The Evil Zynga | Hacker News Reader

The Evil Zynga

uncrunched.com

61 pointsgsharma12 comments

I think I know how this went down:

Mark Pincus: Hey Mike, since you know we're in our IPO quiet period, can you write a rebuttal to that NYTimes article for me? I'll give you an interview or let you invest in my next deal.

Michael Arrington: Sure thing! You better speak at my next conference!

Mark Pincus: Okay, here are some talking points:

  - Blame everything on EA.
  - I actually think we offer too many perks, point that out
  - I think Roger McNamee is still upset I never let him invest, so he's basically just a sore loser

Can you be sure to include that in the article?

Michael Arrington: This looks great! It will go well with my other piece defending your terrible labor practices!

Mark Pincus: You're the best.

The NYTimes article was rather bizarre, with all the EA references and connections. (And EA Spouse worked at Zynga! hah)

Mike as linked called out Zynga for their scams, which are arguably worse than being hard on employees.

Maybe everyone aside from those at EA are too afraid of Pincus to say anything? If you're in the Valley, you know what I'm talking about.

And if you're not in the Valley?

Wouldn't it make sense if you're writing an article on Zynga to talk to and use as a point of comparison the other giant player in the video game industry, EA? I don't know, feels pretty reasonable to me. If I'm doing a story on Google Search I'd probably want a quote from someone at Bing...

Is Zynga anywhere close to EA in any relevant measure, like revenue?

In domestic abuse cases between wife and husband where the man is abusing the wife. The reason the wife doesn't get help sooner is because she is trained to focus on the good. This process can cause a phenomenon where the man only abuses the wife and does nothing good, yet she will focus on inconsequential things as she lives in complete denial.

I see pincus as manufacturing this situation where the employees are the abused yet thankful wife.

But they get free acupuncture and organic food!

Zynga and EA are douchey, hardly news.

Yet another example of the kind of abuse of power that writers for "well respected" publications get away with all the time. That shitty NY Times article would have been ignored/laughed at on its own, but hosted on nytimes.com it becomes credible and generally beyond reproach. A permanent black mark on Zynga's reputation.

Now Arrington reveals that it's essentially a hitjob by scorned investors and direct competitors. Big fucking surprise.

All hail independent writers. Down with "well respected" media brands.

> Now Arrington reveals that it's essentially a hitjob by scorned investors and direct competitors.

He reveals nothing of the kind. It's speculation.

And frankly, the chummy relationships in the Valley itself are really no better. Plus, Arrington's entire schtick as a startup blogger/investor depends on a frothy startup environment, which another dud IPO--namely Zynga--would directly endanger.

Arrington in particular has a well-deserved reputation for ignoring good journalistic practices, writing and publishing hit pieces on startups that don't jump through hoops when he asks them to, and similar doesn't he?

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