BANNED: Phoboz (Alexander von Knorring)

[Albert]

This morning I banned Phoboz from the AtariAge Forums for creating additional forum accounts and then using them to post in many Jaguar-related threads, including several threads about his own games.

 

First, here's a screenshot showing a new account, Bulken, that was created on March 4th.  I was suspicious of this account and its activity, so I looked at the account and saw that it was directly linked to a device that Phoboz uses on the forum (click on any images in this post to see a larger version):

 

 

I then clicked on the small magnifying glass icon to see what other accounts are associated with this device:

 

 

You can see that the same device that Bulken is using was also used by Phoboz to access the forum.  I then looked at the IP address the Bulken account was using, and here's a summary of activity based on that IP address:

 

 

Notice how it shows that two different registrations were made using the same IP.  Here are the registrations:

 

 

Only the Bulken account has been used thus far to post in the forum.  But notice the email addresses both are from the domain vmx.nu.  Here's a screenshot of the website:

 

Clicking on Project Home goes to this page on Sourceforge:

 

 

Clicking on the alexuspol (the project owner) link goes here:

 

 

As you can see, the project owner is "Alexander von Knorring", which is Phoboz's real name.

 

Going back to the new Bulken account, and here's a screenshot of all the posts he's made thus far (which is already out of date):

 

 

As you can see, most of Bulken's posts have been in Jaguar threads, and several have been in threads about Phoboz's own games.  It's clear that he's using this account to talk positively about his own games while attempting to appear as someone completely unrelated to Phoboz.  Basically, it's a sock puppet account.

 

These two new accounts are not the first to be associated with Phoboz's account.  A previous account that Phoboz claimed was his daughter, Rogneda, was created January 5, 2022, and you can see that account's posts here.  That account also uses a "vmx.nu" email address.  Here's a screenshot showing the link between Phoboz's account and the Rogneda account.

 

 

Here's a screenshot showing use of the vmx.nu domain for the account's email address.

 

 

I now question the explanation Phoboz gave about this account, and suspect Phoboz was also using this account to, again, shill his own games.  

 

As a developer, using such accounts to pimp your own games is inexcusable and won't be tolerated here.  Acting in this way is incredibly dishonest, destructive to the health of the community, and disrespectful of its members.  It is also blatantly against forum rules, and all four of the above accounts I described have now been banned.  Obviously I don't like having to do this, much less with developers, but I cannot allow this behavior to continue, and decided to act quickly since Phoboz's new Bulken account has been posting in many different Jaguar threads in a short period of time.

 

 ..Al
 

[SlidellMan]

Damn, and he was one of the more promising developers too.

[+Gemintronic]

There's already a buy/sell/trade and homebrew section.  So, showing off yer game the normal way is easy.  Plus, bragging about your games is, er.. you just post under your account.  I don't get it.  I guess that's what unnerves me about people who do this.

[+Stephen]

Sad.

[agradeneu]

Argh, weird. 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by agradeneu

[+LS650]

Very odd behavior - thanks for clarifying that Albert.  

I've never understood why there is so much weird drama in the Jaguar scene.

 

Lately I've been playing a lot of Intellivision, and the Intellivision forum here on AA is awesome. 

None of the strangeness, no "sniffing the plastic fumes", etc.  Lots of cool new developments and folks just trying to help each other out.

Edited March 7, 2023 by ls650

[Jones007]

I see the points and I would agree that a ban is justified.

But is posting the real name, email addresses and IP numbers of a (former) member in a public forum legit?
A short notification that he got banned by the admins due to several violations of the forum rules would
have been totally sufficiant in my eyes.

[agradeneu]

I knew it somehow, thought it was comical nonsense, but also unfair and manipulative.

 

Is this a perma ban? 

 

Such a waste....

[Albert]

3 minutes ago, Jones007 said:

But is posting the real name, email addresses and IP numbers of a (former) member in a public forum legit?
A short notification that he got banned by the admins due to several violations of the forum rules would
have been totally sufficiant in my eyes.

His real name is already well known.  I only posted the email addresses of the two new sock puppet accounts to show how they were connected to a website obviously owned by Phoboz.  And the IP address is not one that Phoboz normally uses (I'm guessing he thought he was safe from discovery because of this).   

 

I went into greater detail here than I might normally, as this is a well-known developer (in the Jaguar scene at least), and I wanted to make it clear why he was banned, and that it wasn't something I did lightly.

 

 ..Al

[+LS650]

Ehh...  I own a couple of phoboz' releases and think they are fun. 

He has some talent, but this kind of behavior is supremely inappropriate. 

 

Albert is just doing a good job of outlining his proof for a ban.

[Albert]

1 minute ago, agradeneu said:

Is this a perma ban? 

At this time it is.

 

 ..Al

[Editorb]

I think oddest thing was creating a separate account to create posts that appeared to be the banal work of a bot.

 

I see at least one post referencing Phoboz in past tense. He didn't die (to my knowledge) and can still develop Jag games. I suspect he's not the first game creator to lose some marbles and go on a weird rampage. Hopefully he's still got a few of them rattling around in there.

[agradeneu]

W1G and his fake account showing up at the same time was no coincidence. Tells me he got under wrong influence.

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by agradeneu

[Albert]

Just now, Editorb said:

I suspect he's not the first game creator to lose some marbles and go on a weird rampage. Hopefully he's still got a few of them rattling around in there.

You are correct, I had to ban Peter J. Meyer in January 2019 for basically the same exact reasons.  I explained that in detail here.  Unfortunately, Peter continued to create fake accounts on AtariAge after he was banned, and has been on a rampage the past four years creating fake accounts on Facebook and using them to shill his own games, posts, and group, to harass members of the community, and to post lies about why he was banned and about myself, AtariAge, and others.

 

 ..Al

[KidGameR186496]

*sigh* There goes another talent from the Atari Jaguar scene. Phoboz builded his reputation with the games he worked on but but he had to throw it all away with the multi-accounts. That sucks royally...

[Rick Dangerous]

Totally understand Albert....rules are rules!

 

That being said, it is a bummer because he was one of the more active Jaguar developers out there and his work spoke for itself.  I was/am really looking forward to Wyvern Tales 2 and hope it sees the light of day.

[WAVE 1 GAMES]

33 minutes ago, agradeneu said:

W1G and his fake account showing up at the same time was no coincidence. Tells me he got under wrong influence.

 

 

 

Really? Somehow I am to blame? I never left the forums. I emerged to help with a customer service issue for one of my games. I am not affiliated with Phoboz in any way. I think I have spoken to him once and that was to let him know his copy of JagZombies 2 that he bought from me was in the mail and on the way. This is how false information gets spread. Stop it.

[Jones007]

49 minutes ago, Albert said:

His real name is already well known.  I only posted the email addresses of the two new sock puppet accounts to show how they were connected to a website obviously owned by Phoboz.  And the IP address is not one that Phoboz normally uses (I'm guessing he thought he was safe from discovery because of this).   

 

I went into greater detail here than I might normally, as this is a well-known developer (in the Jaguar scene at least), and I wanted to make it clear why he was banned, and that it wasn't something I did lightly.

 

 ..Al

On this point I disagree, I must admit.
Those email accounts and IP addresses are in some way connected with him nevertheless
(obviously he is reachable using that contact data).
Posting all that personal data in such a compact listing among the (justified) accusations against
him could provoke a shit storm.

I am not a fan of fighting fire with fire.

He got banned so he already received his fair penalty for his behaviour.
 

[Albert]

1 minute ago, Jones007 said:

Those email accounts and IP addresses are in some way connected with him nevertheless

Two email accounts used by two different sock puppet accounts, not the email address used by his primary Phoboz account.  And a single IP address that has only been used by the new sock puppet accounts.  That's it.  If you don't want want your fake accounts exposed in this fashion, DON'T CREATE FAKE ACCOUNTS.

 

 ..Al

[+Gemintronic]

2 minutes ago, Jones007 said:

On this point I disagree, I must admit.
Those email accounts and IP addresses are in some way connected with him nevertheless
(obviously he is reachable using that contact data).
Posting all that personal data in such a compact listing among the (justified) accusations against
him could provoke a shit storm.

I am not a fan of fighting fire with fire.

He got banned so he already received his fair penalty for his behaviour.
 

 

Developing and publishing games makes you a public figure.  I don't like it but with a Google search you can find my home address without fuss.  The thing is he chose to lie to his fellow community members.  He was caught because of publicly available information.

[Albert]

I went ahead and masked the IP being used by the two new fake accounts, as well as the email addresses used by them (except for the vmx.nu domain), as those are not important to this discussion.  As far as I'm concerned, if you're trying to get on a forum with fake accounts when you already are posting with another account, don't be surprised when this information is used to expose your deceitful activities.

 

 ..Al

[The Helper]

The life of a forum administrator.  I feel ya Albert!  You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes and use that ban hammer.

[alucardX]

1 hour ago, ls650 said:

Very odd behavior - thanks for clarifying that Albert.  

I've never understood why there is so much weird drama in the Jaguar scene.

 

Lately I've been playing a lot of Intellivision, and the Intellivision forum here on AA is awesome. 

None of the strangeness, no "sniffing the plastic fumes", etc.  Lots of cool new developments and folks just trying to help each other out.

64-bit rage maybe? Maybe the math is just too much and drives one mad.

[LinkoVitch]

2 hours ago, ls650 said:

 

I've never understood why there is so much weird drama in the Jaguar scene.

 

 

Teh FOOMZ!

Only answer, remember, operate your Atari Jaguar equipment in a well ventilated space! 

This isn't the most nuts developer shenanigans I have witnessed in jaguland either !

RE IP addresses, they're not secret, your computer gives them away any time you talk to another on the internet, and they don't link back to you specifically, unless you have your own allocation from IANA, and in that case your registration address is going to be stamped to the look-up on them anyway.

[vrocko]

Yeah why so much drama in Jag group? Develop games, market games, sell games, make money.  Yeah I know it's not THAT easy there's a lot more involved but why so much BS on top of it? I remember when they said 4Play belly ached about the fact  Battlesphere was NOT a homebrew. Why not develop games and put them out and cut out all the crap. I hate the extra drama. Such a waste.