room in terrible pain and the doctor says that can be alleviated but it'll cost 5 grand a week and James starts writing cheques.  It wouldn't take long to burn through $40,000 in medical expenses.

This probably isn't quite what is happening - remember, Canada unlike the US has a civilised healthcare system - though I suppose it is possible that JM's dad had private care home bills to pay or other debts that needed clearing up.

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027Also, I think I read somewhere that JMal's dad had substance abuse issues.  If that was the case, its pretty possible he had no health insurance.  I could see a terrible situation where JM's dad is in the hospital room in terrible pain and the doctor says that can be alleviated but it'll cost 5 grand a week and James starts writing cheques.  It wouldn't take long to burn through $40,000 in medical expenses.  

None of the above absolves JMal of repsonsibility 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...

I REALLY hope that nothing like the above scenario occurred where James diverted funds to another purpose, and to that point I don't think anyone has any kind of evidence that it has. However, if James did spend the money that was budgeted (Autarch did create a somewhat specific budget with James for how the money would be allocated) for artwork, layout, editing and the actual publishing of Dwimmermount on unrelated matters then I think James might have actually committed criminal fraud. I'm not a lawyer, nor do I claim to understand it all that well, but if James did divert the funds intended to complete Dwimmemount for other purposes then I think it might indeed be fraud, which I don't think requires intent at the very beginning.

While I am upset with James' behavior, and wish he would do right by the backers, the artists he owes payment and Autarch, I hope he hasn't done something that could land him in prison. Sadly, I think your discussion about possibly putting this into a "different moral light" wouldn't really go into the direction of things somebow being better for James IF he has committed some kind of fraud.

Again, this is all conjecture, and I profoundly hope nothing like this is true.

In a prior thread someone posted a link to a blog ran by his wife and started to drag the rest of his family into the discussion. Please, please, please let's NOT have that happen again. I have a beef with James, but not his family. If anyone does find actual evidence that James has engaged in fraudulent behavior I suggest you send that directly to Autarch.

Quote from: Warthur;637055This probably isn't quite what is happening - remember, Canada unlike the US has a civilised healthcare system - though I suppose it is possible that JM's dad had private care home bills to pay or other debts that needed clearing up.

I don't think we know where James' father resides at. I thought James grew up in the US, but I could be wrong.

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027His knowledge of the history of rpging as well as his contributions to the hobby in the form of material on th eblog as well as several previous published works leave no doubt about that.

His blog is a lot of wanking by a guy who used to piss all over the games he now professes to love. He's the History Channel of rpg bloggers.

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027That being the case I find it difficult to believe he would simply make off with the KS funds.

Despite the fact that all evidence suggests that's exactly what he's done?

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027That would essentially mean going underground and relinguishing his public involvment with the hobby . . .

Could we be that lucky?

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027I suspect the explanation for what has happened with Dwimmermount is a bit more nuanced than that.

Let the apologia flow.

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027JMal has a history of producing stuff in the past.  He's got a couple published adventures and a full game (Thousand Suns) to his credit.

He has far more than that - he's an established freelancer: "James has designed and written for Atlas Games, GDW, Green Ronin Publishing, Wizards of the Coast, and White Wolf, among many others. He has written for several major roleplaying game lines, including Ars Magica, BESM, D20 Modern, GURPS, Hunter: The Reckoning, Storyteller: Dark Ages, in addition to Traveller."

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027However, unless I'm mistaken I think those previous items were produced solely of his own volition according to his own time table.

Yes, you're mistaken.

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027None of the above [completely unfounded speculation] absolves JMal of repsonsibility or blame of course, but it might cast the situation in a slightly different moral light.

Bullshit. Defrauding your business partners to pay for your personal issues isn't moral in the slightest.

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027I 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...

More bullshit apologia.

Welcome to the adult swim.

Quote from: Warthur;637050If you sell all your coupons that way you get all the money you put into Dwimmermount back (since you got double that value in coupons), it's a good deal for the person you're selling it to because it still means they spend $5 less on a shiny new copy of ACK than they otherwise would have, and it's a good deal for Autarch because they get a new customer.

Do you honestly believe there are enough people out there clamoring for *ack!* product for this to be remotely feasible?

Quote from: Warthur;637050Hell, if you sell your $10 coupons for, say, $6-8 each you could well end up turning a profit.

Only if you're dealing with utter morons, but hey, way to look for a way to profit off this unholy clusterfuck.

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;637027That being the case I find it difficult to believe he would simply make off with the KS funds.  That would essentially mean going underground and relinquishing his public involvement with the hobby and I can't see him doing that.  I suspect the explanation for what has happened with Dwimmermount is a bit more nuanced than that.  

He has intimated as much in a Google+ post on December 13th:

Quote from: JamesM"I have a lot of theories as to why my rate of [blog] posting has dropped off. Regardless, I find myself wondering (again) whether it might be time to hang up my blogger's cap and return to being a private gamer once again. The pressure to produce Dwimmermount has been immense and the pace of it punishing. I've written over 100,000 words since late August and that's not counting all the edits and rewrites I've already done, as well as those to come in the weeks ahead. While I know the end result will be something of which I am proud, the process of getting there is grinding me and, more importantly, my desire to write for others into a fine powder."

Quote from: Black Vulmea;637071His blog is a lot of wanking by a guy who used to piss all over the games he now professes to love.

Do you have a source or link for this (the pissing on old school games in the past)? I'm curious. I know that he's contributed writing for modern games of the 90s and 00s. But, prior to 2009, I'd never heard of the guy, much less heard of him slagging on TSR D&D, etc.

Autarch dudes seem like "stand-up," sorts despite all of what happened.

Hope the best for 'em (and thanks for ACKS by the way).

Quote from: Black Vulmea;637071His blog is a lot of wanking by a guy who used to piss all over the games he now professes to love. He's the History Channel of rpg bloggers.

Eh, I used to be quite fond of Grognardia before it became an Institution, but in retrospect even JMal's best blog posts are absolutely blown out of the water by Playing at the World.

I mean, obviously a blog post is not going to go into the level of detail a 700 page book can, but comparing the two it's clear that an awful lot of James' insight was based on anecdote and nostalgia, which are hardly the tools of a credible historian.

Quote from: Black Vulmea;637074Do you honestly believe there are enough people out there clamoring for *ack!* product for this to be remotely feasible?

For someone who donated, say, $100 or even $50? Nope, probably not.

For someone who donated around $10-$30 who wants to encourage their players to pick up the ACK core so that everyone in the group can have a copy? Probably viable.

I anticipate seeing these coupons landing on eBay in the not-too-distant future.

This just goes to show that you can't trust people on the internet.

When I showed up at the Lake Geneva convention in 2007 some people at that time couldn't believe that I actually existed! I don't believe I've established that 99% of the "people" on the internet aren't the same people over and over. Years ago on my forum I was getting avatar IPs that were talking to each other.

If this "Grognardia" guy is the same person as his "burned" associate then I would not be surprised!

Its all publicity if you look at it.

Quote from: Melan;636987Well, I was wrong by thinking it was gross incompetence, and those who said James had absconded with the money were right. Kudos to you guys who called it early.

Still got my ten bucks worth of entertainment out of this, although I might as well have gotten most of it free. :rolleyes:

And, Devilmount came out of it. So there's that. ...

Quote from: bryce0lynch;637130And, Devilmount came out of it. So there's that. ...

Devilmount? Please elaborate.