Its Forbes, that might as well be their masthead.
ZekeDMS
3042
So fuck Paul and, perhaps unsurprisingly, fuck Forbes to some extent. But it’s Forbes. Big guy pushing around little guy is kind of their bag.
He’s still apologizing not for what he did, just that he did it to someone more powerful than he is. On top of that, he’s ignoring that he’s already had some complaints like the ones Nate published. It’s clear he thinks if he didn’t get caught it would have been fine, just as had happened before.
Forbes should have pushed the questions and corrections, that was a complete softball and they let him slide with overt bullshit. I feel less sympathy for this guy with every interview he posts.
He could make his act of contrition, make this go away easily. Buy up some Avengers, pick something out of the spare stock, whatever, and donate them to Child’s Play, or donate a serious chunk of cash of his own. Make a sacrifice and say “I fucked up, I shouldn’t have acted like I did no matter how I felt that day. Even if I think the customer is an asshole, my job is to smooth things over and I acted like an asshole myself.”
Dave got a little dickish in the email, but Dave’s job isn’t customer service. Every god damn one of us who’s worked PR, CS, retail, etc., knows how shitty customers can be, but also knows that’s no damn excuse to pull shit like that. On those very rare slips that do happen, it’s “Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. Here, let me make it up to you.” Full stop, no dancing around it, no pretending to be the victim.
Fuck this guy.
I genuinely don’t want to derail the thread, but:
When a stranger comes out of nowhere and accuses you of making light of rape and even being complicit in a culture that condones rape, then there is only one right thing to do: treat the accusation as ludicrous and beneath your contempt.
They did handle some aspects of the escalation badly (which is why I think Mike is acknowledging now that he can be an asshole), but the first round was so bizarrely McCarthy-esque that the only right way to respond is to say “that is complete bullshit and how dare you even accuse me/us of that.”
Editer
3044
This just in: Christoforo will be the new publicity manager for Rob Granito.
(Seriously, I want to see an interview with both of those guys at the same time.)
Quaro
3045
He comes off the same in the steroid forum. He brags about having hookups with MMA fighters and elite fitness trainers and that his father law is an MD with 40 years experience that runs a world class lab and can get him whatever he wants and test anything perfectly. Other posters roll their eyes.
JoshV
3046
Also, the dude mentions a wife and kid, but in another post, he mentions having to have his girlfriend set her facebook status to private…
So which is it? I am starting to think the wife n’ kid angle was just a shallow play for sympathy and forgiveness.
Think it’s just GF and kid (Stay classy!). He’s got a youtube channel where he had promo videos for the Avenger, where he also had a video where he mentioned the Gf being pregnant and berating the “liars” of his apartment complex for moving him into a unit next to a 6 lane road and not installing sound proof glass in his windows
Can’t it be both? I bet it’s both.
I like the idea that if you start a fight, the person you start the fight with is obligated to warn you that you may lose the fight. It’s about HONOR!!
Forgetting, of course, that Penny Arcade DID warn him by mentioning that he runs PAX, and got roundly mocked for it.
To further the analogy: “It’s like going to a bar and picking a fight with the smallest dude you can find but he says has a black belt so you laugh and point and pour beer on him for being so stupid but then he shows you the belt and you call him a child and make fun of his hair and weight and then he beats you up for no reason! I mean why not have the decency to show home movies of yourself getting the belt with signed affidavits of all the people who saw it and a personalized introduction to your sense??”
I saw her FB page before she made it private thanks to an SA goon linking it. They are definitely together and she definitely exists. Looks like they’ve been dating awhile. The babby is definitely real too and trust me, Paul is no longer the musclehead (in looks) he once was. Everybody put on some baby weight!
It hardly matters, this guy would be a douche sans child and remains a douche undaunted.
I can’t think of a someone more deserving of the herp from his derp than this guy.
Are you wishing an STD on him?
That would be a good start, but it’s not the end by a long shot.
Quaro
3054
Their existence wasn’t, but the whole “Threats to me are one thing, but threatening my wife and two month old son? That’s not cool guys” thing was an angle. He was recently asked if he’s been passing along the threats to the police and he backed down and said they hasn’t received any yet but he was worried about it happening.
The other QT3 thread on this in games forum: http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=67932&page=7
ShivaX
3055
“Raping my wife is wrong!! You need to stop!”
“Someone raped your wife?!”
“Well, no, I’m just saying they shouldn’t cause that would be wrong.”
Next on Paul’s list of things people shouldn’t do: Genocide.
The Escapist – which I still can’t link – has a new story on his extortion of his former employer.
ZekeDMS
3058
As bad a holiday as this has been for most people, the internet has not disappointed this year. A giant jackass who has really given people no shortage of significant problems is getting just what he deserves, and the way it’s being done is so public and visible that it may well send ripples throughout the customer service and PR worlds that make companies think “Alright, we need to straighten the fuck up before it’s us.”
Maybe wishful thinking on the latter, but hey, I’m a hopeful fellow.
The Reddit “Ask Me Anything” thread by the guy who replaced Christoforo and has been trying to clean up his mess:
Was quoted in the Escapist article, but has some other fun stuff as well.
ZekeDMS
3060
“A Beatdown in Which Kotaku reminded us how terrible they are.”
Seriously, Kotaku? The PA guys play up the internet dick role, but everyone who’s ever worked with them just talks about how nice they are. But I’m sure you’re right here, they’re really just big bullies, and the terrible fallout from warning gamers away from what’s damn near a scam is just going to crush them. And those jerks raised almost 3 million dollars for sick kids, too. Obviously bad people.
Apparently Paul’s using that article now to say “See, it’s not my fault, they’re a big name and they agree with me!” Great fucking going, Kotaku.
