Alice in Wonderland
Zidware Pinball USA, 2013
Celts
Haggis, 2021
Magic Girl
Zidware Pinball USA, 2017
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland
Zidware Pinball USA, 2012
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (Arcade Edition)
Deeproot, 2020
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (Xtra Edition)
Deeproot, 2020Quoted from benheck:No. Nobody needs to be "made whole" People who put in deposits to DR deserve to lose every cent.
There can't be any hope. Any chance of build. Any future investment. It's time to throw the CPU from the first Terminator into the lava and finish this for GOOD.
It's time for JPOP to end.
This reminds me of the coleco chameleon fiasco on the Atari age forums
Quoted from underlord:Last call! You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here![quoted image]
Can't use the same .gif 2x in two days. Bad interwebs protocol!
Quoted from NoQuarters:@ Concretehardt - Who is Wilhelm - right hand man of RM or the company spokesperson or something - What was his title or role with DR ?
I believe Wilhelm is or was customer relations rep for DR from what I can figure.
Good news, Deeproot fans: Bobby Balls scored a free $1,172,309 from me and you!
At least, that's how it appears from ProPublica's PPP database which shows a "forgiven" status for 2020 loans received by Deeproot Tech and Deeproot Studios.
https://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/loans/deeproot-tech-llc-3926497401
Screen Shot 2021-08-07 at 4.00.17 PM (resized).png
https://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/loans/deeproot-studios-llc-5804287409
Screen Shot 2021-08-07 at 4.00.38 PM (resized).png
As we all know, the terms for PPP round 1 forgiveness are as follows:
https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/covid-19-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program/ppp-loan-forgiveness#section-header-0
Screen Shot 2021-08-07 at 4.04.14 PM (resized).png
The forgiveness is a little surprising given how many fewer staff it seems DR has these days (and didn't DR Studios close down?). But one assumes any involuntary departures were made in a precisely timely manner.
And now, the next million dollar question (actually, the 1.058096 million dollar question): Will Captain Pound It earn forgiveness again in PPP round two?
https://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/loans/deeproot-tech-llc-9611128710
Screen Shot 2021-08-07 at 4.13.57 PM (resized).png
https://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/loans/deeproot-studios-llc-1928768803
Screen Shot 2021-08-07 at 4.13.51 PM (resized).png
Fingers crossed so hard they're bleeding!
Also 625k + 535k = 1160k assume 2 months lockdown at most (Texas not CA or NYC) that's 580k/month just in payroll.
Throw in rent, utilities, noodling supplies... Robert's boast of 750k burn/month could be accurate! :p
All for a neon purple remake of Cyclone.
One assumes everything is on the up and up. Otherwise, current or former employees could avail themselves of the anonymous ppp whistleblower services Uncle Sam has set up...
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:One assumes everything is on the up and up. Otherwise, current or former employees could avail themselves of the anonymous ppp whistleblower services Uncle Sam has set up...
Or they already have, thus the recent, unexpected legal issues.
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:One assumes everything is on the up and up. Otherwise, current or former employees could avail themselves of the anonymous ppp whistleblower services Uncle Sam has set up...
Who knows what's going on but here is a quote from the last Deeproot communication 7 days ago.
"A legal matter affecting RAZA arose around a month ago that we did not expect"
Edit: Damn Roost, you were in 120 seconds before me
Quoted from Mr68:"A legal matter affecting RAZA arose around a month ago that we did not expect"
joke removed - looks like some serious shit is getting ready to launch.
Interesting - money people, does this indicate RM tried to get investors in Deeproot Pinball in 2015 (up to $6m) but failed to land sales?
Maybe more importantly, does this mean I can still get in on the ground floor?
Pretty wild that the principal behind a fund that has raised almost $42m takes down his LinkedIn + FB, as well as those of the company (and related companies), and replaces the ability to talk to anyone at the office or even leave a voicemail with a text-to-speech directive to email a generic address.
https://www.whoisraisingmoney.com/deeproot-575-fund-llc
Screen Shot 2021-08-07 at 5.41.58 PM (resized).png
Pretty, pretty, pretty wild.
I wonder what those 26 investors are thinking about all of this.
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:Interesting - money people, does this indicate RM tried to get investors in Deeproot Pinball in 2015 (up to $6m) but failed to land sales?
https://sec.report/Document/0001642564-15-000001/
[quoted image]
Makes sense. I wanna say his first meeting with Spooky was March of that year? Checking calendar...
yes, because TPF 2015 was March 27th (when AMH really took off) so Robert had approached us before that while Spooky was still struggling a bit.
Calendar also says I did a conf. call with Robert and Pixel Farm https://www.pixelfarm.com/ on April 13th. This would have been while we were still considering the offer. This is the call when Robert told the post house "these games, you should see them, they're so beautiful. They deserve DISNEY QUALITY ANIMATIONS!" and I'm like "whoah whoah. Slow down. How about Archer quality?"
Then Robert hires a bunch of ex-Avalanche Studio (game dev) talent in Salt Lake City. Because they worked on.... wait for it... DISNEY INFINITY. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Infinity
I can't remember exactly when Spooky said "no thanks" but it probably wasn't long after. But the timeline fits with a May 2015 investment outreach.
Quoted from starfighter:joke removed - looks like some serious shit is getting ready to launch.
??
Quoted from zombieyeti:(Blame a Facebook message for coming over to this thread…)
Fwiw - I was contacted late summer/early fall 2011 to work on BH/RAZA - so this lines up….
‘He’ made everything frustrating…
Part of me works very hard to this day so that, just maybe, indirectly, I can show ‘him’ how working with a real passionate team of pinball professionals yields real results within a timely manner….
In fact I love that at Stern I get to work on a single project until it’s completely done, THEN I start on the next project
Speaking of which - back to work!
Remember when he called you out in a podcast and said his games wouldn’t sell based on art. I am about to become a proud owner of a DP premium and it will be right next to my AIQ, both of which I love because of their art.
Quoted from Mr68:How come we aren't getting any rumblings of employees on the loose?
Don't they have a schedule they don't work on a Friday?
Employees probably know nothing yet.
Someone like Steven may read this forum and not know if he can enter the building on Monday.
Or they'll get an explication that it's for legal reasons and they just have to continue to work and will get paid..
Business as usual there for a few more weeks or months.
It's not because this looks like the end, that the end has arrived, that can still take months or years..
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:Pretty wild that the principal behind a fund that has raised almost $42m takes down his LinkedIn + FB, as well as those of the company (and related companies), and replaces the ability to talk to anyone at the office or even leave a voicemail with a text-to-speech directive to email a generic address.
https://www.whoisraisingmoney.com/deeproot-575-fund-llc
[quoted image]
Pretty, pretty, pretty wild.
I wonder what those 26 investors are thinking about all of this.
Makes the people who bought into the pinball vegetable club ( Raza Preorder and zidware refugees ) look like small potatoes compared to people buying into the fund.
If the PPP money that was forgiven violates terms and conditions that is bad too - throw that on the pile of baggage too.
I said before Incompetence, Arrogance and Ego doomed this early on. Maybe something nefarious on another level too ? That's a rhetorical question..
Quoted from NoQuarters:Makes the people who bought into the pinball vegetable club ( Raza Preorder and zidware refugees ) look like small potatoes compared to people buying into the fund.
If the PPP money that was forgiven violates terms and conditions that is bad too - throw that on the pile of baggage too.
I said before Incompetence, Arrogance and Ego doomed this early on. Maybe something nefarious on another level too ? That's a rhetorical question..
I’m clueless how a company with 0 sales can get a PPP as you had to show loss. For round 2 especially.
Quoted from hank527:I’m clueless how a company with 0 sales can get a PPP as you had to show loss. For round 2 especially.
They can show a 42mil loss?
Quoted from starfighter:joke removed - looks like some serious shit is getting ready to launch.
Shit or no, RAZA will never launch.
Quoted from pinstyle:Corporate welfare at its finest. And those people make fun of people in the bread line......
Hey, as long as Icey gets his game.
Quoted from PismoArcade:Is this real?
Taken from SAPS Facebook page.
[quoted image]
Looks about as real as RAZA.
Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:Looks about as real as RAZA.
Yeah...should have known by the address. My bad.
For a PPP loan to be forgiven he has to provide proof of employee wages, a PPP loan is only good for that and a small percentage of overhead
Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:Shit or no, RAZA will never launch.
Sorry, I didn't mean a machine launch.
I was referring to a legal launch and I removed my joke directed at the employee's expense. I empathize with front line workers dealing with bubble management.
Lost in all the hullabaloo around what has been taken down is concern around what's still up: the job posting for deeproot's janitor. That position has been open for weeks. I shudder to think what things look at HQ with its 27 toilets and 9 urinals.
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:Lost in all the hullabaloo around what has been taken down is concern around what's still up: the job posting for deeproot's janitor. That position has been open for weeks. I shudder to think what things look at HQ with its 27 toilets and 9 urinals.
You should apply then we can find out.
We have some tidbits from a newer version of the sales guide for the property (https://www.cbre.us/resources/fileassets/US-SMPL-55014/652f6d97/cf6c0e11-f6cf-490c-ada0-aee4be3eba3e.pdf).
Unfortunately, I did not download the previous version (https://www.cbre.us/resources/fileassets/US-SMPL-55014/c777ceb1/478ed732-8c46-4909-b1da-f77689e03260.pdf), which is now offline. Did anyone download it? Would be interesting to see what else has changed.
At least we can play Highlights with some of the financials.
Old version:
deeproot-rent-old (resized).png
New Version:
Screen Shot 2021-08-08 at 8.05.22 AM (resized).png
How many differences can you spot?
Tenant has gone from paying rent twice a year to twelve times. I wonder why?
And with a helpful change, we can now see that monthly bill comes out to $47,524.52. I wonder if Robert's end-of-the-month updates to customers are written immediately before or after cutting that big check.
Security deposit was also halved.
Quoted from cpr9999:You should apply then we can find out.
I would do anything for pinside love. But I won't do that.
The problem isn’t that Jpop is a great designer but a bad businessman. He’s not a great designer. That’s been covered to death. Some people ignore it.
The Problem isn’t that he’s a great Artist that’s been prevented from unleashing his vision by BOM crazy pinball hating manufacturers… he’s not an artist at all! He’s been passing off other people’s art as his own.
The real problem is that a large group of people SAY they love pinball, but they desire something MORE than pinball. Call it “Magic Under Glass” TM, or Innovation, or Modernization etc etc. It’s all just code words for wanting a fantasy machine that has no bearing on reality.
Couple that with the desire to “get in early” on something designed to explode in value.
People want to buy an imaginary pin that might hypothetically triple or quadruple in value so they can flip it.
It’s a one two punch recipe for disaster.
Meanwhile, boring old Stern is cranking out “Uninspired” (Have you played JP or AIQ??! Those games are BONKERS fun) Cookie Cutter layouts (Now you’re just being willfully Ignorant) with AAA licenses (Fight me?!). Code is SUPER Deep (Munsters Aside), and REALLY well implemented.
There is ACTUAL great pinball happening from Stern, Spooky, JJP etc, but people aren’t satisfied. They want magic. They want innovation.
They don’t want pinball.
Quoted from MapleSyrup:Couple that with the desire to “get in early” on something designed to explode in value.
People want to buy an imaginary pin that might hypothetically triple or quadruple in value so they can flip it.
It’s a one two punch recipe for disaster.
The saying goes : Those who are greedy soon become needy.
If Robert wanted to hedge his bet on JPop, he should have invested in a Starbucks around the corner.
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:Tenant has gone from paying rent twice a year to twelve times. I wonder why?
No more credit.....
Quoted from MapleSyrup:There is ACTUAL great pinball happening from Stern, Spooky, JJP etc, but people aren’t satisfied. They want magic. They want innovation.
They don’t want pinball.
I question how many "people" that is. The sales tell the tale. Jpop's early boutique run which was only 16 Magic Girls and 125 RAZAs, and then Deeproot having a 3 week open window and selling double digits.
Meanwhile, Stern is selling how many thousand machines this year?
Quoted from russdx:They can show a 42mil loss?
No reason to believe that particular fund is insolvent (I've seen nothing to suggest that).
It does however raise the question of whether ppp relief terms relate exclusively to the operations of the entities named (here, deeproot tech and deeproot studios) or if business stuff related to associated entities (ex, deeproot capital or deeproot funds) can have any relevance or impact. Can any business folks educate us?
Quoted from MapleSyrup:The problem isn’t that Jpop is a great designer but a bad businessman. He’s not a great designer. That’s been covered to death. Some people ignore it.
The Problem isn’t that he’s a great Artist that’s been prevented from unleashing his vision by BOM crazy pinball hating manufacturers… he’s not an artist at all! He’s been passing off other people’s art as his own.
The real problem is that a large group of people SAY they love pinball, but they desire something MORE than pinball. Call it “Magic Under Glass” TM, or Innovation, or Modernization etc etc. It’s all just code words for wanting a fantasy machine that has no bearing on reality.
Couple that with the desire to “get in early” on something designed to explode in value.
People want to buy an imaginary pin that might hypothetically triple or quadruple in value so they can flip it.
It’s a one two punch recipe for disaster.
Meanwhile, boring old Stern is cranking out “Uninspired” (Have you played JP or AIQ??! Those games are BONKERS fun) Cookie Cutter layouts (Now you’re just being willfully Ignorant) with AAA licenses (Fight me?!). Code is SUPER Deep (Munsters Aside), and REALLY well implemented.
There is ACTUAL great pinball happening from Stern, Spooky, JJP etc, but people aren’t satisfied. They want magic. They want innovation.
They don’t want pinball.
I think the truth of the matter is....people just want to be 20 years old again they want to go back to 1992 
The electric gamer guys discuss the latest from deeproot in a new podcast, with our little thread getting a shout-out: https://eclecticgamerspodcast.wordpress.com/2021/08/08/episode-147-new-pastures-and-deep-roots/
DR stuff starts around 42:00
Quoted from benheck:The other thread is tearing itself apart, Lisa!
It's GLORIOUS!
John Spartan.
Quoted from hank527:John Spartan.
Let's go blow this guy!
I do kinda think trolling the "owner" thread is a little out of bounds. That's a safe space for those folks, if they want to come in for abuse they can come by here any time.
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:I would do anything for pinside love. But I won't do that.
Meatloaf
Quoted from NoQuarters:Meatloaf
Deeproot's rumored 43rd title??
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