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Should sites give coverage to games like CoE and DreamWorld?

MightyUncleanMightyUnclean Member EpicPosts: 3,531
edited March 2021 in The Pub at MMORPG.COM
Should gaming news sites give coverage to extremely suspect games like Chronicles of Elyria and DreamWorld, the integrity of which a reasonable person would question?  Is it their responsibility to be totally impartial and report the news, or should they make a judgement call and not give publicity to these types of games, with the possibility that the publicity may result in more unsuspecting backers being taken advantage of?  Is it the sites' responsibility to include a disclaimer explaining these games' questionable past or future?  What do you guys think?
GdemamiMendel
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Comments

  • PalebanePalebane Member RarePosts: 4,011
    Buyer beware.

    Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.

  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,882
    I think they should make judgement call and place warnings about suspect games on articles when reporting. MMORPG.com too often goes where the fence is lowest and simply publishes the material released by the devs of suspect games as their article, instead of doing some actual reporting and adding the other viewpoint the this project is shady and/or this plan is very unlikely to actually work.
    [Deleted User]Gdemami[Deleted User]
     
  • TwistedSister77TwistedSister77 Member EpicPosts: 1,144
    edited March 2021
    If they are going to cover it, do an interview... get actual full names, backgrounds, ask questions.  A repost of a random KS is not news or journalism IMO.

    If a KS is unwilling to do an interview with a major site in the genre like MMORPG.com or Massively... move along, scam.
    [Deleted User]SandmanjwFrodoFraginsGdemami
  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 43,435
    Absolutely they should cover such games, how else would we learn about fools and their money so easily being parted?

    ;)


    [Deleted User]WhiteLanternUngoodmaskedweasel[Deleted User]

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  • TillerTiller Member LegendaryPosts: 11,125
    edited March 2021
    I don't need a disclaimer to tell me what looks scammy. The articles on games in question are usually covered by other MMO sites as well. I assume MMORPG.com picks the story up with the rest of them; other times these game studios reach out to them to get featured in an article.
    Post edited by Tiller on
    maskedweasel
    SWG Bloodfin vet
    Elder Jedi/Elder Bounty Hunter
     
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    For the most part, yes, they should cover it.  A site like this needs clicks to survive, and an article that you don't post gets no clicks.

    As I see it, the real question is how they cover it.  For something like DreamWorld that looks like a blatant scam, it should be prominently pointed out early in the article that it sure looks like a probable scam.

    For something like Chronicles of Elyria, it's not an obvious failure unless you know the history, so any article that covers it should briefly recount that history.  For example:

    "Chronicles of Elyria, the crowdfunded MMORPG that ran out of money and laid off all of its developers, has announced a new roadmap of promised features.  They can't point to any sources of new funding, but are claiming to restart development after being sued by backers for shutting down without delivering a game.  Here's their new roadmap."

    And make several phrases of that links to previous articles.  That way, the site gets the clicks for covering the articles, but doesn't do a disservice to any readers by leading them to throw money at an obviously doomed project.
    TillerSovrathFrodoFraginsGdemami[Deleted User]
  • SovrathSovrath Member LegendaryPosts: 31,937
    Yes they should. It's "how" they cover it which is important.

    If they just report on it then fine. If they report on it but have an editorial on how great it is then it better be just that great.

    If they say it's horrible then they need to be clear as to why.
    maskedweasel[Deleted User][Deleted User]
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  • UngoodUngood Member LegendaryPosts: 7,517
    Should gaming news sites give coverage to extremely suspect games like Chronicles of Elyria and DreamWorld, the integrity of which a reasonable person would question?  Is it their responsibility to be totally impartial and report the news, or should they make a judgement call and not give publicity to these types of games, with the possibility that the publicity may result in more unsuspecting backers being taken advantage of?  Is it the sites' responsibility to include a disclaimer explaining these games' questionable past or future?  What do you guys think?
    This is a great question.

    As a Gaming News Agency/Platform, ideally they should cover these games and what is going on as it is going on, because that is part of what they are all about, as long as their articles are not thinly veiled adverts for the games in question, and keep the reports honest about what is going on.

    [Deleted User]
    Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.

  • Slapshot1188Slapshot1188 Member LegendaryPosts: 16,947
    There are different levels of coverage.
    Directly passing along a PR article... that's just giving free advertising


    [Deleted User]GdemamiSandmanjw[Deleted User]

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  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    There are many parts to the question asked,let's see if my sketchy memory can cover them all before i forget lol.

    1 Most certainly,a gaming site should cover gaming as a whole.

    2. Now here comes the gray area.WHY is the site covering said game?This is very important,you should be able to decipher the reasons and why it affects gaming without me always spelling it out.

    3 It is easy for us to judge not being in the very position of making choice decisions.Like i would love to think i could easily tell any game to take a hike but we all have a soft side and a business side.

    4 Homework,did the site do any homework at all on the game or was there an agenda in place.

    5 This part leads right back to "homework".Does the game border on illegal or lying to consumers?Another example in the same realm,posting numbers without knowing if they are actually legit numbers but just posting them because they were told.

    6 Is the article actually the sites or did it have to be accepted by the developer before posting it.Is it even the sites article or is it done by a third party like a marketing branch,a publisher or a studio rep.

    Basically you can sum it all up into two parts,is there an agenda behind the article or is it a legit article on a game the site feels should be discussed?

    Ungood

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    Palebane said:
    Buyer beware.
    People are not intelligent enough to police themselves,the brain is easily coerced if the right buttons are pushed.
    GdemamiTiller

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 43,435
    Wizardry said:
    Palebane said:
    Buyer beware.
    People are not intelligent enough to police themselves,the brain is easily coerced if the right buttons are pushed.
    Not so much a matter of lacking intelligence, but rather one of compulsion or lack of self control.

    A gamer I met not very long ago confessed he tried a game with strong P2W monetization and dropped $8K in two weeks on his credit card which he could not afford.

    Gaming is full of stories of obsessive compulsive behaviors, but of course is only one small activity where many people have shown the inability to control themselves. 

    While it often grates our sensibilities when said, sometimes rules / regulations need to be put in place to protect people from harming themselves (or others) for the good of society as a whole.









    [Deleted User][Deleted User]

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • ShaighShaigh Member EpicPosts: 2,142
    Press releases are not news, its more of someone's opinion, if you reprint said opinion you aren't impartial because now its under your name that opinion is posted.

    Iselin: And the next person who says "but it's a business, they need to make money" can just go fuck yourself.
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Shaigh said:
    Press releases are not news, its more of someone's opinion, if you reprint said opinion you aren't impartial because now its under your name that opinion is posted.
    Sometimes press releases can be news.  This game is launching on this day with this business model.  That hardware is launching on that day with those specs.  And so forth.

    Good PR people often write up press releases in the style of a news story.  The goal is to tempt lazy reporters to just post it as is rather than rewriting it.  If you've got something newsworthy to announce, a good press release can often be mostly factual with a fairly positive spin, but not such an overwhelming bias as to make reporters embarrassed to just post it without modification.
    [Deleted User]Sandmanjw
  • TillerTiller Member LegendaryPosts: 11,125
    I remember the good old days when this site actually did call out developers, back when Jon "Stradden" Wood was the managing editor here.

    Right, but he also didn't like posters continually bad mouthing certain games here either, hence why they made a forum for SWG vets separate from the main forum.
    SWG Bloodfin vet
    Elder Jedi/Elder Bounty Hunter
     
  • KnightFalzKnightFalz Member EpicPosts: 4,122
    Limiting coverage due to suspicion alone is somewhat like presuming guilt until innocence is proven. I don't think that's a stance any media should adopt in what is at least a comparatively free society.
    [Deleted User][Deleted User]Kyleran
  • MendelMendel Member LegendaryPosts: 5,609
    You get the behavior you reward.




    Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.

  • cheyanecheyane Member LegendaryPosts: 9,067
    edited March 2021
    What, are the readers here so fragile and clueless that they cannot discern for themselves what games they should be supporting. It is news and the site will report on it. They will just lay out what they know and it is up to us as readers to eschew the games we don't wish to support.

    Do you think that sanitizing the news is this site's job? Their job is to simply report and if they want to include their opinion  they may but that is optional.

    The main reason the threads on the news get so much attention is because you all cannot stay quiet and leave the damn report alone. Everyone must have a go and the views and posts accumulate and the piece of news that could have been buried will stay on top. It begs the question why do you all have to continuously bump those threads.
    [Deleted User]
    Chamber of Chains
  • MendelMendel Member LegendaryPosts: 5,609
    Quizzical said:
    Shaigh said:
    Press releases are not news, its more of someone's opinion, if you reprint said opinion you aren't impartial because now its under your name that opinion is posted.
    Sometimes press releases can be news.  This game is launching on this day with this business model.  That hardware is launching on that day with those specs.  And so forth.

    Good PR people often write up press releases in the style of a news story.  The goal is to tempt lazy reporters to just post it as is rather than rewriting it.  If you've got something newsworthy to announce, a good press release can often be mostly factual with a fairly positive spin, but not such an overwhelming bias as to make reporters embarrassed to just post it without modification.

    A *better* news story is "Game A launched this week" (past tense).  Who really believes "will launch" anymore?

    What we are seeing is industry-wide mix of creative publicity and slipshod journalism, a dangerous combination at the best of times.



    Gdemami

    Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.

  • UngoodUngood Member LegendaryPosts: 7,517
    edited March 2021
    Kyleran said:
    Wizardry said:
    Palebane said:
    Buyer beware.
    People are not intelligent enough to police themselves,the brain is easily coerced if the right buttons are pushed.
    Not so much a matter of lacking intelligence, but rather one of compulsion or lack of self control.

    A gamer I met not very long ago confessed he tried a game with strong P2W monetization and dropped $8K in two weeks on his credit card which he could not afford.

    Gaming is full of stories of obsessive compulsive behaviors, but of course is only one small activity where many people have shown the inability to control themselves. 

    While it often grates our sensibilities when said, sometimes rules / regulations need to be put in place to protect people from harming themselves (or others) for the good of society as a whole.
    It's actually a combination of a dunning kruger effect and not wanting to be held responsible for their own stupidity.

    I believe the quote I enjoy the most in situations like this is:

    "It's easier to fool someone, then convince them they have been fooled"
    -Attributed to Mark Twain.

    Couple that with

    "A fool and their money are easily parted"
    -Thomas Tusser

    and toss in "a Sucker Born every Minuit" for good measure.
    -P.T. Barnum.

    and it really paints a painful picture of what really is really going down.
    Gdemami
    Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.

  • AkulasAkulas Member RarePosts: 3,004
    Nope. They don't have any place in a public forums. However it's not my site so... it's still news and gets clicks.

    This isn't a signature, you just think it is.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Mendel said:
    Quizzical said:
    Shaigh said:
    Press releases are not news, its more of someone's opinion, if you reprint said opinion you aren't impartial because now its under your name that opinion is posted.
    Sometimes press releases can be news.  This game is launching on this day with this business model.  That hardware is launching on that day with those specs.  And so forth.

    Good PR people often write up press releases in the style of a news story.  The goal is to tempt lazy reporters to just post it as is rather than rewriting it.  If you've got something newsworthy to announce, a good press release can often be mostly factual with a fairly positive spin, but not such an overwhelming bias as to make reporters embarrassed to just post it without modification.

    A *better* news story is "Game A launched this week" (past tense).  Who really believes "will launch" anymore?

    What we are seeing is industry-wide mix of creative publicity and slipshod journalism, a dangerous combination at the best of times.
    There's an enormous difference between "game A hopes to launch in two years" and "game A will end its open beta, do a final server wipe, and officially launch in six days".  The latter is what I was referring to as news.
    Ungood[Deleted User]Mendel
  • AugustusGAugustusG Member UncommonPosts: 73
    edited March 2021
    The question is more, what coverage since they are video games, video games sites are legit to report. Not mentioning it's basic UE assets on an other hand...
    [Deleted User]
  • TwistedSister77TwistedSister77 Member EpicPosts: 1,144
    Rhoklaw said:
    MMORPG.com is free to review, advertise or write about anything they want. It is their site, just like we are free to comment on the articles, editorials and reviews to give our opinion.

    MMORPG.com doesn't need to babysit us, well... most of us anyway. I'm also sure they are well aware that they'll catch a lot of flak for some stuff they do post. Such as CoE which is, for all better purposes, a huge scam.

    MMORPG.com can't presume to know whether something is a scam or not. However, like so many of you pointed out, including myself, is that true journalism is dead, investigative journalism at least. For the most part, news sites such as this simply repeat everything they are told.

    My instinct told me Dream World was a scam simply based off the KS goal and the main advertising video. So that is how I responded to the initial article when it posted here. I can't say for certain that I'm 100% correct, but my comment is an opinion, not fact. Some of you disagreed with my assessment and thus the debate unfolded. People having a discussion on the matter is what drives this site.

    Should news sites have a moral compass? I would like to think so, but if they refuse to do investigative journalism, that doesn't make them the bad guy, just the lazy guy.
    Tom's Hardware is one of the best sites to read reviews on cpus/gpus/computers... I literally learned how to build my first computer(over a decade ago) from the site and their very knowledgeable forums (they were acquired, but the quality is still outstanding, just side bar advertisements).

    My point... they don't just announce a new part... they follow up and do a rigorous review of it.  

    So, if they(MMORPG.COM) just report XYZ announced a Kickstarter for an MMO... as if it was just a press release... ON THEIR SITE... sorry, this is wrong. 

    Tom's Hardware, for their site members... they would do a full journalistic deep dive follow up.  

    I have a feeling MMORPG.COM is on maintenance mode.  They couldn't put in the article "We reached out to the company for comment."

    Maybe because they didn't, darn... this is really really sad.  Not a call, email?
    [Deleted User]Gdemami
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