Poll: Peter Molyneux, Idiot or Liar?

[DrDeath3191]

Who the fuck Necro'd this?

Goddamnit.
More flame than vietnam, where're the mods?

Just be thankful we have a Neither option now.

 

[Green Tentacle]

I love how people bash Molyneux for promising and overhyping his games.

So what?

Its not like Kojima or Wright do it all the time.

 

[Shycte]

Snip.

There's a difference between hyping a game and making demonstrably untrue statements about it.

Yes, but what Peter did fits into the first category.

Why? Because he did his job. He created hype about the game as any other developer would do.

He just gets all this bullshit because he is Peter Molyneux.

 

[henrebotha]

He's both. I refuse to even touch Fable 2 because I know that, despite the fact I might still enjoy it, he either lied about it, or he is so ignorant of game design that he is unqualified to be making games at all.

Yeah! Let's completely ignore the fact that he has made Populous, Syndicate, and Dungeon Keeper! He can't make games!

You should at least give the game a try before you make such a claim.

I played the first Fable (PC version) and both Black & White games. I did also play Populous and Dungeon Keeper, which were cool, but my point (and I should have clarified this, I admit) is that his recent stuff hasn't been anything like what he promised.

He could at least have
(a) the decency to be honest about what he's creating, or
(b) the sense to actually sit down and figure out what he's trying to do and whether or not it's possible,
depending on whether he's a liar or just incompetent.

 

[DrDeath3191]

He's both. I refuse to even touch Fable 2 because I know that, despite the fact I might still enjoy it, he either lied about it, or he is so ignorant of game design that he is unqualified to be making games at all.

Yeah! Let's completely ignore the fact that he has made Populous, Syndicate, and Dungeon Keeper! He can't make games!

You should at least give the game a try before you make such a claim.

I played the first Fable (PC version) and both Black & White games. I did also play Populous and Dungeon Keeper, which were cool, but my point (and I should have clarified this, I admit) is that his recent stuff hasn't been anything like what he promised.

He could at least have
(a) the decency to be honest about what he's creating, or
(b) the sense to actually sit down and figure out what he's trying to do and whether or not it's possible,
depending on whether he's a liar or just incompetent.

Ah, alright then.

 

[McHanhan]

People just didn't like the game, then assumed that their expectations are what define the "legal" requirements.

This shows that you do not comprehend the argument.

First, and this was stated in my first post, whether you liked a game or not is utterly irrelevant to whether or not Peter Molyneux was dishonest.

Second I never said he should be sued, I said he was dishonest. The way he's dishonest prevents him from being held legally accountable in a court of law, because there's no way to prove intent.

In any event you're comparing two different things, on the one hand you have exaggeration of what is true, or statements that depend on subjective experience, on the other hand you have untrue statements of fact.

What you fail to comprehend is that:

a) When I mention the sueing fact I was addressing another poster's comment and not your own. Therefore whatever point you were trying to make is moot.

b) When you said, "And whether or not the games are/were worth playing is irrelevant to the issue of Peter Molyneux's honesty" I agreed with you partially. However, nothing so far vaidates the claim of dishonesty. All of his claims are either present in some altered/scaled down version in his final products or he just failed to announce an update stating that a certain idea(s) were scrapped. There is nothing inherently dishonest about that.

You could easily claim that he is incompetent or absent minded rather than dishonest and/or a liar.

I also further added my point that even if he is proven dishonest, the mere fact that he makes games that are enjoable to many people (by numbers of sequels purchased) means that gamers just won't care eitherway (provided that his dishonesty stays withing acceptable parameters). Or, they have already learnt to tune him out when he starts on a product rant, thereby eleminating his promises and claims from the equation.

This. There is no way to prove his intent and therefore little we can do about it. I agree with all those who said that the man is just doing his job. He is a businessman and he deals with his business well. Comeon Valentine 82, do you get this much upset when you find out that the toothpaste commercial lied to you about making teeth whiter?

Everyone lies or tip toes around facts, especially game designers and publishers. Peter Molyneux is no different from any other with the exception that he gets called out on his fibs more. So maybe yes, I am calling for a free pass for the man. He has made and still makes some really good games and he still can deliver, without major delays, a game that sells millions.

It's not like he's promising a RPG and delivering a last minute, bug ridden game from a different genre is he?. I dunno what the fuss is all about honestly, in this case at least the end justifies the means.

 

[The_General]

Always suspect incompetence before malice.

 

[ArcWinter]

Isn't it ham doctor?

And anyway, why do you care? Don't buy his games.

 

[Valentine82]

Should developers include every feature they promised if it cause the game to be buggy? I say no.

You're completely missing the point. The point isn't that features were removed, the point is that Peter Molyneux never informed us that they were removed. He stated things that later turned out to be untrue, and he didn't correct his statements before he sold us the product.

Isn't it ham doctor?

And anyway, why do you care? Don't buy his games.

I care because I don't like being lied to and I don't like seeing people given a free pass to deceive the public. Why do so many people defend him from criticism?

 

[The_ModeRazor]

He's just trying to make a living.
By lying.
There's nothing wrong with that, a lot of people do so.

 

[Valentine82]

He's just trying to make a living.
By lying.
There's nothing wrong with that, a lot of people do so.

I don't agree, I think there is something wrong with it. I think the standard has just been lowered enough that it's expected.

 

[The_ModeRazor]

He's just trying to make a living.
By lying.
There's nothing wrong with that, a lot of people do so.

I don't agree, I think there is something wrong with it. I think the standard has just been lowered enough that it's expected.

This is just my opinion.

 

[Valentine82]

He's just trying to make a living.
By lying.
There's nothing wrong with that, a lot of people do so.

I don't agree, I think there is something wrong with it. I think the standard has just been lowered enough that it's expected.

This is just my opinion.

Understood. Whether or not it's right or wrong isn't really relevant to whether or not it's true or false anyway. My belief that it's wrong is subjective, based on perceived social harm that results from the absence of personal accountability among corporate moguls.

 

[Dottie]

He doesn't realize what he does it's just he gets overly excited....just never believe what he says till you KNOW it's for sure or your gonna be disappointed.

 

[DoctorObviously]

I wouldn't say he's a liar... just a little overambitous.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Should developers include every feature they promised if it cause the game to be buggy? I say no.

You're completely missing the point. The point isn't that features were removed, the point is that Peter Molyneux never informed us that they were removed. He stated things that later turned out to be untrue, and he didn't correct his statements before he sold us the product.

Isn't it ham doctor?

And anyway, why do you care? Don't buy his games.

I care because I don't like being lied to and I don't like seeing people given a free pass to deceive the public. Why do so many people defend him from criticism?

And your missing a huge point as well! When you run a buisness sometimes you have to place your morals aside to make money. I don't know what happy little sunhsine land you've been growing up in, but in the real world the truth dosen't come out to often no matter where you are.

Instead of looking through your eyes let's look thorugh Peter's. He just told people that Fable will practically be a virtual image of the real world. People are excited. The pre-orders are coming in and it looks like his game just went platnium before it even came out. Now you can correct me if I'm wrong but I do think a game goes platnium when it sells 1 million copies. So 60 dollars a peice x 1,000,000 should succumb to 60 million dollars. Most people don't make that money in 30 lifetimes. Now he has two options.

A) Tell the truth and proably lose half of it.
or
B) Keep the game hyped and milk it for all it's worth.

Which would you do? Would you really give up 30 million dollars just to keep to your morals?

 

[Pendragon9]

He's a jerk and a liar. He should be a bit more humble about his games.

When someone likes to overhype their game, it often sickens me. guess that's why I don't buy many games. But the few I do buy are always worth it.

The games I purchase are almost never hyped, but they're great hits and I hate the gaming community for never giving them a chance.

 

[Alphavillain]

He just gets carried away with his own propaganda. He's messianic about video games, and he can't make them live up to the vision in his head.