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[partyphone]

It's like anyone that likes Polygon is on trial here. I just wanted to discuss if reviews should be held on multiplayer games. I don't think I really ever said Polygon was 100% right or Gaf/other media were 100% right.

Just odd to see so many people seemingly upset with things I said when they weren't that outlandish.

Sorry if you are/were offended by something I said. I apologize Gaf, I'll watch my words more in the future. Can I join back into the actual discussion now?

Yeah it's a little disturbing, if not entirely predictable, how quickly these types of things turn into a "if you're not with us, you're against us" situation. Which is what people like Gies latch onto rather than engage with earnest criticism.

 

[inky]

It's like anyone that likes Polygon is on trial here. I just wanted to discuss if reviews should be held on multiplayer games. I don't think I really ever said Polygon was 100% right or Gaf/other media were 100% right.

LOL, it's not really that. As some of your previous posts show your attitude was: Oh, so GAF hates a games site, news at 11, get over it, yadayadayada. If that is your take on it, great, but at least stick to what you think.

Just to be clear, I'm not upset nor I really care about your comments (positive, negative, whatever) I'm just trying to clear things up for you and why people might react that way. Cheers.

 

[RotBot]

But will continue to support with page views.


Cut em out completely.

For me to boycott something I like over something I don't pay attention to, it has to be a bigger deal than this, like if it was revealed that Vox media was founded by a serial rapist.

But I am not going to say to myself, "Oh, man. Somebody finally interviewed the Johnny Cage guy and ex-Midway people over his weird falling out with Mortal Kombat back in the 90s! I've always wondered what was up with that. Oh, but I don't like Brian Crecente so I guess I can't read it." I think the media ethics at a lot of News Corp. properties are even more deplorable than what's going on at Polygon, but I'll still shrug my shoulders and watch Bob's Burgers on FOX.

For other people with stronger convictions over this, good on you.

 

[Jigolo]

Thanks for the summary. I don't know how to read convos on Twitter

 

[IISANDERII]

Remember that Kris dude who worked for the controller company? He was a bigtime asshole too perhaps more so than Gies. Whatever happened to him?

 

[xJavonta]

Thanks for the summary. I don't know how to read convos on Twitter

Start from the top and go to the bottom.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

LOL, it's not really that. As some of your previous posts show your attitude was: Oh, so GAF hates a games site, news at 11, get over it, yadayadayada. If that is your take on it, great, but at least stick to what you think.

Just to be clear, I'm not upset nor I really care about your comments (positive, negative, whatever) I'm just trying to clear things up for you and why people might react thhat way. Cheers.

Yeah, I apologize for the Gaf hive mind approach, it came off a bit strong. I've just seen it happen before for games even (Tomb Raider, DMC) and that caused me to be quick on the draw here, but it seems much more justified this time as Polygon continues to mess around.

My bad.

bingo.

One of the disadvantages of giving yourself a distinct avatar is that your posting history is easier to remember. Tell us again how much you don't care and only made 3 or 4 posts on the subject.

See my other posts today. Hopefully I cleared it up. I don't need to dig any deeper hole on accident.

 

[Jackpot]

No, you were caught in undermining how much you're defending them. Redefining the only part you haven't been caught in being wrong about yet as the important aspect of your argument - leave that to Gies. That's what he does.

bingo.

One of the disadvantages of giving yourself a distinct avatar is that your posting history is easier to remember. Tell us again how much you don't care and only made 3 or 4 posts on the subject.

 

[partyphone]

Start from the top and go to the bottom.

except when someone pulls it directly from a timeline then you start from the bottom and go to the top.

gotta look at the time stamps.

 

[ChryZ]

Stop reading Polygon.

Never have, never will.

 

[RedNumberFive]

Never have, never will.

Friends don't let friends read Polygon.

 

[sam27368]

I like Polygon, it's a good site with a lot of good content.

 

[Gannd]

I like Polygon, it's a good site with a lot of good content.

Did you read this thread at all?

 

[xJavonta]

Lol Polygon = Kotaku

This shit is really sad. I don't know how Kotaku has stayed alive all this time, and I wish nothing but the worst on Gies and his party of Polyclowns.

except when someone pulls it directly from a timeline then you start from the bottom and go to the top.

gotta look at the time stamps.

Oh true. I don't know why people do that. It's a lot easier for everyone if they just select the very first tweet in the conversation. That way it'll go top to bottom

 

[partyphone]

Did you read this thread at all?

well....

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=49195344&postcount=1106

 

[Pie and Beans]

well....

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=49195344&postcount=1106

Oh my.

 

[TommyT]

I usually just hide in the shadows--sniffing glue and thinking of new ways to take on Reginald Heuwurth, CPA--but this post, and its ilk, has pushed me to comment.

With my copious amount of free time, I’m usually wont to read every post of a thread, followed by pressing half-cooked pancakes to my bare chest… the goopy, puss-like pancake batter burning straight to my heart. It is literally the only way I can feel alive any more…

*sigh*

The universe.

Where was I?

Having read every post and considering every point and counterpoint, I think I have some advice for those of you in here who want to improve what is going on at Polyglotnal… Pimpernalgynal… Po-po-po-poooo… the interactive entertainment criticism teepee. Instead of getting too deep into this forum/twitter echo chamber, why not write to some people who will listen to interested, involved readers that are polite and articulate in their complaints? No, no—I’m not talking about writing to Waylon Jennings. He’s dead.

Writing to the executives at Vox Media (or any other company that has a lack of the professionalisms) and pointing out what is going on with some of their employees, in a very public place on the internet, will get some attention. Claiming that your views don’t represent the company while using the company's identity to represent yourself is not some wicked force field. Force fields are wicked on their own.

Anyway, the reason you do this--instead of starting at the EIC--is that the EIC at many of these “publications” is akin to a clueless manager at a PayLess ShoeSource. His employees are yelling “F-off, you dimpsy nerdburgers!” at customers, and he just tells them to quiet down because he can’t concentrate on sexting his girlfriend in Quebec. Shoes are called “chaussures” in French Canada, you know.

If you write something like “Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms./Hyperion, I would like to bring to your attention some unprofessional behavior by your employees. I only have a month to live! Send rice. Godspeed!” these suits will likely take note, and at most—take ACTION. Not Schwarzenegger “Get to da choppa!” high action, but some action that will hopefully brush these guys back from the edge and plop them into whichever reality cashes their paychecks. Don’t demand anyone be fired. Don’t urge everyone to Wang Chung tonight. Just point out that this unprofessional behavior might be hurting their brand. Excluding governments, this method will often get someone’s attention.

That’s it really. I know my reply is long, but I have been sliding around in the dark corners for soooo long. And the pancakes, man... they don’t understand my needs.

Thanks for the entertaining threads!

Hey, Don Johnson! I’m looking for a heartbeat, too, buddy!

:lol just got to this. The emotional roller coaster was simply amazing. Well done good sir, bravo!

 

[Art Teitlebaum]

So Polygon is GAF's flavour hate of the month?

What kind of White Knight are you, Mr. Sam? ;-)

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

For me to boycott something I like over something I don't pay attention to, it has to be a bigger deal than this, like if it was revealed that Vox media was founded by a serial rapist.

But I am not going to say to myself, "Oh, man. Somebody finally interviewed the Johnny Cage guy and ex-Midway people over his weird falling out with Mortal Kombat back in the 90s! I've always wondered what was up with that. Oh, but I don't like Brian Crecente so I guess I can't read it." I think the media ethics at a lot of News Corp. properties are even more deplorable than what's going on at Polygon, but I'll still shrug my shoulders and watch Bob's Burgers on FOX.

For other people with stronger convictions over this, good on you.

This is pretty much how I feel, just explained way better. I'm not going to stop liking their feature articles because of this, but I also don't necessarily condone the whole Sim City/Crecente-gate thing. (Although it apparently appeared that I did because I did the whole Gaf flavor of the month thing).

 

[Dec]

For me to boycott something I like over something I don't pay attention to, it has to be a bigger deal than this, like if it was revealed that Vox media was founded by a serial rapist.

But I am not going to say to myself, "Oh, man. Somebody finally interviewed the Johnny Cage guy and ex-Midway people over his weird falling out with Mortal Kombat back in the 90s! I've always wondered what was up with that. Oh, but I don't like Brian Crecente so I guess I can't read it." I think the media ethics at a lot of News Corp. properties are even more deplorable than what's going on at Polygon, but I'll still shrug my shoulders and watch Bob's Burgers on FOX.

For other people with stronger convictions over this, good on you.

Fuck yea, you will.

 

[BloodMoney]

i don't traffic Polygon (awful layout) or kotaku (questionably more awful layout)... i have other complaints regarding their journalism, but its the websites that kill me.

 

[partyphone]

just gonna leave this here....

The Challenger had a more successful launch than SimCity.

http://ridiculoushuman.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/pure-folly-miss-polygon/

 

[GatorFan]

Arthur Gies is still in the industry?

 

[RobbieH]

Retweeted by Walker: http://ridiculoushuman.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/pure-folly-miss-polygon/

And that was the story as my draft told it. Since then, some interesting interesting happened. Hero of the hour, sidebar-linked since this blog’s messy birth, John Walker of Rock, Paper, Shotgun, led something of a one-man crusade, revealing that a) the always-online game worked offline, to some extent; b) the game didn’t really do anything important with the connection even when it is online, besides functioning as some suspiciously-convenient DRM; and c) some of the writers at Polygon are big silly idiots.

As the fine folks at NeoGaf tirelessly collated, Polygon’s reviews editor Arthur Gies scoffed at Walker’s inside source, insisting that the always-online battle was one the publishers had already won, and pooh-poohing the suggestion that the game could be workable offline. Until—no! But yes!—Polygon newsy guy Brian Crecente threw up an interview with the modder who’d tweaked the game to work offline, neglecting to mention that his mag had loudly refused to believe anything about such a tweak despite John’s publishing a very similar interview with that selfsame modder days previously. Crecente even went so far as to deny seeing that interview, which was fine until it was awkwardly pointed out that he’d actually tweeted about seeing it shortly after it was lobbed online. In essence he went back in time to shoot himself in the foot, somehow managing to be impressively unimpressive.

And, y’know, in spite of all of that backstory, the problem isn’t that Polygon are even more rubbish than we thought. Because we knew they were going to be awful from the very second their website’s trailer hit Youtube. Because their website had a trailer on Youtube. COME ON GUYS WE SAW THIS COMING**

 

[GQman2121]

This is just so fascinating. I can't picture adults in any comparable profession behaving like this.

The back and forth on Tweeter from Giles is absurd. Taking shots are your peers? What are his bosses saying to each other? And who is responsible for reeling him in?

And then, as if to say: Oh, you think that's bad? Crecente comes in, and in the politest way possible, makes the entire site look incompetent 140 character's at a time. They've really reset the bar for ineptitude.

 

[GrizzNKev]

Retweeted by Walker: http://ridiculoushuman.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/pure-folly-miss-polygon/

Yup. You make a website out of the worst people in "games journalism" and you get nothing more than Kotaku 2.0 masturbating all over the place with self-importance from day 1.

Absolutely obvious it was going to be shit.

 

[BloodMoney]

just gonna leave this here....



http://ridiculoushuman.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/pure-folly-miss-polygon/

great read. what a bunch of assholes.

"**We doubly saw this coming when they started running features about the palaces in which they doth game, as if anybody cared what chair you sat in whilst playing 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand, but that’s already been beautifully skewered by"

 

[Mael]

Finally finished reading the whole thread, man I didn't think the whole Sim City affair would be so entertaining.
Seriously best game I've never played.
From the start to the tweeter drama, we even got EA's head from this mess and all.
I mean that's comedy if there was any!

Also I know I was a little vocal in my assessment of Kotaku, well to everyone working at Kotaku right now I'll say this :

Now can we ban the cesspool that is Polygon?
Then again that's quality entertainment they provide!

I usually just hide in the shadows--sniffing glue and thinking of new ways to take on Reginald Heuwurth, CPA--but this post, and its ilk, has pushed me to comment.

With my copious amount of free time, I’m usually wont to read every post of a thread, followed by pressing half-cooked pancakes to my bare chest… the goopy, puss-like pancake batter burning straight to my heart. It is literally the only way I can feel alive any more…

*sigh*

The universe.

Where was I?

Having read every post and considering every point and counterpoint, I think I have some advice for those of you in here who want to improve what is going on at Polyglotnal… Pimpernalgynal… Po-po-po-poooo… the interactive entertainment criticism teepee. Instead of getting too deep into this forum/twitter echo chamber, why not write to some people who will listen to interested, involved readers that are polite and articulate in their complaints? No, no—I’m not talking about writing to Waylon Jennings. He’s dead.

Writing to the executives at Vox Media (or any other company that has a lack of the professionalisms) and pointing out what is going on with some of their employees, in a very public place on the internet, will get some attention. Claiming that your views don’t represent the company while using the company's identity to represent yourself is not some wicked force field. Force fields are wicked on their own.

Anyway, the reason you do this--instead of starting at the EIC--is that the EIC at many of these “publications” is akin to a clueless manager at a PayLess ShoeSource. His employees are yelling “F-off, you dimpsy nerdburgers!” at customers, and he just tells them to quiet down because he can’t concentrate on sexting his girlfriend in Quebec. Shoes are called “chaussures” in French Canada, you know.

If you write something like “Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms./Hyperion, I would like to bring to your attention some unprofessional behavior by your employees. I only have a month to live! Send rice. Godspeed!” these suits will likely take note, and at most—take ACTION. Not Schwarzenegger “Get to da choppa!” high action, but some action that will hopefully brush these guys back from the edge and plop them into whichever reality cashes their paychecks. Don’t demand anyone be fired. Don’t urge everyone to Wang Chung tonight. Just point out that this unprofessional behavior might be hurting their brand. Excluding governments, this method will often get someone’s attention.

That’s it really. I know my reply is long, but I have been sliding around in the dark corners for soooo long. And the pancakes, man... they don’t understand my needs.

Thanks for the entertaining threads!

Hey, Don Johnson! I’m looking for a heartbeat, too, buddy!

Thank you so much for this post.
It's entertaining and everything.
You should be unjuniored for this alone.

 

[Foxtastical]

As silly as it is to admit it, gaming magazines are what got me into journalism (EGM specifically--I still remember the first issue I bought in an Electronics Boutique as a wee lad).

I had always kind of thought I could write for EGM once I finished school. Even in college, it popped into my head every now and then. I even wrote off and on for a few smaller websites--just news and reviews, nothing super exciting but I did get paid a little for it, which was nice.

But EGM was shuttered by the time I finished undergrad, so that dream sort of fizzled. Worked for a bit, then went back to school.

Now I've got a BA and an MA in journalism, but the gaming press as it is now just disgusts me. So-called journalists bickering on Twitter like high school girls, publicly whining about another outlet securing an exclusive early review, the whole ugly Wainwright fiasco...the whole industry is rotten to the core, and it's just so, so goddamn depressing.

There are a few writers and outlets that seem to still understand what they're supposed to be doing as members of the press, but they're far, far outnumbered by people like Gies and Crecente.

EDIT: Oh damn nobody's going to even see this after frosty's post, are they? Good show, frosty.

I feel similar. I was in the middle of my BA (in Journalism) during the fun 1UP days (2004-2008-ish). I had journalistic aspirations before college, but some of their work, mostly GFW related pieces, made me more interested in working in video game journalism. It wasn't my focus, but I certainly pushed myself to do some freelancing in the industry.

Then I went to graduate school and got my master's degree, and now I can't stand video game journalism. It's a collection of man children. Perhaps the industry has always been like that and pursuing a higher education finally made me realize just how childish it has always been. Or, more baby-like men have been getting jobs in the industry via nepotism and such. Maybe a little bit of both.

I've read a few Polygon feature stories. I can't remember the writer, but the ethnography-ish articles have been rather good. I really liked them. The rest of the site, though, does nothing for me. I very much feel as if I am their target audience, and I feel nothing but pushed away by the personalities at Polygon. People, like Gies, are the exact people that I strived so hard to avoid in graduate school. Such negativity.

While they constantly downplayed their importance, the cast and crew of GFW did some hot shit. Wonderful content, but at the same time, they did that content with the most humble of attitudes. Personalities that didn't push you away. Positive people that realized the fortunate positions that they were in (and acknowledged it constantly). That's shit I respect.

 

[SneakyStephan]

For me to boycott something I like over something I don't pay attention to, it has to be a bigger deal than this, like if it was revealed that Vox media was founded by a serial rapist.

But I am not going to say to myself, "Oh, man. Somebody finally interviewed the Johnny Cage guy and ex-Midway people over his weird falling out with Mortal Kombat back in the 90s! I've always wondered what was up with that. Oh, but I don't like Brian Crecente so I guess I can't read it." I think the media ethics at a lot of News Corp. properties are even more deplorable than what's going on at Polygon, but I'll still shrug my shoulders and watch Bob's Burgers on FOX.

For other people with stronger convictions over this, good on you.

So read it on gaf.
Don't worry it's okay, you can read the fruit of the efforts of RPS writers on polygon too they all like to share like that.

 

[Heavy's Sandvich]

Well, not that it matters that much but I certainly won't be reading anything on Polygon.com nor will I bother to listen to Rebel FM anymore.

I thought it was quite funny how proud Gies can actually be, sometimes I thought it was to provoke people over anything else.

But you have to admit when you're wrong. If you notice, on Rebel FM, if he actually gets something wrong (be it pronouncing caricature incorrectly) he won't say "whoops, sorry, I should have known". I don't think sorry has ever been uttered in the way it should from Gies' mouth.

He'll certainly say "sorry that I have to tell you this, but the games you love from the past don't hold up at all etc etc".

He's a joke.

Crecente has demonstrated himself to be either brazenly incompetent or borderline corrupt. Strong words, but when you're dealing with integrity, even with the smallest of stories, you can't let that be questioned whatsoever.

Anyway, cue the members of NeoGAF being tarred with the same brush.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

I like Polygon, it's a good site with a lot of good content.

well....

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=49195344&postcount=1106

I'm not saying he is...

but

 

[Veezy]

just gonna leave this here....



http://ridiculoushuman.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/pure-folly-miss-polygon/

So: Polygon and their ilk will continue with their nonsense, proudly accepting always-on DRM, or microtransactions, or day-one DLC, or whatever new and harmful gimmick the increasingly obsolete publishers wheel out, as the inevitable industry norm. They will continue to award 9.5 to broken or unworthy games, and then point out the fact that people buy those games as an infallible sign that they were right, as if completely oblivious to the part their exclusive reviews play in that. Because they don’t have the will or the courage or the drunken recklessness to opt out of the loop.

Gadamn. Shit that make your soul burn slow.

 

[Zaph]

Retweeted by Walker: http://ridiculoushuman.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/pure-folly-miss-polygon/

Poetic ether.

 

[Malio]

Retweeted by Walker: http://ridiculoushuman.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/pure-folly-miss-polygon/

That article is amazing. Perfect.

 

[sam27368]

I'm not saying he is...

but

Lol, no. Just "trying" to balance it out a little. I can't stand the writers ego's and they've made (yet another) shitty mess of things. But as a news site I do quite like it.

 

[Whiteshirt]

What news do they provide that other sites do not? Their primary content is exactly the same as everything you'd expect from IGN or Kotaku which is literally the whole problem with Polygon. Their features are good but even Kotaku can put out good features. All you have to do is have freelancer contributors write about something interesting.

But that's besides the point. Their feature pieces being good doesn't give the site a carte blanche. The fundamental part that is the gaming news portion of the site is literally the same as the big mainstream sites. Only with workers who think they're actual personalities. Just with this whole SimCity thing, you've got two of their main permanent staff getting into a childish twitter war, getting proven wrong again and again, and basically being downright dishonest with information. That's like the definition of a bad news website.

I'm fairly sure there is a lot of schadenfreude involved. But Polygon, as a news website, is literally bankrupt at this point. If you want to balance something out, go balance something that can actually be balanced.

 

[Zaph]

Lol, no. Just "trying" to balance it out a little. I can't stand the writers ego's and they've made (yet another) shitty mess of things. But as a news site I do quite like it.

Fair enough if you genuinely like the site, but I'm curious, what is there to like?

Their news is barely regurgitated press releases managed by a guy who takes the word of Zynga PR over 3 independent sources and acts oblivious to why people would then question his journalism skills.

Their reviews are managed by someone who, while I'm sure is a perfectly decent person, has no real love for his job or readers and quite obviously lucked his way into the industry and is waiting for his 'out'.

The quality of writing in their features vary from average to good (Kotaku's are generally better, albeit with a simpler layout causing people to not take as much notice), but are worshipped because of some fancy CSS and the overall low bar set by the gaming press.

The site is occupying this no-man's-land between trying to emulate the success of personality driven sites like Giant Bomb (with their focus on the editors at home in their bedroom, being on camera and generally acting more casual) but at the same time trying to be an IGN/Gamespot by covering everything that's happening with wildly varying results. Oh and mixed with a large amount of smoke blown up their own arse.

They're the perfect example of what can go wrong when start-ups are overfunded and lack direction.

 

[BlastProcessing]

For me to boycott something I like over something I don't pay attention to, it has to be a bigger deal than this, like if it was revealed that Vox media was founded by a serial rapist.

But I am not going to say to myself, "Oh, man. Somebody finally interviewed the Johnny Cage guy and ex-Midway people over his weird falling out with Mortal Kombat back in the 90s! I've always wondered what was up with that. Oh, but I don't like Brian Crecente so I guess I can't read it." I think the media ethics at a lot of News Corp. properties are even more deplorable than what's going on at Polygon, but I'll still shrug my shoulders and watch Bob's Burgers on FOX.

For other people with stronger convictions over this, good on you.

For me a boycott is exactly proportional in cases like this. In the long run is this a big deal? Not really; not in the large scheme of things. It certainly dosen't affect my day to day life in any measurable way. But, you know what else isn't a big deal? Me never going to their website. Which also does not affect my day to day life in any way.


It doesn't take strong convictions to ignore something you have decided you do not like.

 

[monkeyhat]

I don't get it. Sure, Gies appears to be a spectacularly arrogant tool and I've no idea why anyone would let him near the Internet. But from Crecente's side, surely it's better that Polygon ended up investigating and posting the facts about Sim City rather than continuing to believe EA's PR? Why is it so impossible that both RPS and Polygon's articles were sourced from the same popular Reddit post? Don't all journalists crib from Reddit? And why is the RPS writer acting like Crecente curled out an enormous turd on their sites integrity?

Sure, I occasionally read Polygon and like some of their features; they're generally well written with an even style - in fact I’d far prefer the site stick to features and ditch news and reviews entirely. But, even so, I'd never buy a game based on the opinion of one review (whatever the site) unless I knew I had some kind of affinity with the writer. So their flawed Sim City write-up didn't bother me too much as there were plenty of other opinions available to balance it out.

While I agree that no one wants to read an article in which some self-important guy discusses his lovely gaming room, I'm also not entirely sure why anyone would want to read an article in which a similarly self-righteous guy flails and whines vainly about the industry not behaving the way he wants it to. This hobby - lest we forget - is supposed to be fun. Why write about it as though it's a terrible political chore where you ought to give yourself twenty lashes before putting a game disc into your PC?

With all that in mind, I'll stick with Giant Bomb. The reason *I* didn't buy Sim City was their Quick Look. It didn't talk much (if at all) about the rights and wrongs of the game communicating with EAs servers, but instead raised a bunch of gameplay issues. Issues which were – to me – far more important than always online DRM, incorrect publisher statements or websites trying to out-scoop each other.

 

[Zuhzuhzombie!!]

Never have, never will.

Same.

I had no idea who they were until all of these threads about how terrible they are started to pop up.

 

[Sblargh]

I don't get it. Sure, Gies appears to be a spectacularly arrogant tool and I've no idea why anyone would let him near the Internet. But from Crecente's side, surely it's better that Polygon ended up investigating and posting the facts about Sim City rather than continuing to believe EA's PR? Why is it so impossible that both RPS and Polygon's articles were sourced from the same popular Reddit post? Don't all journalists crib from Reddit? And why is the RPS writer acting like Crecente curled out an enormous turd on their sites integrity?

Sure, I occasionally read Polygon and like some of their features; they're generally well written with an even style - in fact I’d far prefer the site stick to features and ditch news and reviews entirely. But, even so, I'd never buy a game based on the opinion of one review (whatever the site) unless I knew I had some kind of affinity with the writer. So their flawed Sim City write-up didn't bother me too much as there were plenty of other opinions available to balance it out.

While I agree that no one wants to read an article in which some self-important guy discusses his lovely gaming room, I'm also not entirely sure why anyone would want to read an article in which a similarly self-righteous guy flails and whines vainly about the industry not behaving the way he wants it to. This hobby - lest we forget - is supposed to be fun. Why write about it as though it's a terrible political chore where you ought to give yourself twenty lashes before putting a game disc into your PC?

With all that in mind, I'll stick with Giant Bomb. The reason *I* didn't buy Sim City was their Quick Look. It didn't talk much (if at all) about the rights and wrongs of the game communicating with EAs servers, but instead raised a bunch of gameplay issues. Issues which were – to me – far more important than always online DRM, incorrect publisher statements or websites trying to out-scoop each other.

I'll just agree that it was ultimately their quick look that opened my eyes that there wasn't something off about the game itself, other issues notwithstanding. It was all made clear later with people experimenting with paths and so on, but I could feel that, as they recorded the quick look, they too felt that something was iffy, even if no one could put their finger on it.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I always got a weird feeling from Polygon that they decided, on their own, that being headhunted meant they were elevated to a plane beyond criticism. That if you disagreed, you didn't get it, because they were backed by a large media conglomerate and you were not.

Watching their twitter fights reminds me of a scene in the The Outsiders where Johnny and Ponyboy offend the Socs by talking to their girlfriends and then get jumped later that night at the park.

Whenever someone at Polygon has their honor impugned for any reason, valid or otherwise, they basically all decide to jump the person later that night in the park and it's so stupidly childish each and every time.

 

[Fistwell]

Retweeted by Walker: http://ridiculoushuman.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/pure-folly-miss-polygon/

Who's that guy?

 

[strem]

I come to GAF for my gaming news/reviews and that is it. Most sites are garbage except Giant Bomb and my new fav RPS

 

[Jake Tower]

Retweeted by Walker: http://ridiculoushuman.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/pure-folly-miss-polygon/

The problem is that people are looking to the “big” websites to fight their corner, when really, any truly worthwhile games journalism will be punk rock. It will be anarchic. It will be outside, and it will look weird and misshapen and different. It’ll be fantastic.

I don't think I've ever seen such a perfect and succinct identification of the issue. Brilliant.

 

[Whiteshirt]

While I agree that no one wants to read an article in which some self-important guy discusses his lovely gaming room, I'm also not entirely sure why anyone would want to read an article in which a similarly self-righteous guy flails and whines vainly about the industry not behaving the way he wants it to. This hobby - lest we forget - is supposed to be fun. Why write about it as though it's a terrible political chore where you ought to give yourself twenty lashes before putting a game disc into your PC?

Either you go the personality route like Giant Bomb where the aim of the game is entertainment or you act like proper journalists. Believe it or not but journalism isn't about self-important guys discussing their lovely gaming room or self-righteous people flailing about. Its about people behaving like adults and questioning events and information with some amount of critical thinking.

As for the Crecente thing, this is a bit of a problem.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Whenever someone at Polygon has their honor impugned for any reason, valid or otherwise, they basically all decide to jump the person later that night in the park and it's so stupidly childish each and every time.

Pretty much.

"Hey, did you call our mate 'crap at his job'? C'mon, guys - let's do him!"

Cue much hand-flailing and witty commentary.

 

[chickdigger802]

I really did wish sim city didn't have all these issues with networks so more eyes would be on the real issues with this broken in the core game.

 

[Zaph]

I always got a weird feeling from Polygon that they decided, on their own, that being headhunted meant they were elevated to a plane beyond criticism. That if you disagreed, you didn't get it, because they were backed by a large media conglomerate and you were not.

Watching their twitter fights reminds me of a scene in the The Outsiders where Johnny and Ponyboy offend the Socs by talking to their girlfriends and then get jumped later that night at the park.

Whenever someone at Polygon has their honor impugned for any reason, valid or otherwise, they basically all decide to jump the person later that night in the park and it's so stupidly childish each and every time.

Absolutely. A few people on the receiving end have noted it on Twitter.

I think the root cause of their attitude is the trailer-for-the-future-documentry-about-the-launch-of-their-future-website. They all seemed genuinely caught off-guard by the backlash by both readers and their peers. Since then they've been acting like a cornered animal at the mere hint of any criticism.

What also didn't help was the bad timing for when the trailer hit - just as people were talking about the amount of gaming press who like to make themselves the story.