It’s time again for the first installment of our most popular editorial segment, More QQ! (Disregard the fact that we don’t have any other editorial segments… and while you’re at it, disregard all preceding and following non sequitur.)
I’m disappointed in you, Gaming Press. Yes, you. I’m talking to you, don’t point to yourself and look away innocently. You, over there at the bridge railing. I know there’s probably a lot of interesting things over the edge of that bridge, but there’s a sign right over here that you’ve completely disregarded. You know, the one that says “Don’t Feed the Trolls”?
Without going too much into detail (and therefore falling victim to my own derision), some gamer somewhere whose opinion amounts to a hill of beans in this crazy world has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau over the ending of Mass Effect 3, basically saying that false advertising sold him a bill of goods, and that he didn’t get what he was promised by the advertising campaign.
Let’s overlook the fact that this is an absurd claim as no advertising campaign will ever promise a certain type of ending, and ME3’s certainly did not. Let’s overlook the fact that this guy is nuttier than a squirrel turd in a Snickers bar if he thinks this will, in reality, have a positive effect. I don’t care about these things. I care about you, Gaming Press. This is why I gotta hit you.
Gaming Press, the bottom line is that YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE REPORTED ON THIS. It’s trite. It’s meaningless. And by reporting on it, YOU HAVE GIVEN THIS MAN VALIDATION.
Because this guy received attention for his raving, not only will he feel validated in doing so and will either continue his line of behavior or, more likely, escalate it, but others will follow in his stead. Whether or not he realizes it, by lodging this complaint, he is trolling the Industry. It’s an absurd claim that confuses and astounds to the point where people feel that they have to react. That’s the definition of trolling, right? Well just like trolling, whenever you react rather than ignore, you are only spurring on further behavior. We’ve all seen this kind of behavior, in the form of flame wars, troll wars, troll rants and the like, out on teh Interwebs (a vastly more dangerous place than The Internet). What makes us think that this will be any different?
Gaming Press, we are Press after all. I know the collective journalistic integrity of our society is about as substantial as a fart in a colander right now, but we don’t have to fall into that trap. We can be better than that. As Press, we have a responsibility to the Public, not just to inform, but to not give rise to needless harm. By giving this loony his 15 minutes of fame, are we not giving rise to further insanity?
What’s more, reporting like this also harms the industry in general. This guy is now a public figure, a de facto representative of gaming culture, all because his asylum-worthy filing was reported on. It forces the hand of the affected companies, obligating them to spend time, money, and resources on dealing with things that they really should not have to worry about.
So let’s learn from this, Gaming Press. I’m not going to call you out and name names, because we should be correcting the problem and our future behaviors, not placing blame. (Like you, Detaku… or you, Kostructoid… or you, GameAttack… or you, ScrewInformer.) Let’s all agree to not do this again and move on with our lives. So to recap, what have we learned today?
JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING IS INTERESTING, DOESN’T MEAN YOU SHOULD REPORT IT.
Difficult words, I know.
1 Comment
I see your point, but at the same time, it’s hard to see what real, long-term harm this will cause. Mass Effect 3 stands up on its own merits, and with time that will be born out. People hated the ending of “Empire Strikes Back” for years after it came out, and now it’s a classic.