Oh digital homicide you did again. Only reason they make any money is from steam trading cards and their games are a joke with premade assest.
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I'm really hoping Jim Sterling drops a countersuit and rips them apart. They don't have a case. I don't like him or his whole online persona, but this crap is just stupid. Going after an aggressive reviewer for his aggressive reviews? DH is just freaking childish.
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Well, the quick solution is motion for summary judgment, which should end the case right then and there.
The more protracted solution would involve first dismissing the case in arizona for lack of jurisdiction. Assuming those idiots are dumb enough to then file in Mississippi, have the case removed to federal court. Then drop a counter-claim for the fake DMCA take-downs, and file a motion for summary judgment on the original claims. (note: my knowledge of the DMCA is virtually non-existent, I don't know if there are any penalties there). It's a nice way to rack up the legal fees - for both sides.
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They do have a case, though. Just because someone is a "critic", they don't have the right to continue harassing indie developers with the intent to harm them/drive them out of business.
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Um, April 1st is two weeks away. Getting started a bit early? :-D
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There wont be enough popcorn on the Earth for this..
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After the stunt Sterling pulled on Peter Moorhead I'm not sure whether one should be taking sides, as one may only look worse than the other, but both look bad.
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What stunt? saying that a 15 minute long game isn't worth $3?
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Boy was harassed by Sterling's audience after he literally ripped apart the game "total shite", (misre)presenting the developer as "fiercely anti-refunds".
Claim was false; Moorhead is not even an influential figure, just a 20yo publishing his small games on Steam. Sterling, OTOH, is a prominent figure that steers public opinion, and he put all of his vitriol and media traction towards making another human hurt badly.
Not sure what went wrong with Sterling that day, but he made a shame of himself: apologies and retraction were the least I expected.
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One of the reasons I have zero tolerance for calling out and public shaming, it is a step away from devolving into a witchhunt and only innocent people get caught in the crossfire. Imagine being that kid and waking up one day only to find out that half of the internet is out for your blood, telling you to kill yourself or how you're a piece od shit and you have no idea what's going on.
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For it to be calling out and public shaming, a wrongdoing is necessary in the first place. Having published games on Steam and not being fully persuaded (which is way different from being "fiercely anti-refunds") about Steam's 2h refund policy just isn't.
Valve's stance is simple but also simplistic. It assumes games are longer than 2h and doesn't address the case of those which aren't. If they thought no games under 2 hours should be allowed on Steam, it would be easy to deny a spot in the sun. Such is not the case.
Sterling's was harassing and bullying, because he is bigger, and more popular, and capable of inflicting damage upon the other, without suffering much in the way of consequences. He could get away with it. This makes him the villain.
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I watched that video, and the criticism didn't seem unfair. (And I say that as a fan and occasional writer of short stories that offer a brief view of a larger picture but don't really go anywhere.) But maybe there's other context I'm missing?
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Did you read my post?
Whether the game is any good was never the point in the first place. In fact I don't expect anyone to watch that video and to come away with an impression of whether it is or not, it's so obvious what the reviewer's agenda is, that it is a waste of everybody's time, including Sterling's probably. It's not even necessary to watch the video past its first few minutes, as the agenda is made pretty clear from the outset:
Moorhead the "fiercely anti-refunds", what Sterling's narrative wants him to be, has committed the capital sin for which he ought to be crucified and must suffer. That the game is deemed to be "total shite" is just the voodoo doll through which the pain is meant to be inflicted.
I hate anti-consumer as much as everyone else, but we're not talking about some megacorp cracking the whip against customers: rather, some bloke making games in their bedroom, and being culpable of raising doubts about Steam's <2h refund policy.
Need extra context? This is just a matter of 400 lbs gorilla bullying small fry into oblivion.
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Sorry, my last comment was out of line. I'll just say I read your posts and disagree with you, and leave it at that.
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Okay, a few years ago I released a visual novel about a very personal and emotional subject, which a YouTube reviewer tore to shreds, laughed at, and basically called the worst VN ever. I thanked them for taking the time to review. Don't get me wrong, it fucking hurt; but putting your work out in public means you have to put on your big girl panties and deal with it. I have no sympathy whatsoever for the hurt feelings argument. If you can't handle people saying negative things about your work -- even if they're mean, even if they're unfair, even if they have an "agenda" -- then you need to stop publishing.
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The views of the developer/company very much have relevance in reviews. It allows the consumer to be better informed who they are supporting by purchasing products. This is why DH began to list their games under different company names to evade criticism and why Steam/Valve slapped them for it. Jim isn't just a game reviewer; he's an industry reviewer. His viewers are doing what all other consumers do when they see companies abusing their faith in a system; they boycott and protest to demand change.
You yourself have admitted to being associated with "shit" games and therefore are part of the problem. You wisely chose not to name those games, but the moment somebody learns what they are (which is pretty easy to figure out btw), nobody will purchase them except through bundles. If a AAA studio wouldn't hire you based on your portfolio games, then you probably should make better games or retire.
I personally feel the two hour limit refund policy should be removed entirely. People are going to abuse refund systems regardless of limits, just as much as developers are going to abuse our trust.
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I didn't put words in your mouth!
"i hope you can respect that, if not then lets just say I make bad games."
Link to your post
Even if I gave you the benefit of the doubt, the fact that when somebody asked what games you are working on, you chose to disregard their request by just saying they're shit games because you don't care what they think, instead of giving them the opportunity to make their own judgment. You could have simply said "They're still in development, so therefore I wish to keep that information confidential." or "I'm contractually prevented from divulging that information , sorry."
Besides tell me how you think I fit this accusation? "i see person like you comment, specially trying to imply / threat with bad reviews and such"
And there is something wrong with changing your business name if the sole purpose is to conceal your prior abuses. That's the definition of chicanery which is the accusation DH is suing over and will lose.
A dev at Puppy Games made a blog post regarding consumers and support on their official website and was blasted for it. Just because it's true doesn't mean you should destroy your image by making an official statement about it. The games they make are very well made, but they offended their customers and lost a significant amount due to that post. So if Jim wants to make a video review of their games in the future and mentions that blog post, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, because it establishes history regarding the company itself.
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You make a lot of assumptions about people. You know nothing about me and vice versa.
I've seen the games you've worked on and they look acceptable. I wouldn't buy them because they're not my type of game, but if they were part of a bundle I might.
As far as context is concerned, you would be incorrect. Your statement as a whole did not explain your position and judgment. Your elaboration explained it and maybe you should edit that into your other post. The entire topic has nothing to do with the context, beyond you not wanting to risk bias due to DH being the subject. Statements can stand on their own, which is why you were misunderstood.
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I understand what your intent was, but you're misunderstanding context in this situation. Mduh changed the subject and it became in essence an interview, which resulted in your statement of bad games. It ultimately doesn't matter to me, but it could affect you and your game sales by anybody else that misunderstood your intent as an admission.
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Fair enough. I've defended DH several times in the past and they've thanked me for it, despite the fact they know I view them as hopeless and I've never received hostile comments from it. In general if you make a valid argument and are open to discussion, people don't get hostile. Adding a disclaimer that your opinions are your own helps, but not really.
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i simply stated my opinion of the game on the forum and was perma-banned with a completely stupid reason. i wrote quite a lot about the quality of the game (and while i made clear how bad the game is, i wasn't insulting anyone), and only the last two sentences were about how they censor their forum and ban people, delete threads etc. their reason to perma-ban me was that the whole post was based off of these two sentences, which of course is absurd. the sad truth is, what i had heard before was absolutely right - they banned and deleted everyone and everything. so now i am banned for life from this forum for simply saying how i feel about the game. i felt i made lots of valid arguments in that post, and they did get hostile by banning me for my opinion, as you can see:
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I was referring to Malik's concern about retaliation for stating his opinion on an open forum. Did DH or anybody else go to your profile and rage on all your friends or on your Greenlight games?
I'm aware they delete posts since all my posts with Groupees and WGN reps have been deleted. I haven't been banned, but I wouldn't have cared either way. It just amused me when they told Sterling over Skype that they don't censor their forums. Your review was passive aggressive; they accepted the challenge and appeased you by deleting the review and banning you. I'm sure they would have deleted the review even if it was neutrally phrased though, so I'm not rushing to defend either of you.
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he ought to be crucified and must suffer.
What a lovely human being you are - he told another one that his bad game is terrible, and you're throwing around with crufification and the "he must suffer card".
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Please don't take quotes out of context and twist their meaning.
Sterling's the one who got the boy harassed. He went after Moorhead deliberately, it looked like a vendetta for some imagined slight. The game was just a chance to do that.
So don't try to paint me as the bad guy. Thanks.
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Are you serious? There's a couple problems with this, one, your "quote" was the attitude Sterling showed towards Moorhead, and second, to quote something and misspell one of the words in the same post takes someone really special... How did you even get "crufification", lol?
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You talking about being serious when you bring a typo into the arguement? FYI c and f is besides eachother and - gasp! - a accidentally hit the wrong one. I'm a terrible person on the internet, you just proved it.
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You have a weird keyboard... And I assume you meant "Crucifixion" ("crufification" is not a typo), which if you did, you obviously have no clue what you're talking about... and 'a' and 'i' are nowhere near each other so how do you explain that one?
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Why do you think I need to explain anything to you? :D
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You know, you've expressed some good points in this topic, but since you're now at the point where you're nitpicking on people's typos, I feel obligated to point out that you're defending Digital Homicide without ever having played any of their games. You should probably boot up that copy of Temper Tantrum you own before you continue claiming that Sterling is slamming their games unfairly. Or pick any of the other games he's bashed, grab a copy, and see for yourself how unfair he's been.
And please note: Jim did NOT bash Dungeons of Kragmor, so don't pick that one. In fact, he admitted that it was fun and that he was enjoying himself pretty much the whole time.
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A typo is different than a misspelling and/or flat out ignorance... And like others have said, the quality of the games really is not the problem I have, it's Jim and his fans destroying DH just because they don't like their games/tactics/whatever their excuses are.
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"Digital Homicide is representing themselves in the lawsuit, and do not have an attorney."
Ohh boy.....
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best part of this is there crowdfunding was trolled, people were sending in such small donations that it actually cost them more money for processing then they were earning lol
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this is fuckin amazing XD like wow, just wow
cant wait till the table turns and our good pals at DH end up with some massive legal cost on their neck
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Considering they're doing it themselves (no attorney), their legal costs will be very low. Then again, so will their chance of success.
They've already screwed up in several different ways
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As long as it don't turn to real life homicide, why can't DH accept that there is bad review aside good one :(
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Because Sterling hasn't been "reviewing" their games, just harassing them trying to put them out of business. He's already decided that he'll negatively "review" every game they publish without any attempt to even play them right.
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Well altough I share similar feeling about DH and their crappy games like most of you, I also dont like Jim Sterling, not that he is one big troll that gain fame on shitting on bad game, but also he is taking everything to far. So they can all go to hell XD
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the point is not whether you like someone or not, but whether they have right to do something or not. I may dislike a journalist XYZ, I may disagree with his opinions, but I will still protect his right to free speech. I may like company XYZ, I may like their products, but I will not like them filling false DMCAs to take down criticism they don't like, to censor the media etc.
For example - with all their screwups, I do enjoy a lot of games that SEGA did publish, had a ot of fun with them etc, but nonetheless I will not stand by them taking down YT critique/review videos of their products which they are known for.
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But will you really defend harassment as free speech?
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If one calls any speech one does not like harassment....then where exactly does that leave freedom. Oh right, on the wayside
Kinda like some current political figures like to do :D
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I have no idea what you're trying to say here, but I merely call harassment harassment, not all speech or opinions...
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I can't stand Jim Sterling. I hope DH take him for every penny he has.
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So...Jim is a total leech, DH make absolute crap, sounds like a marriage made in heaven.
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WTF I hope they don't win their case will be a sad case public media :(
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Well, Sterling did cross some lines he shouldn't have. Criticism is a great thing - bullying the awkward stupid kid into the ground is not. Read the article, Sterling has said things that very much can give him legal troubles.
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read a little bit didn't see much about this "bullying" aspect People should have freedom of speech though no matter what crap comes out of their mouth
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TBH that video was the reason why I stopped watching Sterling. Freedom of speech is very important, but it doesn't mean you can claim a company is stealing assets with no proof, and you don't get to direct a horde of your fans against someone, who is now being harassed regularly.
While I agree with his criticism of DH, Sterling is just so damn self-important it's insufferable and deserves a slap in the face to remind him he's not the center of the industry. He obviously has some issues with himself, and he takes it out by tearing apart others, the easier the prey the better.
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not sure about stealing assets, but DH was found to be stealing art pieces at least I believe - They took some art from deviantart and I remember creator saying on his own DA profile he never allowed them to do so.
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The thing they "stole" from Deviantart was actually purchased from Shutterstock or whatever it is called. They mention it in the article.
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yeah i don't know enough about this Case, and haven't watched much of Jim's content before as find him a bit dicky, I imagine high views would be one of the reasons he continued doing vids & such. I understand current law you can't defame & such or some shit but that ain't freedom of speech I think it shouldn't be restricted at all you said it yourself he had no proof so why would anyone believe him. Did u ask people to harass them?
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...This is just a stupid publicity stunt, right? They're trying to get attention? Seriously, after Jim's little Skype call where he got "wrecked"(aka I'm joking) by them, all I can say about them is how bullshit they are. I mean, seriously. You, KimchiTea gave a link to Irving v Penguin Books Ltd and that's a perfect example for what this is, in a sense. Digital Homocide had initially told Jim that they were legitimately trying aaaand... They to-date have been repeatedly trying to put games that have been taken down such as Temper Tantrum 2.
I honestly love reading stuff like that Irving v Penguin Books Ltd. It's amazing the kind of stuff you can find(like some asshole using false forged document on purpose. Oh boy! How legitimate!) that will make you hate people. The Kotaku article has an example that is basically "If you only look at 10% of my content, you're not allowed to say anything about it!" and that doesn't apply in any situation ever.
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https://popehat.com is great for reading about legal trainwrecks. The saga of The Oatmeal vs. Funnyjunk is pretty epic.
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To be honest, Sterling is a dick. He's said things he shouldn't have, he did some blows under the belt. As crappy as they are, the Digital Whatever guy is legitamely harassed because of Sterling. Sterling crossed a line for the sake of being an obnoxious asshole.
While Digital Homicide's games are beyond bad and they deserve to be shut down, Sterling is everything they are saying he is.
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Legal Dictionary:
(either harris-meant or huh-rass-meant) n. the act of systematic and/or continued unwanted and annoying actions of one party or a group, including threats and demands. The purposes may vary, including racial prejudice, personal malice, an attempt to force someone to quit a job or grant sexual favors, apply illegal pressure to collect a bill, or merely gain sadistic pleasure from making someone fearful or anxious. Such activities may be the basis for a lawsuit if due to discrimination based on race or sex, a violation on the statutory limitations on collection agencies, involve revenge by an ex-spouse, or be shown to be a form of blackmail ("I'll stop bothering you, if you'll go to bed with me"). The victim may file a petition for a "stay away" (restraining) order, intended to prevent contact by the offensive party. A systematic pattern of harassment by an employee against another worker may subject the employer to a lawsuit for failure to protect the worker.
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Well, Petersaber said DH was harassed "because of Sterling," not "by Sterling." While Sterling did not harass or libel them by giving negative reviews or publicity, it's possible that some of Sterling's fans' conduct towards DH was harassment, and thus they were harassed "because of Sterling." Of course that's not legally Sterling's responsibility, and the rest of the suit is still bullshit, but just saying.
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Let's just say that as bad as their games are, their understanding of the law is worse
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He accused them of stealing assets they proved they didn't. How is that not defamation?
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It possibly could be. Sterling made a mistake and corrected it, but in Arizona, you can still be held liable for damages even if you print a retraction. However, I would argue that Sterling's original comment that they may have stolen the artwork is an opinion based on disclosed facts, which is a defense against libel, and that the correction is a defense against the claim that he was acting with malice. Furthermore, it's hard to argue that that specific claim caused DH damages, as opposed to other things Sterling said which were more clearly statements of fact or protected opinion and which DH claims were libelous anyway.
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But how could the so-called correction be taken as a defense against the claim of malicious intent when he didn't stop his actions there? If he left them alone after that, sure, but he's continued his harassment since then, has he not?
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I dunno if it's not his responsibility... this may sound stupid, but he indirectly directed people against DH.
I remember all of these videos and clashes, I've read the article, and this lawsuit isn't as one-sided as it seems at first glance. Making shit games isn't a crime, cyber-bullying is. And Sterling went far beyond mere "criticism".
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Whether it's morally his responsibility to rein in his fans (and to a point, I'd agree it is) is a different question than whether he is legally responsible for what his fans do. Sterling didn't incite or encourage harassment of Digital Homicide. He "indirectly directed people" against DH by pointing out their bad games and shady tactics. But if simply drawing people's attention to someone's bad behavior were enough to make you liable if your fans go out and harass them, that would basically mean no one with a large fan base could say anything negative -- true or not, backed up by evidence or not -- without opening themselves up to huge legal liability.
Digital Homicide is feeding a persecution complex. They want to believe they would enjoy wild popularity and financial success if not for Jim Sterling, as if otherwise no one would have noticed that they censored criticism on Steam, tried to hide their identity by publishing games under different names, and churned out games at such a fast rate that it would be hard to be creative, original, or good even if they tried. They want to believe that people are harassing them because they're fellow game developers who want to drive DH out of the market to get more success for themselves, and not because they're gamers who are upset that a developer makes shit games. And they want to lump legitimate criticisms, statements of fact, and clear opinions together with threats of actual harm, as if they're all the same.
If people did indeed mail poop to their house, or made a credible threat of violence towards them, I hope DH pursues a case (criminal or civil) against those people, and that's what they should have done in the first place.
(Edited for clarity.)
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All true.
However, Sterling did more than just point out flaws and company errors. He did more than criticize, far more. He trashed them completly. As I watched the first video I was thinking "what the fuck is this guys problem?". He put people against that company, he singled them out, he developed a hate boner for them. You could interpret his attempts at getting them off-Steam (and only them) as some sort of harassement.
Anyway, a slightly similar case, in Poland, during a performance, the performing rapper was boo'd by someone. He got annoyed, called the Boo Guy various things, insulted him repeatedly, and then went "You guys know what to do". The Boo Guy was beaten up. Later, the performer faced charges in court, defended himself saying that he wanted the audience to "escort the Boo Guy out", and that he didn't expect the audience to get violent... and lost.
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Except Sterling did harass (even by the legal definition) and libel them... Although he did quickly edit his libel to make himself look better.
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Digital Homicide crossed the line too, with their Review the Reviewer and later trying to silence Sterling because they didnt like what he said about their stuff. We all know how this type of shit ends, some people are a-holes so when they see a Youtuber being attacked by some devs (I think more shity the dev more people will attack them) they think they should attack devs. You cant blame him for what shity people are doing.
I think Sterling is very fair with the stuff he does, he corrects his content when it is proven wrong, many people wont even think abut it.
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Oh yes, DH are also everything they are described as. Huh. I guess Sterling and DH are worth each other at this point.
Well to be frank, Sterling is the only one they attacked with a DMCA. Still, their response video and Skype call were hilariously embarassing.
But I disagree about Sterling being very fair with what he does. The guy is so self-important he can't tell the difference between subjective opinions or tastes and objective facts. He focuses too much on shredding rather than criticising.
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Reading the responses, I get a definite urge to help Digital Homicide get a lawyer, but I think I'll dig a little deeper. Making shitty game and using questionable tactics to promote them isn't an offence. Calling a company out for their shitty games and questionable tactics isn't an offence. But saying that a company stole assets or did something else illegal when they didn't certainly is, and there I have to check if Sterling did any of this. In any case, he definitely should reign in his fans, and if he doesn't care to do that then I hope he gets punished.
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Here's something to note. Sterling amended his article the same day. In fact, he amended it so quickly that I cannot find a copy of the original text anywhere on the internet. There's a person on neogaf who quoted the entire article the same day it came out, and the correction is already in there. He acted so quickly to correct his mistake that the only record I can find of his mistake is his own retraction notice.
It's kind of hard to argue that his article did any kind of financial damage when it's impossible to even find the portion of the article that was supposedly damaging. In fact, even in the coverage, you can find direct quotes from their other eight pieces of evidence, but none of the articles have a quote of the supposedly libelous statement that was retracted. I would be surprised if Digital Homicide even has a copy of the unmodified text.
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Isn't Jim Sterling the actor who is also a Steam curator?
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"Our game is shit? Well let's just improve it!" - Actual Game Developers
"Clearly this person hates us and we should berate him and stick gum in his hair!" - Digital Homicide (AKA a childish moron with no grasp of the law)
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Not gonna lie, I'd love to see them win, not really because I agree with them, but because I can't stand Jim Sterling and his dickish harassment of all sorts of game developers...
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- No one is forcing you to watch and or like him.
- If you think he should pay 10M because of that you are crazy
- If they win other shity devs may do the same to the Youtubers you like ( if you like any) and they will have this as example
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- No one is forcing him to harass small Indie devs, trying to put them out of business.
- If you think he or anyone should get away with this kind of behavior and any sort of harassment, you are crazy
- If any other Youtubers attack/harass devs like this, I would love to see them be punished, especially as it's against Youtube's rules even (I don't like Youtubers who can only survive through hate and attacks and such...)
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harassment? can you show me an example of that? he is a critic, and therefore he has to talk about games and game companies. and if a company produces bad games, it is his obligation to say that. and if a company like Konami makes one bad move after another, i am glad that there is someone who tells me about it. it is good for the industry if someone talks about the black sheep. the newspaper does the same thing. if someone fucks up, it will tell you about it. and if that someone fucks up several times, it will tell you about that every time. is that what you call harassment?
and you want the company that tries to censor critics and customers to win, just because you don't like Sterlings face. that's just so wrong...
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For one thing, just about anyone can be a "critic", so saying it's a "critics" obligation to release continued attacks meant to drive a company out of business, then there should be lots of these "critics" in jail. Another thing, of course, is the harassment. I thought the definition was common knowledge, but I guess I was wrong:
Harassment
- the act or an instance of harassing, or disturbing, pestering, or troubling repeatedly; persecution
One or two bad reviews I could see pass as just him doing his "job", but at this point, it has become clear that he isn't trying to provide honest reviews for their games, but trying to drive them out of business, which leads to it easily being considered malicious intent. Especially since the developer has expressed their wish for him to stop already. "Oh, but he's just doing his job as a critic" you'll say. No, he's not any more, his "job" would be to provide unbiased reviews based on many different aspects, not just the company that made it...
Your example of newspapers is ridiculous, one reason is because newspapers do not release every issue bashing on celebrities who they already decided that every action they take will be negative. They also don't make a living trying to crush and harm companies, sure they'll talk about mistakes and negative aspects of celebrities and businesses, but they don't consistently harass people who ask them to stop after wrong accusations and slander and such...
And you making up lies about me doesn't help you any...
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He might not be a bad person, but he knows the damage and everything he's caused and continues to cause (directly or indirectly) which makes me believe it is a malicious intent. If you look into laws regarding harassment and such, it is usually necessary to have a kind of proof of the intent and that could include the continued attacks and harming after knowing clearly the effects of it, and these do include digital interactions, too. Jim has and does know that he's causing harm (again, both directly and indirectly) and has known for a long time, but has not ceased his actions or has even tried to slow down his followers or his own attempts to end/damage the company (as far as I know). If they were to win, it wouldn't stop all negative reviews (like some people believe for some reason) but would, hopefully, lessen the harassment being excused as "drama"...
But, knowing how people think, I'll start being attacked and blacklisted more (although I'm sure plenty of people did already) because they believe that since I don't agree with "entertainers" who only know how to make jokes that hurt/harm others, I agree with developers releasing games that aren't popular...
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But seriously, I've wanted to make games for longer than I can remember (well, pretty much, I have old papers that said I used to want to be a Tester, though) but nowadays, with how cruel and harsh the community is/can be, I think I'm scared to even try. When one wrong step/statement/word could easily and quickly lead to the end of your career (if you can even get it started), I doubt I could ever make it (especially since apparently the games devs make often aren't even enough to justify supporting them). I'm not exactly optimistic or confident or anything, and I'd probably end up killing myself if I ended up in the position lots of these devs are in now, since I can barely hang on even without that kind of added pressure. I'll be honest here and say that I can't see how people are supposed to enjoy life, especially if trying unsuccessfully to do something you "love" will most likely end up leaving you unable to continue in the industry?
Ugghh... I really need to get away from this thread/topic, though...
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how can you expect a serious discussion, if you call almost everyone in here an "extremist"? i am not an extremist, and i am not a jim sterling fan. i deserve to be able to state my opinion without being called an extremist, or a Sterling-fanboy. i didn't copy Sterling's opinion, i have my own.
but i think DH is one of the worst game developers out there, and they deserve every bit of negative publicity they got. that has nothing to do with fanboyism. it has to do with a company that tries to censor critisism (both professional critics and users), and that tries to sell their games under the name of another company. those are very shady practises, and i am glad there are people like Sterling who talk about that, until everybody knows.
it's absolutely fine and common to call out big companies, if they do something anti-consumer. like when Ubisoft deliberately lifts the review-embargo of a game after release, people on the internet call them out on it. because it's a bad thing to do, obviously. and nobody criticises people like TotalBiscuit for doing that. well, i just don't see how it's any different with DH. they behave shady - over and over again - so they should be called out on it.
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and you want the company that tries to censor critics and customers to win, just because you don't like Sterlings face. that's just so wrong...
Right here.
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oh come on, that is not a lie. that is just another phrasing for I can't stand Jim Sterling and his dickish harassment. ^^
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Looks like this person rather support more trash games in the Gaming Community and dislike Quality Control.
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Glad to know you fans of his can make up lies and use irrelevant reasoning to try and make me look bad, too.
FYI, I never said I supported their (in some people's opinions) "trash" games, but now that I think about it, I would much rather support any type of game over a "critic" who makes his living by attacking devs and/or "criticizing" everything he can. If that's what you call Quality Control you are seriously messed up...
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It helps if you think of people like Sterling as entertainers, not critics. His goal is less about being fair and more about keeping people watching and entertained. Look at his intro, the costumes, the tone, and so on. He's much closer to a late night talk show than the evening news, as are a lot of the big name video critics and reviewers.
Plus, even among more traditional reviewers, it's pretty well known that the negative reviews are the ones that get the most attention. Think of your favorite Roger Ebert quote, and I'd be willing to bet that it's from a negative review (My personal favorite is the one about the bottom of the barrel from his Freddy Got Fingered review). If you want to stay popular and relevant, the best way to do it is to find garbage and rip it apart. Roger Ebert knew it, James Rolfe got big because of it, and all of the popular internet reviewers out there know it. There's room for fair assessment in your review as well, but the thing that sticks with people is the hate.
A lot of people get asked why they do more negative reviews than positive ones, and the answer is basically always the same. "Being positive isn't as funny." "It's hard to be funny and still be positive." We respond better to jokes about the negatives, because laughing is a natural response when someone violates social norms and does something impolite. It's really hard to write a joke about how well Steven wrote and delivered his speech. It's really easy to write a joke about how Steven ripped a huge fart in the middle of the fifth sentence. If Steven's good at improv, he might even crack a quick joke about it himself to break the tension.
So yeah, you're right to put "critic" in quotation marks, but it's not really their goal to be critics. They're characters. They have personas. They entertain. If they've given their character a name different from their own, like in Stanton's case, it's a very good sign that the goal is to entertain. You'll notice that a lot of them also do "out of character" reviews where they give their real thoughts. Stanton finds more value in having the Sterling persona be always on, similar to kayfabe in professional wrestling. But at the end of the day, the Jim Sterling videos are still meant to entertain.
And just so you won't go making a false assumption here: I'm not a big fan of Jim Sterling. Stanton's editing timing is very poor, but he likes to make a lot of jokes that require tight editing. The result is that you're often left wondering why the hell he cut away to something and you only catch the joke seconds or minutes later. Often he has to repeat the joke verbally just so it sinks in. I just think it's important to realize that he's producing comedy first and legitimate reviews second. As long as that's what you meant by "critic," carry on.
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Your point that "he's producing comedy first and legitimate reviews second" is another thing that really saddens me. There's nothing wrong with that statement, but personally, I hate that that can be an excuse for harassment. It's all too common, though, looking at "prank" videos and stuff nowadays you see how pathetic people have become in general, especially since (like you said) that's what people like/want...
Like seriously, I have such a hard time trying not to kill myself sometimes... People seem to be so cruel and everything now... :(
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I don't think they should win this ridiculous lawsuit, although I do hate many youtube personalities out there, my kids are always watching their videos and the voices... ugh the voices...
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I agree that it's a bit of a ridiculous sum, but I would prefer them winning over Jim any day.
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I don't think you would.
The legal system is based very heavy on tradition and precedent. Once a case is decided one way, it can be submitted as a form of argument. Very often, legal decisions will cite previous legal decisions and similarities between cases as the primary reason for their decision.
Other than the retraction argument, which already has some legal grounds in Arizona and could potentially be legitimate, Digital Homicide's case is very broad and unprecedented. One of their complaints is that "Sterling pointed out how the Polish ECC Games’ Twitter feed hadn’t referenced games published by the American ECC Games". In other words, "Sterling posted a fact that makes us look bad". One of their other complaints is that he said "“chicanery may lead it into very real legal trouble.”
it is very dangerous to start classifying statements of fact and sentences with the word "may" in them as libel/slander. If Jim loses on all nine counts, his case can be used as legal precedent. It becomes a crime to have a headline like ""Company X posted $10 million in losses this quarter and may be considering layoffs."
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I just don't think they have a case, unless it can be proven his words actually caused harm to the company I'm pretty sure it would be protected under the first amendment.
I don't know what Sterling said in particular but his words would have had to of caused DH some damages, I'm not sure if Jim Sterling can damage DH more than DH already damaged themselves by their actions.
I don't necessarily think DH is the worst, I just think they reacted in the worst possible way you could, then instead of just letting the uproar die out they continued to push it home.
I think the games they make are getting better, slowly, it's just unfortunate that no matter what the outcome that brand and their games are going to be tarnished.
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It's sad that the only reason people buy Digital Homicide games is because they're dirt cheap and profit can be made from the cards or for leveling up their Steam profile. If you listen to the interview Jim Stirling did with the DH developer, you hear the dev himself admit his games are not very good. A $10M lawsuit is way over the top.
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I think I got them in bundles or for very cheap for collection :(
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http://kotaku.com/angered-game-developer-sues-game-critic-jim-sterling-fo-1765484317
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EDIT: Here's Popehat's post on one of DH's previous run-ins with Sterling, where they abused DMCA to take down his review. It doesn't seem like their understanding of the legal system has improved since then.
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