Tom King

Looks like the purge continues over at Replay. I may sneak over and steal some of
drdrslashvohaul's popcorn! I have to agree with Vega and others, I don't see Paul sweet talking his way out of this one. More interesting will be to see if all this hits his wallet.

Thanks for saving those posts. I've gotten some shots personally from Tom and Jeroen. It's so heartening to see so many people coming to my and others' defense. It's sad to see what Paul's been doing and angers me to no end to see him censoring so many great people. Even posters that I've had problems with I've heard were banned. As much as they were driving me and other mods insane, even THEY didn't deserve that kind of treatment.

If Josh is really gone for good (he has been absent from the forums ever since the game came out), then I'm amazed at the brazenness of Replay still having him listed as part of the company on their website (https://www.replayga.../index/about-us). All the more so considering the kind of litigious bullshit being stirred up by Trowe last year when some Kickstarter campaign featured Al Lowe in their pitch. I'm sure you all remember.
 
I've said it before, Josh was the embodiment of everything Reloaded did right. A company should consider itself lucky to have a man of his talent and integrity. I hope that, despite all this ugliness, we'll be seeing more from him in the future.
 
 
Thanks to MusicallyInspired for archiving this heartwarming display of solidarity in the face of true vileness. Again, I'm truly sorry for anyone affected by these recent bans, but at this point I can't really imagine anybody having any bad feelings about being kicked out of Replay's forums. Getting banned from that place is more a badge of honor than anything else.
 
As for the few people who still remain (or reregistered), I hope they'll soon realize that even flaming on that carcass of a forum is a waste of time. The place is doomed now anyway. Personally, I'll put my energy into posting on more constructive subjects than Mr Trowe's vicious antics from now on. Having us vent our collective rage will only fuel this guy's delusion, that he's actually worthy of our attention. He clearly isn't.
 
Don't feed the Trowe!

Indeed. It seems like that place has suddenly devolved into name-calling Paul. It's over. We shouldn't be wasting any more attention on him. Let time deal with him. We don't need to go on there insulting him.
 
So back on the subject of doing something nice for the Two Guys, like a video as I mentioned before. Who would all be up for filming a 5 minute or so video/webcam monologue of encouragement and over-the-top sappiness and dripping sarcasm of how they've changed our lives with their comedic antics? Start of funny and sarcastic/sappy and then finish with something serious. Should I start a new thread for this? It'd be nice to have it all ready before the announced Oct 16th update. I wouldn't mind putting it together unless there's someone else who has something better than Windows Movie Maker and my mediocre video editing skills.

Fantastic points, Frede.
 
I have no idea what Paul was thinking, but it's clear all agree that what he's doing is completely asinine. And I don't think that's just because we're fans of Space Quest and/or friends of the Two Guys. It's because we're all decent people, and despite not really knowing what's going on with the project, we would rather be patient than speculate and potentially hurt the project. For a CEO to do this is inexcusable. Don't get me wrong, I certainly have no regrets about my involvement in Larry and appreciate the many wonderful opportunities to work with the talents of Al Lowe, Josh Mandel, the folks at N-Fusion, and some amazing fellow volunteers; All of those people were absolutely fantastic to work with, it's just a shame the guy that's head it all and brought so many fine people together is the very person that's running it into the ground. It's more disappointing than anything, really.
 
To your point, there are plenty of things anyone could find about Paul with a simple Google search, and that's not even counting the stories former co-workers might have about him. But you're right, we have more integrity than to get into specifics and completely trash Paul, despite any of us possessing the power to do so.
 
I'm very proud of this community for not putting up with the BS while still being civil about the situation. It's these sort of friendships people like Paul cannot appreciate, which really sucks but it's the path he's chosen.

It's funny, not even that many people were really being insulting to him. Just giving him advice and asking him to stop being a douche. He obviously thinks everyone is like him. Nothing but negative things to say. Really shows how much bigger even SQ fans are than this man.
 
I feel like we as a community and backers of SV should do something really nice for the 2 Guys and the Pope to show them our support. I don't think of us as merely backers and consumers, I think of us all as a community who pulled together WITH the Two Guys to see this happen. I really consider them brothers in arms rather than (ironically) somebody I expect to get my money's worth from. I want to see SV happen as much as they do and I know I'm not the only one.
 
So we should do something nice to show them we not only support them but that we've got their backs. A nice montage video of all of us wishing them the best with motivational sappy music behind us (which has tremendous comedic potential as well for double effect! Heartfelt and honest but overly sappy and emotional monologues lol. That would be right up their alley I'd think), or a fangame just for them, or put together something...some kind of article...some nice notion and promote it everywhere so that it gets notoriety. Don't mention Paul or criticism or anything. Just give them some much needed motivation, encouragement, and love. Their efforts aren't unnoticed nor in vain. Because besides the latest criticism, it seems like they need it. What do you think?

I like your idea. I'd be in for any kind of tribute.

Me too. The overly sappy video montage appeals to me a lot. ;)
 
For a scoop, MAYBE we could get Jane to reprise her "the SQ series was a great inspiration to me - it helped define what I wanted to do with my games, and what I didn't want to do" line, only adding, "I hope the SpaceVenture fares better." ;)
 
First of all, it would be a hilarious balance to all the over-sap. And second, the timing couldn't be better - it's a throwback to both GK1 and the SQ heydays. :)
 
Except Jane is notoriously hard to get in front of a camera, it seems.

Hehe, yes. Interestingly, I've had this song stuck in my head for a little while now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJgcH9PMtVA (The chorus goes, "I cannot spend more time listening to your lies..." - oddly apt, somehow.)

Hello everybody,
 
Thank you for all the support. After reading Paul's comment on KS, I was done.
After him banning and deleting ALL the posts that Serena created on the forum, I'm even more done.
 
I've been active in the community for a long time (started all on the QuestStudios forum - hence this nickname). When the Sierra revival started with Leisure Suit Larry, I just couldn't sit by and not try to get involved. I've been grateful to be able to help out and provide my professional help to this project. I still stand behind all the work I've done and I'm happy to have helped bring this game to market. Josh Mandel is an awesome guy and I would work for him or ANYONE at N-Fusion Studios in a heartbeat! All such talented people that have such a great heart for the gaming industry.
 
I know more than I would say on here (I like to remain taking the high road) - but I just want to thank everyone for supporting us (Serena, Irish, Tom & myself) for speaking out against something we believe in. The adventure game community is a tight community and I am proud to be part of it. If anything, this experience has taught me a lot and I'm very grateful for all the people I got to know through this.
 
Thanks everyone.
 
Jeroen
aka Dutchmagic

Josh deactivating his Facebook page, as far as I know, had nothing to do with him leaving/being asked to leave Replay. It may have been related to it, but I got the feeling it was just him needing to wind down his on-line social life? (I also have no idea of the story surrounding his departure from Replay, either. I'm guessing that, in due time, the man himself -- or Trowe -- will let us know. Hopefully, they both will -- Josh for the honesty, and Trowe for the snidey, unintentionally funny, mostly-fictional side. ;) Sorry, that was mean. Back on my high horse.)
 
 

Sounds like someone got busy with the ban-hammer.
 

Unlikely, my friend, since he now believes that SQN is populated solely by trolls. Not troels'; trolls. ;) From his witty and insightful retort on Kickstarter:
 
"So go troll on spacequest.net and gossip about me because honestly, I won't lose sleep over anything you guys have to say about me."
 
He's right; I think he has more pressing things to lose sleep about, to be honest.

Last week I was thinking of I could be willing to back possible LSLR2 remake if Replay would ever suggest it. Now, after all this, I must say that if a second Larry KS would ever emerge, I'd steer away from it with Paul Trowe in the handle. He has lost all credibility in my eyes.

Ugh, hate to see stuff like this happen in a community like ours which is such a small niche of the games industry and naturally could benefit from the solidarity. Since starting work on our own KS, and following the progress of many peers and heroes doing likewise, I have been so impressed by the level of support from the fans but also other developers. It is in all our best interests, fans and devs alike, to make this adventure game revival a success and a big part of that is fostering an attitude of camaraderie. There is no benefit on a personal, or genre-wide level to bad mouthing other projects, but even if one were to take an entirely selfish view of the situation, it should suffice to say that when it comes to adventure games, it's a small world, everyone knows everyone else. Burn your bridges with enough people and eventually you're gonna be marooned on your own little island of spite.
 
Fair enough, express your concerns if a project looks like it's in trouble, but do it in a respectful, helpful manner, or you just make yourself look like short sighted a-hole. I agree with the overall sentiment here, kudos to all for your classy response to this situation, it's an honour to be a part of this community with you.

I backed SpaceVenture, though haven't been following things too closely. I also backed LSL:R and have participated in their forum, so I am familiar with Serena's contributions and the other regular posters there.
 
After some people posted that Paul Trowe has acted in an embarrassing way that reflects poorly on the company, it appears they were banned. Don't really know how it all went down, though. All of Serena's and the other banned people's posts over months and months were deleted just like that, apparently. Serena and these people did not deserve that.
 
That Paul Trowe (I'm assuming he did it) would seemingly just ban dedicated fans like that just seems very low and tells me a lot about the guy.
 
I don't understand why anyone would want to work with him. Why is Al sticking with him? Maybe Al has no other choice?
 
It seems Paul Trowe is very insecure. He has to go on another Kickstarter, trash others' work and brag to make himself feel better?
 
I came on to say two things:
 
First, Serena, I think you're probably better off not even having to deal with people like Paul Trowe, who is a very negative force in the adventure game community.
 
And, second, I am confident the SV/SQ fan community will continue to strongly support the Two Guys, despite Paul Trowe's apparent efforts to hurt the project's image.

I can't say anymore than what's been said already. I'm sorry you guys got punished so badly because of something that I thought was supposed to be an act of an average consumer and not the head of a company. Paul is a small man with a (temporary) big position. I can't believe how petty he's reacted to this.

I'm just glad in a way that this happened when it did, because it's showed me that there is still hardcore support for the game. Even though it may be late, it seems people are more willing to wait for a polished, finished product than to see something rushed getting pushed out there in the limelight and flop around for a bit. That's been one of the main concerns in the Andromedan bunker lately: that there would be a storm of negative or downright hostile backlash from fans from the coming announcement; the contents of which I think you've all pretty much guessed at this point (the game's late). From this rallying of support, it warms my heart greatly to see that that doesn't seem to be the case. At least not for this core group of supporters. :)

Thanks for the heads-up Frede. This thread is a great example of what the SQ community stands for. Paul is like a 4-year-old who doesn't understand why his brother's toys can't be his. This community is like the parent trying to explain those reasons to him. The only reason it means anything is because, if anything, it should probably be the other way around. Anyway, as I posted to Scott, Mark, and Chris on Kickstarter, GO TEAM!

That goes for you insiders too ;-)

I got everyone's back here. Troels can vouch - I weep like a girl when I get nostalgic about my Adventure Games, and when my friends are down.
 
Aside from one persons pointless attacks, everyone here has been very, vert cool and amazingly supportive to each other - both fans and developers. That to me is what is important here. I see all kinds of people posting in here, and I know almost everyone - personally. We're in good company, and the Two Guys are in good company. I personally know how difficult development can be, and getting of the ground as a functioning entity is. But we have support - we are in this together.
 
So, much love to The Two Guys and The Space Pope, and much love to all the supportive peeps who not only give their love, time, and support to projects like SpaceVenture, but to all kinds of Adventure Game projects all over the place. I am proud to be a part of the community, and I'm also the fortunate recipient of a lot of support myself. I never take that for granted. Some people just don't know what they have.
 
 
Bt

Ya'll are gonna have to stop posting for a little while. I'm using up my like quota here.

Haha, I know, I know. It's all hugs, kisses and death metal.
 
 
Bt

Ohh, Steven, you big softie. Come 'ere, you ... ;)
 
(hugs and tears)

Is Replay publicly traded? If so, any shareholders must be absolutely dismayed by Trowe's money-losing behaviour. If I were them - or the Replay board - I'd be looking for a new CEO right about now.

Awesome! I was about to resign in disgust from the Replay forums after Trowe's revolting display towards dedicated über-fans like Serena and Tom, only to find out that someone already took the dirty work upon himself and banned me.
 
Well played, Mr Trowe! Well played! Driving away the few remaining fans who were willing to spread some positive word of mouth about a perfectly mediocre game.
 
I can't say how sincerely sorry I am for people like Serena, Tom and Irishmile for having so graciously given so much of their time, money, hard labour and LOVE, who are now getting spit out by this ungrateful scumbag.

If this follows Paul's usual modus operandi, I predict a public apology to Mark, Scott, Chris, and the fan community sometime within the next 12 hours.