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Dec 8 / Ozymandias

Comment Censoring? Not Happening.

,

Had the following comment made:

"Now also this site is a PR move on MS part so expect it to cast a positive light on their products. I am also less than happy that only every 3rd post of mine doesn't make it here but, this is a MS blog written by somone involved on the 360 project."

I'm still amused to see some people think this is PR driven. Simply put, it's not - nothing I have ever posted has been seen, filtered, or approved by PR or Marketing at Microsoft. I can safely state this as it's a simple fact. Microsoft just happens to be very progressive in its thinking around blogs. I know that my stating this won't change some people's minds, and frankly, there's nothing that will. But I did want to state that for the record.

More important in my mind, the comment above implies a belief that I filter or censor comments. This isn't the case, and there may be a technical issue happening that I want to explore with your help.

For the record, I do not filter or approve comments. I just don't have the time, and frankly, don't care to. So when you type a comment and hit "Submit" it should just appear (after a few minutes – the site is slow to process). Period.

I also do not delete comments unless it's A) requested (ie, "I posted this in the wrong thread"), B) offensive (swearing, racial slurs, etc), or C) spam (link farming, porn keywords, etc.) If it's just a comment calling me, my opinions, or Microsoft flaming idiots they stay; I'm not that thin-skinned. Wink

So please test this – submit comments, say what you want. Have an opinion, and if something doesn't appear after a few minutes (the site takes a bit of time to process), please let me know. There's no censoring going on here.

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  • Cowdisease

    I would like to comment on this whole comment about commenting that I really have ‘no comment’.

  • Matt

    What Cowdisease said!

  • ???

    he has one-sided argument

  • Doug P

    /* No comment */

  • Philly Rampage

    Hey Andre,

    How do you like Superman and N3 so far?

  • http://shafnitz.blogspot.com Shafnitz

    It was probably just some Sony fanboy upset at some of the true statements being made about the PS3.

  • http://a-simian-mind.blogspot.com Shawn Oster

    What I always wonder is *why*?  Why do people care that much?  I mean I think my 360 is great but honestly, it’s still just a hunk of parts.  If someone else has a PS3 or 360 or Wii then so what?  

    I’m not sure why everyone loves to hate everyone else on these issues.  You buy the product that works best for you needs.  I suppose people don’t want to feel like they’ve invested in the wrong thing and thus feel humiliated but still, the levels of passion people display are crazy.

  • Anonymous

    Re: "How do you like Superman and N3 so far?"

    I’ve only barely touched them, so can’t give a good opinion yet. Superman was fun – like the big city. N3 is pretty, but with bad English voice overs.

  • Anonymous

    Re: "I’m not sure why everyone loves to hate everyone else on these issues.  You buy the product that works best for you needs.  I suppose people don’t want to feel like they’ve invested in the wrong thing and thus feel humiliated but still, the levels of passion people display are crazy."

    It is pretty interesting. Frankly, all the gamer friends I know just buy the consoles they "need" to play the games they want to play – and that’s about it. I’ve always approached Nintendo’s consoles that way – there’s usually one game I’ll buy it for (be it a Zelda or a Mario), and I don’t really have an expectation that there will be more (though there’s hope). Usually there are 1-2 more titles that are worth picking up, though. Put another way, in Nintendo’s case, I buy the game I want to play, and just happen to have to pick up the console so I have something to play it on. :)

  • Trellium

    Ozymandias, just for the record I did submit to this site a week ago or so and the post did not appear. It wasn’t a big thing, but I did notice it never showed up in the thread at all.

    And no, it wasn’t an anti-Microsoft "XBox360 is the demon seed" post, nor was it anti PS3. I didn’t think it was censored or deleted on purpose (there just wasn’t anything in it to warrant that).

    Maybe its an issue, but so far I only noticed it once.

  • http://tom.xlotus.net tom

    I kinda agree, I had a fairly length, well-composed comment on the PS3 article a few days back and it never appeared. I did discuss piracy, hacking the original xbox, and Windows Vista’s police-state security system, and I thought you had censored it… technical glitch huh? … hrrrmmm  o_O

  • Eric

    I just posted about 2 hours ago and nothing showed up. Will this one work?

  • Joseph

    I feel honored.  That was my comment.

    That  was actually in response to someone elses comment on censoring. I’m actually pretty sure at this point that there is some kind of sending error between my PC and your blog.

    That is why I actually never explictly stated that you censored me. It seems that if I type to much it doesn’t get there.  It helps me be more concise and realize that I’m not being paid as a consultant.

    Microsoft’s progressive view on blogs is part of a PR campaign. Now not the traditional kind that originates from a firm and is dictated by lawyers but, a new type of corporate grassroots campaign. I don’t doubt that you believe the things. Nor do I think that you are told what to say.

    Remember, PR simply stands for Public Relations. While informal, you interact with the public in an semi offical capacity as a Microsoft employee on the Xbox team. PR doesn’t have to imply evil manipulation or central planning.

    I do believe that you look at the comments in this forum as an indication of how to change the course of Xbox development and as a general indication of how people feel about certain aspects of XBOX and XBL. Normal blogs have no such level of corporate interconnection.

    There also is a certain about of infomation push. Of course you cast the XBOX and XBL in a positive light. I couldn’t imagine working on a project as big as the  XBOX/XBL and not feeling a quite a bit of pride. I’ll just it is not on purpose.

    I appologise if any of my posts were taken as even attempts as attacks on character.

    Without political elections where else but the land of video games can a student of public relations see different PR models? At least there are 3 parties in video games.

  • Joseph

    I feel honored.  That was my comment.

    That  was actually in response to someone elses comment on censoring. I’m actually pretty sure at this point that there is some kind of sending error between my PC and your blog.

    That is why I actually never explictly stated that you censored me. It seems that if I type to much it doesn’t get there.  It helps me be more concise and realize that I’m not being paid as a consultant.

    Microsoft’s progressive view on blogs is part of a PR campaign. Now not the traditional kind that originates from a firm and is dictated by lawyers but, a new type of corporate grassroots campaign. I don’t doubt that you believe the things. Nor do I think that you are told what to say.

    Remember, PR simply stands for Public Relations. While informal, you interact with the public in an semi offical capacity as a Microsoft employee on the Xbox team. PR doesn’t have to imply evil manipulation or central planning.

    I do believe that you look at the comments in this forum as an indication of how to change the course of Xbox development and as a general indication of how people feel about certain aspects of XBOX and XBL. Normal blogs have no such level of corporate interconnection.

    There also is a certain about of infomation push. Of course you cast the XBOX and XBL in a positive light. I couldn’t imagine working on a project as big as the  XBOX/XBL and not feeling a quite a bit of pride. I’ll just it is not on purpose.

    I appologise if any of my posts were taken as even attempts as attacks on character.

    Without political elections where else but the land of video games can a student of public relations see different PR models? At least there are 3 parties in video games.

  • Trellium

    I think Joseph’s multiple posts are part of a massive Sony PR campaign, targeting the blogs of Microsoft employee’s with flights of fantasy that stem from a paranoid background, frequently obtained from too much TV and video console radiation as a child.

    His regressive views never point out that the relationship with Microsoft made clear, and that the readers frequently own (and drive) their own brains. These same readers are often found to be capable of reading, comprehending, assessing the information posted; and often even agree or disagree, or disagree to agree in good humor.

    Its a blog, he posts his thoughts and if Microsoft doesn’t get all paranoid about that then exactly why should Joseph?

    After all, he could just … you know … not read it or possibly disagree or something.

  • http://www.toddloewen.com Todd Loewen

    Well said Joseph.  I agree with your statement, however you have to keep in mind, these comments once submitted become the property of the Blog owner.  They can do whatever they want with it.

  • Anonymous

    Re: I do believe that you look at the comments in this forum as an indication of how to change the course of Xbox development and as a general indication of how people feel about certain aspects of XBOX and XBL. Normal blogs have no such level of corporate interconnection.

    >> Yep, this is true, and I’m glad people see that. Communication is a good thing, even if people disagree.

    There also is a certain about of infomation push. Of course you cast the XBOX and XBL in a positive light. I couldn’t imagine working on a project as big as the  XBOX/XBL and not feeling a quite a bit of pride. I’ll just it is not on purpose.

    >> This one’s tricky because the information on Xbox/Live I might be perceived as "pushing" also happens to be something I believe in. It could be that I’m biased from having worked on it for so long. On the other hand, I’m feeling pretty darned positive about what we’ve delivered, and won’t apologize for it. Fear not, I’m also happy to try and constructively criticize what MS/Xbox does as well.

    I appologise if any of my posts were taken as even attempts as attacks on character.

    >> Nope – didn’t take any offense at all. I was more worried that some comments might not be making it through. :)

  • Joseph

    Trellium-

    Honestly. I’m not sure of you are being sarcastic.

    I did infact have too much tv radiation as a child. I also played way to many video games.

    I since everyone else gets to post what they think by driving their own brains then so do I.

    I tend to post on 4 subjects, vision,video; by extension graphics;  public opinion and polling.

    Todd-

    You lose ownership of anything you draw,say or type the minute you tell somone else. What you meant is not important. How they take it is.

    However it isn’t actually his property. If I were to write something worthwhile, a hypothetical occurance, he could not include it in another work  vebatum as his own.

  • Anonymous

    Re: I kinda agree, I had a fairly length, well-composed comment on the PS3 article a few days back and it never appeared. I did discuss piracy, hacking the original xbox, and Windows Vista’s police-state security system, and I thought you had censored it… technical glitch huh? … hrrrmmm  o_

    >> Nope… never saw it. One thing all of you might try is cutting your text into the clipboard before hitting submit. I’ve noticed that sometimes the site just times out, and that may cause you to lose your text. But if you have the text in the clipboard you can make sure to submit it again if it doesn’t show… and make sure it arrives. I guarantee it’ll eventually show up, and will stay up unless you hit a few of the no-no’s I mentioned previously (spam, swearing, racial attacks, etc.)

  • Trellium

    Ozymandias, it didn’t time out. It actually posted fairly fast, it looked like it accepted normally. But, the post never appeared.

    If I get a timeout, I often have a clipboard copy of the post if needed. But, in this instance it appeared to accept normally, and gave the thank you page.

  • RomeoDude

    So I guess some people believes that any blog that belongs to a Microsoft employee is pro-xbox and anti-PS3 and Wii?? I personally haven’t seen much anti Wii or (dramatically) anti-PS3.  I’ve seen some criticism, but nothing totally against PS3.  And for the Wii, I’ve seen some positive and negative thoughts on the blog, and I see some pretty valid arguments.

  • Joseph

    Ozy-

    I feel quite a bit of sympathy for you. I think you have much more of an impact than you really want. At the same time that this blog is a way for you to talk to gamers it’s also meant to be a "look at this cool thing I’ve done" on a more personal level. The problem is that with any official tie in to your company and the "Major" attention MS blogging gets you are lumped into it.

    Everyone deserves a space to talk about the cool things they have done.

    This is my best impression as to what is going on here.

    Most of the time this is one of the most even handed blogs. Some times you go off the deep end.

    Since you are the person who decides where gaming goes I have some things I’d like to know.

    1 When, oh when will next gen rpg’s hit the US? No platform has an A class rpg yet. It’s also the place where I can see 1080 gaming being common and beautiful.

    2 What is your opinion on console updates? My opinion is very negative on them but they seem to be here to stay.

  • Joseph

    Unless my previous post shows up 6 times something is off.

  • imaginedbug

    Ozy, maybe it’s the length of some posts that causes them to disappear when they seem to have successfully been submitted? I’ve had one post disappear also and it was quite lengthy, though I thought it was kept offline (deleted) because it was a reply to a comment that was pretty off-topic.

  • Anonymous

    Since you are the person who decides where gaming goes I have some things I’d like to know.

    >> To be clear, there are a *lot* of people who work in the gaming group who have an impact on what our gaming plans are. I’m just one of a small army. :)

    1 When, oh when will next gen rpg’s hit the US? No platform has an A class rpg yet. It’s also the place where I can see 1080 gaming being common and beautiful.

    >> Have you seen the reviews on Blue Dragon in Japan? I think that may be one of the titles you’re looking for.

    2 What is your opinion on console updates? My opinion is very negative on them but they seem to be here to stay.

    >> I’m actually pretty positive on them, assuming they don’t cause issues (sort of a "duh" statement, I guess). They fix bugs, add tons of new features, and in general keep your console up to date with the latest toys.

  • Joseph

    Nice answer :) I’ll be sure to phrase things as such in the future.

    I don’t understand Japanese. When is the US release?

    What is the advantage of consoles if you have to update the firmware the same as you would a PC? Why have there been so many updates? Doesn’t it make it a headache for developers to have things change after release?

  • Skibit

    * ***** **** **** ** *** **** ** ****** **** ***, ** **** ******* ** ***** **** ********!!!!  :)

  • http://www.slashcry.com dozens

    Ozy,

    While I don’t think you are blogging as part of a an intricate criterias set forth by higher ups, I agree with Joseph how MS’s "encouragement" to have public blogs is to a degree part of a PR campaign.

    And while you may not report your posts to a higher up to be approved, its also highly unlikely that they don’t monitor these at all.  There probably is some dude whose job it is to monitor these public blogs for at least any slip in revealing propietary information.  And I wouldn’t be surprised if they also unoffically monitor for strong anti-corporate sentiments.  

    It’s also silly to think that your bosses or other higher-ups don’t care about these blogs, or would not be concerned if you started badmouthing one of their products, even if it was an inadvertant hint during a critical review of something.  No offense, but we all know that not everything done on the 360 is perfect (software/hardware), and there are many areas that needed (or may still need) to be improved upon.  Any smart man would know not to talk about these things knowing it could inadvertenly affect their job.

    With that in mind, I enjoy reading your blog, and just keep any eye open for when you either gloss over MS issues or are overly critical of a competitor.

    _Dozens

  • Anonymous

    Re: "It’s also silly to think that your bosses or other higher-ups don’t care about these blogs, or would not be concerned if you started badmouthing one of their products, even if it was an inadvertant hint during a critical review of something.  No offense, but we all know that not everything done on the 360 is perfect (software/hardware), and there are many areas that needed (or may still need) to be improved upon.  Any smart man would know not to talk about these things knowing it could inadvertenly affect their job."

    >> Never said bosses or higher-ups don’t care about blogs. They’d be foolish to ignore them, frankly. What’s nice about Microsoft is that the company believes having communication with customers is important – and blogs are a great way to do so. The basic Microsoft guideline to blogging is "be smart" – and is no more detailed than that. Basically, put on your common sense hat if you’re blogging. This means I won’t talk about anything confidential, or be giving away company secrets – that would just dumb, and I’d expect anyone doing that sort of thing to be fired. But it also means I’m able to have my own opinion (which can include criticism of Microsoft products) as well.