WoWinsider strikes again...

[Tdog]

You never know what to expect from a WoWinsider post when it comes to MB'ing until you start reading it.

Unfornately looks like this latest post ('http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/10/16/dinner-with-the-multiboxers/') is full of the usuall biased, opinon based, overly generalized dribble...


I know we as MB'ers run into this on a daily basis but its just said when supposed "News" sites are no better than your average QQ'er.

[offive]

Original article is ok though,

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/39729/98/

I was lucky enough to attend dinner and LineCon.

Thanks to Vyn for the swag! My wife carried the bag around on Friday and got no hate (at least none that we noticed).

[not5150]

Wowinsider is a big blog and some of their writers are very much against multiboxing. Others, however, are for it.

It's just the luck of the draw sometimes who gets to write a particular article.

[Souca]

Meh, looks like I'm sticking with mmo-champion for real info. Shame that WoWInsider is drawing conclusions secondhand. Seems reporting on other people reporting is all the rage now. Why actually do the research when you can just regurgitate someone else's experience with your $0.02 thrown in?

I did find it interesting that there was a photo of the bill for the meal.

- Souca -

[Rin]

Well - at least they got one part right


And that's really where the issue lies -- most of these people aren't no-lifers

Jealousy is such a funny thing.

[Bravo]

Mike's always hated multiboxers, he'll write a biased article about us and then the next week it's an article about bad experiences with PUGs or something else that bothers him in the game that could be resolved if he gave it a try. It's a vicous cycle and I do feel for him.

[Caspian]

So the original article seems well written, like he was actually there. Was he? he was fair, gave opposing views and left it up to the reader to make up their mind.

The second guy (the first link) was obviously biased. I doubt he was there and it looks like he made stuff up
they brag (under their breath in a crowded restaurant) Doesn't sound anything like the original story.

But it is the interwebs wah what are we going to do.

[Vyndree]

Another case of creative journalism:

ORIGINAL (TGDaily):

Another joked, “Our characters can beat your characters,” as he looked across the restaurant at other Blizzcon attendees.
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/39729/98/



WoWInsider Post:

they brag (under their breath in a crowded restaurant) that they can beat anyone else's player
http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/10/16/dinner-with-the-multiboxers/

[Caspian]

Another case of creative journalism:

ORIGINAL (TGDaily):


Another joked, “Our characters can beat your characters,” as he looked across the restaurant at other Blizzcon attendees.
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/39729/98/



WoWInsider Post:

they brag (under their breath in a crowded restaurant) that they can beat anyone else's player
http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/10/16/dinner-with-the-multiboxers/copy cat I beat you to it.

and I consider that lying and there is nothing journalistic about it, creative or otherwise.

[not5150]

Yeah, I was there. My job is to accurately portray you guys and having dinner with everyone was a big part of that... The joke about beating up other players was, in my opinion, just a harmless joke and written as such.

My goal in such stories is to always put myself in the same shoes to feel and understand what you guys are going through. That's why I started multiboxing a few weeks before hand to understand the difficulties. The drivel on the forums about just pushing one key to launch five shadow bolts comes from people that just don't understand the whole process of setting up characters, keyclone, macros, etc.

I do the same thing for hacker conventions. If I'm going to write about the newest hack or vulnerability (hacking wifi/google,etc), then I'll usually try to do the hack myself just to see how easy/difficult it is.

Looking at Vyndree's comment on WoWInsider reminds me to never get certain people angry :)

[Vyndree]

Looking at Vyndree's comment on WoWInsider reminds me to never get certain people angry

I have a history on the official wow forums and a bit on the wowinsider comment system. ;)
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/search.html?sid=1&forumId=0&characterName=&characterId=37729978697&searchText=&accountId=0&accountName=&stationId=1&recentPosts=0&blizzardPoster=false&pageNo=10
http://www.wowinsider.com/profile/1146675/

I loved your article, btw. Neutral (and accurate) journalism ftw. The thread you had earlier appeared to have disappeared when the website was moved to the new uber-beefy server thanks to our added traffic from the digg effect.

[Souca]

So the original article seems well written, like he was actually there. Was he?

Yes, he was there. I didn't know he was acting in a journalistic capacity, but that might be because I arrived late. While I'm not sure how to take his article, he didn't get anything wrong and did his research.

Edit:
Hey Not5150. I think my opinion on your article might be clouded by the context in which I came to read it, via WoWInsider. Other than that shadow, I thought it was well written and professional. One request though; can you make me sexier in the pics? Thanks :)

- Souca -

[not5150]

Yeah on the being slandered while carrying the bag.. .I was really really surprised.

I was writing the article and uploading pictures in the Marriott lobby. I laid the bag on a table (of course with the logo face up) and about 50% of the people walking by would snicker. Some asked what the website was, but the one guy I quoted was just really psycho upset with multiboxers.

I wanted to get into a logical discussion with him about comparing multiboxers to a well-coordinated team, but it seemed he had his mind made up. It's like talking to a drunk or a deeply political person, whatever you say will not compute.

Edit - I think the "sexy" button will be added in the next version of Adobe Photoshop.

[Souca]

I wanted to get into a logical discussion with him about comparing multiboxers to a well-coordinated team, but it seemed he had his mind made up.

This is actually an experiment I want to try. 5 characters with 5 players on vent. The characters are set up with assist macros like you would for any other team and set to follow a main. The main on vent would call out abilities, or even the key they want pressed, and the other 4 players on vent would simply press the button. I think this would be an interesting way to address all those claims that the same level of precision can be reached by 5 players. Plus it would just be goofy fun if we got the vent audio to go with a fraps.



Edit - I think the "sexy" button will be added in the next version of Adobe Photoshop.

Curses! *shakes fist at Adobe*

- Souca -

[hardcoded]

As the author of the "horrible" joke, I feel bad that it was used against you guys. The "hey you guys get your characters and fight our characters" version was much funnier, than the original nerdy mock-drunken-barfight version. In poor taste, stupid, or edgy, it is always a matter of perspective.

Yes, he was there. I didn't know he was acting in a journalistic capacity, but that might be because I arrived late. While I'm not sure how to take his article, he didn't get anything wrong and did his research.

Except that the joke was belted out (actually, several times through revisions). The drunken nerd-barfight versions were specifically a bit louder, for effect. Saying that it was whispered under my breath in a superior manner is not true.

P.S.

Funny enough, I wrote up my opinion on why sociologically criticize those folks in the derailed thread here:
Biggest "oops" ever? ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=134160&highlight=#post134160')

Folks are going to be prejudiced by their culture's values, and American gaming values tend to indicate that no outside factors should influence gameplay at all(even though most seem to acknowledge that this is not true in most cases, through better video cards, faster connections, etc) It is a valid opinion, but it is simply that -- an opinon that reinforces the common perception and set of values. Thus it will be a predictably popular opinon piece.

[Vyndree]

I don't think explanation or apology are needed hardcoded. It's the sad case of the double standard.

I, personally, wouldn't have found anything wrong with (for example) raiding WoW players yelling at each other that their guild had downed KJ. When it comes from a solo boxer, it's "just a joke". When it comes from a multiboxer, "all multiboxers are stuck up, self-absorbed braggarts".

It's not the fault of the multiboxer -- it's the fault of the biased interpreter.

[Caspian]

Except that the joke was belted out (actually, several times through revisions). The drunken nerd-barfight versions were specifically a bit louder, for effect. Saying that it was whispered under my breath in a superior manner is not true.See, the impression I got from the original article was that it was not a whisper - almost a challenge. But the "blog" was making it look like you were a stuck-up- bah, I give up we all know the truth here.

Original article and author good. wowinsider blog and author bad (he iz mak QQ).

boxers good people.

I want a hearthstone soap.

I wish I got to go to dinner and meet everyone

[Souca]

As the author of the "horrible" joke, I feel bad that it was used against you guys. The "hey you guys get your characters and fight our characters" version was much funnier, than the original nerdy mock-drunken-barfight version. In poor taste, stupid, or edgy, it is always a matter of perspective.

Quoted from "Souca"

Yes, he was there. I didn't know he was acting in a journalistic capacity, but that might be because I arrived late. While I'm not sure how to take his article, he didn't get anything wrong and did his research.

Except that the joke was belted out (actually, several times through revisions). The drunken nerd-barfight versions were specifically a bit louder, for effect. Saying that it was whispered under my breath in a superior manner is not true.

Yea. I was just saying that the original author of the article, not5150, was there. The WoWInsider one is where the whisper was added and that author was not there.

Edit: *grumble* I should really use preview and not fail at quoting so much.

- Souca -

[kadaan]

I knew before I clicked the link that it must have been written by Mike Schramm. He's the reason I stopped reading WoW Insider. He's such a joke, I have no idea how he got to be one of the co-leaders of that site.

Edit: Humphrey was really nice, and the original article on tgdaily was great. Some of those photos turned out really nice, I think the one of Vyndree with the swag bags should be the new forum logo :).

[Basilikos]

Mike Schramm is retarded. That is all.

[Xzin]

Mike does seem unusually biased against boxers in most of his posts. Kind of sad really.

[Basilikos]

Mike does seem unusually biased against boxers in most of his posts. Kind of sad really.

Yes and no. I normally thrive off of A-MB tears on the WoW Forums, and I haven't managed to catch any lately. Mike, as strange as it sounds, just made my day.

[Anemo]

What a painful read :(

If the multiboxers here are anything to go by i'd say we are one of the most mature and polite groups of gamers around.

[valkry]

I also love WoWInsider, even the crap posts, I just make sure to leave a comment explaining how they are wrong.

I decided to leave this one alone though, the comment I had written up was probably a bit too abusive and I didn't want to add fuel to the fire this time. Maybe next time lol.

[mmcookies]

WoWinsider is a excellent blog for World of Warcraft, i am a fan of it. :)i regularly read wowinsiders, but like any blogs with multiple bloggers, there's the good and the bad

[Steph]

Mike is a bit close to the edge of being laughed with contempt or pity with that piece.

[dpaladin]

I went ahead and replied, I was offended.

I really enjoyed the dinner, I thought that joke was hilarious....and I wasn't around any one pompous or annoying until we went over the disneyland hotel.

[valkry]

Dam, you ressed this post before I did :(

If you guys are going to make that dinner thing an annual event for Blizzcon, I'd love to tag along one year :P

And don't worry, a lot of people kow Mike is a horrible reporter/blogger/bullshitter. His opinion is worth nothing!

[Tasty]

Wilbur said...

All I see is another victory for Multiboxers.

Cheers Mike, we love the publicity :-) I hope someday you can write a decent article about us.

and to all those who don't like it...

Its legal, theres nothing you can do, we rule, you suck, cry more, we enjoy your tears.

lol :P

[Wilbur]

I seriously think baiting and antagonising Mike is the way forward :-)

[phara]

I seriously think baiting and antagonising Mike is the way forward :-)

QFT

[valkry]

make a blog post on a major wow news site about the poor quality of reporting or something imo.

[Basilikos]

make a blog post on a major wow news site about the poor quality of reporting or something imo.

I'd love to see one of the other WoW Insider reporters pick up on that and run with it.

[Los]

I seriously think baiting and antagonising Mike is the way forward :-) :pinch: ^^ :rolleyes: