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[ronaldthump]

them open critics comments show how little stake they place on content that's genuine and now I won't be giving them clicks

 

[Futurematic]

That was hilarious, good luck to McCurry!

 

[LewieP]

What do you propose then?

Make a blog/twitter/YouTube account for yourself/you and your mates.

 

[Fhtagn]

When I saw the blurb about the OpenCritic report, I felt partially responsible for what I perceive as vandalism.

Who is vandalizing what? The review in question should have gone through an editorial process that caught the contents. That it didn't doesn't make it vandalism. It makes it whistleblowing; that it made it on to the site proves that Brash is shoddily run.

That other folks are coming forward to confirm the allegations of score changing and attribution removal seals it.

The writer did a good thing here.

 

[AuthenticM]

I saw Bobby share this on Twitter last night. I opened the page in my browser and left it there to read this morning. The page was gone when I woke up, and it's been excluded from Wayback Machine! hahahaha.

 

[BigEmil]

I wonder if jshackles is going to remove OpenCritic from Enhanced Steam now.

That would be great.
Thread title should add 'OpenCritic is utter trash too'

 

[Petrae]

In a thread title that's is supposed to be about Brash Games, you'd never know that OpenCritic would wind up being as big a negative story unless you read the thread and see where it all goes wrong.

 

[RiverShell]

Well this thread took a turn.

It's really fucking strange that someone claiming to be from OpenCritic jumped into this thread so quickly to defend the EIC and straight up trash the writer of the article.

Pretty damn unprofessional on your own behalf and completely changes my view of OpenCritic.

Agreed. I won't be clicking on any opencritic links again, simply sickening.

 

[GiantBreadbug]

Yeah, vandalising what? His own review?
All Brash needed to do was the bare minimum of editorial work and their beautiful site would be sparklingly pristine.

Additionally, calling out your publisher for unethical practices isn't "vandalism." Telling people truths that are uncomfortable for the publishing body isn't "vandilism."

I'd also like to point out how fucking stupid the sentiment "unprofessional but good on him" is. No, it's not unprofessional. It's a pretty measured and clever response. It was done the way it was intentionally for exposure. The idea that any whistleblowing not done with a "please and thank you sir" attitude or manner is unprofessional is naive and, frankly, just fucking incredibly stupid.

 

[OverBlood 3]

Well I won't be visiting 2 more sites from now on.

 

[Mechazawa]

This thread is a two for one special.

Congrats on ousting yourself as jackasses, OpenCritic.

 

[firenskill2000]

This is what happens when someone who probably has very little experience becomes a self proclaimed investigator. I'd wager this guy isn't very far removed from college, started his own business and maybe it's actually him that's in way over his head.

 

[bfrye26]

I'm sure it will be gone at some point. But it's still there, right at the top of the Brash Games site.

That is way to make a sendoff. But seriously, the way Brash is treating their writing staff is shameful! If any other outlet did this it would be considered maddness. Hopfully the writers that are affected can find other outlets to work for!

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Make a blog/twitter/YouTube account for yourself/you and your mates.

Been there, done that.

Doesn't work.

To expand upon that, the only reason my blog averages 150+ hits a day is because one or two people keep hitting the reload button. Also, that's now. Back when I was writing full-time in that same blog (about seven years ago), I received maybe ten hits a day.

To be fair, I've written for half a dozen websites, and that hasn't gotten me anywhere either. Hell, I'm still "part of the problem" as MC Safety would put it.

 

[RK128]

Dang...I didn't know they treated reviewers that poorly. I mean, I have written a few reviews for the site (a few Vita games, Lost Planet 3, etc) but I never expected them to not credit reviewers after they left the site or the toxic things suggested by that Pac-Man review.

Haven't written much on gaming lately due to personal matters, but I guess I can cross Brash Games off the list of places I write for; don't want to help support a place that harms fellow writers. Shame too, as the owner seems to be a nice person.

Took note of the amount of people they follow on Twitter; it went from 100K to just 15. That is a STEP drop in just a few hours. I hope that reviewers affected get compensation and that this whole situation gets resolved soon.

 

[Fireblend]

This is shameful. And that post from the Opencritic "investigator"... Yikes

 

[aravuus]

Well fuck me, looks like I won't be giving Opencritic any more clicks for the time being.

 

[Orca]

OpenCritic investigator cautions people because he doesn't want a lynch mob causing this to be even more of a shitstorm...turns lynch mob on himself inadvertently.

Boy, totally didn't see that coming.../s

 

[Jackpot]

I know it's not a legal investigation or anything serious like that, but why would you out yourself and your views before it's been published?

 

[legacyzero]

Im not sure I would get the pitchforks out towards Open Critic just yet, because of some random and reactionary "investigator". I really question just how much Open Critic even agrees with his stance, if at all.

I'm the investigator at OpenCritic, and our report is indeed out Monday. Brash Games requested to be removed after learning about our investigation, which launched in March. We made a promise when we launched that we would conduct and publish investigations when we get evidence of wrongdoing, so that's what we're going to do.

Ahead of that, I just want to say that I strongly urge the gaming community to use this opportunity to practice compassion, understanding, and forgiveness. This seems to be a case of a hobbyist who got in a bit over his head.

This article is immature and ultimately self-defeating. It's simply unprofessional and goes against civility. Does the author think that moves like this help his odds of getting hired? Does this really help make serious amends? Does it help motivate Brash Games to restore content rights or fix their issues? In general, I simply want to dissuade mob justice here, which articles like this can sometimes spark. OpenCritic was explicitly mentioned in Ben's article, and I don't want anyone to read that as an endorsement.



Last edit:

It was a mistake for me to post this so late at night. To be honest, running with this investigation has been personally taxing; in finalizing the report, I've been worried about the dark portions of the gaming community and what they might do as a result (DOXing, harassment, etc.). It might sound silly and possibly arrogant, but it's been something that's been keeping me up at night. I've heard so many stories from colleagues in the industry about death threats, harassment, etc.

When I saw the blurb about the OpenCritic report, I felt partially responsible for what I perceive as vandalism. The thought of "what if I just sparked something terrible?" is personally unnerving.

My intent in posting here was to dissuade mob justice. My comments were improper and for that I apologize. It was an amateur gut reaction.

Hell no. Brash deserves to be tarred and feathered for all this. What an odd defense.

Make a blog/twitter/YouTube account for yourself/you and your mates.

I mostly agree with this. My YouTube account has been rather fun, I don't have to answer to anybody, and the growth is nice if you have an idea of what to do.

Now if YouTube can get their shit together and stop treating channels like shit with monetization problems

 

[Narpas Sword0]

OpenCritic investigator cautions people because he doesn't want a lynch mob causing this to be even more of a shitstorm...turns lynch mob on himself inadvertently.

Boy, totally didn't see that coming.../s

Who doxxed him?

 

[Boem]

Im not sure I would get the pitchforks out towards Open Critic just yet, because of some random and reactionary "investigator". I really question just how much Open Critic even agrees with his stance, if at all.

He's the founder of OpenCritic, according to his Twitter. Which makes his comments even more dubious.

If he speaks for OpenCritic in here, I think it's fair to judge those comments as such.

 

[inky]

Bye, open critic.

 

[March of the Crabs]

Bye, open critic.

Pretty much.

 

[jett]

That's some clever shit. Godspeed to that man.

 

[molnizzle]

OpenCritic has always seemed like a wannabe operation in any case. Metacritic was already there and works well enough for what it is. Dumb to have this "me too" aggregator that only focuses on video games.

 

[Dangansona]

OpenCritic has always seemed like a wannabe operation in any case. Metacritic was already there and works well enough for what it is. Dumb to have this "me too" operation that only focuses on video games.

OpenCritic having this fishy representation doesn't erase Metacritic's issues. If I had to to go to a site like this I'd still rather go to OpenCritic.

 

[CambriaRising]

Those OpenCritic responses, scummy.

Reeks of "please include us at your next party, industry" crony-ism.

Digital Vandalism, give me a fucking break.

 

[SlipperyFishes]

I think Paul Ryan is in a really emotionally tough spot and is trying to manage. This is a 6+ year project for him and his team, and I bet he feels like his world is crashing down.

I've seen Brash re-attribute multiple reviews. One author had her full content rights restored as a gesture of goodwill.

This is a ridiculously poor statement. A gesture of goodwill would be a public statement admitting their problems and promising to do better.

Restoring attribution to authors means they got caught doing shady things and are reactionary when they know they've done wrong.

 

[weekev]

Just want to jump in in defence of the opencritic dude here. Think folks are perhaps being a tad harsh on him. He did defend Paul Ryan and say that he was under pressure etc but at no point did he defend his actions, merely alluded to the opinion that he is attempting to make amends for poor behaviour and criticise the writer who whistle blew on Brash games due to the manner in which he criticised them.

I disagree with his opinion but the vitriol aimed at Opencritic is out of proportion to the point that you'd be forgiven for believing he was in collusion with Brash and their shitty business practises.

 

[waitwhat42]

Never heard of Brash Games but could tell from a cursory glance that it's trash. Have heard of OpenCritic but never considered it trash until today.

From the OpenCritic patreon page-

OpenCritic started with us - four friends that want to drive both real and positive change in the video game industry. Call it naive optimism, but we do truly believe that we can make things better for developers, critics, and most importantly, gamers.

Happy to know we have games enthusiasts out here fighting the good fight against digital vandalism!

 

[BreezyLimbo]

Just want to jump in in defence of the opencritic dude here. Think folks are perhaps being a tad harsh on him. He did defend Paul Ryan and say that he was under pressure etc but at no point did he defend his actions, merely alluded to the opinion that he is attempting to make amends for poor behaviour and criticise the writer who whistle blew on Brash games due to the manner in which he criticised them.

I disagree with his opinion but the vitriol aimed at Opencritic is out of proportion to the point that you'd be forgiven for believing he was in collusion with Brash and their shitty business practises.

He was literally trying to help out brash tho

The fact that hes the founder and an 'investigator' and also posting on the behalf of brash during the investigation is not only unprofessional, it reeks of damage control. People saying they cant trust open critic isnt an overreaction, its justified because of the response by the founder.

 

[etrain911]

The "this could all lead to an online witch hunt" response, while probably coming from a genuine place, also feels like concern trolling to me. Should no one ever whistle blow or report work place injustices because it could turn into a witch hunt?

 

[Flying Toaster]

He was literally trying to help out brash tho

The fact that hes the founder and an 'investigator' and also posting on the behalf of brash during the investigation is not only unprofessional, it reeks of damage control. People saying they cant trust open critic isnt an overreaction, its justified because of the response by the founder.

This is how I see the situation. Either investigate and report or be a PR mmachine but not both. Credibility from open critic is crap at this point.

 

[maxiell]

Pretty gross from OpenCritic. Bravo to the writer of the review for exposing it in a creative way.

 

[psyfi]

This is fantastic, damn.

 

[Leona Lewis]

You're an investigator and you let yourself write out an "amateur gut reaction"? I hope you don't do that shit when you're on the job.

 

[StrangeRoboMemory]

Great job by McCurry...I've been in a similar situation, and I know just awful and frustrating it feels to be exploited like this. Unprofessional or not, these are sometimes the lengths you have to go to if you want to give voice to the way that you've been taken advantage of. Your work deserves pay or at the very least credit. Some may be uncomfortable with the way that McCurry handled this, but I'm going to go ahead and side with the exploited party over the ones doing the exploitation, thanks.

Those responses by Mattenth, god damn...zero integrity. Not that I ever felt OpenCritic was some bastion of ethical judgment, but now it's truly confirmed for garbage. The "I was tired and posting something" excuse is laughable and actually offensive, tbh. Own up for your terrible practices and take responsibility for your extreme lack of credibility. smh

 

[psyfi]

With the countless examples of harassment campaigns, death threats, and attempts at actual physical violence from gaming communities, I don't blame the Open Critic rep for urging level headedness. I think we should all be critical, but not whip ourselves into a frenzy, especially not prematurely.

His comments against the review are bullshit though.

 

[Zornack]

Did an editor end up changing the score without looking at the text like he predicted? Not seeing a score in the snapshot.

 

[WordAssassin]

The "this could all lead to an online witch hunt" response, while probably coming from a genuine place, also feels like concern trolling to me. Should no one ever whistle blow or report work place injustices because it could turn into a witch hunt?

Agreed completely. If you're hired to investigate something, and you find there's some bad shit, you need to do your job and report the facts of the investigation. Getting caught up in "Oh he's having a rough time right now, oh what about retaliation" clouds your judgement and muddies your report. It's not your job to protect an asshole from being revealed as an asshole, it's your job to find out if he's actually an asshole and report on it.

 

[C.Olimar788]

Really glad to hear that Ben M is getting job offers - this is both a good move against a shitty corporation and a excellent example of creative writing to boot. I wish him all the best!

 

[More_Badass]

Honestly, I'm surprised that people even pay attention to review sites outside the big few. I barely read reviews nowadays, but if I do I'll skim Eurogamer, maybe a Giant Bomb or RPS review.

The quality of the writing is more important than how big the site is. A Steam user review can be as valid as a review from IGN if it's written well

I used to write for a tech website when I really needed the money.

25¢ for three 300 word articles a day. My articles no longer exist so I cant even use them in my portfolio.

Thankfully I learned that people that care will pay good money and you shouldn't settle for less than you think you are worth and now earn 25$ per 500 word article.

These small websites are often scum and are more than happy to manipulate inexperienced writers starting out.

Same, had a similar experience recently. A game site I was writing for dropped me unexpectedly due to "restructuring", and a few months later, the site disappeared completely. None of their articles available and writers who werent paid

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

OpenCritic has always seemed like a wannabe operation in any case. Metacritic was already there and works well enough for what it is. Dumb to have this "me too" aggregator that only focuses on video games.

The thing is, there are a lot of sites that don't/can't get on Metacritic.

 

[Ascenion]

Poor form OpenCritic. Shouldn't have posted anything until Monday and nothing on here. But since you thought you had to say something should've just left it at we're aware of the accusations and have launched an investigation which we will be reporting on Monday. Very unprofessional what you did. Never used Brash games and never will now, but I liked OpenCritic as a comparison to MetaCritic. But no more.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

To the open critic guy... As an investigator, you don't say (paraphrasing) "Hey my report isn't done so I urge caution. The guy I'm investigating is going through a tough time so don't be mad at him. Oh, And the whistle-blower is a jack ass."

What were you thinking? You weren't a part of the original story in any meaningful way until you made these posts.

 

[Karamsoul]

There goes my respect for OpenCritic. Metacritic it is!

 

[FlyinJ]

I think we need Metacritic to investigate Opencritic for their shady practices of colluding with and defending websites that scam writers.

 

[Megatron]

Brash is an awful, awful excuse for a "games website" and really gives a bad name to the rest of us who are actually trying to establish a decent place in the games journalism world. That said, they're so awful and insignificant that I really can't fathom why people are giving them attention, even if it's an negative as this.

Yeah, all this exposure coukd be good for Brash. They apologize and now suddenly way more people have heard of them. I wonder how the author of the review would feel about that....

 

[Kebiinu]

Wow, screw Opencritic. Never even heard of this Brash place, but I'm glad they've been exposed for the clowns they are. I'm grateful for NeoGAF, especially since this topic killed two birds with one stone for me.