Controversies in Games Media

[Vyk]

Anyone want to talk about controversies? Probably not. But I just found out that Playtonic, the company about to release Yooka-Laylee, and their publishing house (Team 17 I think?) have PR and social media people being complete douche bags and banning, blocking, moving threads, and making fun of people over the JonTron debacle, which is a controversy itself, which probably only stemmed from the PewDiePie fiasco a while back

It reminds me of an issue that sprang up in Pillars of Eternity, where certain backers were able to put some text in the game, and people took offense at the joke one person put in, a poem about a womanizer getting drunk and accidentally sleeping with a man and then killing himself in shame. And instead of immediately replying to the PR disaster brewing, removing content from a paid backer, trout-talking that backer and disassociating and alienating them; they instead waited for the storm to calm. They thought out what they should do. They didn't jump to any conclusions, they kept up discussions with this backer, and then said backer willingly and voluntarily changed what was in the game. He wasn't alienated and made fun of for it by the people he helped pay and support. And then it was over. Obsidian was calm, patient, understanding, and reasonable

Playtonic and Team 17 are being absolutely ridiculous. And then banning people calling them out on it and asking for a refund. I am astonished. These people basically had a unicorn bring them a pot of gold. All they had to do was make a good game. And that's what they did. And they were too afraid to leave well enough alone. Their PR people are obviously way too green; to be promoting instant knee-jerk reactions against criticism. Learn some damn restraint...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRNDnR9Za4M

Here's the video that tipped me off to this stuff. At first he sounded like thunderf00t or ReviewTechUSA, both of which I usually abhor the work of, but as the video went on, he reminded me more of Jim Sterling in his presentation and humor mixed in with real journalism and examples to support his claims. And also, like, reasonable arguments. Even if they are made with snark. First time I've seen this guy. He may be full of trout, but none of what he says surprises me since it concerns NeoGAF, and like I said, he shows evidence. Anyway. Rant over. Anyone else got any beef with games media/journalism/etc. or this topic?

[Fynn]

Not exactly video game related, but as someone who works in Internet marketing, I can tell you that clients often panic in the face of any negative feedback and will actively hijack their social media accounts (which we manage at that point) to delete those responses or react in a really bad way, thinking people won't notice jos scummy they are.

I think this is the matter of us still adjusting to how the world works now and how big a part of the marketing process social media and online press is, and in general how accessible data is. As you pointed out, some companies managed to adjust immediately, while others can't really think ahead


It's mad, can't deny that. But I think it's a phase we'll all grow out of one day

[Vyk]

Ah, yeah, I guess I get it. Any one person would want to find a remedy as immediately as possible. But in that regard it seems that people need to disassociate from their company. Companies shouldn't need to find a remedy immediately, and companies should be open to critique. I guess this is probably their baby and they just caught a glimpse of it being on fire and wanted to douse it as fast as possible. But if this gets any worse, then they probably just doused it in gasoline rather than water

[Freya]

wait


what jontron thing? I can't watch that linked video unfortunately. You're gonna have to give me a run down of the internet dramas

[Jinx]

he's a racist, sexist pos

[Jinx]

http://kotaku.com/yooka-laylee-ditch...per-1793570816

[Vyk]

I honestly don't know the JonTron thing, only that he was in an interview with someone and I guess made some white supremacy jokes or some crap. People are now calling him a bigot and a racist, even though he's from middle-eastern descent and has a foreign surname (Jon Jafari)

So the internet blows up about him secretly being a bigot, the hate train rolls in, and then NeoGAF is like "hey, I just remembered, he voiced a small part in some video game, they should remove him and teach him a lesson". So there's a stirring hate campaign to pressure Playtonic to remove/replace his bit, which they do. It's dumb, but its' their thing. Jon even tweeted that it sucks, but no hard feelings and wished them luck

After that backers and pre-orders started to wonder if that was the best decision and if they could get a refund if they disagree. And instead of talking it out, giving refunds, delaying refunds, or even outright refusing refunds, they decide to instead ban people off steam conversations for talking about wanting a refund. Topics get locked, or moved, people get kicked or banned, and Team 17 start making fun of those people and JonTron himself, and his fans on Twitter (the videos showed 3 people's tweets involved, two of which were from Team 17, one was liking and retweeting another fan making fun of the situation)

And that's pretty much where it stands right now. The video I posted was just uploaded today, and the it's an ongoing story, Playtonic pulled the plug on JonTron without thinking it through or even wanting to discuss the idea, and their press release says that even though the game is done (his part being in-tact on release) they are set to release a day one patch to remove him, another reason why people want a refund. A patch that removes content. And their publishing department and PR and social media people on Twitter and Steam (and likely elsewhere) are shooting themselves in the foot, and making Playtonic and Yooka-Laylee look like a trainwreck just a few days before release

[Jinx]

That's completely over-simplifying it. It wasn't just a random joke or something he made. He went on multiple massive twitter rants basically troutting on all people of color and how white people are soooo victimized. Yes, he is of Middle Eastern descent so I'm not sure where this is coming from. And yes, he can still be racist against people of other ethnicities regardless of whether or not he himself is a person of color/is of POC descent.

As for the whole Yooka-Laylee stuff, this is the first I've heard of it (even the bit about him being involved with the game!) but a company is well within their rights to remove a collaborator that does not align with the company's values, especially when that collaborator is giving them negative press.

They probably aren't handling it well. They should have made their definitive statement about JonTron not representing the views of the company, why he was being removed from the game, and then not replied in any way (including not deleting comments). For good PR purposes, they probably should give refunds/returns to those who don't want the game now--as long as the person who wants a refund no longer has access to the game.

tl;dr They could be handling it better from a PR point of view, but they made the right decision. A decision that they are well within their legal rights to do.

[Sephex]

FROM MY POINT OF VIEW THE JON TRON IS EVIL!!!

[Jinx]

FROM MY POINT OF VIEW THE JON TRON IS EVIL!!!

[Freya]

Doesn't sound like they're handling it that well THEN AGAIN

I have seen how smurfing insane entitled opinionated gamers get. If they were bitching and whining as much as I expect them to have been, I wouldn't be against locking and shutting threads down. Yooka-Lalyee's team could handle the PR aspect better it seems but I don't think they are in the complete wrong with removing him after what i'm seeing now (As you guys have informed me and I'm looking up)

[Jinx]

still being handled better than no man's sky tbh

[Sephex]

FROM MY POINT OF VIEW THE JON TRON IS EVIL!!!

That was a prequel meme reference, you dolt!

[Jinx]

FROM MY POINT OF VIEW THE JON TRON IS EVIL!!!

That was a prequel meme reference, you dolt!

[Del Murder]

I don't know what the Jon guy said and I don't really care. If they want to take him out of their game because of some racist views he has then that's their business. If people want to not buy a game due to that one decision then that's also their business. That should be the end of it, so I'm not sure why people at the company are banning or making fun of or whatever. I can however see internet folks going crazy over this so I'm not sure how Playtonic didn't see this. I mean, male + racism + banning is like the perfect formula for stupid internet controversy.

I've been looking forward to this game and who they have as voice actors does not really matter to me. I mean, it's a platforming game about a lizard and a bat. Jon whatshisface is an insignificant part of this project. I appreciate them standing up for their company's core beliefs or what have you but if you are going to shut out every racist from media then you won't be left with much talent. It's full of racists.