I can sort of see Amateurhour's position. Given the information I would likely come to the same logical conclusion as well. The only difference is I'd probably wait a little longer before riding the "pics or it didn't happen" bandwagon out to Jump-the-Gun Boulevard.
This thread is getting... I was gonna say good but I'm stopping in my tracks while I'm still ahead.
amateurhour, it hasn't even been 24 hours since Squirm's article went up. You act like his boss has waited forever to take action.
no, he's just waiting till everyone quits site whoring and his website gets a little more popular, then it will all go away. THis isn't some new practice.
If he is paid for opinion, not fact, then he can say whatever he wants. He won't be paid if it is all badly written and unjustifiable, so it is safe to assume his employers beleive his opinion to be well writting, coherant, and justifiable.
I can sort of see Amateurhour's position. Given the information I would likely come to the same logical conclusion as well. The only difference is I'd probably wait a little longer before riding the "pics or it didn't happen" bandwagon out to Jump-the-Gun Boulevard.
Dude, you posted this on a site that gets 40K unique hits a day and let your boss put it on Digg, then linked it. You can't do shit like that and then complain to me about not waiting longer. You should have all your facts together, post the story, and then request people to look at it. When your actions get you 15 minutes of internet fame in less than six hours, you should have proof.
This thread is getting... I was gonna say good but I'm stopping in my tracks while I'm still ahead.
amateurhour, it hasn't even been 24 hours since Squirm's article went up. You act like his boss has waited forever to take action.
no, he's just waiting till everyone quits site whoring and his website gets a little more popular, then it will all go away. THis isn't some new practice.
Provide prood please of this tactic. If your going to follow this route then please provide proof.
Katchem_ash on
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
I don't get paid by GamePartisan at all, and haven't done for four years.
then you should have no problem with this ms rep thats a "friend" of your boss telling him not to let you write any more stuff for their site.
You just caught yourself in a lie. You can't get fired from volunteer work. You can't put a post out there saying "MS TRIED TO FIRE ME!" when you don't even work for the company in the first place.
edit: okay, not a lie, but you stretched the truth
If he is paid for opinion, not fact, then he can say whatever he wants. He won't be paid if it is all badly written and unjustifiable, so it is safe to assume his employers beleive his opinion to be well writting, coherant, and justifiable.
It's called an Editorial. There are people who make their living on being an editorialist. So long as it's well written, and in the realm of possibility.
This thread is getting... I was gonna say good but I'm stopping in my tracks while I'm still ahead.
amateurhour, it hasn't even been 24 hours since Squirm's article went up. You act like his boss has waited forever to take action.
no, he's just waiting till everyone quits site whoring and his website gets a little more popular, then it will all go away. THis isn't some new practice.
Provide proof please of this tactic. If your going to follow this route then please provide proof.
I bet it'll be anecdotal proof.
Man, I'm agreeing with K_A. The world has turned upside down.
I can sort of see Amateurhour's position. Given the information I would likely come to the same logical conclusion as well. The only difference is I'd probably wait a little longer before riding the "pics or it didn't happen" bandwagon out to Jump-the-Gun Boulevard.
Dude, you posted this on a site that gets 40K unique hits a day...
Re-read the OP. I was asking for advice, I wasn't pimping the site. GP didn't get mentioned until relatively recently when this situation exploded. I've been very patient with Microsoft up until this point.
...and let your boss put it on Digg, then linked it.
I let my boss? What is that supposed to mean? He needs my permission to Digg one of my blog posts now? I don't even have Digg buttons on my sodding website. I added a 'Digg This" text link to the bottom of that blog post long after he added it, and long after I first mentioned he'd put it on Digg on this thread. I didn't dive onto the PA Forums shouting "MS RAPE!".
...You can't do shit like that and then complain to me about not waiting longer. You should have all your facts together, post the story, and then request people to look at it. When your actions get you 15 minutes of internet fame in less than six hours, you should have proof.
This is the thing - we weren't expecting "internet fame". We weren't after it. I just want my fucking live account sorted out, and I want an apology for Microsoft's actions up to and including the attempted firing.
This thread is getting... I was gonna say good but I'm stopping in my tracks while I'm still ahead.
amateurhour, it hasn't even been 24 hours since Squirm's article went up. You act like his boss has waited forever to take action.
no, he's just waiting till everyone quits site whoring and his website gets a little more popular, then it will all go away. THis isn't some new practice.
Provide prood please of this tactic. If your going to follow this route then please provide proof.
sure, the proof is that he posted a story without posting the facts behind it and then posted digg links to the story, and name dropped in the article to get google hits. That's the proof right there. Also, you're trying to be witty but your comparison logically doesn't work, seeing as how I'm not seeking attention from outside sources on my accusation, once again, you're an idiot.
This thread is getting... I was gonna say good but I'm stopping in my tracks while I'm still ahead.
amateurhour, it hasn't even been 24 hours since Squirm's article went up. You act like his boss has waited forever to take action.
no, he's just waiting till everyone quits site whoring and his website gets a little more popular, then it will all go away. THis isn't some new practice.
Provide proof please of this tactic. If your going to follow this route then please provide proof.
I bet it'll be anecdotal proof.
Man, I'm agreeing with K_A. The world has turned upside down.
At the moment that anecdotal proof will be more than squirm is providing.
I don't get paid by GamePartisan at all, and haven't done for four years.
then you should have no problem with this ms rep thats a "friend" of your boss telling him not to let you write any more stuff for their site.
You just caught yourself in a lie. You can't get fired from volunteer work. You can't put a post out there saying "MS TRIED TO FIRE ME!" when you don't even work for the company in the first place.
edit: okay, not a lie, but you stretched the truth
I didn't stretch the truth. "Fired" is not a word I used until long after people were using it here first. I have been constantly referring to it as MS asking DeViney to drop me from the Editorial team, which is more or less how Microsoft worded it, according to DeViney.
amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
I wish I did work for MS, I'd point this out to the legal department and get a nice fat christmas bonus. Sadly no, I don't, but I don't like crappy journalism. I didn't like when major news did it during the last two wars, I didn't like it when it caused the collapse of an entire internet economy during the enron days, and I don't like it now.
This thread is getting... I was gonna say good but I'm stopping in my tracks while I'm still ahead.
amateurhour, it hasn't even been 24 hours since Squirm's article went up. You act like his boss has waited forever to take action.
no, he's just waiting till everyone quits site whoring and his website gets a little more popular, then it will all go away. THis isn't some new practice.
Provide prood please of this tactic. If your going to follow this route then please provide proof.
sure, the proof is that he posted a story without posting the facts behind it and then posted digg links to the story, and name dropped in the article to get google hits. That's the proof right there. Also, you're trying to be witty but your comparison logically doesn't work, seeing as how I'm not seeking attention from outside sources on my accusation, once again, you're an idiot.
Name calling is one of the signs of losing a debate. Please note I didn't name call you, and now you name call me. Huh.
What you provide could also be worked if his story was true and he wanted exposure. Too bad it also works the other way.
This thread is getting... I was gonna say good but I'm stopping in my tracks while I'm still ahead.
amateurhour, it hasn't even been 24 hours since Squirm's article went up. You act like his boss has waited forever to take action.
no, he's just waiting till everyone quits site whoring and his website gets a little more popular, then it will all go away. THis isn't some new practice.
Provide prood please of this tactic. If your going to follow this route then please provide proof.
sure, the proof is that he posted a story without posting the facts behind it and then posted digg links to the story, and name dropped in the article to get google hits. That's the proof right there. Also, you're trying to be witty but your comparison logically doesn't work, seeing as how I'm not seeking attention from outside sources on my accusation, once again, you're an idiot.
Please tell me where I name dropped. I still don't get why you keep referring to this.
This thread is getting... I was gonna say good but I'm stopping in my tracks while I'm still ahead.
amateurhour, it hasn't even been 24 hours since Squirm's article went up. You act like his boss has waited forever to take action.
no, he's just waiting till everyone quits site whoring and his website gets a little more popular, then it will all go away. THis isn't some new practice.
Provide prood please of this tactic. If your going to follow this route then please provide proof.
sure, the proof is that he posted a story without posting the facts behind it and then posted digg links to the story, and name dropped in the article to get google hits. That's the proof right there. Also, you're trying to be witty but your comparison logically doesn't work, seeing as how I'm not seeking attention from outside sources on my accusation, once again, you're an idiot.
Wait, this has been going on for several months? I'm not terribly surprised that Microsoft marked your e-mail address as spam if you keep harassing them despite them telling you, quite plainly, that there's nothing they can (or will) do. If you threatened them in some of the mails that got through as you did in the one that bounced, or on the phone, it's not terribly surprising that they would not want to do business with a small company that employs you. They're looking to enter into/continue a business with relationship with a company, and one of their employees is publicly trashing and threatening Microsoft. It doesn't make sense for MS to do business with GamePartisan while you are employed there.
Dagrabbit on
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143999Tellin' yanot askin' ya, not pleadin' with yaRegistered Userregular
Man, all these MS fanboys will probably start defending MS if they started Child Labour in some country. "Oh they allow these people to work". "Nothing Wrong with allowing them to work". This attitiude of defending MS sickens me.
A guy is in trouble and has to pay and all two people can do is say "nuh huh Mircosoft rules! GTFO! We love MS".
Squirmy, I has adviced my Stock Broker to sell all my MS stock and stop trading with them. I've informed my family and sent emails linking to this thread and telling them to drop the stock. MS will get no more money from me.
you are the last person on this whole freaking forum that needs to use the word "fanboy" you need to go somewhere else ..........now......
also, you're a little kid, you don't have stock or a stock broker, it wouldn't have been in MS to begin with, and you're a troll.
Wait, is there someone here seriously saying that the OP has been running an elaborate hoax on this thread for the past month just for the chance to post a link to his site where we'd see it?
Wait, this has been going on for several months? I'm not terribly surprised that Microsoft marked your e-mail address as spam if you keep harassing them despite them telling you, quite plainly, that there's nothing they can (or will) do.
The problem is that almost all of their emails up until two weeks ago say something to the effect of "Due to the delicate nature of this issue we advise that you call our Customer Support number" even in emails where I have mentioned the ineptitude of their call center staff and asked then, quite politely, not to refer me to them again.
If you threatened them in some of the mails that got through as you did in the one that bounced, or on the phone, it's not terribly surprising that they would not want to do business with a small company that employs you. They're looking to enter into/continue a business with relationship with a company, and one of their employees is publicly trashing and threatening Microsoft. It doesn't make sense for MS to do business with GamePartisan while you are employed there.
At the point that email had been sent, DeViney hadn't spoken to Microsoft about the issue. He didn't start discussing it until late November/early December, I believe.
Oh, and I'm always polite on the phone. Having worked in a call center before I know what it's like to have a ranty, shouty, angry person on the other end of the line so I make a point of remaining as polite and composed as possible.
This thread is getting... I was gonna say good but I'm stopping in my tracks while I'm still ahead.
amateurhour, it hasn't even been 24 hours since Squirm's article went up. You act like his boss has waited forever to take action.
no, he's just waiting till everyone quits site whoring and his website gets a little more popular, then it will all go away. THis isn't some new practice.
Provide prood please of this tactic. If your going to follow this route then please provide proof.
sure, the proof is that he posted a story without posting the facts behind it and then posted digg links to the story, and name dropped in the article to get google hits. That's the proof right there. Also, you're trying to be witty but your comparison logically doesn't work, seeing as how I'm not seeking attention from outside sources on my accusation, once again, you're an idiot.
Please tell me where I name dropped. I still don't get why you keep referring to this.
alright, this is subjective, as I am at work and can read digg, and your personal blog, but not the full article on the gaming site (which has been shown to me in text form, so yes, I have read it, but if it has been updated I have not seen that.) If this is wrong, then I take it back, but I base that accusation off of this post.
No offense to the site the OP works for, but it's not exactly a hotbed of gaming news. The OP even piggy-backs off of Penny Arcade in the article in a pathetic attempt to garner credibility (and even then it's not like it was a front page penny arcade item, it's a message board topic, which the writer of the article started.) Face it, this isn't a major issue for microsoft. There is no reason they would hunt down a small time writer for a relatively unknown gaming blog/site. The only way that microsoft would know where the OP worked was if he himself made it known in an attempt to get his situation rectified and as i said before that could quite easily fall under blackmail. If nothing else it's just shitty journalism. If I worked at microsoft and some journalist called me and threatened to write bad stuff unless they got something in return you want to know what i would do? I'd call their editor and say "we have an issue here, and if these things were written we may have a legal issue..."
doing that reflects google hits and searches, and is the same as name dropping.
if you didn't do it, then I apologize, if you did, it's not proper citation, and it's unprofessional
I don't get paid by GamePartisan at all, and haven't done for four years.
then you should have no problem with this ms rep thats a "friend" of your boss telling him not to let you write any more stuff for their site.
You just caught yourself in a lie. You can't get fired from volunteer work. You can't put a post out there saying "MS TRIED TO FIRE ME!" when you don't even work for the company in the first place.
edit: okay, not a lie, but you stretched the truth
You don't have to be getting paid to be "fired" or "let go" from a site you write for. Lots of people write for blogs and fansites in their spare time (like me).
I do somewhat suspect Squirm may have used his position as a writer to attempt to get some sort of resolution to the situation (I would have done the same thing) ... Squirm did you try to get one of your contacts to help you out and it backfired (like a letter saying you work for site X and you're going to write about the situation)?
Wait, this has been going on for several months? I'm not terribly surprised that Microsoft marked your e-mail address as spam if you keep harassing them despite them telling you, quite plainly, that there's nothing they can (or will) do.
The problem is that almost all of their emails up until two weeks ago say something to the effect of "Due to the delicate nature of this issue we advise that you call our Customer Support number" even in emails where I have mentioned the ineptitude of their call center staff and asked then, quite politely, not to refer me to them again.
If you threatened them in some of the mails that got through as you did in the one that bounced, or on the phone, it's not terribly surprising that they would not want to do business with a small company that employs you. They're looking to enter into/continue a business with relationship with a company, and one of their employees is publicly trashing and threatening Microsoft. It doesn't make sense for MS to do business with GamePartisan while you are employed there.
At the point that email had been sent, DeViney hadn't spoken to Microsoft about the issue. He didn't start discussing it until late November/early December, I believe.
Oh, and I'm always polite on the phone. Having worked in a call center before I know what it's like to have a ranty, shouty, angry person on the other end of the line so I make a point of remaining as polite and composed as possible.
I'm going to need proof of all this. I need pictures, audio, video, blood tests, stool samples, urine samples, hair samples, skin samples, bone marrow samples and your grandmother holding your drivers license and confirming your identity.
No offense to the site the OP works for, but it's not exactly a hotbed of gaming news. The OP even piggy-backs off of Penny Arcade in the article in a pathetic attempt to garner credibility (and even then it's not like it was a front page penny arcade item, it's a message board topic, which the writer of the article started.) Face it, this isn't a major issue for microsoft. There is no reason they would hunt down a small time writer for a relatively unknown gaming blog/site. The only way that microsoft would know where the OP worked was if he himself made it known in an attempt to get his situation rectified and as i said before that could quite easily fall under blackmail. If nothing else it's just shitty journalism. If I worked at microsoft and some journalist called me and threatened to write bad stuff unless they got something in return you want to know what i would do? I'd call their editor and say "we have an issue here, and if these things were written we may have a legal issue..."
doing that reflects google hits and searches, and is the same as name dropping.
if you didn't do it, then I apologize, if you did, it's not proper citation, and it's unprofessional
I linked specifically to this thread, and I mentioned that I was discussing it on this thread ina thread I started to ask for advice and assistance. I'd hardly consider that name-dropping. If I'd started the thread on, say, the Team17 Forum or something it wouldn't be name-dropping. it's me going onto a community website asking other people where I can go from here.
Wait, this has been going on for several months? I'm not terribly surprised that Microsoft marked your e-mail address as spam if you keep harassing them despite them telling you, quite plainly, that there's nothing they can (or will) do. If you threatened them in some of the mails that got through as you did in the one that bounced, or on the phone, it's not terribly surprising that they would not want to do business with a small company that employs you. They're looking to enter into/continue a business with relationship with a company, and one of their employees is publicly trashing and threatening Microsoft. It doesn't make sense for MS to do business with GamePartisan while you are employed there.
This totally excuses them telling him to go back to England. Yep.
It's not harassment if a customer continually contacts customer support to do business. If he was making a bunch of prank calls an emails it'd be a different story. And guess what? That's not what is going on here.
Henroid on
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
Wait, this has been going on for several months? I'm not terribly surprised that Microsoft marked your e-mail address as spam if you keep harassing them despite them telling you, quite plainly, that there's nothing they can (or will) do.
The problem is that almost all of their emails up until two weeks ago say something to the effect of "Due to the delicate nature of this issue we advise that you call our Customer Support number" even in emails where I have mentioned the ineptitude of their call center staff and asked then, quite politely, not to refer me to them again.
If you threatened them in some of the mails that got through as you did in the one that bounced, or on the phone, it's not terribly surprising that they would not want to do business with a small company that employs you. They're looking to enter into/continue a business with relationship with a company, and one of their employees is publicly trashing and threatening Microsoft. It doesn't make sense for MS to do business with GamePartisan while you are employed there.
At the point that email had been sent, DeViney hadn't spoken to Microsoft about the issue. He didn't start discussing it until late November/early December, I believe.
Oh, and I'm always polite on the phone. Having worked in a call center before I know what it's like to have a ranty, shouty, angry person on the other end of the line so I make a point of remaining as polite and composed as possible.
I'm going to need proof of all this. I need pictures, audio, video, blood tests, stool samples, urine samples, hair samples, skin samples, bone marrow samples and your grandmother holding your drivers license and confirming your identity.
And some pizza.
And a makeover. An extreme one.
Henroid on
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
Ask a friend or relative in the UK to pay the account on my behalf (which means I'm paying twice as much as everyone else in the US, and I'm also inconveniencing my friends and family).
Pay using a bank account in the UK (which would cost me even more money as I'd have to pay to transfer funds to the account as well as paying the more expensive UK price for XBL Gold).
Import Membership Cards from Amazon.co.uk (which still means I am paying twice as much).
As far as I recall, this is more or less the order I was given the advice in.
In fairness, everyone with a UK XBL account is expected to pay the higher rates.
I mean, I agree that Microsoft CS is being retarded and inflexible and all of that and that they should have a mechanism (or make one) for people to transfer their accounts to the country they actually live in. But this portion of your complaint - that you're being forced to pay the same rates as everyone else with an English XBL account - is a little weak.
doing that reflects google hits and searches, and is the same as name dropping.
if you didn't do it, then I apologize, if you did, it's not proper citation, and it's unprofessional
In the article, PA gets mentioned three times, and each time it is followed by the word "Forum" or "Forums". It makes perfect sense for Squirm to talk about PA in the article, as many of his decisions and actions were influenced and guided by posters here. I mean, I guess he could have referred to a non-specific "large gaming community forum" or something, but why should he have to do that?
I do somewhat suspect Squirm may have used his position as a writer to attempt to get some sort of resolution to the situation (I would have done the same thing) ... Squirm did you try to get one of your contacts to help you out and it backfired (like a letter saying you work for site X and you're going to write about the situation)?
I don't have any contacts myself, save for a couple of PR guys at THQ UK and some of the people at Team17 Software, and that's largely to get review copies for my Team17 fansite (which raises an interesting point: if I were only trying to get hits for a website I contribute to, why wouldn't I have posted this article on one of those sites as opposed to a gaming editorial site I've contributed to five times - this article included - since joining the team in 2003?).
I did mention on the phone that I wrote for a couple of gaming sites during one of the later calls in mid-December, and I think I may have mentioned it once back in July during the phonecall that led to the Supervisor saying that the US Membership cards would work.
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
edited January 2008
The OP even piggy-backs off of Penny Arcade in the article in a pathetic attempt to garner credibility (and even then it's not like it was a front page penny arcade item, it's a message board topic, which the writer of the article started.)
That statement right there, by the way, has zero fucking ground here. The OP made this thread asking for advice and it led to this. The above quote assumes the OP made this thread to support what is going on now. And it is wrong.
doing that reflects google hits and searches, and is the same as name dropping.
if you didn't do it, then I apologize, if you did, it's not proper citation, and it's unprofessional
In the article, PA gets mentioned three times, and each time it is followed by the word "Forum" or "Forums". It makes perfect sense for Squirm to talk about PA in the article, as many of his decisions and actions were influenced and guided by posters here. I mean, I guess he could have referred to a non-specific "large gaming community forum" or something, but why should he have to do that?
Citation needed, can't be vague, gotta be specific with the forum or we can't believe it's credible.
I do somewhat suspect Squirm may have used his position as a writer to attempt to get some sort of resolution to the situation (I would have done the same thing) ... Squirm did you try to get one of your contacts to help you out and it backfired (like a letter saying you work for site X and you're going to write about the situation)?
I don't have any contacts myself, save for a couple of PR guys at THQ UK and some of the people at Team17 Software, and that's largely to get review copies for my Team17 fansite (which raises an interesting point: if I were only trying to get hits for a website I contribute to, why wouldn't I have posted this article on one of those sites as opposed to a gaming editorial site I've contributed to five times - this article included - since joining the team in 2003?).
I did mention on the phone that I wrote for a couple of gaming sites during one of the later calls in mid-December, and I think I may have mentioned it once back in July during the phonecall that led to the Supervisor saying that the US Membership cards would work.
I'm just trying to figure out how they tracked down your editor's email ... unless you told them what site you wrote for and it got back to somebody in PR.
Wait, this has been going on for several months? I'm not terribly surprised that Microsoft marked your e-mail address as spam if you keep harassing them despite them telling you, quite plainly, that there's nothing they can (or will) do.
The problem is that almost all of their emails up until two weeks ago say something to the effect of "Due to the delicate nature of this issue we advise that you call our Customer Support number" even in emails where I have mentioned the ineptitude of their call center staff and asked then, quite politely, not to refer me to them again.
If you threatened them in some of the mails that got through as you did in the one that bounced, or on the phone, it's not terribly surprising that they would not want to do business with a small company that employs you. They're looking to enter into/continue a business with relationship with a company, and one of their employees is publicly trashing and threatening Microsoft. It doesn't make sense for MS to do business with GamePartisan while you are employed there.
At the point that email had been sent, DeViney hadn't spoken to Microsoft about the issue. He didn't start discussing it until late November/early December, I believe.
Oh, and I'm always polite on the phone. Having worked in a call center before I know what it's like to have a ranty, shouty, angry person on the other end of the line so I make a point of remaining as polite and composed as possible.
I'm just looking at it from MS's side is all. I'll be the first to agree that you've been given some bad customer service, but there's also been some okay customer service in there. One of the e-mails you posted stated very clearly that they felt there was nothing they could do to resolve your issue. That sucks, but they're not obligated to fix the problem or give you free stuff. At that point, continued harping on the issue to them annoyed them and you've probably been on their ignore list since then.
Once your editor went to bat for you in a business setting, Microsoft has a very good reason to be hesitant about doing business with GamePartisan, since it employs someone who is trashing Microsoft publicly and persistantly, and the management chain of GamePartisan supports that. GamePartisan has no pressure to bring to bear on MS aside from some minor nerd rage of a lesser scale than they get everyday from Slashdot, so MS has no problem taking their ball and going home if there isn't 100% capitulation.
I'm not saying this is a 100% accurate account of what MS was thinking or anything, but they're not acting completely irrationally.
Dagrabbit on
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
Also, everyone here saying that anyone who doesn't agree with him needs to quote or cite everything they say needs to wake up and realize that while it's a cute little joke, it's like saying a guy has to be a mechanic to tell ford that something they advertise is wrong. I'm not a journalist, and I am under no obligation to cite something I say, since I'm not looking to get any resolution from this. I'm fine with my online gaming services. I'm just not going to fall into the anti ms camp because one guy posts a story and escalates it this high without some kind of real proof.
Wait, is there someone here seriously saying that the OP has been running an elaborate hoax on this thread for the past month just for the chance to post a link to his site where we'd see it?
Are you fucking serious?
It's certainly less elaborate than what squirm is proposing. Ockham's Razor and all that jazz.
Posts
PortsCenter • Jump Leads • The Life Toyetic with Ben and Molly
no, he's just waiting till everyone quits site whoring and his website gets a little more popular, then it will all go away. THis isn't some new practice.
If he is paid for opinion, not fact, then he can say whatever he wants. He won't be paid if it is all badly written and unjustifiable, so it is safe to assume his employers beleive his opinion to be well writting, coherant, and justifiable.
PortsCenter • Jump Leads • The Life Toyetic with Ben and Molly
Dude, you posted this on a site that gets 40K unique hits a day and let your boss put it on Digg, then linked it. You can't do shit like that and then complain to me about not waiting longer. You should have all your facts together, post the story, and then request people to look at it. When your actions get you 15 minutes of internet fame in less than six hours, you should have proof.
Provide prood please of this tactic. If your going to follow this route then please provide proof.
then you should have no problem with this ms rep thats a "friend" of your boss telling him not to let you write any more stuff for their site.
You just caught yourself in a lie. You can't get fired from volunteer work. You can't put a post out there saying "MS TRIED TO FIRE ME!" when you don't even work for the company in the first place.
edit: okay, not a lie, but you stretched the truth
It's called an Editorial. There are people who make their living on being an editorialist. So long as it's well written, and in the realm of possibility.
We need a pyro to check him...
I bet it'll be anecdotal proof.
Man, I'm agreeing with K_A. The world has turned upside down.
I agree on this. He is defending MS quite viciously.
Re-read the OP. I was asking for advice, I wasn't pimping the site. GP didn't get mentioned until relatively recently when this situation exploded. I've been very patient with Microsoft up until this point.
I let my boss? What is that supposed to mean? He needs my permission to Digg one of my blog posts now? I don't even have Digg buttons on my sodding website. I added a 'Digg This" text link to the bottom of that blog post long after he added it, and long after I first mentioned he'd put it on Digg on this thread. I didn't dive onto the PA Forums shouting "MS RAPE!".
This is the thing - we weren't expecting "internet fame". We weren't after it. I just want my fucking live account sorted out, and I want an apology for Microsoft's actions up to and including the attempted firing.
PortsCenter • Jump Leads • The Life Toyetic with Ben and Molly
sure, the proof is that he posted a story without posting the facts behind it and then posted digg links to the story, and name dropped in the article to get google hits. That's the proof right there. Also, you're trying to be witty but your comparison logically doesn't work, seeing as how I'm not seeking attention from outside sources on my accusation, once again, you're an idiot.
At the moment that anecdotal proof will be more than squirm is providing.
I didn't stretch the truth. "Fired" is not a word I used until long after people were using it here first. I have been constantly referring to it as MS asking DeViney to drop me from the Editorial team, which is more or less how Microsoft worded it, according to DeViney.
PortsCenter • Jump Leads • The Life Toyetic with Ben and Molly
Name calling is one of the signs of losing a debate. Please note I didn't name call you, and now you name call me. Huh.
What you provide could also be worked if his story was true and he wanted exposure. Too bad it also works the other way.
Please tell me where I name dropped. I still don't get why you keep referring to this.
PortsCenter • Jump Leads • The Life Toyetic with Ben and Molly
Interesting use of the word "proof."
Wait, this has been going on for several months? I'm not terribly surprised that Microsoft marked your e-mail address as spam if you keep harassing them despite them telling you, quite plainly, that there's nothing they can (or will) do. If you threatened them in some of the mails that got through as you did in the one that bounced, or on the phone, it's not terribly surprising that they would not want to do business with a small company that employs you. They're looking to enter into/continue a business with relationship with a company, and one of their employees is publicly trashing and threatening Microsoft. It doesn't make sense for MS to do business with GamePartisan while you are employed there.
Oh, don't get me wrong. It hurt me to do that.
Are you fucking serious?
I dunno.. you seer innocent, but I'd bet you're a thrall..
You're drawn to my eccentric Brawl Code: 4596 9143 4529
The problem is that almost all of their emails up until two weeks ago say something to the effect of "Due to the delicate nature of this issue we advise that you call our Customer Support number" even in emails where I have mentioned the ineptitude of their call center staff and asked then, quite politely, not to refer me to them again.
At the point that email had been sent, DeViney hadn't spoken to Microsoft about the issue. He didn't start discussing it until late November/early December, I believe.
Oh, and I'm always polite on the phone. Having worked in a call center before I know what it's like to have a ranty, shouty, angry person on the other end of the line so I make a point of remaining as polite and composed as possible.
PortsCenter • Jump Leads • The Life Toyetic with Ben and Molly
alright, this is subjective, as I am at work and can read digg, and your personal blog, but not the full article on the gaming site (which has been shown to me in text form, so yes, I have read it, but if it has been updated I have not seen that.) If this is wrong, then I take it back, but I base that accusation off of this post.
doing that reflects google hits and searches, and is the same as name dropping.
if you didn't do it, then I apologize, if you did, it's not proper citation, and it's unprofessional
You don't have to be getting paid to be "fired" or "let go" from a site you write for. Lots of people write for blogs and fansites in their spare time (like me).
I do somewhat suspect Squirm may have used his position as a writer to attempt to get some sort of resolution to the situation (I would have done the same thing) ... Squirm did you try to get one of your contacts to help you out and it backfired (like a letter saying you work for site X and you're going to write about the situation)?
I'm going to need proof of all this. I need pictures, audio, video, blood tests, stool samples, urine samples, hair samples, skin samples, bone marrow samples and your grandmother holding your drivers license and confirming your identity.
PSN ID : HBoxx
I linked specifically to this thread, and I mentioned that I was discussing it on this thread ina thread I started to ask for advice and assistance. I'd hardly consider that name-dropping. If I'd started the thread on, say, the Team17 Forum or something it wouldn't be name-dropping. it's me going onto a community website asking other people where I can go from here.
PortsCenter • Jump Leads • The Life Toyetic with Ben and Molly
This totally excuses them telling him to go back to England. Yep.
It's not harassment if a customer continually contacts customer support to do business. If he was making a bunch of prank calls an emails it'd be a different story. And guess what? That's not what is going on here.
where's that gif of ackbar saying "its a trap" when you need it
And some pizza.
And a makeover. An extreme one.
In fairness, everyone with a UK XBL account is expected to pay the higher rates.
I mean, I agree that Microsoft CS is being retarded and inflexible and all of that and that they should have a mechanism (or make one) for people to transfer their accounts to the country they actually live in. But this portion of your complaint - that you're being forced to pay the same rates as everyone else with an English XBL account - is a little weak.
I don't have any contacts myself, save for a couple of PR guys at THQ UK and some of the people at Team17 Software, and that's largely to get review copies for my Team17 fansite (which raises an interesting point: if I were only trying to get hits for a website I contribute to, why wouldn't I have posted this article on one of those sites as opposed to a gaming editorial site I've contributed to five times - this article included - since joining the team in 2003?).
I did mention on the phone that I wrote for a couple of gaming sites during one of the later calls in mid-December, and I think I may have mentioned it once back in July during the phonecall that led to the Supervisor saying that the US Membership cards would work.
PortsCenter • Jump Leads • The Life Toyetic with Ben and Molly
Citation needed, can't be vague, gotta be specific with the forum or we can't believe it's credible.
I'm just trying to figure out how they tracked down your editor's email ... unless you told them what site you wrote for and it got back to somebody in PR.
I'm just looking at it from MS's side is all. I'll be the first to agree that you've been given some bad customer service, but there's also been some okay customer service in there. One of the e-mails you posted stated very clearly that they felt there was nothing they could do to resolve your issue. That sucks, but they're not obligated to fix the problem or give you free stuff. At that point, continued harping on the issue to them annoyed them and you've probably been on their ignore list since then.
Once your editor went to bat for you in a business setting, Microsoft has a very good reason to be hesitant about doing business with GamePartisan, since it employs someone who is trashing Microsoft publicly and persistantly, and the management chain of GamePartisan supports that. GamePartisan has no pressure to bring to bear on MS aside from some minor nerd rage of a lesser scale than they get everyday from Slashdot, so MS has no problem taking their ball and going home if there isn't 100% capitulation.
I'm not saying this is a 100% accurate account of what MS was thinking or anything, but they're not acting completely irrationally.
It's certainly less elaborate than what squirm is proposing. Ockham's Razor and all that jazz.