Miktar's Meanderings online!
- Thread starter tpex
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Lydon
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phoenix
New member
He doesn't suffer fools gladly, does he?
If NAG has taught me anything, it is that I should read more carefully
before dashing off a letter to the editor.
Did I kick myself when I realised what I had missed!
Still, I enjoy reading the remarks on the letters page
as well as the opinion pieces. All of them. I think I still have
MIktar and Antioch's podcasts at home somewhere too.
stupid by who'se standards? by your obviously self-important inflated standards, the standard of someone who writes the reviews? or by the standard of the 14yo who is writing the letter, hoping to get it published in the magazine he loves? Seriously, not everyone writes eloquently and with purpose, but they usually write the best they can, and getting smacked in the face by the editor for their troubles is a little uncool.
For us sure, we understand that.. its like writing to luis in PCF, you're gonna get a bollocking no matter what, but maybey he does need to consider that a large protion of his readerbase is not going to understand, and will probably be offended.
(PS. im not saying you're 14 Gradius
)
Gradius
New member
stupid by who'se standards? by your obviously self-important inflated standards, the standard of someone who writes the reviews? or by the standard of the 14yo who is writing the letter, hoping to get it published in the magazine he loves? Seriously, not everyone writes eloquently and with purpose, but they usually write the best they can, and getting smacked in the face by the editor for their troubles is a little uncool.
For us sure, we understand that.. its like writing to luis in PCF, you're gonna get a bollocking no matter what, but maybey he does need to consider that a large protion of his readerbase is not going to understand, and will probably be offended.
(PS. im not saying you're 14 Gradius
it's ok, i've been labeled worse things -sniff-
Tinman
MyGaming Silverback
I tend to agree with Krylik.
That sort of arrogance just reflects poorly on NAG's character.
There is no need to be shitty to your readers because they are uninformed about something which you happen to know a lot about. Its kinda like phoning customer support and having a technician lol at you because you don't know how to rewire your cellphone keypad.
It also has to do a lot with perspective.
For instance, I read a letter from a kid who had an idea for a game. He just wanted a bit of guidance, but instead was met with snotty sarcasm. I guess I'm just empathetic like that, and don't enjoy seeing some young - albeit igonrant - kid get slapped in the face because he does not know a thing about how the industry works.
It would have been just as easy, and a lot more useful to simply point the kid towards NAG's own gamedev forums. Instead, he made the guy feel like crap for the sake of a (lame) joke.
That sort of arrogance just reflects poorly on NAG's character.
There is no need to be shitty to your readers because they are uninformed about something which you happen to know a lot about. Its kinda like phoning customer support and having a technician lol at you because you don't know how to rewire your cellphone keypad.
It also has to do a lot with perspective.
For instance, I read a letter from a kid who had an idea for a game. He just wanted a bit of guidance, but instead was met with snotty sarcasm. I guess I'm just empathetic like that, and don't enjoy seeing some young - albeit igonrant - kid get slapped in the face because he does not know a thing about how the industry works.
It would have been just as easy, and a lot more useful to simply point the kid towards NAG's own gamedev forums. Instead, he made the guy feel like crap for the sake of a (lame) joke.
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Lydon
New member
Azimuth
New member
stupid by who'se standards? by your obviously self-important inflated standards, the standard of someone who writes the reviews? or by the standard of the 14yo who is writing the letter, hoping to get it published in the magazine he loves? Seriously, not everyone writes eloquently and with purpose, but they usually write the best they can, and getting smacked in the face by the editor for their troubles is a little uncool.
For us sure, we understand that.. its like writing to luis in PCF, you're gonna get a bollocking no matter what, but maybey he does need to consider that a large protion of his readerbase is not going to understand, and will probably be offended.
(PS. im not saying you're 14 Gradius
Do you actually read the letters page, or are you just jumping in on a cheap and easy opportunity to accuse me of being arrogant? There's a difference between being a naive kid who writes a naive letter, and a person who just doesn't stop to think before writing a stupid letter. That difference is clearly represented on the letters page, I think.
I also think people take themselves faaaaaaaaar too seriously, which is where all this "oh, I'm so offended" nonsense comes from. Learn to laugh at yourselves once in a while.
Lydon
New member
I have to disagree with that.
The saying "the customer is always right" exists for a very good reason. Whilst many may find the sarcastic responses to letters amusing, others don't. They have lost at least one customer partly because of it - me. I doubt there is anyone out there that buys the magazine specifically to read and laugh at the letters section. If I buy a gaming magazine I want to read informative information about gaming. I feel the letters section could be put to far, far better use than it is.
What the staff do with their magazine is of course their own business, but if they lose customers because of it then they have no one but themselves to blame. If people are offended by the letters section, for example, and refuse to buy the magazine because of it, that is something that the staff have to accept responsibility for. The "suck it up and deal with it" attitude isn't one a business should adopt if it wants to stay successful for long. The staff simply can't get angry at people for being unhappy with something they've controversially done, and similarly can't expect the people in question to hand over their cash. Getting angry when people voice their opinions over this is also rather hypocritical, as the staff expect free reign to voice their own opinions in the letters section where readers can't fairly respond to their sarcasm and attempts at making a joke out of their customers. If they dish it out they must be comfortable taking it back in return.
To sum it up, if a serious competitor magazine were to launch that were to offer a similar offering to NAG, but adopt a more professional stance, I think NAG could be in serious trouble. I used to buy the magazine because there simply wasn't anything else to buy. Now it's not something I feel comfortable supporting.
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Azimuth
New member
I've said this before - anyone who says "the customer is always right" hasn't worked an honest (honest) day in their life.
Also, anyone is absolutely entitled to decide they don't like the magazine's approach and not buy it anymore. I'm not disputing that at all. But I do think it's a bit absurd that some people are presuming to dictate the magazine change its approach to please customers who, well, aren't customers anymore.
I think a huge part of what makes NAG a cool magazine (for me) is that it has personality. I'd rather read something provocative than something bland and soulless that reads like a press release. Even if that's producing a love-hate relationship to the writers, at least it's producing something, right?
I get that's not for everybody, of course. But don't begrudge the rest of us our fun.
Also, anyone is absolutely entitled to decide they don't like the magazine's approach and not buy it anymore. I'm not disputing that at all. But I do think it's a bit absurd that some people are presuming to dictate the magazine change its approach to please customers who, well, aren't customers anymore.
I think a huge part of what makes NAG a cool magazine (for me) is that it has personality. I'd rather read something provocative than something bland and soulless that reads like a press release. Even if that's producing a love-hate relationship to the writers, at least it's producing something, right?
I get that's not for everybody, of course. But don't begrudge the rest of us our fun.
tpex
New member
For us sure, we understand that.. its like writing to luis in PCF, you're gonna get a bollocking no matter what, but maybey he does need to consider that a large protion of his readerbase is not going to understand, and will probably be offended.
(PS. im not saying you're 14 Gradius
LOL took the words out of my mouth krylik, NAG's editor has got nothing on Luis of PCF, I get the idea that he is quite prick
I've said this before - anyone who says "the customer is always right" hasn't worked an honest (honest) day in their life.
Also, anyone is absolutely entitled to decide they don't like the magazine's approach and not buy it anymore. I'm not disputing that at all. But I do think it's a bit absurd that some people are presuming to dictate the magazine change its approach to please customers who, well, aren't customers anymore.
I think a huge part of what makes NAG a cool magazine (for me) is that it has personality. I'd rather read something provocative than something bland and soulless that reads like a press release. Even if that's producing a love-hate relationship to the writers, at least it's producing something, right?
I get that's not for everybody, of course. But don't begrudge the rest of us our fun.
Exactly
Raging Monkey
New member
NAG has always been crap. I understand the DVD is nice if you don't have internet access.
The customer is always right because the company wants the customer's money and because he/she may bring in other customers.
Although this only works if there is competition.
I've said this before - anyone who says "the customer is always right" hasn't worked an honest (honest) day in their life.
The customer is always right because the company wants the customer's money and because he/she may bring in other customers.
Although this only works if there is competition.