Check out the following videos before they go public by supporting the show for as little as you wish... 🤑The Peter Molyneux Kickstarter DISASTER 🤑Kickstarter 's DUMBEST scam 🤑The Paprium Scandal .. And coming soon... 🔜The Story behind GoFundMe's strangest campaign ... THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT 🟠 PATREON: www.patreon.com/slopesgameroom 🔴 UA-cam MEMBERS: ua-cam.com/channels/455p7ts9lh8IWi5zuf_8tQ.htmljoin
I'm with you, man. People are too quick to respond with negativity after only reading a click bait headline but never sack up when the other side of the story comes out. A perfect, recent example is the Mick Gordon/id Software split.
THis guy that was "making" Kumo is a pathetic piece of trash. Ho do people like this exist? WTF is wrong with him? Lol at all these simps not wanting a refund..... scammed thouroughly.
Greg is pretty manipulative, and the fact that his go to response to negative feedback is "shut it down, lads" means it is doubtful if he would have ever finished it. Even if he had no issues legally, he was obviously searching for a way out of the project. The only way I'd believe he was actually working on the thing is if he released the most up to date version of the game to backers.
CamperCarl00. Point take on Grey's secretly motive. Also, I think that Grey is used excused on his mental status (no offended to people who are actual struggle with Mental health) and his own family to get extra sympathy from his paid customers and sealed away from his online problem. Despite, I felt more sympathy to people who have struggled with mental health issues in their personal life (Hell, I know my friends from both college and university have face this issues while looking for a career at the time) and family (mostly, first time or current parents or living with your own parents due to personal reason). I growing to hate people who used this method of manipulation tactics to play around people's decision making who have their own problem included financial are being ripped off, lies and straight forward not giving credit to the original creator whether is an artwork, product and games by inserting themselves to created *this* work. Also, if Grey really struggles with his own mental health, I hope he has discussed with someone about the issue or go to a local hospital or clinic to talk about this mental health so that they can at least give him to the right people. Not sure if he would come back on his project especially how heated his paid customers have talked on his Kickstarter's comment sessions.
id want nothing from that manipulative snake hes the kind of person to spit on some one while the other person says thank you. I hate people with that much charisma only to warp it to get their way in life. Guy comes off as a skitzo not an artist..
Problem is that even releasing the thing in its current state would be copyright infringement in the US, if the "stolen" assets were indeed stolen. And considering he has seen both the claim and some number of third-party investigations showing that the claim is legitimate, the infringement would at that point be willful (making the legal situation worse).
It's quite sad that people let a thief get away with thousands of dollars just because he was polite and kind. He spent nothing on this game of stolen assets and now, never has to produce it either!
I took one look at the character and said, "This looks a lot like Journey." I'm really shocked that they haven't said anything because the upper half of that character and the motion of the cape looks exactly like their characters.
I thought the exact same thing. I’ve never even played that game but within seconds of seeing the little dude from Kumo getting up I was thinking, “this looks a hell of a lot like that other game I see a lot.”
Whether those comments about "not needing a refund" were legit or not, it really doesn't matter. The way he worded the Refund Update meant that no one was getting a refund. He told people to not contact him and that he would fill them "one at a time", so if you hadn't got your refund he already set up the "it's not your spot on the list yet, it's coming I promise" excuse. In short: The check's in the mail.
He didn't provide all the information. I am the person who made the comment at 22:22. At the time he updated us letting us know that he had mental strains from game development and that it was taking time away from him and his growing family, which included a young baby. For these reasons, I'm sure, most people like myself just wished him the best. You don't assume the worse, but I can only speak for myself when I say, I knew also that backing a Kickstarter campaign is risky and not to rely on any project really working. So the money was a gamble.
Honesty, respect to that resetera poster Kitty. They put in more work uncovering the truth about the trees than any gaming youtuber or journalist would've.
How many backers are turning down refunds? Is it possible they are fake accounts/friends of the dev who were there originally to help ‘goose’ the funding process, the way some people have friends bid on their online auctions to raise the price?
3Dsjk Indeed possible. But I’m pretty sure you can see if someone has donated in the comments section of specific Kickstarter projects. So unless all his friends and family backed him in the first place, and are willing to forgo their donated money, I doubt this is the case. This is just a mental issues bait an switch and people actually bought it. But then again, aren’t most people on these crowd funding sites easily manipulated in the first place...
@@annabella1650 Actually there are only 5 people who said they didn't want a refund; Melvyn Ong, Philipp Nieder, Mayer Serge, Screwattack94, and Alex Larsen. That is 0.64% of the total number of backers...
A lot of the pledge levels weren't that expensive and more and more people these days understand that crowdfunding isn't without risk. So if someone drops $20 on a game that eventually doesn't ship, it's not a huge deal. I can understand people at at more expensive tiers wanting refunds, but for the cheap ones I can see some people willing to just walk away.
He made it all about him in that message to his Discord. He stole the assets and won’t address it. He distracted the conversation to make it about “respect.”
I believe the term is sycophant, a person who says the things people want to hear to get his way. I really want to say he was a decent person but he should've been honest about the tree asset in the first place and not delete posts.
Ah 'free assets via competitions,' a long running scam. Even large companies where doing this one, long before the internet was even a thing. Always look for clauses that any submitted art/photo/anything belongs to the organization running the contest as they are in there somewhere. Few people who have lost such contests only to be served cease-and-dismiss paperwork for positing their entry in other locations. They had signed away the copy-write on that work as part of entry, after all.
Isn’t this exactly what Ubisoft wants to do with Beyond Good And Evil 2? “Artists will be able to link their HitRECord and Space Monkey Program accounts, and start submitting content with the tag "BGE2" for review by the development team. Creators can submit designs or music, and can build on pre-existing content in the site's archives. Creators will also be credited and paid for their contributions based on item type, scope of work, and intention for its use.” It says payed for, but based on how that statement is written I have my doubts about that. I haven’t seen any drama around that, so maybe not an issue if done right?
This is like companies that make cartoon creators sign away their shows, all to drop the project before or shortly after a few episodes have aired, leaving that creator both with no money from the show AND unable to pitch it elsewhere. These companies just sit on these IP's...screwing the creators. There needs to be laws that if the show isn't going to be used in a set amount of time, the rights of it are reverted back to the creator. Same thing if the show is cancelled after only a pilot episode or two.
It's the classic "exposure" clause that advertisers and other companies use to try and get someone to do expensive work for free. Never fall for the exposure lie.
But the real mystery was left unsolved - what kind of mass hypnotics made those people reject their refund? This seems so unlike "the internet"... o_O;
I wonder if it is the positive side of mob mentality. One or ten people go..naw i am good. And suddenly it seems like it's not so bad to be magnanimous as well.
I'm gonna bet most of those only kept to the Kickstarter, maybe twitter, so didn't know anything posted on discord and nothing after it was closed. So they saw a poor guy who was bullied by big company and had to give up for his health.
Its to do with the human nature of admitting mistakes. Once you have defended someone (ie the trees) and you have been proven wrong you are not going to admit or give in to it. So if they ask for a refund they would have to admit they were wrong to defend this and people are stubborn. Plus his Discord was active so he probably used that to gain personal relationships with individuals.
nah nah nah jk jk... but like... could you imagine? like, image if we were stranded on a desert island... wouldn't it be funny if you gave me your tress ha. jk jk... but like idk
He seems very much like a plagiarist with fanboys. If he begged for assets from Tequila Works, a larger developer, he'll beg for and steal assets from individuals. Exposure doesn't pay the rent, children. Never forget that.
Well, technically I bet you probably could find a way. But it sounds like you may have a level of dignity and personal accountability that raises you above shirking responsibility for mere financial gain. If so, that's something to be proud of and people who see that likely respect you for it 👍
@@anubrakahn2970 I completely agree with that. People that take advantage of a so called mental state should not do that. I have had mental problems for a long time yet I have always remained normal. Anyone that takes advantage of something should be ashamed.
Ah yes, the good old internet mob, in when they can clown and attack someone and vanishing into the mists when there's no denying they were wrong with nary a 'sorry my bad' on the wind.
The other developers under contract for other companies were probably under agreement to transfer copyright of the assets to the clients. So no legitimate way for him to use those assets. They were possibly breaking NDA alone just leaking the assets, they certainly weren't authorized to issue license of use.
I just discovered this channel today. I've binged so much just today that I think I know more about Kickstarter failure than I do about my own daughter. Love the channel!
Finish what you start even if you hate it. That's the whole reason writers get advances to encourage them to finish it (legally binding contract and all.)
The fact that he was withholding information about the models is sketchy in it's own way but as for other things I imagine he acted out about things due to stress and didn't know the consquences so tried to back track to fix it only for things to get worse. If he didn't let him emotions get the best of him it may have ended better for him.
"How to recognize different kind of trees from quite a long way away. Number 1- The larch THE LARCH" Where was this documentary when they needed it the most, eh?
Eh, if I was a solo developer(and I am) before working on a large scale project, I would do small scale projects first, get funds from there and that's how I would fund something big. Asking people to support my project from a get go would put a lot of pressure on me, and I don't have the patience for that.
It's part of why I won't be running a crowdfunding campaign early on, either. I don't want the pressure of doing things NOW to not anger a lot of people. :-/ Maybe towards the very end, so I can pay the artists/sound people out in full faster (and I intend to give royalties for whatever stays in the game in addition). Also haven't commissioned too many assets separately yet, for the same reason. Don't want to keep people waiting, and the funding is essentially my paycheck.
Stealing assets, playing the victim when called out on it, lying to and manipulating his audience... This guy sounds like another YandereDev, except he apparently wasn’t cruising by on Patreon handouts.
And he is a bit more charming and likab;le than YandereDev... but then again, Margaret Thatcher was more charming and likable than Yandere "StOp SeNdInG mE eMaIlS" Dev
>accusing yanderedev of asset stealing without evidence. Some of the assets were freeware but he's literally been replacing it all with assets made by people who voluntarily make them for him.
@@GeoNeilUK "how dare he not want to be flooded with emails from 12 year olds asking stupid questions when he's trying to read actually important emails"
If there's something we can all learn from this, it's to make your own assets. If you can't make your own grass or trees then you can't be a developer, just look at YanDev, he stole assets and tried to scribble out the name on the grass texture
did anybody else happen to notice the kumo boy has a scarf and upper hood like journeys main character? also the flying through scarfs is pretty similar to journey?
Commented the exact same thing. There was maybe some very tiny change made but this really feels a lot like plagiarism. There's being inspired by someone's work and then there's this. Between the stealing of the trees, copying the cape and motions of Journey, and the posts begging for assets from other devs, I'm just wondering what percentage is truly, without a doubt, his own work?
1:42 Weird thing to notice buuut I have a reaaaal similar scar to yours below my lip haha. Had a piercing popped through there as a teen y'see. And that giant puzzle's freakin' incredible.
Yeah, there's a whole program called "SpeedTree" that literally has a database of thousands of trees, in hundreds of styles from spooky to animated to realistic, across loads of species. Even reacts to wind and stuff. Don't know how much a licence costs but I'd bet it isn't ridiculous.
There's free assets on the internet. Why straight jack them from the game you're already gonna draw comparisons to? That only works for shitty mobile games.
UGH. As a 3d artist I trust that you trust me on this - Those trees took 1 minute to set up an operator for, and subsequently 5 seconds of clicking each, after that. each and every example...
Honestly it sounds like he stole the tree assets got called out for it, and tried to pull a "Big company is trying to bully my smaller company" and people fell for it until people started to look deeper.
@@slopesgameroom Also, when speaking about the person who'd known Ben for a long time and revealed how much he'd been harassing others, your audio said "I've known Ben since 2007" but the text showed 2017, lol.
first resetera is pronuced reset era, also they're are a bunch of a-holes who want to put their politics into the games they don't even play. Greg is very lazy to get assets should of had more people on the project.
I like how he’s now saying on his Kickstarter that Dan’s video has taken him out of context 😂 guessing he still can’t admit the truth, guessing Treegate really scolded him 😂
Personally, I would have said "Okay, he took a little too much inspiration from the other game and didn't change enough of it" but then seeing the "Give me your assets" posts, yeah, no. If you're going to steal or "borrow" assets from another developer AT LEAST be smart about it and don't post "Can I borrow/steal your assets" in their game's Discord/Twitter/Facebook/etc.
Just because somebody says they don't want to do something doesn't mean they don't want to do something. Sometimes those words come from a place of mental exhaustion, emotional drainage .
I'm an artist who's dealt with tracers and thieves on several occasions. This guy's tactics line up perfectly with every single shameless thief I've ever run into. When they get caught they lie, lie, lie, and play the victim right to your face and try to get sympathy from literally anyone. Even if he had been given the file by another artist he has no right to turn around and use it in his own game. Assets are one of the few things a video game company can protect.
At some extend I think it's fair to use someone else assets for the goal of building a PoC or demo. It takes less time and you can focus on the game play and story line. But you have to be transparent about it, and make sure to replace them for an actual release to the public.
This episode was quite interesting to preview. The quality of your videos is amazing and the work that goes into them all is admirable. I’m glad that I became a UA-cam Member!
lel yanderedev bad, upgeraldos to the left. dude is literally working on and uploading the testing builds and still giving progress reports but people hate him because, uhh, he said a bad word on a twitch stream or something.
Hey Daniel, awesome video, you covered the whole situation really well and even showed a little bit that I wasnt aware of. Thanks for including a portion of the interview we did with Gregg as well, awesome to think you've seen it! To be honest, I pin a lot of Gregg's actions down more so down to stupidity than actual maliciousness, think even Gregg will admit to the fact he was stupid in his handling of all of this. I've told him to get someone to do PR for him and run his accounts if he were to ever pick Kumo up again, and of course, make sure no stolen files and models are present. Awesome video again dude 👍
the Tequilas trees and Nintendo trees are completely different, ones more detailed and others more simple, don't know how someone would think that, but Kumo and tequilas trees are pretty similar
Surely it's not a huge amount of effort to create new assest? I'm no 3D artist but i can draw a 2D tree that looks like a tree, i also know how wireframes work and while they'd be low polygon they would pass as trees and considering this is a lowbudget indie game they'd pass as acceptable.
The guy who made this game got really angry at me in a Blender VC in the Blender discord server because I was playing around with Nintendo models to make renders for fun and he started going off about how he works for Nintendo and could get me in trouble because I ripped models from a Nintendo game.
Damnit Dan now I gotta go play Zelda Breath of the wild for like the 4th time! Why ya gotta put that music over the trees section? 😁 Edit: then you directly mentioned (and showed) BotW. Welp I'm off to fire up me Switch.
There are definite similarities in those trees, if not exact. Heck, even on the ones you show side by side, it's clear that one is a mirror image of the other.
I mean it would have been more believable when it all started coming out that he was using them as placeholder assets until the final ones were completed. He could have covered his bases without getting everyone upset at him but honestly I don't think he would ever have been willing to admit that he was not already using his own assets.
douse not drawing a "Tree" by necessity means you produce an image that looks like a "Tree". being there are only limited ways to produce such an image is it not totally reasonable for two different artists to produce images that look similar. in fact, the two works should by definition contain substantial similarities.
But the models are the same? I can understand from the perspective of inspiration and similarities in appearance. But in this case it was the same tree. That's the thing about the 3D Models, they are collections of data for representing a 3D object in 2D space. This means one can go into the files and compare the positions of each face and see whether a model is the same one or not. If the guy really had made the asset himself, there would have been differences from his own placing of tri's. It's really hard to trace in 3D
SPOILER: how can someone be so...obvious about shadily copping assets in a forum like that? There's asking a friend "you gonna finish that?" at a restaurant near the end of the meal, then there's asking before they even began eating, then asking everyone else the same thing lol
If someone is lacking assets, there are a lot of free or cheap ones. So, anyone who is begging artists to give up their assets for free is probably more about possession than a lack of assets. They want to take away what someone else made with love and care and values high instead of the cheap ones anyone could get.
This seems a little a fishy. Given that there was at least some knowledge of the maker’s previous actions, I am more than a little surprised that so many people refused a refund. Especially given what people are willing to demand refunds over. Sure the guy did mention his issues, but that coupled with the whole “have your assets in the game” contest, you’d think people would be a tiny little bit less sympathetic. Whether or not this has been done on purpose, I’d be demanding a refund at this point. The guy was at the very least begging people for assets without remorse or dignity, and at that point you have to ask where the money from the KickStarter went.
i checked the Kickstarter for Kumo my self and a comment 9 months ago about this video has been posted from Benjamin Gregg saying and i quote 'i have already seen the video and a lot if it is out of context'
Doesn't matter if he got the trees from a developer or not. He asked for them so he could get "inspiration" for making his own. He then just took the trees and put them straight in his game. Kinda makes you wonder how Tequila found out about him using those trees specifically. Almost as if asking for those assets and then stealing them (whether he got them from a dev or not) got their attention.
When you work on assets as much as normal game devs do (especially stylized games like rime) you burn every leaf and branch into your soul. The games being so similar must have caught the attention of the company and when the kick-starter was shared around the company an artist must have immediately felt something was off. At the company I work for stuff like this happens every so often. Mostly from bootleg companies using our models for games in other regions or using our IP for merchandise. But our artists have these assets memorized. Someone once linked an interesting VR game and all of the artist and the lead producer instantly recognized a standard pistol as one of ours. The ingame model from our game had a specific logo of a fictional in game company and the asset thief didn't even bother to remove it. (then again they were stealing models, who knows if they can even model on their own)
This video has never sat well with me. It feels more like a guy wanted to make a game, his fundraiser failed, so he became desperate and begged for better assets than he could make himself (as he couldn't afford commissioned work), then combined the assets to make a decent looking game, but then struggled with personal issues over what he felt he had to do, so he self-destructed. I've met people like him before, I don't think they try to be manipulative on purpose, but the way they think and act still results in the same outcome. I don't feel angry at the guy like I do with scammers like the kobe beef jerky guys, I just feel sorry for him. He shot for the stars and got in way over his head.
He should have say the truth, change those damned trees and done. Even when they said the trees were the same, he could have said "yes, they gave me the assets, I stole nothing" then change them...
Well I'm glad I don't kickstart my game project because even me myself wouldn't trust myself with money. I prefer to just work on things on no budget at all to keep my humility.
Begging like that though, such a disgrace.... I concur though, it wouldn't be surprising if this kickstarter didn't understand what he was doing wrong in those situations. The complex and messy world of copy-write, and other similar systems, is insane even when you sit down and try to make sense of it. It is entirely possible to have the actual creators permission to use a piece of work and still end up in legal trouble, as there was two other entities that also had legal rights and they are upset at not being consulted.
I really don't understand why kickstarter game devs insist on trying to get their game on every platform from the start. Just make the game for PC, and if it's successful then publishers will be tripping over themselves to pay you to do all the work of releasing it on other platforms on your behalf. If it isn't successful then you won't have wasted anyone's time or money, including your own.
So without knowing where this was going... and based on the images shown of the initial trees... I knew something was up. The non-leaf bit was in a oddly similar position despite having different viewing angles. I'm assuming people saw the colour variance and used that as their excuse... I swear I could make an screen cap edit where Daniel Ibertson says something horrible... and people would easily believe it and I could be a hero. Now I can't access any of his deleted files this video may have or may have not mentioned... I can't prove ANY OF THIS is true and not edited. If this stuff is true and you're not omitting information this guy is a manipulative monster who played everyone like a fiddle. As someone who was the victim of manipulation... you learn to watch for certain signs. Here is one... the dev had the ability to prove the trees were different via giving a screen shot at the same angle between the two games. 4 shots for each game for the 4 sides. 6 if you do one from above/under it. Literally 8 images and he could walk into court with pretty much that and himself and win... along with the support of the entire internet. He had a 100% clear out but didn't use it. (Unless something was omitted in this video.) If someone is manipulating you and there is an absolute solution, like the above, they will not do it even when presented with it. So if you think someone might be doing that... present them with this. Don't let them side step or turn the conversation away from it. If they do... they are hiding something so try to keep on point and if they refuse then generally speaking it isn't trustworthy. I can't prove these images were real though... which is why I'm not able to take any action. Only the victims of manipulation generally know for a fact... and this does make me rethink someone who went missing elsewhere. That is another story for another time though.
Wait, did I miss something? It didn't seem like the biggest mystery was solved: why the backers were fine not taking their refunds. It seemed like this crashed and burned, and there was plenty of outrage. Not wanting a refund still doesn't make sense after watching this.
To me, a game is gameplay. And this project just looks like an asset flip. Supposing he stole every single asset, what did he add? Simply rudimentary unreal tutorial gameplay. His efforts just don’t deserve the money.
I actually back this Kickstarter, but if I recall I used a card I hardly used that doesn’t have any money what so ever 😅 I actually really think it would be awesome but it’s a shame the true colors
Check out the following videos before they go public by supporting the show for as little as you wish...
🤑The Peter Molyneux Kickstarter DISASTER
🤑Kickstarter 's DUMBEST scam
🤑The Paprium Scandal
..
And coming soon...
🔜The Story behind GoFundMe's strangest campaign
...
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@@thecoolcatsproductions8034 100% agreed.
the cool cats productions nah he has to make money somehow
@@thecoolcatsproductions8034 I make the same amount I always have for UA-cam. But now, I make 1 more for Patreons.
Will they eventually be on youtube for free?
@@mochiman6307 currently I have no plans too. At the moment only 1 of them would work on my channel anyway
I just feel sorry for Tequila Works. I doubt many of the people who went after them ever apologized.
@@Arjay82 Mobs in general. Not only in the Internet. Or do you think those looters acting right now will ever ask for forgiveness?
I'm with you, man. People are too quick to respond with negativity after only reading a click bait headline but never sack up when the other side of the story comes out.
A perfect, recent example is the Mick Gordon/id Software split.
THis guy that was "making" Kumo is a pathetic piece of trash. Ho do people like this exist? WTF is wrong with him? Lol at all these simps not wanting a refund..... scammed thouroughly.
yup. fuck indie devs. i'd rather buy a game made by a real company.
@@Jacen436987 that's stupid
Greg is pretty manipulative, and the fact that his go to response to negative feedback is "shut it down, lads" means it is doubtful if he would have ever finished it. Even if he had no issues legally, he was obviously searching for a way out of the project.
The only way I'd believe he was actually working on the thing is if he released the most up to date version of the game to backers.
CamperCarl00. Point take on Grey's secretly motive. Also, I think that Grey is used excused on his mental status (no offended to people who are actual struggle with Mental health) and his own family to get extra sympathy from his paid customers and sealed away from his online problem. Despite, I felt more sympathy to people who have struggled with mental health issues in their personal life (Hell, I know my friends from both college and university have face this issues while looking for a career at the time) and family (mostly, first time or current parents or living with your own parents due to personal reason). I growing to hate people who used this method of manipulation tactics to play around people's decision making who have their own problem included financial are being ripped off, lies and straight forward not giving credit to the original creator whether is an artwork, product and games by inserting themselves to created *this* work. Also, if Grey really struggles with his own mental health, I hope he has discussed with someone about the issue or go to a local hospital or clinic to talk about this mental health so that they can at least give him to the right people. Not sure if he would come back on his project especially how heated his paid customers have talked on his Kickstarter's comment sessions.
id want nothing from that manipulative snake hes the kind of person to spit on some one while the other person says thank you. I hate people with that much charisma only to warp it to get their way in life.
Guy comes off as a skitzo not an artist..
Problem is that even releasing the thing in its current state would be copyright infringement in the US, if the "stolen" assets were indeed stolen. And considering he has seen both the claim and some number of third-party investigations showing that the claim is legitimate, the infringement would at that point be willful (making the legal situation worse).
It's quite sad that people let a thief get away with thousands of dollars just because he was polite and kind. He spent nothing on this game of stolen assets and now, never has to produce it either!
@@artry93 It's the same trick the guy who said "the sun stopped my kickstarter" used, people believed him and were nice because he was clearly insane.
I took one look at the character and said, "This looks a lot like Journey." I'm really shocked that they haven't said anything because the upper half of that character and the motion of the cape looks exactly like their characters.
Fluffymiyster I won’t be surprised if that was stolen was well.
I'm glad to know I also wasn't the only one getting Journey vibes off Kumo
I thought the exact same thing. I’ve never even played that game but within seconds of seeing the little dude from Kumo getting up I was thinking, “this looks a hell of a lot like that other game I see a lot.”
Also on the "it looks a lot like Journey" boat, that was what immediately came to mind when I saw the project's video.
It gave me massive rime vibes
Whether those comments about "not needing a refund" were legit or not, it really doesn't matter. The way he worded the Refund Update meant that no one was getting a refund. He told people to not contact him and that he would fill them "one at a time", so if you hadn't got your refund he already set up the "it's not your spot on the list yet, it's coming I promise" excuse. In short: The check's in the mail.
I really wish they would sue the hell out of these people. Until Kickstarters are such legal loopholes, more and more such campaigns will happen.
This is how manipulation works. They now feel sorry for him instead of asking to get their money back. They feel sorry for a scammer.
He didn't provide all the information. I am the person who made the comment at 22:22. At the time he updated us letting us know that he had mental strains from game development and that it was taking time away from him and his growing family, which included a young baby.
For these reasons, I'm sure, most people like myself just wished him the best. You don't assume the worse, but I can only speak for myself when I say, I knew also that backing a Kickstarter campaign is risky and not to rely on any project really working. So the money was a gamble.
Honesty, respect to that resetera poster Kitty. They put in more work uncovering the truth about the trees than any gaming youtuber or journalist would've.
How many backers are turning down refunds? Is it possible they are fake accounts/friends of the dev who were there originally to help ‘goose’ the funding process, the way some people have friends bid on their online auctions to raise the price?
It’s possible. However given the amount of refused refunds, I would say I doubt his has that many friends and family willing to part with their money.
3Dsjk Indeed possible. But I’m pretty sure you can see if someone has donated in the comments section of specific Kickstarter projects.
So unless all his friends and family backed him in the first place, and are willing to forgo their donated money, I doubt this is the case.
This is just a mental issues bait an switch and people actually bought it.
But then again, aren’t most people on these crowd funding sites easily manipulated in the first place...
@@annabella1650 Actually there are only 5 people who said they didn't want a refund; Melvyn Ong, Philipp Nieder, Mayer Serge, Screwattack94, and Alex Larsen. That is 0.64% of the total number of backers...
A lot of the pledge levels weren't that expensive and more and more people these days understand that crowdfunding isn't without risk. So if someone drops $20 on a game that eventually doesn't ship, it's not a huge deal. I can understand people at at more expensive tiers wanting refunds, but for the cheap ones I can see some people willing to just walk away.
@NeverEvenThere
Yes, but in the video the amount of non-refunds was mentioned, granted a number of those could’ve just forgotten about their pledges.
He made it all about him in that message to his Discord. He stole the assets and won’t address it. He distracted the conversation to make it about “respect.”
Dunno how anyone could view this guy as "troubled" or "misunderstood". He's nothing more than a manipulator.
I mean, they're not mutually exclusive. He can have genuine issues _and_ be an asshole.
To be fair, most people manipulating do have mental trouble
I believe the term is sycophant, a person who says the things people want to hear to get his way. I really want to say he was a decent person but he should've been honest about the tree asset in the first place and not delete posts.
The fact that he has mental issues does not excuse him. If you have problems, you seek help; you don't use them as a get-out-of-jail-free card.
@@CrossoverGameReviews A sycophant is the person who follows someone like that, not the abuser themself.
Ah 'free assets via competitions,' a long running scam.
Even large companies where doing this one, long before the internet was even a thing. Always look for clauses that any submitted art/photo/anything belongs to the organization running the contest as they are in there somewhere. Few people who have lost such contests only to be served cease-and-dismiss paperwork for positing their entry in other locations. They had signed away the copy-write on that work as part of entry, after all.
Isn’t this exactly what Ubisoft wants to do with Beyond Good And Evil 2?
“Artists will be able to link their HitRECord and Space Monkey Program accounts, and start submitting content with the tag "BGE2" for review by the development team. Creators can submit designs or music, and can build on pre-existing content in the site's archives. Creators will also be credited and paid for their contributions based on item type, scope of work, and intention for its use.”
It says payed for, but based on how that statement is written I have my doubts about that.
I haven’t seen any drama around that, so maybe not an issue if done right?
This is like companies that make cartoon creators sign away their shows, all to drop the project before or shortly after a few episodes have aired, leaving that creator both with no money from the show AND unable to pitch it elsewhere. These companies just sit on these IP's...screwing the creators. There needs to be laws that if the show isn't going to be used in a set amount of time, the rights of it are reverted back to the creator. Same thing if the show is cancelled after only a pilot episode or two.
@@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley tokyo pop manga...
It's the classic "exposure" clause that advertisers and other companies use to try and get someone to do expensive work for free. Never fall for the exposure lie.
Limp Bizkit were accused of doing this with their guitarist auditions in the early 2000's.
But the real mystery was left unsolved - what kind of mass hypnotics made those people reject their refund?
This seems so unlike "the internet"... o_O;
it's rather odd
I wonder if it is the positive side of mob mentality. One or ten people go..naw i am good. And suddenly it seems like it's not so bad to be magnanimous as well.
I'm gonna bet most of those only kept to the Kickstarter, maybe twitter, so didn't know anything posted on discord and nothing after it was closed.
So they saw a poor guy who was bullied by big company and had to give up for his health.
Kickstarter is not a pre-order. This is how the site is supposed to work.
Its to do with the human nature of admitting mistakes. Once you have defended someone (ie the trees) and you have been proven wrong you are not going to admit or give in to it. So if they ask for a refund they would have to admit they were wrong to defend this and people are stubborn. Plus his Discord was active so he probably used that to gain personal relationships with individuals.
"Wouldn't it be funny if you gave me your trees. haha jk..unless.."
😳
nah nah nah jk jk... but like... could you imagine? like, image if we were stranded on a desert island... wouldn't it be funny if you gave me your tress ha. jk jk... but like idk
I don’t think he stole from just Rime; the ruins at 16:35 look eerily similar to the ones in the Heart level of Karmaflow: The Rock Opera Videogame
The Battlesword and possibly journey as well. The cape on the player looks and flows like the one from that game.
Did you say... Rock Opera videogame!? I'm very confused and curious, gotta check it out
@@sam08g16 same. It sounds awesome
"Why am I making Kumo anymore?" Because a bunch of people already paid you to do so!?
He seems very much like a plagiarist with fanboys.
If he begged for assets from Tequila Works, a larger developer, he'll beg for and steal assets from individuals.
Exposure doesn't pay the rent, children. Never forget that.
Sounds like a thief got in over his head and bailed at the first opportunity.
“Tried to be as honest as he can be”
not hard enough apparently
Wish I could use my mental illnesses as excuses for getting paid to be lazy
Well, technically I bet you probably could find a way. But it sounds like you may have a level of dignity and personal accountability that raises you above shirking responsibility for mere financial gain. If so, that's something to be proud of and people who see that likely respect you for it 👍
@@anubrakahn2970 I completely agree with that.
People that take advantage of a so called mental state should not do that.
I have had mental problems for a long time yet I have always remained normal.
Anyone that takes advantage of something should be ashamed.
Ah yes, the good old internet mob, in when they can clown and attack someone and vanishing into the mists when there's no denying they were wrong with nary a 'sorry my bad' on the wind.
self awareness: 0
The other developers under contract for other companies were probably under agreement to transfer copyright of the assets to the clients. So no legitimate way for him to use those assets. They were possibly breaking NDA alone just leaking the assets, they certainly weren't authorized to issue license of use.
Was not expecting that Batman and Robin genesis music at the beginning. Nice choice
Gold star to you my friend... very well spotted
you wouldn't copy a tree
I just discovered this channel today. I've binged so much just today that I think I know more about Kickstarter failure than I do about my own daughter. Love the channel!
Finish what you start even if you hate it. That's the whole reason writers get advances to encourage them to finish it (legally binding contract and all.)
The amount of effort put into these videos are amazing
more effort in the video about the game then the game itself
The fact that he was withholding information about the models is sketchy in it's own way but as for other things I imagine he acted out about things due to stress and didn't know the consquences so tried to back track to fix it only for things to get worse. If he didn't let him emotions get the best of him it may have ended better for him.
The sad part is those trees are very easy to make..there is also better ones on the asset store for like $20
"How to recognize different kind of trees from quite a long way away.
Number 1- The larch
THE LARCH"
Where was this documentary when they needed it the most, eh?
The creator started harrasing me because i was using offficial nintendo models in blender for rendering for the lol. Thank god its cancelled.
Eh, if I was a solo developer(and I am) before working on a large scale project, I would do small scale projects first, get funds from there and that's how I would fund something big. Asking people to support my project from a get go would put a lot of pressure on me, and I don't have the patience for that.
It's part of why I won't be running a crowdfunding campaign early on, either. I don't want the pressure of doing things NOW to not anger a lot of people. :-/
Maybe towards the very end, so I can pay the artists/sound people out in full faster (and I intend to give royalties for whatever stays in the game in addition). Also haven't commissioned too many assets separately yet, for the same reason. Don't want to keep people waiting, and the funding is essentially my paycheck.
Stealing assets, playing the victim when called out on it, lying to and manipulating his audience...
This guy sounds like another YandereDev, except he apparently wasn’t cruising by on Patreon handouts.
And he is a bit more charming and likab;le than YandereDev... but then again, Margaret Thatcher was more charming and likable than Yandere "StOp SeNdInG mE eMaIlS" Dev
>accusing yanderedev of asset stealing without evidence.
Some of the assets were freeware but he's literally been replacing it all with assets made by people who voluntarily make them for him.
@@GeoNeilUK "how dare he not want to be flooded with emails from 12 year olds asking stupid questions when he's trying to read actually important emails"
@@gotgunpowder
I'm not one to judge, but maybe you should pick some better battles.
@@GeoNeilUK how do we know Trump wasn't one of them masterminds behind yandere Dev?
Dan, having watched your channel for years, I am loving how you're always improving your craft. Keep up the damn fine work, my man.
If there's something we can all learn from this, it's to make your own assets. If you can't make your own grass or trees then you can't be a developer, just look at YanDev, he stole assets and tried to scribble out the name on the grass texture
Dude, there's enough free and cheap assets online. You don't have to necessarily make your own
"stole" bro he used freeware assets and then replaced them with ones made by volunteers.
quit spreading lies.
@@gotgunpowder I wouldn't try to defend YanDev if I were you
did anybody else happen to notice the kumo boy has a scarf and upper hood like journeys main character?
also the flying through scarfs is pretty similar to journey?
Commented the exact same thing. There was maybe some very tiny change made but this really feels a lot like plagiarism. There's being inspired by someone's work and then there's this. Between the stealing of the trees, copying the cape and motions of Journey, and the posts begging for assets from other devs, I'm just wondering what percentage is truly, without a doubt, his own work?
Imagine getting toppled by ResetEra, that's just sad.
Don't plagiarise.
Always a good day when I see another video posted from Slopes Game Room. Hope you're well Daniel. This story was crazy and very interesting.
1:42 Weird thing to notice buuut I have a reaaaal similar scar to yours below my lip haha. Had a piercing popped through there as a teen y'see. And that giant puzzle's freakin' incredible.
Hahahaha yep, I got that for life. removed it a good 10 years ago
Ha snap, labret gang haha. Also took mine out 'round a decade back , was annoying as hell but looked neat while it lasted.
wow....tree are not difficult to make in 3d or he could just get asset packs or pay for asset packs.
There's a program that generates tree models that can be textured however you want.
maybe it was more about to making them efficient, he was having FPS drops, too many polygons or who knows
That ass could’ve manipulated a few dozen points and called it fair, but he didn’t even bother.
Yeah, there's a whole program called "SpeedTree" that literally has a database of thousands of trees, in hundreds of styles from spooky to animated to realistic, across loads of species. Even reacts to wind and stuff. Don't know how much a licence costs but I'd bet it isn't ridiculous.
There's free assets on the internet. Why straight jack them from the game you're already gonna draw comparisons to?
That only works for shitty mobile games.
UGH. As a 3d artist I trust that you trust me on this -
Those trees took 1 minute to set up an operator for, and subsequently 5 seconds of clicking each, after that.
each and every example...
Honestly it sounds like he stole the tree assets got called out for it, and tried to pull a "Big company is trying to bully my smaller company" and people fell for it until people started to look deeper.
That developer’s grammar is shocking
Chris Hopkins Bass yeah, he doesn’t seem like someone who’s right in his head, and even sounds like a troll/begger
At 11:32 you said twitter and showed reddit
Whoops. Well spotted. Ahhhhh that's annoyed me now!!!!
@@slopesgameroom Also, when speaking about the person who'd known Ben for a long time and revealed how much he'd been harassing others, your audio said "I've known Ben since 2007" but the text showed 2017, lol.
first resetera is pronuced reset era, also they're are a bunch of a-holes who want to put their politics into the games they don't even play. Greg is very lazy to get assets should of had more people on the project.
Warlok The true proper pronunciation 😂
having someone actually call you out with actual screenshots
Damn
Honestly I wish the dude well despite all the troubles
I like how he’s now saying on his Kickstarter that Dan’s video has taken him out of context 😂 guessing he still can’t admit the truth, guessing Treegate really scolded him 😂
This is like a master class in how to run a kickstarter scam. You make a game because you love it, not to get rich.
Announces he has mental health issues as an excuse us always a red flag. People are just using this excuse a lot nowadays..
Personally, I would have said "Okay, he took a little too much inspiration from the other game and didn't change enough of it" but then seeing the "Give me your assets" posts, yeah, no. If you're going to steal or "borrow" assets from another developer AT LEAST be smart about it and don't post "Can I borrow/steal your assets" in their game's Discord/Twitter/Facebook/etc.
Just because somebody says they don't want to do something doesn't mean they don't want to do something. Sometimes those words come from a place of mental exhaustion, emotional drainage .
I love this style of video, a lot of background information. Hope to see more of this.
one minute in and I'm thinking: money laundering scheme?
though PayPal requires ID so probably not...
I'm an artist who's dealt with tracers and thieves on several occasions. This guy's tactics line up perfectly with every single shameless thief I've ever run into. When they get caught they lie, lie, lie, and play the victim right to your face and try to get sympathy from literally anyone. Even if he had been given the file by another artist he has no right to turn around and use it in his own game. Assets are one of the few things a video game company can protect.
At some extend I think it's fair to use someone else assets for the goal of building a PoC or demo. It takes less time and you can focus on the game play and story line.
But you have to be transparent about it, and make sure to replace them for an actual release to the public.
Not ripped from another game though. There are so many free and cheap assets online that you can use until you've got your own built
Yeah, it's OK to use placeholders. But that's what assets packs are for. Ripping someone else's work, even for a PoC, is a dick move.
That wouldn't fall under fair use law.
This episode was quite interesting to preview. The quality of your videos is amazing and the work that goes into them all is admirable. I’m glad that I became a UA-cam Member!
Ahhhhh thanks ever so much. I appreciate the support buddy
Bro they're TREES. How different are they gonna look?
at least we prevented another yanderedev
Yanderedev is eternal.
At least this game probably wouldn’t have the gross elements
lel yanderedev bad, upgeraldos to the left.
dude is literally working on and uploading the testing builds and still giving progress reports but people hate him because, uhh, he said a bad word on a twitch stream or something.
Hey Daniel, awesome video, you covered the whole situation really well and even showed a little bit that I wasnt aware of.
Thanks for including a portion of the interview we did with Gregg as well, awesome to think you've seen it!
To be honest, I pin a lot of Gregg's actions down more so down to stupidity than actual maliciousness, think even Gregg will admit to the fact he was stupid in his handling of all of this.
I've told him to get someone to do PR for him and run his accounts if he were to ever pick Kumo up again, and of course, make sure no stolen files and models are present.
Awesome video again dude 👍
Glad i found this channel, the structure, writing and presentation is amazingly good.
Thanks ever so much mate
17:52 2007 (spoken) or 2017 (written)?
Damnit... well spotted
@@slopesgameroom Which one is right?
@@jennifertingelof-truecrime5890 2017 I read his quote wrong
@@slopesgameroom So you planning on fixing that or?
Wow he successfully manipulated quite a lot of people..."I don't need a refund", they say.
jeesus
That "almost fatal kickstarter" looks really interesting
22:00 I was expecting those "no thanks, no refund" comments to be fake. So it just baffles me even more now.
the Tequilas trees and Nintendo trees are completely different, ones more detailed and others more simple, don't know how someone would think that, but Kumo and tequilas trees are pretty similar
this hole thing is fish to me and i question if other assets where stolen
and im baffled by why so many people refused a refund
request refund: lol idiot
don't request refund: lol idiot
Surely it's not a huge amount of effort to create new assest? I'm no 3D artist but i can draw a 2D tree that looks like a tree, i also know how wireframes work and while they'd be low polygon they would pass as trees and considering this is a lowbudget indie game they'd pass as acceptable.
Jamie Oliver would be proud as hell of the word soup cooked up during the interview.
Video starts at 3:30 you are welcome
The guy who made this game got really angry at me in a Blender VC in the Blender discord server because I was playing around with Nintendo models to make renders for fun and he started going off about how he works for Nintendo and could get me in trouble because I ripped models from a Nintendo game.
The music at 12:00 just makes this the best video, its from the binding of isaac (my favourite game)
Damnit Dan now I gotta go play Zelda Breath of the wild for like the 4th time! Why ya gotta put that music over the trees section? 😁 Edit: then you directly mentioned (and showed) BotW. Welp I'm off to fire up me Switch.
There are definite similarities in those trees, if not exact. Heck, even on the ones you show side by side, it's clear that one is a mirror image of the other.
Holy crap, that guy is a complete rat. Why anybody _wouldn't_ demand a refund is beyond me. But it's Kickstarter. Should I be surprised?
I mean it would have been more believable when it all started coming out that he was using them as placeholder assets until the final ones were completed. He could have covered his bases without getting everyone upset at him but honestly I don't think he would ever have been willing to admit that he was not already using his own assets.
douse not drawing a "Tree" by necessity means you produce an image that looks like a "Tree". being there are only limited ways to produce such an image is it not totally reasonable for two different artists to produce images that look similar. in fact, the two works should by definition contain substantial similarities.
But the models are the same? I can understand from the perspective of inspiration and similarities in appearance. But in this case it was the same tree. That's the thing about the 3D Models, they are collections of data for representing a 3D object in 2D space. This means one can go into the files and compare the positions of each face and see whether a model is the same one or not. If the guy really had made the asset himself, there would have been differences from his own placing of tri's. It's really hard to trace in 3D
SPOILER:
how can someone be so...obvious about shadily copping assets in a forum like that? There's asking a friend "you gonna finish that?" at a restaurant near the end of the meal, then there's asking before they even began eating, then asking everyone else the same thing lol
The character in this looks like the raincoat killer from Deadly Premonition.
Thank you for taking me on a ride.
I would become a memver if I could, but I don't have the spare money. Great video.
Mergie S unfortunately same
This guy's gonna be CEO of EA with spin like that.
I looked at the logo for kumo and I thought it said kum lol
If someone is lacking assets, there are a lot of free or cheap ones. So, anyone who is begging artists to give up their assets for free is probably more about possession than a lack of assets. They want to take away what someone else made with love and care and values high instead of the cheap ones anyone could get.
This seems a little a fishy. Given that there was at least some knowledge of the maker’s previous actions, I am more than a little surprised that so many people refused a refund. Especially given what people are willing to demand refunds over.
Sure the guy did mention his issues, but that coupled with the whole “have your assets in the game” contest, you’d think people would be a tiny little bit less sympathetic. Whether or not this has been done on purpose, I’d be demanding a refund at this point. The guy was at the very least begging people for assets without remorse or dignity, and at that point you have to ask where the money from the KickStarter went.
Really enjoying these longer vids man, you tell a good tale and choose worthy topics 👍🍻
i checked the Kickstarter for Kumo my self and a comment 9 months ago about this video has been posted from Benjamin Gregg saying and i quote
'i have already seen the video and a lot if it is out of context'
1:40 in, i know its gonna be good
edit: and it was! thanks for the video
Doesn't matter if he got the trees from a developer or not. He asked for them so he could get "inspiration" for making his own. He then just took the trees and put them straight in his game. Kinda makes you wonder how Tequila found out about him using those trees specifically. Almost as if asking for those assets and then stealing them (whether he got them from a dev or not) got their attention.
When you work on assets as much as normal game devs do (especially stylized games like rime) you burn every leaf and branch into your soul. The games being so similar must have caught the attention of the company and when the kick-starter was shared around the company an artist must have immediately felt something was off.
At the company I work for stuff like this happens every so often. Mostly from bootleg companies using our models for games in other regions or using our IP for merchandise. But our artists have these assets memorized. Someone once linked an interesting VR game and all of the artist and the lead producer instantly recognized a standard pistol as one of ours. The ingame model from our game had a specific logo of a fictional in game company and the asset thief didn't even bother to remove it. (then again they were stealing models, who knows if they can even model on their own)
This video has never sat well with me. It feels more like a guy wanted to make a game, his fundraiser failed, so he became desperate and begged for better assets than he could make himself (as he couldn't afford commissioned work), then combined the assets to make a decent looking game, but then struggled with personal issues over what he felt he had to do, so he self-destructed. I've met people like him before, I don't think they try to be manipulative on purpose, but the way they think and act still results in the same outcome. I don't feel angry at the guy like I do with scammers like the kobe beef jerky guys, I just feel sorry for him. He shot for the stars and got in way over his head.
Does anyone even trust Kickstarter campaigns anymore? I feel like the reputation of that site has been destroyed.
Wait how did people comment hours before it was released
youtube members and patreon get to see it early.
released early for supporters of the show
it premiered beforehand
He should have say the truth, change those damned trees and done. Even when they said the trees were the same, he could have said "yes, they gave me the assets, I stole nothing" then change them...
Well I'm glad I don't kickstart my game project because even me myself wouldn't trust myself with money. I prefer to just work on things on no budget at all to keep my humility.
Chances are he thought that assets given by his mates are free from legal issues since technically speaking, there's no stealing involved.
Begging like that though, such a disgrace....
I concur though, it wouldn't be surprising if this kickstarter didn't understand what he was doing wrong in those situations. The complex and messy world of copy-write, and other similar systems, is insane even when you sit down and try to make sense of it. It is entirely possible to have the actual creators permission to use a piece of work and still end up in legal trouble, as there was two other entities that also had legal rights and they are upset at not being consulted.
Wait, was that a puzzle behind you??? Did you put that together? I looks really complicated. That’s impressive! 😯
Bah! They all stole the idea of trees from Bob Ross!
I really don't understand why kickstarter game devs insist on trying to get their game on every platform from the start. Just make the game for PC, and if it's successful then publishers will be tripping over themselves to pay you to do all the work of releasing it on other platforms on your behalf. If it isn't successful then you won't have wasted anyone's time or money, including your own.
So without knowing where this was going... and based on the images shown of the initial trees... I knew something was up. The non-leaf bit was in a oddly similar position despite having different viewing angles. I'm assuming people saw the colour variance and used that as their excuse...
I swear I could make an screen cap edit where Daniel Ibertson says something horrible... and people would easily believe it and I could be a hero.
Now I can't access any of his deleted files this video may have or may have not mentioned... I can't prove ANY OF THIS is true and not edited. If this stuff is true and you're not omitting information this guy is a manipulative monster who played everyone like a fiddle. As someone who was the victim of manipulation... you learn to watch for certain signs.
Here is one... the dev had the ability to prove the trees were different via giving a screen shot at the same angle between the two games. 4 shots for each game for the 4 sides. 6 if you do one from above/under it. Literally 8 images and he could walk into court with pretty much that and himself and win... along with the support of the entire internet. He had a 100% clear out but didn't use it. (Unless something was omitted in this video.)
If someone is manipulating you and there is an absolute solution, like the above, they will not do it even when presented with it. So if you think someone might be doing that... present them with this. Don't let them side step or turn the conversation away from it. If they do... they are hiding something so try to keep on point and if they refuse then generally speaking it isn't trustworthy.
I can't prove these images were real though... which is why I'm not able to take any action.
Only the victims of manipulation generally know for a fact... and this does make me rethink someone who went missing elsewhere.
That is another story for another time though.
Wait, did I miss something? It didn't seem like the biggest mystery was solved: why the backers were fine not taking their refunds. It seemed like this crashed and burned, and there was plenty of outrage. Not wanting a refund still doesn't make sense after watching this.
To me, a game is gameplay. And this project just looks like an asset flip. Supposing he stole every single asset, what did he add? Simply rudimentary unreal tutorial gameplay.
His efforts just don’t deserve the money.
I actually back this Kickstarter, but if I recall I used a card I hardly used that doesn’t have any money what so ever 😅 I actually really think it would be awesome but it’s a shame the true colors
Great video but unfortunate to have to reference the hate/racist site resetera in the video :(
Staffed by pedophiles, too.