plaguelands.comI want to address Jeff Freeman’s rant here
In response to Jeff’ posts calling out, well this other rag I write for.
Jeff Freeman and I, we go back, well sort of. Let’s see, I have been reading Freeman’s blog well, since its genesis. I knew him as Dundee, way long-before he set off the SWG drama bombs. Jeff actually linked to this blog and other player blogs at one time, when it was you know, lots easier keeping up with them all. I’m not the most prolific sob out there, but I’d like to think I’m “part” of that player bloginati that came after Lum’s bagel sellout. The guys at Corp and F13 were around light years before me, but I’ve been at this track for awhile now. I’m another nobody really, but nonetheless, some nobody that has been blogging for awhile, and reading MMOG commentary sites long before writing my first fuck you.
Jeff,
You are a batty curmudgeon that happens to be a MMOG developer with a bone-to-pick, someone that enjoys a good MMOG Thesis over nostalgia piss and theorycrafting vinegar in the morning. You didn’t get the memo after Mud Dev closed up shop? The one you can’t read because it’s written in invisible ink. Well it goes something like this:
“The horse is beaten: Every topic relating to MMOG theory-crafting; communities; shenanigans; all gems and turds were already grinded into a bloody-pulp and taken apart, and said best by a Frozen Moses.”
Reading those topics a Frozen Moses philosophized back when we are all sucking on goat-tits to survive is sometimes boring; even if it is some insightful shit that will melt brains. Alright, so you pointed out that you didn’t expect a link to your post from over a year ago, only in cute verbose lengths that would make Mark Twain kill himself if he had the chance. Oh yea, I also got you don’t mind the rehashing of a topic as long as the author’s opinion is um, you know, fruitful or some shit that doesn’t diminish your brain cells. .
The truth is not every Massively writer was privy to those conversations from yesteryear, and to find it, they’d need Angus’s time-traveling skills, and he is apparently stuck in level two somewhere and can’t get back to the first level in the year now to teach us how to master the webs. In fact, I think Zenke (mmognation) and I are perhaps the only Massively writers that have been part of this little incestuous circle for the past five years.
After mulling that for a bit you might be thinking: At least you two guys should know better. Your pro-interwebs editor job (lolz) should be spot checking every post and informing each writer to dredge up all these insightful fossilized links!
Nup, won’t happen because, it’s impossible, and requiring every writer/blogger to become a sponge and soak in all the internets would cause them to explode into pieces. As for the specific post you called out. The Daily Grind is a series about, (“Guys, wuddufuxup today?”), or this is what on our brain today feel free to discuss this with us and point things out. Certainly, it depends on the writer, but the norm is more or less fluff.
There is a community there, and many writers do converse in the comments. This community may not include you or the Terra Nova bearded doctors, but that doesn’t discredit our objective in fostering a community, and pulling shit out of context is pretty fucking lame on your part. That’s not to say I’m defending Massively as being the editorial perfecto extreme fancy pants nuggets of MMOG awesome sauce. Far-far from it, but if you don’t like it don’t fucking read it.
Next time maybe you should post a link in the comments, albeit, you’ll probably look like a link-whore, if that’s the case drop it in Massively’s tip-jar instead. It’d help our writers who aren’t vampire curators of the MMOG discussion archives. I’m sure one of Massively’s writers would have definitely loved to write a more in-depth piece on how MMOG communities are run in-and-out of game, and used your discussions as a reference since it was a topic worthy beating-to-death again given Tabula Rasa’s recent launch and stance. Yea, this probably won’t happen now, not by me anyway.
This little snippet is more or less a disclaimer that my personal opinions and views, the content on this website are mine and mine alone and does not express any official views of any other Massively writer or the suits therein.
About this entry
You’re currently reading “I want to address Jeff Freeman’s rant here,” an entry on Plaguelands
- Published:
- 12.08.07 / 3pm
- Category:
- frozenmoses, lolzdrama, scribbers
I am sorry for the unfair criticism of Massively.
Or rather, maybe, for it not being so obviously unfair as to be immediately dismissed.
So I’m not sure if the lesson I’ve learned is not to unfairly criticize things, or if it is that I need to kick it up a notch.
But I have definitely learned one of those two lessons.
Well now, that’s just ridiculous. If I didn’t read it, how would I be able to bitch about it?
What are you, new?
Sweet, that’s going to be one hell of a mind trip. Over a thousand posts last month!
It’s just some old guy anger. Old people usually suck because they think they’re the best thing ever and that all these youngins are not. Happens every century in every aspect of human life, the old people cling on while becoming increasingly more asshole-ish and the young people are just trying to pry the old peoples fingers so they’ll let go and DIE.
True that! Jeff and his old puffed up angry wizard beard.
Jeff has a peculiar writing style. It drips with sarcasm, and is easily misinterpreted. I was giving him a taste of his own medicine, but looking back on my post a few days later I can see how my intended funny backfired. haha. I got several emails about it! As for criticism, I actually love it when it actually helps brings to light something I missed and helps me become better at what I’m doing. Jeff’s post offended a lot of people, most people are sensitive, but I’m pretty thick-skinned. Flame me, my normal response is to laugh, the other is to yawn. The other is to acknowledge it and move on.
I understand some of Jeff’s points… but what the hell’s the point of constructive discussion if we don’t visit and revisit tired topics? Even if the revisitation is done in ignorance.
Ugh, that really sucks. I really do hate that I offended anyone.
A lot of the indignation that I expressed is sincere, so I can see how a person would conclude that the target of my angst was sincere as well (and therefore - they suppose - that the actual target must have been Massively itself, since criticizing a single three-paragraph post like that is ridiculous).
Really, I kinda knew better before I clicked the publish button.
Some people always take some or all of what I write the wrong way (and I think we all know why), but whereas I’m generally throwing around the hate-paint with great, broad strokes, this time I was being too specific.
Usually I say something like “people are stupid” and it’s ok. Most everyone realizes it means “people in general”, and that as specific individuals each one of them is the exact opposite of that. They’ll take “people are stupid” to mean the same as “you are smart” (which is absolutely how I mean it, every time).
Or I harshly judge some massive and ancient multinational corporation: targets so enormous that they can’t measure the difference between me and nothing, let alone muster-up a significant amount of give-a-shit regarding what I said about them. Plus since corporations have no souls, there are not even many people offended on their behalf (despite the popularity of being offended on behalf of others otherwise).
Ditto all of the above for celebrities, come to think of it.
Of course, none of these special cases apply to calling out a specific random post, and essentially Massively.
I was being specific, and Massively is not the pride and joy of a handful of accounting firm retirement fund stock portfolio account managers who’d take criticism of it so very personally, and either there are no celebrities involved - none of the Massively staff has recently dismissed rumors about being pregnant with with boyfriend Ogie Alcasid (the sort of things celebrities have to do all the time) - or else congratulations are in order.
So I had the thought that anyone taking that the wrong way wouldn’t have the “out” of being able to define themselves out of being the case in point. I heard the little angelic voice offering advice toward a better course of action.
Now I’ve also heard that same voice again, saying “I told you so” for the past couple days, every chance it gets, like that helps.
It’s such a jerk, I swear.
The publish button is evil, it’s more like a playing a slot machine without the cool half-naked chicks that bring you free drinks but it can be just as costly. My rewards tend to fall into the following categories: Destroy a human soul, sound like an incompetent idiot, slay brain cells, or win at the internet. I’d like to win at the internet, but that still hasn’t happened yet. Some fucked up odds.
It would be pretty funny to rant on some of the ads on the site that have nothing to do with MMOGs at all. In fact, I could probably write tomes of shit about what I didn’t like about X site *cough, being vague for reason.* I need to stay on board as long as I can, until my eyes explode and my brain devours my head and computer refusing to read/write about MMOGs only to leave my wretched fat carcass in search of a new host.
Erm… really?
I thought your post here, right up there, was entertaining and an entirely appropriate response.
It’s a much better retort than at least one popular alternative: an anonymous “ur blog is stupid” comment on my blog, which incidentally is not stupid all the time.
I certainly wasn’t offended.
Yea, I normally don’t get any mail either. They went down like this: Oh, I supposedly know you? Hi, How are you. That’s just dandy. Did you read the disclaimer? I love disclaimers.
I knew you wouldn’t be offended. You got impenetrable cybernetic skin that will defeat all word play. Not even the infamous Jeff Freeman thinks people shouldn’t blog about old topics can phase you. (lolz! learn 2 read my posts plz0rz) I might try pictures next time, that takes effort though.
The really great thing to come of all this is that FINALLY the “most popular URL” on my blog is not Shamlessly reposted from Grimwell’s blog.
That’s the post that just says “the” and links to a post just like it on Grimwell’s linking to Coyote’s post merely titled “the” which doesn’t say anything at all.
It had looked like that was going to be most popular for quite a while, too. The closest thing to it was only half as popular (and since that was just How to Draw a Chicken… well).
Not that it bothered me or anything. If that’s what way more people preferred to anything I had actually spent any time writing, you know… whatever.
According to these Google Analytics reports, being a prick is a very effective traffic builder.
Heh.
When I wrote the first comment in this thread (the one that begins with “I am sorry” up there), I was debating between leaving that comment, or instead just writing:
“So’s your mother.”
I figured you’d understand it means the same thing (and maybe also appreciate the economy of discourse it exhibits), but I decided against it in favor of one less liable to be misunderstood by anyone else.
Anyway, since I don’t have advertising on my blog, I think I made the right choice, there.
‘Gimme a heads-up before you do the pictures thing.