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MMORPG.COM hypocirsy a Scarlet Blade tale
Ravensworth
Member UncommonPosts: 78
I have read with interest the comments about Scarlet Blade from various columnists at MMORPG that have used terms such as shameful, disgraceful, debasing and couldn't agree more. What bothers me is that for more than a month the first thing you saw when logging into MMORPG.com were images and Ads for the very game they are NOW deciding is degrading to women.
I question why Bill Murphy etal did not post any of these comments while the ads were running. If the game was so disgraceful why did they wait until now to say so. Why not warn the public about what clicking on the ad on YOUR site will lead to? I can only guess the motive was money. After all bashing an advertiser is a bad idea. However waiting until they have paid you and the deal is over to then bash them is hypocritical in the extreme.
I have used MMORPG as a news site for a long time and find the opinions and information here fairly even handed. This has made me second guess using them as my first source for MMORPG gaming opinion. The page itself is 25% advertising and that doesn't bother me. What bothers me is they seem to have decided that they don't comment on games that are being advertised if they don't like them or worse find them OFFENSIVE to nearly everyone who reviews them. If a game is that offensive warn your customers before they hit your ad link.
They knew what the game was like when they took the ads they needed the moral courage to say so. For the record I found Scarlet Blade Repugnant.
I am interested to see what Bill Murphy has to say about this. It is from a business point of view a tough call to make. I would like to hear why he made the decisions he did.
Comments
My gaming blog
They have said time and time again that the editorial staff who does all the writing is completely different from the people who run the site and the advertising part of it.
Get your facts straight.
MMORPG Gamers/Developers need a reality check!
they've said it 1000s times. The ppl that run the site are not the people that write for it. They have nothing to do with each other.
take their money, sit on your anger for a month then trash their awful game.
why not?
I find it hard to believe and in fact don't believe that they waited to review this game until after the ads because the two have nothing to do with each other. Either the money side influenced the editorial side not to write until after the ad run had finished or they are indeed connected. I cannot believe they waited for any other reason.
From your post count I'm guessing you're fairly new. They've covered this in columns in the past already; there is a separation between the ownership and business of the website itself and the writers who run it. They don't necessarily have control over the ads that are placed, there are people higher up the food chain that worry about that and yes, that will often contrast with what the writers and reviews actually feel about the games.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
I am not think skinned. I am using the site for informational purposes and part of that information is ads for the latest games. I just wish they had said some of the things they are saying now before the ad finished running, They certainly review games that have been running ads while the ads are still up. Neverwinter received alot of MMORPG.COM press while the ads were up. Why not Scarlet Blade?
So the people running the site are classless and condone the sexualizing of women by supporting ridiculous games like Scarlet Blade ... but not the writers.
Glad we cleared that up.
You stay sassy!
Actually I have been on the site for years. This is the first time the level of Hypocrisy has bothered me. and if you read my response above you will see that I think the editorial staff was Censored until the ads were done.
Aeria Games I am sure will still advertise here regardless of what was said about Scarlet Blade. I don't post much but I read a great deal.
Well Said!
They're currently running tons of ads for Elsword and I don't think they've even bothered to review the game. You're coming to a website you're obviously unfamiliar with, with opinions on how it's supposed to work. Further, it's not as if they forced you to buy a game, Scarlet Blade is F2P. If you ended up spending money in the game based purely on some ad you saw on a gaming website rather than whether or not you actually like the game, then you've got bigger issues to work out.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
Let me get this straight.
The part of the company that earns money is completely separated from the part that can potentially prevent money from being earned ?
Yes that sounds like a sound business idea.
Of course if they were influencing what reviews are being written and when , they would totally come straight and tell us.
Right ?
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
That's how the world works whether the minority like it or not. The people who run the business side of the site don't care about your opinions until it gains or loses them money. That's obviously antithetical to those who are writing and reviewing games who instead are more concerned with whether a game is worth playing or not. When it comes to money, those who chase it will exploit anyone and anything to get it. This isn't news.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
They certainly aren't! (I hope they heard me say that...)
omg.
It has been said many times that the ad department is different from the moderators, community people, etc of the website.
If anything this goes to back up what they have been screaming for years... their reviews have no bearing on advertisments. And it seems that in this case, especially with a game company that has spent quite a lot on advertisments, that this is true.
If anything that's a good things.
As far as the review went, well that's another thing entirely.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I find it hard to believe you missed the worst mmos of 2013 list running while all the SB ADs where going on and it was on the list amd it was far from flattering...but here you are. Bill actually called it one of the worst mmos ever ( if I recall correctly ) and many of us took issue with why he chose to put it on the list. ( it has boobs is not a good reason )
IMO they only reviewed the game now because it's an easy target to get people raving mad on the forums. Want people to "bump" your review and see it goes to 20+ pages .... talk about scarlet blade and pick one of the extreme sides.
I am very familiar with the site and I did not say they reviewed every game that had ads. BUT I think a game that has evoked such an visceral response from the editors clearly was either censored for money reasons or ignored for money reasons. If you choose to ignore something for that reason then why not just ignore it like they have done with Elsword. I think the reason is obvious. The editorial staff does care about what they tell us and know their opinions matter.