Phife Dawg
Member
Glorious! Looking forward to the "almost too good" blurbs.
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Press Reset: The Story of Polygon - financed by Microsoft for $750,000
- Thread starter Grecco
- Start date
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RedNumberFive
Banned
This wouldn't surprise me.
schwabdizzle
Banned
Wow....that means their reviews will be credible.
JonathanEx
Member
I'd say this isn't particularly anything to get worried by in terms of Polygon's ethics. Some concern if MS told them to make this specific documentary (rather than a documentary) that's a bit dictating editorial though.
The real thing is 'what the fuck is MS thinking' in terms of spending that much on this and the worth of that
The real thing is 'what the fuck is MS thinking' in terms of spending that much on this and the worth of that
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Wow what the fuck.
That's all I can say.
Massive amounts of disrespect directed to everyone involved.
That's all I can say.
Massive amounts of disrespect directed to everyone involved.
Especially if you never would have trusted anyone affiliated with the site to begin with.
megamerican
Member
I really think you're wrong. This isn't some blip or snafu in an already established and respected website.
This is their coming out party where they define what the website is going to be all about. They come off as smug, pretentious, and wannabe-indie made even more embarrassing by the fact that they are sponsored by something as lame as IE.
This whole thing has been a tremendous backfire. Unless their "revolution" is about schadenfreude and unintentional comedy.
i give this post
4 out of 5 McElroys
This is probably the best thing that came out of this thread!
Never change
Yeah, it's pretty sad isn't. You could probably make a really good game with that money and now it's more or less going to fund a documentary and a website that is not even fully online. It just says a lot about the industry. MS is ready to give 750k to a website that reviews game and controls the hype and propaganda instead of giving it to experts in the field to make a game. Heck, you could support some nice indie games with that much.
Speaking up at this point may get a few of them some unwanted attention as well.
Osiris
I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
It's "inside baseball" - no other sites are gonna lambast Polygon for actions they themselves are happy to engage in all the time.
It's an industry-wide issue that's best commented on by others in the industry with something like "don't worry, it'll be forgotten soon...OHH LOOK! Shiny!".
It's prison rules.
Nizz
Member
You've articulated well the concerns I have. Thank you.
Phife Dawg
Member
Well they are a charity so they only did it for the good of the people. I too wouldn't worry about ethics here - I mean it's just 750k, not even a new Broken Sword game, sheesh.
Scapegoat
Member
I'm cool with it as long as the IE/Microsoft prescence stays as "brought to you by IE" and not "with so many people to manage in different cities and timezones, IE on the Xbox and Windows 8 PCs really helps us connect and stay in the loop with one another."
Overall I have very little interest in seeing such a documentary though, especially given that they're a well funded startup who presumably were all poached/enticed with the promises of more money/freedom/control. The Giantbomb story, by comparison, was a lot more personal; a guy got fired and a bunch of his friends chose to stand with him and they tried to go it alone against the big boys.
I really begin to question it all though when the first point they bring up in the series is how bad web advertising is... and then they proceed to describe "web advertising" seemingly as it was in the 1990's/only found today on "free" porn sites. What kind of legitimate interest websites these days have giant flashing fake virus scan warnings or 2 popups and 5 popunders for some gambling site? They seemed not to acknowledge any of the actual, legitimate problems that people have with advertising on game outlet sites let alone what they're going to do to avoid such issues.
Overall I have very little interest in seeing such a documentary though, especially given that they're a well funded startup who presumably were all poached/enticed with the promises of more money/freedom/control. The Giantbomb story, by comparison, was a lot more personal; a guy got fired and a bunch of his friends chose to stand with him and they tried to go it alone against the big boys.
I really begin to question it all though when the first point they bring up in the series is how bad web advertising is... and then they proceed to describe "web advertising" seemingly as it was in the 1990's/only found today on "free" porn sites. What kind of legitimate interest websites these days have giant flashing fake virus scan warnings or 2 popups and 5 popunders for some gambling site? They seemed not to acknowledge any of the actual, legitimate problems that people have with advertising on game outlet sites let alone what they're going to do to avoid such issues.
bernardobri
Steve, the dog with no powers that we let hang out with us all for some reason
So is it actually confirmed the number?
Nizz
Member
Hot Coldman
Banned
Speaking of old posts, I missed the putdowns from Davis, Lee et al originally. Good shit.
It costs a lot of money to pay people to scan NeoGAF/CAG/Reddit for news
I think it's worth talking about for sure. It won't ever rise to the level of "scandal" officially, because no other game sites will pick up the story because they all do the same thing. So it's less a scandal than it is a potent reminder of the state of the entire gaming media.
RyougaSaotome
Member
I've seen a few folks on Twitter talk about it in passing. Not so many people outright pointing fingers, but definitely some "... huh. That's a thing I guess." sort of reactions.
It's a decade of reality that gaming sites must rely on endemic advertising for their survival dawning on GAF for the first time ever.
I don't know about you guys, but I think Polygon has done exactly what it's mission statement purported to do - something that a gaming website has never done before.
What is that something? Well to start, they've gotten a major major corporation to pay a large amount of money to places ads on top of an ad for awebsite amorphous game related business entity that will likely end up as a giant ad for Microsoft products in the future. If that's not some sort of innovative, inception-like stuff right there, I don't know what is.
I can't wait to see what these guys do next.
What is that something? Well to start, they've gotten a major major corporation to pay a large amount of money to places ads on top of an ad for a
I can't wait to see what these guys do next.
Sponsored reviews obviously, huge market in there: This Mass Effect 4 review is brought to you by EA Games.
On second thought, IGN already did that one. Back to the drawing board it is.
CambriaRising
Member
You are forgetting GertsmanGate.
GAF being GAF, just judge 'em by the stuff they write.
CrunchyFrog
Member
.
especially not $750000. Self-fellatio is putting it modestly
ShockingAlberto
is too fucking reasonable
for this forum
Living up to your tag as always.
famousmortimer
Banned
I know, geez! Like when they gave everyone new Xboxes, what a pain in the ass! Just another piece of crap to pile up in my closet. And free PSN+ accounts? Sooo annoying, now I can't waste half an hour watching my PS3 download updates, or pay full price for PSN games anymore? Damn it Sony! Stop inconveniencing me with your free shit! Steam press accounts? Fuuuuu, now I can't find the games I want because they're buried in all the other free games I get. And you know all the swag you see covering every horizontal surface in our office when we shoot video? It's just there because we ran out of space in our trash bins and closets, not because we actually like the stuff. Life as a games journo is hard.
billy beane
Banned
I just want to know when their website goes live. SB Nation and The Verge are my main sources for sports and tech news respectively, so if they're doing something like those two, I'll be a fan.
IrishNinja
Member
yeah, it's been said, but everyone of you "i work in web design" guys on about how this isn't an illegal amount of money etc are fundamentally missing the point of the game journalism revolution this site was to be about. was integrity not to be a part of that equation?
i honestly don't care if you prefer enthusiast press, game journalism or any other term, ShockingAlberto's ether-post cited the importance of avoiding conflicts of interest, real or perceived - i don't really need to know how much site (x) paid for full banner ads to know this is a poor foot to start on.
everyone mentions mcelroy & the Nier thing, but they forget the important bits:
after begging GAF to get Joystiq unbanned, he botched that review, sure enough, but he followed up by posting here trying to defend his inability to follow a mini-map, despite having needed that skill to get as far as the fishing bit. when called on this (repeatedly), he took the high road - said he had more important things to do as an industry professional, then proceeded to mock GAF and specific gaffer posts on the next podcast. Segata & others called him on this repeatedly, but it seems forgotten.
that's what stuck with me. it's one thing to be inept, it's another to follow through with such a lack of professionalism. i get "game journalism lol" but there should reasonably be a scale here: if you want to stay down on the jim sterling level, that's your prerogative, but don't then claim you're one of the people who needs to raise the bar.
i honestly don't care if you prefer enthusiast press, game journalism or any other term, ShockingAlberto's ether-post cited the importance of avoiding conflicts of interest, real or perceived - i don't really need to know how much site (x) paid for full banner ads to know this is a poor foot to start on.
everyone mentions mcelroy & the Nier thing, but they forget the important bits:
after begging GAF to get Joystiq unbanned, he botched that review, sure enough, but he followed up by posting here trying to defend his inability to follow a mini-map, despite having needed that skill to get as far as the fishing bit. when called on this (repeatedly), he took the high road - said he had more important things to do as an industry professional, then proceeded to mock GAF and specific gaffer posts on the next podcast. Segata & others called him on this repeatedly, but it seems forgotten.
that's what stuck with me. it's one thing to be inept, it's another to follow through with such a lack of professionalism. i get "game journalism lol" but there should reasonably be a scale here: if you want to stay down on the jim sterling level, that's your prerogative, but don't then claim you're one of the people who needs to raise the bar.
BurnOutBrighter
Banned
Looking at Gies' Twitter... wow that guy must love the sound of his own voice. Everything is dismissive and wrapped in a superiority complex.
And Polygon is bullshit. Welcome to New Games Journalism, just like Current Games Journalism... but this time they sold out even before day one.
Halo 4, 9/10 from Polygon.
And Polygon is bullshit. Welcome to New Games Journalism, just like Current Games Journalism... but this time they sold out even before day one.
Halo 4, 9/10 from Polygon.
I guess that means you have never listened him on Rebel FM. I wish I could say the same.
Christian Nutt (@ferricide) from Gamastutra hasn't held back on twitter.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Yeah, because Kickstarter is a new technology that never existed before video games.
PsychoSoldier
Banned
I don't think this rises to the level of a scandal, but it's ultimately just silly on their part. Even the appearance of impropriety is a bad idea, especially in a place like the enthusiast press where people thinking your opinions are genuine.
This is a discussion that is literally going to be a part of every thread that features a review of theirs from now on. Count on it.
This is a discussion that is literally going to be a part of every thread that features a review of theirs from now on. Count on it.
CorySchmitz
Junior Member
lol. You guys have never worked in advertising with Microsoft before, it is so psycho how much many they spend. This is kind of a lot, but not compared to some of things I've seen.
Why the freakout now? Did you not see the "brought to you by IE9" ad before every episode? Did you guys think they were just running those ads for fun?
It's advertising. Advertising is crazy.
Why the freakout now? Did you not see the "brought to you by IE9" ad before every episode? Did you guys think they were just running those ads for fun?
It's advertising. Advertising is crazy.
Let me guess, when he was this touting incorrect information as fact the other people on the podcast accepted it as gospel?
BurnOutBrighter
Banned
It's not you, it's The Verge's shitty design.
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Gonna spare you all the massive post I wrote a second ago detailing just how shit I think this shit is.
But yeah it's total fucking shit. I'm disgusted, embarrassed, humiliated, and most of all absolutely pissed off.
But yeah it's total fucking shit. I'm disgusted, embarrassed, humiliated, and most of all absolutely pissed off.
brettchalupa
Member
Why did they make a big deal about the one guy whose job is managing the developers and not too friendly moving for a new job?
I mean, that's like, pretty damn normal.
And he could just buy a new cup at McDonald's for this drink. They're $0.99 for every size I think. I would hope he is getting paid enough to buy a new drink.
I mean, that's like, pretty damn normal.
And he could just buy a new cup at McDonald's for this drink. They're $0.99 for every size I think. I would hope he is getting paid enough to buy a new drink.
CorySchmitz
Junior Member
Yeah I wondered this too. Pretty weird.
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