Steam store page and appid are changing
What was originally
Our new appid will be 513470
as a result, the store URL will change.
Neither of these pages are active (yet) but will be By about next week.
For those of you interested in buying Tyrfing Cycle, I suggest that you hold off until then.
Official Reason for this migration
Im not sure if it is BlackShell's policy, they are more than welcome to clarify though - BUT - many of their affiliates have copies of Tyrfing(without having paid for it). I was ok with this while blackshell remained my partner, but no longer. They may keep the version that Blackshell 'endorsed' but the completed game, they need to pay for.
I still have 120 BlackShellMedia games I never paid for, and imho that isnt right. I probably wont play most of them, but if I do, ill make sure to pay.
The Content itself may become unavailable as well over then next few days, so I apologize for any inconvenience.
So if the Game page is down briefly, Dont sweat it, it isnt because of the lawsuit
About the Lawsuit
No, the page migration is not due to the lawsuit with a 3rd party developer.
Ill state on the record that I find what Digital Homicide LLC are doing abhorrent.
- I have done nothing outside of talk about my experience with one of their imposters (a person who claimed to be them going by No-BS-Gamer)
- Leaving a negative (but truthful) review on 1 out of their 15 or so games
-Express my distaste for their behavior and what the implications are for indie devs everywhere.
Take it from me, a developer, I do my best to be nice as F**k and honest. But there has always been an air of mistrust, and I contribute this to developers like digital homicide abusing the system. The past few years of negative PR, not just from them but folks like them has created a barrier between devs and gamers, a barrier that shouldn’t exist. We devs are just gamers too, we just took our hobby to a different direction. So is it wrong for me to express my disdain for such behavior? I think not, but to say the least... it definitely isnt illegal - I live in Canada a free country, this is my right. - Demon Sword
- I have never accused them of committing a crime
- I have never urged people not to play their games
They are specifically targeting me because I am a developer
WHY they feel so threatened by me, Im not sure.
-This game isnt even finished, it's not fully released.
-We have never shared front page exposure and...
- they have many games while I have 1 in early access.
"Hey. Good to see a spot where you posted my last name with the no-bs gamer thing (who wasn't me). Case filing is tomorrow. There could be a month of odd stuff. Contact me at my email donovan and it will be easier to sort things out service and lawsuit wise. As a competitor in the market I'm going to be going after you especially hard for the false statements compared to all but a few of the really hard core harassers. We can probably work out a settlement but some subpoena things have to go through first to find out just how much you and others were involved. Toss me an email if you want to talk it through, your benefit," -Jim Romine via Youtube
Seems like extortion to me...
How does the Lawsuit effect Tyrfing Cycle
For now, it doesnt, im still following my schedule, That isn’t to say that the 3rd party isn’t attempting to Sabotage me.
Those of you who witnessed their attack on my character on April 16 2016
can see that there is some clear animosity, in fact they have claimed that they’re coming after me especially hard in the above quote.
In addition to that I received an email on the 14th and I am trying to confirm the validity of said email. However it bares the name of one of the Members of Digital Homicide. In this email, the party(s) Not only threaten me, but attempt to extort information out of me.
What is most frightening is what Digital homicide seems to be seeking
Currently it isn’t a lawsuit (yet) But rather a subpoena in a attempt to gain the information of numerous steam users.
I read the court docs, they want our IP addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses, Login times, they want aliases, email addresses, etc.
With this information they can easily deduce things like our schedules, and daily routines...
Why is this Frightening?
I do not at all know Digital Homicide's members, but the impression Im given leads me to conclude that no one's information would be safe with them.
Speaking Hypothetically there is absolutely nothing stopping them from making a road trip up to Canada With a Shot gun and coming to my door.
There is Nothing stopping them from stalking my wife (again Hypothetically)
I also think that based on their actions on April 16th, they sincerely believe that the law doesnt apply to them. For folks claiming to sue for defamation, to then attempt to defame someone themselves...
Relationship with Poopgaming
There is none, although i was a member off and on due to invites.
Most of the members seemed nice, but I personally witnessed the group 'morph' for what I believe is the worse.
I left the group quietly in April before launching, I returned briefly when a friend coaxed me in assuring me that the moderation and administration of the group would be more strict.
My reason for leaving was and is - they break their own rules.
Claiming not to condone harassment while simultaneously 'rallying up the troops'
The thing is, this isnt the original members. Folks Like tryyton and Gana, Frunderman, Enix, and many others have always been respectful.
I think theyre good people.
The issue is that the group got to big for the moderators to control, and they certainly could not control the efforts of members individually. If harassment did happen I didnt witness it, I just know that some members were very compulsive and obsessive.
I was never a prominent member, and the brief period in which i was a member ended when I became a launched early access.
My Stance
I am not going to stop development, I am going to continue pushing ahead
and I will not be intimidated or swayed otherwise.
I am frankly not interested in this Drama, Im just making games, and if I can profit in the long haul, ill be happy, but I want to make a good game first
This is why I delayed launch, and that is something I need to emphasize:
To claim that I am a competitor of Digital Homicide implies that we share a common goal...We Do not
Yes we both want success digital homicide.
But For me, success isn’t wealth... If I have to sacrifice my reputation, and my pride for money, then to me that money is worthless, and even if it was some ungodly amount... like 18 million dollars... i could not in good conscience spend it. I know who I am, I left a position in sales because I know that I dont actually care about money, I want to get by, perhaps have some comforts, but I don’t want a benz or an audi, or a house any bigger than what I live in.
My goal is to make good games first and foremost, to build a presence in the community. To not do so at the expense of others, and to use my talents to entertain and provide fun to my friends and supporters.
Im not sure what the goals of Digital Homicide are... but they are not the same.
Update - Anyone else get the feeling something like this happened today?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmRPVTbzRzk