Back in the OS/2 days, Microsoft got caught using what were called “Microsoft Munchkins” (coined by John Dvorak). Essentially these were guys whose job was to smear OS/2.
Anyone who has had to deal with these kinds of users whether it be on Wikipedia or some forum tends to be able to spot these guys since they usually create accounts only to smear a particular product or service (or boost a product or service).
As many people know, I spend a lot of time online and thankfully, I haven’t seen anything that struck me as peculiar until very recently when suddenly, comments on articles regarding Impulse have detractors appearing out of nowhere. I.e. they create an account specifically to smear Impulse usually saying things that really sound like FUD.
Now, I might think Impulse is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I would be the first to admit that the average person isn’t passionate about digital distribution or development platforms. Certainly not passionate enough to bother creating a new account just to smear something.
I’m inclined to chalk it up to just the usual Internet junk. Maybe people are more into this kind of thing than I thought.
So I thought I’d hand it over to you guys and see what you think.
Here are examples:
http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?story=62814
User called Gahenna creates an account on Shacknews just to smear Impulse Reactor.
“From my limited experience with Impulse, it's interface is garbage and slow, there's nothing worth purchasing (everything is D list or worse). It's not even close to the same league as Steam.”
Within 24 hours Gamautra puts up its Impulse::Reactor thing and sure enough, a user pops up who has never posted before anywhere as far as anyone can tell.
“While I appreciate the competition with Valve's service, Impulse seems to provide a much lower quality service”
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27687/Stardocks_Wardell_Details_Impulse_Reactor_Specifics.php
And on the same day or so 1Up puts up their article:
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3178341
And a user called “Grizzt” (real name “dasd asd”) and writes:
“i tried there service before it wasnt quite up to par with steam or the other services i tried.”
Okay, maybe there’s just a dedicated fanboy out there. Or maybe it’s a different fan boy writing up the same points over and over. Thanks to the anonymity of the Internet, nobody knows. Heck, maybe Impulse just sucks in ways I never realized.
The writing style seems different to me. I’m no expert but it doesn’t seem like it’s the same person.
It’s probably just coincidence. But there’s a lot of news items on Stardock on various sites and it’s pretty unusual to see such…dedication.
What do you think?
