Originally posted by: akugami
Originally posted by: Topweasel
In his Defense Several people Rollo, keys and other where accused of working for AEG wihtout proof. Rollo turns out was but thats besides the point as besides being a Nvidia fanatic no body had proof when accusing him. And it is nice of you to say you disagree with ATI reverting to this but none of this is being spewed in the same hatred you showed for Nvidia when the glove was on the other hand.
I never named any names. I don't care if you do a search because I have not and never did name anyone as a marketing shill until Rollo (and others) came out. I said I suspected nVidia of viral marketing when it's connections to AEG was made known but I didn't rant and rage about it at the time. I did not state anything I'm not stating now. Everything I said about nVidia applies to ATI. I also did not call for a witch hunt even after some of the members in the AEG group were made known and that there were still a couple of others who did not yet surface.
There are two major differences between ATI now and nVidia then. nVidia tried to hide what it was doing with it's viral marketing campaign. Various tech web sites and even a consumer web site like the consumerist that doesn't deal in tech news but rather shady behavior by big companies were stymied left and right when they asked for more information. Even today I still think there is no full disclosure of what really went on behind the scenes with nVidia and AEG. There are just too many questions.
We have yet to see what ATI plans to do but again, I disagree with any and all forms of viral marketing. The other is we also have not (though we probably will soon) see what they plan to do as far as their new marketing agreement goes. If it's an open type deal with designated ATI guys in each forum that's ok. I see nothing wrong with it. It's like what Newegg and OCZ does here.
Bottom line we have yet to see any action from ATI so while I disagree with the move, the jury is still out. We have yet to see ATI hide what it's trying to do like nVidia did. My "hatred" as you call it was not hatred at all but dislike at nVidia's behavior for engaging in viral marketing. I didn't like it but it's no worse than many are doing. Still doesn't make it right but it's a very questionable way of marketing. What my main issue was how nVidia tried to cover the whole issue up. That is what earned my disgust and in your terms hatred. I still do not believe nVidia came clean on the whole AEG issue. Too many questions.
I have never hated nVidia and never will. I have felt many times they didn't put out the best product for my needs for the last few years when I was ready to buy but that's a different story. Sorry but I just don't see what I felt for nVidia as hatred. That is too strong a word and smacks of fanaticism.
I was also disgusted at many nVidia fans for suggesting ATI was doing the same thing (at the time) when there was zero evidence of it. Though there is now very serious questions about ATI's current marketing tactics. nVidia fans also suggested that because everyone was doing it, it was ok for nVidia to do it. As the saying goes, two wrongs don't make a wright. Again, my main issues were that I dislike viral marketing and I really really disliked nVidia lying to cover up shady marketing. If you like it when a company lies to you and then lies to cover up it's lies, then good for you. Me I prefer more honesty.
If you think what I said about nVidia mounted to hatred that's up to you. I don't recall ever hating nVidia though I do clearly recall disgust at nVidia's questionable behavior. Heck, I thought I was pretty even tempered in the AEG thread. If you can point out exactly what I said that sounded hateful to you I'd appreciate it. If you don't want to go into public about the he said she said thing, send a PM.
Am I pro ATI? Never tried to hide it ever. However my affiliation changes with whoever I feel is bringing out the products that suit my needs. Will I be pro nVidia in the future? If they bring out a better product, even if it's from a price/performance perspective I will be. If I really hated nVidia why the heck do I constantly try to help people with nVidia cards when they post here?
Let me comment on my issues with Rollo. I kinda argued with him a bit but then just gave up since he was definitely biased to the point where you knew that he was a true fanboy. I never lobbied for a permanet ban for Rollo. I said he needed a vacation because as I said I don't like viral marketing and I also felt that much of the way he posted was calculated to goad ATI fans/fanboys. He initially said he had a friend from college who works for nVidia, which we now know to be a lie but at the time I believed him which is why I had no problems with him receiving nVidia hardware free or for beta testing purposes. He bends the truth to always favor nVidia. This in and of itself is done by everyone. He takes it to extremes. I can understand glossing over some issues that may not fully support your stance but it seems that every single thing nVidia does is perfect, even if it's unusable. Kinda like some new features including 32xAA at this time. It may become great in the future but that's the future. Feature XYZ used in an obscure game that not many people play, but nVidia supports it so it's an awesome feature even though it's a barely usable feature. Feature ABC is used in two medium sized games and somewhat useable but it's not important because
I don't play those games. Or classics like starting an nVidia product and ask for it not to be turned into an nVidia vs ATI affair and then
be the first one to do so and when I pm'ed him about it he pretended like he can't read because he totally ignored the fact that he did it first and concentrated instead on the ATI fanboys. How about recommending a $800+ video card that is suppose to MSRP at $600 and calling it a great investment. One of the kickers was someone who said they knew someone inside the nVidia/AEG program and said Rollo was part of the program. I didn't give it much thought at the time. I later heard Rollo had a person or persons banned and even bragged about it because the person accused Rollo of being an nVidia marketing shill affiliated with AEG. Totally and completely low. Sickening behavior. I don't see how anyone can say Rollo was a good or nice person. He was a mean and greedy self serving b@$tard.
I think some of the actions I listed are done by fanboys from both sides of the fence but no one did it to the degree Rollo did. This was before the AEG thing came to light but at the time it seemed like he had inside info (which he did) on positive news on nVidia and negative news on ATI. Quite frankly I was a bit amazed since aside from major announcements like a new video card coming out, most of the more low key news I hear are from other people in forums like AT.
So those are my Rollo thoughts about why I didn't like him. And I said at the time that while I didn't like what he did, I don't know that I would personally turn down someone giving me $500 hardware and stuff to play with to say a few good things about their company. Hypocritical of me? Yep, but I'm honest about it. I will not respond to comments about Rollo. I just threw it in there and reiterated my thoughts on him.