Comments on Boathammer: Toboldgate Biggest Scandal Ever

Yes, I am a bit jealous if we are to be honest her...

2008-09-09T13:55:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am a bit jealous if we are to be honest here. But truthfully, my post was not so much about that as it is to ask, "What's the criteria here?". I mean, what criteria are game developers using to determine that blogger A and editor B get freebies, but others don't despite their efforts.

Tobold would be silly not to accept the free sub, and I love his blog. I never meant to take any type of shot at him, although others felt the need to do so. I can tell you all right now, you can take your free shots at me if you want....but if I got a free sub I'd be happily playing for free as long as I like the game. And I'd still speak my mind about things I like or dislike.

Anyone who thinks some "higher ground" needs to be taken here needs to wake up and smell the coffee. This is capitalistic America, not a Buddhist Monestary and Tobold has shown more character than most by his full disclosure. Again, I'm just curious about selection criteria...but I'm sure I'll never really know the answer to that one.

A quibble: An MMO subscription is not expensive to...

2008-09-09T12:42:00.000-04:00

A quibble: An MMO subscription is not expensive to produce. Cars and computer hardware have material costs which make them epense to produce. They can't give them away because it costs them a large sum to manufacture. Books, Movie and video games have a low material cost to manufacture -- so it incurs little to no burden to give away these things for publicity.

I'm more concerned about the bloggers who are gett...

2008-09-09T11:42:00.000-04:00

I'm more concerned about the bloggers who are getting a free sub and HAVEN'T said so. As Tobold said this morning, he can't be the only one.

Quiet frankly I don't see a problem when companies...

2008-09-09T04:27:00.000-04:00

Quiet frankly I don't see a problem when companies provide freebies to bloggers as long it's public!

I can understand it if one is getting now suspicious about Tobolds reviews, but it's nothing to get too personal (e.g. insult Tobold).

No one is forced to read the blog and if someone thinks that Tobold is too biased because he gets the free subscription, than that person can stop reading the blog.

Doh, here's the right link:http://eatingbees.broke...

2008-09-08T22:53:00.000-04:00

Doh, here's the right link:

http://eatingbees.brokentoys.org/2008/09/08/quid-pro-quo/

Can't say I really have a problem with what happen...

2008-09-08T22:51:00.000-04:00

Can't say I really have a problem with what happened. Tobold was up front about what happened and pointed out he's actually paying for a European subscription. Given the European Open Beta problems and the fact that Tobold posted about preview weekend not being available in Europe, I can only imagine Mythic wanted to give him a chance to see their game in its best light.

Tobold said it pretty well, "I can't be bought that cheaply." [grin] Not to mention that he's NOT a journalist, so there's really no journalistic ethics issues here.

But...I can see how some people can worry about how things like this might end up coloring what readers hope are fair and unbiased blogger opinions. Even no-strings-attached favors make some people suspect a quid pro quo.

Take a look at this post from Eating Bees ( http://www.google.com/reader/view/#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Featingbees.brokentoys.org%2Ffeed%2F ), another fantastic blog. It's an interesting look from the other side, about what marketers might expect from writers who accept "freebies." Note it's very clear in the piece that there's no talk about expecting a FAVORABLE writeup, but it's pretty explicit about the expectation of some kind of coverage to "repay" the "favor" being done a writer. That cautious dance between marketers and reviewers has been going on forever.

Again, I don't see anything wrong with that as long as no one is trying to hide anything. Tobold certainly wasn't (and, again, he's not a journalist) -- so no harm, no foul. Still, to paraphrase the Eating Bees piece, sometimes it's just easier to pass on the free steak :)