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Penny-Arcade: "Marketers of the Avenger Controller are thieves and liars".

Holy shit. Reading that Paul White Knights? This guy I tell you. Hope he loses everything or atleast gets shit on by the Internet and I hope 4chan gives their blessing onto him.

Him being an asshole and not very good at his job does not even begin to correllate an organised hate campaign against him on both a personal and a professional level.

Sorry, it just fucking doesn't, and people who are feeling uncomfortable with the mob mentality aren't 'white knights', they're just capable of a level of empathy familiar to people who aren't sociopaths.

The dudes lost his job and publically apologised - it's pretty fucking clear that that is still not enough for some of the posters here.
What do you want from him?
Youtubed self-flagellation? To be in stocks at PAX? What?
At what point of ruination of a mans life does the lulz end?
 

eek5

Member
I think the real victim is the inventor who is having to watch his product he created with good intentions be tarnished because one guy behaves like a jackass.

Supposedly this guy knew about Paul being an asshole to customers way before, was warned about this exact situation 8 months ago by the previous PR company that quit because they were sick of dealing with delays, etc. so I wouldn't let him off the hook that easily.

Who is to blame for them charging people's credit cards to pay for manufacturing and then pushing back ship date over and over?
 

Makoto

Member
The dudes lost his job and publically apologised
Didn't he just lose a client? He's still president of his "firm." Whether his firm's reputation is really tarnished remains to be seen as a swift name change when all of this has settled could alleviate all of that.

And his apology basically amounted to, "Whoa, didn't know you'd send so many nerds after me!"
 
Him being an asshole and not very good at his job does not even begin to correllate an organised hate campaign against him on both a personal and a professional level.

Sorry, it just fucking doesn't, and people who are feeling uncomfortable with the mob mentality aren't 'white knights', they're just capable of a level of empathy familiar to people who aren't sociopaths.

The dudes lost his job and publically apologised - it's pretty fucking clear that that is still not enough for some of the posters here.
What do you want from him?
Youtubed self-flagellation? To be in stocks at PAX? What?
At what point of ruination of a mans life does the lulz end?

I'd be more inclined to be sympathetic and believe his apologies and statements if it wasn't already proven that he is a known liar.
 

Jintor

Member
The dudes lost his job and publically apologised - it's pretty fucking clear that that is still not enough for some of the posters here.
What do you want from him?
Youtubed self-flagellation? To be in stocks at PAX? What?
At what point of ruination of a mans life does the lulz end?

When his very identity is lost to the winds, when his name is whispered in the dark places to keep mewling babes from straying from the light.
 

rhino4evr

Member
So I just read this. Pretty funny. That Paul guy is great. He's like the Charlie Sheen of Cuatomer service reps, just when you think he's hit rock bottom, he keeps diggin.

There are some serious legal charges that can be brought up here, Penny Arcade could easily be set up for intent for defamation of character. This was really a private matter, and I don't think a blog site should have posted it in the first place. Especially when it seems obvious that the post is an attempt is too cause a negative reaction from future purchasers.
 

X26

Banned
Having a family does not ever give you a free pass to be a complete douchebag in business

As long as his family isn't targeted in any way (which they aren't, it's all on him) there is no issue
 

Philia

Member
So I just read this. Pretty funny. That Paul guy is great. He's like the Charlie Sheen of Cuatomer service reps, just when you think he's hit rock bottom, he keeps diggin.

There are some serious legal charges that can be brought up here, Penny Arcade could easily be set up for intent for defamation of character. This was really a private matter, and I don't think a blog site should have posted it in the first place. Especially when it seems obvious that the post is an attempt is too cause a negative reaction from future purchasers.

Sigh. AGAIN. He've done this before. It doesn't matter if it was just THAT blog post from PA.

http://www.notgoodenough.org/viewtopic.php?p=329158
 

Jintor

Member
So I just read this. Pretty funny. That Paul guy is great. He's like the Charlie Sheen of Cuatomer service reps, just when you think he's hit rock bottom, he keeps diggin.

There are some serious legal charges that can be brought up here, Penny Arcade could easily be set up for intent for defamation of character. This was really a private matter, and I don't think a blog site should have posted it in the first place. Especially when it seems obvious that the post is an attempt is too cause a negative reaction from future purchasers.

What? No, else Amazon customer reviews would be a intent of defamation of character. A commercial transaction is a private matter? I don't think so.

I don't understand why Paul would do this. Someone give me some theories.

"There's no such thing as bad PR"
 

MetatronM

Unconfirmed Member
Wow, what a crazy thread I missed. I feel kind of bad for the actual Avenger Controller guys. They're getting shit all over because they made a bad call in who they hired to represent their product, not because they did anything actively wrong and worthy of the abuse they're getting on their Amazon page and such.

This Paul guy is an amazing and despicable character, though. I kind of want to follow him around with a camera.
 
There are some serious legal charges that can be brought up here, Penny Arcade could easily be set up for intent for defamation of character. This was really a private matter, and I don't think a blog site should have posted it in the first place. Especially when it seems obvious that the post is an attempt is too cause a negative reaction from future purchasers.

Mike said:
I think there is a big difference between being sorry and being sorry you got caught. I have a real problem with bullies. I spent my childhood moving from school to school and I got made fun of everyplace I landed. I feel like Paul is a bully and maybe that.s why I have no sympathy here. Someday every bully meets and even bigger bully and maybe that.s me in this case. It.s the same thing that happened with Jack Thompson. It might not always make the most business sense and it is a policy that has caused us some legal problems, but I really don.t give a shit about that. When these assholes threaten me or Penny Arcade I just laugh. I will personally burn everything I.ve made to the fucking ground if I think I can catch them in the flames.

-Gabe out


i don't think PA really cares if something like that happened
 

jaaz

Member
There are some serious legal charges that can be brought up here, Penny Arcade could easily be set up for intent for defamation of character. This was really a private matter, and I don't think a blog site should have posted it in the first place. Especially when it seems obvious that the post is an attempt is too cause a negative reaction from future purchasers.

Nope. First, in general there is no expectation of privacy when you send an e-mail (unless you are writing to say, your bank). It's like writing a letter. The recipient can broadcast it to the world, if they want to. I wish more people realized this...

Second, truth is a defense to defamation/libel. No one is debating that he wrote the e-mail, so that's that. (By the way, written defamation is called libel)
 

Minamu

Member
Wow what a journey :D It's almost 5am here... I was starting to feel sorry for the guy a couple of hours ago, but that went away fairly quickly.
 

X26

Banned
The thing I get a sense for when reading his responses to customers is that he actually does care, but he has an incredibly high sense of pride and fear of losing face that he over compensates (think nuking a shack to kill an ant) by being a belligerent piece of shit.

I see this all the time, people make a mistake or are proven wrong and instead of owning up to it they panic and act like morons to try and laugh it off. Just a really bad flaw in some people's social skills.
 
The dudes lost his job and publically apologised - it's pretty fucking clear that that is still not enough for some of the posters here.

To be fair, his appologies are obviously insincere, and they clearly show that he does not see his aggresive behavior as the problem, but rather that he was not aware of the power of those he with which he was dealing. Paul has not changed; he's only learned to google his potential targets in the future. An appology is hollow and meaningless if it does not result from understanding why your actions were wrong.

I am concerned for Paul's well being, and for that of his wife and child. He's obviously not a stable person. Whether his anger problems are the result of steriod use or not, his temper and his alleged prior domestic violence charge coupled with today's events make me a bit worried. I hope he comes out of this a better person.
 

Philia

Member
LOL again guys, even if he does have a wife and child, the part that he mentions them as being part of a stressor is still a bluff when he had done this before. Again he's a known liar too. So how can we believe that's part of his life right now?
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
So I just read this. Pretty funny. That Paul guy is great. He's like the Charlie Sheen of Cuatomer service reps, just when you think he's hit rock bottom, he keeps diggin.

There are some serious legal charges that can be brought up here, Penny Arcade could easily be set up for intent for defamation of character. This was really a private matter, and I don't think a blog site should have posted it in the first place. Especially when it seems obvious that the post is an attempt is too cause a negative reaction from future purchasers.
Mike said the correspondence would be on PA in the morning, and the guy said "great". Even from a legal perspective I think any expectation of privacy was given up since he gave them permission.
 

jaaz

Member
What's the big deal here? This is the free market at work. Companies run this way don't last and are replaced by companies that work on valuing customer service, and we consumers are better off for it.

Some of you sound a bit soft... step out of the socialist college classroom once in a while and join the capitalist world! :)
 
The consequences for being terrible at your job shouldn't be "my wife and kids are being harassed" and "my identity is being stolen".

Granted, he could just be lying for all we know, but c'mon. That ain't right.


LOL. Yeah, no, I'm not defending Paul. Paul is a dick who sucks at his job and it's good that the internet now knows this. I'm just trying to advocate cooler heads. He's gotten his, and then some.

I'm sure Captain America would agree with me on this one

I see your point, but again it was not PA assembled force, it was just the internet. Besides, it is not like the guy really back it out, look at his mistakes and apologized. It continues to be stupid, even when trying to apologize.

In fact, this whole situation seems so surreal, that I can only imagine two things about it:
a) either the guy is a completely moron with no sense of when to stop at all, complete childish and out of this world, or
b) this is the most incredible marketing scheme ever created.
 

Spruchy

Member
So I just read this. Pretty funny. That Paul guy is great. He's like the Charlie Sheen of Cuatomer service reps, just when you think he's hit rock bottom, he keeps diggin.

There are some serious legal charges that can be brought up here, Penny Arcade could easily be set up for intent for defamation of character. This was really a private matter, and I don't think a blog site should have posted it in the first place. Especially when it seems obvious that the post is an attempt is too cause a negative reaction from future purchasers.

Stay in law school.
 

Cruzader

Banned
Him being an asshole and not very good at his job does not even begin to correllate an organised hate campaign against him on both a personal and a professional level.

Sorry, it just fucking doesn't, and people who are feeling uncomfortable with the mob mentality aren't 'white knights', they're just capable of a level of empathy familiar to people who aren't sociopaths.

The dudes lost his job and publically apologised - it's pretty fucking clear that that is still not enough for some of the posters here.
What do you want from him?
Youtubed self-flagellation? To be in stocks at PAX? What?
At what point of ruination of a mans life does the lulz end?
Let's see.

This is not the first time he has done this to a paying customer. That eBay story is new to me. It baffles me some of you think this guy made a "mistake" and that everyone should stop calling him out.

He always belittles and offends the customer like a little teenager himself. He threatens users with bullshit lies so he can get away with not dealing with his job. "hey I got 100 lawyers in my pocket and you don't! Huahahahha! Eat me bitch!"

He then says he is not sending a replacement/won't deal with the matter at hand because x,y,z. ("omg like I'm sooo busy, I'm a one man team and I dont have to time for you peasant, you got issues, DEAL WITH IT.")

This is not "being bad at his job" more like abusing his power and instead of helping paying customers, he has to put them down and try to get out of his actual job and act the victim. If he can't do this job. Why doesn't he give it to someone else?

Lastly his "apology" is a bunch of crud. Politicians say the same shit, celebrities pull the same shit, idiots who commit foolish acts and need to get people to feel bad for them and get away with them will give this lame "apology" which doesn't mean anything just to get some heat off them. And that apology consists of naming his family or peers. " oh my wife is soooo stressed. My kids are getting harassed at school so please stop!" instead of coming out and stating all the stuff that matters. How about the fact he has done this countless times? That he will stop posing as other people? That he will step down from his own firm(?). Oh yea thats the hard way. Let's go the easy way and put the fictional "hurt" family in the way to get some people to see that he is still like the rest of us!!! Screw him.

Ps: this is not a serious rant. Just felt the need to point out why this guy doesn't need any pity.
 

ZAK

Member
I'm quite disturbed by Gabe's words on the subject. Based on this most recent post, he sounds like the worst person in all of this. Bullies bully when it's convenient. Gabe implies he would destroy his life if that's what it took to spite some people. Justice is one thing, but when you do someone ill because you take pleasure in it, you lose my sympathy and just become an asshole.
 
I'm quite disturbed by Gabe's words on the subject. Based on this most recent post, he sounds like the worst person in all of this. Bullies bully when it's convenient. Gabe implies he would destroy his life if that's what it took to spite some people. Justice is one thing, but when you do someone ill because you take pleasure in it, you lose my sympathy and just become an asshole.


Not sure if you misunderstood or we just disagree, but Gabe clearly meant that he would gladly eat any legal costs required in order to out this guy as a fraud and a jerk. Doesn't matter anyway, as others pointed out, truth is the obvious defense against libel and slander, and this Paul fellow clearly wrote those emails, so there's nothing to be done on his behalf.
 

MC Safety

Member
I'm quite disturbed by Gabe's words on the subject. Based on this most recent post, he sounds like the worst person in all of this. Bullies bully when it's convenient. Gabe implies he would destroy his life if that's what it took to spite some people. Justice is one thing, but when you do someone ill because you take pleasure in it, you lose my sympathy and just become an asshole.

The Penny Arcade guys are worse than bullies because they know better. They've amassed whatever power they have and are using it for ill.

People should ask themselves two questions here:

1) Do I really want to get involved in a silly Internet war over a video game controller?

and...

2) Does this guy, who is admittedly an a-hole, deserve to suffer above and beyond losing his job?
 

Jintor

Member
What? Seriously? If the original poster had bypassed PA entirely and just put it straight up on Reddit and the internet had gone and torn him a new asshole anyway then it'd be fine?
 

jooey

The Motorcycle That Wouldn't Slow Down
The Penny Arcade guys are worse than bullies because they know better.

I'm really not so sure they do. They've been skirting the 'bully' line multiple times in the 10+ years they've operated, and everyone just looks the other way while eating their shit by the spoonful.
 
Twitter said:
Tatterr [Frank Shephard]

@StewartMS the only thing I can say at the moment is that Paul from Ocean Marke2tting no longer represents @ncontrolavenger

Good to see they've let this marketting company go.
 

Ketch

Member
I'm really not so sure they do. They've been skirting the 'bully' line multiple times in the 10+ years they've operated, and everyone just looks the other way while eating their shit by the spoonful.

I think they do... I bet they just don't give a damn, and I'm okay with that. ROCK ON PA. Burn this mother down.

I've been watching this since last night, and because I don't know him I feel no sympathy for the ocean markettaer. Maybe it would be different if I knew him, but then again I don't think I could be friends with a guy like that.

Also, something inside me hopes that maybe, just maybe
but doubtful
someone somewhere will think twice before acting like an asshole to strangers on the internet. I really dig how the whole social media/ everyone's connected everywhere thing sort of fights against the anonymity of the internet. Let this be a lesson, don't be an ass on the internet. You're not invisible while driving your car.
 

ZAK

Member
Not sure if you misunderstood or we just disagree, but Gabe clearly meant that he would gladly eat any legal costs required in order to out this guy as a fraud and a jerk. Doesn't matter anyway, as others pointed out, truth is the obvious defense against libel and slander, and this Paul fellow clearly wrote those emails, so there's nothing to be done on his behalf.
Well, I mean:
Someday every bully meets and even bigger bully and maybe that.s me in this case. It.s the same thing that happened with Jack Thompson. It might not always make the most business sense and it is a policy that has caused us some legal problems, but I really don.t give a shit about that. When these assholes threaten me or Penny Arcade I just laugh. I will personally burn everything I.ve made to the fucking ground if I think I can catch them in the flames.
He sounds angry. I don't like him when he's angry.
 
What's the big deal here? This is the free market at work. Companies run this way don't last and are replaced by companies that work on valuing customer service, and we consumers are better off for it.

Some of you sound a bit soft... step out of the socialist college classroom once in a while and join the capitalist world! :)


I agree. We are free to be for or against anything/anyone we choose. Expressing that openly and encouraging others to adopt the same position is a part of that right.
 
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