Jamison Stone & Satine Phoenix's Apotheosis Studio To Wind Down [UPDATED]

After being accused of abusive behaviour towards freelancers and co-workers, the game company run by D&D influencer Satine Phoenix and her husband Jamison Stone, is to enter a 'reduced capacity' mode.

After the accusations were made, Jamison Stone resigned as CEO; after a couple of weeks he was added back to the company's staff page, saying that he was never actually removed but merely taking personal time while Apotheosis Studio conducted an investigation.

In a draft of a recent statement obtained by Dicebreaker, Stone indicated that the results of this investigations were that the 'vast majority' of the accusations made were 'factually inaccurate'. He went on to discuss the ramifications of 'cancel culture', although the statement was updated to rephrase that as 'extreme changes'. Other than the initial apology to tattooist Chad Rowe, Stone has indicated that no further apologies will be forthcoming.

“The rest of the team now has completed those investigations and found that while some individuals had legitimate complaints, the vast majority of the allegations to date levelled against Jameson and others on our team have been proven to be factually inaccurate. We believe that people should be shown compassion, given the opportunity to write their wrongs and grow as individuals.”

As for the company itself, it will finish fulfilling existing Kickstarter projects. It will not be accepting requests to cancel and refund pledges for existing funded Kickstarters, and noted that most of the freelancers and contributors have been paid. When asked about the company's future, Stone said "As it stands - and I don’t know what the future will hold - it’s just a company that is there. It just exists and sells books. Some of my books, some books by other people. It will sell The Red Opera and eventually sirens. All of the people who are there are just contracted at this point."

A statement is expected to come soon from Apotheosis.

UPDATE -- Apotheosis Studio's statement has arrived:

Thank you for your patience. We have had a lot of questions about the future of Apotheosis Studios, its team, and our projects. While Jamison Stone did step down as CEO to take personal time while Apotheosis Studios did an internal investigation on the allegations brought forth by numerous individuals, we in no way claimed that we were removing Jamison from the company. Having completed our internal investigation, we have found that while some individuals had legitimate complaints, the vast majority of the allegations to date levied against Jamison and others on our team have been proven to be inaccurate. Jamison will directly address major allegations and misinformation within the month.

We at Apotheosis Studios do not support abuse in any form. We believe in accountability and the ability for everyone to reflect, learn from their mistakes, grow, and be given the opportunity to show what they’ve learned by actively being better through action. We encourage everyone to stand up for themselves in compassionate ways with the hope to make things better so no one has to live in fear. It is in this honesty that we can learn from one another and each be better for ourselves, our families, and our communities while not furthering abuse, bullying, harassment, and other dehumanizing behaviors.

Sirens: Battle of the Bards will be delayed while those who are still working on the project deal with the ramifications of the extreme changes that we have had to make due to this situation. We will be sending out merchandise that we already have in hand for US backers first. Sirens: Battle of the Bards is 90% finished and its contractors have been paid, therefore refunds will not be issued. We will provide additional updates on fulfillment as we know more.

Because there seems to have been some confusion regarding the nature of our operations, we wish to state again that payments to writers started in March 2022 and as new invoices were received, we processed them promptly. All artists and contractors who have completed their work and were authorized for billing have been paid. The only remaining work is rewrites, editing, and layout. This, as stated above, will take longer than originally planned.

For reference: we had the following number of contractors working on this project:

• Writers - 22 writers. Paid 10 cents per word
• Artists - 4. Paid monthly or per image
• Graphic Designer - 1. Paid monthly
• Layout artist - Paid monthly, even when not working on a project
• Musicians - 2. Paid promptly per song
• Sculptor - 1. Paid promptly per sculpt

The Sirens writing Deadline was Oct 31. Approval passes started in November. Unfortunately, the approval passes took longer than expected which pushed out approval for the contractors to bill by 3-4 months. Billing authorization was issued in March of 2022 and we promptly paid all invoices properly submitted to our accountant.

For this project, we provided templates for Adventure Chapters with an 8,450 words max budget. 9 of 22 chapters were over word count

• 4 over by 1000 words
• 1 over by 3700 words
• 2 over by 4750 words
• 1 over by 7000 words

Despite the fact that many chapters were over the word counts outlined the writers were paid for the overages after appropriate approval. Writers whose writing was not used were still authorized to bill us and were paid 10 cents per word.

For those of you who have reached out with constructive feedback, we greatly appreciate your support and patience. We will have further updates as more information becomes available.

Sarah Urfer

 

[bedir than]

which livestream was that?

IIRC it was DnD live. Liisa played a bartender/waitress unrelated to the party at all. Satine treated her like crap, blaming "the last time we saw each other" In character they'd never met.

 

[Teo Twawki]

As a friend of mine says, I don't have a dog in this hunt. They also say: How you do Anything is how you do Everything. Which I personally argue against but believe to be true.

Of the several dozen rpgs I have played or run, none of them have been any variation of D&D. I first heard of Stone & Satine a couple months ago when a tattoo artist we know pointed out the twitter thread from nerdytattooer. I admit, I went on a internet binge for an hour or so, reading about Stone's condescension and ultimately, his false-apology/blame-everything-but-himself facebook post.

Stone's casual excuse that his (alleged) CPTSD for his outbursts is an additional offense to his many intentional public faults. He sounds like a drunk driver facing court for his injurious accident and saying, "It wasn't me, you honor, it was my alcoholism!" Or South Park's version of Alec Baldwin saying he's not a racist, but his thumbs are when he gets on twitter.

I completely grok that everybody has a different level of what constitutes trauma and stress disorders for them. Some people claim stress from seeing a word about something unpleasant. Other people experience the worst humanity has to offer and get on with their lives without using that experience as absolution from personal responsibility. Both can be traumatic, but they certainly different in why they are traumatic. And it is easy to see without looking too far that far less people actually have traumatic disabilities than the amount who publicly claim to have them. And those who genuinely do are, in my years of experience with such matters, usually not the ones who try to use trauma as a proverbial Get Out Of Jail Free card when they are called to account for their actions.

Stone Jamison comes off in his public statement as a privileged, whiney little <insert appropriate malignancy here> who got caught being a repeated and detestable sluice puddle of excrement who uses his own actions as the inflicted trauma on his otherwise soft and easy life. And now he's upset because that methodology worked well for him for years. Until recently.

Will Stone and Satine learn from this? Maybe. We can hope so. But this isn't suddenly-acquired behavior. It's well-assimilated into their daily interactions and personalities. So I wouldn't wager even the value of an internet opinion* on them learning a damn thing from it. Except how to hide it better when they try it again.

My *two pennies, anyway. Might be worth that at some exchange rate.

 

[Jd Smith1]

This is absurd, and not true.

It is in most states in the USA. Civil law.

The purchaser is responsible for paying. Stone and Phoenix didn't pay for work. That's theft. They admitted it took them months upon months to actually pay their workers. That's theft.

Not in any state in the USA that I can find, It's a civil matter, not criminal.

Plus, your continued defense of them includes defending a CEO taking a contract worker out into a forest together to proposition them. Why support these people?
Why support people whose response to "I should be paid for the work I did for you." is "you'll never work in this industry again" while they contact their former coworkers at Wizards to make that happen?

Not really defending; just not impressed with the issue.

 

[Jd Smith1]

It's not on just a single forum; I know for sure similar depth on both RPGG and Reddit. Twitter's thrown a few tweets about it at me, too.

Well, I was responding to a claim that I was witnessing the problem being sorted out. If it is $8 billion a year (hard to believe, really), then it isn't being sorted out.

 

[MGibster]

Well, I was responding to a claim that I was witnessing the problem being sorted out. If it is $8 billion a year (hard to believe, really), then it isn't being sorted out.

Wage theft mostly affects low-wage workers, some of whom are undocument workers or are otherwise being paid under the table. Many of these workesr aren't well educated regarding their rights or employment law, and some of them are afraid to report their employers for fear of retaliation, or, in the case of undocumented workers, attracting the attention of ICE. Wage theft typically happens by asking an employee to work off the clock, through paid breaks/lunch, or having them work overtime without proper compensation for it. With so many employers and so many employees in the United States, these numbers can add up fairly quickly and a few billion a year isn't unreasonable. Some economist predict it costs the United States a lot more per year, but they tend to look at the overall cost rather than just the amount stolen.

But, again, the situation with the Stones' isn't wage theft since there is no employer/employee relationship. If they're a contractor, it only becomes a wage theft issue if the company misclassified an employee as a contractor. And you're right, it's a civil not a criminal manner.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Wage theft mostly affects low-wage workers, some of whom are undocument workers or are otherwise being paid under the table. Many of these workesr aren't well educated regarding their rights or employment law, and some of them are afraid to report their employers for fear of retaliation, or, in the case of undocumented workers, attracting the attention of ICE. Wage theft typically happens by asking an employee to work off the clock, through paid breaks/lunch, or having them work overtime without proper compensation for it. With so many employers and so many employees in the United States, these numbers can add up fairly quickly and a few billion a year isn't unreasonable. Some economist predict it costs the United States a lot more per year, but they tend to look at the overall cost rather than just the amount stolen.

But, again, the situation with the Stones' isn't wage theft since there is no employer/employee relationship. If they're a contractor, it only becomes a wage theft issue if the company misclassified an employee as a contractor. And you're right, it's a civil not a criminal manner.

Yeah, I'm familiar with the issue; I worked (and was trained in) human trafficking cases, but those aren't really the issue here, as you've noted.

This thread appears to be nothing more than contract workers who failed to use proper contractual procedures to ensure a legal footing for payment. Or who are too concerned about their industrial reputation to take the issue to civil court.

 

[aramis erak]

But, again, the situation with the Stones' isn't wage theft since there is no employer/employee relationship. If they're a contractor, it only becomes a wage theft issue if the company misclassified an employee as a contractor. And you're right, it's a civil not a criminal manner.

Most states have a fraud statute.
Alaska has two specific ones (chosen because I've read them before)
AS 11.46.600. Scheme to Defraud. >5 persons, >$10k (Class B)
AS 11.46.730. Defrauding Creditors. >$500. (Class C; @ $25k, becomes class B)

Most states have similar laws to those, but the specific amounts and numbers vary

( Alaska Statutes: AS 11.46.600. Scheme to Defraud. )
( Alaska Statutes: AS 11.46.730. Defrauding Creditors. )

 

[Jd Smith1]

Most states have a fraud statute.
Alaska has two specific ones (chosen because I've read them before)
AS 11.46.600. Scheme to Defraud. >5 persons, >$10k (Class B)
AS 11.46.730. Defrauding Creditors. >$500. (Class C; @ $25k, becomes class B)

Most states have similar laws to those, but the specific amounts and numbers vary

( Alaska Statutes: AS 11.46.600. Scheme to Defraud. )
( Alaska Statutes: AS 11.46.730. Defrauding Creditors. )

Yeah, but this situation doesn't meet the elements of an intent to defraud.

The key in these matters there is a contractual agreement between two parties which leads to a disagreement about compensation.

The problem in the cases I can find, is that a writer or artist agrees to create a creative piece for the hiring party, and after the point of delivery, a dispute arises over compensation. Generally, the matter has been set forth in e-mail or phone conversations, not a legal contract, and nearly always lacks costs-plus documentation. Frequently the creative process includes discussion back and forth regarding amendments or changes.

And then comes the disagreement. One side claims it did not get what it requested, or to sufficient quality, or states that it only promised X funds, and the other side disagrees. Lacking a detailed, binding, and above all comprehensive contract, it boils down to a small claims court deciding who is owed what, if it even goes that far.

This is also complicated by the volume of prospective contractors (very large pool) compared to the volume of available work (much smaller).

And further complicated by those who would simply be happy to get their name attached to a project.

 

[MGibster]

This thread appears to be nothing more than contract workers who failed to use proper contractual procedures to ensure a legal footing for payment. Or who are too concerned about their industrial reputation to take the issue to civil court.

Being "too concerned about their reputation" is what protected the likes of Harvey Weinstein. In a small industry like RPGs, having a publisher put the word out that you're difficult to work with or don't deliver as promised can damage your reputation to the point where getting work is hard. And then there's the fact that going through the proper channels, civil court, is both expensive and time consuming. I think I have a little more empathy in this matter than you do.

Edited for clarity.

 

[MGibster]

Most states have a fraud statute.
Alaska has two specific ones (chosen because I've read them before)

Sure, but this is where I have to take a step back because I don't know if the circumstances warrant a fraud charge. Maybe they do, but I don't know.