Quest Online, developers of Alganon, have issued a press release stating, among other things, the following:
“Since Smart has taken over leadership, the company has reduced overhead and streamlined operations and Alganon has also gained significant exposure in the gaming marketplace.”
I guess you could call it that. So far this year, Alganon has been featured a lot on various MMO websites, most notably not only for the poorly executed launch, but the subsequent firing and public spat between currently-employed Derek Smart and formerly-employed David Allen. While the opinion of Quest Online appears to be no press is bad press, the communities and those few who play Alganon have expressed a dislike for the manner in which Derek Smart chose to have his argument with several ex-employees (in the comments section of a Gamasutra article), and apparently neither did David Allen (who did not partake in the argument) because he responded by firing off a defamation lawsuit.
Quest Online had this to say about the lawsuit:
“Mr. Allen’s allegations are false and without merit. We intend to vigorously defend ourselves in Court and are confident of prevailing in the proceeding.”
Quite straightforward. Defamation isn’t the only charge in the proceeding, but does rely on what is being said to be false. If the information is true, than it can not be defamation. Whether or not Derek Smart can prove its truth will be seen.
MMO Fallout 