I'm going about my afternoon habit of "lets take a break from work and check out my google reader with a great cup of coffee" when I come across this post by Too Many Annas about honesty in blogging. She mentions this blogger from a while ago who got caught in some drama. Well, Anna is much too classy to name names, but heck, we all know that I'm not.
Remember this whole incident from back in May? Well, reading Anna's post, made me wonder, "Yeah, what the heck ever happened to Ferarro of Paladin Schmaladin?
So out of curiosity, I pop on over to this blog that caused such a frenzy this summer. And here is what I find:
A post saying the blog is looking for writers. Some quotes from the post:
* "With my employment to Blizzard being upgraded soon, I might be looking for someone to help take over a little, too."
* "In fact, during the whole WoW.com/Jago debacle, Paladin Schmaladin made over $5,300 in that one month alone. Not the best way to make a profit, but it was what it was."
Then another update regarding the status of this writer search, Ferarro apologizes "to the ninety-three apps I had to cut off."
Um, has it been accepted again somehow that this person (persons? singular? plural?) does in fact work for Blizzard? Did everyone just forget the debacle from earlier this year? So much so that people are clamoring to be writers on this blog? I don't know if I am more amused/confused by what continues to be claimed on the blog, or the fact that the blog's readers seem to be accepting it.
Huh? I'm confused. I want to take what I read at face value. But I'll be honest, it's a little hard to on this blog. Do you think this person really works for Blizzard? Did I totally miss something? Was there some E! True Hollywood Story on this somewhere that I missed?
I *obviously* am not an employee of Blizzard, but I am a member of the IT workerbee culture for a two or more decades now. So I can only speak from experience.
ReplyDeleteThat experience says that "Ferraro" would have been canned if Blizzard had any way to find out who he or she really was.
Companies frown on employees using said employment as a means to an end outside of company affairs, because it implies endorsement by the company (or so they will say).
So I find it highly unlikely.
2c, lump of salt, etc.
I *do* have a friend that works for Blizzard, and he also had a blog that was very popular, but I'm almost positive that they aren't allowed to parade around going 'Yeah, I'm a Blizzard employee. Worship me'.
ReplyDeleteI really doubt they're a Blizzard employee... probably just trying to brag about something that's untrue =\
Um, yeah, reference @Corgii here ... the stigma isn't so much about having a blog or whatever, it's about using the name of the mothership "in vain", as it were, that gets one in trouble. TY for the clarification.
ReplyDeleteOTOH, and a good point to bring up, is that a lot of companies (BAD companies!) are starting to ASK if you have a blog / LJ / whatnot.
I ain'y buyin'a single fluggernubbin' word on Pally Shmally no mores. Maybe it ain't all lies, but the "I get paid by Blizz to play WoW" always sounded fishy ta me, and then the dread pirate roberts explanations sounded like pure horsefuggery.
ReplyDelete@Ratters
ReplyDeleteI AM THE DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS! THERE SHALL BE NO SURVIVORS!
Was that over the top? I CAN NEVER TELL!
People on the internet pretending to be something they're not is quite literally the worst thing in the world.
ReplyDeleteI for one would be devastated if I ever found out that Ratters was not in fact a real Orc...
Here is what I don't get. Why are they continuing to assert working for Blizz after everything that happened? What do they get out of it after their authenticity and credibility was so widely questioned? That's why there is a part of me that wonders that perhaps there is more to this story.
ReplyDeleteBut secondly, I am just as intrigued by the readers of the blog who seemingly have forgotten/don't care about line the blog is putting out there and accept (politely ignore?) assertions about working for Blizz.
@Anonymous: Haha. I really hope you're joking because if you lump what Ferraro put out there in the same category as Ratshag's blog (hello RP?)... I really can't help you there.
I did read Paladin Schmaladin before the scandal. The pally info is good and really helped me improve and better understand the class. And the writing style is entertaining and engaging. And the personality portrayed was charming,
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I still read the site from time to time for the pally info and any new insights on patch changes.
However, the lies about who was writing previously and who may be writing it now, has caused me to completely distrust any of the personal information that may be revealed. It is interesting to think that this person may actually work for Blizz and have some inside info but I simply do not buy it - yes, i just ignore her/their claims.
And now as I write this, I wonder why, if I do not trust the writer about the personal stuff, why would I trust the other stuff? Which I believe is the point you, Anna, and TJ are all trying to make. Lying to the readers creates distrust and invalidates the writer.
@Ancasta: Yeah, I guess that is what confuses me. Why are readers, including some prominent bloggers, continuing as if nothing ever happened?
ReplyDeleteThere was actually an explanation/apology post at some point during that whole mess although I cannot find it now that I found rather informative. I daresay that is why a number of people still go there.
ReplyDeleteHmm... where to go here. I can say that Ferarro's insights helped make me a passable Holy paladin for the guild, K. Of all the websites I had seen and read, only Banana Shoulders (may the Light bless that delightful woman) taught me more. I owed a great deal to Paladin Schmaladin.
ReplyDeleteBut I do not read her site anymore. I simply cannot take at face value what she (if she is indeed a "she") says anymore. I cannot condone that kind of behavior. If that makes me prudish, then so be it... but doing the right thing still means something in my book. Stealing someone's identity does not qualify as the right thing.
Ferarro is lying. As one of the people that dug up who Ferarro really is, as a person who knows the incredibly strict rules Blizzard employees go by, as a person who has spoken to Blizzard PR (that said, "That person is full of shit and the pictures they've posted are not of the Blizzard campus") and as a person that knows what kind of traffic Ferarro sees...
ReplyDeleteThey're lying. I guarantee it. Don't even worry about them, and let Ferarro shrivel and rot.
@Mark: Wasn't the explanation post the crazy there is 7 Ferraro's story? And readers really accepted that story?
ReplyDelete@Nico: I've wondered whether I'm in the minority that what "she" did bothers me so much. In seeing so many other bloggers and readers continue to interact on her blog, I wondered if I was just being overly dramatic. But I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.
@Alex: Hmmmm... so they just continue their assertions that they work for Blizz... why? I don't get it.
A reader sent me a very thoughtful and insightful email on his perspective from a reader's point of view. He brought up some great points including the fact that my perspective as a blogger may be different from that of a reader... and that readers of her blog may go to get information, but then choose to ignore the fiction pieces.
It definitely made me think about this whole issue in a new and different way, and for that I am grateful.
Paladin Schmaladin definitely feels different since the whole scandal (which happened while I was taking a break from playing). Oddly, even less effort seems to go into the stuff that was actually useful and helpful, and more of the ego-boosting, attention whoring (EBAW) stuff seems to be up, with lots of apologies and excuses for why the useful stuff isn't there that feels like more EBAW stuff.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is precisely one reason I'm a bit excited about this whole new writer thing: the writer of Ret pally SMASH! is one of the finalists; frankly, I find the content of Ret pally SMASH! fascinating and engaging, even though I don't PvP very much and my main is a druid.
Hofflerand deserves a bigger audience; I hope that this helps him get it, without too many people holding their negative thoughts about Paladin Schmaladin against him.
Frankly, he's too good for them: on the one hand, I want him selected since he seems the best by far, and on the other hand, I hope he's not, because he deserves better.
A bit late to the convo, but oh well.
ReplyDeleteI'm on the same boat as Ancasta. Some of the content on there is amazing, but just knowning the whole scandal threw me off blog itself.
Also, there was that huge, erm, debate she had with Averna on Val'nyr where she's like "Well I'm a Blizzard Employee so I'm right and you're wrong." It totally bugged me to no end and after that, I haven't visited her blog.
So... the FBI, eh? *shifty eyes*
I'm also a bit late to this conversation, but I'm just getting back onto the blogging scene here. =)
ReplyDeleteI don't read her blog anymore. I've gone back a couple times - maybe three times total? Just to see if she was still keeping up with the writing. And I did see that she was asking for writers, and I saw the reasons why, as well. I couldn't believe any of them. The Blizzard promotion, the getting into modeling, any of it - they're all lies. Even if they AREN'T lies, well, after what's happened, we can't know that... so... for all intents and purposes, they're not true. It's unfortunate.