Guild Wars 2 - Bill Murphy - ArenaNet and the Wisdom of Not Doing Anything - MMORPG.com

SBFord

Guild Wars 2 - Bill Murphy - ArenaNet and the Wisdom of Not Doing Anything - MMORPG.com

ArenaNet should be having a good time. The latest update to the Path of Fire expansion came out, it was universally acclaimed by media and players. They’ve scored a win, and regained momentum. But then… well, then an employee spoke out on Twitter. And then the President made an example of her, and another employee. And now ArenaNet is in the middle of a PR blunder of its own creation.

Read the full story here

SBFord

Since I get to read this stuff as I post it, all I can say is nicely done @billmurphy !

My favorite comment in all of this that, I believe, should be shouted from the rooftops:

"I’ve spoken with several former employees of ArenaNet and they’ve all told me the same thing: MO is not the hero Guild Wars fans make him out to be. Quite often, it’s the opposite: he’s a founder and the company president, but there’s a reason he’s the only founder left at the company. There’s a reason many of the people who were responsible for the sky-high dreams of Guild Wars 2 left for other studios. There’s a reason that MO’s the only founder left."

Kajidourden

This whole thing is incredibly simple.  Don't do stupid shit that besmirches the company you work for.

People have before, and will continue to be fired over PR.

Ridrith

I don't like Jessica Price and frankly I'm glad she was removed from the team. Her commentary on TB's death was out of line and disgusting. If you're going to act like a garbage human being, you should be treated like one. She may not have been fired or caught flack for that comment from A-Net but she certainly should have. It's all the better she finally got called out for being unprofessional and got canned for it.

You can disagree with someone's views. You can straight up not like that person but touting their death in a way that leaves it open for discussion or to try to further your agenda, whatever it might be is gross. All I can say is that I'm glad she's no longer around to do harm.

BillMurphy

Kajidourden said:

This whole thing is incredibly simple.  Don't do stupid shit that besmirches the company you work for.

People have before, and will continue to be fired over PR.

And yet, the President can't be fired by anyone except maybe NCSoft itself. 

Darthturk

Im not really sure why you would even make this article, it serves no purpose other than to create drama on this site. Its not like any pleasant conversation or discussion will ever come from stuff like this.

Elquin

There was nothing in his critique to illicit "clapping back". She could have handled the situation responsibly, but chose not to and in doing so, put ArenaNet in a bad position. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It could have been handled differently, but in the end... There's only one person who is responsible for what happened and that's JP.

xelrah

Only surprising part is that she wasn't fired earlier looking at her twitter feed. I would not like to work with person who openly admits to being happy about someone's death after long struggle with terminal cancer, among other things.

Panther2103

In the article you state that the person tweeting at her wasn't antagonistic, but she should be able to clap back? Why can she be rude if the person wasn't being antagonistic. Also it might be her personal Twitter account, but it isn't like she is just being rude on her twitter with the company listed on there, she is literally talking about the game she works on, and being obnoxious and rude towards fans discussing said game.

Maybe she shouldn't have been fired. But at the same time what could they do?

She has had some pretty gross tweets in the past, and this isn't much different. People are allowed to discuss how they feel about things, but if you are working for a company and discussing that companies specific practices or games, then the ball is in their court with what the response is. This wasn't unjustified, this shouldn't be as big of an issue as it's becoming.

BillMurphy

Elquin said:

There was nothing in his critique to illicit "clapping back". She could have handled the situation responsibly, but chose not to and in doing so, put ArenaNet in a bad position. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It could have been handled differently, but in the end... There's only one person who is responsible for what happened and that's JP.

I agree, there was nothing to clap back at for Delroir. But someone in my circles put it well: "It's like she has PTSD from dealing with crap in this industry". Make no bones about it, as many devs (male or female) can attest - dealing with the hate and death threats while making games is a very real stress. Which is just nuts.

BitterClinger

You know why companies have community managers to interface with customers instead of just allowing developers to do it? Because they'd rather fire a community manager for saying stupid stuff than a developer. Price's reaction to this entire situation tells me she was probably "on the bubble" at Anet, and they were just waiting for an opportunity to cut a problem employee.

BillMurphy

Zenislav said:

Woman is psycho that brings her own personal agenda and political opinions where she should not. What is deal with all this white knighting? Would media be this vocal if man was fired for similar reasons?

I would be writing the same article, yes.

Aeander

This shouldn't even be controversial. The fastest way to get fired at any company is to disrespect customers. That is what JP did. That is why she was fired. End of story.

BillMurphy

BitterClinger said:

You know why companies have community managers to interface with customers instead of just allowing developers to do it? Because they'd rather fire a community manager for saying stupid stuff than a developer. Price's reaction to this entire situation tells me she was probably "on the bubble" at Anet, and they were just waiting for an opportunity to cut a problem employee.

There is merit to this too. We don't know what else might have been at play here. This could have been a "straw" that broke the camel's back.

JeffSpicoli

Another article on this crazy woman who got fired from A-Net, Wasn't the last thread of 12 pages of circle jerking enough? She got what she deserved . Gaming Journalist need to stick to GAMING , If you want to talk politics get a job at one of the major news stations or apply to the Washington Post.

BillMurphy

Aeander said:

This shouldn't even be controversial. The fastest way to get fired at any company is to disrespect customers. That is what JP did. That is why she was fired. End of story.

I don't think it's that simple in this case. And then why was Fries fired? He was, for all I can surmise, loved by both fans and AN employees. Just to CYA and not get a law-suit for discrimination perhaps? The whole thing stinks, and has potential implications for devs at all companies moving forward. 

MadFrenchie

I disagree about it being a PR blunder.  Other than the game media itself, the overwhelming response seems from my reading to have been that ANet did what was necessary to avoid a PR blunder.

Everything we've seen, when looked at objectively, not as some gender-specific overarching societal controversy, but as a simple employee to customer reaction, screams she was utterly wrong.  You don't try to put a polite customer on blast in the public space unless the actions they took were objectively awful (and, I would go further and say are wholly unrelated to the specific criticism of your company's product).  Period.  End of story.

I have as much sympathy for the plight of anyone who isn't a white heterosexual male as anyone, but you cannot ignore the objective facts of the event as it unfolded.  These types of articles and the gaming media's response in general are the very reason terms like SJW and feminist have garnered a negative connotation.  This is why trust in mainstream media is at an all-time low in America.

You can't fight fire with fire here (EDIT- note this sentence and final paragraph are referring to Price's response, not necessarily the media's coverage).  Specifically when that fire is not even controlled, but sprayed about ignorantly, setting the entire village aflame with no regard as to who gets burned.

simsalabim77

She was rude and forced gender politics into a discussion where it had no business being. She continues to force the gender politics story as the driving reasons all this happened. Not only that, but she has a track record of being extremely inflammatory and toxic. She should not get a pass or sympathy because she is a loud modern feminist. Her male colleague was also fired for being involved, but I haven't seen too much of a focus on him. I wonder why? 

What terrible gender struggle caused this woman to be fired?  
A male fan disagreed with her. 

I feel sorry for all feminists who have idiots like her representing their cause. It cheapens everything feminism stands for, and is insulting to women who actually fight for equality. 

BillMurphy

MadFrenchie said:

These types of articles and the gaming media's response in general are the very reason terms like SJW and feminist have garnered a negative connotation.  This is why trust in mainstream media is at an all-time low in America.

You can't fight fire with fire here.  Specifically when that fire is not even controlled, but sprayed about ignorantly, setting the entire village aflame with no regard as to who gets burned.

I'm actually trying to look at it from all sides. And it seems to me that the only person who really got "hurt" from all this may have been Peter Fries. 

Mowzer

SBFord said:

Since I get to read this stuff as I post it, all I can say is nicely done @billmurphy !



My favorite comment in all of this that, I believe, should be shouted from the rooftops:



"I’ve spoken with several former employees of ArenaNet and they’ve all told me the same thing: MO is not the hero Guild Wars fans make him out to be. Quite often, it’s the opposite: he’s a founder and the company president, but there’s a reason he’s the only founder left at the company. There’s a reason many of the people who were responsible for the sky-high dreams of Guild Wars 2 left for other studios. There’s a reason that MO’s the only founder left."

I strongly dissagree. By including that paragraph, which is just a thinly veiled character assassination to try and strengthen his argument, he lowered himself to that of which he speaks of, and is very poor form and very unprofessional.

forcelima

Thanks i'm going to go buy more gems every time one of these pieces get published.

MadFrenchie

BillMurphy said:

MadFrenchie said:

These types of articles and the gaming media's response in general are the very reason terms like SJW and feminist have garnered a negative connotation.  This is why trust in mainstream media is at an all-time low in America.

You can't fight fire with fire here.  Specifically when that fire is not even controlled, but sprayed about ignorantly, setting the entire village aflame with no regard as to who gets burned.

I'm actually trying to look at it from all sides. And it seems to me that the only person who really got "hurt" from all this may have been Peter Fries. 

I don't disagree, but if Fries wants to place blame, he has to start where the blunder began, which rests squarely on the shoulders of Price.

immoralthang

Price listed her current employer (at the time) on a personal social media account and attacked a well-respected member and A-Net partner of the community. She also inappropriately used sexism as an excuse for her offensive comments. She demonized a huge portion of the playerbase. Is there a mob mentality and a toxic element in GW2? Absolutely. Every online community has such behavior and often is the most vocal. The way a company and its representatives address it is the key. Price fed the trolls and actually accomplished the opposite of what she intended. When you are in a creative field and detail your thought process on the Internet for all to see, of course you are going to get criticism and feedback.If she would have taken the high road and directed the community member to the proper channels to offer feedback, this whole predicament could have been avoided. She tarnished ArenaNet’s brand and most employers consider that enough of a serious offense to warrant termination.

The moral of the story is do not mix your personal social media activity with your professional one. I’m not celebrating her being fired but the fallout of keeping Price around would create more problems than letting her go.

krevra

Cut off the cancer

SBFord

thunderC said:

Another article on this crazy woman who got fired from A-Net, Wasn't the last thread of 12 pages of circle jerking enough? She got what she deserved . Gaming Journalist need to stick to GAMING , If you want to talk politics get a job at one of the major news stations or apply to the Washington Post.

This IS about gaming. ArenaNet? Guild Wars 2? Game Developer? Not tooooooo hard to connect the dots. Gaming is more than just the actual games themselves.

That said, I'm quite sure we don't know the entire story and, so far anyway, have only heard Price's retelling. Nobody wins here, especially Fries who was sticking up for someone who's probably his friend, even if somewhat lacking in diplomacy, and got the ax for it which was way over the top.

I personally can't wait for the next news cycle to bury it.

Saint_Herbie

I’m guessing she was already on thin ice after the Total Biscuit comments and this was the final straw. She verbally attacked the guy and not only that, attacked him and tried to push her SJW agenda by implying he disagreed with her and thought she was incompetent because she was a woman. He never implied anything of the sort and handled himself like a total gentleman trying to back out and diffuse the situation, yet she still kept going after him!

Sorry Bill, she got exactly what was coming to her and I applaud MO for the stance that he took. If i used social media in the way she did and attacked consumers of the product my company produced, I’d be shit-canned by the end of the day and rightfully so.