One man and his twisted mind. The face of the community? From the mind of Ben Lesnick.

Deathenger

So apparently someone dug up some old chats logs from IRC with Ben Lesnick. It's some pretty vile stuff without a doubt. He's desperately trying to save face on twitter by saying someone found his "old joke site". I don't know about you, but there is some pretty despicable stuff coming from that man and I would hardly call any of the stuff he said to be funny in any way. Besides  this drame, he also has some blog, or site that has like 1200 pictures of a female news reporter hes got some obsession with... creepy! http://hamtwoslices.net/kerri-lee/

Now, full disclosure here, he was like 25 when he wrote all this deplorable crap. I say its still not excusable. Those are young adult years, not kiddie tween years, or elementary school.

This is definitely going to be a PR nightmare for CIG. There are over 20,000 logged comments by Ben

Although I don't feel it's appropriate to post his comments here, you guys can check out the reddit and read some for yourself.
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/4f2gc8/bens_lesnicks_blog_the_book_of_loaf/


I will be very surprised if this man has a job come Monday. I dont think even the most ravenous, hard core fans can pass this stuff off as just "jokes".

Please do not troll my thread, trolling and baiting will be reported, and I recommend everybody else please do the same to thoes who wish to derail this thread.

kitarad

Holy crap!

Tiller

wtf

macwood

Oh dear

adamlotus75

Yes do not point out anything bad going on. It's very important not to be negative.

rpmcmurphy

Can't say I'm surprised that Lesnick wrote this sort of shite.

Deathenger

MisterZebub said:

Oh look, more grasping at straws from the people who can't find any actual factual evidence of wrongdoing or looming disaster by CIG and Chris Roberts. You're starting to look truly desperate guys.

I have to say though that this attempt at character assassination by your camp is wonderfully ironic seeing as the main reason you anti-fans claim no one will step forward and directly call out Chris Roberts for being a lying toolbag is the dread of personal attacks exactly such as this. Congratulations on becoming the exact kind of people you claim to hate.

So do you think a main figurehead of a community should have something like this in his background?

frostymug

MisterZebub said:

Oh look, more grasping at straws from the people who can't find any actual factual evidence of wrongdoing or looming disaster by CIG and Chris Roberts. You're starting to look truly desperate guys.

I have to say though that this attempt at character assassination by your camp is wonderfully ironic seeing as the main reason you anti-fans claim no one will step forward and directly call out Chris Roberts for being a lying toolbag is the dread of personal attacks exactly such as this. Congratulations on becoming the exact kind of people you claim to hate.

In order to be character assassination it would, by definition, be malicious and unjustified. Malicious, maybe, but given what is written not really unjustified. Even fans of the game should be somewhat concerned with some of that and the impression it gives off. There's some pretty damning stuff there as far as character goes, particularly in his post from today where he stated it doesn't even show the worst of who he's been and that some of it is fun and interesting. Also, his story of how it came about does not even remotely jive with what is on the page itself, in its description or contents. The stalking thing is cute though.

Not even going to mention idolizing Something Awful and pretending to be Lowtax...

I've seen what others have pulled from it, but I'm not going to bother digging through there myself. It's mostly beyond the level I care about. His response from today is more telling to me.

You don't need factual evidence to find someone guilty in a court of law, but you need it to discuss video games? People have spent time in jail due to "grasping at straws". There is more than a little circumstantial evidence that things aren't exactly great with this project. Everybody wants "factual evidence" of anything negative, but the only "factual evidence" from the positive camp is what CR or CIG has said and a pretty horrible looking alpha. And even what CR or CIG has said on record is often twisted or reinterpreted to fit whatever the current argument is.

Axllow18

So 10 years ago Benny Two Ton made 4chan / Goon level jokes on the internet and it's suddenly now news? I've read worse in Barrens chat circa 2004.

Either I am emotionally dead inside or some people on this website are trying WAY too hard to find something to be mad about.

goboygo

Why would anyone possibly care?  And you post about someone else's obsession? I think I'm posting in someones right now.

goobsnews

amazing to me that the SC cultists still can find a way to justify the face of their beloved scam being a racist pedophile. simply mind boggling. truly. the closed reddit thread was hilarious too, people praising hitler for being "a strong leader" as a way of defending ben's comments about hitler being so great. the media is gonna have a field day with this and it's gonna be so good. can't wait.

frostymug

Axllow18 said:

So 10 years ago Benny Two Ton made 4chan / Goon level jokes on the internet and it's suddenly now news? I've read worse in Barrens chat circa 2004.

Either I am emotionally dead inside or some people on this website are trying WAY too hard to find something to be mad about.

Barrens chat isn't the community manger for the largest crowdfunding project to date.

Crowdfunding project, not crowdfunded project...

Asm0deus

I have stayed away from the SC threads of late because they all  just turn into mob hate mongering and sadly both "sides" fall prey to this.

This thread is just more of the same, they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Axllow18

frostymug said:

Axllow18 said:

So 10 years ago Benny Two Ton made 4chan / Goon level jokes on the internet and it's suddenly now news? I've read worse in Barrens chat circa 2004.

Either I am emotionally dead inside or some people on this website are trying WAY too hard to find something to be mad about.

Barrens chat isn't the community manger for the largest crowdfunding project to date.

Crowdfunding project, not crowdfunded project...

Interesting because 10 years ago neither was Ben.

Hell, even if it WASN'T shit posting and he was ACTUALLY that fucked up 10 years ago so what? Do people not change in your world? Is it not possible that he no longer thinks the way he did in 2006?

Seriously this shit isn't news. All of you going on about stupid internet shit-posting from 10 fucking years ago instead of staying on point about all the real issues that plague this project is a joke.

Talk about the constant delays, the fundraising model that actively encourages the project to take longer to make more money, the issues of constantly redoing things in the middle of production, the changes or exclusions of features and functions that were earlier pledge goals, or even the idea that ships being pledged for RIGHT NOW might not make it into the game at LAUNCH?

No fuck that we gotta be mad about something someone said 10 years ago!

Jesus tap-dancing Christ, you are worse than the SC white knights at this point.

ralinsilver

Meh, I've seen and heard worse. 
Hell I've had thoughts worse than that, just not stupid enough to tell anyone.

Kefo

I was expecting another route the defenders of SC's honor would take but I suppose they are just throwing any kind of effort to the wind and going with he said it years ago so it doesn't count!! Defence.

I could get behind the idea of your defence arguments if it was normal shit you would say as a twenty something year old moron. Talking about how it would be awesome to have sex with a 12 year old every day crosses the line and you should probably have your head checked.

Kefo

MisterZebub said:

Axllow18 said:

frostymug said:

Axllow18 said:

So 10 years ago Benny Two Ton made 4chan / Goon level jokes on the internet and it's suddenly now news? I've read worse in Barrens chat circa 2004.

Either I am emotionally dead inside or some people on this website are trying WAY too hard to find something to be mad about.

Barrens chat isn't the community manger for the largest crowdfunding project to date.

Crowdfunding project, not crowdfunded project...

Interesting because 10 years ago neither was Ben.

Hell, even if it WASN'T shit posting and he was ACTUALLY that fucked up 10 years ago so what? Do people not change in your world? Is it not possible that he no longer thinks the way he did in 2006?

Seriously this shit isn't news. All of you going on about stupid internet shit-posting from 10 fucking years ago instead of staying on point about all the real issues that plague this project is a joke.

Talk about the constant delays, the fundraising model that actively encourages the project to take longer to make more money, the issues of constantly redoing things in the middle of production, the changes or exclusions of features and functions that were earlier pledge goals, or even the idea that ships being pledged for RIGHT NOW might not make it into the game at LAUNCH?

No fuck that we gotta be mad about something someone said 10 years ago!

Jesus tap-dancing Christ, you are worse than the SC white knights at this point.

Dude. You so totally fucking get it! I wish I had two heads so I could tip more than one fedora to you.

See anti-fans, this is relevant criticism about SC, this is how you post without turning everything you say into a fucking chimp's tea party where you alienate everyone but your most hardcore SC hating buddies.

"You take a page out of this guy's book. A little less you talk, a little more you think!"

Have talked about the delays, the shady crowdfunding practices, the broken promises and all the other shit that relates to the game. In case you haven't been following any of those threads here are the typical answers "it's alpha", "no one is holding a gun to your head", "you don't understand game development", etc.

You've been posting in criticism threads before so don't come in here acting all high and mighty saying there has been no relevant criticism when you know that any and all criticism is buried under a deluge of shit posting from the fans.

Axllow18

Kefo said:

I was expecting another route the defenders of SC's honor would take but I suppose they are just throwing any kind of effort to the wind and going with he said it years ago so it doesn't count!! Defence.

I could get behind the idea of your defence arguments if it was normal shit you would say as a twenty something year old moron. Talking about how it would be awesome to have sex with a 12 year old every day crosses the line and you should probably have your head checked.

Kefo have you ever been to 4chan? This is the kind of shit full grown people do on the internet all the time. This is the kind of normal shit twenty somethings say on the internet.

Hell I've had a 47 year old man on Teamspeak back when I was playing Planetside hardcore make a joke out of fucking aborted fetuses just to enrage another guy in our Outfit because he was upset about an abortion law that was passed (The guy was an anti-abortion Repub). He continued to make this joke for several weeks until the guy quit the outfit out of disgust and frustration.

Out of all the issues this project has this is not one of them and by trying to make this into a real issue all you do is distract from the real problems that we should be talking about. This kind of shit right here has NOTHING to do with CIG. Even if Ben had said this stuff yesterday all it would mean is Ben was being offensive yesterday and I'd bet you money CIG would fire him.

This has nothing to do with Star Citizen. This has nothing to do with the project's issues. This has no purpose for those of us who are critical of the PROJECT. All this kind of shit does is make those of us who are critical of the project look like petty children going after a person.

frostymug

I'm not even remotely mad about it, tiger. I'm not on Team DS. I think he is just as bad in many ways. Main difference being that he knows it and owns it. I think he's pretty much a royal douche, honestly. Douche is a cleansing product and he's definitely trying to cleanse things so I suppose it fits.

I have had plenty of concerns from the get go. CR in charge being the biggest of them. His history is pretty spotty and Austin wasn't always as big as it is now. The team he was assembling as well. Like I said higher up, the response from today was probably more telling than whatever is in there.

I've mentioned pretty much everything you mentioned here. Actually why I called it a crowdfunding project. This is just more smoke to wave away. Another potential bump in a road they are making plenty bumpy. It does draw judgement into question. Lesnick was known well enough to have a system in the Wing Commander universe named after him. Not some random resume that got picked up on merits and put in a community manager role. If he was known well enough (pretty much from only the WC community) to have a system named after him and a site with random quotes built from that, it is pretty likely that CR knew of it. Even if CR didn't know about it directly, it's something that at the very least should have been vetted and archived. It's not a good face for a company that knows it is going to be getting quite a bit of press and scrutiny because of what they claimed to be able to do and how they are doing it. The DS crusade magnified the error, but it is still pretty stupid either way.

Anyways, I'm just passing my thoughts as a fan of the genre who was at one time cautiously excited about this game. Wouldn't have ever posted if I wasn't still at least a little interested in it. Not trying to carry the banner for either side. Other people do that with far more fervor than I can afford this project at this point. 

Axllow18

I can respect your position Frosty; like I said my biggest issue with this is I feel this is nothing more than certain interested parties trying to take pot-shots at a project they don't like and I am tired of it.

Mostly because EVERY time I say anything remotely negative about Star Citizen I get associated with that failure Derek Smart and his childish fan-boys.

bartoni33

So it's come to this huh?

Someone making absurd and sometimes admittedly vile comments in the name of humor is now not able to work? That person should withstand personal attacks and character assassination attempts from posts on the fricking internet they made over 10 (TEN) years ago?

For god sakes folks do not EVER listen to comedians like Louis C.K. or George Carlin (RIP ) or you will not know what to do.

@Axllow18 I feel your pain. I fall in between Erillion and Brenics as far as SC is concerned. Many issues indeed, but not a straight up scam or whatever. I still believe that their are certain posters on this site that are shills (for whom I don't know) and make horribad post against SC just to make the Anti's look like nutjobs.

Iselin

Jesus... you'd think Lesnick was some elected official in a sensitive job accountable to voters or a teacher who could influence tender young minds instead of some fat slovenly community manager for a fucking game with all this hoopla.

Was he an asshat 10 years ago prone to sophomoric pseudo-edginess? Yeah probably and if the gamergate shit is any indication, he wasn't and isn't the only one.

Who gives a shit about his poor taste in humor subject matter when all he does for a living is deal with even worse asshats all day long? I'd say if anything, he's more in tune with his core audience than I previously thought.

Stick to bashing SC for all the eminently bashable reasons. But "outing" a presumed asshat as a real asshat is sort of pathetic in a "duh" kinda way.  

mr1602

Iselin said:

Jesus... you'd think Lesnick was some elected official in a sensitive job accountable to voters or a teacher who could influence tender young minds instead of some fat slovenly community manager for a fucking game with all this hoopla.

Was he an asshat 10 years ago prone to sophomoric pseudo-edginess? Yeah probably and if the gamergate shit is any indication, he wasn't and isn't the only one.

Who gives a shit about his poor taste in humor subject matter when all he does for a living is deal with even worse asshats all day long? I'd say if anything, he's more in tune with his core audience than I previously thought.

Stick to bashing SC for all the eminently bashable reasons. But "outing" a presumed asshat as a real asshat is sort of pathetic in a "duh" kinda way.  

He worked at a school from 2007-2012.
The website was last updated on 2008.

Make whatever you will with this information as I'm just going by public information.

bartoni33

mr1602 said:

Iselin said:

Jesus... you'd think Lesnick was some elected official in a sensitive job accountable to voters or a teacher who could influence tender young minds instead of some fat slovenly community manager for a fucking game with all this hoopla.

Was he an asshat 10 years ago prone to sophomoric pseudo-edginess? Yeah probably and if the gamergate shit is any indication, he wasn't and isn't the only one.

Who gives a shit about his poor taste in humor subject matter when all he does for a living is deal with even worse asshats all day long? I'd say if anything, he's more in tune with his core audience than I previously thought.

Stick to bashing SC for all the eminently bashable reasons. But "outing" a presumed asshat as a real asshat is sort of pathetic in a "duh" kinda way.  

He worked at a school from 2007-2012.
The website was last updated on 2008.

Make whatever you will with this information as I'm just going by public information.

Yep he was a " communications specialist" at a D.C. suburb school. Whatever the hell that means.

Are we insinuating he diddled kids now? I hope to hell not.

EDIT: I kinda felt a little dirty prying into this guys past for this post. O.o

holdenhamlet

Can't read the comments but people say stupid stuff on the internet, especially when they're 25.  I don't think it should preclude him from holding a job, and doesn't really say anything about his character 10 years later.

As for the stalker page- meh.  If it was a page of pics of someone more famous people wouldn't care.

If there's one thing I really can't stand, it's umbrage.  

bartoni33

holdenhamlet said:

As for the stalker page- meh.  If it was a page of pics of someone more famous people wouldn't care.

I'm kinda torn myself over that... whatever it is. I'm glad that he is owning up to his past internet ramblings and not trying to hide it but man that photo album is kinda weird in a stalkerish way. Being a fat basement-dwelling-looking living stereotype is one thing but that album puts the whole blog or whatever it is/was in a seriously strange light. I mean c'mon. If he was a hormone-addled teen that would be one thing. But as an adult it just looks creepy.