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[PedroLumpy]

I checked out that Quicklook on Giantbomb, seemed boring, didn't think the game was going to get a ton of attention. But with this thread the game is certainly getting a lot of attention.

One thing though, having loot doesn't make it like Diablo 2. This game is not like Diablo 2. Looking at these talent trees, each character has 1 ability, and then just a bunch of stat adjusting talents. Diablo Skill trees can result in completely different characters with a wealth of skillls that kill things in very different ways, even within the same class. Both do have massive amounts of boring brainless identical enemies to fight though.

As for the whole marketing thing, I usually assume most Official thread guys are virals. But that's completely harmless as there isn't much deception there. You're not going to ask someone who created some epic OP for a thread for advice as a disinterested party.

 

[Dude Abides]

You didn't review games like that. When was the last time you gave a game a high score because the art team put in a lot of hard work, despite the fact that the programming team made a bug-riddled mess?

The same concept applies here.

No it doesn't. The programming team's performance affects the game itself, and thus the satisfaction the buyer will get from playing it. The activities of the marketing team, however, do not affect the game experience.

 

[Slavik81]

No it doesn't. The programming team's performance affects the game itself, and thus the satisfaction the buyer will get from playing it. The activities of the marketing team, however, do not affect the game experience.

That's true, but a potential buyer might care about more than just the game experience.

Many goods, for instance, come with a certificate so that buyers know that they have not been created in an immoral or abusive way. For instance, some fair trade certifications exist for this purpose.

There's no difference in the end product, but the consumer still might support a fair trade product over an uncertified product to know that the manufacturing process was moral. In this case, a consumer might not support a game (and its publisher) if they feel that their actions were immoral.

Unfortunately, just like the good apples on a rotten team, the developer might lose out because of the actions of their partners. If it really becomes a problem, they should find a better partner.

 

[bishoptl]

Fair Trade certification for developers? I'm all for that!

 

[Slavik81]

Fair Trade certification for developers? I'm all for that!

Just wait for the fair trade WoW Gold to hit the market...

 

[xbhaskarx]

Also, Sacred 2 will make your wife like games and hot for you as well:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=16912211#post16912211

What a failed viral marketing attempt. Almost no one even notices his "your female companion will enjoy Sacred 2" part and instead they just recommend casual games.

This guy sucks at his job... how much are these companies paying him?

 

[TheCardPlayer]

I'll probably get Borderlands. It just looks ace, and I always wanted a Diablo like game on 360, and Sacred 2 didn't look like it was made for me. But Borderlands is. At least, I hope...For all I know, it'll be the absolute worst train wreck ever.

Oh wait, it can't....This thread exists. :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Anyway, hopefully the game has something to keep it's gameplay fresh, because if it's only got loot whoring and no good quests, I may consider skipping it.

And holy shit at this guy's post history. Everything makes so much sense now. Especially this:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=18092240&postcount=225

 

[john tv]

Epic thread.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

I think I will only read used copies of the OP.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

Wow, delving into the guys post history is horrific. That Sacred 2 + Girlfriend thread fishing for Borderlands suggestions, that mario comment trying to make people think about multiplayer in Borderlands...jesus christ :lol

 

[kai3345]

Yeah, all his posts finally make sense now

The girlfriend hooked on gaming one was probably the most clever.

 

[ZeoVGM]

:lol

 

[divisionbyzorro]

I'm going to take a guess and assume that Gearbox didn't hire this guy directly. He probably works for an advertising firm that Gearbox hired that handles all of their marketing (who knows; maybe the publisher hired them). They're probably a bunch of old men who don't understand the internet but they know that there's something called "viral marketing" which is all the rage these days. They probably heard about "new o graph" and thought "Hey, that sounds like a great place to market these viruses! Let's make a new bulletin about how awesome the game is and everybody will want to go out and buy it!"

I'd give Gearbox the benefit of the doubt. I wouldn't let this stop you from buying the game if you were interested in it before this happened.

 

[wolfmat]

This been posted yet?
http://www.thekartel.com/johnmaster...wing_adventures_of_getting_banned_from_neogaf

 

[devildog820]

This been posted yet?
http://www.thekartel.com/johnmaster...wing_adventures_of_getting_banned_from_neogaf

Harrowing? :lol

It's like he's trying to be defiant while choking back tears.

 

[ZeoVGM]

So uh, dude has an interesting blog.

I'm looking at a picture of him humping a statue of Spider-Man, and a NSFW picture of his wife getting a lapdance from a stripper.

Boy, I tell you. I sure did find me one fun gal. Lucky me.

She had never been to Vegas before, and the thought of experiencing Sin City in all its glory was just so tantalizing for her. I always appreciated the fact that my gal loves trying new things like I do, but I never would have imagined that she would give in to getting a lap dance. And loving it.

 

[ChackanKun]

Wait a minute, was that guy making viral marketing for Borderlands here on GAF?! :lol

Edit: Ah ok, saw the guys blog just now. Maybe it was a mistake? :X

 

[Jocchan]

Edit: Ah ok, saw the guys blog just now. Maybe it was a mistake? :X

Making this thread was definitely a mistake.

 

[Frostburn]

I think he's just a bit nuts and delusional, hope he doesn't plan on bringing children into this world...

 

[wolfmat]

So uh, dude has an interesting blog.

I'm looking at a picture of him humping a statue of Spider-Man, and a NSFW picture of his wife getting a lapdance from a stripper.

Yeah, what's up with that :lol

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

Guy is clearly a massive attention whore:

Soon after I finished posting, I did my usual follow up and pinged various people to let them know I wrote another story. I recently started to post up stuff on Digg, on N4G, and even on my Facebook profile, as a way to get some more exposure for my stories.

The real bigtime!!

 

[Mr YuYu]

lol at people saying they will not buy this game because some viral marketer made a thread on GAF.

Who cares? If the game is good, it is good. At the very least we got a chuckle out of it and an entertaining thread.

 

[wolfmat]

The real bigtime!!

Well, he probably started the site not too long ago and wants them clicks plus some search engine optimization. Which is not a good thing to want. Make good content instead etc.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

Well, he probably started the site not too long ago and wants them clicks plus some search engine optimization. Which is not a good thing to want. Make good content instead etc.

Join now, it's free! Earn $Karma Points for commenting or blogging (Coming Soon!) Then earn free swag with those points (Coming soon after soon!)

Even if this guy isn't a paid one, he's certainly a viral marketer anyway and just doesn't know it himself :lol

 

[FoxSpirit]

Well... that certainly went awry.

To be honest I don't think he's a viral marketer. A real viral marketer would know when to quit and quietly make a new account. Or maybe activate one of his alts.

And he certainly wouldn't want his GAF account unbanned. I say lets give him another chance in a month or so

 

[BattleMonkey]

Making a blog about wanting to get back on gaf and then shitting on gaf at the same time is a good thing to do.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

I like the part where he talks about all the great contributions he's made to GAF and how that should count for something. 200 posts in three years.

Put your hand in a pail of water and pull it back out, John. If there's a hole there, you'll be missed. That goes for pretty much anyone in a community this size.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

This been posted yet?
http://www.thekartel.com/johnmaster...wing_adventures_of_getting_banned_from_neogaf

He has an interesting point. If he is a viral marketer, he's a pretty shitty one. I had assumed someone had done research to determine that he actually was a viral marketer.

Spoiler

If no such research was done by the mods, then shame on them for making that assumption and sending this out of control.

That said, if it looks like a shill, and it smells like a shill...

Regardless, his original post was utter trash. It's click-feeding, troll-baiting, fanboy shit that has no place here. I would wholeheartedly support a temporary ban on the basis of trolling for starting such an asinine thread; I don't think it's necessarily worth a permaban, but then again, I'm just a junior so my opinions don't count for too much here.

 

[crazygambit]

I don't see why anyone should be influenced by viral marketing. The best solution is to ignore it. By ignoring advertising, it fails. That does not mean you decide NOT to buy something simply because of how it is advertised, because that would mean it is possible to influence your decisions via marketing after all, even in a negative way. People should make purchases based on their own interest and information gathering regarding a product. Letting marketing decide whether you purchase something is stupid in itself.

You really can't ignore it and hope not to be influenced by it. It's not how your mind works. You might think you're above it, everyone does, but the fact is even the most nonsensical shit influences our decisions on a daily basis.

The did an experiment on a supermarket in the wine section. They would put french music and german music on alternating days. On days with french music playing, french wine outsold german wine by 4 to 1. On days with german music playing, german wine outsold french by 2 to 1. Yet when people were asked if music influenced their purshasing decision EVERY SINGLE PERSON said it didn't.

Businessess do covert marketing, because that shit works and there's nothing we can do about it.

 

[MarkMclovin]

Single player = Masturbation

4 player co-op = Orgy

lol

 

[wolfmat]

You really can't ignore it and hope not to be influenced by it. It's not how your mind works. You might think you're above it, everyone does, but the fact is even the most nonsensical shit influences our decisions on a daily basis.

The did an experiment on a supermarket in the wine section. They would put french music and german music on alternating days. On days with french music playing, french wine outsold german wine by 4 to 1. On days with german music playing, german wine outsold french by 2 to 1. Yet when people were asked if music influenced their purshasing decision EVERY SINGLE PERSON said it didn't.

Businessess do covert marketing, because that shit works and there's nothing we can do about it.

It's also a numbers game. You might actually be able to ignore ads and stuff, but if you have 10,000 people looking at your animated GIF or whatever, there are a few dudes that react positively to your shit no matter what.

 

[McBradders]

Find every trace of the dude's activity and out it for what it is? Teach consumers to be skeptical when reading forums and enthusiast sites?

That's incredibly sad, though. I come here to GAF to have 'conversations' I can't have with my friends as they're not interested in game X or not even gamers. Stuff like this causing genuine FUD is heartbreaking.

 

[Vagabundo]

Wait a minute, was that guy making viral marketing for Borderlands here on GAF?! :lol

Edit: Ah ok, saw the guys blog just now. Maybe it was a mistake? :X

No mistake, I'm more convinced than ever. That blog is damage control.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

it incorporates a heavy amount of RPG elements,

dumbanddumbergag.gif

 

[bengraven]

I suppose I better not make the "All Games MUST be like The Witcher" thread.

I do NOT work for CD Projekt. ;(

 

[FoxSpirit]

You really can't ignore it and hope not to be influenced by it. It's not how your mind works. You might think you're above it, everyone does, but the fact is even the most nonsensical shit influences our decisions on a daily basis.

The did an experiment on a supermarket in the wine section. They would put french music and german music on alternating days. On days with french music playing, french wine outsold german wine by 4 to 1. On days with german music playing, german wine outsold french by 2 to 1. Yet when people were asked if music influenced their purshasing decision EVERY SINGLE PERSON said it didn't.

Businessess do covert marketing, because that shit works and there's nothing we can do about it.

I gave this a bit of a thought and it's really effed up.

Even when you are aware and have a good laugh that French music music is playing in the wine section, it's mean. If it's some really nice Musette music and you have an internal connection to it, it will still work. The weather is nice outside, you go to a place and hear Musette music, you think of a kitsch France. It still puts you in the mood, even if you are aware that it's probably playing for marketing.

And if you are really in the mood for French stuff... would you pick a German wine just to spite it?

Lets say it really makes it pretty unlikely that you want to celebrate a mini-Oktoberfest that evening

 

[UntoldDreams]

Someone should make a nice "I'm a viral marketing cat named Master Lee" gif of some kind.
So we can simply swap out a name on the gif as more viral marketers are found and keep a running log.

The official thread of Viral Marketers with a nice lol cat.

That would be more efficient. Brand the thread "NeoGAF powered" naturally.

 

[shuri]

His posts should be purged from the database, completly. His marketing posts still survives and continue to potentially do the job.

 

[neoism]

Should have been in the first post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmUJrKGN3C0

damn I laughed so hard, I have tears!:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

 

[artilect]

To spite all of you who said you wouldn't buy Borderlands because of this thread I will now buy Borderlands, a game that looks worse than Fallout 3. How is that even possible?

 

[malingenie]

It's funny how all his posts smelled of marketing. And some of you caught on. I mean, what kind of gamer or game enthusiast says: I like this game for the following bullet pointed reasons. They mostly constitute "features" that we have determined are better for the average 12-32 year old gamer and I am sure you will too!.
Plus his other comments in other forums were equally formulaic. In a few years there will be robots that talk like him.

 

[2K Elizabeth]

This thread totally set me on the warpath last night. I'm the person at 2K Games who would be in charge of setting this kind of stuff up - and I wanted to let you guys know that I've had a policy against any kind of shill for years. We simply don't do that. Why he posted this is beyond me, but we didn't send him. Both 2K Games and Gearbox would not do this to gamers.

 

[Anton Sugar]

To spite all of you who said you wouldn't buy Borderlands because of this thread I will now buy Borderlands, a game that looks worse than Fallout 3. How is that even possible?

What the hell is wrong with you guys? So many of you douchebags are jumping on a non-existent "BORDERLANDS SUCKS" bandwagon.

 

[Pete Rock]

I was hating on Borderlands for a while, but this seals the deal :lol Pitchford'd

 

[elrechazado]

This thread totally set me on the warpath last night. I'm the person at 2K Games who would be in charge of setting this kind of stuff up - and I wanted to let you guys know that I've had a policy against any kind of shill for years. We simply don't do that. Why he posted this is beyond me, but we didn't send him. Both 2K Games and Gearbox would not do this to gamers.

That's good to hear

 

[TheRagnCajun]

Great thread!

I think the lesson learned here is that its terribly naive for one poster to try and sway GAF's opinion of a game. Whether detective GAF came through or not on this one, this thread was never going to convince anyone.

 

[Victrix]

This thread totally set me on the warpath last night. I'm the person at 2K Games who would be in charge of setting this kind of stuff up - and I wanted to let you guys know that I've had a policy against any kind of shill for years. We simply don't do that. Why he posted this is beyond me, but we didn't send him. Both 2K Games and Gearbox would not do this to gamers.

For what it's worth, there's a similar negative response from another dev over at Shacknews about the shill. They could obviously both be doing damage control, but I've known the other one for a long time, shrug.

 

[Fersis]

This thread totally set me on the warpath last night. I'm the person at 2K Games who would be in charge of setting this kind of stuff up - and I wanted to let you guys know that I've had a policy against any kind of shill for years. We simply don't do that. Why he posted this is beyond me, but we didn't send him. Both 2K Games and Gearbox would not do this to gamers.

But how do we know that you are not a viral marketer sayin' good stuff about 2K :lol

Spoiler

Elizabeth is a kickass name

 

[elrechazado]

Great thread!

I think the lesson learned here is that its terribly naive for one poster to try and sway GAF's opinion of a game that we know isn't very good.

wut

 

[Huevos de Oro]

This thread totally set me on the warpath last night. I'm the person at 2K Games who would be in charge of setting this kind of stuff up - and I wanted to let you guys know that I've had a policy against any kind of shill for years. We simply don't do that. Why he posted this is beyond me, but we didn't send him. Both 2K Games and Gearbox would not do this to gamers.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post this.