#BoycottBorderlands3 trending, Alleged Controversy targetting YouTuber

[anon5123]

Most people don't care about online "controversies" and will buy the game anyway

/shrug

[CrawlFromThePit]

Again i lol'd hard because there will be no boycott. Look how boycott for Anthem ended.

Exactly. These internet kids are so disconnected with reality, they don't realize only a very small minority of people actually follow that kind of crap. The vast majority of people are just random Johns coming from work and buying a new game to play in their free time, they don't follow it, barely know when it comes out, don't watch weird ass content about it and never talk about it on forums either.

And that doesn't even count the fact that a lot of people who are aware of the boycott won't even do it either. You end up with a boycott of... hmmm I would say 0.3 to 0.7% of total sales.

Good job guys, really defeating the evil corporations.

[Blade Wolf]

Most people don't care about online "controversies" and will buy the game anyway

/shrug

Most people don't care that they are treated as mindless cattle by the game industry.

[Mister Cheese]

Supmatto's channel has been deleted and it's unclear if 2k or youtube was involved in that. Also Fl4k's voice actor is going around bitching at people on twitter for refusing to use his character's proper prounouns "they/them". Even though Fl4k is a fucking robot.

Oh yeah and no pre-load because the EGS doesn't have that feature even though every other storefront including consoles has it.

What's the next stupid thing that will happen to this game?

[Tenjen]

it is not the role of content creators and news media to protect game companies secrets and info for them. (though that thing he did with the subscription to a discord channel for more reveals was pushing it on his part)

Nothing he revealed was a "secret" let alone a "Trade secret" which is major private info or internal designs/activity meant to kept from competitors. Not this. Their internal company rules/policies do not apply to the rest of the world.

Not even the first time 2k has done something like this. This is a way over the top reaction by them.

Its very unhealthy for the industry for game companies/publishers to unfairly nuke anyone they dont like. The amount of copyright claims hitting all his videos, most not related to anything is ridiculous.

We'll just be left with butt kissing stooges on youtube if thats the case.

[Halicia]

Supmatto's channel has been deleted and it's unclear if 2k or youtube was involved in that.

Its 100% clear that they were involved with it. The false strikes originated from them, and they admitted as such.

Most of these videos were Borderlands 2 and general history of the setting that had been up for years with no copyright issues.

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We'll just be left with butt kissing stooges on youtube if thats the case.

ok, let's be clear. the youtuber in question was a 100% superfan butt kissing stooge.

Which is why this "shocks" me.

If this is what they do to their superfans, why would anyone but a total shill stream/youtube content about any of their franchises.

I mean, its !@#$ing absurd that a company can stalk you down in real life and then wipe out the last few years of your work because you didn't respond to their threats. Even when reporters have been imprisoned by the government to get at their sources, the government didn't go around wiping out their past articles and publications. That's 1984-level BS.

[lollerlaban]

Its 100% clear that they were involved with it. The false strikes originated from them, and they admitted as such.

Most of these videos were Borderlands 2 and general history of the setting that had been up for years with no copyright issues.

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ok, let's be clear. the youtuber in question was a 100% superfan butt kissing stooge.

Which is why this "shocks" me.

If this is what they do to their superfans, why would anyone but a total shill stream/youtube content about any of their franchises.

I mean, its !@#$ing absurd that a company can stalk you down in real life and then wipe out the last few years of your work because you didn't respond to their threats. Even when reporters have been imprisoned by the government to get at their sources, the government didn't go around wiping out their past articles and publications. That's 1984-level BS.

Bottom line. Don't try and sell leaks through a paywall to milk your fans.

[Edge-]

Bottom line. Don't try and sell leaks through a paywall to milk your fans.

This seems to be the bottom line at the end of the day. 2K isn't going to turn a blind eye just because someone is a superfan, if you cross the line like that they're not going to fuck around. I agree that the excessive and seemingly malicious use of copyright strikes is crossing the line for the company and scummy, but their frustration with his behavior is totally reasonable.

[Halicia]

This seems to be the bottom line at the end of the day. 2K isn't going to turn a blind eye just because someone is a superfan, if you cross the line like that they're not going to fuck around. I agree that the excessive and seemingly malicious use of copyright strikes is crossing the line for the company and scummy, but their frustration with his behavior is totally reasonable.

Funny, cuz they turn a blind eye towards gaming magazines that report on rumors everyday, and last I heard gaming mags weren't nonprofit. I guess it's ok if you're a complete and total shill though.

But to cut to the chase, if say ... "Edge-", found out that I ran a discord channel where people could pay a couple bucks and chat directly with me and other superfans of Edge-, about the latest rumors and goings on in Edge-'s life. Does that give Edge- a reason to hire thugs to trespass into my home and threaten me to expose how I found out about all their weird habits ? Does that give Edge- a reason to spend nearly a year conspiring with my employer to "fire me" without cause ?

If Edge- thinks something I did was creepy or illegal, Edge- should have reported it to the cops, or had any of the dozens of lawyers Edge- apparently has on staff to issue a C&D or get a restraining order. That's not what happened here, though.

[Calfredd]

Funny, cuz they turn a blind eye towards gaming magazines that report on rumors everyday, and last I heard gaming mags weren't nonprofit. I guess it's ok if you're a complete and total shill though.

There's the flaw in your argument. Game magazines report on rumor, SupMatto was charging for actual leaks.

[Halicia]

There's the flaw in your argument. Game magazines report on rumor, SupMatto was charging for actual leaks.

There's a flaw in your argument. Supmatto was never charged and its literally impossible for him to leak trade secrets. As someone outside the company the secrets were leaked the moment they came into contact with him.

Its also important to note that journalists routinely report on leaks. That's just basic journalism. Its even in the name of a certain website the President is fond of.

[Edge-]

Funny, cuz they turn a blind eye towards gaming magazines that report on rumors everyday, and last I heard gaming mags weren't nonprofit. I guess it's ok if you're a complete and total shill though.

You mean outlets? Ain't too many magazines left, especially outside of Europe, so there's no real paywalls for those sites. Additionally, I don't know of any sites that have engaged in the kind of behavior the YTer did. He wasn't just reporting rumors, he was improperly accessing private streams (and more) if I'm understanding correctly.

If content creators want to be media, they need to act like media.

But to cut to the chase, if say ... "Edge-", found out that I ran a discord channel where people could pay a couple bucks and chat directly with me and other superfans of Edge-, about the latest rumors and goings on in Edge-'s life. Does that give Edge- a reason to hire thugs to trespass into my home and threaten me to expose how I found out about all their weird habits ? Does that give Edge- a reason to spend nearly a year conspiring with my employer to "fire me" without cause ?

Are you improperly data mining to find ways to access private, NDA'd material? Are you charging for access to those materials? If so, then yes, I'd have every right to "hire thugs" (private investigators aren't thugs, fyi) to come to that persons home (he didn't have to invite them in, but I guess he did) and chat with them about the situation.

I won't defend the excessive strikes, as I already stated, but everything else is reasonable. Private investigators are heavily used to find leaks like this, you just don't hear about it too often because their work is almost always behind the scenes. Almost every major tech leak, for example, leads to serious internal (and external) investigations to try to find out where the leak is so it doesn't happen again. Companies are justified in their interests in protecting their products/property and ensuring that private material isn't leaked improperly.

If Edge- thinks something I did was creepy or illegal, Edge- should have reported it to the cops, or had any of the dozens of lawyers Edge- apparently has on staff to issue a C&D or get a restraining order. That's not what happened here, though.

What he did isn't specifically illegal from what I know, the cops wouldn't do shit. And if lawyers had been thrown at him the results would be exactly the same as they are now, with him crying victim and more outrage from the outrage crowd. A restraining order wouldn't do shit, either.

There's a flaw in your argument. Supmatto was never charged and its literally impossible for him to leak trade secrets. As someone outside the company the secrets were leaked the moment they came into contact with him.

And per 2K, it wasn't as if he came across thumbnails from streams that were supposed to be private but were accidentally public. That shit happens and they'd have no recourse. My understanding is that he improperly accessed these private streams with clear intention. That's a very different ballgame.

[Mister Cheese]

There's the flaw in your argument. Game magazines report on rumor, SupMatto was charging for actual leaks.

He didn't leak anything. He is not the leaker. He did not sign an NDA and isn't beholden to 2k to keep his mouth shut.

[Halicia]

Are you improperly data mining to find ways to access private, NDA'd material? Are you charging for access to those materials? If so, then yes, I'd have every right to "hire thugs" (private investigators aren't thugs, fyi) to come to that persons home (he didn't have to invite them in, but I guess he did) and chat with them about the situation.

You have zero right to hire people to trespass on my property. That makes you a criminal, not me.

The information was not private, and he was not under an NDA.

Even if he were under an NDA, that's a civil matter, and the company's reaction was criminal.

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And per 2K, it wasn't as if he came across thumbnails from streams that were supposed to be private but were accidentally public.

They weren't accidentally public. They were deliberately public.

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What he did isn't specifically illegal from what I know, the cops wouldn't do shit. And if lawyers had been thrown at him the results would be exactly the same as they are now, with him crying victim and more outrage from the outrage crowd. A restraining order wouldn't do shit, either.

Your accusations are that he hacked into their computers and sold accounts and passwords to Borderlands 3 that somehow violated his NDA. That's criminal accusations that would be a slamdunk for civil. They claimed to have multiple companies involved in that nearly yearlong investigation, but at no point bothered to get a cease & desist. That's like accusing your ex of stealing your wallet, only after you hired someone to break into their house to murder them. Not only does the punishment not fit the crime, but you went outside the law to pursue it, which begs the question... why ?

[BeepBoo]

Key point here is dude was sent PRIVATE. INVESTIGATORS. He's not obligated to give them the time of day. He could have just not answered his door. PI's are not actually police.

"I feared for my life" Yeah, like you're a black male with a tail light out carrying an ounce of weed? My ass. Grow some resolve my dude.

[Rennadrel]

When people employed by a developer use Twitter to personally attack and lambast people for being critical of their product, it just gives more justification for boycotting it. The fact that both Gearbox and Twitter tolerate unhinged attacks on people for being critical of a game is enough reason to boycott BL3

[SirBeef]

Key point here is dude was sent PRIVATE. INVESTIGATORS. He's not obligated to give them the time of day. He could have just not answered his door. PI's are not actually police.

"I feared for my life" Yeah, like you're a black male with a tail light out carrying an ounce of weed? My ass. Grow some resolve my dude.

Exactly. Somewhat famous internet stooge gets caught doing shady shit. Large corporation sends PIs to find out if it is true. Dude get caught in lies, then deletes his channel. Pretty much a giant nothing to see here.

[Sykol]

I hope to god this is satire, but apparently you can get banned for misgendering a robot in the game now. So that's another plus for it.

[Edge-]

I hope to god this is satire, but apparently you can get banned for misgendering a robot in the game now. So that's another plus for it.

Citation? I heard some nonsense drama over twitter, but like...that sounds impossibly stupid. What, is Gearbox going to commandeer folks mics and listen in to everything they say?

[Shinzai]

Citation? I heard some nonsense drama over twitter, but like...that sounds impossibly stupid. What, is Gearbox going to commandeer folks mics and listen in to everything they say?

https://forums.gearboxsoftware.com/t...ice/2935973/14