Wasn't that the PSP. The whole "All I Want for Christmas is a PSP" story?
Redditor claims MS employees monitoring Reddit; making positive posts about the Xbox1
- Thread starter zakislam
- Start date
Wasn't that the PSP. The whole "All I Want for Christmas is a PSP" story?
crooked spin
Member
1337 does make a good point -- this sort of thing is usually handled by vendors, PR agencies and the like. Though I suppose it's possible for MS to do it in-house I think it's pretty unlikely.
Quadraphonic
Member
It was obvious, and outed quickly.
ChrisatShinyLoot
Neo Member
I feel like as much hate as Xbox ONE is receiving right now that it's hard to make a positive impact on reddit. I'm not surprised that/if this is true, but unless you have a ton of accounts working in sync it's going to be hard to get any traction. Even then it's going to be hard to convince people that you're the average joe when people jokingly respond with "must be a Microspy". IMO, there are better ways to spend money but when you have a nearly unlimited budget I guess the strategy is just to do everything.
I don't really have a problem with MS paid people saying true things about their product, but downvoting dissenters and what not is just shady. And in this day and age it's hard not to get found out by someone random when most redditors have more loyalty to reddit than to their job.
I don't really have a problem with MS paid people saying true things about their product, but downvoting dissenters and what not is just shady. And in this day and age it's hard not to get found out by someone random when most redditors have more loyalty to reddit than to their job.
They probably expect more negative reactions and are preparing?
I'm not really sure what you're talking about. You're saying I'm spreading FUD or something? I'm just wondering if that's one of the hidden agenda. It's pretty clear MS wants Wii's market, so why not? Plus Wii U is pretty shitty and so easy to piss on, no one will really question the tactic.
That is fine. Reality is not always what people want to hear. This is just something that is completely acceptable in the business world. Let's also state that as far as we know they were talking the Xbone up and not it's competition down, which would change the situation.
Noone cares enough about the wii U to put it in any list(I kid, don't ban me)
I actually feel kind of bad for nintendo now as their unprecedented partnership may have ended because of EA wanting to push this drm shit hard on ps4bone.
I'm thinking that's the case too. I wonder what will EA do if Wii U start selling like the 3DS? If both Xbone and PS4 screw up with this DRM thing, it may even be the best seller in a year (probably not).
Dark Rider
Member
we didn't see the real nightmare yet.
they will dispatch their main RM forces after E3
they will dispatch their main RM forces after E3
I'm fine with reality, but I'd never internalize it and say 'well that's how it is so it's A-OK!' as you have. The shills that have gotten banned have also stated things such as 'the PS4 is going to do it too so deal with it' or things to that effect - so yes, they were talking the competition down.
It's not just MS, there are definitely some Sony shills in here aswell, i believe at least one was banned already
Beermeister
Banned
Classy.
Just wanted to point out that in the UK schilling is illegal, it's one of the banned practices in the The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
I believe it's illegal in the rest of the EU too but I'm not sure which law covers it. Seriously fellow American Gaffers, you should move to Yurp ;-)
I believe it's illegal in the rest of the EU too but I'm not sure which law covers it. Seriously fellow American Gaffers, you should move to Yurp ;-)
PedroLumpy
Member
Basically, if you're going to throw accusations around, you better be damn sure you can back it up. It's fine to think someone is a shill, but if you post something suggesting it, that's a WHOLE other thing.
XANDER CAGE
Member
I'm just saying that insinuating stuff like this is leaping a little beyond what we have proof for. People who are clearly astroturfing are being banned. Spreading the "who's a shill?" paranoia to people talking mess about the Wii U sows a lot more doubt. Best to wait until we have an actual confirmed banning to start worrying about it.
RedAssedApe
Banned
the paranoia in this thread lol
Calamari41
41 > 38
Oh man. I had an infuriating brick-wall "debate" with someone in the thread way back when Nintendo first announced that they were doing a Direct instead of a standard E3 conference. Looked him up just now. Yup. Gone. Don't know if it was for this reason, but I always had my suspicions.
Who's your daddy and what does he do?
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
You can agree with the statements that astroturfing does happen and that business people have no ethical concerns regarding astroturfing, while still being morally opposed to it.
Syphon Filter
Member
Unbelievable.
If this (and that old Origin rumor) ends up being true, then my respect for the big N will have increased a lot.Noone cares enough about the wii U to put it in any list
I actually feel kind of bad for nintendo now as their unprecedented partnership may have ended because of EA wanting to push this drm shit hard on ps4bone.
Haunted
Member
no need to wait
Haunted
Member
To be fair, this isn't really intended as a shocking expose - RM is a really common thing most people posting online should already know about.
However, if it can educate some that didn't know this type of thing existed before:
then it's already done some good (no matter whether it's true that MS has just invested in a big RM/astroturfing campaign or not).
NullPointer
Member
And everybody who does this deserves a boot in the ass.
At least GAF doesn't fuck around.
MAAARSHA... Marsha! MARSHAAAA... Marsha. Maaarshaaaa... Marsha!
I'd like to form a task force to expose these spies. Of course, it will be like most task forces that consist of mostly goofing off and doing nothing while getting a large budget in return, but we can act like we're doing cool spy-level shit wearing our business suits and Oakley shades while surfing GAF...
It's pretty sad that so much money is spent on this form of "marketing" these days but that's the age we live in I guess. You can't spend enough money or hire enough people in the entire world to change a very obvious negative into a positive so I don't see what the point is on sights like Reddit and here when the people on there are already a dedicated group that discusses these topics in their free time. It'd be better off spent ensuring the media doesn't turn on you and hit the mainstream crowd but I guess they suspect journalists will be FORCED to report it if the negative opinion is such a huge majority.
It's pretty sad that so much money is spent on this form of "marketing" these days but that's the age we live in I guess. You can't spend enough money or hire enough people in the entire world to change a very obvious negative into a positive so I don't see what the point is on sights like Reddit and here when the people on there are already a dedicated group that discusses these topics in their free time. It'd be better off spent ensuring the media doesn't turn on you and hit the mainstream crowd but I guess they suspect journalists will be FORCED to report it if the negative opinion is such a huge majority.
crooked spin
Member
literally at the top of this page.
Dead Prince
Banned
And everybody who does this deserves a boot in the ass.
At least GAF doesn't fuck around.
wouldn't that just be a fan of one side? it's kind of hard to judge if they are working for a company or just a fanboy.
NullPointer
Member
I read this in John McCain voice and it was just as creepy.The new Xbox One isn't that bad, friends. Seriously.
Bish has said that he investigates accounts with suspect post histories and email addresses, so it's not off-the-cuff bans.
I'm sure IP addresses from Redmond also throw up some pretty big red flags too.
Dead Prince
Banned
what if. they were planted 5 years ago and acted like regular gamers just to appear normal and when the time was right they come out.
can always outsource the free workers ;P
"Everyone does this" does not equate to "this is ethically and morally acceptable".
Also, I totally understand why "everyone does this" and I really don't blame them. They're companies which exist in a fucked up system where acquiring as much money as possible takes precedent over everything else.
Even if it is fan on one side then he would also get banned. GAF doesn't like fanboys that derail threads and make war in threads with obvious agenda. Vide FordGTguy
Jake Tower
Banned
It's not a witchhunt if they are real.
I guess it's only a matter of time before they are good enough to influence readers without being detected. Any site that offers user feedback, including product reviews on websites, could now already have thousands of new profiles manufactured by various marketing companies, where they build them up over the years to look like real consumers. Mods here are banning the easy ones.. the ones who spent little or no effort to look ambiguous. If companies are spending the effort to deceive us this way, they'll take the time to do it right.
maniac-kun
Member
Getting a little paranoid here.
Watching Invasion of the body snatchers and this thread is a bad combination!
Watching Invasion of the body snatchers and this thread is a bad combination!
NullPointer
Member
I blame them.
Just as I blame companies that have no respect for their customers, and companies that put profit above all other concerns (long term prosperity, improving their community).
It'd be nice if people stopped with the lowered expectations.
no one actually means witches when they say witch hunt