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.
I'm not anti-MS as a whole because of this. I'm anti-MS in this specific case.
Seriously, what the hell? I've been following this thread, checking Squirms progress or lack thereof, and I have to say for 14 + pages there has been, for the most part, nothing but a measured response. Yes some of the extreme viewpoints seen on forums but the last couple of pages have taken the cake. What a couple of cynical assholes you guys have been, paraphrasing here but, OMG proof where is the proof, why didn't you tape it, and just buy your stuff again etc.. By the way unless this ends up in court, which I highly doubt, there is no need to record the conversations. All Squirm is trying to do is get this stuff sorted out by any method he has, just the same if I had a problem and my field of work could help me contact the right people to sort said problem out, in this case the public. Hopefully it doesn't backfire due to jerk-offs being just as close minded as the people who told Squirm to "go back to England".
Is it really that hard to believe that some over zealous employee/contractor took it upon themselves to say that it would be a conflict of interest, so Squirm should be removed from the editorial staff? Even if they meant that Squirm should abstain from imputing just when unrelated Microsoft issues come up, it still crosses the line of freedom of the press. Editorial staff write about issues and how they feel about said issues. When a company comes in and says "this is our great new Live feature, what do guys you think?", and Squirm responds with an editorial that reads "new Live features, though still no improvments at customer service," thats fair game.
Anyways sorry Squirm that there hasn't been much more for a resolution to your issue and good luck. To the people I paraphrased from quit being so close minded and cynical. Noone believes that in their corprate motto Microsoft states "screw over the little guy", nor are they trying to say that. However somewhere in their masses some lazy, and misinformed call jockeys opened up a can of worms, and I for one hope they get whats coming to them. Karma's a bitch when you're on the wrong side of her.
I was with you at first Squirm, but it really is starting to sound like you've blown this way out of proportion. Some low end customer service reps said there is nothing they could do, you kept hammering away at them to come up with a solution, some of them got a little snarky back at you, and from there... letters to news organizations, blog posts, threats to post your problems all over the net.
I'm really not suprised that if MS found out you were associated with gamepartisan they made moves to end their relationship with the site. I don't buy that they outright requested you be fired - more likely they stated to your boss that they wouldn't continue their relationship with the site if you were part of it. I can't blame them, really.
I still agree that there should be a system in place to migrate accounts, but really this has gotten absurd.
Suckafish on
0
143999Tellin' yanot askin' ya, not pleadin' with yaRegistered Userregular
Given the huge amount of flak going off at the moment in this thread, I'm surprised squirm's "boss" still has yet to pony up a name.
I don't see how Squirm's editor is beholden to this community.
This is what I'm most suprised by. Lets say he/she does post. What then? will you ride the proverbial horse all the way to MS and tell them about it? Will your weep tears and give him what he wants? What exactly are you looking for in return for the editor posting?
Now there are people defending MS here now... its offically happened. I like my 360 but not enough to overlook this shit. Amazing. If Sony, Nintendo, or fucking Coca Cola did this shit I would be front and center with my torch... companies using their clout to try to get a person fired for writing an opinion piece is UNACCEPTABLE. No matter how much you love to play Halo, this cant become the norm.
MistaCreepy on
PS3: MistaCreepy::Steam: MistaCreepy::360: Dead and I don't feel like paying to fix it.
Now there are people defending MS here now... its offically happened. I like my 360 but not enough to overlook this shit. Amazing. If Sony, Nintendo, or fucking Coca Cola did this shit I would be front and center with my torch... companies using their clout to try to get a person fired for writing an opinion piece is UNACCEPTABLE. No matter how much you love to play Halo, this cant become the norm.
Actually, he wrote the article after they tried to get him fired. OP needs a timeline!
I'm having so much fun in this thread. Everybody takes himself so seriously, it's priceless.
Geburtstagskind on
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited January 2008
Didn't we here at the PA Forum tell Squirm to go to the press about this? Didn't we tell him to write about and try to stir up coverage of his plight?
Its not like Squirm is acting alone here. This whole thread is full of suggestions from the community on what he should do. Can't blame him for listening to our advice and following through with it.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
0
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I was with you at first Squirm, but it really is starting to sound like you've blown this way out of proportion. Some low end customer service reps said there is nothing they could do, you kept hammering away at them to come up with a solution, some of them got a little snarky back at you, and from there... letters to news organizations, blog posts, threats to post your problems all over the net.
I'm really not suprised that if MS found out you were associated with gamepartisan they made moves to end their relationship with the site. I don't buy that they outright requested you be fired - more likely they stated to your boss that they wouldn't continue their relationship with the site if you were part of it. I can't blame them, really.
I still agree that there should be a system in place to migrate accounts, but really this has gotten absurd.
Well to be fair, they have yet to offer a decent solution that allows him to keep all of his current purchases. Achievements and points are all things that didn't cost him anything, so fair enough, but when he's paid money for other content, they should at least say something along the lines of 'make a new US gold account with your new billing information, and call us back, we can then mark all of your purchases as 'already bought' on the account, so that you can access them, and swap the gamertags over for you. Oh, and I apologise about the 'go back to England' thing, that guy was a douche, sorry.'
I'd say that'd at least be 80% satisfactory, you can always re-add friends and get achievements back.
Rohaq on
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Didn't we here at the PA Forum tell Squirm to go to the press about this? Didn't we tell him to write about and try to stir up coverage of his plight?
Its not like Squirm is acting alone here. This whole thread is full of suggestions from the community on what he should do. Can't blame him for listening to our advice and following through with it.
Hey, that's a good point.
All you people taking the MS defense stance here. Why weren't you around in this thread speaking against the advice folks were giving Squirm?
Somebody mentioned iTunes way back in the beginning of the thread-- talking about how it was easy to migrate their account or something...
I've been trying to get my account changed to a Japanese account (because I currently have a Japanese address and wanted to keep my iTunes account address consistent while I was dealing with Applecare in Japan a few months earlier) and after it all, Apple just dropped the ball on the issue. They told me there were technical issues with changing my country at first and then later sent me an email telling me the issues had been resolved (and I could change my country). By the time that happened, my MBP had been repaired and I stopped caring about updating my iTunes account. But as of today I still can't change the Country (and therefore can't enter in a Japanese address) in my iTunes account.
Companies just don't get globalization. This is why I don't invest in digital content as much as I would otherwise. If there isn't a way to back it up or consume it on my terms, I'm very hesitant to drop any cash on it. (Although I do buy Live Arcade games.)
Future Blues on
Xbox Live: No Reply
Steam: Jacobontap
LoL: FutureBlues
Didn't we here at the PA Forum tell Squirm to go to the press about this? Didn't we tell him to write about and try to stir up coverage of his plight?
Its not like Squirm is acting alone here. This whole thread is full of suggestions from the community on what he should do. Can't blame him for listening to our advice and following through with it.
Hey, that's a good point.
All you people taking the MS defense stance here. Why weren't you around in this thread speaking against the advice folks were giving Squirm?
While my stance has been "fuck MS, but since they are unwilling to budge, here's what would have been most reasonable for you to do," I'll bite.
Claiming that people's opinions are invalid because they came to the thread late makes no sense. At all. It makes no attack against the argument at all, and thus does not lessen the validity of "defending MS."
I was with you at first Squirm, but it really is starting to sound like you've blown this way out of proportion. Some low end customer service reps said there is nothing they could do, you kept hammering away at them to come up with a solution, some of them got a little snarky back at you, and from there... letters to news organizations, blog posts, threats to post your problems all over the net.
I'm really not suprised that if MS found out you were associated with gamepartisan they made moves to end their relationship with the site. I don't buy that they outright requested you be fired - more likely they stated to your boss that they wouldn't continue their relationship with the site if you were part of it. I can't blame them, really.
I still agree that there should be a system in place to migrate accounts, but really this has gotten absurd.
Well to be fair, they have yet to offer a decent solution that allows him to keep all of his current purchases. Achievements and points are all things that didn't cost him anything, so fair enough, but when he's paid money for other content, they should at least say something along the lines of 'make a new US gold account with your new billing information, and call us back, we can then mark all of your purchases as 'already bought' on the account, so that you can access them, and swap the gamertags over for you. Oh, and I apologise about the 'go back to England' thing, that guy was a douche, sorry.'
I'd say that'd at least be 80% satisfactory, you can always re-add friends and get achievements back.
Achievements costed him time to get. You might not be able to put a dollar figure on that but i'd be pretty cheesed if they all disapeered, especially if they are achievements that unlock content, like in Dead Rising.
I've been offered money from a couple of people and I've politely declined. It would solve my problem as an individual but not the overall problem, that being Microsoft's poor treatment of immigrants and the manner in which they've communicated with me. It's beyond a joke.
Does this mean that if I showed up at the Jump Leads table at Thing 08 with a year of Live it would go unappreciated? :P
Willeth on
@vgreminders - Don't miss out on timed events in gaming! @gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
I was with you at first Squirm, but it really is starting to sound like you've blown this way out of proportion. Some low end customer service reps said there is nothing they could do, you kept hammering away at them to come up with a solution, some of them got a little snarky back at you, and from there... letters to news organizations, blog posts, threats to post your problems all over the net.
I'm really not suprised that if MS found out you were associated with gamepartisan they made moves to end their relationship with the site. I don't buy that they outright requested you be fired - more likely they stated to your boss that they wouldn't continue their relationship with the site if you were part of it. I can't blame them, really.
I still agree that there should be a system in place to migrate accounts, but really this has gotten absurd.
Well to be fair, they have yet to offer a decent solution that allows him to keep all of his current purchases. Achievements and points are all things that didn't cost him anything, so fair enough, but when he's paid money for other content, they should at least say something along the lines of 'make a new US gold account with your new billing information, and call us back, we can then mark all of your purchases as 'already bought' on the account, so that you can access them, and swap the gamertags over for you. Oh, and I apologise about the 'go back to England' thing, that guy was a douche, sorry.'
I'd say that'd at least be 80% satisfactory, you can always re-add friends and get achievements back.
Achievements costed him time to get. You might not be able to put a dollar figure on that but i'd be pretty cheesed if they all disapeered, especially if they are achievements that unlock content, like in Dead Rising.
I was with you at first Squirm, but it really is starting to sound like you've blown this way out of proportion. Some low end customer service reps said there is nothing they could do, you kept hammering away at them to come up with a solution, some of them got a little snarky back at you, and from there... letters to news organizations, blog posts, threats to post your problems all over the net.
I'm really not suprised that if MS found out you were associated with gamepartisan they made moves to end their relationship with the site. I don't buy that they outright requested you be fired - more likely they stated to your boss that they wouldn't continue their relationship with the site if you were part of it. I can't blame them, really.
I still agree that there should be a system in place to migrate accounts, but really this has gotten absurd.
Well to be fair, they have yet to offer a decent solution that allows him to keep all of his current purchases. Achievements and points are all things that didn't cost him anything, so fair enough, but when he's paid money for other content, they should at least say something along the lines of 'make a new US gold account with your new billing information, and call us back, we can then mark all of your purchases as 'already bought' on the account, so that you can access them, and swap the gamertags over for you. Oh, and I apologise about the 'go back to England' thing, that guy was a douche, sorry.'
I'd say that'd at least be 80% satisfactory, you can always re-add friends and get achievements back.
Achievements costed him time to get. You might not be able to put a dollar figure on that but i'd be pretty cheesed if they all disapeered, especially if they are achievements that unlock content, like in Dead Rising.
That's the difference between leisure and work.
I dont know.. some acheievements are quite clearly WORK. :P
I was with you at first Squirm, but it really is starting to sound like you've blown this way out of proportion. Some low end customer service reps said there is nothing they could do, you kept hammering away at them to come up with a solution, some of them got a little snarky back at you, and from there... letters to news organizations, blog posts, threats to post your problems all over the net.
I'm really not suprised that if MS found out you were associated with gamepartisan they made moves to end their relationship with the site. I don't buy that they outright requested you be fired - more likely they stated to your boss that they wouldn't continue their relationship with the site if you were part of it. I can't blame them, really.
I still agree that there should be a system in place to migrate accounts, but really this has gotten absurd.
Well to be fair, they have yet to offer a decent solution that allows him to keep all of his current purchases. Achievements and points are all things that didn't cost him anything, so fair enough, but when he's paid money for other content, they should at least say something along the lines of 'make a new US gold account with your new billing information, and call us back, we can then mark all of your purchases as 'already bought' on the account, so that you can access them, and swap the gamertags over for you. Oh, and I apologise about the 'go back to England' thing, that guy was a douche, sorry.'
I'd say that'd at least be 80% satisfactory, you can always re-add friends and get achievements back.
Achievements costed him time to get. You might not be able to put a dollar figure on that but i'd be pretty cheesed if they all disapeered, especially if they are achievements that unlock content, like in Dead Rising.
Oh, I know that, but there's a difference between things you pay for and things you play for, especially in a legal sense.
Rohaq on
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Didn't we here at the PA Forum tell Squirm to go to the press about this? Didn't we tell him to write about and try to stir up coverage of his plight?
Its not like Squirm is acting alone here. This whole thread is full of suggestions from the community on what he should do. Can't blame him for listening to our advice and following through with it.
Hey, that's a good point.
All you people taking the MS defense stance here. Why weren't you around in this thread speaking against the advice folks were giving Squirm?
While my stance has been "fuck MS, but since they are unwilling to budge, here's what would have been most reasonable for you to do," I'll bite.
Claiming that people's opinions are invalid because they came to the thread late makes no sense. At all. It makes no attack against the argument at all, and thus does not lessen the validity of "defending MS."
I'm not necessarily trying to invalidate their opinion, but if they feel strongly about it they would've been here during a preventive phase. The thread title has remained basically the same the whole time and this thread has also pretty much been on page one since its creation.
Edit - Hrm, maybe I am invalidating it. I usually suspect people of taking a stance just to go against the popular swing.
Just noticed a thread started up at Neogaf about this. Somebody should link this thread over there so they can at least get the full story. Some of the responses are kinda funny.
I'd link it myself except I registered 2 months ago over there and my account still hasn't been validated
Didn't we here at the PA Forum tell Squirm to go to the press about this? Didn't we tell him to write about and try to stir up coverage of his plight?
Its not like Squirm is acting alone here. This whole thread is full of suggestions from the community on what he should do. Can't blame him for listening to our advice and following through with it.
Hey, that's a good point.
All you people taking the MS defense stance here. Why weren't you around in this thread speaking against the advice folks were giving Squirm?
While my stance has been "fuck MS, but since they are unwilling to budge, here's what would have been most reasonable for you to do," I'll bite.
Claiming that people's opinions are invalid because they came to the thread late makes no sense. At all. It makes no attack against the argument at all, and thus does not lessen the validity of "defending MS."
I'm not necessarily trying to invalidate their opinion, but if they feel strongly about it they would've been here during a preventive phase. The thread title has remained basically the same the whole time and this thread has also pretty much been on page one since its creation.
Edit - Hrm, maybe I am invalidating it. I usually suspect people of taking a stance just to go against the popular swing.
I disagree that just because people don't frequent G&T that it makes their opinions and arguments invalid.
I was with you at first Squirm, but it really is starting to sound like you've blown this way out of proportion. Some low end customer service reps said there is nothing they could do, you kept hammering away at them to come up with a solution, some of them got a little snarky back at you, and from there... letters to news organizations, blog posts, threats to post your problems all over the net.
I'm really not suprised that if MS found out you were associated with gamepartisan they made moves to end their relationship with the site. I don't buy that they outright requested you be fired - more likely they stated to your boss that they wouldn't continue their relationship with the site if you were part of it. I can't blame them, really.
I still agree that there should be a system in place to migrate accounts, but really this has gotten absurd.
Well to be fair, they have yet to offer a decent solution that allows him to keep all of his current purchases. Achievements and points are all things that didn't cost him anything, so fair enough, but when he's paid money for other content, they should at least say something along the lines of 'make a new US gold account with your new billing information, and call us back, we can then mark all of your purchases as 'already bought' on the account, so that you can access them, and swap the gamertags over for you. Oh, and I apologise about the 'go back to England' thing, that guy was a douche, sorry.'
I'd say that'd at least be 80% satisfactory, you can always re-add friends and get achievements back.
Achievements costed him time to get. You might not be able to put a dollar figure on that but i'd be pretty cheesed if they all disapeered, especially if they are achievements that unlock content, like in Dead Rising.
Oh, I know that, but there's a difference between things you pay for and things you play for, especially in a legal sense.
Now I am not trying to say he deserves a dollar amount for lost achievements, but losing them is just salt in the wound.. As for a difference between things you pay for and things you play for, the lines that keep those separate have been blurring ever since people started to pay real $$ for virtual and in game items, but since this is a PC thing and not really an XBOX live thing it doesnt really apply to the context of the thread.
I've been offered money from a couple of people and I've politely declined. It would solve my problem as an individual but not the overall problem, that being Microsoft's poor treatment of immigrants and the manner in which they've communicated with me. It's beyond a joke.
Does this mean that if I showed up at the Jump Leads table at Thing 08 with a year of Live it would go unappreciated? :P
If you did this, I'd feel obliged to give you your money's worth in return. I'd much prefer it if you held on to your money, though.
I'd like to remind people of how Microsoft found out I work at GP: Until this issue arose, Microsoft was GP's second-biggest supporter. While DeViney has been contacting Microsoft's PR/marketing team, at some point - I think in late November/early December - he points out I'm having trouble, and asks if you rep can help.
That's how they found out. That's how they new. GP has now decided to back me over cowtowing to Microsoft's request and by doing so have lost their second-biggest supporter, and made an enemy out of one of the biggest developers in the industry.
I was with you at first Squirm, but it really is starting to sound like you've blown this way out of proportion. Some low end customer service reps said there is nothing they could do, you kept hammering away at them to come up with a solution, some of them got a little snarky back at you, and from there... letters to news organizations, blog posts, threats to post your problems all over the net.
I'm really not suprised that if MS found out you were associated with gamepartisan they made moves to end their relationship with the site. I don't buy that they outright requested you be fired - more likely they stated to your boss that they wouldn't continue their relationship with the site if you were part of it. I can't blame them, really.
I still agree that there should be a system in place to migrate accounts, but really this has gotten absurd.
The problem is that the customer service model necessitates this kind of action. It's a rare company -- like Nintendo, apparently -- that manages to convincingly behave as if it's on the consumers' side. Most companies simply aren't. They have graphs showing that a given problem will lose more money than it will cost to fix it, and then they'll do something. It's kind of like the American adversarial approach to justice, and consumers who just take their lumps quietly basically break the system. It would be hard to believe that Microsoft would have taken action to extend the 360's warranties if there weren't a problem with bad publicity. It's no excuse to be rude to a customer service representative, but consumers with legitimate complaints shouldn't give up making noise until they're ready to take their business elsewhere.
I'm having so much fun in this thread. Everybody takes himself so seriously, it's priceless.
So, uh, you're commenting in this thread to rouse people? Y'know, that's what trolling is. Which is against the rules.
You're all taking yourself so seriously. I'm pointing that out. If you want to proclaim that as trolling, then it's your problem but don't go throwing around the rules as if you were the one who wrote them and gets to interpret and enforce them.
I've been offered money from a couple of people and I've politely declined. It would solve my problem as an individual but not the overall problem, that being Microsoft's poor treatment of immigrants and the manner in which they've communicated with me. It's beyond a joke.
Does this mean that if I showed up at the Jump Leads table at Thing 08 with a year of Live it would go unappreciated? :P
If you did this, I'd feel obliged to give you your money's worth in return. I'd much prefer it if you held on to your money, though.
I'd like to remind people of how Microsoft found out I work at GP: Until this issue arose, Microsoft was GP's second-biggest supporter. While DeViney has been contacting Microsoft's PR/marketing team, at some point - I think in late November/early December - he points out I'm having trouble, and asks if you rep can help.
That's how they found out. That's how they new. GP has now decided to back me over cowtowing to Microsoft's request and by doing so have lost their second-biggest supporter, and made an enemy out of one of the biggest developers in the industry.
[citation needed]
Sorry, had to. That's pretty ballsy of them to do that for you, and I think I've already said it, but I applaud the brass involved.
edit: Doc, is it any different to people in these forums going "Hey, I work/know someone at MS, let me see if they can help you"? Because that's happened a few times.
I've been offered money from a couple of people and I've politely declined. It would solve my problem as an individual but not the overall problem, that being Microsoft's poor treatment of immigrants and the manner in which they've communicated with me. It's beyond a joke.
Does this mean that if I showed up at the Jump Leads table at Thing 08 with a year of Live it would go unappreciated? :P
If you did this, I'd feel obliged to give you your money's worth in return. I'd much prefer it if you held on to your money, though.
I'd like to remind people of how Microsoft found out I work at GP: Until this issue arose, Microsoft was GP's second-biggest supporter. While DeViney has been contacting Microsoft's PR/marketing team, at some point - I think in late November/early December - he points out I'm having trouble, and asks if you rep can help.
That's how they found out. That's how they new. GP has now decided to back me over cowtowing to Microsoft's request and by doing so have lost their second-biggest supporter, and made an enemy out of one of the biggest developers in the industry.
Ok everything makes alot more sense now. Somebody in PR decided your story had the potential for bad publicity and quietly asked your editor to "remove" you from the team.
For the record it's not uncommon at all for fansites/bloggers etc to approach PR contacts in order to "bypass" the red tape and at the very least get the correct contact's name and number, in order to get an issue resolved.
I'm pretty surprised though they tried to get your editor to sack you squirm. That's not cool at all.
Bamelin on
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I'm having so much fun in this thread. Everybody takes himself so seriously, it's priceless.
So, uh, you're commenting in this thread to rouse people? Y'know, that's what trolling is. Which is against the rules.
You're all taking yourself so seriously. I'm pointing that out. If you want to proclaim that as trolling, then it's your problem but don't go throwing around the rules as if you were the one who wrote them and gets to interpret and enforce them.
Look, I feel a sense of... I dunno, comradery (?) when it comes to people on this forum (I've only been here for nearly five years). When I see someone getting screwed like this, it irks me. But it irks me even more when other forumers come in and start up the shit we saw for the last few pages. So yes I take it seriously. Is there a problem with that? I would hope not.
edit: Doc, is it any different to people in these forums going "Hey, I work/know someone at MS, let me see if they can help you"? Because that's happened a few times.
Yeah; if the person helping me is my boss, and I work for a video game editorial site, it is. There is a significant conflict of interest created when you use a business contact to resolve a personal problem when you have some degree of leverage over them due to your job position. If they say "we can't help you," the implication could be that there will be consequences against them achieved through your power at work, especially when you say stuff like "I didn't find this statement offensive before, but I could find it very offensive for the media," and "the message that follows is vital to the future of you all."
That's not excusing Microsoft for being jackasses about the whole thing, but it certainly explains a lot.
I'm having so much fun in this thread. Everybody takes himself so seriously, it's priceless.
So, uh, you're commenting in this thread to rouse people? Y'know, that's what trolling is. Which is against the rules.
You're all taking yourself so seriously. I'm pointing that out. If you want to proclaim that as trolling, then it's your problem but don't go throwing around the rules as if you were the one who wrote them and gets to interpret and enforce them.
Look, I feel a sense of... I dunno, comradery (?) when it comes to people on this forum (I've only been here for nearly five years). When I see someone getting screwed like this, it irks me. But it irks me even more when other forumers come in and start up the shit we saw for the last few pages. So yes I take it seriously. Is there a problem with that? I would hope not.
Especially when it is individuals I know and trust.
I'm having so much fun in this thread. Everybody takes himself so seriously, it's priceless.
So, uh, you're commenting in this thread to rouse people? Y'know, that's what trolling is. Which is against the rules.
You're all taking yourself so seriously. I'm pointing that out. If you want to proclaim that as trolling, then it's your problem but don't go throwing around the rules as if you were the one who wrote them and gets to interpret and enforce them.
Look, I feel a sense of... I dunno, comradery (?) when it comes to people on this forum (I've only been here for nearly five years). When I see someone getting screwed like this, it irks me. But it irks me even more when other forumers come in and start up the shit we saw for the last few pages. So yes I take it seriously. Is there a problem with that? I would hope not.
Then I suggest you take a time off. I'm pretty sure you're taking my text out of context. Not because you're an asshole, but because you're too involved in this thing emotionally. I'm neither looking for a fight nor some trolling experience.
I'm having so much fun in this thread. Everybody takes himself so seriously, it's priceless.
So, uh, you're commenting in this thread to rouse people? Y'know, that's what trolling is. Which is against the rules.
You're all taking yourself so seriously. I'm pointing that out. If you want to proclaim that as trolling, then it's your problem but don't go throwing around the rules as if you were the one who wrote them and gets to interpret and enforce them.
Look, I feel a sense of... I dunno, comradery (?) when it comes to people on this forum (I've only been here for nearly five years). When I see someone getting screwed like this, it irks me. But it irks me even more when other forumers come in and start up the shit we saw for the last few pages. So yes I take it seriously. Is there a problem with that? I would hope not.
Then I suggest you take a time off. I'm pretty sure you're taking my text out of context. Not because you're an asshole, but because you're to involved in this thing emotionally. I'm neither looking for a fight nor some trolling experience.
Then what are you looking for? Honest question.
MistaCreepy on
PS3: MistaCreepy::Steam: MistaCreepy::360: Dead and I don't feel like paying to fix it.
edit: Doc, is it any different to people in these forums going "Hey, I work/know someone at MS, let me see if they can help you"? Because that's happened a few times.
Yeah; if the person helping me is my boss, and I work for a video game editorial site, it is. There is a significant conflict of interest created when you use a business contact to resolve a personal problem when you have some degree of leverage over them due to your job position. If they say "we can't help you," the implication could be that there will be consequences against them achieved through your power at work, especially when you say stuff like "I didn't find this statement offensive before, but I could find it very offensive for the media," and "the message that follows is vital to the future of you all."
That's not excusing Microsoft for being jackasses about the whole thing, but it certainly explains a lot.
The "Please attend carefully" is a Doctor Who quote. It amused me to include it in the email at the time. With hindsight, perhaps not a smart inclusion. I probably should've gone for something about Daleks or Artron Crystals or something.
And I didn't ask DeViney He offered to check and, because I'm British and polite, I told him he didn't have to put himself out on my account, but he insisted.
And I didn't ask DeViney He offered to check and, because I'm British and polite, I told him he didn't have to put himself out on my account, but he insisted.
Oh, I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm just saying that looking at it from their perspective (being asked to resolve an issue for a writer, and all the email text), it looks an awful lot like a conflict of interest.
Posts
I'm not anti-MS as a whole because of this. I'm anti-MS in this specific case.
Is it really that hard to believe that some over zealous employee/contractor took it upon themselves to say that it would be a conflict of interest, so Squirm should be removed from the editorial staff? Even if they meant that Squirm should abstain from imputing just when unrelated Microsoft issues come up, it still crosses the line of freedom of the press. Editorial staff write about issues and how they feel about said issues. When a company comes in and says "this is our great new Live feature, what do guys you think?", and Squirm responds with an editorial that reads "new Live features, though still no improvments at customer service," thats fair game.
Anyways sorry Squirm that there hasn't been much more for a resolution to your issue and good luck. To the people I paraphrased from quit being so close minded and cynical. Noone believes that in their corprate motto Microsoft states "screw over the little guy", nor are they trying to say that. However somewhere in their masses some lazy, and misinformed call jockeys opened up a can of worms, and I for one hope they get whats coming to them. Karma's a bitch when you're on the wrong side of her.
I'm really not suprised that if MS found out you were associated with gamepartisan they made moves to end their relationship with the site. I don't buy that they outright requested you be fired - more likely they stated to your boss that they wouldn't continue their relationship with the site if you were part of it. I can't blame them, really.
I still agree that there should be a system in place to migrate accounts, but really this has gotten absurd.
I don't see how Squirm's editor is beholden to this community.
Wow, that's a Scrabble word. :^:
This is what I'm most suprised by. Lets say he/she does post. What then? will you ride the proverbial horse all the way to MS and tell them about it? Will your weep tears and give him what he wants? What exactly are you looking for in return for the editor posting?
Actually, he wrote the article after they tried to get him fired. OP needs a timeline!
Its not like Squirm is acting alone here. This whole thread is full of suggestions from the community on what he should do. Can't blame him for listening to our advice and following through with it.
So, uh, you're commenting in this thread to rouse people? Y'know, that's what trolling is. Which is against the rules.
I'd say that'd at least be 80% satisfactory, you can always re-add friends and get achievements back.
Hey, that's a good point.
All you people taking the MS defense stance here. Why weren't you around in this thread speaking against the advice folks were giving Squirm?
I've been trying to get my account changed to a Japanese account (because I currently have a Japanese address and wanted to keep my iTunes account address consistent while I was dealing with Applecare in Japan a few months earlier) and after it all, Apple just dropped the ball on the issue. They told me there were technical issues with changing my country at first and then later sent me an email telling me the issues had been resolved (and I could change my country). By the time that happened, my MBP had been repaired and I stopped caring about updating my iTunes account. But as of today I still can't change the Country (and therefore can't enter in a Japanese address) in my iTunes account.
Companies just don't get globalization. This is why I don't invest in digital content as much as I would otherwise. If there isn't a way to back it up or consume it on my terms, I'm very hesitant to drop any cash on it. (Although I do buy Live Arcade games.)
Steam: Jacobontap
LoL: FutureBlues
While my stance has been "fuck MS, but since they are unwilling to budge, here's what would have been most reasonable for you to do," I'll bite.
Claiming that people's opinions are invalid because they came to the thread late makes no sense. At all. It makes no attack against the argument at all, and thus does not lessen the validity of "defending MS."
Achievements costed him time to get. You might not be able to put a dollar figure on that but i'd be pretty cheesed if they all disapeered, especially if they are achievements that unlock content, like in Dead Rising.
Does this mean that if I showed up at the Jump Leads table at Thing 08 with a year of Live it would go unappreciated? :P
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
That's the difference between leisure and work.
I dont know.. some acheievements are quite clearly WORK. :P
I'm not necessarily trying to invalidate their opinion, but if they feel strongly about it they would've been here during a preventive phase. The thread title has remained basically the same the whole time and this thread has also pretty much been on page one since its creation.
Edit - Hrm, maybe I am invalidating it. I usually suspect people of taking a stance just to go against the popular swing.
I'd link it myself except I registered 2 months ago over there and my account still hasn't been validated
I disagree that just because people don't frequent G&T that it makes their opinions and arguments invalid.
Now I am not trying to say he deserves a dollar amount for lost achievements, but losing them is just salt in the wound.. As for a difference between things you pay for and things you play for, the lines that keep those separate have been blurring ever since people started to pay real $$ for virtual and in game items, but since this is a PC thing and not really an XBOX live thing it doesnt really apply to the context of the thread.
If you did this, I'd feel obliged to give you your money's worth in return. I'd much prefer it if you held on to your money, though.
I'd like to remind people of how Microsoft found out I work at GP: Until this issue arose, Microsoft was GP's second-biggest supporter. While DeViney has been contacting Microsoft's PR/marketing team, at some point - I think in late November/early December - he points out I'm having trouble, and asks if you rep can help.
That's how they found out. That's how they new. GP has now decided to back me over cowtowing to Microsoft's request and by doing so have lost their second-biggest supporter, and made an enemy out of one of the biggest developers in the industry.
PortsCenter • Jump Leads • The Life Toyetic with Ben and Molly
You're all taking yourself so seriously. I'm pointing that out. If you want to proclaim that as trolling, then it's your problem but don't go throwing around the rules as if you were the one who wrote them and gets to interpret and enforce them.
[citation needed]
Sorry, had to. That's pretty ballsy of them to do that for you, and I think I've already said it, but I applaud the brass involved.
edit: Doc, is it any different to people in these forums going "Hey, I work/know someone at MS, let me see if they can help you"? Because that's happened a few times.
Ok everything makes alot more sense now. Somebody in PR decided your story had the potential for bad publicity and quietly asked your editor to "remove" you from the team.
For the record it's not uncommon at all for fansites/bloggers etc to approach PR contacts in order to "bypass" the red tape and at the very least get the correct contact's name and number, in order to get an issue resolved.
I'm pretty surprised though they tried to get your editor to sack you squirm. That's not cool at all.
Look, I feel a sense of... I dunno, comradery (?) when it comes to people on this forum (I've only been here for nearly five years). When I see someone getting screwed like this, it irks me. But it irks me even more when other forumers come in and start up the shit we saw for the last few pages. So yes I take it seriously. Is there a problem with that? I would hope not.
Yeah; if the person helping me is my boss, and I work for a video game editorial site, it is. There is a significant conflict of interest created when you use a business contact to resolve a personal problem when you have some degree of leverage over them due to your job position. If they say "we can't help you," the implication could be that there will be consequences against them achieved through your power at work, especially when you say stuff like "I didn't find this statement offensive before, but I could find it very offensive for the media," and "the message that follows is vital to the future of you all."
That's not excusing Microsoft for being jackasses about the whole thing, but it certainly explains a lot.
Especially when it is individuals I know and trust.
Then I suggest you take a time off. I'm pretty sure you're taking my text out of context. Not because you're an asshole, but because you're too involved in this thing emotionally. I'm neither looking for a fight nor some trolling experience.
Then what are you looking for? Honest question.
The "Please attend carefully" is a Doctor Who quote. It amused me to include it in the email at the time. With hindsight, perhaps not a smart inclusion. I probably should've gone for something about Daleks or Artron Crystals or something.
And I didn't ask DeViney He offered to check and, because I'm British and polite, I told him he didn't have to put himself out on my account, but he insisted.
PortsCenter • Jump Leads • The Life Toyetic with Ben and Molly
Oh, I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm just saying that looking at it from their perspective (being asked to resolve an issue for a writer, and all the email text), it looks an awful lot like a conflict of interest.