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[MrNyarlathotep]

This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but I think the interview was needlessly confrontational. There is a way to ask the hard questions without coming across like that.

I'd agree if this wasn't directly a result of PM using Kickstarter to fund a project that he has now seemingly abandoned and leaving customers to deal with it.
It's bad enough that people who could easily raise investment capital on their own merits use KS to fund projects knowing that if successful they never have to share any of the profits unlike a traditional investment, but when high profile projects end up like this it makes it harder for others to get kickstarted.

 

[Palette Swap]

This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but I think the interview was needlessly confrontational. There is a way to ask the hard questions without coming across like that.

Considering how many times the guy has oversold his games and ideas, it's time someone stopped pussyfooting around the elephant in the room.
"Do you think that you’re a pathological liar?" is absolutely called for.

 

[Auto-Reply]

Read the interview.

Site seems to be down! Thanks for the quote!

Edit: Why can't I connect to the RPS page but everybody else seems to be able?

 

[Malio]

Hard core, damn. Poor Petey.

Just added RPS to my gaming site rounds.

 

[Pandy]

John Walker is a journalist.

One of the few, it would seem.

 

[Alienous]

Peter Molyneux: Let me just ask you one question. Do you think from the line of questioning you’re giving me, that this industry would be better without me?

What an egotistical question.

Peter Molyneux was Kanye West all along.

 

[watership]

This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but I think the interview was needlessly confrontational. There is a way to ask the hard questions without coming across like that.

Feel the same. He makes entertainment products. Not tainted food or drugs. He is not a cop or in the government. I've seen more respectful mainstream interviews with Derek Smart.

 

[Marvel]

Awesome interview.

 

[FairXchange]

But that's a problem in of itself. Not really something you want to compare this to.

Oh boo hoo, a grown man got his feelings hurt for compulsively lying and taking his customer's money and time and shitting them away. This is exactly the kind of culpability we need in the industry.

But I do want to compare this to that, that's why I made the comparison! lol.

 

[Dachande]

I don't have any fondness for Molyneux (I never played his games growing up and the types of games he makes aren't really to my taste), but I think this interview goes a bit far in places.

There is a huge, huge, huge difference between outright lying and not being able to deliver on a promise. I don't think Molyneux has ever claimed or stated something with the knowing intention of not being able and never trying to deliver on it.

His problem is that he makes (or made) lofty claims and had cruel reality crash down around him. Take him to task for that, absolutely, but to ask if he's a "pathological liar" because of it is crossing the line.

 

[K.Sabot]

John Walker is Batman?

or at least he thinks he is.

 

[H3xum]

Whatever. Peter is Peter. Putting it on blast and running a smear campaign reflects poorly on the industry. This was unnecessary. You deal with him just like you deal with people like him outside of video games, you just don't acknowledge it.

 

[PhaZZe]

RPS amazing work, now in my favs sites.

 

[Plywood]

Site won't load for me. Getting hammered?

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Starting an interview with asking the guy (almost to his face) "Are you a pathological liar" has nothing to do with seeking honest answers. It's just rude and disrespectful. Doesn't matter who the interviewee is

I think after the last 15 years that's the number one question people want to ask him

 

[Leafhopper]

He's more delusional than I thought. As for the interview being a bit harsh and confrontational, I think you kind of have to be at this point.

Also this is why I love RPS.

PS: Damn, I never have been able to not load RPS before, haha.

 

[fantomena]

Maybe too brutal, but still loved it.

 

[SliceSabre]

Feel the same. He makes entertainment products. Not tainted food or drugs. He is not a cop or in the government. I've seen more respectful mainstream interviews with Derek Smart.

So you shouldn't ask hard questions to people in the entertainment industry because its not serious even if people's money is at stake?

Yeah that is an unpopular opinion to have.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Site won't load for me. Getting hammered?

Shit's gonna go viral. You wait for it.

 

[Mr Git]

John Walker performing the interviewing art of Jeremy Paxman, brilliant. I'm not sure why people think he went too far - considering how sugarcoated so many games press interviews are it's absolutely refreshing seeing something like this. Eurogamer's Wes has done some similarly biting interviews.

 

[giancarlo123x]

I respect this interview for being honest and not pussyfooting around his lying shenanigans.

 

[checkeredknight]

He is a pathological liar and needed to be reminded of this years ago.

Do you think he feels better or worse than Bryan Henderson after he realised that his 'life changing prize' through Godus was in reality a load of hot air and broken promises?

I'm not a fan of the guy - but, this feels like watching an angry pack of dogs cheering on as he's beaten up and trodden on by press.

Bryan Henderson is 21 years old. He won a spare of the moment thing on a free app he admitted he didn't really care about. It went wrong, 22 Cans was to blame - Peter took responsibility and apologised. Said he'd do right and contact him as promised. Do we REALLY need to keep hounding him?

 

[Zukuu]

What would I give for, if that bluntness would be used in all of journalism. Good job RPS.

 

[Kifimbo]

John came well prepared. Peter was not. Which is why this interview is brutal and why it feels like a suspect being grilled by an attorney.

 

[Mr. Nice_Guy]

Christ he really took it to him. But after years of failed promises and what appear to be straight out lies on his part, I don't blame them.

I don't know how many people are going to want to be interviewed by RPS in the future, but I'm glad to see some backbone in games journalism. Aside from the opening question...you really can't open an interview with a question like that.

 

[JohnnyWestlake]

Kind of genuinely disgusted by the tone of this interview and general self-righteous tone that seems to pervade the internet regarding the matter.

Failing to deliver != lying. He exposes himself too much and as a creative person he has big dreams that are often unable to be realised as a result of the technology / development staff available too him.

He doesn't just make up nonsense for the sake of his own voice. At one point or another ever he generally says about his game he intends to be there, and he does believe will be there - that's just the type of creative, artistic spirit he has. He isn't entirely grounded, seemingly trying to reach for the stars all the time but that's no inherent bad thing. He's certainly not a pathological liar - but in this day and age of the internet jumping and pounding on everything everyone says, he most certainly can't go on exposing his opinions like he used too.

 

[Keasar]

Honestly, if there is one pledge thing I've backed that I wish I could get my money back from, it would be Godus.

Good article RPS.

 

[RdN]

I really want to read the interview but the website is down.

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

I suppose that's what everyone asked for.

 

[eso76]

Completely agree.

Me too.

I don't think that's being professional; the interviewer is just riding the internet wave of accusations against the guy. That's not exactly what i call being brave.

Peter Molyneux is guilty of overhyping and overrating his games and his team's capabilities/possibilities, but ultimately only harmed himself, for the most part.
It's not like he ruined the industry or personally ripped you off (unless you kept buying his games before reading reviews).
This interview is needlessly harsh, just a more civilized version of the internet rants against the guy who still designed or was executive producer to a dozen milestones in his career.

 

[RedNumberFive]

I'm not a fan of the guy - but, this feels like watching an angry pack of dogs cheering on as he's beaten up and trodden on by press.

Bryan Henderson is 21 years old. He won a spare of the moment thing on a free app he admitted he didn't really care about. It went wrong, 22 Cans was to blame - Peter took responsibility and apologised. Said he'd do right and contact him as promised. Do we REALLY need to keep hounding him?

I think that was just the tipping point. This was long overdue.

 

[Draft]

John Walker is being a dickhead but Peter Molyneux is such a bullshitter the only proper way to ask him questions is to be a dick. Read Molyneux's responses. If he were being asked gentler questions he would respond with some absolute bullshit (who can predict how much it will cost to develop a game? No one!) and they'd move onto the next question.

 

[The Jackdog]

RPS: OK, so you said that Bryan will be God Of Gods for six months. Just to double-check on this. When we spoke to you on 2012 you told us that it would be a significant amount of time, you estimated five or ten years.

Peter Molyneux: We what?

RPS: You said five or ten years, is what you told us.

Peter Molyneux: For what?

RPS: For being God Of Gods.

Peter Molyneux: No, I’ve always said that his reign would only last a certain amount of time but the God of Gods role, if Godus continues to be as successful as it is on mobile, could last that long. I mean there are mobile games that are being played now – and there are webgames that are being played now – that are decades old.

RPS: Let me quote, you said: “By the way, there would need to be enough time to make it meaningful for him in every sense of the word, but we could make it five years, we could make it ten years. I think I wanted before–“

Peter Molyneux: And then later on I came out and said it would be six months. And I said that again and again. What are you trying to do? You’re trying to prove that I’m a pathological liar, I suppose, aren’t you.

I really dont think peter is a liar. I think he says things all the time with absolutely no thought to the consequences.

He asks like 4 times "I can see you writing X". Hes so afraid of how he is gonna be portrayed. I do feel bad for the guy. Its just, enough is enough.

Also, john walker did his damn homework.

 

[Future PhaZe]

Now this

THIS

is fucking journalism

 

[UncleCross]

This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but I think the interview was needlessly confrontational. There is a way to ask the hard questions without coming across like that.

Completely agreed. The interviewer comes across like an angry teenager that knows nothing about game development. It's pretty embarrassing.

 

[Lanrutcon]

John came well prepared. Peter was not. Which is why this interview is brutal and why it feels like a suspect being grilled by an attorney.

Peter: "Hi, I'm Peter Molyneux. I made Fable."
John: "Welcome to the gun show, bitch."

 

[Uthred]

I find it funny that, in an industry where journalists are so often reviled for being too cozy with the industry they report on, when one does the kind of piece that would be lauded elsewhere - in politics for example - it's FOR TEH CLICKS

Theres a difference between hard hitting and sensationalistic, this interview arguably crosses that line in a few places. Just because its better than what we usually get doesnt magically make it free from criticism.

 

[benicillin]

I see a lot of people responding to me and saying that someone needed to ask the "hard questions," so I'll elaborate on my post: as a cathartic dressing down of someone who has disappointed a lot of people because of promising too much over the years I think the article is successful. There are a lot of people who are going to feel good reading it because it releases a lot of pent up frustration.

But purely from a journalistic standpoint, you can get a lot of the answers that RPS did without getting so personal or confrontational about it. I don't feel like it's a "better interview" because he asked if he was a pathological liar from the outset. In fact, I've read a lot of interviews with a lot of people who have done worse things than Peter Molyneux where they were treated with more respect. All this did was put Molyneux on the defensive the whole time - you can see him getting flustered from the outset. If this was the purpose of the interview then it's a successful one, but when you put someone on the defensive like that you lose out on things that they could have told you if they didn't feel they were being attacked.

 

[GulAtiCa]

Now that is an interview! Which more interviews were like this.

 

[Leafhopper]

Do we REALLY need to keep hounding him?

Yeah because at this point I don't think he realizes what he does when he speaks. He might continue to do this kind of stuff in the future. We, as people who care about video games and the like, have kind of reached an apex at this point.

 

[HellofaMouse]

So you shouldn't ask hard questions to people in the entertainment industry because its not serious even if people's money is at stake?

Yeah that is an unpopular opinion to have.

you should ask them politely. being a journalist doesnt give you the right to be a bully about it.

 

[Clairvoyance]

Kind of genuinely disgusted by the tone of this interview and general self-righteous tone that seems to pervade the internet regarding the matter.

Failing to deliver != lying. He exposes himself too much and as a creative person he has big dreams that are often unable to be realised as a result of the technology / development staff available too him.

He doesn't just make up nonsense for the sake of his own voice. At one point or another ever he generally says about his game he intends to be there, and he does believe will be there - that's just the type of creative, artistic spirit he has. He isn't entirely grounded, seemingly trying to reach for the stars all the time but that's no inherent bad thing. He's certainly not a pathological liar - but in this day and age of the internet jumping and pounding on everything everyone says, he most certainly can't go on exposing his opinions like he used too.

Sure thing, Pete.

 

[iNvid02]

John came well prepared. Peter was not. Which is why this interview is brutal and why it feels like a suspect being grilled by an attorney.

yeah it doesnt sound like he had a heads up or anything.

*ring....ringring......ring*

molyneux: "hello john"

john: "ARE YOU A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR YOU MOTHERFUCKER!? ANSWER ME"

 

[OldRoutes]

So you shouldn't ask hard questions to people in the entertainment industry because its not serious even if people's money is at stake?

I guess! I mean, take a step back from this, think about it, and then you should be able to answer your questions.

Games are games. It's like people getting upset at Michael Bay for releasing bad movies ; just don't see it. Nobody is forcing you to buy Peter's games.

 

[danm999]

Whatever. Peter is Peter. Putting it on blast and running a smear campaign reflects poorly on the industry. This was unnecessary. You deal with him just like you deal with people like him outside of video games, you just don't acknowledge it.

Attitudes like this are precisely why Molyneaux is able to keep pulling this shit.

 

[Alienous]

Peter Molyneux: I don’t know. All I know is that there are people here that have been working on Godus, that we have worked on Godus for one hundred and twenty thousand man-hours. We have got three terabytes of documentary feature. We’ve replied to 31,000 posts and tickets. We’ve done 57 community videos. Do you know how many updates we’ve done on Steam?

RPS: I don’t think anyone who paid for the game cares.

Peter Molyneux: How many updates have we done on Steam?

RPS: I don’t think anyone who paid for the game cares. I think they want the game they paid for three years ago or their money back.

Peter Molyneux: We’re trying as hard as we possibly can.

RPS: I don’t think you are. You’ve said yourself–

Peter Molyneux: John, John, John–

RPS: You said yourself, that you should not have gone and focused on the mobile version until the PC version was finished. This is all very disingenuous in light of you saying that.

Peter Molyneux: No, I actually said, “I wish I hadn’t focused on,” I didn’t say I shouldn’t have done.

RPS: [Laughs]

 

[Bgamer90]

Why are you people defending Peter Molyneux? Why shouldn't he be asked these questions?

This is the stuff that needs to be asked. At this point Molyneux comes across as a con man or snake oil salesman.

I'm not defending him at all. All I'm saying is that there's a way to state similar questions in a different (more professional) tone.

I don't like interviews that sound like PR but at the same time that doesn't mean that I feel all interviews should be similar to roasts. It's possible to have a balance in between.

_________________

But purely from a journalistic standpoint, you can get a lot of the answers that RPS did without getting so personal or confrontational about it. I don't feel like it's a "better interview" because he asked if he was a pathological liar from the outset. In fact, I've read a lot of interviews with a lot of people who have done worse things than Peter Molyneux where they were treated with more respect. All this did was put Molyneux on the defensive the whole time - you can see him getting flustered from the outset. If this was the purpose of the interview then it's a successful one, but when you put someone on the defensive like that you lose out on things that they could have told you if they didn't feel they were being attacked.

Exactly.

 

[dead monkey uk]

Do you think he feels better or worse than Bryan Henderson after he realised that his 'life changing prize' through Godus was in reality a load of hot air and broken promises?

Did he not get a free tshirt?

 

[Leafhopper]

yeah it doesnt sound like he had a heads up or anything.

I think he had a heads up but, he didn't expect them to be so direct with the questions.

*snip*

Oh wow.

 

[keeblerdrow]

This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but I think the interview was needlessly confrontational. There is a way to ask the hard questions without coming across like that.

I agree with you. And a tactful and balanced interview is what Molyneux has been getting for decades while he continues to lie. Beyond any schadenfreude one feels from reading this interview, the man needs someone to say "yes but here are your lies. You have lied on multiple occasions and to millions of customers across several projects." Anyone who has followed the industry close enough in the last 20 years knows that Peter Molyneux is a developer that preys on the good will of his fans and the enthusiast press.