Editor Fired For Blowing The Whistle on Rockstar?

bh192012 said:
The main point I'm making, is this wasn't an email to the reviewer, it was to someone higher up and it obviously wasn't deleted or ignored.
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Yeah, but this still seems more like a case of someone thinking he is above the rules of the company he works for and being pissed because he has to face the consequences of his actions. The words from Rockstar's PR looked like nothing more than the usual PR stuff sent out all the time. If it had been sent to the writer with a note from his boss I would have expected the guy to make a point of that on his Facebook page as well instead of just posting the stuff from Rockstar up.
 
MavericK96 said:
Okay, but still, how do you not see that as arrogant? Don't most developers realistically try to put hard work and all of their effort into their products?

It's like they're saying they deserve special consideration because they worked hard on the game, or because it's so super awesome. So does everyone else, you're not special.
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And what makes you think anyone on the development team had anything to do with that letter? Its all PR. Outside of interviews developers don't interact with the press usually and they sure as heck don't send them emails. That is PR's job.
 
I can't get over the awesome PC the fired guy was posing in front of...schweeet! Good thing he doesn't review games on that thing...wait....:eek:
 
Steve said:
I can't get over the awesome PC the fired guy was posing in front of...schweeet! Good thing he doesn't review games on that thing...wait....:eek:
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He might have a low profile 9800gt in there. ;)

Prolly not.
 
Derangel said:
And what makes you think anyone on the development team had anything to do with that letter? Its all PR. Outside of interviews developers don't interact with the press usually and they sure as heck don't send them emails. That is PR's job.
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Where did I say anything about a development team? Rockstar is a developer. They have people other than actual software engineers working for them, but they are still a developer.
 
MavericK96 said:
Where did I say anything about a development team? Rockstar is a developer. They have people other than actual software engineers working for them, but they are still a developer.
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They're also a publisher and they have a PR staff as well.
 
I think it's hilarious that the Rockstar guy said that bit about how the writer should respect the "achievement" he's writing about.

I woulda wrote a review all right, that I wipe my ass with this "achievement"
 
Fail said:
I think it's hilarious that the Rockstar guy said that bit about how the writer should respect the "achievement" he's writing about.

I woulda wrote a review all right, that I wipe my ass with this "achievement"
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Heh. Honestly its PR's job to try to get press to speak positively. That one is pretty tame compared to some stories I've heard.
 
Derangel said:
Heh. Honestly its PR's job to try to get press to speak positively. That one is pretty tame compared to some stories I've heard.
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I'm not denying that

I'm just stating how I'd respond.

The PR guy has his job to do, but it's still lame that it resulted in the editor getting fired . . . .

I think that's my real point, I'd definitely go out like a G too
 
Fail said:
I'm not denying that

I'm just stating how I'd respond.

The PR guy has his job to do, but it's still lame that it resulted in the editor getting fired . . . .

I think that's my real point, I'd definitely go out like a G too
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He was fired due to posting internal information on the internet and according to the article he had already received two warnings due to his attitude at work. If he really wanted to show off what PR people do and say he could do it other ways. Instead he did it in the most public way he could most likely knowing it would get him fired and give him his 15 minutes of fame.
 
Curious to know if there was a confidentiality clause at the bottom of that email. Probably, but curious.

Prior warnings about behavior? What's the behavior? Were they related? Just an excuse to fire him?
 
Dallows said:
Curious to know if there was a confidentiality clause at the bottom of that email. Probably, but curious.

Prior warnings about behavior? What's the behavior? Were they related? Just an excuse to fire him?
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Publicly posting sensitive internal information is grounds for firing on pretty much every single company on the planet. They don't have to say "hey don't post this publicly" on the bottom of every email, stuff like that is god damn common sense.
 
Derangel said:
Publicly posting sensitive internal information is grounds for firing on pretty much every single company on the planet. They don't have to say "hey don't post this publicly" on the bottom of every email, stuff like that is god damn common sense.
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No. You either have to sign an agreement or have it noted. If I worked at a company that did not require me to sign a confidentiality form what's stopping me from giving out information?

If it doesn't need to be stated then why do companies go to such great lengths to create policies and insure these things are noted?
 
bh192012 said:
Later, the Zoo editor Paul Merrill said "I've never known any game maker to ask for a positive review" Bullshit, there it is the email proving it, it's a blatant lie. Bullshit they don't ask for positive reviews. Of course Toby had official warnings, sounds like he has ethics. That shit's not tolerated.
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The editor also said these to Kotaku -
"Zoo would never give a positive review to a game we didn't rate in return for ad dollars."

Which to me sounds like every review is paid for. Grammar error from an editor (double negative making it a positive) or Freudian slip?

The editor also said -
"This email was not referring to a game review. He should not be considered a credible source of information on this matter."

Oh common, the email was clearly about the review. It specifically says to make sure this "game of the year" receives the 'proper respect' in this guy's article. If he's writing a review how can that not be referring to a game review?
 
Dallows said:
So what happens when I come back with my lawyer and say it was never stated or documented, or required?
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It shouldn't matter. Company emails are company property no matter how you paint it. If you work for a company and wish to divulge company emails to anyone outside of the company, you must obtain authorization to do so.

NDA only covers trade secrets and copyrights. Divulging emails containing trade secrets is a violation of NDA. Toby did not violate NDA. He merely shared company emails to the public without authorization. It's still grounds for termination, but not prosecution.
 
Dallows said:
So what happens when I come back with my lawyer and say it was never stated or documented, or required?
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Unless you live in one of a handful of states like Montana, you might want to look up the term "At Will" and it see how it applies to almost every state in the union.

You would be terminated from your employment with no reason given or required.

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2001/01/art1full.pdf


Fail said:
fun and profit, my friend, fun and profit :)
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For the attorney maybe ;)
 
Ualdayan said:
The editor also said these to Kotaku -
"Zoo would never give a positive review to a game we didn't rate in return for ad dollars."

Which to me sounds like every review is paid for. Grammar error from an editor (double negative making it a positive) or Freudian slip?
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Actually that does not lie within grammar as it would in syntax, and it's not an error. two negatives dictating a negative is in error, two negatives dictating a positive is not. Just as in mathematics it works here as well.

The letter in question here obviously had insinuations within, and as for it being a "sensitive internal document," that's a load of bullshit. Of course something like this, being somewhat damning in nature, is going to be "sensitive" for the companies in question. Saying that it was the wrong thing for this guy to do to post this for public eyes? That's imbecilic, this is similar to a whistle-blower type of situation.
 
This just all reminds me of events at GameSpot. There is a certain publisher that makes major contributions to GameSpot and requests favorable reviews from GameSpot in return. There has been at least one writer specifically fired for writing a poor review for a game by that publisher. This is not at all uncommon in the field. The bigger review sites get money from publishers and are leaned on to provide good reviews for those publishers.
 
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