TOPIC: A Joint Statement from Stefan and Jeff

I have remained silent on my departure from Dwarven Forge out of respect for the people there who I still consider very good people. Unfortunately, in that vacuum of information some bad things have been printed by non-DF personnel -- and it is somewhat understandable. They are passionate fans of Stefan.

The comments had gotten out of hand, so I worked with Stefan to craft a joint release regarding the subject. As expected, he was a very honorable and upstanding person -- and he went far beyond what was necessary to make the point. I am thankful to him for his understanding and generosity. Below is our joint statement. Stefan will post this as well.

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Dear fans of Miniature terrain,

As many of you have heard, Jeff Martin has left Dwarven Forge to embark on his own. While the split was not amicable and passions have been high we think it best for all parties to move on and just concentrate on doing what we all love to do, make awesome terrain. It does not benefit the hobby as a whole for us to war against each other...we call a truce....

To that end, we wish to post a joint statement:

Jeff wishes to apologize for any website issues his sudden departure may have caused Stefan and DF.
Stefan wants to apologize personally to Jeff and to his family for the pain that they must be feeling when reading hurtful things posted on the internet. Things have gotten out of hand regarding Jeff''s character. Jeff and I have made amends. For 10 years we worked well together and prefer to remember those good times. Let our products speak for themselves, you, the gamers can benefit now from different styles of terrain, please let's all just focus on what we love, miniature terrain!

Stefan Pokorny and Jeff Martin


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Sorry this has been difficult in some ways. Hopefully this statement will help clear the air.

Thanks for sharing this Jeff.

Sorry things have been rough for you.

I have never been into Dwarven Forge or the miniatures, so I wasn't aware of all the controversy or negative comments that were being made. And even if I had been aware of them had read them, I would not have believed them!

But kudos for resolving this before it gets messier and for being open about it.

Hope you and the family are all doing well!

Jeff, I'm sorry that your split with Dwarven Forge was difficult and that there were negative things written afterwards by people that weren't in the know. I hadn't heard any of them, and wouldn't have believed them if I had. Everyone involved with True Dungeon knows the high quality of your character and how thoughtful and considerate you are.

I hope this helps clear the air for all concerned and lets you move forward with your new company without any stresses from your past position.

Never really looked on the Dwarven Forge website. Had previously ordered some kickstarter items to support your venture. Thought Stefan's email previously was professional. Sorry to see there were any bad things written about you.

Best of luck with your new venture!

I stay away from crap like that on the Internet. Too many trolls living in their parents basement and having anonymity be their shields as they sling bad words about honest and good people.

I only knew about the non-amicable split after briefly speaking to Stephan at d20 Con a few weeks ago. I had teasingly told him to give Jeff a few vacation days so he could work on TD more for 2015. That's when he told me Jeff no longer worked for DF. I had no idea and asked what happened. Stephan was very professional and had nothing but nice things to say about Jeff. He also just added the split was not amicable and I told him I didn't need to hear any more as it wasn't my business.

Later that night Stephan ran an awesome(!) 1st Editin D&D campaign using DF terrain. Wow. Just wow. Not the terrain (which was awesome), but his DM skills.

Jeff, don't let what cowardly trolls who aren't directly involved get to you. They are idiots.

I'm glad you and Stephan were able to clear the air, some of the comments on the kickstarter were starting to sound a little personal. Anyway kudos to you both for handling it in a classy manner.