Games Journalism! Wainwright/Florence/Tomb Raider/Eurogamer/Libel Threats/Doritos
- Thread starter papersleeves
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MCV is a fuckin pr rag anyway
APZonerunner
Member
Phew. Well, one thing's for sure - this has been an incredible car crash in very very slow motion. Good lord.
Terrible post.
You're at the gaming section of a gaming forum reading a gaming article posted by a gaming website. In the gaming community, yes, this is a problem. No one's acting like this is the greatest problem in the world
maquiladora
Member
The image really, truly is hilarious, and very telling. Rab Florence wrote a solid article but nothing even necessarily had to be written about it. The image completely speaks for itself.
Is this for real? It looks like something out of Idiocracy.
Rab Florence is the same guy who once wrote a poem about Dark Souls in excitement at the game coming to PC. His point isn't at all that people writing about games shouldn't show enthusiasm.
It's just as impressive, if not more so. Freelance writers aren't generally swamped in a deluge of work, so for Rab Florence to refuse to put his columns on one of the biggest gaming sites on the web speaks to how adamant he is.
Dictator93
Member
Idiocracy is actually a movie about the modern world. Like all critical sci-fi (yes even this comedy movie) it really concerns our current timeline
CrunchyFrog
Member
Hah, what a kick. I need to check out more of this guy's stuff. In fact, I think GAF should put together some list of recommended journos/outlets. People like Rab, or John Walker, or Ben Kuchera and the guys from PA, people who have consistently shown to be, well, consistent.
It's a pretty good question. I suspect the nature of the audience also factors into how critical journos can or can't be of the products that they are also advertising.
My feeling is a lot of the PR and bullshit is interwoven into things like exclusivities, previews and early access, which doesn't seem to be as much of a problem with other industries (at least not from the perpsective of my casual observations).
So the nature of the gaming audience is to want to hunt for new information about the latest games, and the importance of this facet; the novelty intrinsic to the hobby is what drives a lot of that behaviour.
After a game has been released, it tends to fade from the gaming press and is picked up by fan sites that disseminate and break down any relevant details of the game in the weeks, months and years following release.
I get that the unslakable thirst for new information and media is just part and parcel of any enthusaist press coverage... but it does seem to effect gaming media more deleteriously for some reason.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Really?
Ban Puncher
Member
Brilliant.
I'd be interested to hear Dominik Diamond and Julian Rignall weigh in on this matter.
SolidSnakex
Member
Meaghan worked for Game Informer before she ended up as the community manager at CD. It seems pretty common in the industry. Didn't some big HALO fan from 1up end up the the community manager job at Bungie?
Exactly. It's just a pathetic attitude from this woman.
Interfectum
Member
I gotta wonder... as he's sitting down in that chair and the marketing people are finishing up dusting / placing the soda and chips in the perfect position if at any point he thought "man im gonna get some shit for this."
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
I don't get what that tweet means / is in response to.
Haunted
Member
Disgraceful display. Completely behind Florence (and Walker and Kuchera, and anyone else who publicly calls this out and stands by integrity), how could you not be.
Journalists defending Keighley or keeping mum about this are on the shitlist. I mean, I assume there won't be much to read from these corporate cocksuckers for much longer, they'll find community manager jobs soon enough. But as long as they're "press" or at least calling themselves that, they should be fucking ashamed of themselves. Look in the mirror and tell yourself honestly that you're doing a good job, go see how well you can lie in your own face.
Most of these shits are on a level with Fox News writers as far as credibility is concerned.
Journalists defending Keighley or keeping mum about this are on the shitlist. I mean, I assume there won't be much to read from these corporate cocksuckers for much longer, they'll find community manager jobs soon enough. But as long as they're "press" or at least calling themselves that, they should be fucking ashamed of themselves. Look in the mirror and tell yourself honestly that you're doing a good job, go see how well you can lie in your own face.
Most of these shits are on a level with Fox News writers as far as credibility is concerned.
Yup. We always lose the ones with integrity first.
Schrödinger's cat
Banned
Just noticed this as The first comment to a VG247 / Dave Cook piece (a preview of Fuse) published in the last hour.
Stay classy Lauren.
Stay classy Lauren.
Hmm.. I did feel sorry for Wainwright yesterday - having 'known' her (in the sense of interacted with her through forums/twitter) for several years - as she has long been excited by any Tomb Raider-related news.
However, these actions are beyond questionable. She should be ashamed of herself, and presented her own viewpoint through the not-inconsiderable mediums open to her. You can judge a person by their actions, and in this case... well... they speak for themselves. Which is a shame, as she had potential.
MVC just needs to close down, fullstop - it is a shockingly bad PR rag (just as bad as The Sun - it is a shame she works for such questionable groups...)
However, these actions are beyond questionable. She should be ashamed of herself, and presented her own viewpoint through the not-inconsiderable mediums open to her. You can judge a person by their actions, and in this case... well... they speak for themselves. Which is a shame, as she had potential.
MVC just needs to close down, fullstop - it is a shockingly bad PR rag (just as bad as The Sun - it is a shame she works for such questionable groups...)
-Pyromaniac-
Member
Also ign had one of their senior editors a while ago become a community manager for Zipper I believe.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
Makes you imagine that being a gaming journalist, you can force yourself into a certain company after shilling for them for too long.
I think this level of transparency and accountability may be the only way for UK games media to regain any credibility: every review listing the PR engagement which has happened to support the title eg, "Publisher X flew reviewers A and B to City X for 2 nights in the Y Hotel, hospitality included drinks at Q and dinner at wherever which cost roughly £5.50. We then received a customised Xbox and PS3 with two review discs which were all returned to the publisher (or are being auctioned for needy kids or are the prizes in a reader comp) on publication this morning. Editor X also received a box of branded cupcakes and a t-shirt this morning which he ate and is wearing respectively, photo here.
Some serious concerns were raised and the reaction has been absolutely woeful. At least Dave Cook got onto the EG comments and fronted up (agree or disagree) - journos suing each other is just pitiful. At least we know who doesn't want to engage in a needed debate about the state of games journalism. Walker and Rab have done the UK games media a huge service by raising these issues even if some of the sector are too dumb to realise it at the moment.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
Has Lauren actually written anything that doesn't read like prime GFW Radio fodder?
For the money?
Haaahaha! She's just brilliant! Shining beacon of truthiness!
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
Her reputation is shadowruined.
reptilescorpio
Member
Stream of tweets from the editor of MCV after the article was amended and the writer moved on from Eurogamer.
@BenParfitt said:
@BenParfitt said:
@BenParfitt said:
Lol. This rabbit hole is deep.
The funny thing is the idea that her Tomb Raider tweets might be PR shilling was not a serious accusation, just an illustration of what you have to consider once someone loses credibility. But since then there is mounting evidence that she really is a PR shill.
I almost feel sorry for her. She could have just said "in retrospect using my twitter feed to spread PR as part of a contest was very poor judgement" and that would be that. Now instead she's opened Pandora's box.
Backfoggen
Banned
I think he showed that he was just a dude on the GB podcast. Don't get why so many people dislike him.
glorious
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
"laurenwainwright: Just to clarify on Square Enix: I've done consultancy work for them. I've never reviewed the products"
That's very carefully worded. It's all in the semantics.
He didn't say they never threatened legal action, just that they never took any.
Maybe he should clarify: did Intent Media threaten legal action?
"Cruel"? What exactly was cruel about what was written?
Some people just don't understand how the internets work. Now she's screwed. I don't feel one bit sorry for her, everything I've read about this woman leads me to believe she is a despicable human being.
Interfectum
Member
Why not? Those people themselves decided to put their tweets out there and you should be free to quote them. I think naming names is exactly what needs to be done.
Need more mountain dew.
Whitebison
Member
All that shit is ridiculous, they're all writing about games...GAMES.
reptilescorpio
Member
Her response to the Tomb Raider box art.
Here's the official Tomb Raider box art. What do you all thing? Me? HNNGNGFNGNGNNNGGNGNG#TombRaider pic.twitter.com/IoElajYa
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!
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