Ha, well I'm just part of one team, but I can safely say we'd never agree to an interview with RPS after this.
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The Trial Of Peter Molyneux by RockPaperShotgun
- Thread starter Pie and Beans
- Start date
Ha, well I'm just part of one team, but I can safely say we'd never agree to an interview with RPS after this.
Heebie Jeebies
Banned
Sure Molyneux is a pathological liar, but this is nothing but cheapshot cowardice from John Walker who is happily kicking a man whose reputation is lying in the gutter. That tweet about being brutal because it's player's money is really funny, he's being brutal because a)for hits for his ad-infested website, and b) he knows the current wave of negative opinion towards Molyneux provides him with some security when going for Molyneux's throat.
Like I said, a fucking coward.
Like I said, a fucking coward.
This is proof of how bad game journos have become. This was nothing more than a game journo acting like a journo (ok a bit of a jerk, but that's how journos should be), instead of treating it as a future job interview.
If more game journos were as honest and direct as this maybe they'd have some actual credibility and wouldn't be so reviled as a general rule.
JacksUsername
Member
This is what I keep coming back to. The audience gains nothing from this hostile interview style. Treating the interviewee like this didn't result in any knowledge that wouldn't be possible by asking the questions in a more professional tone. The only party that gains substantially from this is RPS, due to the heavy traffic.
MHWilliams
Member
You've missed my point.
Here's how people think an interview goes:
*I sit down with the developers of Evolve*
Me: "You know your DLC plan is some shit, right?"
Dev: "You are absolutely right, but you have to understand..."
People believe that in "journalism", the interviewee just has to answer the question for some reason.
In reality what tends to happen is this:
*I sit down with the developers of Evolve*
Me: "You know your DLC plan is some shit, right?"
PR: "This interview is over."
This situation with RPS and Molyneux? That's Oprah and Armstrong. It's not normal operating procedure. Molyneux came to the table willing to be raked over the coals. Most devs won't and even if they would, PR won't.
Neuromancer
Member
When I think of a respectful interview of a figure in gaming with hard questions, I think of Angry Joe's interview of Major Nelson at E3 2013. It can be done without starting the interview with an insult.
Well said.
Zuhzuhzombie!!
Member
There were plenty of people demonizing Angry Joe and supporting Major Nelson as well.
Oh, I'm sure John Walker is doing it because it's his job, and not out of some altruistic motivation. But you can interpret his tweet just as easily as 'Well, now you dun really fucked up Molyneux' regarding player's money. That might just be Walker's own threshold for making someone a target.
PM assassinated his own character.
afternoon delight
Member
lololol old person alert
I'd say his responses and the way he handles them reveal more than any aggressive tone used to procure them.
RockTurtle
Member
maybe my opinion would be more solidified if i had donated money to PM through kickstarter (but given his history, lolno)
I would think the interviewer was a little too harsh, but given the way Peter is acting like a baby, I think he completely deserves to be asked questions in that way.
Future PhaZe
Member
And if your alternate means of funding hadn't of came through for you, then you'd be subject to ridicule as well.
CrunchyFrog
Member
Does he not admit in the actual interview here that he both asked for less money than he knew would be necessary to make the game without a publisher despite previously saying the contrary (and even after getting more money over the stated goal) and intentionally made up features for journalists in order to get the campaign funded? If it's not outright lying it's at least blatant intellectual dishonesty and the kind of tactic he's engaged in repeatedly over the past decade. I don't buy the "cruel reality of game development" BS, the man has been in the industry for far too long and shipped far too many products to claim such ignorance. It is skirting so close to the line of outright lying and gone on for so long that it might as well be. This man took over half a million dollars and promised monetary compensation which has yet to be delivered. This article was totally on point.
UncleCross
Member
I must've missed this "real journalism" you're referring to. All I saw was a rather childish interview with antagonistic questions and name calling.
And you don't see anything wrong with that? Knowingly deceiving people to have your own instead of decently telling them what it's going to get to get this done?
You don't think people need to be called out when they do that and take advantage of people like that?
SymbiantXenos
Member
As unreliable PM is about delivering on promises those questions were loaded.
NullPointer
Member
Peter deserved all of those questions, and while I appreciate some of the candor in his answers he still comes across as unreasonably hedging and vacillating.
When will the game be complete? When will Bryan Henderson start to accrue payment? Has that started already? When can he honestly expect to get paid? Are there no internal dates or projections that can be shared? Easter has been provided as a provisional date for one of several features that have to come to pass before the God of Gods mode can get started, so what are we talking about here? Where are the no-bullshit assessments?
And yes, the tone of the piece, right from the first line, was antagonistic. It put Peter off his guard, but after all of this time I don't think its unwarranted. RPS wanted to get something beyond the usual platitudes, and sometimes you have to disturb somebody's peace and equilibrium to start to shed some of the bullshit, spin and PR pufffery.
This feels more like a long overdue intervention than a character assassination.
When will the game be complete? When will Bryan Henderson start to accrue payment? Has that started already? When can he honestly expect to get paid? Are there no internal dates or projections that can be shared? Easter has been provided as a provisional date for one of several features that have to come to pass before the God of Gods mode can get started, so what are we talking about here? Where are the no-bullshit assessments?
And yes, the tone of the piece, right from the first line, was antagonistic. It put Peter off his guard, but after all of this time I don't think its unwarranted. RPS wanted to get something beyond the usual platitudes, and sometimes you have to disturb somebody's peace and equilibrium to start to shed some of the bullshit, spin and PR pufffery.
This feels more like a long overdue intervention than a character assassination.
sensui-tomo
Member
Dont get me started on that issue, people would claim the BS" Well joe aint a dev, what does he know"
Think about the implications of asking someone, on "camera," when they stopped beating their wife. It's not a Chris Brown reference. It's a common example of a shameful approach to journalism.
Exactly the way I feel after reading the interview. shameful.
You can open with that question, but you should follow up with "Do you realize that's the public's perception of you?" or something along those lines. As a journalist, you're supposed to come off as impartial, but calling him a liar destroys that.
That's exactly how I feel, but I question the public nature of it.
That's exactly how I feel, but I question the public nature of it.
I'd rather interviews abruptly come to an end like that in the chance someone would have the balls to answer the question than get nothing but the ridiculous amount of utterly useless PR fluff shoved down our throats that we get now. The filtered marketing "interviews" that flood "Games Journalism" now are absolutely useless to consumers.
Those are some pretty big words to be throwing at someone.
I had a line of credit for more than enough money and was willing to dip into that to make my project happen. There is no requirement that 100% of funding come from Kickstarter funds.
Well said
Sometimes being confrontational is part of real journalism.
See - Dan Rather vs. George HW Bush, 1988
Not to mention pretty much every episode of 60 Minutes, ever.
JacksUsername
Member
If every journo acted like a jerk, no one would ever trust them enough to give them any information whatsoever, leaving us with an even more misinformed public.
This can hardly be called journalism, it's badgering. A shame, because there is some good stuff in here, but instead we're focusing on the tone.
That's good journalism?
John Kowalski
Banned
oops, posted on wrong thread
anyhoo, poor form on RPS' part
anyhoo, poor form on RPS' part
ScatheZombie
Member
The development community will likely side with Molyneux on this because ... he's not unique in the industry. Everyone has worked with a Molyneux. Everyone has had multiple managers that have over-promised and under-delivered. These types of developers exist in the thousands. They're usually not lying - which is saying things they know to be untrue - they are embellishing and exaggerating because they are genuinely excited about the project and product. They are usually the most enthusiastic people on the team. They always want to do crazy shit that's outside the scope of the project. However, most of these people are kept in check by PR or publishers. Though not always. If you knew how many times a Director went out onto the stage and talked about a feature the team wasn't planning on doing - your jaw would be on the floor - because it happens all the time. We're in a creative industry where people want to be as crazy-creative as possible - but are ultimately limited by cost, scope, publisher oversight, etc. When our vision is cut short by those limitations - it doesn't make us liars. When the limitations of doing business force changes to the vision - that doesn't make it a lie.
So yes, we constantly say things that will ultimately (and even likely) not be 100% accurate by the time of release. And to see someone be dragged over the coals for it - and see gamers cheer for it - is absolutely terrifying.
I'm starting to feel bad about what's going to happen to RPS rep after this. It's great PC site.
compared to the slop we usually get it is. It could have been a little more skillfully done, but gotta take integrity when you get it. Most game journos view it as a stepping stone to a PR job.
Happens on GAF constantly when people get their Two-Minutes hate going.
And they're taken to task on that.
Still at least they don't go on KS asking for money while having no idea whatsoever about they'll be able to pull it off.
Heck remember Killzone 2?
that's pretty much PM's MO for the last 10 years.
It is serious business though. People payed the man over $800,000.
Weird.
Thank you a lot. Will be interesting to read, I hope.
Go with that fine link that I quoted.
as backhanded as a defense comes, lol
That's the trickiness of interviewing someone like Peter Molyneux.
A typical interview doesn't garner much more than deflection or outright lies from Molyneux regarding these tricky topics, and at this point given his reputation for exaggeration you can't be sure what the truth is. Walker tried a more aggressive approach, and that seem fairly ineffective at getting real answers from Peter "'ll never tell a lie" Molyneux.
I feel like the only way you could really get something to hang you hat on out of him would be to interview him at a pub after a few drinks.
That's cool with me. I don't think people should do it if they feel uncomfortable however you have to agree that it won't dissuade a lot of people.
MHWilliams
Member
But what point is that making? What information does that impart?
Maybe it says more about the gaming community that we so readily lap up the PR bullshit devs feed us but get outraged when someone calls the most pathological example out on it.
That the developer would feign being offended to avoid justifying their practices?
No but he did say that the game would not involve publishers. If your kickstarter had promised not to use outside funding would you have still set the bar well under the needed amount with the hope of it going above?
Only if you also agree that it will dissuade a lot of people at the same time.
That Molyneux is a very patient man.
Mr Fahrenheit
Member
This is a really assy interview. I've got no love for Peter Molyneux, but you can ask tough questions and give a hard interview without being a dick to the guy who's taking time out of his day to talk to you. Maybe some honest discussion could have happened and he would discuss some of his past shortcomings, but they immediately open with hostility so Peter gets defensive, which sets a bad tone for the whole interview.