Has Astroturfing invaded MMO Champion?

[Deleted]

The link you posted itself...the thread had 0 replies until the feature was announced. In fact, some other person might say the probably took the idea straight from him...

Maybe because nobody cared, they implemented it anyway. And after that everyone was "Whoah, best change evar!!!!one"

And what are you talking about damage control and some MVPs? That was hardly any information at all? What MVPs? Do you mean VIPs? If you aren't going to post a source why bother posting?

I think Dalrian mentioned it. I'm not going to read all of his 5560 posts.

Let's try something else then.
Blizzcon regionals 2011, this should be it:
us.media.battle.net.edgesuite.net/videos/blizzcon/wow-regionals-2011/8-SpecialTactics-Singularity-LB3.flv?ppvakey=29816486

12:05 you can see 54,520 crit on Eathimdevo by Novoz (Fulmination, he just used Earth Shock).
13:53 another 49,284 crit on Lopezz by Novoz (again Fulmination).
16:05 table shows this: Novoz Highest Damage Dealt: 37,233.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

I not saying in all cases, but there are departments for this, and ones controlling mass opinions. It might not happen here besides the occasional luny making several accounts to agree with himself, but in the world definitely. I'll give you an example. I live near a big city, and have been around some big current events. The news pretty much lies at will to give viewers a specific angle. So that is a bigger case and I'm sure happens in a lot of different ways.

I'll say public opinion and consensus is a huge thing.

Well I get what you mean. What sucks is as long as people lie, people will do this kind of stuff. Kinda hard to say no to this shit.

[apepi]

Oh no! You found me out! Run!


But seriously blizzard, if you want someone to astroturf(that sounds like a wierd sex thing)on these forums, then pay me!

[Zenotetsuken]

Plot twist:

All MMO-C users are working for the same astroturfing company. Team A is being paid by Blizzard to defend it, Team B is being paid by other publishers to attack it.

Oh look we got a real M.Night Shamalaman... Shammamalan... Shalalaman... Shamamalan

Oh look we got a real Diablo 3 writer over here!

[Issalice]

No I don't think they are doing something like that. People aren't going to revolt, they will be pissed about the increase but they will end up paying the £1 or £2 difference in the end. This just seems a bit far fetched for me.

[Super Kami Dende]

The worst part is though when you out out an opinion and it is different to someone elses it sometimes garners just the "Hurr Fanboi/Hurr Viral Marketer!" response so often these days it is crazy.

[Count Zero]

The worst part is though when you out out an opinion and it is different to someone elses it sometimes garners just the "Hurr Fanboi/Hurr Viral Marketer!" response so often these days it is crazy.

Projection bias is so strong in some that it's the only way they can conceive folks would be promoting a perspective that doesn't align with their own

[Kanegasi]

If you don't know what it means:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing

"On the Internet, astroturfers use software to mask their identity. Sometimes one individual operates over many personas to give the impression of widespread support for their client's agenda.[1][2] Some studies suggest astroturfing can alter public viewpoints and create enough doubt to inhibit action.

Another technique is the use of sockpuppets, where a single person creates multiple identities online to give the appearance of grassroots support. Sockpuppets may post positive reviews about a product, attack participants that criticize the organization, or post negative reviews and comments about competitors, under fake identities.[12][23] Astroturfing businesses may pay staff based on the number of posts they make that are not flagged by moderators.[18] Persona management software may be used so that each paid poster can manage five to seventy convincing online personas without confusing them with one another."

Everyone knows MMO Champion is the number one site for WoW, and I wouldn't be surprised if it got more or just as much traffic as the main WoW site forums. It's very valuable to Blizzard that this website succeeds and get alot of traffic.

Recently there was a post about how prices are going up in the EU for faction changes, name changes, etc etc and I was surprised that people were defending it. Why would someone defend something and write out huge paragraphs over something that's blatantly an increase just to make money.

Basically, do you think Blizzard actually hires people in say... Asian or other countries to literally just sit on these forums/main WoW forums/Twitter/FB and defend them thru the thick and thin to make people think "Well, if these people are justifying increased costs, then screw it. Let it be".

My favorite part about this post is the tangent it flies off in trying to invalidate an opposing opinion. If you disagree with any of the reasons people defending the cost increase had, would you settle for "they can make the price anything they want" instead? The highest change is £22, do you really have to break the bank to pay that? If you can easily afford the services, why complain at all? Are you really against a company wanting to earn money? Why are you here? Why do you even play Blizzard games? Would you like every video game to be free?

My rant aside, I honestly don't understand why they increased the price. EU prices were already more expensive than USD prices and with USD value at a new almost two year low, EU prices are now even more expensive.

[Zoldor]

This is really popular on stock/investment websites and forums. Bashing/Pumping is done this way. I could see it on MMO but I don't see it causing enough sway to do anything big or money making. It's used by a lot of companies to promote products as well, usually the job is community manager or something like that.

[Instructor Soki]

It absolutely has.
Similar typing styles are used by some of the most outspoken posters who share the same opinions (I'm looking at you, SJWs)

- - - Updated - - -

My favorite part about this post is the tangent it flies off in trying to invalidate an opposing opinion. If you disagree with any of the reasons people defending the cost increase had, would you settle for "they can make the price anything they want" instead? The highest change is £22, do you really have to break the bank to pay that? If you can easily afford the services, why complain at all? Are you really against a company wanting to earn money? Why are you here? Why do you even play Blizzard games? Would you like every video game to be free?

My rant aside, I honestly don't understand why they increased the price. EU prices were already more expensive than USD prices and with USD value at a new almost two year low, EU prices are now even more expensive.

"I'm a corporate shill who wants to pay more than I have been for the same service"

[arcaneshot]

This topic is funnier when you pair it with the obvious bot spam posts General Discussions have gotten lately.

[Goondicker]

Others have mentioned similar things in the thread but here's what I think.

To answer your question, I'd say no. While a very large portion of the WoW/mmo community comes here for news, a much smaller portion actually frequent the forums.

[Kaq]

So because people disagree with other peoples opinions, they are suddenly doing the shady? o.O Seriously these forums.. the topics... the conspiracies... *head explodes*

Lol! Agree though

[MoanaLisa]

It would be a waste of their money if they spent a lot to pump up stuff on MMO-C. Besides most of the people that post here that tend to view the game in a positive light go off on rants from time to time if something really displeases them. And that's as it should be. I highly doubt that a lot of purchasing decisions are made after a thorough review of some of the threads here.

[Rumred]

The Forum mods are being paid by blizzard to downplay this and deny it. However we all know GC is behind it all as he is the spymaster of Blizzard. Even as we speak he is planning to assassinate LoL from the inside.


As you can see he is also a Eunuch/end sarcasm.

On Topic: This is has been something they have done in other media and i am sure it was only a matter of time before they started to do it on large fan forums.

[Shrouded]

While I don't think Blizzard does it, I absolutely believe they would do it if they thought it worthwhile. They're not the same company they were before WoW.

[Sierra85]

Plot twist:

All MMO-C users are working for the same astroturfing company. Team A is being paid by Blizzard to defend it, Team B is being paid by other publishers to attack it.

thats an inception level of mind bend.

[Nerevar]

Everyone does it? It's the internet.

[Stevegasm]

Given the size of this site, and the size of the Curse network, it's such an easy yes. I'm sure Blizzard does it here, as do other companies trying to pull people away from Blizzard products. These types of people are pretty much everywhere. If Blizzard didn't have them, I wouldn't be surprised if their parent, Activision Blizzard employs or hires them.

At the same time, in the OPs post about the price hikes. Gaming is a different animal. It's the only business outside of sports where people become fans of actual corporations and their products to such an absurd level. Just say something like, "I love my Xbox One" anywhere on the internet, and you'll have droves of Sony fans shitting on you saying "greatness awaits" posting Don Mattrick memes and what have you. You ask a Sony fan if paying for online access to play multiplayer was a good idea in 2008, they would have said no. But now that Sony requires payment for online, they make excuses for why it's a good idea now. It's just how it seems in this industry. I wouldn't be surprised if it's hardcore Blizz fans, as well as astroturfers (first time I heard it that way) were all over that thread.

[Deleted]

It wouldn't surprise me. People making conspiracy jokes need to understand this is a very real issue, and has affected many other popular sites like Reddit.