Originally posted by: Rollo
You should not trust anything you read on the forums, because people often have agendas, viral marketing included.
I can't believe that you have the unmitigated GALL to say this after all lying and viral marketing you did before your ban. Back then it was "Trust me! I wouldn't lie to you. I'm neutral. I don't work for Nvidia, I just have a 'friend' there". Now that you've been exposed as having your OWN personal agenda for supporting Nvidia and downplaying ATI, your tune has changed to "You shouldn't trust anybody".
You'll say whatever you have to in order keep those free video cards, motherboards and other perks rolling in, won't you? Well, if people should not trust anything they read on the forums, then you should just leave right now since nobody should believe anything you have to say either.
I have a little demonstation here for you Derek, to show you WHY Rollo should not be welcome back here. Watch closely:
Originally posted by: Rollo
t's been noted in this thread that my "hardware came from AEG". AEG does not make hardware. Any they passed along came from NVIDIA. Most of what I received was shipped directly from NVIDIA, and I dealt with people at NVIDIA as much as AEG.
A person reads this and thinks "Hmmm... that's true. Okay, I can see where he's coming from now". But when you stop think about it a little deeper, you'll go "Hey, wait a minute.
MY Nvidia hardware didn't come from BUY.com. BUY.com doesn't make hardware any more than AEG does. It was simply "passed along" from Nvidia as well, except that I had to pay for mine". He got his hardware for free by performing viral marketing for AEG. Payment was in the form of free hardware sent directly from Nvidia.
Originally posted by: Rollo
This is the last I'm going to say on this topic, people can decide on their own if it's possible for me to post valid information while receiving free parts for review.
The online websites do.
Another statement that on the surface seems to make sense. He's right, online websites DO receive free parts all the time. But, hold on a minute there... Online websites receive products from ALL manufacturers to review. Therefore they're not beholden to please any one company in particular, unlike Rollo. He's attempting to fool us into thinking that he's just as trustworthy as online review websites.
Originally posted by: Rollo
The decision to disclose AEG association was not mine to make, and the vote from the group was to not disclose at the time. Given what happened, I can see why some had reservations.
Once again, we have a statement that, on the surface, looks to read "I didn't WANT to hide my AEG affiliation, but it wasn't up to me". Analyze it a bit deeper. He says the decision was not his to make and that it was the group who voted not to disclose it. So it was up to the individual members and wasn't a contract that dictated this silence. What he doesn't say is which way he voted, to disclose or to remain silent. Given his attempt to get people banned for even accusing him of being an AEG member, I'm inclined to believe he voted to remain silent as well. So he's attempting to shift the blame from himself to the group. Also, it appears that since they could vote to remain silent or not, he was under no legal obligation to do so. So he could have come out with the truth at any time on his own. But he didn't. It wasn't until it was REVEALED that he was an AEG member that he admitted it. If the silence behind his involvement with AEG was bothering him THAT MUCH, he could have quit at any time. But he stuck with them until the very end because apparently the freebies provided were worth sacrificing his honesty and integrity for.
This is exactly what I was afraid would happen. Can't you see it, too, Derek? Rollo is infamous for his half-truths. He makes statements that seem innocuous and to make sense. It isn't until you stop for a few minutes and REALLY consider what he said that you can see through to the truth. This is one of the reasons why he should not be allowed to return.
You said that part of the reason he was allowed back is to provide Nvidia information to us. If we can't believe everything he says, then what good is he doing here representing Nvidia? The ONLY way we could believe a manufacturer representative is if they've shown themselves to have impeccable honesty and integrity in the past. Rollo possesses neither virtue.
Originally posted by: Rollo
You should not trust anything you read on the forums, because people often have agendas, viral marketing included.
He's giving himself an escape clause! Later on down the road when he's been caught either stretching the truth or outright lying, he can refer back to this statement and say "Well, I DID warn you. You can't trust anybody!" Then he can skip off back to the Nvidia forums, laughing at having pulled the wool over AT's eyes yet once again.
There is no doubt now that Rollo is sponsored by Nvidia. You yourself said Nvidia asked to have Rollo reinstated. That tells me Nvidia wants him here to continue steering customers towards Nvidia and away from ATI. THAT was Rollo's main function before he was banned and THAT'S why they asked
specifically for him to return. They could have chosen from any number of other people who didn't have such a checkered past. But they want their main salesboy back here, doing what he did for them in the past. If they'd truly wanted somebody here simply to represent Nvidia and to catalog user problems and disseminate information, they would have chosen somebody who would be better received.
I simply can't believe that you would allow these forums to be turned into an online manufacturer's market with their salespeople hawking their wares in every thread. We don't NEED any sponsored representatives here. It's already hard enough pulling facts from the fluff the manufacturers try to spoon feed us. But to have one in the forums, deliberately muddying up the facts in order to sell his sponsoring company's products? Come on!
I'm sorry Derek, but I can't take this. If you're going to invite somebody like him back after everything he's pulled, then I don't think I want to stick around here anymore. My standards of ethics are higher than that.
Apparently, the neutrality of the Anandtech forums isn't a priority anymore.
Let me know if you decide that the members of the forum are more important than getting an "in" with a major corporation. Otherwise, I think I'll stay in self-imposed exile. I doubt it will bother you much, but it will sadden me greatly to leave after having been here from the beginning. But if this is the direction you're taking Anandtech...
