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[Fantastical]

Pretty sad. Not saying he shouldn't have been more careful on his public Twitter account given his position but, when the comments are put in context, what he said was relatively harmless. It's just sad that the bloodthirsty internet mob can put a guy with a family out of a job for something so innocuous in the greater scheme of things and then declare victory as if they served some kind of justice.

That's what I'm getting at too. It was harmful to Microsoft to be sure, but from a consumer standpoint (the Twitter users, NeoGAF members), there's little reason to continue to ridicule him after he's lost his income. I'm not saying what he did is right, but the internet is overreacting (big surprise, I know).

 

[dallow_bg]

Don't see how Orth's loss of employment is anyone's fault but his own. Writing vague statements about your company's big project in a public forum? Moron.

Exactly.
He only has himself to blame.

 

[Corto]

I have empathy for him; I can put myself in his shoes and imagine how fucked up the entire situation is from his point of view. But sympathy? I tend to reserve that for those deserving of it.

I already have very little patience as it is for Microsoft's hideous practices, so when one of their grunts comes out and so brazenly mocks and insults a whole swath of people while supporting damaging causes, I'm not going to feel a great amount of compassion.

100% agree. I personally think that his tweets are just an unfiltered reflection of the internal indoctrination to spin the always-on requirements.

 

[Vire]

I don't understand how he can blame the internet.

Adam Orth got himself fired, GAF had very little to do with it besides bringing his own idiotic comments to light.

 

[Leckan]

How about idiots don't throw their mouths on twitter.

Or is that too much too ask?

 

[Shaanyboi]

This made me laugh too hard. Holy crap. The guy had it coming, but man, what a punchline to this whole fucking thing...

Kinda sucks people can lose their jobs for this kind of shit.

...For being kind of an entitled dick on the internet, and in the process, creating a very negative and anti-consumer impression of your employer's next product, regardless of how accurate those impressions are?

That's exactly the shit people SHOULD be fired for.

Bravo... Truly, bravo.

 

[OverBlood 3]

Could this bloke be more wrong about everything? It wouldn't surprise me if he thought Hitler was a real stand up guy. I was going to say I feel sorry for his workmates but they're all as daft as he is.

 

[ido]

Dude clearly fucked up, but I do feel bad that he lost his job, especially in such a volatile industry. I imagine getting work again in this industry is not going to be very easy for him at this point.

I genuinely believe that he was just trolling, too.

Basically...

 

[Imm0rt4l]

Sucks for him. Maybe he'll take something away from this. Like how to conduct yourself on a social media platform when you're the face of a company.

 

[geebee]

I find this hilarious. If only more consequences came to people acting like assholes on Twitter...

 

[Archaix]

These companies need to beef up their Twitter training, seriously.

I don't even understand how it's necessary. You work for Microsoft. You don't understand that (A) Twitter isn't a private forum and (B) You shouldn't openly antagonize your customers?

I don't necessarily think he should have lost his job, but it was obvious that he would. If the rumors are false then he pissed off a portion of Microsoft customers for absolutely no reason. If they are true, then he commented about a company secret in about the least elegant way possible. I've never worked with a company that would keep an employee who does this.

 

[RoboPlato]

Wholly unsurprising. Implicitly associating a highly negative rumor with a major unannounced product and speaking so dismissively to potential customers in a highly public platform is grounds for firing in any career.

 

[Sissel]

Why would you want to be employed?

first post wins as usual

 

[sunnz]

This is how I see it.


MS planed on always online for the Durango.

Adam said what he said and the backlash made it clear to MS that this wont work and how much of a negative impact it will have.

So it was a blessing in disguise and to make sure all worries are set aside, they leaked the rumours you see today.


( 99% sure what I said is not true, but how I see it)

 

[TxdoHawk]

Losing one's job is always a terrible thing, so in some small way I feel bad for the guy...but it's hard to do so when a dude notices the internet starting to notice his tweets and only leans in further on his shitty, company-tarnishing opinions. He should've known better.

 

[Seventy_X_Seven]

I just don't get why some people here are celebrating, as if him losing his job is a win for Neogaf.

I don't believe anyone is celebrating, they are just saying it makes sense. Also while it may suck that this guy lost his job, Microsoft is now hiring someone somewhere to be a new creative director.

 

[Alebrije]

.

 

[HueyFreeman]

Agreed. The vindictiveness is a little gross.

Exactly. Nobody's saying he was right in the first place, but people can show a little class when the dumb bastard pays full price for what he says.

 

[scarybore]

Not surprising, but damn you internet all the same?

 

[xxracerxx]

That's most of gaf, should they all get fired?

Come the fuck on, don't be obtuse.

 

[VeryGooster]

"Congratulations, internet." Huh?

For better or worse, these are the repercussions that put you on thin ice in today's world. Sucks for Orth, but he should have thought better.

 

[Petrae]

according to kevin dent he will be picked up immediately:
RE https://twitter.com/TheKevinDent/status/322133250384486401

"And for the record said MSFT exec is incredibly talented and will get picked up pretty quickly, it's MSFT's loss 100%! They were stupid."

This is probably the best case scenario. Orth hopefully has learned to watch his social media behavior and isn't out of work so long as to be ruined. Angry constituents win because he was let go, apologists win because he's found another job and life goes on.

 

[RustyNails]

I was thinking of making:

Electricity goes out
<meme>
When Unemployment benefits run out



...But figured it was too cruel

 

[mxgt]

Could this bloke be more wrong about everything? It wouldn't surprise me if he thought Hitler was a real stand up guy. I was going to say I feel sorry for his workmates but they're all as daft as he is.

Arthur Gies is like one of those edgy 15 year olds that intentionally goes against the popular and/or correct way of thinking.

 

[Desty]

For as silly as his tweets were, I hope he lands on his feet and gets another job soon. Losing your job sucks.

 

[theRizzle]

I love how Gies blames the internet for this. The only way the internet is to blame for this is providing a platform for this clown to communicate with people.

The most shocking thing about this story to me is that nobody has written an article headlined "If you thought getting a second job for a PS3 was bad, Microsoft wants you to relocate in order to get their new console!"

 

[RoKKeR]

Another quality weigh-in from Gies.

 

[alr1ght]

I don't understand how he can blame the internet.

Adam Orth got himself fired, GAF had very little to do with it besides bringing his own idiotic comments to light.

Well if his internet connection was down, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to broadcast his feelings to the world. So it is "the internet's" fault, but not "the internet" Artie Gees is talking about.

 

[ido]

Losing one's job is always a terrible thing, so in some small way I feel bad for the guy...but it's hard to do so when a dude notices the internet starting to notice his tweets and only leans in further on his shitty, company-tarnishing opinions. He should've known better.

I thought that was a friend of his that he was clearly just fucking with.

 

[KojiKnight]

I don't even understand how it's necessary. You work for Microsoft. You don't understand that (A) Twitter isn't a private forum and (B) You shouldn't openly antagonize your customers?

I don't necessarily think he should have lost his job, but it was obvious that he would. If the rumors are false then he pissed off a portion of Microsoft customers for absolutely no reason. If they are true, then he commented about a company secret in about the least elegant way possible. I've never worked with a company that would keep an employee who does this.

I agree with this 100%, it may have been a very stupid reason that he got fired, but it was HE who made the stupid mistake not anyone else.

Also, it shouldn't be the company's job to train their employees to have some common sense when it comes to things like facebook and twitter. There is no way this guy that high up in microsoft and wasn't shown a video or given a lecture about not talking to the public/journalists... twitter is the same thing.

 

[Vire]

Well if his internet connection was down, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to broadcast his feelings to the world. So it is "the internet's" fault, but not "the internet" Artie Gees is talking about.

:LOL

 

[GraveRobberX]

Well if his internet connection was down, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to broadcast his feelings to the world. So it is "the internet's" fault, but not "the internet" Artie Gees is talking about.

Sweet Billy needed the Fail Whale

Fail Whale, Failed Him!

@_@!

 

[Steroyd]

I find this hilarious. If only more consequences came to people acting like assholes on Twitter...

I think plenty of people have fallen victim to twitter as is.

 

[saunderez]

Could this bloke be more wrong about everything? It wouldn't surprise me if he thought Hitler was a real stand up guy. I was going to say I feel sorry for his workmates but they're all as daft as he is.

He'll certainly defend anything to the death regardless of any facts. The fact he blocks anyone on Twitter who dares to challenge him shows how childish he really is.

 

[FStop7]

I love how Gies blames the internet for this. The only way the internet is to blame for this is providing a platform for this clown to communicate with people.

The most shocking thing about this story to me is that nobody has written an article headlined "If you thought getting a second job for a PS3 was bad, Microsoft wants you to relocate in order to get their new console!"

Eggies has proven time and time again that "critical thinking" is his personal loch ness monster: rumored but elusive.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

A bloodythirsty Internet mob can strong-arm Microsoft? Would they not have acted upon reading his nonsense even if there wasn't a storm whipped up?

Probably not. No. If the internet didn't make a big deal out of it, it wouldn't have made headline news. Why would they even care if that was the case?

 

[BearPawB]

People need to realize that the disclaimer that "these words do not represent my employer" are MEANINGLESS when your words cause a shitstorm for your employer.

Want to keep your job? Don't antagonize the consumers.

 

[rbanke]

I feel bad the guy got fired, but as an employer I'm not sure why you'd keep him. He made a very public rant that caused potential harm to the company's brand. It's not surprising they let him go.

I'm not totally sure which side I fall on. Nothing the guy said was that bad, all the bad stuff related to this comes from the internet being the internet and taking someone talking (perhaps too bluntly) about something and blowing it way out of proportion. When I originally saw Wario retweet one of the first things he said I remember thinking "peoples reaction to this guy is going to get him fired" and here we are.

Like I said, I'm not sure where I stand. On one hand the internet can ruin peoples careers over sometimes meaningless things. On the other hand, the fact that the internet reacts this way is well known so it can also be said he should have known better.

Sucks that a guy is out of work due to some pretty tame commentary.

 

[Cheesemeister]

Adam Orth basically took an axe to the Xbox 720 before it was even unveiled.

 

[ambientmystic]

Sure. He will be picked up by a company that shares the same attitude towards it's consumer base.

You mean EA?

They did just win the Worse Company in America award for the second year in a row lol.

 

[Polari]

That's most of gaf, should they all get fired?

If they do something this stupid, sure.

 

[Vire]

Jeff Green speaker of truth.

 

[Omikaru]

Whether or not the always-online thing is real or not, the timing of his rant was awful. He must've known he was fanning the flames of the rumour. He basically caused a PR shitstorm for his company. On top of that, he acted like a bit of a dick.

That said, I still don't think he should've lost his job over this. Whether he resigned or was fired, there was obviously some pressure coming from somewhere for a head to roll, and it was always going to be Orth's.

Not a nice situation to be in. I sincerely hope he finds a new job soon.

 

[Reiko]

This is probably the best case scenario. Orth hopefully has learned to watch his social media behavior and isn't out of work so long as to be ruined. Angry constituents win because he was let go, apologists win because he's found another job and life goes on.

If he shows up on stage at the Sony E3 conference... Megaton.

 

[Barbacoatl]

This is a great chance to ban anything aegies-related from gaf.

 

[KingItachi]

Good night Sweet Billy.

Shinobi62 the career killer.

 

[Savitar]

Allergies has spoken

If this dumbass got hired by MS he'd be fired much quicker. He says stupid shit all the time that is much worse.

 

[antitrop]

Not sure if serious, but anyway, http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=534951

I honestly have no idea how I missed a 200+ page thread.
I read GAF like 12 hours a day... Strange blind spot.

Anyway, ya, fuck this guy. He said some stupid shit, no sensitivity or tact whatsoever, I shed no tears.

And Gies is on the wrong side of common sense, once again. No surprises.

 

[TheSeks]

I thought that was a friend of his that he was clearly just fucking with.

It doesn't matter. If you're speaking about something rumored to be in a secret product you're working on (possibly) it speaks badly that you would speak so blantly and insulting any potential customers/readers with those comments.

How is this not easy to get? He basically said "oh, if the next X-box is always-on, people in bumfucknowhere can't use it. #dealwithit nerds." Thereby costing MS sales.

 

[KalBalboa]

Jeff Green speaker of truth.

I was about to cap & post this.

Gies man... c'mon already and stop blaming "the internet." You'd think The Sims debacle a few weeks back & his rants against complaints on Rebel FM would sober him up or get some humility into his head this week, but I guess he's going to keep blaming "the internet" for the faults of others.