Brad Mcquaid looted 45k of the crowdfunding

Fdzzaigl

Honestly, this whole kickstarter / crowdfunding business calls for some serious investigation both by legal experts and the press.

Wonna talk about being a real investigative reporter? Here's a case study that could be very interesting to dig into.

In general I've noticed a whole lot of these crowdfunding projects (even outside of gaming) which are basically selling you packets of thin air with nice coverings.

I think the operative phrase should be: "Show me watcha actually got.", before they start asking for money.

Aeonblades

Originally posted by psiic

Originally posted by Castekin1000

Originally posted by psiic

I've been saying this since the prick stole Everquest and passed it off as his own.

 

I will take it even further and say Scott Hartsman is another one just like him.

 

How he goes from being a part-time server tech at Earthlink, to Project Lead for EQ2, to being GM at Trion is by being a charming BS artist who lies on his resume.

If you look at his resume on linkedin everything before SOE is a total fabrication. 

 

Sadly that is the problem with the industry, the guys making the decisions aren't developers, they are the liars, cheaters, and thieves that  scam their way to the top on other peoples work.

 

What exactly do you mean by he stole Everquest and passed it off as his own?  I have never heard this before can you please elaborate.

Everquest  the base game was designed and coded by a group of guys sitting around the NWN dev chat room on AOL. Back in the day we use to share code so that a lot of people could contribute and work on the problems together. Brad use to hang out in the room, not as a coder, not contributing,  just as a wannabe and big talker.

This was in the infancy on the industry when people trusted each other, and it was just about making the best game possible.

Regardless Brad took the code claimed he wrote it, secured financing to develop the game based on code he stole and claimed was his.

SOE eventually realized Brad was a con man and liar and eventually rode him out on a rail.  

To give credit where it is due, his wife is one hell of a coder and was the true creative force behind EQ2, even if that other BS artist Hartsman came in and got credit for her work. 

This post made me giggle uncontrollably for a few minutes. Our ships can't handle lies of this magnitude!

Alka_Setzer

Originally posted by Wizardry

Why is this even news,of course bills need to be paid weather he told the others or not.I guarantee you Chris Roberts is not only taking more than that out of his fund i bet he is paying himself a rather large salary.If your wife went ahead and paid some bills without telling you it would be considered common household chores and nobody would care.What are you going to do ridicule the wife for paying bills thinking you had another 50 bucks there to go drinking and buy smokes?

Point is paying the bills is far more important than the game,it is called taking care of responsibilities.

This sort of stuff has been going on forever yet seems more important if Brad does it?Other leads are doing much worse including the infamous "donations" tag,most likely to avoid paying taxes.

There are multi millionaire businesses out there taking crowd funding money and they don't need one cent of it ,yet they are all cool and fine with just taking from the naive.One rich and famous took crowd funding money and used it to put her kid through school.One of the big movie production operations used crowd funding to pay for their TV series the list goes on and on.

Those that jumped ship were not getting paid anyhow and even if they had two more months,that would have been 2 more not paid and the game would still not be finished.

Just like crowd funder's,anyone who joined the team knew what they were getting into ,NOTHING was secure as far as money or jobs were concerned.

I would say there is some room for complaint if the game was finished and needed that 45k to role out the publishing and get the funds coming back,but this was a project that was not going to make any money until it was completely finished.

 

 

Then get a damn job. Kickstarter is NOT a charity for people who can't afford to pay their bills or sustain themselves. While the results of a successful kickstarter can HELP people pay their bills upon delivering the finished product you should not be taking money that you essentially promised would go to creating a product for people who are giving you the money to help you do that in the first place.

Nadia

Originally posted by Fdzzaigl

Honestly, this whole kickstarter / crowdfunding business calls for some serious investigation both by legal experts and the press.

Brad never got any money from kickstarter

 

the kickstarter project failed to meet its financial goal

http://www.polygon.com/2014/2/22/5437134/pantheon-rise-of-the-fallen-fails-to-meet-kickstarter-goal

  - none of the KS pledges were charged

 

when the kickstarter failed,

Pantheon collected funding at their website

https://www.pantheonrotf.com/blogs/355/28/site-launch-letter-from-brad

We are now moving onto the next phase of crowdfunding: setting up our own website with all of the info we’ve put together thus far and enabling people to fund us directly.

 

regarding other shady kickstarters, there's some hope

Kickstarter fraud: Washington files first consumer protection lawsuit involving crowdfunding

http://www.geekwire.com/2014/attorney-general-asylum-playing-cards-crowdfunded-project/

furbans

Originally posted by Fdzzaigl

Honestly, this whole kickstarter / crowdfunding business calls for some serious investigation both by legal experts and the press.

Wonna talk about being a real investigative reporter? Here's a case study that could be very interesting to dig into.

In general I've noticed a whole lot of these crowdfunding projects (even outside of gaming) which are basically selling you packets of thin air with nice coverings.

I think the operative phrase should be: "Show me watcha actually got.", before they start asking for money.

All they have to do is have a disclaimer and nothing can be done.  Kickstarters are an investment essentially,  You could profit off it and get your product or you can get zilch.  There is no timeframe when something will be done so doubtful anything will come out of it.  Sad part is that it only hurts legitamate KSs, which there are plenty honest ones that did produce a quality product.  I believe the only case where it went to court and the complaitants won is when the KS actually promised X items as the project underwent developement which MMOs/computer games are all final product delivery stuff.

Fdzzaigl

I was just speaking generally there by the way, don't really know much about the situation with Pantheon specifically.

It just appears to me like a lot of "crowdfunded" projects are being launched without the people behind them having any sort of business plan. They often can't even communicate what they're going to be spending the money on exactly.

 

Even outside the realm of gaming, crowdfunding is booming (but usually with an interest on investment). But various naieve idealists and crooks are trying to sell people packaged air for their money.

A couple of months ago I made a piece about a guy who was crowdfunding a project to invest in renewable energy. He was going to secure the energy demands of a small neighbourhood by purchasing one windturbine off a big upcoming project and wanted to put the rest of the money toward supplying a local home for the elderly with solar panels. Investors would get return on investment by small amounts of energy sold on the general market.

Except the guy didn't have any deal on the table yet that would've allowed him to purchase the windturbine, nor did he have any contacts outside of one firm. Contacts like the local government, who were opposed to windmills being build and would try their best to stop the entire deal.

In other words: he was asking for people's money under the guise of a plan that didn't yet exist and was very likely to fail anyhow. But because he could put up a positive speech about renewable energy, people still handed him money.

That's called selling air.

 

I personally suspect a lot of kickstarters are doing the same. Not necesarily out of ill intent. But just because they're fairly naieve about what the actual process costs and entails.

GolbezTheLion

Brad McQuaid strikes again!

When will people learn?

Nadia

Originally posted by Fdzzaigl

I personally suspect a lot of kickstarters are doing the same. Not necesarily out of ill intent. But just because they're fairly naieve about what the actual process costs and entails.

i have seen questionable kickstarters but they often don't get the funds they desire

 

i've personally pledged to almost 300 KS projects in the last 12 months -- most of them boardgames

half of them successfully funded and i havent been burned by any of them yet

 

kickstarter scams do exist but i've been lucky so far 

 

edit:

Pantheon was among them but i never trusted Brads mmo

i only pledged 1.00 so i could see the project updates

Akulas

Hey I'm making a game here's my ks and a couple of paragraphs of concept and a pic. Please give me money.

strawhat0981

I do not follow the game, but it seems most people think it is total BS. Majority rules and that means this game is a sinking ship, if not sunk already.

Simsu

I really wish that sites like MMORPG.com would do their users a solid and find out about stories like these and better inform their users about the risks of going in on projects like this. Further, I think a good site would point out when these things don't work out. While it's kinda sad that people need to be warned about "hey send money to my personal bank account" type of things, with the rise in kickstarter and croudsourcing this stuff is going to become more and more common.

 

plasticface

Mcquaid is drug addict coke fein. Why does anyone still do business with his guy.

sirphobos

At this point I think this game has about 20 fans, and half of them are volunteer developers. The rest of us can't stop watching out of morbid curiosity.

Horusra

Originally posted by Simsu

I really wish that sites like MMORPG.com would do their users a solid and find out about stories like these and better inform their users about the risks of going in on projects like this. Further, I think a good site would point out when these things don't work out. While it's kinda sad that people need to be warned about "hey send money to my personal bank account" type of things, with the rise in kickstarter and croudsourcing this stuff is going to become more and more common.

 

does a newspaper warn you about giving money to the guy begging on a street corner?  Does the late night news tell you to look both ways before crossing the street?  Frankly some people need to get burned to know the fire is there.

PyrateLV

Originally posted by Horusra

Originally posted by Simsu

I really wish that sites like MMORPG.com would do their users a solid and find out about stories like these and better inform their users about the risks of going in on projects like this. Further, I think a good site would point out when these things don't work out. While it's kinda sad that people need to be warned about "hey send money to my personal bank account" type of things, with the rise in kickstarter and croudsourcing this stuff is going to become more and more common.

 

does a newspaper warn you about giving money to the guy begging on a street corner?  Does the late night news tell you to look both ways before crossing the street?  Frankly some people need to get burned to know the fire is there.

MMORPG.com isnt a gaming news site.

Its an Op-Ed site with Forums generously sprinkled with Ads 

Burntvet

Originally posted by PyrateLV

Originally posted by Horusra

Originally posted by Simsu

I really wish that sites like MMORPG.com would do their users a solid and find out about stories like these and better inform their users about the risks of going in on projects like this. Further, I think a good site would point out when these things don't work out. While it's kinda sad that people need to be warned about "hey send money to my personal bank account" type of things, with the rise in kickstarter and croudsourcing this stuff is going to become more and more common.

 

does a newspaper warn you about giving money to the guy begging on a street corner?  Does the late night news tell you to look both ways before crossing the street?  Frankly some people need to get burned to know the fire is there.

MMORPG.com isnt a gaming news site.

Its an Op-Ed site with Forums generously sprinkled with Ads 

This ^^^

Horusra

Originally posted by PyrateLV

Originally posted by Horusra

Originally posted by Simsu

I really wish that sites like MMORPG.com would do their users a solid and find out about stories like these and better inform their users about the risks of going in on projects like this. Further, I think a good site would point out when these things don't work out. While it's kinda sad that people need to be warned about "hey send money to my personal bank account" type of things, with the rise in kickstarter and croudsourcing this stuff is going to become more and more common.

 

does a newspaper warn you about giving money to the guy begging on a street corner?  Does the late night news tell you to look both ways before crossing the street?  Frankly some people need to get burned to know the fire is there.

MMORPG.com isnt a gaming news site.

Its an Op-Ed site with Forums generously sprinkled with Ads 

And if this guy did not technically "steal" the money you do not think this site might be liable for slander if they started officially making "news" about it.  From what I see the posters here have taken care of the situation what more do you want?  Do you want this to be a pay site with slander and libel Insurance?

Blazenfury

Originally posted by Horusra

Originally posted by PyrateLV

Originally posted by Horusra

Originally posted by Simsu

I really wish that sites like MMORPG.com would do their users a solid and find out about stories like these and better inform their users about the risks of going in on projects like this. Further, I think a good site would point out when these things don't work out. While it's kinda sad that people need to be warned about "hey send money to my personal bank account" type of things, with the rise in kickstarter and croudsourcing this stuff is going to become more and more common.

 

does a newspaper warn you about giving money to the guy begging on a street corner?  Does the late night news tell you to look both ways before crossing the street?  Frankly some people need to get burned to know the fire is there.

MMORPG.com isnt a gaming news site.

Its an Op-Ed site with Forums generously sprinkled with Ads 

And if this guy did not technically "steal" the money you do not think this site might be liable for slander if they started officially making "news" about it.  From what I see the posters here have taken care of the situation what more do you want?  Do you want this to be a pay site with slander and libel Insurance?

Very good point. We can't expect the big game sites to spread this as fact, but certain sites have made articles saying that people are concerned. I don't think it's enough to just know that this scam is going on. I feel like we need to spread the word so that other more gullible people are not taken advantage of. Some are stupid yea, but many are just ignorant and need to find the information. 

Xthos

In general, if you are old enough to work, and have money of your own to donate to something, you probably have the capacity to understand the risk in donating $1 or $100 to something.  I don't see the need for anyone to do anything more than what they are doing now.

 

I would of liked to see this thing made, and who knows....But if I were to give money to it, it would be an amount that I was comfortable with never seeing again.  I have dropped money on games that I haven't gotten much value out of, so I would look at it like that, if nothing ever came about the money I donated (if I donated to anything that was crowdfunded).

 

I have debated a few things, but no money given to anything yet. 

 

 

Chrisbox

Not that I thought this game was going to be big, but I'm suprised kickstarter itself hasn't received that much flak for allowing this to be done.  Granted they can't control the intentions of a delusional human but things like this shouldn't happen plain and simple.

Now I know nothing about the legal side of all of this, is there anything that can be reversed for those people or what?

Xthos

Originally posted by Chrisbox

Not that I thought this game was going to be big, but I'm suprised kickstarter itself hasn't received that much flak for allowing this to be done.  Granted they can't control the intentions of a delusional human but things like this shouldn't happen plain and simple.

Now I know nothing about the legal side of all of this, is there anything that can be reversed for those people or what?

The kickstarter failed, so no one was charged anything from the kickstarter.  They started taking money directly on their site, that is what the money supposedly was taken from, to supposedly pay medical bills and some other stuff.  People say he had some investor that was going to fund them, and he took the money as a 3 month pay advance or something like that, and when the investor fell through, it left them minus a good chunk of cash to keep things going (That's what I kind of gleaned from everything).

Chrisbox

Originally posted by Xthos

Originally posted by Chrisbox

Not that I thought this game was going to be big, but I'm suprised kickstarter itself hasn't received that much flak for allowing this to be done.  Granted they can't control the intentions of a delusional human but things like this shouldn't happen plain and simple.

Now I know nothing about the legal side of all of this, is there anything that can be reversed for those people or what?

The kickstarter failed, so no one was charged anything from the kickstarter.  They started taking money directly on their site, that is what the money supposedly was taken from, to supposedly pay medical bills and some other stuff.  People say he had some investor that was going to fund them, and he took the money as a 3 month pay advance or something like that, and when the investor fell through, it left them minus a good chunk of cash to keep things going (That's what I kind of gleaned from everything).

Ahh ok, so the crowdfunding really isn't the focus here.  

Now it just sounds like a burning ship that should have sunk a while ago. 

Generol

I am not at all surprised that these stories and reports are coming out given the history of the individual that goes back a very long time. He has, time and time again, demonstrated being inept when thrust into this specific type of role and, in the end, the only people who will be hurt will be the workers he somehow conned into the position and/or the fools who believed whatever tale he spun and gave him money. 

Azoth

Originally posted by Generol
I am not at all surprised that these stories and reports are coming out given the history of the individual that goes back a very long time. He has, time and time again, demonstrated being inept when thrust into this specific type of role and, in the end, the only people who will be hurt will be the workers he somehow conned into the position and/or the fools who believed whatever tale he spun and gave him money. 

But the american people are a faithful bunch, maybe we will get a miracle and the game will get made.

rodarin

LOL how did I miss this? I said it in Jan in this thread 

 

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/403648/page/4

 

Anyone sending that guy money might as well set it on fire.

 

The fact they didnt make enough to buy a cup of coffee with their first kickstarter should have been a red flag. But they went to a place with zero accountability and people still sent the guy money. 

 

This 'game' like I originally said was the perfect opportunity for this guy to jump on the 'kickstarter' bandwagon and get some for himself. To the tune of 45-80K (depending on what stories you want to believe). Nice haul for a guy with a history as easily documented as his.