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CS Pro Mod
aTam Fired! Ownership Lost? Part 1
Yes, I have officially been fired from the project, but why do you ask? Sit down children; I have a wonderful and inspiring story to share with you all.
Tuesday, August 7th, 2007, I woke up, logged onto IRC and was quickly under barrage by Alex Garfield over the tiny subject of me creating this community page! However, what he did not realize was that I made this with good in mind and the utmost intentions of handing over full ownership to him when he got on. I figured "I registered the name quickly, got over 100 members, he'd be totally happy!" Not the case.
Apparently, what I did was unspeakable, and lead to me being fired quickly banned from CS Pro Mods private developer channel in IRC. After 15 months of hard work, Alex Garfield who I considered to be my good friend of mine acted completely irrationally.
On the community page when Alex was reading there was a contest for my map, and some information to help clear all the questions we were getting on IRC. However, everything that was on the site was regurgitated from other news sites such as Gotfrag, and in my own right to post. The map which I am working on anyone is entitled to do at their free will. Does one need to contact Valve before making a map for Counter-Strike? I was very clear that the map was an alpha, was unofficial, and being made by me because I was finished with Dust2, Nuke, Inferno and Train and wanted to make a new map for CS Pro Mod.
However, this is where things get interesting. I wasn't too quick to judge Alex, I figured he had every right to be upset for being in a management position, and I would completely comply with what he asked of me. But, his demands quickly lead to threats against my contracted partial ownership of CS Pro Mod, and threats against deletion of this entire community space!
I could not believe what I was hearing; my friend was utterly attacking me for such a simple thing that I made with the most pure of intentions. I was fired, threatened with legal action, threatened to lose my ownership, banned from the channels, I lost everything. However, I was quickly given several opportunities to reclaim what I had lost... sort of.
If I handed ownership over to Alex, I would be able to keep my percentage of CS Pro Mod, my entire 1% mind you, while he collects nearly half for doing 'management'. But, I couldn't, I felt like I started something the community really liked, everyone on IRC was excited, everyone wanted to take part in the map testing, I would be damned to let him delete it just so he can maintain complete dominance over everything. This is a community project; Alex owns the mod, not the community. I am within my rights to do this!
So, I've lost 15 months of hard work in one day, all of which to protect this simple beta community board with a population of slightly over 100. I stood for principle and rights to protect this, and lost everything. After a man fires you, threatens you, steals what you own, and tries to destroy what you make, and is your friend, you can only hang onto what is rightfully yours, no matter the costs.
From this day out, my part in CS Pro Mod will hopefully stay the same. I will own a part of it through time as it grows, and continue to make maps for it. My ownership in this is completely up to Alex, for I have no legal standing in this. Apparently, the contract I signed wasn't signed by him, so therefore there is a loophole allowing him to steal from me. I realize I was foolish to sign that, but I was 18 at the time, and excited to be taking part. It is unfortunate that Alex may choose to take away what is rightfully mine even after firing me form the project.
Tuesday, August 7th, 2007, I woke up, logged onto IRC and was quickly under barrage by Alex Garfield over the tiny subject of me creating this community page! However, what he did not realize was that I made this with good in mind and the utmost intentions of handing over full ownership to him when he got on. I figured "I registered the name quickly, got over 100 members, he'd be totally happy!" Not the case.
Apparently, what I did was unspeakable, and lead to me being fired quickly banned from CS Pro Mods private developer channel in IRC. After 15 months of hard work, Alex Garfield who I considered to be my good friend of mine acted completely irrationally.
On the community page when Alex was reading there was a contest for my map, and some information to help clear all the questions we were getting on IRC. However, everything that was on the site was regurgitated from other news sites such as Gotfrag, and in my own right to post. The map which I am working on anyone is entitled to do at their free will. Does one need to contact Valve before making a map for Counter-Strike? I was very clear that the map was an alpha, was unofficial, and being made by me because I was finished with Dust2, Nuke, Inferno and Train and wanted to make a new map for CS Pro Mod.
However, this is where things get interesting. I wasn't too quick to judge Alex, I figured he had every right to be upset for being in a management position, and I would completely comply with what he asked of me. But, his demands quickly lead to threats against my contracted partial ownership of CS Pro Mod, and threats against deletion of this entire community space!
I could not believe what I was hearing; my friend was utterly attacking me for such a simple thing that I made with the most pure of intentions. I was fired, threatened with legal action, threatened to lose my ownership, banned from the channels, I lost everything. However, I was quickly given several opportunities to reclaim what I had lost... sort of.
If I handed ownership over to Alex, I would be able to keep my percentage of CS Pro Mod, my entire 1% mind you, while he collects nearly half for doing 'management'. But, I couldn't, I felt like I started something the community really liked, everyone on IRC was excited, everyone wanted to take part in the map testing, I would be damned to let him delete it just so he can maintain complete dominance over everything. This is a community project; Alex owns the mod, not the community. I am within my rights to do this!
So, I've lost 15 months of hard work in one day, all of which to protect this simple beta community board with a population of slightly over 100. I stood for principle and rights to protect this, and lost everything. After a man fires you, threatens you, steals what you own, and tries to destroy what you make, and is your friend, you can only hang onto what is rightfully yours, no matter the costs.
From this day out, my part in CS Pro Mod will hopefully stay the same. I will own a part of it through time as it grows, and continue to make maps for it. My ownership in this is completely up to Alex, for I have no legal standing in this. Apparently, the contract I signed wasn't signed by him, so therefore there is a loophole allowing him to steal from me. I realize I was foolish to sign that, but I was 18 at the time, and excited to be taking part. It is unfortunate that Alex may choose to take away what is rightfully mine even after firing me form the project.
