Editorial RPG Codex Editorial: Where Journalism Goes to Write Itself

[Darth Roxor]

Grunker please explain your questionable and duplicitous behaviour right now.

This is an outrage!

I DON'T KNOW WHO TO TRUST ANYMORE

 

[Zeriel]

Journalists who get paid to sit around and take copy-pasta notes to then write PR articles for the industry defend their morally debauched salary.

And everyone is really, super shocked.

Not that I can really blame them, though, everyone wants to be able to go home at night and sleep well with the knowledge that what they do for a living is basically defensible. If it isn't, you've got to start nurturing self-delusion. Journalists and financial types seem the most prone to this, but it's hardly exclusive to them.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

If you're really trying to fish for clicks, then you need to cut that shit out bro. I'm not in the mood for another server donation drive just because retards wanted to read your article en masse. Go post it on Kotaku or something.

 

[Grunker]

I would love to reply to this obvious slander of my unwavering integrity as a proffessional journalist an amateur fan writing about what I saw, but alas, registering on NeoGAF requires a paid e-mail account, and I cannot afford such extravagance on Codex wages (i.e. nothing).

Perhaps I could set up a Codexian e-mail address in order to defend the honor of this prestigious magazine. DarkUnderlord, Crooked Bee?

 

[Zeriel]

Seems like a waste of time to me, Grunker.

Guy literally thinks Codex wants "more eyeballs". He's kind of missing the whole point--articles like this aren't to heighten the prestige of the Codex, they're to bitch about why everything is shit. And his criticism basically boils down to, "You're trying to make yourself look so much better!". As far as I saw from reading through the article, there's not a single sentence where you ever say the Codex is better. So it's fair to say his reading comprehension is nonexistent, too.

 

[Grunker]

Seems like a waste of time to me, Grunker.

taking the piss out of someone is never a waste of time

there's not a single sentence where you ever say the Codex is better.

i can neither confirm nor deny that this would be the main topic of said piss-taking

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Let's just invite these blokes to the dex for a reasonable, friendly and polite discussion instead?

 

[Haba]

The criticism towards game journalism, conventions and PR parasites used to be extremely prevalent in game magazines for years. Funnily enough the tones have suddenly turned much more polite and the barbs have been radically dulled. I guess the death of the print media does away with any principles.

None the less, I find it amusing that those modern day "journalists" are trying so hard to deny something that their seniors have been writing for decades.

 

[Zeriel]

Let's just invite these blokes to the dex and redirect them to RPGWatch then for a reasonable, friendly and polite discussion instead?

^

 

[evdk]

Perhaps I could set up a Codexian e-mail address in order to defend the honor of this prestigious magazine. DarkUnderlord, Crooked Bee?

Better to wait for him to write an angry editorial on Kotaku and then engage in some inter site shit slinging match.

Hint: You can't get brofists on NeoGAF

 

[Bah]

As long as forums of bad game makers continue to ban the words "rpgcodex", I'm not to worried that this place is trying to break into gaming journalism.

 

[Sceptic]

Perhaps I could set up a Codexian e-mail address in order to defend the honor of this prestigious magazine. DarkUnderlord, Crooked Bee?

Just use the RPGCodex Twitter and tweet back and forth. Remember? it's what the real journalists did

 

[Crooked Bee]

Durante's the guy who modded Dark Souls' PC version, right? He's a true bro.

Perhaps I could set up a Codexian e-mail address in order to defend the honor of this prestigious magazine. DarkUnderlord, Crooked Bee?

I can't do that - DU can - but that'd be futile anyway. NeoGaf didn't approve my account last year when I attempted to register there with my Codex email (they have a manual account approval process). So now I just have to lurk at Neogaf and can't post there. I guess we can add them on the list of websites that ban rpgcodex, or at least treat us with suspicion.

 

[crawlkill]

I guess the solution is a move towards post-professional gaming journalism. there are a million people out there anxious to tell us wot they think for no dollars. it's kind of strange that vomiting out opinions that take a couple hours to write was ever seen as anything but a hobbyist pursuit. tell me more about how some people have "good opinions!!!" fact is that we don't need these gigantic aggregated gaming sites buried in industry advertising (and jesus christ such self-conscious advertising if they close a zillion-dollar account over a bad review) to get a read on what we're getting before we buy.

it's not something that should ever have been monetized on the internet. a joke and a relic of the hilariously terrible Roger Ebert era of "good opinions." take its jaw out.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Durante's the guy who modded Dark Souls' PC version, right? He's a true bro.

Yeah, that's him. Somewhat surprised he follows the Codex.

Durante, if you're reading this, you are truly a prestigious gentleman.

Perhaps I could set up a Codexian e-mail address in order to defend the honor of this prestigious magazine. DarkUnderlord, Crooked Bee?

I can't do that - DU can - but that'd be futile anyway. NeoGaf didn't approve my account last year when I attempted to register there with my Codex email (they have a manual account approval process). So now I just have to lurk at Neogaf and can't post there. I guess we can add them on the list of websites that ban rpgcodex, or at least treat us with suspicion.

I was really surprised when I learned about that policy. Honestly, neogaf doesn't read much differently than any other internet forum, so not sure what the point is. I guess they don't want to be flooded by 13-year-olds from gamefaqs?

 

[Crooked Bee]

I think the policy makes sense - it's definitely useful for blocking alts, for one. I was surprised they didn't approve my rpgcodex email, though; biased much?

 

[evdk]

I think the policy makes sense - it's definitely useful for blocking alts, for one. I was surprised they didn't approve my rpgcodex email, though; biased much?

That depends, does Watch email work?

 

[Crooked Bee]

I think the policy makes sense - it's definitely useful for blocking alts, for one. I was surprised they didn't approve my rpgcodex email, though; biased much?

That depends, does Watch email work?

No clue.

We should ask HiddenX

 

[tuluse]

I imagine this would be far more interesting and far less like the same angry "don't trust them - trust us!" article I've read a hundred times before.

Gee, I wonder why you keep reading these articles.

Any time you make the establishment butthurt, you know you've done something right. Good work Grunker.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

I think the policy makes sense - it's definitely useful for blocking alts, for one. I was surprised they didn't approve my rpgcodex email, though; biased much?

No doubt because you're a woman. Sexist much, neogaf administration?

 

[Stabwound]

It's pretty impossible to register on NeoGAF. I tried to register and I believe it took something like 6-8 months before they approved my account. I have no idea why they're so strict about this shit; it's not like it's a super high quality forum.

 

[HiddenX]

I think the policy makes sense - it's definitely useful for blocking alts, for one. I was surprised they didn't approve my rpgcodex email, though; biased much?

That depends, does Watch email work?

No clue.

We should ask HiddenX

Myrthos and the RPGWatch staff members have RPGWatch-email accounts that work.
Why should they not work?

 

[Infinitron]

I think the policy makes sense - it's definitely useful for blocking alts, for one. I was surprised they didn't approve my rpgcodex email, though; biased much?

That depends, does Watch email work?

No clue.

We should ask HiddenX

Myrthos and the RPGWatch staff members have RPGWatch-email accounts that work.
Why should they not work?

She means if they work for registration on NeoGAF.

 

[HiddenX]

I don't know if they are registered at NeoGAF.

(Myrthos follows the NeoGAF forums a bit)

Just ask Myrthos himself:

myrthos@rpgwatch.com

 

[Grunker]

Oh well, since my entry on NeoGAF is barred, I supposed that bit of trolling will be impossible. You will have to make due with a more serious response here. Who knows? Perhaps he'll somehow read it:

When a site like RPGCodex writes a screed like this and positions themselves as The Only Outlet Worth Trusting

it reads like someone [...] using that as an opportunity to write about how you should only trust him and his site and no other game journalists. I feel like I've seen this same thing written a thousand times before, on a thousand different blogs, all vying for your eyeballs.

I must apologize to every reader for this grave mistake. The last thing I want is to encourage people to trust the RPG Codex, and I would never call myself a 'game journalist.' God forbid. As I've said in the comments section on the Codex, we're just a bunch of volunteers, with no obligation to, or claims of, integrity. Trust us? Don't you ever. Trust us only as far as we seem to make sense.

The point I'm trying to make in the article is that people are supposed to be able to trust people like you, Jason Schreier, much more than guys like me. I'm just some random lame-ass doing this for kicks. While you, Jason, you are a serious professional with a tough job, and one that is important to our shared culture.

And that's the whole problem, isn't it? When people think they have as little reason to trust guys like you as they have to trust guys like me. When your integrity as a paid professional is just as questionable as the integrity of an anonymous amateur like me. And not because you are corrupt or take bribes or some conspiracy like that - I don't make such unfounded accusations because for all I know Jason, you are an honest guys who aspires to professionalism.

But because Jason, you report from conferences where everything you view is crafted with the intention of making it hard, if not impossible, for you to get a clear picture. Or, as I write in the piece:

Both models of game demonstration allow little room for critical interviews or researching games in depth. For all intents and purposes, Gamescom is a seller's market, a place where the money finances an outlet for PR and community managers to communicate with reporters, who then communicate with potential customers. It is simply impossible for a journalist to get anything except the “official version” of game stories here. Almost nothing can be extracted except exactly what the PR departments want. It is a place where journalists get glances, which they will later name 'previews.'

So, I apologize if someone got the impression that I was making the Codex out to be a beacon of light, capable of divining truth about video games in settings where others are not. My point of "nobody can" would ring pretty hollow, were that my claim.

I also have little reason to "vy for your eyeballs" seeing as I am unpaid and write to a very specific audience.

Many writers work quite hard to ensure that they're reporting fairly and honestly and accurately - even at trade shows!

My dear Schreier. I do not doubt that you are a hard working man who would love to report fairly and honestly and accurately. Even at trade shows. In fact, I think the majority of people who work in games journalism are quite passionate and knowledgable about games - why else would they seek this job? What is called into question here is not your good intentions. It is the fact that those intentions pave the way to critical thinking hell.

The very point of my editorial is that it is impossible to produce anything of much depth or quality based on a trip to a conference. I don't care if you won a pulitzer, you do not have the time nor the surroundings for good journalism at Gamescom. Gamescom is designed to make your job harder, it is designed to only show you what is essentially marketing, and its design shows how little respect these venues have for you. In sports, the journalists have booths with nice seats and free food, because they are the communicative link between the athletes and the audience, and the industry relies on them. In film, the work of critics is viewed with utmost scrutiny by their peers, and their integrity is often so unquestionable that major studios and directors fear the popular reviewers and their detailed analysis of their films, because it can make or break the box office in some cases. In real journalism, journalists are hailed with generous prizes for integrity and they have entire institutions devoted to secure journalistic standards.

In video games, you get to stand up on a cheap carpet in an industry hall the size of a major train station or sit in a crowded room and take notes about games shown in what amounts to elongated TV commercials. You and your craft are not taken seriously. You are laughed at by the people whose job you are supposed to, in Rab Florence's words, "make very challenging." If you do not take a stand, forgive me, but then I will not respect you. The industry takes the piss out of you and tramples you, yet you argue that everything is fine. You take shit no other industry of critics would accept.

In the end, you provide the damning piece of evidence yourself:

Except... lots of people are very aware that the demos we see at conventions are all part of marketing plans, and lots of websites have specific policies about how to handle these events. We revisited ours earlier this year:http://kotaku.com/5985143/apologies-...h-that-preview

"Listen to me, a wise experienced journalist, o naive youngster from the Codex. We're not stupid. We know that previews are useless, and we know conferences are nothing but marketing ploys."

Well, mr. Schreier, that does beg the question... why do you keep reporting on them?