From Taylor, who runs Aeternus, today.
Taylor: @everyone
Good afternoon everyone, I will try to keep this brief without failing to address anything.
I haven't returned bearing much good news, but these are announcements that must be made.
Operations
First off, I would like to state that @dededecline, @Dingus, and @austin | ocm will no longer be handling Aeternus operations. I have taken over operations once again thanks to their combined concerted efforts helping me get back on top of things. Please do not attempt to message them for assistance as they will just refer you back to the Aeternus server, or me directly.
Group Buys
Regretfully at this time I no longer have enough funds to fulfill all of the outstanding Aeternus group buys. It is not a small sum, but I plan to inject the necessary money in order to fulfill them all. I don't have a specific timeline on when I will be able to bring all group buys to a close, but I do not intend to abandon them. That has never been my intention.
I will provide as itemized a list as I can of outstanding tasks for all outstanding group buys after making this announcement.
I understand that this is probably very upsetting news for a lot of people, and I will do my best to accommodate any and all participants.
I also understand that some of the group buy updates may differ from the last reported update. Unfortunately a lot of my management was done during a very hectic time and I was mistaken on the obligations that I had provided updates on.
Please review the #updates channel (will be created shortly after this announcement) for an up-to-date status on all group buys and in-stock items.
In-stock Items
Current in-stock item orders will be shipping out as soon as logistically possible. I will provide updates on those shipments as things progress.
Aeternus Server
In an effort to consolidate communication, I will be making all channels read-only with the exception of a couple general-purpose channels. As I understand there will be outstanding questions/comments in these channels, I will do my best to answer them all and refer any members who require further discussion to the new channels.
Future
Given the current reputation of Aeternus, and myself, I don't intend to run any more group buys as an individual. I will be closing out my outstanding obligations and then returning to being simply a member of the hobby. Any projects that I worked on exclusively will be fully open sourced so that replacement parts, or group buys run by another party, can be done more easily. Regarding any projects where I collaborated with other community members, I will attempt to come to an agreement with them on open-sourcing my contributions to said project, or potentially the project as a whole.
Miscellaneous
I want to thank @dededecline, @Dingus, and @austin | ocm for being very helpful in this difficult time and helping me evaluate the situation.
I will do my best to get through my DMs with everyone in a timely manner, and I will be keeping an eye on the Aeternus channels for any questions or comments. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. I will answer your questions to the best of my ability.
From Hedgey, today.
Hedgey - NEHTBA: Okay, here it goes:
@Oceanographer , apologies for the ping earlier this afternoon with no information. I was actually on mobile when my jaw hit the floor in sheer bewilderment and almost disgusting expectation after Taylor’s message in the Aeternus server. I wanted to get ahead of the message and let you all know that I saw it, but was rather busy at the time to make a formal announcement on my end.
What happened:
Taylor made the announcement today that he has no money for outstanding GBs or any other projects associated with Aeternus. This includes Oceanographer. DeDe, OCM, and Dingus have stepped away again and Taylor has made it clear that he now has to find the money to complete the outstanding GBs, if that even has a chance of happening.
It has also come to light that many of the projects in which money was collected, were never actually ordered. Including Oceanographer PCBs. I was lied to repeatedly while Taylor said he ordered PCBs, or they were en route, or some other excuse when he hadn’t done anything at all. I was strung along and when I confronted him about the money back in October, he said “I have the money, and since it seems like it’s a concern I’ll get to the bank today so it’s deposited.” That was regarding the hardware for Ocean like knobs, Encoders, and OLEDs.
What this means going forward:
The good news is that in some regards I was prepared for dealing with this bull**** if it was actually true. Evan and I have been communicating behind the scenes with the “In case of emergency, break glass scenario”. Because I actually have everything physical except the PCBs and FR4 plates, I’m not totally screwed. I actually only, at a minimum, need the Shopify list of buyers and addresses to get these boards to their respective buyers.
Taylor promised today after his announcement in the Aeternus server, in a separate DM, that he would get me over the PCB files and the Shopify lists tonight. Unfortunately AS MUCH AS THIS ACTUALLY BENEFITS HIM, I don’t have any faith it will happen. But I will need to be patient and see if he can get me them as promised.
However, if he can’t get the PCB files over to me, Evan is going to help design a PCB with the layouts for Ocean and we will get these ordered officially and have them shipped directly to me. I am not quite prepared to spend the money necessary to complete this GB but it has to happen as I have until Mid-March before my 2nd child arrives and I will be out of pocket for a few weeks. I fully expect to spend close to $8K of my own money to complete a project that was supposed to be something amazing, but that I’ve soured on tremendously as have others.
I’m incredibly sorry to those who have been patiently waiting for this board and it’s a reminder to me, and others that sometimes people can’t be trusted. Taylor collected almost $90K for Oceanographer and it’s all gone. IT’S. ALL. ****ING. GONE.
I can promise you this, however. I am not going anywhere and I WILL see this project to completion. I have not left, and I will not leave. I like this hobby too much and I put my hard, hard effort into my first keyboard design. I cannot see it fail. Hell I haven’t even been able to use my own board because I don’t even have a PCB myself.
I know it’s a lot to ask for you all to continue to trust that this will happen. Just know that I truly have your best interest at heart. Know that as much as I can come off as an ******* sometimes, I have not given anyone any reason to doubt that I can pull this off. It’s going to take a collaborative effort (as it has already) and I am in for the challenge. A big thank you to @Trashman @BigDan @mike and anyone else who has helped behind the scenes so far. Also shout out to @mirari for his guidance as well.
TL;DR - There are no PCBs and the money for the PCBs has been embezzled / lost / mismanaged / spent on cocaine. Hedgey has committed to finding a solution, and had been planning for this eventuality, but it's not going to happen overnight. With some patience, the plan is still full delivery of this GB.
There are more details in the discord and Hedgey's answering lots of questions there if anyone needs more info. But for now, will be a waiting game to see what options are available to help move forward.
