Open Warrants. Police Record. Fraud. BANNED FROM WIKIPEDIA.

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Scott Jennings| 130 Comments

All I can say about this.

In case you missed it the first time, David Allen’s entirely reasonable and not at all making him look like a crazy person jeremaiad against Derek Smart is back online, at least for now until the lawyers wake up again.

The reason I took the blog down was as a sign of good faith to support settlement discussions with QOL. Unfortunately, commitments were made over the near two week period that were not met. Since there is no sign the libel will be removed anytime soon, this overview will remain active as long as necessary.

YEAH! That’ll show ‘em!

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  • http://Website dsmart

    Allen is basically nuts.

    And yeah, the attorneys are awake and on it. There is a reason that he tends to do this crap only on weekends. The first time he put up this blog, it was two Sunday’s ago.

    Anyway, I am working on another massive blog and so I removed my Blues News comments and have them in a temporary file, completed with links to the agreement he’s trying to wiggle out of.

    http://www.dereksmart.com/bin/response_to_da_blog.html

    And the same guy (Luther) who tried to contact Allen and who posted in this thread, also contacted me over the weekend telling me that what Allen is doing is classic in areas of litigation in which you can take some other person’s info, then attribute it to your worst enemy – and leave it to them to clean up. Which is why there is an injunction making its way to the court this morning, along with an amendment to the already hefty lawsuit filed against him.

    http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewthread&boardid=1&threadid=114313&id=619218&view=threads

  • http://Website Aufero

    I’d been thinking of this as the bonfire of the WoW clones, but the participants appear to be immolating themselves instead of the product.

  • http://Website dsmart

    Not only is he defaming me, he’s doing the same to the very investors who gave him money for four years when nobody would even hire him, let along give him money so he could go out and fail all over again. Which is essentially exactly what he did. Again.

    He’s trying to use this blog bullshit as leverage for us to agree to the edits in the agreement. Since I have the last word, I’ve flat out rejected it. Especially the part where he wants me to take down my blog, interviews etc. Blogs which have been vetted by the attorneys as not being defamatory (though one of the QOL attorneys did call one of them petty – which was the whole point of that blog) in any way, shape or form – unlike the defamatory that crap he’s posting.

    And what he has unwittingly done is give me grounds to sue Huffman now as well. Previously, the 2 yr statute of limitations on Huffman’s site had run out long ago (he started that back in 1996 on Usenet) and I couldn’t sue him. Even if I did, I would have to go to CA (where Huffman lives) to do it. With the recent Florida Supreme Court legislation passed this past June, I can sue both him and Huffman from right here in FL. And they both have to come to FL to defend it. And in the case of Huffman, since Allen has basically “re-published” Huffman’s bullshit in a blog that Allen is now being sued for.

    Even the Alganon player chart that he puts up is 100% false as a) he does not have access to that data b) our metrics are totally different and show a steady climb in the game’s numbers – hence the SECOND funding injection I recently got from the investors who own the company.

    In today’s injunction, if he says that the metrics are true, then he has to show HOW he obtained that data when he doesn’t and shouldn’t have access to the game’s metrics since they are proprietary and he was already FIRED from the company. Thats the point where the attorneys are going to file a criminal complaint with the FBI for an actionable breach on his part. So if he admits that it is false, he’s in trouble. If he says that they are accurate, then he has to show HOW he obtained the data.

    Allen is trying to re-write history because he wants me to remove FACTS about how he – once again FAILED and nearly destroyed yet another company. And in order to do so, he is willing to break even more laws in a pitiful attempt at having any leverage, when in fact he has none.

    FL has the strictest laws about libel and defamation and I’m going to throw the book at him so hard that his great grandchildren will feel the pain.

    http://cbs4.com/local/florida.internet.defamation.2.1757692.html

    http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/florida-defamation-law

    Anyway, Alganon is a really good game that is getting better. But don’t take my word for it. If you are into this sort of game, it is F2P, so please try it and join the community and help us make it better.

  • http://Website gyrus

    I have a couple of points / questions…

    (not that I really care about QOL etc – I just have a passing interest in legalities)

    So… you can sue someone in Florida… even if they don’t live there… and if you win… then what?
    What I mean is supposing you sued me in Florida… how exactly do you intend to collect your money?
    Does Florida Law allow you to collect outside Florida?

    Second point: On the “Metrics graph” The graph is unlabeled and has no “Y” Axis scale. I don’t know about Florida – but to me that means the graph can be whatever you want?
    Online player average – what? Chat messages per hour? Doesn’t that make it sort of hard to pin down?

  • http://Website Lorekeep

    Derek, I just can’t understand and grasp why you air all this dirty laundry. I don’t see how you seek to benefit from doing so.

    It would be one thing if this was all private and you were having a chat between colleagues, but you’re posting all this on the Internet for everyone to see. On a post where Scott specifically has said, multiple times, with a repeating GIF, that all logic and sane thinking would tell you not do so.

    The only thing I can think is that you’re so shameless in what you’ll do to yourself to promote yourself and your products that it extends beyond the normal levels of human decency.

    Keep in mind I post this comment from the perspective of someone who *wants* to see you stop skull-fucking yourself with your own tongue.

  • http://Website Tox

    @Lorekeep: He does so because he lacks any class, nevermind professionalism, whatsoever. Wasn’t that obvious?

  • http://Website dsmart

    You can sue anyone, anytime, anywhere. Collection is irrelevant because you can collect anywhere IF you can. There are also collection agents that specialize in that sort of thing and with a “win” in hand, they can go after assets, wages, insurance, savings etc and they just take a cut of what they recover. More often than not, the person will file for bankruptcy, but even that is much harder to do since the new laws went into effect a few years back.

    We don’t care about how the graph is done. What is at issue is that he is saying that the graph “data” is factual, accurate and attributed to Alganon. It is false. He could have used numbers and the response would have been the same. Even if it were true (which it is not), he has an even bigger problem because he’d have to show how he obtained those metrics. So either way it goes, he simply gave the attorneys more ammo to nail him.

    And the fact that I never even filed a counter-suit against him (because I considered it overkill when QOL and the investors have so much there that there is no way in hell he’s going to get out of ANY of it, hence the settlement) just goes to show how nuts he is because all he has done now is give me a reason to do just that. And since there is already a lawsuit in place, he’s just made it that much more easier and cheaper for me.

    But if I said that those were the only issues, I’d be lying. His entire blog (which reads like the manifesto of a madman off his meds) is just disturbing, when you think about it.

    Here is a choice quote that should put you in the mindset of this person:

    “At least there’s one positive thought; the investors who injected Derek get to work with him on a regular basis. That’s a form of punishment no legal system could ever provide.”

    He believes that shit too. Back here at QOL we’re either laughing our asses off or shaking our heads.

    Considering that all these investors kicked him out of the LLC, after his firing was sanctioned and these are the same people still putting money into the company, paying hefty legal bills to keep him out etc. Flying me all over the place to have a sit down, plan strategies for the game and company, team etc and have NO problems with how I’ve handled things.

    And you said that all this has the makings of the SAME crap that happened at Artifact a few years back, you’d be right. Once again, everyone is out to get him, everyone conspired against him etc.

    He’s just pissed that I kicked him off his $9K per month gravy train, so for him this is personal. When you consider that, in any good year I make over $250K per qtr (and he knows that now) from all my combined income (of which my QOL fees aren’t even a fraction), he has every right to be pissed that he lost his chump change.

    Allen just makes shit up, throws it out there and sits around licking his chops waiting to see what sticks.

    The Ellis7869 guy (I don’t know who he is, but I know who Nissenbaum is because I recently settled his claims against QOL and which were as a result of his run-in with Allen and well before my time) said it best in this VE3D thread:

    http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/56981/David-Allen-Tells-His-Side-vs-Quest-Online-Derek-Smart/

    The only thing this time is that he picked the wrong bear to go and poke. He’ll never – ever – work in this industry again. Ever.

  • http://Website dsmart

    @Lorekeep, @Tox

    Seriously?

    When Jesus H. Christ said for us to turn the other cheek, he never said anything about the other person toting a frying pan.

    There is NOTHING that says I can’t fight this head on. Did you take the TIME to go over to Allen’s blog and post a comment (assuming he even approves it) telling him the same thing?

    People in glass houses or those on the outside looking in are usually the most clueless and opinionated. To each his own I guess.

    Allen brought this ALL on himself. AGAIN. Nobody helped him do it.

  • http://www.gawaintheblind.com GTB

    Oh, Derek Smart. Don’t ever change.

  • http://Website Arkazon

    I am having a difficult time explaining to myself how this is different from any other forum flame-fest in the history of the interwebs. Whether it’s two teenagers or two grown adults, hasn’t it just boiled down to long public articles about how the writer is in the right and the other person is viciously evil and out to destroy them? In the court of public opinion, it is still “he said, she said.” That’s why we have actual courts and actual lawyers to actually sort the matter out. A civilized society handles these disagreements the proper way. High school drama tweens handle it in the way it has been handled thus far.

  • http://geldonsgaming.blogspot.com/ geldonyetich

    I try not to evoke the hubris of highly motivated peoples. Whether or not any of it is justified one way or the other, a lot of shit will go down.

  • http://Website Freakazoid

    Oh dear lord, derek just used a link to his own post, desguised as someone else, as a supporting statement.

    Allen, if you’re reading this, I really, really hope you win.

  • http://Website angry gamer

    /equip POPCORN

  • http://Website Lorekeep

    Whatever Allen can say or do pales in comparison to what you’re doing to yourself.

    The only thing that says you can’t fight it head on is common sense. Derek, nobody gives a shit about your case, you, or Alganon. They only want to see you make a fool of yourself repeatedly for the lulz.

    I understand that this is something serious to you, but the more thrashing you do, the louder the mockery and laughing gets.

    It’s not even a matter of like, hate and what-not, Derek. You’re just conducting yourself in such a foolish manner that it would make the Jersey Shore cast blush. So we watch, we laugh, but don’t assume anyone cares about your troubles aside from seeing them continue so they can continue to laugh at you and how you handle things. Watching you try to defend yourself is like watching an episode of Mr. Bean; lots of bumbling and nonsensical activity.

    If it was just Allen, everyone would be laughing at Allen. You actually would come off as looking logical, sane, and smart instead of Smart if you learned to shut up and act (NOT speak) instead of putting on a failed smear campaign (dirtying yourself in the process) that appears to have motivations rooted in equal parts self-promotion and psychotic episodes. Note: If you had a sparkling reputation and people trusted you, then what you’re doing would work. In this case, the exact opposite is happening.

    I know you don’t care though, the same way Glenn Beck doesn’t care about “the haters.” Glenn knows what he’s doing to make money. I assume that’s what you’re also thinking. I’m just thankful I don’t have to care about your business even though you try so desperately to give the impression that you want people to care beyond watching the train wreck in slow motion.

  • http://Website dsmart

    @ Freakazoid

    Yeah, keeping dreaming pal.

    There is a LAWSUIT in place, all it takes to obtain IP, anon info etc based on a John Doe complaint, is a subpoena. A judge can sign that while sitting on the can. Takes less than an hour.

    For example. In case you missed the original VE3D post from two weeks ago in which they were quoting defamatory materials direct from Allen’s blog, the writer (Jube), refused to remove it, hiding being the ludicrousness of “we’re just reporting the news” and completely oblivious to the fact that the re-publication of defamatory material is legally actionable if you – the site – posted it. s230 of the CDA offers NO protection (like it does forum posts, blog comments etc) from that.

    First, I asked nicely.

    She didn’t think so and gave me the runaround. I took it to mean that she gave me the finger.

    So, since she clearly had no clue how the law actually works, I introduced our attorneys to the IGN attorneys, then while all that was going down, I went straight to the top of the IGN food chain and made them aware of it because I didn’t want some clueless writer to mess with my long standing good relationship with them and over some disgruntled loser.

    Problem solved.

    And that’s what this exerpt in the VE3D link that I posted previously, was about:

    “Update Since the story ran yesterday, David Allen has removed the above mentioned blog post from his website. Due to claims of defamation by Quest Online, we have removed a direct quote from this news post which was taken from Allen’s original blog post.”

    So no, that poster was NOT me or ANYONE that I am associated with. But it sure as hell is a nice thought though ain’t it? Especially if it buys into the “Lets slam Derek Smart” agenda.

    The problem with this sort of thing is that you have to draw a fine line between what you value the most. Do you want to spend money over some inconsequential nincompoop and burn bridges while you’re at it?

    There is a reason why defamation suits are on the rise (apparently it has risen consistently in the past 3 years) and it is all because, like IP theft, most idiots think that they can hide behind an alias. Judges and attorneys are hip to the emerging trends, there are LOTS of new guidelines, statutes etc and all in the name of curbing illegal activity on the Internet and being on the forefront of an otherwise lawless frontier.

  • http://Website dsmart

    @lorekeep

    While I can’t say that I respect your opinions – since you’re too inconsequential for me to ever care, let alone bat an eyelid – you are most certainly entitled to them.

    Unless and until someone like you is on the receiving end of something like this, you can’t truly know how someone should feel, react, engage etc. We’re all humans and that’s what makes us all unique. You are nobody to even begin to judge me, let alone articulate what you think I should do differently and why.

    I don’t want to start a fight, so lets just leave it at that.

  • http://Website Lorekeep

    Alright, then. Good luck.

  • http://Website Arkazon

    “Do you want to spend money over some inconsequential nincompoop and burn bridges while you’re at it?”

    But….but aren’t you doing just that? *head explodes* If time is money, and you spend no small amount of time drafting long responses to what amounts to an internet flamer… I mean, why not ignore it and just let the attorneys deal with it in the court? Why go so far as to add to the public drama?

  • http://Website dsmart

    @ Arkzon

    Good point. But taken out of context methinks :)

  • http://Website Syntrix

    I came here to complain about “…so I’m removing my copious re-posting of the OH GOD PLEASE STOP bits, awaiting the day in the future when they reappear and I can properly mock them again.”, mostly looking for some of those OH GOD PLEASE STOP bits getting reposted but then I find this treasure trove in the comments. Today is a good day to be bored on the net!

    And the winner is: entertainment! Isn’t that what we are all looking for anyway? Well that and tits, of course.

  • http://Website pharniel

    “But….but aren’t you doing just that? *head explodes* If time is money, and you spend no small amount of time drafting long responses to what amounts to an internet flamer… I mean, why not ignore it and just let the attorneys deal with it in the court? Why go so far as to add to the public drama?”

    Because then he’s not RIGHT!!!1!11!111!!1!!lolerz

  • http://Website Arkazon

    Danke. I think what some people have been getting at, amidst colorful metaphors and heated opinions, is that the uninvolved onlookers will always analyze every action and come up with theories about why a person chose the path they took. The respondent taking the path of also going public risks adding fuel to a fire that would otherwise be a mild ember. Instead of “David Allen is running his mouth on his blog,” it becomes “David Allen and Derek Smart are lobbing explodey grenades of blogdom at one another.”

    It becomes a spectacle with neither participant taking the zen approach of smiling and nodding like a parent who watches a toddler throw a tantrum, knowing the tantrum will garner no results. Otherwise, should the parent argue loudly and angrily with the child, onlookers will stop and stare and the child will continue flailing and crying.

    Granted, it must be infuriating to have someone in the industry lobbing grenades which you feel are baseless and ridiculous. Was the direct use-the-same-weapons approach the best method of responding?

  • http://Website dsmart
  • http://Website dsmart

    @ Arkazon

    I absolutely agree with you there. But as I said before, we’re only humans and thus act individually. What might otherwise make sense to someone can be perceived by another as only the acts of a mad person. Present company excluded of course. :)

    Seriously, this is has been one painful process. When I fired Allen, I was under the impression that it would be the end of that, he’d move on, we’d pay him a little bit of money etc. Boy was I wrong. Ego is a very dangerous thing and that is exactly what is driving him. And the fact that he made this personal, just makes it all the more bothersome.

    He’s going to pay dearly; only this time, he’s not going to destroy another company. Not on my watch.

    I have run my own company for 20+ years, shipped fourteen games, managed hundreds of people, made millions of dollars etc. Despite my otherwise colorful industry persona, I have a proven track record that points to my being very – very – good at what I do.

    Still, I’m human and prone to mistakes, doing/saying the wrong thing etc. But at the end of the day, I always ensure that I’m doing the right thing. Plus my wife won’t have it any other way. :)

  • http://Website Irenor

    Pretty sure Scott didn’t expect a suprise guest to show up :P

  • http://Website A Man In Black

    The company was officially started in January 2006 with myself and Greg as equal owners and Managing Members, and Jason Blood as our first developer.

    See, there’s your first mistake. If your developer is prone to changing into a firebreathing demon that has a tendency to cause all sorts of issues.

    Hey, if we can get dsmart to say “Trmas Kered”, will that make him return to the 5th dimension?

  • http://blog.eldergoth.com/ Carson

    To both participants, I would misquote Dr. Zoidberg.

    “Your game is bad and you should feel bad!!”

  • http://Website John Smith

    I DON’T KNOW WHO I SHOULD BE CHEERING FOR.

  • http://Website Informis

    Lawyers.

  • http://Website kildy

    I don’t feel like downloading three gigs on a lark, but since the relaunch has the /who feature been disabled? Because prior to the relaunch, the way he would have gotten his metrics would have been just that. There are posts going over online player averages prior to the relaunch all over the alganon forums.

    So, I’m not entirely sure what legal hot water you would be in if you logged into a game and typed /who a few times a day. That said, it’s still an absolutely terrible graph (who labels the timeframe and gives absolutely no insight into the freaking values? Honestly..), but I doubt it was obtained with any corporate espionage.

  • http://Website Xaldin

    Wow.

    There are trainwrecks then there is this.

    As an aside is it just me or has the years mellowed Mr Smart some? He seems much more rational these days than eras past.

  • http://Website JuJutsu

    I’m not a developer, not even a pundit. Is there any reason I should be interested in any of this?

  • http://Website A Man In Black

    Is there any good reason for Derek Smart to stop being a nut at this point? The die is cast, and his audience is now “People who like games with a side of drama.” Even if he had a sudden change of heart tomorrow and stop doing silly things like insulting people on messageboards, he’d forever be that guy who went and insulted people every time his name popped up on Google Search Alerts (or whatever it’s called).

    With that in mind, who in their right mind gets into it with Derek Smart? Lying down with swine and all that.

  • http://Website ToeJob


    dsmart:

    “At least there’s one positive thought; the investors who injected Derek get to work with him on a regular basis. That’s a form of punishment no legal system could ever provide.”/blockquote>

    Don’t know how you see that quote as one from a madman but seeing you on this blog is proving that I must have done something pretty awful in a former life.

  • http://taolurker.spaces.live.com/ taolurker

    “I absolutely agree with you there. But as I said before, we’re only humans and thus act individually. What might otherwise make sense to someone can be perceived by another as only the acts of a mad person. Present company excluded of course. :) ”

    But, why should you be excluded? Like you are that much less acting like a “mad person”… Or are more allowed to state your opinion of the level of sanity on the opposite side of a business dispute? That’s supposed to be handled in court?!? WTF?

    You opened by saying he was “basically nuts” as well as investing 30k+ words in a day in some box on the intraweb (while pretending to be some internet god).. It’s making you seem close to that as well.

    What I don’t see is how any of what you’re doing is in any way necessary? You claim this is painful but then why are you continuing to add to the drama and stress involved? Like was said previous by Arkazon, “Why not take the adult approach, along with the lawyers?” Why get involved in the feces throwing experiment?

    Haven’t you learned that from the internet yet?

    Your adding to the drama is exactly like what Lorekeep said, lulz for 60% of the internet and video game public (with the other percents being 24%=don’t care, and 16% that only care about the games). You being in the comments section here, where all of us are definitely rofl’ing at you, yeah, that’s nuts.

    Seriously, what does any of this accomplish? Really, learn some meditation and relaxation techniques (or get a Psychiatrist with maybe prescriptions). You should be lurking watching him and laughing, not mocking him in public or exposing your ego and insanity to others.

    5
    Heaven and earth are not moved
    by offerings of straw-dogs.
    The True Person is not moved
    by offerings of straw-dogs.

    The space between heaven and earth is like a bellows.
    It is empty and yet never exhausted.
    The more it works the more comes out.

    Many words lead to exhaustion.
    Better to hold fast to your center.

  • http://Website Bl4ckj4ck

    Oh my goodness! I’ve been waiting for more dSmart flamewars!

    This has to be one of the oldest forms of entertainment on the internet and I, for one, am glad to see things get old school. Especially since I missed the first one a week or two back.

    Christmas came early!

  • Pingback: Unstoppable Ego meets Immovable Ego « Bio Break

  • http://Website dsmart

    @ taolurker

    Yah, I’m not playing this game dude, so have at it.

    If there’s meaningful discussion to be had,I’m willing to engage because I love nothing better than a good laugh as someone else’s expense. But anything that involves nonsensical discourse is only going to affect my karma and disrupt my chi. Plus I have church on Sunday and have to behave and prep all week for that.

  • http://geldonsgaming.blogspot.com/ geldonyetich

    I care not to engage in a battle of wits the man who wrought the massive Battlecruiser series together through sheer force of will, unless perhaps the the topic at hand was exceptionally user-friendly interfaces.

  • http://Website dsmart

    @ geldonyetich

    Admitedly, the original Battlecruiser – my very first game – wasn’t my finest hour, but considering that I probably made more money than most will ever see in their lifetime, I’m not complaining.

    And fourteen games later, I’m still here doing what I love doing. And I didn’t end up blowing someone else’s money. It’s all my money.

    That was 15yrs ago. and we’ve all moved on. Maybe you too should do the same.

  • http://geldonsgaming.blogspot.com/ geldonyetich

    And you deserve your success, I should say. Though I’ve taken some amateurish construction set runs at the task myself, I’ve never seen through the construction of a game myself, but I’ve encountered the monolithic challenge of realizing a vision firsthand, and Battlecruiser (and the related series to follow) were certainly one of the most ambitious visions I’ve ever seen.

    That said, we all have different hats to wear, and as a fellow whose gamer hat has seen far too much wear from overuse, I dare say I would have liked to see that vision shoehorned into something a tad more stable and less complicated.

  • http://Website SteveG

    Demise was better than all the Battlecruiser games combined.

  • http://Website taodon

    Wow… I mean I had heard the rumors… but just… wow.

  • http://Website dsmart

    @geldonyetich

    Indeed.

    However, the Universal Combat combat series of games built tremendously on that original vision. There is a demo you can try if you are so inclined.

    http://www.3000ad.com/games/

  • http://Website Toastrider

    You know, I thought about just writing this off as drama + funny, till I hit this:

    ‘And fourteen games later, I’m still here doing what I love doing.’

    And while D. Smart has said and done some remarkably silly things (Coke machine), this quote does kinda resound. If you’re doing what you love, and making money… then the verbal slings and arrows of others really don’t matter, do they?

    Also, something mentioned early on:

    ‘You can sue anyone, anytime, anywhere.’

    Very true in the U.S., and actually /worse/ in some places overseas. Read up on ‘libel tourism’ sometime. I’m not a huge fan of lawsuits save in severe cases, because most of the time it’s the lawyers that get rich.

  • http://Website fleetwood

    Derek Smart is the Uwe Boll of video games.

  • Scatch Maroo

    Someone must alert the President! The economy has faltered because too many people have failed to be productive at work, too busy following the sharade that is this!

    Maybe Allen’ll come up with a graph detailing productivity v. blog posts between the two participants…

  • http://Website Abagadro

    To answer the question above that was incorrectly answered, you cannot sue “anyone, anywhere.” For out of state defendants, you have to have meet the requirements of the state’s “long arm jurisdiction” statute and what’s called “personal jurisdiction” over the defendant to have a case (well you can bring the action, but it will be dismissed on a motion). You can gain personal jurisdiction over a nonresident someone generally by them doing business in your state (don’t even have to be physically, just doing remote business depending upon the circumstances) or “purposefully availing themselves” of the privileges of the state.

    As for collecting, you get your judgment and then “domesticate” it by filing in states where the judgment debtor has assets that you want to go after.

    More info than you wanted, but there you go.

  • http://Website Arroth Thaiel

    Ah Lum,

    Your milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.

  • http://Website Sean

    Is David Allen still living in a cardboard box underneath a highway? Wondering how the guy can still maintain an internet connection when he apparently is homeless.

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