Massively pokes fun at paying $1000 to "interview" the SV dev who then dodges the questions

Slapshot1188 · February 2013

Here is a snippet followed by the link to the full article:

There was just oooooone little itty-bitty catch: Aralis landed the interview only because he'd been the top donator to the game in January. In fact, he'd ponied up $1000.

The interview is fraught with a few other issues, such as the fact that Nystrom dodges some of the player's questions and smooths over others, which'd probably annoy me if I had just effectively spent $1000 for the privilege of emailing a few questions off to a dev I admired

http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/02/08/the-daily-grind-would-you-pay-to-interview-a-developer/#comments

Looks like some of the mainstream gaming press is finally calling SV out on some of their questionable tactics.

MaxJac · February 2013

To be fair, donating doesn't entitle anyone to anything. It is a donation and donations should not have an expectation of return. With that said, this was an oppertunity to do something nice in return. Perhaps talking to the person was an attempt at doing something nice. It sounds like it didn't go as well as the person had hoped, but again it was a donation.

I don't play Mortal so this is from the perspective of an outsider who likes to read too much game news.

drean93 · February 2013

1000$
Custom forum title, "Champion of Nave"
Lifetime game subscription
Unique silver cloak (account-wide)
In-game title, "the Generous" (account-wide)
Name an NPC in Nave with Henrik Nystrom
One discontinued "full loot bag" signed by Henrik Nystrom and Sebastian Persson

Lahuzer · February 2013

Originally posted by Genadi
(mod edit)

Well... Maybe cause it WAS the players that asked for it? http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/threads/supporters-of-mo.79645/

Did you miss that tiny part in that very same thread you quoted it from before you went "Fanboism at it's finest"? Then I say your statement is "hateboism at it's finest"...

Betakodo · February 2013

Donating to a for profit company, hmmm. Kind of makes you wonder if the guy was rich, or if he put it on his credit card. Maybe even skipped paying his bills, didn't flush the toilet after use and ate ramen. Yeah I see the crap he gets for giving $1000, I'd valuate that as like $20 worth of stuff. And that's a generous estimate.

PieRad · February 2013

Hmm $1000, that's a new 50" full HD tv, here in denmark.

Why donate that to a game company, if you aboslutely want to get those $1000 out of your wallet, donate them to charity.

Lahuzer · February 2013

Originally posted by Betakodo
Donating to a for profit company, hmmm. Kind of makes you wonder if the guy was rich, or if he put it on his credit card. Maybe even skipped paying his bills, didn't flush the toilet after use and ate ramen. Yeah I see the crap he gets for giving $1000, I'd valuate that as like $20 worth of stuff. And that's a generous estimate.

Well, whatever he gets. It's a DONATION. It's free for him to do so. You don't have to like it or agree upon it. But it's up to anyone to do so. Just as it's up to anyone to donate for a kickstarter and getting "a NPC named" etc. It's more or less the same shit. People giving money to developers for them to be able to make the game that the player loves or are interested in. I can never see how this is a bad thing.

Burntvet · February 2013

Originally posted by Lahuzer

Originally posted by Betakodo
Donating to a for profit company, hmmm. Kind of makes you wonder if the guy was rich, or if he put it on his credit card. Maybe even skipped paying his bills, didn't flush the toilet after use and ate ramen. Yeah I see the crap he gets for giving $1000, I'd valuate that as like $20 worth of stuff. And that's a generous estimate.

Well, whatever he gets. It's a DONATION. It's free for him to do so. You don't have to like it or agree upon it. But it's up to anyone to do so. Just as it's up to anyone to donate for a kickstarter and getting "a NPC named" etc. It's more or less the same shit. People giving money to developers for them to be able to make the game that the player loves or are interested in. I can never see how this is a bad thing.

Because this company is among the worst in the industry and committed "no kidding", actionable fraud (in the US, at least) in regards to promising paying customers one thing and failing to deliver? (People who paid the original box price have STILL never received the client DVDs they were promised.)

Lahuzer · February 2013

Originally posted by Burntvet
Originally posted by Lahuzer
Originally posted by Betakodo
Donating to a for profit company, hmmm. Kind of makes you wonder if the guy was rich, or if he put it on his credit card. Maybe even skipped paying his bills, didn't flush the toilet after use and ate ramen. Yeah I see the crap he gets for giving $1000, I'd valuate that as like $20 worth of stuff. And that's a generous estimate.

Well, whatever he gets. It's a DONATION. It's free for him to do so. You don't have to like it or agree upon it. But it's up to anyone to do so. Just as it's up to anyone to donate for a kickstarter and getting "a NPC named" etc. It's more or less the same shit. People giving money to developers for them to be able to make the game that the player loves or are interested in. I can never see how this is a bad thing.

Because this company is among the worst in the industry and committed "no kidding", actionable fraud (in the US, at least) in regards to promising paying customers one thing and failing to deliver? (People who paid the original box price have STILL never received the client DVDs they were promised.)

What does ANYTHING of that have to do with the donation system that they have in place now, that the MO players ASKED for?

Jacxolope · February 2013

Originally posted by Lahuzer
Originally posted by Burntvet
Originally posted by Lahuzer
Originally posted by Betakodo
Donating to a for profit company, hmmm. Kind of makes you wonder if the guy was rich, or if he put it on his credit card. Maybe even skipped paying his bills, didn't flush the toilet after use and ate ramen. Yeah I see the crap he gets for giving $1000, I'd valuate that as like $20 worth of stuff. And that's a generous estimate.

Well, whatever he gets. It's a DONATION. It's free for him to do so. You don't have to like it or agree upon it. But it's up to anyone to do so. Just as it's up to anyone to donate for a kickstarter and getting "a NPC named" etc. It's more or less the same shit. People giving money to developers for them to be able to make the game that the player loves or are interested in. I can never see how this is a bad thing.

Because this company is among the worst in the industry and committed "no kidding", actionable fraud (in the US, at least) in regards to promising paying customers one thing and failing to deliver? (People who paid the original box price have STILL never received the client DVDs they were promised.)

What does ANYTHING of that have to do with the donation system that they have in place now, that the MO players ASKED for?

..It really doesnt.

BUT, reading the fanboy party thread over there they ARE mentioning lawsuits (one guy saying he 'talked to an attorney') so that opens up the can opf worms of all the deviousl (and illegal) things SV has done in the past .Its kind of like "turnabout is fair play".

SV , from my understanding has done so many shady things (too much to list) which they could be sued for but it just uisnt worth it.

I have no dog in this fight and only recently played the game and dint like it . Far too buggy for a 3 year old game (far too buggy for any released game IMHO) but I have been very entertained going through this forum and reading old threads and the antics of SV and...WOW.

Lahuzer · February 2013

Originally posted by Jacxolope
Originally posted by Lahuzer
Originally posted by Burntvet
Originally posted by Lahuzer
Originally posted by Betakodo
Donating to a for profit company, hmmm. Kind of makes you wonder if the guy was rich, or if he put it on his credit card. Maybe even skipped paying his bills, didn't flush the toilet after use and ate ramen. Yeah I see the crap he gets for giving $1000, I'd valuate that as like $20 worth of stuff. And that's a generous estimate.

Well, whatever he gets. It's a DONATION. It's free for him to do so. You don't have to like it or agree upon it. But it's up to anyone to do so. Just as it's up to anyone to donate for a kickstarter and getting "a NPC named" etc. It's more or less the same shit. People giving money to developers for them to be able to make the game that the player loves or are interested in. I can never see how this is a bad thing.

Because this company is among the worst in the industry and committed "no kidding", actionable fraud (in the US, at least) in regards to promising paying customers one thing and failing to deliver? (People who paid the original box price have STILL never received the client DVDs they were promised.)

What does ANYTHING of that have to do with the donation system that they have in place now, that the MO players ASKED for?

..It really doesnt.

BUT, reading the fanboy party thread over there they ARE mentioning lawsuits (one guy saying he 'talked to an attorney') so that opens up the can opf worms of all the deviousl (and illegal) things SV has done in the past .Its kind of like "turnabout is fair play".

SV , from my understanding has done so many shady things (too much to list) which they could be sued for but it just uisnt worth it.

I have no dog in this fight and only recently played the game and dint like it . Far too buggy for a 3 year old game (far too buggy for any released game IMHO) but I have been very entertained going through this forum and reading old threads and the antics of SV and...WOW.

The very same guy says it's more of a joke as well, with the whole "next donation goal should be for SV to hire a lawyer". It's more them venting some frustration for a very missinformed article. And I agree that SV has done things wrong in the past. But they were a new company etc, and are still learning. But they shouldn't get shit for their donation system. It was us, the player of MO that wanted it. And we also didn't want any kind of reward that would give us benefits ingame. So the rewards goes in line with that, and on top of that, the top donor will get a interview with Henrik for the rest of us to see.

Slapshot1188 · February 2013

Originally posted by Genadi
(mod edit)

Yes, that is a great thread and one of the best in recent times.

Anytime a thread contains people saying they "talked to their European lawyer friend" and explaining the legal case to sue a website about an opinion piece is pure "win". And no... those people are not joking in the thread. It's pure hyperventillation.

Omali · February 2013

Originally posted by Jacxolope
BUT, reading the fanboy party thread over there they ARE mentioning lawsuits (one guy saying he 'talked to an attorney') so that opens up the can opf worms of all the deviousl (and illegal) things SV has done in the past .Its kind of like "turnabout is fair play".

I've had the community talk about pooling together donations so Star Vault could sue me a couple years ago. It's just the way that the community vents its frustration.

Lahuzer · February 2013

If you guys here think that that article is spot on and well written. Well, then I have to say that you've reached a place where your hate against SV/MO has finally made you blind. I actually never thought even you Slappy would sink that low. I was wrong.

tawess · February 2013

Well all i can say about this is.

If i ran a small gamestudio and someone who have donated 1000$ asked for a short interveiw with me, i'd agree to it too. Especially as it is a lose/lose situation. After all he agrees to knowing that there are stuff he will not be able to talk about for one reason or another, and that people will tear him a new one for it. Or he says no and then it becomes "SV dev could not even bother to do a short interview with someone who have given them 1000$, what backyeards they are "

If anyone look like a backyard right now it is the Massivley blogger who took a play right out of the tabloid handbook. Not saying SV does some very starnge (and perhaps criminal) stuff from time to time. But tell me any version of this scenario where he would have come out on top.

Slapshot1188 · February 2013

Originally posted by Lahuzer
If you guys here think that that article is spot on and well written. Well, then I have to say that you've reached a place where your hate against SV/MO has finally made you blind. I actually never thought even you Slappy would sink that low. I was wrong.

Sorry but in your OP on the MO forum which started the thread referenced here you say "They should apologize and suck his ballz". That is a GREAT way to start a discussion thread.. not.

I mean... then you want to talk about other people being "blind"?

The article said that the player received the interview because he donated $1000. That is a fact. Will the value change next month? Maybe. Maybe it will be $100 as the donations dry up, but anyone who wanted to interview Henrick THIS month had to pay $1000, and if I donated $500 I would have been passed by.

The article said that Henrik dodged questions. Simply read the responses. Heck some of them can probably be cut and pasted from free interviews from a year or two ago.

The article then asked if other readers would pay $1000 to interview a developer. That is the real point of the article and is a perfectly valid question. Sure you can say that the donations were given for other reasons and not the interview. That might be valid, might not... but it is also irrelevent to the question posed (heck then why do you think they list perks next to donation levels?). WOULD you donate $1000 to interview a dev? Hell no... at least for me. And if I DID donate $1000 that developer better do a DAMN BETTER JOB answering my questions than Henrik did, whether or not this was the primary reason for the donation or not.

Slapshot1188 · February 2013

Originally posted by tawess
Well all i can say about this is.

If i ran a small gamestudio and someone who have donated 1000$ asked for a short interveiw with me, i'd agree to it too. Especially as it is a lose/lose situation. After all he agrees to knowing that there are stuff he will not be able to talk about for one reason or another, and that people will tear him a new one for it. Or he says no and then it becomes "SV dev could not even bother to do a short interview with someone who have given them 1000$, what backyeards they are "

If anyone look like a backyard right now it is the Massivley blogger who took a play right out of the tabloid handbook. Not saying SV does some very starnge (and perhaps criminal) stuff from time to time. But tell me any version of this scenario where he would have come out on top.

Of course the problem here is that you have a crucial FACT wrong. It wasn't the person that donated the money ASKING for an interview. It was the company that PROMISED the interview to the highest donor. So he didn't "agree" to the interview... he in fact PROPOSED it as a perk!

tawess · February 2013

Actually, i could see my self paying that much for a interview with a dev, but then i want the whole 9 yards... Full press VIP treatment (tour of the studio, insight in to the development process and session with the devs asking questions getting good info (even if it meant i had to sign a NDA) and ofc a swag-bag.. Then i could sure see my self paying that much.

Edit: Ok my bad, i was under the impression that this was a added perk to the "high-roller" option and not part of the original deal.

Toferio · February 2013

/popcorn is all I can say at this point. At both sides.

Jacxolope · February 2013

Like I mentioned before- I have no dog in this fight...

Personally I feel asking for donations and being a "for profit" company is either an admission of failure or pure greed.

Personally I didnt like the game, the bugs and felt it was nothing like a "3D UO".

I had heard all the "hate" over MO and avoided the game until F2P started although I hate F2P, I felt in the case of MO and with all the negative pubicity- F2P was a good move and allowed people like myself to give it an honet try. I did, and I didnt like it.

...BUT. That article was crap. It did spin thimngs like someone paid $1000 to ask a few questions when the truth was they recieved other "things"- It really was a poor attempt at making an already bad game look worse.

-Hell, I am not even positive that half the things I read about MO are the truth from either "side" but I still think this is the most lulzy forum I have ever seen and I have spent the last week or two reading and laughing my everloving ass off.

So no, the article wasnt "fair" but if this brings a resurgence of hilarity back to this seemingly dead forum- Then I support this article (and barak Obama does as well)

deathshroud · February 2013

Originally posted by Jacxolope
Like I mentioned before- I have no dog in this fight...

Personally I feel asking for donations and being a "for profit" company is either an admission of failure or pure greed.

Personally I didnt like the game, the bugs and felt it was nothing like a "3D UO".

I had heard all the "hate" over MO and avoided the game until F2P started although I hate F2P, I felt in the case of MO and with all the negative pubicity- F2P was a good move and allowed people like myself to give it an honet try. I did, and I didnt like it.

...BUT. That article was crap. It did spin thimngs like someone paid $1000 to ask a few questions when the truth was they recieved other "things"- It really was a poor attempt at making an already bad game look worse.

-Hell, I am not even positive that half the things I read about MO are the truth from either "side" but I still think this is the most lulzy forum I have ever seen and I have spent the last week or two reading and laughing my everloving ass off.

So no, the article wasnt "fair" but if this brings a resurgence of hilarity back to this seemingly dead forum- Then I support this article (and barak Obama does as well)

regardless of what you think about donating being good or not, the truth here is that she wrote an article about a player of mo sending 1000 to sv for an interview, Infact he donated 1000 and recieved several different perks for doing so which she makes no mention of.

I do think henrik could have been more open with his answers afterall the guy donated 1000 out of his own pocket. But im pretty sure he didnt donate soley for an interview and neither did he donate under the ignorance of thinking he was paying for an interview.

In my opinion she should be fired from massively for not doing her job properly but thats just my opinion, i mean if you cant be bothered to actually do research or you hold grudges agaisnt games of which the rumor is she was a member of cir then you shouldnt be doing what she is doing.

Toferio · February 2013

Originally posted by deathshroud
In my opinion she should be fired from massively for not doing her job properly but thats just my opinion, i mean if you cant be bothered to actually do research or you hold grudges agaisnt games of which the rumor is she was a member of cir then you shouldnt be doing what she is doing.

Oh comon, sure article isn't the holy grail of journalism, but asking her to be fired because she left out other donation perks? That's a bit harsh.

Slapshot1188 · February 2013

Originally posted by deathshroud
Originally posted by Jacxolope
Like I mentioned before- I have no dog in this fight...

Personally I feel asking for donations and being a "for profit" company is either an admission of failure or pure greed.

Personally I didnt like the game, the bugs and felt it was nothing like a "3D UO".

I had heard all the "hate" over MO and avoided the game until F2P started although I hate F2P, I felt in the case of MO and with all the negative pubicity- F2P was a good move and allowed people like myself to give it an honet try. I did, and I didnt like it.

...BUT. That article was crap. It did spin thimngs like someone paid $1000 to ask a few questions when the truth was they recieved other "things"- It really was a poor attempt at making an already bad game look worse.

-Hell, I am not even positive that half the things I read about MO are the truth from either "side" but I still think this is the most lulzy forum I have ever seen and I have spent the last week or two reading and laughing my everloving ass off.

So no, the article wasnt "fair" but if this brings a resurgence of hilarity back to this seemingly dead forum- Then I support this article (and barak Obama does as well)

regardless of what you think about donating being good or not, the truth here is that she wrote an article about a player of mo sending 1000 to sv for an interview, Infact he donated 1000 and recieved several different perks for doing so which she makes no mention of.

I do think henrik could have been more open with his answers afterall the guy donated 1000 out of his own pocket. But im pretty sure he didnt donate soley for an interview and neither did he donate under the ignorance of thinking he was paying for an interview.

In my opinion she should be fired from massively for not doing her job properly but thats just my opinion, i mean if you cant be bothered to actually do research or you hold grudges agaisnt games of which the rumor is she was a member of cir then you shouldnt be doing what she is doing.

Too funny.

She said he received the interview because he was the highest donor in January. Then says he donated $1000. All of this is 100% true.

If I donate $5 right now can I interview Henrik for February? Because I would really like to... but since SV only offers it to the "highest donor", I don't think I can get it for $5 do you? Let me know though because if I can do it for $5 they have my money!

Also please refrain from spreading rumors about the author being a former player with a grudge, but if you have some actual proof please do share. If not, well... it just perfectly in-line with the rest of the thread on the official forums.

Jacxolope · February 2013

Originally posted by deathshroud
Originally posted by Jacxolope
Like I mentioned before- I have no dog in this fight...

Personally I feel asking for donations and being a "for profit" company is either an admission of failure or pure greed.

Personally I didnt like the game, the bugs and felt it was nothing like a "3D UO".

I had heard all the "hate" over MO and avoided the game until F2P started although I hate F2P, I felt in the case of MO and with all the negative pubicity- F2P was a good move and allowed people like myself to give it an honet try. I did, and I didnt like it.

...BUT. That article was crap. It did spin thimngs like someone paid $1000 to ask a few questions when the truth was they recieved other "things"- It really was a poor attempt at making an already bad game look worse.

-Hell, I am not even positive that half the things I read about MO are the truth from either "side" but I still think this is the most lulzy forum I have ever seen and I have spent the last week or two reading and laughing my everloving ass off.

So no, the article wasnt "fair" but if this brings a resurgence of hilarity back to this seemingly dead forum- Then I support this article (and barak Obama does as well)

regardless of what you think about donating being good or not, the truth here is that she wrote an article about a player of mo sending 1000 to sv for an interview, Infact he donated 1000 and recieved several different perks for doing so which she makes no mention of.

I do think henrik could have been more open with his answers afterall the guy donated 1000 out of his own pocket. But im pretty sure he didnt donate soley for an interview and neither did he donate under the ignorance of thinking he was paying for an interview.

In my opinion she should be fired from massively for not doing her job properly but thats just my opinion, i mean if you cant be bothered to actually do research or you hold grudges agaisnt games of which the rumor is she was a member of cir then you shouldnt be doing what she is doing.

Should discord be fired? I think what he has done has harmed the game far more than random gaming "journalist" #459230... I saw quite a few Videos here which seem to prove lots of corruption (granted I didnt see any of this first hand- But everything LOOKS valid)

-And fired? For a sensational article which has left out a few pertinent points? Damn, Fox news and CNN is far worse for far more important issues (Fox even has a supreme court ruling which allows them to lie) and you expect GAMING JOURNALIST to be held to...any...standard whatsoever?

'Cmon man, we all know good reviews are bought and paid for (for the most part) and there is little objectivity in gaming "journalism"- hell, I trust the weekly world news and hold them to a higher standard than a gaming columnist.

deathshroud · February 2013

yea discord should have been fire and i didnt read past the first few words of your post.

gross misconduct by her that could result in legal action is cause for being fired imo, her job is to write articles but your suppsoed to at least research it first.

as for discord, hes hurt the MO community in so many ways he should have been fired a long time ago.

Slapshot1188 · February 2013

Originally posted by deathshroud
gross misconduct by her that could result in legal action is cause for being fired imo, her job is to write articles but your suppsoed to at least research it first.

Except of course that there was "no gross misconduct by her that could result in legal action". To suggest otherwise is laughable.

The whole response on the official forum has been framed by the tone of the OP and thus everyone has their pitchforks and internet laywer suits out. Her quote is contained in the very first post in this thread. The quote is 100% accurate.

Again, I have $5. I want to interview Henrik. Please point me in the proper direction.

EDIT To Add: Also, this is the SECOND donation interview they have had. You know how much the first one went for? Oh yeah... $1000. What a coincidence!

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Massively pokes fun at paying $1000 to "interview" the SV dev who then dodges the questions

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