CambriaRising
Member
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.
Yup.
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.
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.
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.
Only if you also agree that it will dissuade a lot of people at the same time.
It is serious business though. People payed the man over $800,000.
On top of all the other stuff going on lately, some of the responses here make me wonder if people actually understand what journalism is in the first place.
Asking hard questions when a project fails to meet expectations is certainly fair game and should be done, and this one certainly fell short and has questions that need answering. Starting it out by accusing someone of being a pathological liar is not journalism.
RPS: Do you think that you’re a pathological liar?
On top of all the other stuff going on lately, some of the responses here make me wonder if people actually understand what journalism is in the first place.
I'd say this comment says the most about those that think the only alternative to "lapping up PR bullshit" is insulting hit pieces.
But what point is that making? What information does that impart?
That the developer would feign being offended to avoid justifying their practices?
That Molyneux is a very patient man.
It gave Molyneux a chance to respond to his public perception. The same as asking Bill Billicheck if he thinks he is a cheater. He got a chance to respond to why this is a problem that follows him into every project he has been involved with for over a decade.
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.
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.
He's right about it though, I don't see how anyone can defend PM.This is really tired and old at this point.
Yep I am sure some people will not work with him specifically because of this interview. However it could also lead to some people specifically speaking with him so they can boast about how they have nothing to hide from the unprofessional reviewer.
He's right about it though, I don't see how anyone can defend PM.
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.
And the game is still in development. If this were solely about lack of deadlines met on Kickstarter's we could be here all day, i.e. something that is not new at all.
Yes the game is in development with 3 people who might not even have all their time dedicated to it. The main dev has already said they are not getting enough funding to do what they need to.
The companies job is to market the games. Trailers, E3 coverage, and interviews are all going to be tilted towards making you excited about a game. That is there job.
The press' job is to speak honestly about a games quality and what it delivers vs. what was being sold. The problem is often that early preview coverage = big hits.
So IGN signs a deal to slowly trickle information about the game over the course of a month. This is clearly a problem. Entertainment tonight does the same thing with movie previews with exclusive production photos. Music magazines often have early listening parties for new tracks.
Journalists should say no to these sorts of previews if they want to be taken seriously (does anyone consider Entertainment Tonight or Entertainment Weekly to be good? Variety and Hollywood reporter are taken seriously because they don't play that game. The reality is a lot of video game websites survive off of cozy relationships that get them exclusive first looks, and reviews that are friendlier also help the marketing dollars so there is probably some pressure put on the editorial staff from above. This is a massive problem in a lot of forms of journalism, not just video games.
Asking hard questions when a project fails to meet expectations is certainly fair game and should be done, and this one certainly fell short and has questions that need answering. Starting it out by accusing someone of being a pathological liar is not journalism. Going after a guy personally is not journalism, it's throwing red meat at people who want to see blood, as evidenced in this thread a lot of people enjoyed eating it because "PM deserves it" or "Game journalism is too fluffy". They opened the interview by asking if he had a mental illness.
Everyone should go watch network, because this is "Howard Beale" journalism.
It's easy to think the opposite of what you don't like is good. The reality is usually somewhere in the middle ground.
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.
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?
They don't. They're used to reading fluff interviews that never ask questions people actually want to know because PR will shut it down and take their ball and go home. No one is held accountable in this industry because everyone's afraid to get their toys taken away. And then fans who love their toys will trash them for it anyway.
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?
I'm telling youflat-out Molyneux or a representative let it go on. That's not a normal situation.
That speaks to an openness on the part of Molyneux' camp, because most of the time, anybody else would've closed up shop.
I don't want people to think journalists can be that adversarial to interviewees all the time, because it's not a correct view of reality.
Notch is very quick to not allow to be interviewed.
And the interview is a likely outcome that Molyneux should have taken into consideration before pissing on the people still willing to support him.So it's hit a likely outcome that should have been taken into consideration by anybody using kickstarter ever.
Has Will Wright ever been held accountable for Spore?
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.
Who was taken advantage of? There was never a risk that anyone would not
I had a line of credit, and a bank account with enough money to make up the shortfall. I asked for what it would take to get the game off the ground at an amount of risk that I could reasonably afford to take on personally.
Sometimes they are, not most of the time. Usually its like nothing is happening and the press even sides with the publishers sometimes.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.
But what point is that making? What information does that impart?
That used to be me. Problem is he never listens to advice and instead will bully and insult you into oblivion if you dare to disagree with him.
No holds barred interviews aren't uncommon by any means. But this industry doesn't bite the PR hand that feeds them enough. They're too scared. If people want to talk about what is and isn't journalism, that isn't.
I think it showcases something even worse, and that's an enjoyment in seeing someone insulted and treated like shit during an interview. I'm not even that big of a fan of Molyneux, but the hostility that the interviewer displayed was over-the-top and unprofessional. I'm all for improving journalistic standards in the gaming industry, but this interview is not an example of that.
Yes the game is in development with 3 people who might not even have all their time dedicated to it. The main dev has already said they are not getting enough funding to do what they need to.
And the game is still in development. If this were solely about lack of deadlines met on Kickstarter's we could be here all day, i.e. something that is not new at all.
But what point is that making? What information does that impart?
Disagreed. He fully deserved it.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.
Yup this.It has to be confrontational because Peter has evaded these types of questions for years and has continued to screw over consumers with false promises.
He's a snake oil salesman whose been able to weasel his way through the industry for decades. Someone has needed to call out his bullshit for a while now. RPS was the only ones with the cojones to do it.
Trying to call the interviewer "emotional". Hahaha fuck you. What a slimy asshole. Reading his answers, he reminds me of an old boss I had, one kept failing to pay his employees but promised the money would come, they'd make all the conversations about themselves and how hard they were trying and how much they believed in the company and blah blah blah. Just another manipulative liar.Peter Molyneux[/quote said:One is, John, you’re becoming very emotional, I think firstly you need to take a breath
Regardless of how people come down on RPS's style of interview here, it raises an interesting question: What company/developer in their right mind is going to set up any interview with RPS going forward?