Bethesda Softworks blackball STG

[Victor1st]

Yes folks, it turns out that Bethesda Softworks have taken a leaf out of our old friend Activisions book when it comes to dealing with criticism, blackball them. Today Bethesda Softworks removed the STG's link on the fansite page and all links going to STG in the bethesda Softworks forum has been removed...with no warning to myself or the staff.

When queried a representative of Bethesda had this to say...

--------------------------------------------------------

Quote:

Well, to start off, let me give you the official statement;
"Linking to this site is not permitted due to prior infractions of our forum rules and Bethesda's terms and conditions."

Considering the abuse you've given to devs and moderators who either work for bethesda, or volunteer their spare time to moderator the forums here. both on this site and on your own, and on your podcasts, And considering your general disruptiveness and negativity, bethesda has decided to remove any and all links to the STG.

Any post containing it has been removed, and made after today will be edited, the same goes for signatures.

I'm sure Bethesda is very sorry it had to come to this, but they believe you left them very little choice.

--------------------------------------------------------

This is my official reply...

--------------------------------------------------------

Quote:

I want them to point out my posts in the forum where I made bashing statements, and ask them why other fan site webmasters have made simillar comments in the same threads yet their fan sites are still listed. My "general disruptiveness" wasnt an issue when Bethesda Softworks was more than happy to work with STG for the original podcast interviews and do i need to remind Bethesda that Argus was the ONLY podcast willing to interview both developers AND the writer. Id also like to point out this page... http://startrek.bethsoft.com/links/legacyinterviews.html once again STG is the only major trek game site which seemed to care about Bethesda and trek gaming in the public eye.

Here is a link to a screenshot of the same page incase the loosley called "PR Department" cowards remove the interviews my site done... http://www.startrek-gamers.com/interviewscreen.jpg

Also, since no action has been taken with regards to the moderator of the Bethesda board who is either running or helping to maintain http://www.startrekgamers.blogspot.com/ that the "general disruptiveness" goes both ways the news that a moderator of the official Bethesda boards is running that said blog will now go public. Since Bethesda has decided to make STG an example to the community and since STG is the largest trek gaming site out there...i will let the 150,000 odd visitors a day to the site and let the 200,000 listners make up their own minds and if they wish to mail ZeniMax and Bethesda with their concerns that is entirely up to them. Since the powers at be of Bethesda have made a habit of using and abusing the resources of the fan sites you will now see why Activision back in the old days had a VERY hard time taking down my site, they made the same mistake, and ultimately payed the price when the majority of the community sites turned their back on them.

Activision is gone, MicroProse is gone, Interplay went bankrupt, Simon & Schuster is gone...STG is still here, that should tell you something...

This exact news post will be made on the front page of Star Trek Gamers and this week's Argus Array will be released as well. You want to make a public example of STG? Thats fine. The black balling of STG will only make the case that Bethesda Softworks are unable and incapable of handling the trek gaming franchise more apparent than it already is to the vast majority of the gaming public...but if you want negative publicity, you now have it.

STG's Argus Array only gets about 3% of its listnership from the official boards, over 90% of the 200,000 odd listeners come from ITunes. As for removing STG's links from the boards and your site? Again, only about 2% of the 150,000 to 200,000 hits come from here. The example making of STG wont hurt us...the same cant be said for your companys public reputation once news of this gets out.

Have a good day...i know i will

Victor Mullin
Lead Admin
Star Trek Gamers & The Argus Array

--------------------------------------------------------

To email your support for STG use these 2 links...

Email Bethesda directly... http://www.bethsoft.com/contact_email.php

Email ZeniMax (they own Bethesda)... http://www.zenimax.com/contact_email.php

Use the general feedback option and keep your email polite and to the point...we need to show Bethesda exactly what site they have blackballed cause i dont think they have a clue as to how many folks visit the main site, they take the numbers from the forum...we all know though that the main site is well over the 7,500,000 hit mark is will no doubt hit 8,000,000 next month.

As for what STG has done for Bethesda...

The email interviews...

Doc Ian Lang Davis (MadDoc) - http://www.startrek-gamers.com/legacy.htm

Rantz Hoseley (QuickSilver) - http://www.startrek-gamers.com/hardtalkta.htm

Bethesda/MadDoc - http://www.startrek-gamers.com/legacyinterview2.htm

4JStudios (STG was the first site who actually showed interest in this game...Star Trek: Encounters) - http://www.startrek-gamers.com/encountersinterview.htm

The Podcast Interviews

Argus 6 - Featuring Mr Derek Chester, storyline editor for Legacy & Tactical Assault - http://www.podcasts.startrek-gamers.com/episode6.htm

Argus 8 - Mr Chester joins us again - http://www.podcasts.startrek-gamers.com/episode8.htm

Argus 9 - QuickSilver Interview - http://www.podcasts.startrek-gamers.com/episode9-TA.htm

Argus 12 Part 1 - Quicksilver AND Mr Derek Chester - http://www.podcasts.startrek-gamers.com/episode12p1.htm

Argus Special - MadDoc interview - http://www.podcasts.startrek-gamers.com/argusspecial.htm

We are the ONLY SITE to have shown this much support for Bethesda Softworks. Bethesda have literally used and abused STG's massive coverage for their own advancement of Star Trek: Legacy, a poorly designed, poorly planned out game, a game for which Bethesda are taking heavy criticism for, and they will continue to be blasted by this site and The Array for taking advantage of the good will of STG and taking advantage of the trek gaming populace.

Once again, we are faced with a game publisher who cannot take criticism, and once again the Star Trek gaming public suffers. I had a gutfull of Activision, im sure as hell not going to sit back and watch as another incompetent publisher takes the helm of this once massive gaming franchise. For the sake of trek gaming in general, its about time the readers of this site voice their concern of the blackballing of the biggest and oldest trek gaming site who have shown more support than any other trek gaming site out there. EMAIL THEM TODAY!

***update

A moderator in the official bethesda forums informed me that signature images linking to the STG would be allowed, however links to the forum and the podcast are not. The main reason they allowed the signature was the sheer number of people who link to STG in their own sig.

[[DMZ]Dave]

How childish of them!

[Acidrain]

Well, iam not surprised! Did they make the rules up as they black balled us? Everyone watch out, criticism isn't allowed.

Acidrain

[Chris Jones]

oh my my. This is a bit wierd..
Vic is vocal yes - has expeience in the gaming industry yes - ban his site? seems a bit out of line, and I'm one for remaining neutral on such matters.

[CptAyien-11thFleet-]

-Sniffs-

What's that smell everyone? Oh yes, its burning.

[eliteonesfi]

Hmmmmmmm......

Perhaps I won't pick up that game afterall.

I for one apreciate STG and it's staff. My clan has been around over 5 years now and your site was one of the first resources I found out there.

Keep up the most excellent work Victor and Katie.

[Zach]

Hmn

[Katherine]

LOL!

I had a feeling this would happen at some point. None of the other major trek gaming sites have publically criticised Bethesda, same thing happened with Activision back in the bad old days of the Star Trek Clan Directory and STCD had only a quarter of the hits that STG is getting per day and Activision is a much larger company than Bethesda. The fall out of Activision blackballing the relatively small STCD was nuclear in size.

Now we have STG getting 4 times the hits STCD had being ignored by a company less than half the size of Activision. Whos going to suffer more out of this? STCD didnt suffer in 2000/2001 and ultimately Activision backed down, makes you wonder what the outcome of this is going to be, i for one am not worried one bit, youve seen one publisher drive the franchise into the ground, youve seen them all, the laughable matter here is though is that bethesda are too stupid to realise they have damaged thier reputation even more by doing this than any amount of podcasts STG releases. The fact that Bethesda are not willing to take legitimate criticism on Legacy proves the point that Bethesda have screwed the Oblivion fanbase, and now they are screwing the trek gaming fanbase, what goes around come around though, when Bethesda are a distant memory in the trek gaming franchise guess who will still be here?

Yes, WE WILL

[CptAyien-11thFleet-]

Well said Katherine, well said.

[TheAlpha]

Man i am so sorry to hear this.............................

[DrPhoton]

Bethsoft Lashes Out at Trek Fan Site, "Dare to criticize us? You're blackballed!"

Stooping to ever lower depths, the so-called Marketing Department (also known as Public Retaliations) at Bethesda Software lashed out against a Trek fan site for daring to complain about the software maker's lack of integrity, honesty and overall customer focus.

When the current debacle known as Legacy was little more than a glimmer in the not-quite-Bionic Woman's glass eye, developers and other representatives of neophyte Trek game publisher Bethsoft skittered over to Startrek-Gamers.com to lap up the free publicity faster than Mr. Jones's pigs could drain the cows in Orwell's Animal Farm.

The Orwellian connection does not end there, though.

All the while smiling through both sets of teeth, each and every one of the Bethsoft isopods spoke of a game that was never to be, all the while marching in lockstep to Bethsoft's philosophies, worthy of Big Brother himself: Failure is success; disingenuousness is honesty; larceny is value.

Their medicine man platitudes and contrived technobabble did indeed fool us all. That is something we truly regret. But we've got the goods on 'em.

Since links to STG have been disallowed here on the farm, I'm afraid you, the reader, will need to come over to our site to check out the many interviews done supporting Bethsoft and Legacy.

Those days are gone, folks. It's time for the truth to come out...the WHOLE truth.

I can hardly wait for the next Argus Array podcast. I plan on fingering the guilty party.

-----------------------------

No doubt my post will quickly be locked over on Bethsoft, but attached is a screenshot, so that it may live on in infamy.

I'm proud to be part of a site that is not populated by mealy-mouthed, bootlicking sycophants who are more interested in scoring points with Bethsoft than with being honest and faithful to their fellow gamers. I just can't be a part of one of those cults.

[CptAyien-11thFleet-]

Watch out for Bethsoft Atrocities. More to come next week. Stay tuned....

[[DMZ]Dave]

Lets play a game its called shoot your own foot! what ever happened to "The customer is always right!" they pay the bills! or how do you spell boycott, if you ask me they just missed the bus.

[hargrave]

F@ck them. Theyve done nothing but sh$t on us all threaten you with constant lawsuits. What it really boils down to is they dont like the fact they dont have control over here and they cant lock people or do anything theres no control here for them and they just cant take it. First they came in here and tried to tell us how it is and tryed to tell Vic how to run his own forum then they leave cuz they cant take there own sh%t they give out. So now its this a last desperate attempt to gain control of the forum here. So theyer forced to deal with reality and realize they cant sue over free speech so this is the only control they have. Let them cut support or links screw them we can just go post about it on there 24/7 about argus report or whatever they cant block any of us lol. We need to get the word out about this site so much that people go here first instead of there not that they dont already lol. As for emailing i dont want to be critical i know your trying to get them to let you put argus array and stuff but take it from someone whos not only emailed but called and sent snail mail as well they just dont give 2 sh$ts. These are very greedy extremely arrogant and highly stupid people who are truly dilusional. They really believe there own lies as truth. I think you said it best about activision and those other companies here today gone tommorow. I just cant wait to see muller selling frozen bananas with her cart in the mall and cow #ss mopping the floors at k mart. Regardless sorry to hear about this but this site has alwasy been what that forum shold of been from the get go and it will never be like it is here.

Also look how they make a point about us harrasing the "Volunteers" and our negatitivity but they dont mention about calling acid an A hole or the mods playing gods its all our fault they never do anything wrong lol. I think you see how i felt now trying to get my point across with these jerkoffs they never take any responsibility its always us us us uuugh

[emoejoe]

unbelievable, cant believe i actually held hope that this game would ever be playable. what a waste of money if the makers of the game cant even listen to reasonable complaints, let alone actually fix them! seriously man, this has to signify the death of star trek gaming.... un friggin believable....