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Jim Sterling is being sued by Digital Homicide

Malrend

Member
It continues to baffle me how long this has been drawn out.

I assume that this is a somewhat.. Unique case, given the persistence of DH. I still find it rather surprising that this hasn't seen the end of the tunnel yet.
 

Ritzboof

Member
i already know this is still a thing even after so long, but it really does amaze me how far its come. it really is an unavoidable trainwreck on the part of romine

someone mentioned the interview jim sterling did with him a while back, and the big thing that gets to me is how much he acts like i can have a tendency of acting. i have aspergers syndrome, and that means a lot of things, but a big issue ive always struggled with in my life is spite. like, if im in a position where im flustered and sticking to my guns, its difficult to let the issue go and admit defeat even though i can only lose. ive gotten better with age, but im only 19, and i guess he hasnt had such an easy time maturing

i see that exact thing emanating from romine, though, and i can fully understand his thought process. thats the big thing that saddens me. add that to the fact that he clearly has trouble communicating in general, and he obviously has a social disability (crazy, right). obviously i cant tell you that its aspergers for sure, but i can feel the impact of the immense pressure hes under and how he feels forced to stand his ground even though it can only be a detriment to him and his family, and it sucks

thats not to say he doesnt deserve some of the greif for taking advantage of the steam market, though
 
Its actually kinda interesting the LLC argument, DH say they were going to use a LLC for each game but Jim and his fanbase stalked them to effect sales of other companies.

Kinda ruins the "he should move on" argument.
 

sammex

Member
Its actually kinda interesting the LLC argument, DH say they were going to use a LLC for each game but Jim and his fanbase stalked them to effect sales of other companies.

Kinda ruins the "he should move on" argument.

The "he should move on" argument is that he should just ignore the criticism and if he wants to carry on releasing crappy games then go ahead. Romine used a pseudonym for his new company, that's not moving on, that's trying to hide his past from people and the reason Sterling mentioned it.

The only reason I, and many others, know about all this is because of the whole shitstorm that ensued after Sterling had a reply to one of his videos. Sterling does videos of lots of crappy games and none have received the same attention because their developers wisely took it on the chin or just ignored it.
 
So continuing to not listen to judge, admitting they tried to "rebrand" Digital homicide, are basically committing fraud, and then crying that Jim brought that to light is the update. What morons. They're so hanging themselves in that updated complaint. Oh yea we're using a fake name for support and then changing our name but damn Jim he caught us. Meanwhile going oh hey Judge we know you told us to get a lawyer but fuck you here is an update to our complaint.

Rebranding or operating companies with different names isn't illegal though?
 

foltzie1

Member
Jim Sterling has made a statement on the lawsuit (also found in his latest video).

As some of you know, the lawsuit against me is continuing. James Romine amended his complaint to comply with the judge’s request that he either seek a lawyer to pursue a suit against me on behalf of Digital Homicide, or amend the lawsuit so it is not about the LLC he tanked by attempting to sue hundreds of anonymous people on the Internet.

Romine has taken the latter option, and continues to not only accuse me of libel, but of directing criminal harassment against him. Such evidence of this “direction” includes Operation Cleanlight, a program I instated to highlight good games on Steam Greenlight and talk about why I find them appealing. It also includes The Steam Cleaner, a comedic vigilante alter-ego in a leather plague doctor mask that I introduced while talking about underhanded cottage markets in Steam’s Greenlight community.

It is my personal opinion that – of those portions of the amended lawsuit we may deem comprehensible – the charges are convoluted and possess such an intense degree of flimsiness, no word currently exists to convey quite how flimsy they are.

According to what one can yank from the tangled mess of words and poorly scanned images, James Romine wants $15,326,000. All I’ll say to that is this:

When this is all over, I’ll consider reimbursing you the $1.00 a month you claim to give me on Patreon in order to “prove” I do business in Arizona.
 

foltzie1

Member
Update:

There were no further updates prior to the Judge's deadline of February 10th for an amended complaint to be filed by a licensed attorney.

Note, there is a small chance that something was filed at the last minute on the 10th but not yet processed.
 

Primus

Member
Update:

There were no further updates prior to the Judge's deadline of February 10th for an amended complaint to be filed by a licensed attorney.

Note, there is a small chance that something was filed at the last minute on the 10th but not yet processed.

I see I'm not the only one who has been repeatedly F5-ing Pacer over the weekend.
 
Some time ago, Jim was extremely misogynistic - a gamergater before gamergate. He had a complete reversal in around 2012 and has subsequently apologised for his previous actions and words and done a lot to promote the opposite.

He is a good example of how you shouldn't give up on people.

Interview about it:

http://www.gamingaswomen.com/posts/...th-jim-sterling-about-sexism-in-game-culture/

Just because he's not a mysogynistic asshole doesn't mean he isn't still a gigantic asshole. He just switched targets.
 
You're gonna have to help us out here with an explanation.

Has Jim Sterling said mean things about your video game?

He hasn't changed his tactics AT ALL. He's still the same loud abrasive piece of shit he's always been but since he got in trouble for doing it against women he decided to do it against companies, games, etc. and make a Patreon out of it.

The fact that you immediately jumped to insult me says everything about the community he's created.
 
He hasn't changed his tactics AT ALL. He's still the same loud abrasive piece of shit he's always been but since he got in trouble for doing it against women he decided to do it against companies, games, etc. and make a Patreon out of it.

The fact that you immediately jumped to insult me says everything about the community he's created.

If you think that's an insult you must be one sheltered person.
 

foltzie1

Member
DH has to be burning through whatever money they've pilfered from the unsuspecting on Steam by now, right?

As of right now, not really since Romine has been filing "pro se" he hasn't had attorney costs just filing costs. Filing costs aren't too large to get a case started.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
He hasn't changed his tactics AT ALL. He's still the same loud abrasive piece of shit he's always been but since he got in trouble for doing it against women he decided to do it against companies, games, etc. and make a.Patreon out of it.

The fact that you immediately jumped to insult me says everything about the community he's created.

You...consider what I posted an insult?

Dude. You're throwing around phrases like "loud abrasive piece of shit" and crying that my post is an issue here?
 

ISee

Member
He hasn't changed his tactics AT ALL. He's still the same loud abrasive piece of shit he's always been but since he got in trouble for doing it against women he decided to do it against companies, games, etc. and make a Patreon out of it.

The fact that you immediately jumped to insult me says everything about the community he's created.

Calm down James. He didn't insult you.
 

oni-link

Member
He hasn't changed his tactics AT ALL. He's still the same loud abrasive piece of shit he's always been but since he got in trouble for doing it against women he decided to do it against companies, games, etc. and make a Patreon out of it.

The fact that you immediately jumped to insult me says everything about the community he's created.

So you think he still holds questionable views, but hides them now because it's easier to be popular by suppressing them?

This is based on what? A gut feeling?
 
So you think he still holds questionable views, but hides them now because it's easier to be popular by suppressing them?

No I don't think he secretly hates women but he didn't become a better person and change his behavior after that incident. He's using the exact same tactics he always has and now it's landing him in court with people who are even bigger assholes.
 

Drain You

Member
He hasn't changed his tactics AT ALL. He's still the same loud abrasive piece of shit he's always been but since he got in trouble for doing it against women he decided to do it against companies, games, etc. and make a Patreon out of it.

The fact that you immediately jumped to insult me says everything about the community he's created.

I'm having a hard time seeing an insult here...
 

oni-link

Member
No I don't think he secretly hates women but he didn't become a better person and change his behavior after that incident. He's using the exact same tactics he always has and now it's landing him in court with people who are even bigger assholes.

He's not in court because of his attitude, he's in court because a couple of morons don't even have a basic understanding of the law
 

Solaire of Astora

Death by black JPN
The fact that you immediately jumped to insult me says everything about the community he's created.

Already been said, but in what world is that an insult? Anyway. I wish I'd made a game Jim had insulted. Well actually, since I'm wishing for things I'm unable to do, I might as well wish I was able to make a game he'd like instead.
 

Maximo

Member
No I don't think he secretly hates women but he didn't become a better person and change his behavior after that incident. He's using the exact same tactics he always has and now it's landing him in court with people who are even bigger assholes.

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder for Jim.
 
I had a bit of row with him on Destructoid many moons ago over whether or not the UK should adopt US style gun legislation. His position what that it should, my position was that it should not. He was a boorish, unpleasant arsehole throughout the debate and his opinion on the matter was unfathomable.
 

Primus

Member
A little movement today, Jim Sterling's lawyer filed a motion to ask the court for an extension of the time given to file the response to Romine's latest strategery.

Nothing major, just slow forward progress.
 
Somebody at The Escapist posted this as the contents of the latest document:

Defendant James Stanton moves the Court for an order extending his time to respond to
Plaintiff's Amended Complaint One? [Doc. 37] for seven (7) days, to and including February
24, 2017. The current response deadline is February 17, 2017.

In support of this motion Defendant states that Defendant's attorney and Plaintiff have
been in regular contact since February 9, 2017, regarding the allegations of the Amended
Complaint One and potential resolution of the same. Counsel believes the parties are close to
resolving the issues and that if a resolution can be reached it will be reached this week. If the
parties are unable to resolve this matter Defendant will file a response to the Amended
Complaint One? by February 24, 2017.

Undersigned counsel has personally conferred with Plaintiff James Romine regarding
this motion and he has given his consent to the requested extension.

A proposed order is submitted herewith.

What does this mean, "close to resolving the issues"? Is Jim settling?
 
Some time ago, Jim was extremely misogynistic - a gamergater before gamergate. He had a complete reversal in around 2012 and has subsequently apologised for his previous actions and words and done a lot to promote the opposite.

He is a good example of how you shouldn't give up on people.

Interview about it:

http://www.gamingaswomen.com/posts/...th-jim-sterling-about-sexism-in-game-culture/

Wow, I never knew about that. This is an awesome read. I should check out his stuff more.
 

Primus

Member
What does this mean, "close to resolving the issues"? Is Jim settling?

Some sort of settlement definitely seems to be in the offing from that petition, but as to whether it's Jim, Romine, or somewhere in between, we don't know yet.

EDIT: And the court granted the motion to extend today, with the provisions in the previous motion that it be extended to February 24th or responded to earlier in case of an agreement.
 
It'll be a little disappointing if it ends in a settlement but it isn't too surprising that it went in that direction. Hopefully they put some kind of gag order on Romine so he doesn't go around acting like he won the case.
 

foltzie1

Member
Somebody at The Escapist posted this as the contents of the latest document:

What does this mean, "close to resolving the issues"? Is Jim settling?

Some sort of settlement definitely seems to be in the offing from that petition, but as to whether it's Jim, Romine, or somewhere in between, we don't know yet.

EDIT: And the court granted the motion to extend today, with the provisions in the previous motion that it be extended to February 24th or responded to earlier in case of an agreement.

Just because a settlement is being discussed doenst mean that "Jim is settling" in a way that means he is losing. I doubt any settlement would be negative for Sterling.

Settlements mean that the parties involved get to define the way the situation is resolved. Letting things go before a judge involved uncertainty, in addition to the time and costs.

It's possible Romine has realized he was waging an untenable case. I wouldnt have assumed that based on his last filing, but who knows.
 
No of course he isn't losing, that was clear from Jim's comments and the filings. It's just that settling can be described by a side as a victory for their cause.

I don't think Romine realizes what a folly this entire thing has been. Between the ludicrous numbers being thrown around in his filing and his general attitude towards the entire case, it's clear that he thinks he's in the 100% right.
 
There is no possible settlement that Romine would agree to that isn't some sort of loss for Sterling.

Anything short of Sterling going all the way with this and being found not guilty is a defeat. There are only two reasons to settle; he can't (or doesn't want to) pay for his lawyer any longer, or he isn't confident in his case. The first option just sucks, but obviously could be a reality. This shit has to have cost a good chunk of change already.

The second option is admitting he might have done something wrong. Of course, the settlement would be done in a way that he isn't legally admitting guilt, but that's not how it would feel. If you sue me for money, and I give you money (even if substantially less) then you've won, and I've lost. And more importantly, Romine will have won the moral battle that could embolden others like him.
 
Settling in terms of a lawsuit is an opportunity to move on without carrying higher costs.
Its unfortunate, but most wise decisions regarding lawsuits, no matter who is at fault, involve settling because it is the cheapest and least time consuming option.
The alternative is to potentially spend years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to "win".
 

tebunker

Banned
There is no possible settlement that Romine would agree to that isn't some sort of loss for Sterling.

Anything short of Sterling going all the way with this and being found not guilty is a defeat. There are only two reasons to settle; he can't (or doesn't want to) pay for his lawyer any longer, or he isn't confident in his case. The first option just sucks, but obviously could be a reality. This shit has to have cost a good chunk of change already.

The second option is admitting he might have done something wrong. Of course, the settlement would be done in a way that he isn't legally admitting guilt, but that's not how it would feel. If you sue me for money, and I give you money (even if substantially less) then you've won, and I've lost. And more importantly, Romine will have won the moral battle that could embolden others like him.

mediation doesn't always result in a settlement but it is a good thing to do. If you can settle of out court all the better, or you can show that the plaintiff or claim's aren't in good faith.

It is a good way to really see what the sides really want to get out of this. I am sure Jim just wants that guy to go away, that guy seems batty though and may want blood, which could go against him if they end up before a judge. If he doesn't negotiate in good faith it will look bad to a judge.
 

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
mediation doesn't always result in a settlement but it is a good thing to do. If you can settle of out court all the better, or you can show that the plaintiff or claim's aren't in good faith.

It is a good way to really see what the sides really want to get out of this. I am sure Jim just wants that guy to go away, that guy seems batty though and may want blood, which could go against him if they end up before a judge. If he doesn't negotiate in good faith it will look bad to a judge.
Is there a mediation order? It's been my experience that, while judges love for cases to settle to get off their docket, they don't really give a shit about settlement negotiations, good faith or otherwise, unless there was an order to mediate. You might draw some ire if the parties at least went through the time and expense of hiring a mediator only to have one side do nothing more than tug at their own dick throughout the process, but I still don't think a judge would pay any attention to that unless it came up on a motion for sanctions.

Short of a mediation order, there's no obligation imposed by the law or the rules upon either party to engage in settlement negotiations. Also settlement efforts aren't admissible under the rules of evidence, so there won't be any substantive impact upon the validity of either party's claims.
 
I'm sure Jim wants this to be done with. He is the one paying for a lawyer after all, no corporation to back him or cover the legal fees.

Although amusing I thought to look up his Patreon earnings for the year this has been going on, and Jim's steadily climbed up since this stuff started.

bb8f0c980d27c71b5e9f4f7c055042d1.png
 
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