copy from @Fushichou187 way better OP

What the what?

Was mucking around on GAF when the forum blew up re: Polytron getting hacked. Here's a truncated, redacted screenshot:

As if this thing couldn't get any more insane.

imo, It's a moot point whether people from /v/ were involved or not; I personally don't think it was /v/ but whatever. The crux being that the stuff that was leaked was immense and comprehensive. Not just accounts and passwords but financials-- think information re: Sony's deal w/ Polytron over having Fez on PS+, etc...

Shortly after, we get a tweet from Phil Fish:

I understand that Mr. Fish's venting can get a bit dramatic at times, but I gotta imagine if all this shakes out to be (once again) a subsection of the Internet deciding to destroy the lives of those they don't like for whatever reason, that I wouldn't be surprised if he was legit serious about just selling off those assets, taking his money, and put himself in a better and more supportive space.

Anyways, I feel terribly bad that he's drawn the ire of strangers to this extent. I personally think Fez is a great game and that he and everybody associated with Polytron are very talented. I also hope the authorities get involved asap and stitch this up.

I don't have enough appendages to count how many times Phil Fish been "out of video gaming for good". Bloody drama queen.

@sinusoidal: Well, he hasn't been developing anything since he cancelled Fez 2, so...

Well. That's depressing!

Also, can someone give me a quick run down of what doxxing is? I don't quite get it, how is it different from hacking? It seems like hacking.

The past couple of days for some indie devs have been bizarre and somewhat shocking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxing

Doxing (spelling variant Doxxing) is an abbreviation of document tracing, the Internet-based practice of researching and publishing personally identifiable information about an individual.^[1][2][3][4] The methods employed in pursuit of this information range from searching publicly available databases and social media websites like Facebook, to hacking, and social engineering. It is closely related to cyber-vigilantism,hacktivism, and cyber-bullying.

Hell, they even got Polytron's bank accout info

The dude obviously has some issues but it seems like he is constantly "done". The guy is more famous for twitter rants then actually making games at this point. I feel bad for him that he has taken so much abuse over the internet but at the same time he totally invites some of it.

I think Fez is neat in how well it hides all its secrets but that was about it. He doesn't really have anything else under his credits that would make me feel bad if he truly is done with developing games. Obviously it is sad that someone is possibly leaving a career they seemed to have a lot of passion for though.

Is the FEZ IP even worth anything at this point? And Phil should have been "out" already when he terminated development of FEZ 2.

I wonder who would even buy FEZ. No one especially big, I'm guessing. I also wonder what an acceptable offer would be.

Honestly Phil comes off as so mentally unstable that I could see him leaking all that information himself. Whether it was him or not though it certainly wasn't 4chan, as anyone who browses could tell you how hilariously fake the statement "I am the head mod over at /V/ and leader of 4chan.org and Anonymous." is.

And thus begins...

Frog Fractions 2

Seriously though, all the sympathies to Phil and Co. Dude rubbed a lot of people (myself included) the wrong way, but he doesn't come close to deserving any of this bullshit.

Given the nature of what was doxxed (basically ALL his banking and financial information that could be used for ID theft, it's obvious it wasn't him. But yeah, it wasn't 4chan either.

damn

Of course it's worth something, especially if a publisher/developer decides they want to develop Fez 2, Fez mobile, a Fez MOBA or whatever, it'd be up to them since they'd own the IP. If it really went up for sale I think it could also be a potential PR nightmare for whomever buys it due to the circumstances surrounding everything.

@depecheload: I watched a live stream of someone unpacking that zip and it was actually all company stuff, nothing personal.

Phil did some great work with Fez and he certainly doesn't deserve personal info being stolen like this but his attitude towards what he thinks of as video games is incredibly off putting. It always comes off as him taking these bad experiences with people on twitter and other places and then making blanket statements about people who play games. It is really frustrating to see him act like everyone who enjoys gaming is a bad person.

I don't even understand. . What? . I hope they put Fez on XONE.

Fez 2 might actually be made now

Tho I think he's trolling

@itwongo: So it's stealing documents and putting them on the internet. Gotcha.

You know, I used to think I had social problems because I was grumpy and liked to be alone. Who ARE these people that they devote such time to wrecking lives? What state of mind do you have to be in to decide some indie dev who made one game is such a threat to you must devote your life to ruining them? Is it just for the sense of worth that you can make a difference? But by hurting people? The mind reels.

I've got 3.50 and a six pack of Yuengling. Looks like I'll finally make that Fez Kart Racing game I've been mulling over.

@fushichou187: Well, that's what I mean. Is the IP worth getting, considering the almost guaranteed PR disaster that comes along with it? I know people say all publicity is good publicity, but all of the shit that surrounds the IP seems super not worth dealing with.

*Phil Fish gets sensitive information hacked and released publicly, complains about it on twitter*

"man this guys has problems. What a drama queen"

Looks like his twitter is gone now. Sad thing is that if he really is done for good this time the people who are shitty enough to dox indie devs got exactly what they wanted. He said some grating stuff sometimes but I almost would have rather had him stick around to keep them from getting the satisfaction of driving him off.

Well good luck Phil. Hopefully now that you're out of the game industry you'll no longer have to interact with people ever again.

He should have bailed a long time ago or, at the very least, just stayed away from any and all social media. I understand his need to be vocal about shit that bothered him, but he kinda sorta just threw himself into the middle of the Internet clusterfuck on a daily basis and that ain't good for anyone no matter how thick your skin may be. I'm not saying he actually deserves any of this bullshit, but let's just say I think he should have known when to just back down and realize the shit just ain't worth it.

Of course it wasn't 4chan, nothing's 4chan because it's not a singular entity. But it easily could have been done by someone who uses 4chan, just like it could have been done by someone who uses the Giant Bomb forums. You can say whatever you want and point the finger wherever you please when you do something like this, all for shits and giggles. It just takes one asshole with the patience and knowledge to fuck things up for everyone.

Time heals all I guess? I just found out earlier this week that the corpse of Sierra On-Line has been reanimated and that a new King's Quest game is planned for development. King's Quest. Point is that someone eventually will want to try and make money of their catalogue if they think they can, so if the Fez IP is for sale I promise someone will buy it and then sit on it for a few years figuring out what they want to do with it-- even if it's just to use the likeness of Gomez or perhaps build something else with Fez's assets. Hell, if I thought I could buy that IP for a few Franklin's (all I could afford) I'd buy it because I think it'd be a good investment in the long run.

Oh please. This isn't the first time Phil Fish has "left" Twitter and certainly won't be the last. He'll keep on doing his thing and I'll keep on not buying his games.

Seriously. I'd bail too if this happened to me.

I might take him more seriously if it weren't for things like this...note the date. It's unfortunate that he got doxxed, but at this point I'm just sick of hearing about his antics.

@mb said:

@itwongo said:

@cogzwell said:

*Phil Fish gets sensitive information hacked and released publicly, complains about it on twitter*

"man this guys has problems. What a drama queen"

Seriously. I'd bail too if this happened to me.

I might take him more seriously if it weren't for things like this...note the date. It's unfortunate that he got doxxed, but at this point I'm just sick of hearing about his antics.

Yeah, he cancelled Fez 2 and hasn't worked in the video games industry since.

@itwongo: He started Polytron Partners back in June. Dude is very much still in the industry.

I really wish I wasn't reading shit on this forum that involves people justifying hacking and slander because of one sided personal grudges with people you don't even know.

But unfortunately, I am. And it just makes me incredibly sad.

This is a really terrible thing to happen to Phil but I seriously think the dude has some social issues. Phil is not the only person on the internet who's had information stolen, it's a reality we all have to deal with nowadays and I'm sure we all know people who's personal info has been stolen and disseminated on the internet (I certainly have).

He has said some really, REALLY nasty things on twitter to people and acts like the entire world is against him when in reality he's just incredibly sensitive to any kind of criticism which is thrown his way. Fez is probably one of the most acclaimed games in recent years and he still thinks the world is against him. There are celebrities everyday that get it way worse than Phil and handle it much much much better. I would have more sympathy for him if he wasn't so terribly antagonistic to the outside world.

You may be a genius Phil but you may end up being more JD Salinger than Truman Capote.

But will he still guest for GDC? Hes always fun during the GDC streams.

People really hate this guy don't they?

Huh. Well, shit. I dunno how I missed that then. I haven't seen it mentioned at all during this whole thing either.

I think this particular incident has more to do with him defending Ms. Quinn than it does his on-again/off-again relationship with the public and Fez.

For reference, this is what preceded Fish's tweets:

I just re-read the topic and I see a bunch of people saying that while they may not like him, he still didn't deserve this kind of attack. I don't see anyone justifying the attack on Fish at all, in any way. People are allowed to have negative opinions about Fish, that doesn't translate into condoning what happened to him.

Considering Polytron's website was emblazoned with Five Guys, I'd agree

I fully agree with this sentiment.

this probably sounds _really_ selfish, but i'm just so tired of video game drama. like i understand that these are people's lives so this is probably a shitty way to feel, but everyday it feels like some other heartbreakingly stupid thing has happened and i just can't care anymore

Semi related to this, does anyone know if Zoe will still be doing the PAX panel with Patrick about surviving the internet?

Man what a shitshow... I feel sorry for him though.

I rather don't see much cause to accuse Phil of anything other than being a victim of bullshit on the internet. The most anyone can accuse him of is a bit of controversy and a bit of pushiness on social media. Far from anything to deserve harassment on the level of doxing and some thin justification from the apparent party responsible. On a side note, part of what makes it this desperate and sad is the laughable claim that they are "the leader of 4chan.org and Anonymous." It's something I see consistently where doxers and hackers of this ilk attempt to leverage the mystique of the internet hack mob to make themselves seem more important. Sadly, their capability to harass and terrorize people's lives for their own amusement or moral satisfaction is all too real despite their over-reaching self-importance.

Concerning the announcement, all this might really mean is fully retracting himself as Phil Fish the dude what made Fez on the internet and complete the transition into Phil Fish the dude behind the scenes helping out other indie devs if the Polytron Partners thing is still happening. My guess is that despite this incident he'll make sure that keeps going.

Wow, that is really disgusting to steal/post someone's personal information like that.

Who cares what Phil Fish has said or done in the past. None of that justifies such a gross invasion of privacy.

That was the front page of Polytron's website. I saw it with my own eyes. Probably isn't 4chan, but it sure as hell wasn't fake.

Oh I don't think it was /v/ and had said as much in my dupe thread I had posted which got locked. I'm just putting the screenshot from the Polytron website up there for those people who are taking Fish's apparent scorched earth policy as just another internet tantrum, and giving them some more context for why his reaction is understandable.

I mean a fake affiliation, not a fake hack.