Kotaku’s Bully Pulpit

I’ve been revisiting my stance on online passes recently.

I’ve had some interesting conversations with people that I trust and respect on Twitter, and I’ve seen some fair-to-argue reasons why online passes exist. It’s true that publishers are cut out of the used sales loop and would like some of that revenue. There’s genuine concern that publishers may cut back or even fold if extra revenue isn’t somehow culled from consumers, and we see this frequently with DLC. I don’t necessarily agree with these arguments, but I can at least understand where they’re coming from. I’ve reached a point where I accept that, until digital distribution comes into full effect, online passes are here to stay.

This piece, which has NSFW langauge and was publicized by Kotaku today, tries to do the same thing that my Twitter conversations did… but does it in such an offensive, insulting, and immature manner that the message is fatally diluted as a result. It’s a textbook example of how not to argue a point, because anyone who was either neutral or in opposition to the issue at hand stopped reading less than 100 words in:

Fine then. Don’t F___ING BUY IT, you entitled, self-centered pricks. 38 Studios and every other company who implements an online pass don’t have to listen to a f___ing word of your whining.

Tell me why anyone would keep reading after that point, unless they’re already staunch proponents of online passes.

I didn’t, initially. I took to Twitter instead and publicly called Kotaku out for publicizing something so malignant. I understand that it’s a “Speak Up” piece and that a Kotaku staffer didn’t write it… but a Kotaku staffer sure thought it was a good idea to greenlight the piece and share it with its entire readership. More on that in a bit, though.

Mr. “Skeletal-Minion”, the piece’s author, is obviously very passionate about the industry. He doesn’t want leeches– errr, those who buy used games– to have an ill effect on the entertainment that he holds so dear. Indeed, these people who buy used can’t seem to “skip one f___ing value meal to make up the difference between a new and used copy” are seemingly threats.

It’s good to have a message, and to be passionate, but this is not how it’s done the right way. This is voiced as a teenager’s temper tantrum, spewing vile and vitriol at anyone within earshot who doesn’t agree. There’s no message sent here about online passes and whether 38 Studios was in the right or the wrong about moving a quest line to DLC. If there is, it’s upstaged by the delivery method, which bludgeons readers with verbal abuse from stem to stern. Even as a neutral observer, I’d be far less inclined to listen to anything that the writer has to say. Instead, I’d be angry and want to attack the messenger without caring for the message.

Is this what we’re reduced to in order to get our points across? Do I need to start dropping F-bombs and dealing the insults to get people to listen to me? Is the issue really so binary that there’s no room for debate? The decision by Kotaku to publicize such a diatribe is disappointing because it proves that yes might be the answer to these questions and it really should not be. I find it hard to believe that not one other Kotaku commenter didn’t have a less inflammatory argument that could have been showcased. Instead, Mr. “Skeletal-Minion” gets rewarded with a bully pulpit and the bad blood boils between the Used and New factions. Nothing is solved, and nothing even remotely productive emerges as a result.

It’s great that Kotaku is recognizing and publicizing the opinions of its readers with a wider audience. I just hope that, in the future, more care and consideration will go into the selection of these opinions. Passion does not always equate to substance, as this example clearly demonstrates.