Ocean Marketing vs. Penny Arcade

[Nergy]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114994-Ocean-Marketing-Attempts-To-Extort-Former-Client

So yeah Paul's back in the news again for trying to extort the company that fired him by locking them out of their email, twitter, and various social networking services.

Was just about to post that. You're going to see A LOT of the people who defended him (Yes, you WERE defending him) suddenly shut up.

"He had a bad day, he's only human!"

"He has a wife and child!"

"You've ruined his life! If he kills himself, the blood is on YOUR hands!"

Doesn't sound as noble when you have to say:

"He's only broke the law by extorting money from people!"

 

[Nergy]

Because I can approve of the outcome regardless of the means. Yes, the whole "ends justify the means" thing. They're two separate entities I can judge independently. I can like what the mob is doing, even if I don't like the outcome- much like I can approve of how easy it was to tell my microwave to nuke something, even if the item was burned.

While I know I have no say in what happens regarding Paul or N-Controller, I still have a small want to see him change for the better, this is why his apologies and excuses are still offensive. They're not indicative of him learning or changing anything (though it is extremely naive to think anything would), and basically lets him roll on like normal.

The Courts will decide whether or not anything criminal has been done. N-Controller has already punished him for his gross mishandling. It is not my place to charge Paul for anything, nor is it my place to fire Paul as a PR/Marketting (sic) guy. I am merely one who is observing with my own considerations with regards to everyone involved.

Firstly, the current ends seem to mostly revolve around Christoforo really enjoying all the attention he is being given.

Will you people STOP FALLING FOR HIS CRAP?!

At 7:12am this morning I got another mail from Paul. It was one line and simply said:

?You have the power Mike Please make it stop?

He would NOT have asked Mike to make it stop if he was enjoying it. If you can not even read his emails please do not speculate on group psychology when you cant even speculate properly about one man who put his feelings in writing.

Read his twitter feed at @oceanstratagy. He's posting links to articles that are completely against him. He may be deflecting, i'll admit that.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

@BiscuitTrouser @ZacharyAmaranth
This all took place in the public domain...you are acting like we are all as bad as him for laughing at his foolish actions.

The internet didn't hang him up and string him from a tree. He ruined his own life at the end of the day.

People makes jokes about current affairs on the internet all the time I'm pretty sure nobody is trying to slander him.

It boggles the mind why you would want to defend this guy at all...

And as for Watchdog I was referring to the fact that they point out conmen, name them publicly and warn people. I imagine you knew that though and where just trying to twist my words...

I think you are confusing me defending the people you see as slanderers and me being puzzled as to why you would all out defend someone who is clearly guilty of what he was originally accused of. Making a strawman argument in other words.

I think you are confusing me with trying to defend a mans rights with me trying to justify being a complete asshole. Goddamit this is pretty simple.

These things are ok:

Hating him
Demanding he be fired
Asking for appropriate legal action
Sending complaints to the company for poor PR

These things are NOT ok:

Digging up details about his possible drug addiction using court cases we cannot know details of
complete character assassination
review bombing a product he's tangentially
pretending to be him on twitter to get him into further trouble
sending his family death threats.

Im defending him from the bottom list. Not the top. The bottom list is unlawfull and wrong. The top list is perfectly good, ive actually done all of these things.

The internet has on a few occasions done the bottom list. He ruined his career. But he didnt ruin his own life or bring the bottom things on himself. The top things he brought on himself. The bottom things are mob mentality and the internet being harsh and brutal.

Im defending him because, wait for it, youve heard this one before.

HES AN ASSHOLE BUT HE HAS HUMAN RIGHTS

I would defend a thief from being infringed on. What makes this guy different to anyone else in terms of what is and isnt right to do to him as a random angry internet mob. Why DONT you care that his rights are infringed? "I dont like you, therefor its ok if people violate your rights" Is an INSANELY selfish attitude. You dont understand why im defending him because apprently you dont understand that people, despite breaking the law, have the right to be jugded fairly by their peers and have sanctions brought down on them. Not the things from the bottom list.

Maybe it boggles your mind that i think rights should be preserved under all circumstances, but it doesnt boggle mine. I DONT AGREE WITH WHAT HE DID. FOR THE LAST TIME. I DONT LIKE HIM, BUT I WILL STILL FIGHT FOR HIS RIGHTS. Because id expect others to do the same for me. And im not a hypocrit. I cant make it clearer than that. Ive even given you two lists. First im fine with. Bottom im not fine with. Ill advocate the top, and defend him from the bottom. Clear enough? Im defending him because hes a person. Im kinda sickened you wouldnt defend a persons rights because you dont like them.

"First they came for the communists" and all that stuff.

Did you even read my post about the slander? From what you wrote it doesnt sound like you did at all :C People taking a twitter with his name and saying offencive and illegal things is NOT parody, in the same way sending threats signed with your name after you had a violent outburst is not parody. Its further slander.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

snip

Sorry but I think everyone can see it is parody, you are just trying to make it out more than it is to make your point.

This has already died down and your dire consequences haven't happened...

I really do think you are overreacting about this and just want to put people on a guilt trip because they laughed at someone making a fool of himself.

None of the people in this thread are doing these things:
Digging up details about his possible drug addiction using court cases we cannot know details of
complete character assassination
review bombing a product he's tangentially
pretending to be him on twitter to get him into further trouble
sending his family death threats.

(The stuff has been linked has already been found nobody here is doing those things)

So why do you feel the need to come in the thread and accuse us of all being human rights violators.

I think it's the tone of accusation that bothers me the most. Most people here are just laughing at a comedic situation that's taken place in the public domain. I think everyone here is capable of seeing the line.

In finality I'll say that ALL of the things people have dug up on him have been from PUBLIC websites. No one has gone through his trash or his mail or tapped his phone line.

Threatening his family is going way too far the rest has pretty much comedic intentions.

 

[LadyRhian]

@OceanDeepSea? Yeah, that's his career and his company down there, with cement overshoes provided by none other than Paul Christoforo. This wasn't his first time doing this to people- one incident started in February, another in September. To those who say, he wouldn't have gotten away with it, he did before- he slandered a customer in Australia and their whole country, and he treated another customer like ass (whose name was Nate). He did it before and reaped no consequence for his actions. I think that had Dave not called him out on what happened, he would have kept right on treating people like crap.

I don't agree with threatening his wife, his kid, and whatnot, but hey- he got a great lesson here that most people learn before they leave high school- and when you get those lessons later, they cost more and hurt more. For his wife and son, I have sympathy. For him, well, he brought a lot of this on himself. Maybe even all of it. My sympathy for him is very. very limited.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

snip

Sorry but I think everyone can see it is parody, you are just trying to make it out more than it is to make your point.

This has already died down and your dire consequences haven't happened...

I really do think you are overreacting about this and just want to put people on a guilt trip because they laughed at someone making a fool of himself.

None of the people in this thread are doing these things:
Digging up details about his possible drug addiction using court cases we cannot know details of
complete character assassination
review bombing a product he's tangentially
pretending to be him on twitter to get him into further trouble
sending his family death threats.

(The stuff has been linked has already been found nobody here is doing those things)

So why do you feel the need to come in the thread and accuse us of all being human rights violators.

I think it's the tone of accusation that bothers me the most. Most people here are just laughing at a comedic situation that's taken place in the public domain. I think everyone here is capable of seeing the line.

In finality I'll say that ALL of the things people have dug up on him have been from PUBLIC websites. No one has gone through his trash or his mail or tapped his phone line.

Threatening his family is going way too far the rest has pretty much comedic intentions.

I said nothing of dire consequences at all. What consequences did i threaten to happen? I was just saying that the mob hatred seemed a little strong in places. Strong enough to merit actions on the bottom list. The fact this happened at all irks me, any of the bottom list i mentioned i thought was too far.

If i gave the tone of accusation i apologise. I seriously do. I never intended to imply anyone who simply stated an opinion on the guy, commented, or are laughing are in ANY way commiting any of the bottom list, or are anything other than simple bystanders. I feel that those commiting acts from the bottom list are going too far but i havnt named any of them, since i doubt anyone on this site would do such a thing.

I feel its perfectly within your right to comment as you do, power to you.

The twitter ill admit, now ive looked at all its tweets, seems to be set up with intention to troll or mock him. However even looking through this single thread more than a few users have thought it was him and lumped more hatred his way. Ironically undeserved hatred for an easily hatable man. I think that while in the tone of humor the twitter egdes the line a lot, its touching on impersonation.

I didnt come here to accuse you of being human rights violators. Where ANYWHERE did i claim that people doing the things from the top list were doing anything wrong? I supported those actions. I came to talk about the actions of a few, regardless of their membership of this website, seem to be taking this very far indeed. Im not sure where you got this notion that i accused everyone around me of being human rights violators. My last post was very very very very very clear.

Top list: Awesome

Bottom list: Bad

I said NOTHING as to who was committing such acts, only that the bottom ones were happening and i disagreed. I said NOTHING about accusing users here of these crimes. Ever. Please quote me of saying an escapist user or you specifically did these things ever? I think we have a misunderstanding here. I never inteded to accuse.

Its fine to laugh at him. Im laughing at him. I dont want to guilt anyone.

I mean no offence by this but did you read my last post? Honestly did you read it all the way through? The way you are talking does imply you did not. The allegations i am accusing escapist users are unfounded and a little offencive. Im sorry this misunderstanding took place.

The internet is larger than this thread. I was talking about the internet, nowhere did i say that when refering to such illegal acts i was doing so soley against those talking in this thread. I dont know where you got this idea from. Its a little confusing.

 

[Tselis]

snip

And so Penny Arcade leveled the company, sewed the ground with salt, and forbade any gamers to dwell there (Krahulik 24:4)

I'm glad I wasn't eating or drinking, because I lol'ed. This whole thing is just beautiful.

 

[Tselis]

Crikey, I've never been quoted so much in my life!

Look, I said Dave had a legitimate complaint. I just think he was a bit of a dick about how he expressed it - shouty caps, swearing, personal comments, borderline racist terms like "rice rocket". There are better ways to complain. It in no way overshadows the phenomenal car-crash coming from the other side, but there are no angels here.

It's worth noting that while it's caused a hell of a lot of internet nonsense, it's not going to get him his product any faster and it's yet to get him an apology or any compensation.

Unless the customer drops a nuke on your house, you have no excuse to not treat them with anything less than unfailing courtesy. That what customer SERVICE is.

 

[Tselis]

Holy cow at mike's update. http://penny-arcade.com/2011/12/26/an-update1

I think there is a big difference between being sorry and being sorry you got caught. I have a real problem with bullies. I spent my childhood moving from school to school and I got made fun of everyplace I landed. I feel like Paul is a bully and maybe that?s why I have no sympathy here. Someday every bully meets and even bigger bully and maybe that?s me in this case. It?s the same thing that happened with Jack Thompson. It might not always make the most business sense and it is a policy that has caused us some legal problems, but I really don?t give a shit about that. When these assholes threaten me or Penny Arcade I just laugh. I will personally burn everything I?ve made to the fucking ground if I think I can catch them in the flames.

-Gabe out

That stance is inspiring and a little scary at the same time.

that line of his alone just made him became my new idol! XD

When I read that I told my husband that Mike/Gabe now had a piece of my heart. It is just a tiny piece, mostly the extremely vindictive part that loves fire.

 

[Tselis]

That stance is inspiring and a little scary at the same time.

The entire tone of that update by Mike is both terrifying and beautiful at the same time. It makes my laugh in delight at the awesome feeling of seeing someone in a position of power stand for something and admit that it might not be the best thing to do or the easiest thing to do...but you know he bloody well means it, and he barely had to do anything...the Internet did it.

All hail the Internet in it's glory, both wonderful and terrible.

And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of a Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark but beautiful and terrible as the morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the Earth. All shall love me and despair!' - Lady Galadriel

Something like this?