UPDATE: Penny Arcade Smacks Down Shady PR Dude

[Tselis]

From Penny-Arcade: "I will personally burn everything I.ve made to the fucking ground if I think I can catch them in the flames."

...am I the only one who is just a smidge afraid of Mike at this point? : )

Samuel L. Jackson needs to give the "Bad-ass Mother Fucker" wallet to Mike at this point. Sorry Mr. Jackson, Mr. Krahulik now deserves the title.

Not afraid, not at all. It's reassuring actually. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

What a childish, stupid way to behave. Grow up.

You don't have a good grasp of human history, do you? Being extremely vindictive isn't childish, it's human. Ignoring that segment of humanity only makes them more vindictive and less likely to engage you in peaceful discourse. Or perhaps you aren't grown up enough to know that? =)

 

[Nergy]

Mike quite clearly condemned the people who pulled up paul's personal details.

Yeah right. Because of course the owner of a very popular website and expo among geek internet culture/gamers commands no respect among the very people responsible for this 'mob justice' incident. Everyone's a winner here!

Posting up priovate emails on a public site makes you a **** in my book. Plain and simple.

If he wanted to privately email Mr PR 2011 and tell him he's not welcome at PAX that's cool. But did he think about the actual product and it's owner in all this? Fuck no.

Mike DID send him an email saying he wasn't welcome, that was when Paul started his douchebaggery. I don't work at PA, so i can't speak for them, but i assume the product is allowed to come to pax, just without Paul, who was originally going to be hosting the booth. Enough people have said the product shouldn't suffer.

These emails were not in any way private, they were exchanges between a customer and a business that currently had his money. There isn't any law saying you have to keep emails private (the only exception is emails that contain private information like address and so forth). Dave had every right to send those emails to Kotaku and the other gaming blogs (i assume you forgot Dave sent it those FIRST before Mike got a hold of it).

Also, thanks for ignoring the rest of my post.

 

[Caliostro]

The dangers of mob mentality are well documenter and can be incredibly dangerous even when going against people worth forming a mob to attack

How to create the mob mentality? Lets look here. Apply the first paragraph to what Gabe's actions were - he consolidated flammable material, provided oxygen to burn and lit a spark - knowing full well what the consequences would be.

Or maybe you think this is justified because of some form of vigilantism? (if you have argued along the lines of "if we don't do this he wouldn't be stopped, then you are arguing for this) yet this is disproved thoroughly here

Maybe you think internet abuse isn't really that bad? Well it's punishable by law here(for dark reasons - internet defamation led to a young girls suicide)Or punishable universally in the US here

Please people - do the required reading It's in blue like this before making an argument, there is no adequate defence for this sort of action - and it is this form of righteous knee jerk reactionary crowd mindset that we must be wary of.

Just to point out that I, for one, am well aware of the effects of mob mentality, how groups influence decision making (generally towards a more extreme, and usually riskier/more dangerous, choice), and can guarantee you I have a perfectly legitimate and unbiased reason to be thoroughly enjoying the destruction (assisted suicide, one might call it) of Paul Christoforo, and surprisingly it has little to do with his rudeness towards Dave:

Paul Christoforo betrayed, and nearly destroyed, the very company that believed in him and gave him a chance. He was unprofessional. Extremely incompetent. And nearly took everything from the company who hired him. Even now, he's still trying to extort them for his own incompetence.

This wasn't a professional having just one too many bad days and losing it. This was someone who never amounted to anything more than an incompetent. I do not forgive that.

I find compassion to be mostly underrated and illogical. I have very little place in my heart for forgiveness in things that matter. Paul Christoforo nearly destroyed his employers for the sake of stroking his own ego. He is incompetent, and useless, and the kind of person that is a waste of everything in this world.

You may say this is cruel. I'm ok with that. But I have no place in my heart, or in my world, for people like him, and I'm gonna enjoy every minute I watch him burn in his own mess.

 

[Flying Dagger]

The dangers of mob mentality are well documenter and can be incredibly dangerous even when going against people worth forming a mob to attack

How to create the mob mentality? Lets look here. Apply the first paragraph to what Gabe's actions were - he consolidated flammable material, provided oxygen to burn and lit a spark - knowing full well what the consequences would be.

Or maybe you think this is justified because of some form of vigilantism? (if you have argued along the lines of "if we don't do this he wouldn't be stopped, then you are arguing for this) yet this is disproved thoroughly here

Maybe you think internet abuse isn't really that bad? Well it's punishable by law here(for dark reasons - internet defamation led to a young girls suicide)Or punishable universally in the US here

Please people - do the required reading It's in blue like this before making an argument, there is no adequate defence for this sort of action - and it is this form of righteous knee jerk reactionary crowd mindset that we must be wary of.

I find compassion to be mostly underrated and illogical. I have very little place in my heart for forgiveness in things that matter. Paul Christoforo nearly destroyed his employers for the sake of stroking his own ego. He is incompetent, and useless, and the kind of person that is a waste of everything in this world.

You may say this is cruel. I'm ok with that. But I have no place in my heart, or in my world, for people like him, and I'm gonna enjoy every minute I watch him burn in his own mess.

Ahh a [Insert Gender here] after my own heart!

It is refreshing to find more people who can see "Paul" for what he is.

I'm sorry, seeing him for what he is? the guys a petty thug, there are people out there who rape and murder children and you're sitting here telling me this is guy is the real evil?

The guy is a nobody - completely worthless, proven time and time again he has absolutely no power to back up any of his more increasingly ridiculous claims.
It isn't compassion driving me to say stop going after him it's the fact that whatever he is, we should be decent people.
If you've no desire to be decent then fine, but don't belittle me for trying to persuade people to be. The people hounding him are no better than bullies themselves. I've been on both sides of that coin and know how hard it is to make that realisation that just because people are nasty people that setting out to ruin their lives isn't right.

Usually I'm against people telling others to not be hypocritical - but this situation...
How can we ask others to hold rules that we believe we ourselves should not be accountable to?

 

[Flying Dagger]

I think you need some glasses Mr (or miss/es) Dagger.

I never said there that he is worse than a person who rapes and murders children, just that I agreed that he is a useless bag of flesh. You yourself say he is completely worthless. So we are in agreement here.

And...I never belittled you or called you a name or anything, that part confuses me. I have re read my two lines of text about ten times now and...I cant quite make that same connection, because I think he is worthless and this undeserving of any compassion whatsoever does not belittle you or your views, just that they are different.

I can not say I have ever been bullied or been a bully, but even still, rules only apply when among civilized people, this person has shown himself for what he is thus he can not expected to be treated like a civilized person any longer.

I am not hypocritical either, I am just honest, this guy is meat, he could off himself tomorrow and I would probably just shrug and think no one the worse for him doing it. I know there are others out there far more sympathetic to the bullies plight than I am, but I dont begrudge them those feelings, thats what makes us different people.

Sorry - I was extrapolating from your agreement with @caliostro

To declare that you wish to see a man burn is a horrific statement, to then denounce my disgust at such an expression as mere compassion is to belittle what I am saying.

If I was motivated by compassion I'd egg people on - Christoforo is doubtlessly enjoying every second of attention, and the bigger his name becomes the more he enjoys it.

Spoiler: Like when Russell Brand was in that scandal for harassing andrew sachs

I feel no compassion for him - though I care how a large group of people act. I care how the group is seen and most of all I care that people do not exact pleasure out of others misfortune.
We have made so many progessions from the years - from banning gladiatorial combat to eliminating public execution, as a rejection of deriving pleasure from seeing another suffer.
There is no reason to turn back on this now.

 

[Flying Dagger]

I quoted the part that I agreed with, namely that he is a worthless excuse for a human being.

But hey, if he burned and I got to watch I would probably have a few chuckles at his expense, because again he doesn't rate high enough for me to give a single care about his well being. Its horrific sure, but not everyone has to agree with me. but your disgust is compassion, that is a factual statement as compassion is defined as concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.

You obviously are concerned about the mobs treatment of this individual so you have compassion for him. And most people exact pleasure from this idea, every single person I have talked to in my daily life from various walks of life, have expressed entertainment at this mans plight.

And I dont know, public executions would bring back some entertainment.

Also, you are lying to yourself if you think gladiatorial combat has gone anywhere... :\ People pay hundreds of dollars to see people beat the ever-loving-fuck out of one another in MMA matches and boxing. It may not be to the death any more and we may not get to watch people punt tigers in the face, but gladiatorial combat is alive and well.

There's three easily identifiable parts to being "Concerned with the mob (1)'s treatment (2) of this man (3)."
I'm concerned there is a mob mentality at all - it NEVER brings anything productive to the fore.
I'm even more concerned that the mob is behaving in an abysmal way. If your child beat up another child you could express that it was wrong for him to do it without caring a jot about the other kid. You don't need to support the individual to realise the behaviour is wrong.

As far as the man goes? He's enjoying it, as stated.

In terms of gladiatorial combat - In the old days they forced petty criminals into the arena with the express intention of seeing them die, which is barbaric.

If you have access I'd advise the reading of this - http://www.jstor.org/stable/2250234
It explains the difference and the importance of the difference between moral and immoral pleasures.

 

[Kadoodle]

Am I the only one who's wondering what the hell is up with that controller? Yeah? Okay then.

OT: Yeah, that dude fucked up. Not much else to say. I mean, it does seem unlikely comical that these series of events actually happened, but, to put it simply, he fucked up.

Basically, the controller allows you to use the face buttons with your index and middle fingers near the triggers so that you don't have to take your thumb off of the stick to press A, B, X, or Y.

 

[josh4president]

This is going to get better for us and worse for him

 

[Versuvius]

I am SO enjoying him watching him fail and flounder and flop around like a washed ashore fish.

 

[Tselis]

The dangers of mob mentality are well documenter and can be incredibly dangerous even when going against people worth forming a mob to attack

How to create the mob mentality? Lets look here. Apply the first paragraph to what Gabe's actions were - he consolidated flammable material, provided oxygen to burn and lit a spark - knowing full well what the consequences would be.

Or maybe you think this is justified because of some form of vigilantism? (if you have argued along the lines of "if we don't do this he wouldn't be stopped, then you are arguing for this) yet this is disproved thoroughly here

Maybe you think internet abuse isn't really that bad? Well it's punishable by law here(for dark reasons - internet defamation led to a young girls suicide)Or punishable universally in the US here

Please people - do the required reading It's in blue like this before making an argument, there is no adequate defence for this sort of action - and it is this form of righteous knee jerk reactionary crowd mindset that we must be wary of.

I find compassion to be mostly underrated and illogical. I have very little place in my heart for forgiveness in things that matter. Paul Christoforo nearly destroyed his employers for the sake of stroking his own ego. He is incompetent, and useless, and the kind of person that is a waste of everything in this world.

You may say this is cruel. I'm ok with that. But I have no place in my heart, or in my world, for people like him, and I'm gonna enjoy every minute I watch him burn in his own mess.

Ahh a [Insert Gender here] after my own heart!

It is refreshing to find more people who can see "Paul" for what he is.

You see, I'm not alone. Ignorance can be forgiven so long as there is an eagerness to be educated. Sheer incompetence cannot, and should not be forgiven. It is like a virus. If people see that it is tolerated, then they themselves begin to perpetuate it. It goes back to that 'mob' mentality' that's been spoken so much about. That mentality is a well documented part of the human psyche, both in the micro (pitchforks and torches) and the macro (local, state, national politics). Really, it comes down to the old adage, "Monkey see, monkey do." The man needs to burn, because one burnt asshole and nine less douche-y assholes is better then ten of them swaggering around damaging anyone they come into contact, and thereby society as a whole.