Tag: twitter

IPE Update: A List Of Companies Subpoena’d By Twitch


It’s time to talk about Twitch again, and that means the Twitch v. John Doe lawsuit.

When last we left our heroes, Twitch had filed suit in the Northern District of California against one hundred John Doe defendants for federal trademark infringement, breach of contract, trespass to chattels, and fraud. The lawsuit targeted the antics of users who gained some notoriety earlier in the year for filling the Artifact category of Twitch will all sorts of vile material, including hardcore pornography and videos of real life killings.

This week Judge Orrick granted Twitch’s application for leave in order to file subpoenas against third parties, with the ultimate goal being to uncover the identities of the defendants in the lawsuit. Those third parties include:

  • Twitter
  • Google
  • Microsoft/Hotmail
  • Discord
  • Verizon
  • Comcast Cable Communications LLC
  • Contina, Charter Communications Inc.
  • Optimum Online
  • Suddenlink Communications
  • OVH Hosting

Third party subpoena recipients will have 30 days with which to serve the defendants with a copy of the subpoena and a copy of the order, and then the defendants will have 30 days to file any orders contesting or squashing the subpoena, after which the third party recipients will have 10 days to produce information responsive to Twitch.

In fancy terms, those who suspect or have a good idea that they may become a defendant in this lawsuit will have ample notice that they are in fact a defendant.

As always, MMO Fallout has provided the related docket at our expense in the Google Drive.

EA/Bioware’s David Crooks: “The World Just Felt A Little Better” Over Death of TotalBiscuit


(Update: Casey Hudson, Bioware GM, has issued a statement of disappointment over Crooks’ Twitter tirade. It appears Crooks is not currently employed at Bioware.)

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(Original Story)

 

In a series of now deleted Tweets, Electronic Arts programmer David Crooks had some rather blunt commentary regarding the death of game critic John Bain, better known by his handle TotalBiscuit. Bain passed away at the age of 33 this week after a struggle with bowel cancer, which did not stop Crooks from posting his thoughts just a few hours after the news broke that the “world just felt a little bit better.” Crooks went on a tirade concluding with “good riddance to bad rubbish.”

While David Crooks’ Twitter has since gone into protected mode and he has seemingly removed references to his employment at Bioware, he wasn’t fast enough to stop the Tweets from being permanently archived via the link below. Crooks list of work includes Mass Effect: Andromeda and Star Wars: Battlefront II. Neither Electronic Arts nor Bioware have commented on the controversy, and MMO Fallout has not reached out for comment.

(Source: Archive.is)

Boss Key Shuts Down After Radical Heights Flounders


Following its launch into “extreme early access” after five months of development, Radical Heights developer Boss Key has announced that it is going into extreme defunct mode. Big boss Cliff Bleszinski released an announcement on Twitter today noting that the servers for Radical Heights will remain online for the near future, however the studio itself is effectively no more. Radical Heights launched into early access and managed to pull peak numbers of less than 13,000, higher than Lawbreakers and around the same numbers as Gearbox’s Battleborn.

Nothing has been confirmed for the future of Lawbreakers, and as of yet Boss Key Productions has not made any official announcement on the Steam pages for either title. The Twitter account for Boss Key Productions has similarly made no acknowledgement of its closure.

(Source: Twitter)

Yanked PUBG Ad Is Basically Plagiarized From Community Artwork


The above photo is an Xbox One ad concept created by Reddit user Macsterr and posted on PUBG’s subreddit about a month ago. This image may look familiar if you follow Xbox on Twitter because someone from the company saw the concept and apparently loved it enough to create official advertising that you might refer to as an…aggressive homage. The following appeared on the Xbox Twitter account yesterday, December 26.

The original tweet has been deleted, but the internet doesn’t forget things so easily and the archived version can be found here. The tweet on the Xbox account as deleted with no additional statement by Microsoft.

(Source: Reddit)

[Video] Kill Your eSports Career In 60 Seconds Or Less



(Video warning: Very loud, NSFW language)

How do you end your eSports career in less than the time it takes to order a Little Caesar’s Pizza? If you want the answer to this question, imagine the video above as something of a tutorial. Matt “Dellor” Vaughn, formerly of Toronto eSports, has left the scene after a mid-game tirade in Overwatch in which he shouts a racist slur for around 30 seconds straight after being killed by the other team’s Widowmaker, following a short exchange with his team.

Vaughn denies being racist in a subsequent message on Twitter, blaming everything from lack of sleep, frustration over internet problems, and the other player cheating.

The only thing I can say is that despite me using that word, I am not a racist. I was extremely upset, and I was trying to make the person I was angry with upset as well, and so I said the most offensive thing that came to mind.

Toronto eSports has posted a message that Vaughn has been removed from their organization.

Toronto Esports has today announced the release of Matt “Dellor” Vaughn from their organization, citing breach of contract. The circumstances of the dismissal relate to an incident where Dellor used abusive and discriminatory racial language while streaming. “Toronto Esports is an organization built on inclusivity, and we have always had a zero- tolerance policy for any forms of discrimination.” Said President Ryan Pallett. “Immediately upon learning of the incident, the player was interviewed, admitted to the offence, and was notified that his contract with the organization was being terminated”

This isn’t Vaughn’s first recorded incident of using racist language, another example can be found here.

(Source: Toronto eSports)

Hacked Hello Games Tweet Affirmed By Hacked Sean Murray


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“No Man’s Sky was a mistake.” It’s the kind of misattributed quote you expect to see photoshopped onto a Hello Games tweet. But what happens when the message is verifiably from the official Hello Games Twitter account? Well it must have been hacked, you say, and Sean Murray will be right around to let us know that the whole ordeal is just a poorly protected account.

Alright, now what do you do when Sean Murray writes in to let you know that the tweet was indeed authentic? Well that exact story happened today, someone used the Hello Games Twitter account to write “No Man’s Sky was a mistake” and then followed it up by writing to Polygon under Sean Murray’s email address.

Murray has since pointed to an insecure LinkedIn account, however Mashable is reporting that the culprit is a disgruntled employee.

LinkedIn was hacked earlier this year, leading to speculation that Murray or another employee had committed the terrible no-no of sharing passwords between accounts.

(Source: Mashable)

John Smedley Quits Twitter After Argument Leads to DDOS, Threats


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John Smedley has quit Twitter, an announcement that will have a good portion of Daybreak’s communities giving a sigh of relief. Responding to a thread on Reddit over his account suddenly going dark, Smedley confirmed that he is walking away from the social media platform.

I really love making games. It makes me happy. I saw Twitter as a great way to talk 1-1 with players which I love doing. I’m simply not going to let this make me lose focus….but I am going to walk away from Twitter and not miss it for a second. Life’s too short to let things distract me from what I really like doing. I will miss the interaction with our players though. A great deal.

Whether he left voluntarily or was pressured from within Daybreak, Smedley’s exist is likely due to a rather high profile event last week where Smedley called out a couple of members of Lizard Squad. The hacker group responded with a series of attacks on Daybreak’s servers, which escalated to doxxing threats against Daybreak employees.

(Source: Reddit)

Breaking: Dave Georgeson Departs Daybreak Game Studio


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Dave Georgeson has announced via Twitter that he is no longer involved in the Everquest franchise.

Update: Daybreak Game Studio has confirmed a big round of layoffs. An unknown number of employees have been affected.

(Source: Twitter)

ArcheAge PLEX Available Again… Again


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Trion Worlds has announced the ArcheAge APEX are officially back up and available for purchase.The item, providing a method for players to extend their subscription without paying real money, has been the subject of numerous exploits, resulting in it being pulled from the cash shop for small periods of time.

The following announcement was posted on Twitter yesterday.

Adventurers, APEX is now available again for use and purchase. Thanks for your patience!

(Source: Twitter)

Turbine Layoffs Confirmed Over Twitter


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It looks like Turbine is going through a round of layoffs. Earlier today, former Community Manager Rick Heaton tweeted “Thinking of my friends at #Turbine and #LOTRO and elsewhere today. I’m easy to find if you need me.” When asked if his tweet was related to layoffs at Turbine, he responded “sadly.”

The comment has seemingly been backed by another former Turbine employee, Robert Hess, who tweeted “My thoughts go out to my buddies over at Turbine today. Sounds like a round of layoffs. If folks need anything let me know.” Turbine has not yet commented to confirm or deny these claims.

(Source: Massively)