Knights of the Force fraud ?

[tarbaby]

In case you're new or have been in a cave since 2002, you've all heard of THE GREATEST STAR WARS MOD EVER, Knights of the Force.

 

It was bad enough when the designer started asking for donations to buy a better computer, but now he's trying to sell a DVD copy of the mod.

 

Those of you gullible enough to even consider purchasing it may want to read this (rather long) thread from filefront:

 

file front kotf thread

 

and here's filefront's statement on the matter:

 

file front kotf statement

 

 

I've sent e-mails to the major file sharing sites asking that all content be removed. I ask others to do the same.

 

TB

[.:Lord Revan:.]

Is that why I can't download it

but what is so scamy about it

[acdcfanbill]

Did you read either of the links in the first post? Basically, the guy announced a grandiose plan in JK2, and took several years 'developing' it. He asked for donations to buy himself a better computer, stole other peoples content and posted videos as if they were his own work, sold the mod on DVD for $100 with the guise that it was to cover shipping and handling, used and credited people's work in his releases after a) not asking them if he could use it in the first place and b) ignoring some of their requests to remove the infringing content, broke the LucasArts EULA that comes with JKA, had several reports of keyloggers/trojens in his first releases of KOTF and I'm sure other things. These are just the things I recall offhand having heard over the last 6-7 years.

[Raven 16]

wow... this guy really made a boo boo....

[Kurgan]

I'd heard rumblings of this in the past, but now seeing all the dirty laundary... yeah, that's just really lame (and the "author" should be ashamed).

 

Thankfully most mod makers aren't like that!

[Prime]

I can't believe there is still talk about this!

[Ben.K]

there is a lesson here, folks. Star Wars nerds are willing to throw all reason and caution to the winds in order to live the ULTIMATE Star Wars experience!

And that pretty much applies to anything that has a section of its fanbase occupied by people who are thoroughly, unhealthily *obsessed* with it. See what you can do when you tap into people's emotions - witness the massive mountains of money made ($$) by releasing sequel after sequel of video game series (see Final Fantasy), book after book in Star Wars expanded universe, remakes of classic movie franchises, etc.

I am NOT bashing SW nerds here, I'm just pointing out the power of emotional attachment to entertainment media and how this is easily exploited to generate money. As long as it's legitimate and fans enjoy the material it's fine. KOTF is just an example of how this can be pushed to extremes.

 

($$) awesome alliteration, eh?

[Kurgan]

But what's the difference between being an obsessive fan who will buy any licensed game in order to "have the ultimate Star wars experience" and people who would fall for a "scam" fan mod?

 

The reason people complain about others buying bad games is not primarily due to insecurity about one's own opinions (though of course such persons exist) but because by supporting mediocre products, consumers send the message to these companies that they don't need to keep a high standard of quality. Hence, it may have the long term effect of encouraging future games of lower quality, which means fewer good games to choose from for YOU.

 

This is simply a case of a person making grandiose promises they can't keep (something not uncommon in the modding world, heck, many of us are ourselves veterans of unfinished projects)... but also, and more importantly, trying to pass the hard work of others as one's own. There's no excuse for scamming people with stuff like that (or worse).

 

So maybe you want to argue that this guy would only "get away with it" because there are so many people who demand new Star Wars products that anyone can create something and get a few people, but that goes for anything popular. That says that either the liscensed companies aren't giving it their all, or else these folks don't have high enough standards of quality. Because I would think the truly obsessed fans would have disdain for unofficial stuff and go only for the "approved" products. Fan made mods aren't exactly the top of the heap. Mods aren't always popular just because there's some niche not being filled by the official game, of course. But anyway, mods are legal. So is biting off more than you can chew and making mistakes. Selling mods without permission and ripping off others work as your own isn't.

 

So the worst thing he did was asking for money, leading people to believe that by paying him, the mod would come out faster or better (or at all!).

 

Edit: The spyware and virus accusations make this all the worse. Under no circumstances should anyone download or support this (excuse for a) mod! There are plenty of better ways to earn a little extra cash and/or respect...

[irish_texan]

there is a lesson here, folks. Star Wars nerds are willing to throw all reason and caution to the winds in order to live the ULTIMATE Star Wars experience!

And that pretty much applies to anything that has a section of its fanbase occupied by people who are thoroughly, unhealthily *obsessed* with it. See what you can do when you tap into people's emotions - witness the massive mountains of money made ($$) by releasing sequel after sequel of video game series (see Final Fantasy), book after book in Star Wars expanded universe, remakes of classic movie franchises, etc.

I am NOT bashing SW nerds here, I'm just pointing out the power of emotional attachment to entertainment media and how this is easily exploited to generate money. As long as it's legitimate and fans enjoy the material it's fine. KOTF is just an example of how this can be pushed to extremes.

 

($$) awesome alliteration, eh?

 

 

very well said indeed.

[Blix]

Any idea just how much money this guy got out of it?

[acdcfanbill]

a couple thousand dollars afaik, since he bought some fancy computer to 'work' on the mod with.