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[Shinta]

Even if he does, he's only a death threat or two away from being invited to talk at industry events about internet toxicity.

Spoiler

I really just needed an excuse to post this

 

[Corto]

Be great to move on from this now.

You did good putting yourself on the spotlight for a friend like you did. Thank you.

 

[Anion]

I do think that some mod posts crossed the line into overly aggressive. I'm not calling anyone out, it's just something I'm not used to seeing from an otherwise level headed staff. I'm not sure if I feel it is justified or not, to be honest. That all being said, so sad to see the truth, and I hope your son gets better Col.

I think if they let it slide, it would seriously have damaged Gafs reputation...I think there is a definite logical reason as to why they are pissed and leaving this thread open.

Imagine if more "insiders" come up and gain a rep and end up harming REAL peoples reputations through slander.

 

[viveks86]

good move. The rest of us like to be called developers. "Insider" sounds dirty

You are welcome, dear friend. You all are. I shall bear this burden for all of gamer and developer-kind. Time to clean up the streets!

 

[TheOddOne]

I just don't understand...you slander Col Rodgers, talk with his friend and clear everything up...but INSTEAD of apologizing you decide to make a cheeky Tweet instead?

What...why? Why didn't you just edit your initial post? Why didn't you come to GAF with an apology? Why didn't you give a heartfelt apology the moment that you cleared things up? Why did you have to respond with sarcasm?

Come on now...that logic is just bogus.

I noticed this as well.

 

[Palocca]

You are welcome, dear friend. You all are. I shall bear this burden for all of gamer and developer-kind. Time to clean up the streets!

Glad it's been settled. NOW WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!?

 

[IncandescentPrecept]

good move. The rest of us like to be called developers. "Insider" sounds dirty

That Demon's Souls spiritual successor better be true, my friend - otherwise, you'd be no different.

 

[Makai]

Damn, the turnover rate at this video game forum is starting to rival the video game industry's.

 

[Principate]

Believe it or not, NPD is actually willing to tolerate a small amount of leaks. It's when you leak a substantial amount of data that they get pissed.

We know (and they know) that leaking hardware numbers isn't going to harm their business, so they let it happen.

Yeah it's breaking the agreements you sign with them...but hey, it makes people happy and it's been happening on GAF for decades now.

That's why we leak NPD numbers every month.

The past NPD threads were gold mines worth of data. There was more information there than most forum readers had an idea to analyse. It was understandable they wanted to cull some of that.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Spoiler

I really just needed an excuse to post this

Dude.

You never need an excuse to post that. Some gifs are eternally relevant.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

Hello, all.

This is my first post on NeoGAF, and whilst I'm not generally one to deal in internet speculation, I have to put the record straight with regard to Pete Dodd's comments above.

Everything he has said with regard to myself and Driveclub is incorrect. It's also libellous.

As Putty (who is a personal friend of mine, and has been for about 25 years) suggests, I left Evo in February for personal reasons. The personal reasons being that my son, who is 4 years old, has been diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome, which is a potentially life threatening condition. I live 220 miles (4 hours drive) away from Evolution Studios, and was away from home 5.5 days a week. Given the circumstances, I could not continue to work there.

Driveclub is a great game, and the direction hasn't changed since my departure. This has been confirmed by SONY in various press releases over recent days.

I have no problem in dealing with very large projects, as I've been working in the games industry for the last 19 years, and have worked on some very prestigious titles, so there is genuinely no truth to anything posted by Mr Dodds at all. My departure (and indeed the setup of my 'indie' operation, BigRedSwitch) is 100% driven by family necessity, not some professional failing on my part.

I left SONY on very good terms. There is no animosity there, and I was absolutely nothing to do with the recent redundancies - in fact, the news of those redundancies was probably linked on here before I knew about them.

The games industry is a tough place at the moment. My circumstances with my son mean that I've had to leave secure work in order to try to make my own way in the world. This may entail getting another job. With people who obviously know nothing about the situation blackening my reputation for the sake of internet 'fame', this could be made much more difficult. It's nothing less than trolling.

I've contacted Mr. Dodd on his email address on his site. Due to the factual inaccuracy of his statements, I've informed him that he needs to remove the statements and apologise for the damage they have caused, as posting incorrect information and claiming it's true is quite simply libel.

I'm sure you can all appreciate just how difficult things are for myself and my family at the moment. I'd genuinely appreciate it if you can take my statements as word from the origin, and realise that there has been no big cover-up when it comes to my departure from SONY/Evo.

Thanks, all.

Col.

It's a damn, damn shame you had to actually post this just to get some of GAF to shut up. Congrats gents.

But to you sir, best of luck with your future endeavors. I really mean that.

 

[Doc Holliday]

good move. The rest of us like to be called developers. "Insider" sounds dirty

Yea! I hate insider. besides who needs Kotaku sniffing around looking for info on posters.

Next thing you know HR is knocking on your door lol.

 

[viveks86]

Glad it's been settled. NOW WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!?

 

[outunderthestars]

On a side note, nobody gives a shit

This is the exact link of baseless rumors I would like to see us collectively ignore.

 

[benny_a]

Damn, the turnover rate at this video game forum is starting to rival the video game industry's.

The middle tier poster is dead.

 

[Vire]

I'm in agreement with Vivek, and I also want to apologize for being so harsh before and getting worked up myself, but this is not the place for this. Please just let it go.

I am and I'll leave it at the last post I made about the matter. I hold no ill will to anyone who debated about it with me either.

I just felt like I held my tongue about it for a while and was letting some frustration out. Apologies.

 

[troushers]

But it is different. The use of anonymous sources is not a problem provided you are able to identify the source and verify that their identity supports the factual claims they are making. The use of anonymous sources is a problem if you just take their vouch-say on it uncritically, if you repeat what they say without context, if you mix your own speculation with what they said and pretend it's all factual, if you draw conclusions that your source did not draw, if you made up the source, if you don't try to verify their information or don't possess the tools necessary to try to verify their information, if you inflate your own stature, or if you become the source rather than the source on whose behalf you're publishing.

Not all anonymous sources are equal.

Ach the threads moved on but I wanted to say sure. Mea culpa, I genuinely did not get the point Schreier was making, and my post was entirely misconcieved. My fuckup, sorry everyone.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

TIK TOK MOTHERFUCKER

THE BEAST DEMANDS BLOOD

 

[Loudninja]

So how big is Riot games?

I know people sad they were huge but from some weird reason I never heard of them,I did hear of their game though.

 

[Principate]

The middle tier poster is dead.

God damn I missed those middle tiers.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

This thread...

I'll just say firstly that I'm really sorry to hear about Col's situation.

Secondly, I think the problem with insiders is that it becomes about them, not the info. Look how Mort proclaimed CBoaT was the biggest Internet personality of all time. It's not secret that Mort was after his 15 minutes, and had even tried to leverage it for a job at Sony, so it's just kind of sad that in a quest for that he dragged someone's name through the mud.

I almost feel like there should be some kind of way that verified rumours and insider info get posted anonymously.

I would be super on board with a system like this. It would do a lot to ease the worries of insiders, and avoid drama from gossip and such. That way there's no "oh I was just sharing gossip that time" confusion.

 

[Chamber]

The whole insider thing blew way up with the new consoles coming in. I pretty sure there's a screening process but still, the idea that a bit of fun can impact on people's livelihoods, I don't think the notion of a gaf insider is worth supporting.

Nothing wrong with the insider stuff when it's about games and not another person's livelihood. Huge difference between teasing a game announcement and telling us someone got fired for being awful at their job.

 

[Mysterious]

I'm not sure what you are trying to show here. Col Rodgers' departure was never announced. Somehow it popped up recently.

I thought Sony announced his departure as "personal reasons" and that development is not being affected?

 

[lherre]

Sorry to hear about your son Col.

Best of luck to your son and family.

 

[Aquamarine]

So how big is Riot games?

I know people sad they were huge but from some weird reason I never heard of them,I did hear of their game though.

The company has about 1,000 staff members across 11 locations.

 

[dragonbane]

Nice try to hide it, but my sophisticated anagram technology has revealed your secrets.

Damn. Need to be more subtle next time

Didn't Dent say that MS was going to partner with a cable provider to subsidize the cost of the Xbox One to customers?

Oh god. Don't even think about what Dent says. What a clown he is.

 

[SniperHunter]

Sorry to hear about your son Col.

Best of luck to your son and family.

indeed

 

[jschreier]

Do people approach you with information, or do you know people that you ask if they have anything? (Or both)

Also, most of the time you post I just want to quote your tag

Both. Often we get tips, which are always kept anonymous, although we usually won't act on information unless we can verify it in some way. And often we talk to our own sources.

Ah man, i was kinda hoping you made an article. Love reading your work BTW

Spoiler

You are one of the few good writers, who still post a lot of stuff on JRPGs

Thanks! In 20 years, in the post-apocalyptic world where every video game is a shooter, I'll be clutching onto my copy of Suikoden II screaming obscenities on the streets of Manhattan.

 

[Omnistalgic]

Speak truth...

And learn humility...

Good fortunes to col.

 

[Loudninja]

The company has about 1,000 staff members across 11 locations.

Damn!

 

[ashecitism]

So how big is Riot games?

I know people sad they were huge but from some weird reason I never heard of them,I did hear of their game though.

I think they have like 1k employees and LoL made around $200 mill last year?

 

[Whipped Spartan]

Wow. Crazy thread. I will buy Col's game day one. I respect anytime a dev or publisher comes on GAF. No telling how people will react to you. Took a lot of control. Hope ur son gets better a friend of mines son is going through the same thing now. It sounds time consuming and exhausting.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Damn. Need to be more subtle next time



Oh god. Don't even think about what Dent says. What a clown he is.

I like his classy way of showing off free copies of games...

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

I am and I'll leave it at the last post I made about the matter. I hold no ill will to anyone who debated about it with me either.

I just felt like I held my tongue about it for a while and was letting some frustration out. Apologies.

Thanks man. I hate arguing with people, whose opinions I generally like. Yea, there's a lot of pent up greviances in this thread, and I feel like letting this thread run for the day is to let everyone flush it out of their systems.

 

[Marc]

You are welcome, dear friend. You all are. I shall bear this burden for all of gamer and developer-kind. Time to clean up the streets!

Can you give some details of the Colony Wars game in production for Morpheus VR?

Also, what is going on with that Starlancer PS4 exclusive sequel I keep hearing about? The whole RPG and free roaming explorable galaxy sound great. Will that get a VR port if colony wars is successful?

 

[paparazzo]

I've always gotten a weird vibe from ftimer. For one thing, he's never actually posted anything that was verified, has he? I don't think he necessarily meant the developer harm, but posting stuff like that as a faux insider absolutely crosses the line; especially when you don't bother to, you know, actually verify the info first.

Besides, GAF has a reputation of being an open forum for developers, so when idiots come in and make false accusations about someone, they need to be silenced.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

This thread...

I'll just say firstly that I'm really sorry to hear about Col's situation.

Secondly, I think the problem with insiders is that it becomes about them, not the info. Look how Mort proclaimed CBoaT was the biggest Internet personality of all time. It's not secret that Mort was after his 15 minutes, and had even tried to leverage it for a job at Sony, so it's just kind of sad that in a quest for that he dragged someone's name through the mud.

I almost feel like there should be some kind of way that verified rumours and insider info get posted anonymously.

a lot of people talk to bish

 

[StuBurns]

Me too. But no way they burned $100 million even with starting over twice. Beyond was $30 million in 3 years with a dev team of 150 and notable names involved. With $100 million they could have created 3 games or developed Beyond for 9 years. So yeah.

It's probably not that hard to just calculate, take SSM's staff size two months ago, subtract the Ascension team size, calculate the remaining staff size for the three years, and the full staff size for one year. I would imagine you'd end up notably shy of the $40m GoW3 cost.

 

[RedAssedApe]

Less insiders = less blue balls for everyone. yay

 

[benny_a]

I've always gotten a weird vibe from ftimer. For one thing, he's never actually posted anything that was verified, has he?

The very first thing he was known for was revealing the entire 2013 PS Meeting line-up.

 

[NastyBook]

Wow, this thread went nuclear. Let me freely admit that I bought mort's post hook, line, and sinker. And because of that, I thought poorly of a man that left his job for reasons that were a lot darker and heavier than what was let on. So to the Col, please accept my apology for even having those thoughts. I'd also like to say that I'm sorry you actually had to come here and clear your name by divulging information that none of us here had any real right to know. That was very considerate of you, given that you owed us nothing.

To mort, loose lips sink ships, fella. I still appreciate you for starting the #PS4NoDRM movement, though. That felt really good to participate in. But yeah, try and refrain from here on out with the slander, whether it's true or not. You just never know, man.

I'm out on that note. This place is quickly becoming an epic graveyard, and I just got here latter half of last year.

 

[Replicant]

Wow. I woke up and all Hell broke lose. I have to admit that update about Mort was what finally brought me into this thread. I don't think it's unusual for different people to leave a company regardless of their position there so it's weird to see it being speculated here.

I also think this is why you should not write anything and pass it off as fact when you don't even have a credible evidence. Anyone who does this should be vetted by the mods. Especially not when it affects the future career of the person being discussed.

As for Mort, I think he should have stopped right there and then post the no-DRM campaign. I always thought it's a bit awkward how he ended up turning into some kind of 'informant' and being so open about wanting to make a career out of it. But I'll remember him for the good he brought into the community with the no-DRM movement and hope he learnt a lot from this mistake.

 

[anexanhume]

Believe it or not, NPD is actually willing to tolerate a small amount of leaks. It's when you leak a substantial amount of data that they get pissed.

We know (and they know) that leaking hardware numbers isn't going to harm their business, so they let it happen.

Yeah it's breaking the agreements you sign with them...but hey, it makes people happy and it's been happening on GAF for decades now.

That's why we leak NPD numbers every month.

Have to admit I don't quite get it. The people that need the numbers already pay for them. The people that want them leaked (us) have no power to do anything with them but bark at each other in platform warz.

 

[Whompa]

Damn, the turnover rate at this video game forum is starting to rival the video game industry's.

The great gaf purge!

I would never have imagined that the simple concept of, "talking from your mouth instead of your ass." would need to be enforced, but I guess people can't really do something as easy as that.

 

[Tripon]

Believe it or not, NPD is actually willing to tolerate a small amount of leaks. It's when you leak a substantial amount of data that they get pissed.

We know (and they know) that leaking hardware numbers isn't going to harm their business, so they let it happen.

Yeah it's breaking the agreements you sign with them...but hey, it makes people happy and it's been happening on GAF for decades now.

That's why we leak NPD numbers every month.

That's good to know.

 

[Doc Holliday]

The company has about 1,000 staff members across 11 locations.

And basically across the street from Naughty Dog lol

 

[213372bu]

Congrats your transition to modern gaming journalist has become complete.

Ahahahahhaha

Famousmortimer I felt kinda bad for you, but not after you go out like this. The guy has a son with a potentially fatal disease and you don't even apologize. Wow.

 

[oconnomiyaki]

a lot of people talk to bish

Yeah, more just thinking that if Bish verifies, something like Modbot actually does the posting. That way you take the personalities out of it and make it about the info. It would also, hopefully, remove notions of bias and defence, too.

My Dad once said that the problem with sport is that the referees get big headed and think the game is about them. That referees should be anonymous and we shouldn't even know their names. I figure that's sort of what goes on here sometimes.

 

[GSG Flash]

Your son will fight through this Col!

He will get better

This thread has definitely gotten interesting. Gaming, like every other mainstream entertainment format, has become very public, in that game developers, although usually not known by name, have become kind of like movie stars or sports stars or pop stars.

If a developer in a high profile position leaves a high profile gaming studio, unless a specific reason is given, people will speculate and often that speculation will be wrong and harmful. Same thing happens in the other forms of entertainment. Just look at our desire for paparazzi style gaming news.

 

[mrklaw]

You know whats funny? We created Famousmortimer, CBOAT, Thuway, Proelite and all the rest of them. We hang on their every word and make 100 page threads on everything they say.

And if we are honest, did even one leak change a thing in our purchasing habits? People who wanted an Xbox one still got one. People who Want a PS4 are still going to buy one, VR/PS1-2 BC or not.

All we did was sqwable over nonsense.

Lets be real here. The reason people here love "insider" information is so we can act smug to our less informed friends and tell them games that they didnt know about were coming.

Pete Dodd is a good guy. But over time, his star rose to the point where he began to believe his own hype. Had he quit while he was ahead (#PS4noDRM), we wouldn't be here now. He wouldn't be trying to get funding for a shitty site he has no clue how to run, people wouldn't Be baying for his blood and he would still have a gaf account.

And what did his leaks achieve? What did he actually tell us that was any use. What can you even remember him leaking. Not much.

I said months ago that GAF needs a "no leaker" rule. Think you have some good juicy info? PM a mod. If the mod feels it worth sharing, they will share it. No fanfare, no opportunity for any company or individual to game the system.

Its getting the point that peoples lives are being affected. Just stop. I dont give a shit if generic videogame x is being developed or is in trouble or whatever else. If i see on the shelf and i think the released videos paint it in a good light, ill buy it. If its shit, ill just sell it.

If we are stop hanging on the words on "insiders" like babies missing a titty, nonsense like this can be avoided.

But if a mod shared it, it would still be jumped on, would still make a 100 page thread. It's the info as much as who shares it. We like a bit of drama.

And there lies the irony. As half of GAF rages against clickbait articles in the 'press' (gotta put those air quotes there to properly show our disdain), the other half of GAF is jumping into threads based on speculation, out own internal clickbait if you like.