Topia Online -> Inspired by Haven & Hearth

[btaylor]

Lets start from the beginning, when Josh first came to this forum and advertised his game. When we all started to slowly head over to the Topia Online forum to see what all was going on, there was literally nobody there. No registered members except for Josh and his crew. You could say that we were the first boatload of refugees to show up to a desolate land.

Little by little people started to show up (mostly due to Pain's advertisement of the game.) People were excited. Who could blame them? It promised a lot and we ate it up. Mainly the beta that would be released in two months, and remember this was back around November 15. Just look at the first post of this thread.

So everyone is anxiously awaiting the beta on the Topia Online forum. We're tossing ideas back and forth, making little pretend alliances and generally deciding on a route to take when the beta opens. I mean, there's gonna be a lot to do and it's always the ones who are prepared that get a good foothold when a new game launches. How wrong we were...

The website has a sandbox area where you can place a little demo of the game to get a feel for what it's like, a taste if you were. It got us all pumped for the beta that would be released very soon. When the day came, there were delays, and with delays came excuses. The beta would be pushed back. Again and again. We have yet to see an actual release for a beta. What did we get instead? A multiplayer sandbox where all you can do is walk around, chat, and pick up stones and branches. It doesn't even have a user interface.

What kind of sh*t was this? Really? Is this what we paid $25 for? This wasn't a beta at all. Where were the races? The skills? The actual gameplay? Surely this was some kind of joke. We demanded on the forums to know what was going on. Josh stated that he wanted to slowly release the game in small increments, so the game could be tested without problems. I'm sure all of you are facepalming right now. I sure did.

Painhertz was the first to stand up against Josh, and the first to be struck down...

Painhertz wanted more, as we all did. He asked for more to test. Because what is there to test when all you can do is walk around, talk, and pick up stones and branches which go nowhere except disappear? Josh's wrath was swift and brutal... Josh called Pain out in front of everyone. Slander of the lowest kind, and with Josh's white knights to defend him there was no way to fight back. That's when it happened...

Josh banned Painhertz from the forum as well as removing him from the beta entirely. He was dubbed "toxic" because he spoke his mind and I guess Josh doesn't like to be spoken against. Now here's the real sh*tty part...

No sooner was Painhertz banned did Josh decide to say on the forum that "things are moving slowly so I'm thinking of just releasing everything at once." Yes, really. This is exactly what Painhertz was asking for, hence the "never forget" picture. He was banned so people could test and play the game we were meant to have in the beginning.

[jordancoles]

Right click > open in new tab

[joshrmt]

I will only make this one post. If anyone would like to discuss things with me personally, I can be reached almost anytime in Topia's IRC.

1. Based on the community's requests, I have changed countless major features in Topia, including a complete overhaul of the movement system. Many players, including Painhertz requested this, despite me telling them that it would push back beta by a few weeks. Virtually everyone said that it would be worth it, including Painhertz. I've also overhauled the entire graphics system because the community asked for it, despite the fact that it would push back beta. This is just the beginning of the things that I have delivered based on the community's wishes.

2. I launched the 'development observer' section of Topia's website several weeks ago so that everyone can track my development progress in realtime. If you look at it, you can see how much ive accomplished as the single developer on the team. Rome wasn't built in a day. I believe that I am coding features faster than most other games have.

3. My personal belief is to not release new content until existing features are 'bug free'. I have a high standard for software development and refuse to rapidly produce content that is unpolished. I understand that many players like btaylor and Painhertz are frustrated by this. I am happy to refund anyone that asks, including you, JordanCole. I've refunded btaylor within minutes of him asking.

4. I promised beta 1 this month, and I will deliver. Those that are patiently waiting for a new sandbox MMORPG shall receive. This game is a long way from release, and the people that have pre-ordered are happy to support the effort to create a new sandbox MMORPG. The reason many sandbox MMORPGs do not exist is because it takes a lot of effort and development time to create, and large studios are unwilling to take this risk. Topia may not be for everyone, but many people are willing to participate to help make it a reality, even if there isn't a lot to play yet. However, I am confident that I am creating a game that all of you will enjoy this year.

And as a final note:

Painhertz was not banned, he was refunded. He told me that he was tired of waiting for the beta, so I happily refunded him. He expressed to me in his private messages that he wasn't interested in testing the content at the pace that I have been able to release.

Painhertz's behavior was immature, and has been the only person in the Topia community that i've had a problem with.
- He stated that he did not enjoy participating in beta testing.
- He caused me to receive constant complaints and emails from the community.
- He divided the community and openly told them not to participate in IRC.
- He constantly badgers our development team in IM.
- He attacks people constantly and has been banned from numerous groups.
- When I call him out on this, he states that he was 'drunk' and didn't realize he did it.

Despite this, I welcome him to participate in beta in the future when there is more content for him to enjoy.

[Tonkyhonk]

someone said, a decent baker doesnt go to another bakery to sell his pastries to the customers there.
pain is stupid enough to buy your pastries and start advertising them for you and you let him.
you started it, dont just blame him, alright? (we all know who pain is like anyways.)

now since you pay no respect to the community here, there is no room in here to justify yourself, you can do so in your own community as much as you want. now please get out of here and never come back.

[Sarchi]

This thread finally gets interesting. This game looked like shit from the beginning, so I'm not sure why you guys couldn't have predicted this would happen months sooner.

[btaylor]

This thread finally gets interesting. This game looked like shit from the beginning, so I'm not sure why you guys couldn't have predicted this would happen months sooner.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't blind to the possibilities of failure. I always had that gut feeling, but I wanted to believe that things would be different. Sadly, it didn't turn out the way I had hoped. At least I got my money back.

[GustawoWegas]

See this fraud from thi mile away.

[painhertz]

And as a final note:

Painhertz was not banned, he was refunded. He told me that he was tired of waiting for the beta, so I happily refunded him. He expressed to me in his private messages that he wasn't interested in testing the content at the pace that I have been able to release.

Painhertz's behavior was immature, and has been the only person in the Topia community that i've had a problem with.
- He stated that he did not enjoy participating in beta testing.
- He caused me to receive constant complaints and emails from the community.
- He divided the community and openly told them not to participate in IRC.
- He constantly badgers our development team in IM.
- He attacks people constantly and has been banned from numerous groups.
- When I call him out on this, he states that he was 'drunk' and didn't realize he did it.

Despite this, I welcome him to participate in beta in the future when there is more content for him to enjoy.

joshrmt

Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2012 11:06 am

I can't say that ALL of this is blatant fabrication, but I can "prove" that most is. Until such time as he bans/removes my account on the Topia forums, i have changed my pass so (yeah so, none of you know the real pass I use) and I'd ask that you act like respectable people and "don't" either change the pass or post on the forums with the account.... That being said....

Login: painhertz

Password: havenandhearth

Feel free to log in and read all of the PM's..... Since I ALPHA tested Salem all the way to and beyond Open beta (or close enough for Government work) I think it's safe to say that you all know I enjoy beta testing. lmfao I told him no such thing about NOT wanting to test Topia, I told NO PERSON not to use the IRC (A good chunk of my Topia Conference people from Skype were in the Topia IRC) I NEVER badgered anyone to put forth any features etc etc. I still talk daily to Garrott, the Lead Designer (And possibly only sane member) of the development team and we get along great. Basically as can be read about earlier in this thread, i was Opped in the Topia IRC, one day I jokingly kicked a guy to ask who he was, the little Goth faggot who runs the channel went bugshit so i kicked him AS WELL thinking he was joking. (Come on people, it's IRC, not the Halls of fucking Congress) then his little merry band of Kag fags (King Arthurs Gold) all gang banged me off of the IRC more or less. They later gave Josh THEIR version of events (That I was trying to take over the channel, posting illegal shit , etc etc) and stupidly Josh believed them and henceforth was a cockgobbler to me. In addition, since something like 30-40% of the forums are people from KAG, the little pricks would gang up on me on the Topia forums every chance they could get and eventually "I" got BANNED (With refund) from the Topia beta for DEFENDING myself. WOOOO!!!! Anywho, tl,dr I got banned for defending myself and having THE TEMERITY to ask Josh for slightly larger chunks of content to test.

I'm pretty sure there's some function to export all PM's to xml or some such (I have no idea how to do that shit) so if one of you would, I'd appreciate it. the PM's prove what a fucktard Josh is and how he's backtracking and putting words in my mouth so he doesn't look like the biggest douchebag Dev since John Carmack released Daikatana....

P.S.: Josh, you should have kept your mouth shut and stayed off of my ground. I had let shit lie but if you want to spread your pathological lying to here I will fuck your world up.

[bitza]

so joshrmt, how far off are we from a beta test? and what happens to other players if they start to demand their money back at this point?

did painhertz get his money back too

[bitza]

also IRC is super srs bsns pain, you should have known better