Car News

It seems that this situations has started getting ugly.

Mr. MacKinnon came public yesterday afternoon with a statement about Guardians of Order's past, legalities, and the situation with his current company. Although he does self-blame, it has been pointed out by those licensees and customers affected (in the RPG.net thread, as well as some details on the Board Game Geek thread below and on Kickstarter) that some of MacKinnon's statements are false.

Jeff Mackintosh, friend and past/current business partner of Mr. MacKinnon, went public with an attack statement against critics, which he has since taken down. Comments shared on the Kickstarter campaign's page (linked above) appear to have also started some commotion, with one Luke Martinez (whose attachment with the matter is unknown to me at this time) condemning Mackintosh for his negative comments towards those affected and those trying to circulate information. Both an archive of Mackintosh statements and MacKinnon's statements can be found here (with MacKinnon's statements being at the top of the thread):

This thread is also a nice summary of the situation, as the RPG.net thread is now 18 pages long.

A comment from Kickin' It Games (the company running the funding campaign) was quoted on RPG.net, which I'd like to share here.

This comment adds some weight to my personal comment at the end of my original post, and has raised a bit of concern on RPG.net. Basically, the concern here is that KiG is stepping back from liability should the project fail or experience production and financial problems.

Since this started, other concerns raised include the illegal use of IP involved with GoO in promoting this new project, concern that MacKinnon's new company is set up the same as GoO and that collaborators have not been paid for their work, and the attack campaign launched by Mr. Mackintosh, who claims that people are trying to sabotage Dyskami Publishing and spread lies.

There was a comment shared in the RPG.net thread that Kickin' It Games may not have known about MacKinnon's past before agreeing to work with him and Dyskami Publishing. This comment is noteworthy, but not ultimately important at this moment.

In summary, this matter is starting to generate a lot of positive and negative discussion. The concern of those burned by MacKinnon over Guardians of Order's past are not simply about them being burned in the past. The concerns raised are that MacKinnon has a past of financial mismangement, using IP that he does not own, communications blackouts, and misrepresentation, and that he has taken to a popular and risky fundraising model that is extremely vulnerable to similar actions. Meanwhile, business partner Jeff Mackintosh is trying to shift blame to those who are raising such information and those burned by MacKinnon almost a decade ago, while those raising concern are trying to do so in order to help backers make an informed choice. Kickin' It Games' position remains unclear, although they seem to have come forward with a statement of support but zero liability.

As of right now, the funding campaign has grown slightly, with just over $14 000 raised and 33 days remaining and 147 backers. There are comments on all three websites that some backers have removed their support for the funding campaign, though it has had small gains.

Again, I'll keep everyone updated as new information or concerns surface. I think that everything that could be said by the parties has been, but you never know. I'm also contemplating a trophy backing with a small amoiunt of money so as to keep a better eye on this after the campaign has finished. I do believe in second chances, but I also agree that Mr. MacKinnon does not deserve reduced scrutiny until he comes clean.