[Forge]

Hendricks266, on 21 November 2014 - 12:21 PM, said:

I would much rather hear an honest statement than carefully prepared PR bullshit.

TerminX, on 21 November 2014 - 12:41 PM, said:

I clicked "upvote" before I read the second half of this post.

Hendricks266, on 21 November 2014 - 12:44 PM, said:

I think his point was that one douchebag is a questionable reason to pull the plug on something that was publicly announced.

i'm not saying that Fred is lying or being intentionally deceptive, but his statement, or at least the way he expressed his concern over the situation, makes him look like he's just coming up with excuses.

It's about perception and interpretation. I'd rather hear some PR bullshit than wishy-washy honest reasons to justify not holding up an obligation that end up making him look like he has no spine.

I don't have one-on-one dealings with the man like some of you do, so I have to go off his brief appearances here. He came in like a fireball with all kinds of energy, a connection with the gamers at our level, and a positive outlook for the potential of his company, and now he's going out like a soggy cigarette butt over what appears to be nothing more than an inconvenient nuisance.

edit: the situation that Fred's dealing with could be a lot worse than what he made it sound like; and i guess that's where the communication is breaking down between him and an onlooker like myself.

[DustFalcon85]

When will the Bryaning stop? Is he in jail or something? We would like to know the legal status of Bryan. Waiting for a news report of this.

TerminX, on 21 November 2014 - 12:41 PM, said:

I clicked "upvote" before I read the second half of this post. It honestly is one douchebag to blame... well, 3, because he lives with both of his parents who are more than aware of his behavior. At this point, these people are so nuts that if I found out they were running a meth lab in their garage and that you-know-who was sampling their product, I wouldn't be surprised in the least. Who lets their kid stay up all night and harass people worldwide? Frickin' tweakers who don't care, that's who!

The perpetrator should be hitting puberty soon, maybe then he'll move on to stalking local girls instead of stalking people with prototype games from half a decade before he was born.

MYHOUSE.MAP, on 21 November 2014 - 01:02 PM, said:

He lives in Arkansas; making meth is a family tradition over there. It explains why his family can afford all of the retro PCs he gets for his birthdays.

Not. Even. Once.

[Ronin]

Fred, this community did not create the guy responsible for this, he is university reviled here. None of his actions have anything to do with Duke4net, posting a complaint about him here is pointless.
Maybe you think that he might read your statement here and cool off, he won't, as he is obviously an irrational and disturbed brat. The Duke community should not be punished for something they have zero control over.

[Micky C]

If I was being contacted several times a day in multiple different mediums in a negative fashion, I know I'd find that pretty draining. IMO it's not a reason to cancel the beta reveals, but you still need to see things from Fred's point of view. He's probably long since gotten tired of all of Bryan's shit. I hope those FBI reports or whatever end up doing something, and sooner rather than later.

I know I'll take solace in the fact that when Bryan eventually does get his hands on the assets, he won't have the skills to do anything with them. If he comes over here announcing "omg guiz I have knew projekt Dook Nukum Beta recreationzz!!!1" I think we can be pretty confident what the forum reaction is going to be, and rightly so.
IIRC other modding communities like Quake and Unreal are also tired of him. So in the end he's still going to be alone. Sure he'll have his precious betas but with no one to share them with I wonder how happy he'll be. It's pretty obvious that he's an attention whore.

Btw why is that "The Bryaning" thread still stickied if it's locked?

[Kathy]

Forge, on 21 November 2014 - 02:20 PM, said:

He came in like a fireball with all kinds of energy, a connection with the gamers at our level, and a positive outlook for the potential of his company, and now he's going out like a soggy cigarette butt over what appears to be nothing more than an inconvenient nuisance.

[♥Coraline♥]

Kathy, on 21 November 2014 - 04:27 PM, said:

[High Treason]

Coryyne said:

...Cigarette...

It'll dry out... I'd still smoke it.
^ The cigarette, NOT Fresch... Depends how intoxicated I was.

Back when I was a teenager, my friend and I ran out of cigarettes and had no money to buy more, by the afternoon we'd had enough and he resorted to tabbing. I remember finding half a cigarette behind the radiator in the bathroom - I had put it there when the carers had almost caught me smoking in there, we were meant to go out and stand on the sidewalk. We shared that cigarette, tasted oddly of things you'd expect to find around the bathroom, absolutely disgusting, but we still smoked it anway.

If those betas are not delivered by this point I only envision Interceptor's harassment getting worse - and them being powerless to stop it. I would write a letter stating my disappointment and I doubt I'd be the only one... Just one letter; formally worded and polite but when more than one person sends one it probably doesn't make for a fun time. Things should not be promised and then revoked. On the other hand Fresch hasn't said "No!" at this time, only that he feels discouraged. Sometimes you've got to learn to be a heartless bastard in the world of business; find out more about this Bryan and prosecute him... Or pay someone you don't know to break his legs whilst denying you ever even met this man. You could always have him SWATted to scare him off if you can't be bothered with the hassle I guess, but I dislike this method as it wastes the time of other people and their services who aren't part of the problem. Edit: Should probably add, that I don't recommend any but the first solution, as that one is legal.

One does wonder what would be happening right now if Bryan lived anywhere near the studio, I just have visions of him lobbing bricks at the windows and being carted off by police. Now that would be fun times because then I'd no longer have to hear all this crap.

[Person of Color]

Fred if you back out of this you'll lose any goodwill and trust you could ever have within not only this community, but the entire retro community.

Blaming this shit on an 11 year old trailer trash loser is pathetic. Any idiot can run Low Orbit Ion Cannon.

Please reread these posts and see my point.

Forge, on 21 November 2014 - 07:48 AM, said:

this is what i got out of it.

all that material was more work and cost than originally estimated. Bowing down to some pissant cyber-terrorist is just an easy out.

oh and btw: bump the 3DRealms site and products.


Not the smartest thing to say on a forum full of rabid 'fanboys', but it still would have been better to offer the material 'with purchase' of another product. You might have painted yourself in a corner by prematurely announcing the free distribution of all this material. Lose-Lose. Piss off the fan base, or take a hit to the wallet.

Fox, on 21 November 2014 - 08:50 AM, said:

So a 14 years old with Internet connection has so much power over your company?

Hendricks266, on 21 November 2014 - 10:37 AM, said:

Quite frankly, I don't think pulling out will be effective in stopping his harassment. He knows we have the materials. But TX and I have filed a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, and Amazon is actively investigating the DDoS attack on eduke32.com that came from some cloud computing instances.

Harassment from a single person can be annoying, even infuriating, but it is not representative of everyone else.


Here is some set theory for you:

Duke4.net ∩ {Bryan} = ∅

(It says there are no common elements in the set of Duke4.net and the set containing Bryan.)


At this point in the process, that level of support is akin to blind faith, which isn't something you can demand from a fanbase. Suggesting that the launch will be scrubbed because of one unrelated person's actions only hurts that dynamic further.

TerminX, on 21 November 2014 - 12:41 PM, said:

I clicked "upvote" before I read the second half of this post. It honestly is one douchebag to blame... well, 3, because he lives with both of his parents who are more than aware of his behavior. At this point, these people are so nuts that if I found out they were running a meth lab in their garage and that you-know-who was sampling their product, I wouldn't be surprised in the least. Who lets their kid stay up all night and harass people worldwide? Frickin' tweakers who don't care, that's who!

The perpetrator should be hitting puberty soon, maybe then he'll move on to stalking local girls instead of stalking people with prototype games from half a decade before he was born.

Hendricks266, on 21 November 2014 - 12:44 PM, said:

I think his point was that one douchebag is a questionable reason to pull the plug on something that was publicly announced. This is especially true given that it wouldn't stop Bryan, and he hasn't been able to cause any permanent damage.

MYHOUSE.MAP, on 21 November 2014 - 01:02 PM, said:

He lives in Arkansas; making meth is a family tradition over there. It explains why his family can afford all of the retro PCs he gets for his birthdays.

NUKEMDAVE, on 21 November 2014 - 01:05 PM, said:

If the betas aren't released, it'll make the third time that Interceptor/3DR has failed to deliver when it comes to Duke. Even if the last two failures weren't their fault, the new 3DR is looking a lot like the old 3DR as far as Duke goes.

So yeah, the whole fanbase shouldn't have to suffer because of the actions of one person.

Ronan, on 21 November 2014 - 03:54 PM, said:

Fred, this community did not create the guy responsible for this, he is university reviled here. None of his actions have anything to do with Duke4net, posting a complaint about him here is pointless.
Maybe you think that he might read your statement here and cool off, he won't, as he is obviously an irrational and disturbed brat. The Duke community should not be punished for something they have zero control over.

[♥Coraline♥]

[Richard Shead]

^In light of recent news reports, that .gif has taken on an entirely new meaning.

honestly think that Fred has enough common sense to not let one low-life loser ruin the hopes of countless eager and loyal fans. I'm sure he's feeling down and out right now as a result the abuse he's been dealt(and I don't blame him one bit), but I also think he's smart enough to do what would best suit him and Interceptor in the long run. My hunch is that he'll either recant this threat later, or he's possibly been bluffing from the get-go; scare tactics, if you will. A lot of businesses employ this sort of marketing maneuver in order to illicit certain consumer reactions. With the potential reality of the betas never being released, he may also believe that we'd be more prone to coalesce and hound Bryan with greater vigor, or take other proactive steps towards ensuring that his obnoxious behaviors permanently cease.

Just my hypothesis/assessment of the situation.

[Person of Color]

This is who we're dealing with. Just release the damn betas, nothing is gonna come of this kid except loss of virginity by hooker or suicide by train.

[Hendricks266]

Protected by Viper, on 22 November 2014 - 11:31 PM, said:

Just release the damn betas

Careful, you're sounding like him.

[Person of Color]

I can never be as edgy as XxXBrYaN1999XxX.

Seriously Fred, not releasing these is going to hurt your credibility in the long run, big time. It's not like Duke4 is the only place that has picked up on this news.

[Fox]

I didn't wanted to be the one to remind of the Duke Nukem: Reloaded fiasco, but this story sounds familiar.

[MetHy]

Fox, on 23 November 2014 - 12:00 AM, said:

I didn't wanted to be the one to remind of the Duke Nukem: Reloaded fiasco, but this story sounds familiar.

You don't have to be the one, I'm sure some "news" sites, while talking about the unreleased betas, will be deligthed to remind everyone of DNR, of Bombshell, and even of DNF and the trial since that's 3DRealms too.

This is starting to sound like a threat. Trust me it's not, I'd hate to see this happen and I'm the first guy disgusted at this kind of behaviour, I'm just saying I'm pretty sure it would happen.
That's why I'm saying this whole thing isn't just "for us", when Frederik first came on the forum to tell the idea, I didn't think "this guy is doing something great for a couple of fans", I thought "this guy is doing great at building up a new image for the company he just acquired"

[Fox]

The protypes won't be released, that's for sure. There are two possible scenarios:

1. Fresch suffered a mental breakdown after being harassed on the Internet by a mentally disabled 14 years old. Chances are he eventually would be affected by something else, like a hobo asking him money and he would never leave home again.

2. It's all an excuse. So we wouldn't be getting any of the content either.

[Kristian Joensen]

Fred, IMO you shouldn't change your behaviour based on what Bryan does or doesn't do. Do whatever you were going to do otherwise. The alternative is letting him win.

That being said the constant harrasment you guys are receiving is totally unaccaptable. I really hope someone manages to stop Bryan.

[Hendricks266]

I have moved posts relating only to Bryan to the Bryaning thread. Please keep this thread limited to discussion related to Fred's OP.

[ReaperMan]

Hendricks266, on 23 November 2014 - 12:27 PM, said:

Please keep this thread limited to discussion related to Fred's OP.

Bryan is related to Fred's post as he is the reason for Fred's post.

[Hendricks266]

ReaperMan, on 23 November 2014 - 01:23 PM, said:

Bryan is related to Fred's post as he is the reason for Fred's post.

In terms of a dialogue between 3DR and Duke4, the discussion was getting beside the point of this thread.

[DukeNukem64]

Hendricks and TX, is he really THAT annoying? I mean I can't imagine anyone being so annoying that you would drop these Beta-releases..?

[Fox]

It's Fresch who is holding the BETAs because of this, not TX or Hendricks.

[Kyanos]

Hendricks266, on 23 November 2014 - 12:27 PM, said:

I have moved posts relating only to Bryan to the Bryaning thread. Please keep this thread limited to discussion related to Fred's OP.

Um, really... OK

Frederik Schreiber, on 21 November 2014 - 02:24 AM, said:

Currently we're pretty far in putting something great together for the fans to play around with.
There is a big bump in the road though.

We've been getting countless emails, spam mails, threats, hack attempts, etc. (These appear multiple times, on a daily basis), from a certain individual you all know by name (under countless fake names, facebook and email accounts).
We feel discouraged to ever releasing this material, if something like this continues.
It's simply not worth it, compared to the amount work and personal/professional harassment we're going through, for something as simple as wanting to please individuals in our fanbase.
We'll keep you updated.

This whole post makes you look weak. You are the VP of a world renowned company, you should expect a little bit of harassment. Peeps be fucking crazy. What did you expect, you could show off all the cool stuff you have acquired and EVERYONE would be cool. Wait until you actually try to release this game with a female lead, if a 12 yr old troll has this much power over you, the media is gonna make you cry yourself to sleep every night.

[Kyanos]

[Fox]

What I don't get is that if Fresch is being harassed by someone who wants to see the BETA material, logically not releasing the material would mean eternal harassment.

[Micky C]

IMO it's just another case of Interceptor announcing something too early. ROTT, Bombshell, Duke Reloaded, all projects that should have been worked on more before being made known to the public. The 3DR website relaunch was delayed quite a while too. It's great that Interceptor/3DR are communicating with the fans as much as they are, but they really need to get their timing together.

If the betas were going to take so long to come out, then maybe 3DR should have contained the knowledge until the release was closer. It'd definitely have helped cut down the duration of harassment. Although I know this doesn't really help since its easy to see things in hindsight.

[HulkNukem]

I think this is just proof that Duke is cursed.

I hope Bombshell isn't cursed just by association.

[JoJo the Idiot Circus Boy]

HulkNukem, on 23 November 2014 - 03:41 PM, said:

I think this is just proof that Duke is cursed.

I hope Bombshell isn't cursed just by association.

Hulk Nukem think I saw you on megaton think a day or two ago

[NUKEMDAVE]

I don't see why there would be a fear of releasing the betas over this. Hadn't this person showed up on the scene beforehand, he could have after they were released. And who knows who else is out there lurking. It's the internet.

He should go try to swindle Gearbox out of the DNF modding tools and see how that goes for him. That would actually make more sense than trying to get betas that were planned to be released anyway.

[HulkNukem]

Duke64 Galactic Alliance, on 23 November 2014 - 03:43 PM, said:

Hulk Nukem think I saw you on megaton think a day or two ago

Haven't played the multiplayer online ever, just private matches with my brother.
The only time I ever played a Duke game online was when it first came out for Xbox 360 funnily enough.