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“Xbox Fans Are Paid”, Says Former World of Warcraft Designer

Fess

Member
so you are forced to use advertisement for a game?
Ok now that explains all the tod Howard profile pictures.
Yeah, avatar bet about if it would release 1st half of 2023 like MS first said, the thread about it kinda fizzled out without any focus but yeah explains some similarities here and there.
This is the real me 😉
kUacOjy.jpg
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
1- You can discuss my opinion whatever you want, but the reality is that allowing this type of thread is an example of the complete opposite of what is expected of a forum where you can discuss different opinions in a healthy and respectful way.

2- A thread, whose basis to open it is already ridiculous, is used by a group of users to condemn an entire community and, worst of all and what I censor, attack, try to ridicule and even harass users with preferences towards XBOX and They don't deserve such treatment. That you do not see it or want to see it as a situation where moderation should act ..... OK.

3- Showing that the XBOX community is totally fanatical alone and wanting to make believe that one is better than another and not being moderated is also significant.

4- That MS has genuinely always shown closeness and collaboration with XBOX figures/fans and that they have even been rewarded does not give the right to generalization. You should look more at attitudes Of the fans, and in that the PlayStation fans are no different.

5- You talk about users with fake profiles or new accounts as if they only always had a tinted green color. It is clear that you are not one of those who receives hundreds of emoticons of mockery and empathy for each opinion that is not in the line of "Playstation good and Xbox bad" from accounts without a single message or written opinion.😉

6- Entering into comparisons with other forums and the moderation of these does nothing more than describe ourselves. Those of us who decided to participate here should only be interested in what happens here and try to do our part to make this a forum where different opinions are well received and respected. The impression that you leave in your answer is that you are here because it is a forum more akin to your preferences and not because of the healthy environment and healthy discussion.
Entire community? This is about a person in the industry pointing out that individuals are paid for. You are the one taking this as an attack on the entire community and calling out the mods for it. Again, the persecution complex.

The topic is about the xbox fanboys being paid off. If an industry source says the same thing about the Playstation fanboys, we can discuss that too. Would you want that thread closed because some Sony fanboys would get their feelings hurt?

And dude, I get more shit from Sony fanboys than ANY xbox fan here. You said I dont get LOL reactions on my posts? it's fucking daily. Any time I say something negative about Sony, I get LOL reactions. I am so used to it that I can predict who I am going to trigger but as long as I dont get modded for being critical to Sony, why would I care? It's a free country, free forum, people are allowed to laugh at my opinion. All I know is that timed almost always proves me right, and their defense of sony is only going to make them look bad.

I am sorry but I dont share this persecution complex especially when I keep track of the biggest fanboys on this forum getting banned and permabanned and its 50-50 split between xbox and sony fanboys. just today that Nintendo fanboy making those idiotic threads got permabanned. probably the only nintendo fanboy on this forum too.

All I want to see is people actually discussing the topic instead of saying Sony too and crying about being persecuted. You want healthy discussion but you wont discuss the topic on hand. You say this tweet paints the entire community with the same brush, but I came in here and I didnt see a single xbox fan criticize astroturfing. Just say its a shitty practice and move on. You prove these guys right by not calling it out, by saying sony too, or turning it into some kind of mod sanctioned agenda against the entire xbox community on gaf. If a Jim Ryan thread was created today about jimbo doing some cunty thing, I can promise you that half of sony gaf would criticize it. The thread wouldnt turn into "OMG, gaf hates the playstation community."
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Wow this thread took a hard turn…



…. If you like hard turns then Forza 8 is where the fun is! Forza 8 will have you leaning onto those turns at break neck speeds as you cross the finish line to grab 1st place from your rivals ..

that’s Forza 8 from MS studios .. preorder today! 👍
 
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Nydius

Gold Member
This forum has spiralled into fully blown Xbox Derangement Syndrome 😂

That's kinda why I made my long post about the Ambassador program on the previous page. I may be critical of Microsoft but from where I sit the Ambassador thing is just a viral marketing campaign, not 'paying' or 'monetizing' their user base to shill for them. Sure, there are influencers, likely paid ones, in the highest tiers of the Ambassador program, but they didn't become paid influencers because of the program. Edit: And yes, I have seen more than one person on social media take the 'title' of Ambassador a bit too seriously.

If they start actually giving me money, or tangible discounts on digital games on the Xbox store or on physical hardware simply for being a member, then I might begin to consider it being close to 'paid shilling'. But weekly sweepstakes and a handful of digital wallpapers with the possibility of getting a month of Game Pass Ultimate if I do everything for 90 days? Meh.
 
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Fess

Member
ABK might have made things a little worse but this started long before that. Remember before the console launches not that long ago? There is, and always will be, something for those emotionally invested to battle over. Especially when people are getting paid. By people getting paid, those tweets and stories that are constantly linked, not necessarily posters here even though we know of one recent outing.
From my perspective everything turned sour after the ABK deal happened. The hobby became more polarized. But sure some platform warring happened before the launch too, but that was mostly about the assumed power. Now it’s something else, a concern over some postapocalyptic future when MS have complete monopoly, or something, I don’t really know to be honest, been avoiding it as much as I can.
 

deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
I don't remember anyone giving Xbox some credit since before the Kinect. This man is just looking for some attention
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats

SirTerry-T

Member
If the other side aren't getting paid for their cheerleading then surely the onus is on them to do something about it?

/jk.

Edit-just read up this guy's wiki page...his opinions sound about as valid as his failed Kickstarters...
 
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Crayon

Member
Saying paid is missing the bigger picture. It's more like activated or guided. Look at era where the staff has more or less lost control and watch ms talking points get spammed. This place is a hundred times better though it's been harsh on Xbox since the trial started last week.
 

Barakov

Member
I'm genuinely interested in this stuff.

Would you sign an nda and be paid and inflotrate communities etc...but how would it not get out?

Or is this genuinely the news breaking?
Honestly, if Sony paid me to make that Florian guy on social media mad, I'd do it.
 
Gotta love Speed Racer otherwise this wouldn't exist.

Here he comes, Here comes Phil Spender
He's a grifting ass shill
He's gonna be grifting and he's gonna be grifting after something

He's gonna be spending on you so you better look alive
He's busy begging his daddy, The Powerful Nutella Man Alive
And when the truth is against him he's gonna do some dangerous work

You bet your life, Phil Spender. That he's gonna see each acquisition through
Go Phil Spender, Go Phil Spender ,Go Phil Spender Gooooooo

He's up and lying as he faces the FTC. After lying to the CMA
He's lying to people up and down across the world
He lies so much that you wonder if he is ever coming back

Redfall is coming up ahead!

Go Phil Spender, Go Phil Spender ,Go Phil Spender Gooooooo
 
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Darkmakaimura

Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
Mark Kern is a moron, and has been wrong about everything. Firefall is one of the biggest failures in all of gaming, and its all because of him.
I like a lot of his views even though I really don't support or even care much for the idea of what Gamergate was about. In fact, when I was once a supporter, that's how I found out about him and started following him.

I think he has his heart in the right place but yeah, when it comes to starting up any kind of new games I think it's best to stay away.
 

Corndog

Banned
Saying paid is missing the bigger picture. It's more like activated or guided. Look at era where the staff has more or less lost control and watch ms talking points get spammed. This place is a hundred times better though it's been harsh on Xbox since the trial started last week.
Harshness has nothing to do with the trial. I’ll leave it at that.
 

Fess

Member
Saying paid is missing the bigger picture. It's more like activated or guided. Look at era where the staff has more or less lost control and watch ms talking points get spammed. This place is a hundred times better though it's been harsh on Xbox since the trial started last week.

Is Era pro Xbox now? That was definitely not the case before Cyberpunk.

I notice that GAF have a big percentage of PS fans though, but I assumed it came from having a bigger percentage of the market and not some polarized thing going on between the forums.

Anyway I feel like my brain is melting away the more time I spend thinking about this. Time for 🛌
 
Saying paid is missing the bigger picture. It's more like activated or guided. Look at era where the staff has more or less lost control and watch ms talking points get spammed. This place is a hundred times better though it's been harsh on Xbox since the trial started last week.
Resetera is dying slowly
You can notice the activity died down in the gaming side and of topic side
And it's obvious why it's declining
Cuz they banned half of there members lol 😆 😂
 

Darsxx82

Member
Entire community? This is about a person in the industry pointing out that individuals are paid for. You are the one taking this as an attack on the entire community and calling out the mods for it. Again, the persecution complex.
Take a look at the title. It is generalizing in it. Then you can see the continuous reactions of some here also taking advantage to generalize and, not enough with that, also to ridicule, mock and bully users here just because their history shows a preference for Xbox.
I repeat, it is an unnecessary thread that encourages console war and a bad environment that some confuse with greater freedom of expression and it is not.

The topic is about the xbox fanboys being paid off. If an industry source says the same thing about the Playstation fanboys, we can discuss that too. Would you want that thread closed because some Sony fanboys would get their feelings hurt?

No, that is neither OP's intention nor what it has derived from the first answer.
If the thread had been about PS my opinion would also have been the same. Unnecessary thread, especially if it gives rise to ridicule, contempt and bullying from some users in front of others.

And dude, I get more shit from Sony fanboys than ANY xbox fan here. You said I dont get LOL reactions on my posts? it's fucking daily. Any time I say something negative about Sony, I get LOL reactions. I am so used to it that I can predict who I am going to trigger but as long as I dont get modded for being critical to Sony, why would I care? It's a free country, free forum, people are allowed to laugh at my opinion. All I know is that timed almost always proves me right, and their defense of sony is only going to make them look bad.

I am sorry but I dont share this persecution complex especially when I keep track of the biggest fanboys on this forum getting banned and permabanned and its 50-50 split between xbox and sony fanboys. just today that Nintendo fanboy making those idiotic threads got permabanned. probably the only nintendo fanboy on this forum too.

persecution complex? I know where I am 😅.... That the vast majority here have preferences towards PS is obvious and as such it will always be noticed in the trends of the threads and the direction they take.

What I censor are threads made to accuse, mock and despise entire communities and take advantage of them to ridicule and bully specific users. That you do not see them as harmful is an opinion with which I do not agree. We don't make this forum any better by allowing threads of this low level.

All I want to see is people actually discussing the topic instead of saying Sony too and crying about being persecuted. You want healthy discussion but you wont discuss the topic on hand. You say this tweet paints the entire community with the same brush, but I came in here and I didnt see a single xbox fan criticize astroturfing.

Well, then you will have seen from the answers that the thread has not gone towards serious debate.... And do you know the reason? because the reason for the thread was never a serious debate but an opportunity for the console war.

Apart from the fact that the base of the thread is simply the desperate declaration of someone (with clear antipathy towards Xbox) against an entire community because a few fans have criticized him for a certain hypocrisy.

Do you want my opinion on the issue of paying fans (including many clowns)? Well, it disgusts a lot to me and I wish those gifts were better part of raffles or donations to charitable causes. Unfortunately it is a widespread practice and not only for MS...

Another thing is that you want me to focus on answering seriously on the matter when 98% of the answers from the first one are only from people attacking and despising an entire community and specific users here with preference towards XBox.

You can examine my history here and you will see that, like everyone here, I may have preferences but I try to be reasonable to the extent that it is in my power. What you will not see is the history of someone with a tendency to create a bad atmosphere, controversy or criticize a brand just for antipathy. From this, it is normal that I do not empathize with people who open this type of thread and does not create the environment that would help us all to be comfortable here no matter how different the opinions are.
 

killatopak

Member
Resetera is dying slowly
You can notice the activity died down in the gaming side and of topic side
And it's obvious why it's declining
Cuz they banned half of there members lol 😆 😂
Some people simply left. Didn’t even need to be banned. I mean the writing was on the wall. They talk more about social issues than games even on the gaming side. Not that they aren’t important but the point about gaming side is to talk about the games. Not everyone is interested in political conversations. It’s fine to have them but if you strictly just want to talk about the games then you’ll find yourself shut down and their egos will be imposed on you. Banned or suspended for not being understanding enough. Banned for not being informed about some arbitrary issue on some country you’re not even part of.

Just like those Kotaku, Eurogamer etc reviews about FFXVI recently, it’s fine to talk about social issues on them just to inform others but it isn’t a necessity nor is it an excuse to dock points of it. There’s no way to completely remove subjectivity when talking about games as we all have different tastes but the objective side is completely overshadowed. Reviews are to inform people not preach on them.

I mean if they were true to themselves, I would even praise them but they are simply hypocrites. People pleasers who don’t know how to stand for themselves. So many times they ban or suspend people for actions they themselves do. Punishing people for being ignorant but doing those same actions themselves despite knowing and having knowledge of it.

At some point I understood. That site is simply rife with people who want authority and power because they have none of it outside of that website. At least here I can be myself and if I do get in trouble I know it is simply because I was stupid as fuck and in the wrong and not because of some power play to stroke someone’s ego.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
360 was amazing. I was a free fan.
But after that I couldn’t find a reason to be Xbox gamer. Not while there is now side to just owning pc or ps. Why would anyone choose Xbox as main platform only to keep complaining and fighting later.
 

Crayon

Member
Is Era pro Xbox now? That was definitely not the case before Cyberpunk.

I notice that GAF have a big percentage of PS fans though, but I assumed it came from having a bigger percentage of the market and not some polarized thing going on between the forums.

Anyway I feel like my brain is melting away the more time I spend thinking about this. Time for 🛌

The best way, or really the most specific way I could describe it is that you will see very specific talking points spammed densely. The most obvious is trying to establish a definition. Like the first rumor about the revamped psplus described it as a game pass "competitor". in a few days, there emerged an angle where psplus is not actually a competitor. This took up pages upon pages for the whole life of a big thread. This very specific thing to not use the word competitor. Maybe someone else thinks that's normal but these instances come in so hard and fast that it seems obvious to me that you have a whole lot of people trying to fall in and get on message. On era it was gradually getting out of control.

As an aside .. I think some of the more flagrant Sony fanboys fled era to here...

Resetera is dying slowly
You can notice the activity died down in the gaming side and of topic side
And it's obvious why it's declining
Cuz they banned half of there members lol 😆 😂

It's just not fun anymore. When someone posts an article about aloy's outfits being appropriation, and I can't simply say "it's not a big deal" without causing a shit storm... It was a million little cuts and I walked. I saw many others quietly leave while I was there.
 
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Sleepwalker

Member
The best way, or really the most specific way I could describe it is that you will see very specific talking points spammed densely. The most obvious is trying to establish a definition. Like the first rumor about the revamped psplus described it as a game pass competitor. in a few days, their emerged an angle where psplus is not actually a competitor. This took up pages upon pages for the whole life of a big thread. This very specific thing to not use the word competitor. Maybe someone else thinks that's normal but these instances come in so hard and fast that it seems obvious to me that you have a whole lot of people trying to fall in and get on message. On era it was gradually getting out of control.

As an aside .. I think some of the more flagrant Sony fanboys fled era to here...



It's just not fun anymore. When someone posts an article about aloy's outfits being appropriation, and I can't simply say it's not a big deal without causing a shit storm... It was a million little cuts and I walked. I saw many others quietly leave while I was there.

I dont have an era account but I checked their final fantasy 16 thread and the first thing I saw was a guy who wrote a dissertation on how misogynistic and abusive towards women the game and its boss battles are. Closed the tab right away.
 
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Of course this happens. It is well known and a fundamental part of Microsoft’s marketing strategy.

They resorted to this back in the early 2000s when, funnily enough, they were the subject of an anti-trust investigation:


They were caught again, a decade later, trying to confuse, via astroturfing, that same behaviour that led to the anti-trust investigation:


They relied on this to generate buzz for the Xbox One at launch, as outed on Reddit:



There are detailed reports about exactly how it works:


Hell, there are detailed reports from Microsoft:


So be very, very suspicious of anyone trivialising, satirising, dismissing, normalising, equivocating or outright praising this process, and look very closely at anyone attacking or smearing it’s source.

A reminder that FUD has defined Microsoft’s marketing approach in the presence of a sting market leader since their inception, starting with IBM. Plenty of sources for that one on Wikipedia:


So yeah, any time you see a pro-MS post that is called out and then be doubled-down upon while the critic’s integrity is called into question: that’s a paid shill.

Thank you very much for this. I will save to read later
 

Crayon

Member
I dont have an era account but I checked their final fantasy 16 thread and the first thing I saw was a guy who wrote a dissertation on how mysoginist and abusive towards women the game and its boss battles are. Closed the tab right away.

Jesus I was playing the demo with my wife and we were talking about how cool the evil bitch mom is. Then my mind started drifting to what era is saying about it. Seems exactly what I imagined.
 
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