James Proctor – MMO Fallout

[Column] As Far As Greedmonger Goes, No.

Greed Monger is back! Yes, that Greed Monger. The one that was funded on a dream and a promise, by developers that had neither the funding nor experience in order to create said vision, only to crash and go under to the tune of $100 million in backer funds. The one by Jason Appleton who threatened to sue MMORPG.com because people were saying mean things on the forum back in 2013. As far as MMO Fallout plays into this, I mostly refused to cover the game as a general rule once a developer starts throwing legal threats around.

So now the game is back up and running by James Proctor, and our official stance on it is: No. If Greed Monger runs another crowd funding campaign, we will not cover it. If anything, as I have said before, the previous incarnation of Greed Monger is likely to pop up again in our coverage should another crowdfunding campaign appear. If they post dev blogs to promise new features, we will not cover that either.

This isn’t an ultimatum. If the game can prove itself to be a real, functioning product, we may resume coverage. Yes, I realize that MMO Fallout isn’t a big website and isn’t as much of a move and shaker as the big websites are. I’m not writing this as a threat, but to be forward and honest with our readers.

Greed Monger Cancelled, Taking $90 Grand In Pledges With It

Greed Monger the game is officially dead, taking with it the over $90 thousand in funding with it. In an announcement posted on the game’s official board, James Proctor revealed that a necessary investor had bailed out on the project, leaving his company without the funds to continue development. The good news is that assets and pledges are being saved, should Proctor ever fulfill his campaign to create an MMO.

ALL of GM’s Custom Assets will be saved until the time comes that we have the funds to make things right with you guys. When the time comes that we are ready to attempt another MMO ALL KickStarter backers will be notified of our plans before the general public and ALL Land pledges, Crafting Station Purchases, ect. WILL be honored.

The last we heard from the crowd funded MMO, Electric Crow Games suffered a falling out among its staff, beginning with revelations that CEO Jason Appleton had using the threat of legal action to keep Proctor on board. Appleton later announced his own departure, and that development of Greed Monger would be handed over to Proctor and his team. Not even two months later and Proctor is already throwing in the towel.

Greed Monger has been rife with controversy since its Kickstarter easily hit and tripled its target goal. Should Appleton or Proctor return to Kickstarter to fund a future project, Greed Monger will no doubt be a relevant issue.

(Source: Greed Monger)

Jason Appleton Departs Greed Monger, Signs Over Game

Electric Crow Games founder Jason Appleton has announced that he is departing development of MMO Greed Monger and signing the game over to James Proctor. In a message to Kickstarter backers, Appleton applauded Proctor’s work effort while blaming his own pride for the controversy surrounding the game and its team.

Id rather see the backers get their due and the game launch than me be able to say “I told you I could do it!”. This is beyond pride at this point. Its not about making money. It’s about the game. I’m not selling Greed Monger to them. I’m giving it to them to finish.

All things Greed Monger will now be handled by MMO Interactive with Joel Hager taking over PR. In a post on the game’s Facebook page, Proctor thanked the community for their support and patience.

The support that the GM community and KS backers have shown thus far is such a blessing. We are more committed than ever to deliver a top-notch product. Some more exciting news to come… Stay tuned.

Greed Monger’s drama began just before the weekend when lead dev James Proctor publicly announced his departure from Electric Crow Games. In his announcement, Proctor revealed that while he intended to resign from his position as early as two years ago, that Appleton had threatened legal action against him should he leave. Appleton responded with his own allegations towards Proctor.

Developer Interdiction Studios was in initial talks to take over Greed Monger, but decided not to go forward.

@Derium Unfortunately we have decided not to take over the project. We will remain committed to our own already in progress project.

— Interdiction Studios (@InterdictionStu) April 5, 2015

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

(Source: Kickstarter)

Greed Monger Fallout: Jason Appleton Responds

Yesterday we reported that Greed Monger, the sandbox MMO funded via Kickstarter, had lost its lead developer James Proctor. Proctor, in his departure notice, revealed that he had attempted to leave the studio two years prior, but was stopped due to legal threats by Electric Crow Games founder Jason Appleton.

Appleton has posted a response on the Greed Monger forums in which he claims to be the victim, alleging that Proctor was “impossible to work with,” fired employees and wasted money on experiments, and “never made a single deadline.” Both sides are in the process of threatening to post, or have posted, chat transcripts detailing their rocky relationship.

Jason Appleton’s complete response is below.

(Source: Greed Monger)