Mega Fail: Derek Smart plagiarizes press release from BioWare

[ManaByte]

http://www.killtenrats.com/2010/05/07/alganon-blatant-plagiarism/

Remember this statement from the Alganon press release? Note it is dated Wednesday, April 28, 2010.

“Traditionally, massively multiplier online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars – combat, exploration and character progression,” Derek Smart continued. “In Alganon, in addition to these we’ve added the fourth pillar to the equation; a story. We delivered a fun, immersive adventure that gamers expect in a top quality massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, we’re not done yet. A whole new adventure with new updates will follow soon, starting with a consignment house, new classes, PvP and much more.”

Now check out this statement from the SWTOR folks, dated October 21, 2008.

“Traditionally, massively multiplayer online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars – combat, exploration and character progression,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder and General Manager/CEO of BioWare and General Manager/Vice President of Electronic Arts Inc., “In Star Wars: The Old Republic, we’re fusing BioWare’s heritage of critically-acclaimed storytelling with the amazing pedigree of Lucasfilm and LucasArts, and adding a brand-new fourth pillar to the equation – story. At the same time, we will still deliver all the fun features and activities that fans have come to expect in a AAA massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, Star Wars: The Old Republic is set in a very exciting, dynamic period in the Star Wars universe.”

Sad.

[Trent Dole]

Mega Fail: Derek Smart

[maxy]

Who is Derek Smart?
And why should we care?
More like Derek Stupid

[ManaByte]

Who is Derek Smart?
And why should we care?
More like Derek Stupid

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

[Great Rumbler]

DEREK SMART!
DEREK SMART!
DEREK SMART!

[Bocsius]

Who is Derek Smart?
And why should we care?

seriously, this.

[Reb]

massively multiplier online games

[MCD]

DEREK SMART!
DEREK SMART!
DEREK SMART!

[Raban]

Flowers for Alganon 2: Derek Smarter

[Sho Nuff]

D-d-d-derek

[Joe Molotov]

Flowers for Alganon 2: Derek Smarter

The rat makes better games than him until they give him the surgery and he becomes a competent videogame developer?

[Sho Nuff]

I like how Derek's press release introduced new typos

[pilonv1]

Here's his response

http://www.alganon.com/forums/index.php?/topic/4837-quest-online-announces-the-official-release-of-alganon/page__p__42542&#entry42542

Quite frankly, this is much ado about nothing. In fact, traditionally, massively multiplayer online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars which include combat, exploration and character progression. These are
the basic principles of the RPG genre and by extension MMO games which are primarily in that genre.

John Smedley of SOE, actually uttered those same words in his New Orleans Fan Fair 2004 keynote speech which predates Ray Muzyka's own commentary in the 2008 press release for Bioware's upcoming Star Wars : The Old Republic MMO. John said "Traditionally, massively multiplier online games have been about three basic gameplay elements - combat, exploration and character progression. In Everquest 2, we've added a fourth element to the equation; a story"

Practically, every game related press release reads like the next one. Whether they're pushing an MMO, an FPS or an RTS game, the gist and context are the same - only words are mangled in order to avoid sounding like a broken
record. For example, the reference to "pillars" is a commonly used phrase in various structure driven disciplines (e.g. the government).

So that single referenced line that the PR Sirens used to precede my commentary was chosen as inspiration in order to convey the premise
of my quotes that followed. In truth, the reference should either have been reworded or credited and sourced. As I understand it now, that was the original intent; but they failed to make the change in their draft and which was to become the final version that went out on PRWeb. And since Quest Online - like most companies that hire outside PR firms - don't have to fact check press releases, we clearly had no idea what had happened until my inbox started lighting up on Sunday morning.

This was clearly an unintentional oversight and shouldn't even be news; but here we are. Just another glorious day in the gaming industry. It's all about hits and giggles.

All game releases sound the same and no one checked it so it's ok. Plus they stole it before I did

[Raban]

Flowers for Alganon 2: Derek Smarter

The rat makes better games than him until they give him the surgery and he becomes a competent videogame developer?

In painstakingly retrofitted Disney digital 3D!

[originalz]

Say what you want about Smart, but he's been making the games he wants to make for a long time now.  He manages to stay in business, get new contracts, and have a very nice standard of personal living.  In an time where the great dev houses are falling one after another, it's pretty damn impressive.

Considering the reputation his games get, it's almost illogical how he keeps going on.  The guy's clearly an incredible businessman.

[The Fake Shemp]

Holy shit originalz is Derek Smart?!

[Raban]

Say what you want about Smart, but he's been making the games he wants to make for a long time now.  He manages to stay in business, get new contracts, and have a very nice standard of personal living.  In an time where the great dev houses are falling one after another, it's pretty damn impressive.

Considering the reputation his games get, it's almost illogical how he keeps going on.  The guy's clearly an incredible businessman.

Hello, Derek Smart!

[Sho Nuff]

Say what you want about Smart, but he's been making the games he wants to make for a long time now.  He manages to stay in business, get new contracts, and have a very nice standard of personal living.  In an time where the great dev houses are falling one after another, it's pretty damn impressive.

Considering the reputation his games get, it's almost illogical how he keeps going on.  The guy's clearly an incredible businessman.

Derek sign my man boobs

[originalz]

Derek Smart is now posting in the Something Awful thread for this game.  Lots of great discussion!

Guys, it's me!!!

Anyway, hopefully the guy (initials HP) who sent me the invite on 5/11 can attest to the fact that this, is in fact, yours truly.

Yes, I am a religous man.

And if anyone says that I don't - or never have - admitted my mistakes, then they're just idiots who don't know anything about me. Not that I'd envy them the position of going through 1m+ Google hits, but hey.

Of course I've made mistakes, many. The biggest one is engaging in discourse with half-wits on the Internet out on a day pass and off their meds.

It is OK to attack an anon person on the Internet while being anon yourself. There is no accountability whatsoever. But when you put a face to an alias and that alias (yours truly) tends to bite back, all bets are off. When people fight back, it tends to put things into perspective. And given that I was a lowly gamer before I became a game developer, I'm no different from a hooker turned millionaire actress in that you never forget where you came from just because you happen to have moved up the social ladder a bit.

Make no mistake, judging by my industry tenure, I would say that it is the vocal minority who kill themselves seeking my approval because getting flamed by or even talking to Derek Smart is some badge of honor. Or something - because nothing else can explain the furor inherent in the anti-social aspects of any discourse involving angst driven people out on a Net binge.

As for Alganon. Well I inherited a less than stellar situation and since I came on board, MANY things have happened. Here, lets see.

1. Everyone and their dog knows what Alganon is. Hell, when you have people falling over themselves with crap like this, you know that you must be doing something worth talking about. Hell, I don't know about you, but I'd rather be talked about than ignored. Next up, I'm running for President. That should be good for about two weeks worth of news and free publicity.

2. I re-tasked the team and set up a plan that actually FINISHED the game.

3. The game has been been getting pretty good previews and reviews since. ESPECIALLY compared to what people were saying/writing before then.

And the reason is simple. I run QOL (team and company) the same way that I run my own company. So of course - unless you were under a rock this past 20+ years that I've been around - nobody should have expected anything less than what I have achieved. I get the job done. Period. Everything else is just noise.

[Brehvolution]

I asked my dog what alganon is and he just looked at me funny. I'm calling BS.

[Raban]

I asked my dog what alganon is and he just looked at me funny. I'm calling BS.

You have to ask a mouse.

[pilonv1]

http://brokentoys.org/

Derek Smart, the most effective manager of an MMO ever ever ever, when called on the carpet re: PR plagiarism (in a comment on ‘little known blog site’ Kill Ten Rats):

    "And yes, those were John’s words at that 2004 fair in New Orleans. Everyone is quick to point the finger, but when push comes to shove, nobody wants to do the actualy work of sourcing corrections. Nice."

John Smedley, talking to ‘little known blog site’ n3rfed:

   " Um. I’ve never been to New Orleans. That was the one year I missed it for family reasons."

Tremendous.

[ferrarimanf355]

Who is Derek Smart?
And why should we care?
More like Derek Stupid

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

Every Derek Smart conversation from now 'till the end of time should have that Desktop Commander clip. Gets me every time.