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Microsoft Studios' creative director has some choice words about always-online

Reiko

Banned
Yeah, I mean it in general, not just regarding GAF. It's a shame how every stupid little thing these days can get blown way out of proportion and the internet and its communities seem to act as sort of a catalyst (because those tweets alone probably never would've made it to The Huffington Post). There's a lust for mobbing, for witch hunts, for satisfying these very basic, disgusting desires we all have.

I've said and done stupid stuff I regret and I don't want to imagine what it would be like to ever get the full attention of people dedicated to a cause, because I'm pretty sure I would hate that.

Are those tweets interesting? Absolutely.
Are those tweets indicative of Microsoft's strategy? Maybe.
But stuff like how the guy might've behaved in the past or how he wants to be called in private, how he is supposedly an asshole has nothing to do with videogames, nothing to do with what we'd usually discuss here.

You have to understand. We're one month away from E3.

The system has yet to be announced. It's currently surrounded by negative rumors. He picked the wrong time to make those comments which led to the shitstorm we see now.

At his position, he should have known better. Other developers were keeping hush for a reason.
 

slider

Member
In that PC Mag rumour thread people were speculating that another Sony PS4(?) event would take attention of the potential Durango unveil. Maybe as if it'd be a deliberate Sony strategy in some PR-one-upmanship game.

Whilst all this attention is nearly all negative I wonder if that's still true!

Other developers were keeping hush for a reason.

Even third parties.
 

Afrikan

Member
"Y'know, Things Break"

"Gaming's not just for sweaty thirty year olds in Metallica t-shirts"

well add a couple of more to the list.

"why would I live there?" "Deal with it"
 

DEADEVIL

Member
I think it's endemic of just how crap both the community and the press have gotten that someone going on a twitter rant is 100% for sure conformation of something and leads to massive meltdowns and hundreds of posts saying this is a for sure thing.

Bingo. But it's fun to watch.
 

jorma

is now taking requests
yup, that sums it up pretty good. How anyone wants to defend the practise of these corporations baffles me. My faith or some people in games media is very very low.

The corporate apologists make me truly sick to my heart and soul

to be fair, there aren't exactly all that many "corporate apologists" on this one.
 

Kysen

Member
The easiest way to shut all of this negative press down is to just come out and say it isn't true (online required). What is taking MS so long?
 
You have to understand. We're one month away from E3.

The system has yet to be announced. It's currently surrounded by negative rumors. He picked the wrong time to make those comments which led to the shitstorm we see now.

At his position, he should have known better. Other developers were keeping hush for a reason.

2 months from E3, about a month or a little less to the rumoured ms reveal.
 
Best part about all of this is that even IF the always online isn't true, the damage is already done.

KuGsj.gif
 

EYEL1NER

Member
The question here is, can someone really be this dumb?
Revealing a huge negative thing about the next XBox on twitter and then joking and making awful comparisons that don't work? Every gaming site will report this. Either they can now become heroes when they reveal the next XBox and it doesn't need an internet connection or someone can really be this dumb.
He did something dumb but I don't know if he is a dumb guy or not. The reddit posts that were made that exposed 'Sweet Billy' might indicate that he is but I don't know him.

I just know that I have said many dumb things though. I spent my entire Jr High and High School getting in trouble, getting kicked out, and even getting expelled because I had a problem keeping my mouth shut and thinking before I spoke. My parents would ask me why I would say what I had said and my only response was "I don't know." At 16 I got fired from my job for making a joke that I should have known better than to make. I still say things every now and then that cause me to pause and think 'That didn't come out right' or 'That is going to get taken the wrong way.'
It's the reason I keep my Facebook private, keep my twitter account (that only exists for promos and give-a-ways, because I don't like twitter) private, and try not to mention the company I work for too often. Two night ago I was on the Facebook group page for Ground Radio troops that were in the Air Force and almost mentioned where I work, in a positive way even, and then decided against doing it.

He made some terrible analogies, was dismissive of some concerns people have about the NextBox, came off to a lot of people like a dick, and probably got a couple high-ups at MS woken up from their sleep by ringing phones. I am sure he is going to get fired and I have no problem with that. I also don't feel like GAF took it too far or shouldn't have ridiculed him; I enjoyed the ride.
But I was unemployed for a while after getting out of the military last year, I had bills to pay and a family to support, and I feel sorry for him. It really sucks when something big fucks up your life and you know that it was your fault and you caused it.

EDIT: I'm not trying to say that everyone should feel bad for him or anything either. Just saying that I do (a little bit).
 

jediyoshi

Member
Are those tweets interesting? Absolutely.
Are those tweets indicative of Microsoft's strategy? Maybe.
But stuff like how the guy might've behaved in the past or how he wants to be called in private, how he is supposedly an asshole has nothing to do with videogames, nothing to do with what we'd usually discuss here. It's out there in public and whatever statement he makes, it'll always be out there, haunting him, whether true or not.

I think the second point is the reason for most of the fervor, it's incidental it's tied to a specific person. We're so starved for next gen ms news, it's pretty natural people would eat up whatever indications on anything get through.
 

Foffy

Banned
I have posted this video here before, but I am always a sucker for it. I can't do gifs, do good reaction images, or anything to really convey my thought, but this is the closest I can imagine to my internal feelings about all of this. Somehow I keep falling back to it..maybe I live a life of small expectations and they're frequently dashed, or perhaps life keeps giving me wondrous gifts. I felt like sharing that with you guys.


The easiest way to shut all of this negative press down is to just come out and say it isn't true (online required). What is taking MS so long?

Maybe they cannot deny what they do in fact have in mind? That is a possible reason for letting this awful rumor surface as the main thing for their new platform for what, nearly two months now? That's what has been the main source of discussion about Durango since the PS4 announcement, nothing else.
 
I promise I'm leaving this time because good ol' conscience is starting to play them strings.

The issue really isn't even about him or the
amusing
exploitable meme. It's still bothersome that this could be the direction these systems are going.

Ultimately, it's just a video game console and life goes on. However, it'd be nothing short of disappointing to learn that something you enjoyed - alone or with friends, in times of bliss or in times of despair - may be changing in a way you cannot follow.

I'll just leave it at that, because I know in a few weeks I'm the one who's going to be feeling like a jerk.
 

Yagharek

Member
OH man when dude outed him in that thread, I lost it.....one of the funniest things I'm seen in my life.

I think it was "and your contribution to society is?????" bwhahahahahaha

YES, that's the one. Jeff Bell sending a pm to ... A Master Ninja? Fucking hilarious moment.
 
Always online, paying to play our purchases online, and anti-used...all of this will be forgiven and forgotten once we see the first trailer of Master Chief running around hitting switches in the former sci-fi series Halo for Durango.
Yeah, Microsoft are lucky that Halo's popularity among their hardcore early adopters is at an all-time hi... oh, wait.
 
Sometimes its not wise to have your own personal twitter. I remember people jumping down the throat of Rob from MCV for something he said, and it was just a personal comment...

He was pretty douchey in his outlook and general attitude, but I don't think he should lose his job over it.

He really should have made it clearer that he was not representing Microsoft when he sent follow up tweets last night -- the world and his dog are reporting this as though its straight from the corporate entity, Microsoft. Its not his fault these rumours are circulating, Microsoft actually are a fair bit to blame.

The working world seems fairly adept at marking emails "any views expressed are not the views of..." or "without prejudice" or what have you -- yet the moment anyone employed turns to twitter, be they a journalist, a creative director or professional footballer -- its like their brains just go out the window!
 
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