Nvidia viral marketing with AEG exposed !!! *UPDATED* *Poll Added*

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
It was only after the pressure was put on AEG/nVidia that you and other AEG marketers had a "coming out" session across multiple forums in an attempt to spin the truth of what you are - shill marketers that pretend to be your friend in order to influence your opinions. In that regard you succeeded because you had silenced any criticism of your posts that I'd normally voiced an objection to in many cases.

1. I would never solicit someone's friendship for any reason other than I enjoyed conversing with the person.
2. I could care less if you criticized my posts, and you did, and if you look at your PMs you'll see where I said "I don't care if you criticize my posts. We can disagree like gentlemen rather than flaming each other like some of the others here"? Not two weeks ago?
3. Dude I would NEVER screw around with people's lives for something as meaningless as a few video cards? I can't even think of something that WOULD make me screw around with people's lives, but it for sure wouldn't be over some free parts for my box I could buy anyway. Christ, I paid off my boat last week. The income that alone frees up could buy me multiple SLI sets a year.

Being a college student is irrelevant. I'm an enthusiast first and foremost on these forums and don't want to see the forums muddled with paid nVidia shills. It was excuseable when I thought you were just a fellow enthusiast, it isn't excusable now that I know who you really are.

I'm an enthusiast, like yourself, who was offered the chance to get some inside info, beta software, and engineering samples. What was asked of me in return is that I provide feedback on the beta drivers, and use the stuff and post what I thought of it. (and even that was phrased "if you want to")
The only ethical question I've ever had with this is the not revealing some of the stuff was free.

Of course people are going to question anything you post here. You emphatically denied being an AEG agent publically on these forums and went as far as trying to get people that called you an AEG agent banned. Furthermore, I don't believe you when you say you revealed your affiliation with AEG on your own accord - just too muc coincidence with you and 3 other guys admitting to it the same day.

I did it for two reasons: 1. I was sick of it being an issue. 2. Chris Ray gave me the idea by setting the example. Chris and the other guys are tight, I imagine they came out in support of Chris. If we were told to, why didn't the other two come out?

There might be others here that get free products but that is irrelevant. I only go by what I know as fact and the fact is you are an AEG/nVidia agent. I don't know about others yet but if/when I do, I'll ask for their ban as well regardless of which company they represent.

I'm not an "agent" of anything. I'm a guy who made it into a focus group for products, and went about his business. The only thing that changed in my posting as a result of the experience is the benchmarks I posted. When I saw Chris Rays nice reviews at nVNews, I decided to post benches as well.

Nitromullet is right:

I do owe the board and some of my friends here an apology. I am sorry I withheld the fact that I got some free parts from AEG.

At the time I didn't think it mattered where I got the parts as I don't consider myself as anything other than a person in a company sponsored user group.

I don't fully understand why some you think it is a big deal, but I apologize for any feelings of betrayal my "white lie" engendered.

I meant no harm, and would never "pretend' to be someone's friend for material gain.

Appology accepted. know what? Screw all the flaming. I think we all got caught up in the BS and the witch hunt. This place has been so tense lately, a powder keg ready to blow, and this was the fuse. I think we all need to take a step back and realize that this isn't a huge thing. Despite Rollo's rather "agressive" (for lack of a better tactful term) behaviour in the forums, IMHO, thats who he is. When it all comes down to it, we have to trust our peers sometimes. No one can deny the fact that the raw numbers he has provided are useful...

I guess we all have something to learn from this. We're all a little too caught up in something, that is basically just a hobby, a diversion from real life. If people actually expressed this much interest and care into something that actually mattered, perhaps the apathy in the world be lessened. :beer: too all.

 

[JBT]

I seriously don't get some of the folks posting in here esspecially those who think Rollo should be banned for his actions with AEG. First off Rollo has been the way he has for YEARS before any of this AEG news started breaking out. So in my eyes his relationship with AEG didn't change anything in regards to how he is more likely to post pro NV stuff...
I think most of the reasons Rollo posts the way he does is beacuse of the folks he knows will come into his thread just to troll. I rarely ever have seen Rollo going into anothers thread be it anti NV or pro ATI and start mud slingging like a select few members here do constantly.

 

[fliguy84]

Originally posted by: Leper Messiah
Appology accepted. know what? Screw all the flaming. I think we all got caught up in the BS and the witch hunt. This place has been so tense lately, a powder keg ready to blow, and this was the fuse. I think we all need to take a step back and realize that this isn't a huge thing. Despite Rollo's rather "agressive" (for lack of a better tactful term) behaviour in the forums, IMHO, thats who he is. When it all comes down to it, we have to trust our peers sometimes. No one can deny the fact that the raw numbers he has provided are useful...

I guess we all have something to learn from this. We're all a little too caught up in something, that is basically just a hobby, a diversion from real life. If people actually expressed this much interest and care into something that actually mattered, perhaps the apathy in the world be lessened. :beer: too all.

Nicely said. Not defending AEG or anything but you know what, Rollo getting all these discounted stuffs actually helps the forum. For example, he was among the first who ventured into SLI and one of the few lucky people who got a GTX.

 

[imported_thefonz]

Just a quick question, has Rollo admited to being associated with AEG or are all of these people just speculating?

 

[BFG10K]

Just a quick question, has Rollo admited to being associated with AEG

Yes.

 

[funks]

It would be nice if the "nut-huggers" would be banned, or at least - their profiles modified/highlighted to state they are coming from a certain focus group (be it NV, or ATI)..

It's pretty hard for me to read the Video forums now, with the banana-swinging back and forth from both camps..

 

[Leon]

Reads the first few posts..

Where do I sign up? I want free stuff. Don't care whether its for Nvidia or ATI.

 

[MegaWorks]

LOL! I knew it from the start that Rollo was not an ordinary fanboy. The funny thing is that he was trying to sell us inferior nVidia product in the past and he thought we where some bunch of morons that would fall for his marketing trap.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Leper Messiah
Despite Rollo's rather "agressive" (for lack of a better tactful term) behaviour in the forums, IMHO, thats who he is.

I guess we all have something to learn from this. We're all a little too caught up in something, that is basically just a hobby, a diversion from real life. If people actually expressed this much interest and care into something that actually mattered, perhaps the apathy in the world be lessened. :beer: too all.

For my part, I'm going to be less "aggressive" in my posts.

"The Fox and the Grapes" were mean spirited, I should have phrased that, "Other than cost, I can't see why anyone WOULDN'T want SLI". Etc..

I've got "AEG Group Member" in my signature, so there's no more secrecy.

 

[Conky]

I am patiently waiting for the official resolution from Anand and his crew on this subject.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: MegaWorks
LOL! I knew it from the start that Rollo was not an ordinary fanboy. The funny thing is that he was trying to sell us inferior nVidia product in the past and he thought we where some bunch of morons that would fall for his marketing trap.

I never tried to "sell" inferior products. If you're talking about 5800's, I bought and traded for them and said they weren't as bad as people made them out to be, the second best cards. (honest)

I did the same when I "down graded" to ATI cards in the past (Radeon VIVO was slower than GF2 PRo, etc)- no different.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: M0RPH

Originally posted by: Rollo

I think it's more a question of not opening the floodgates to "I want a free video card too!". I've ALWAYS said I got the cards deeply discounted straight from nVidia, and the cards do come from nVidia. The difference between "free" and "deeply discounted" is not huge.

THe thing is, I remember when you used to brag about how you put your money where your mouth is and buy the products that you advocate with your own hard-earned money. And you used to criticize anyone who didn't own the products that they were defending. It wasn't until very recently that your story started to change about where your video cards came from.

I was more upfront about where my parts came from than anyone else in the group, except Chris Ray, who was a staff reviewer at nVNews.

It's not a huge leap from "deeply discounted from nVidia" to "free from nVidia".

I never tried to hide my association, the only thing I didn't do is say "Hey guys! I'm in this great user group where they give a video card now and then". It's a small program, if I had do you think AEG (and my counterparts) might have gotten more than a few requests to join?

For the record now: I can't get you in to the group. Sorry.

 

[gsellis]

For the record, I am with Pete. And as usual, one of the best posts in the thread.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Bumrush99
Does it really matter if Rollo gets banned? Every new post, every reply he makes will be shot down with answers that will be linked to this post. The damage is already done, he no longer has any legitimacy in these forums. Banning him will not change his status here. It is already ruined.

I'd think my credibility would go up from this.

My benchmarks were always verifiable, and now you have a lot more reason to believe any info I give you about nVidia products comes from nVidia.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Pete
To be clear, I was against AEG's program when I thought it comprised of ppl like Rollo and consisted of goods in return for promotion, mainly b/c it seemed simplest explanation. Rollo gave AEG's "focus group" a bad name, IMO. His posts are just too calculatedly one-sided for someone not affiliated with (read: compensated by) a company. Now that I know CR, Chal, and Ail are in it, I know that Rollo and AEG are separate issues. I support--or at least don't object to--what I know of AEG. Why? B/c I feel CR, Chal, and especially Ail contribute to the forums they frequent without as much or any of the one-sided fervency Rollo shows (most evidently in his threads). That's why any backlash against them will be minimal and muted.

I didn't realize people were banned for being one-sided Pete? I post differently from those guys because I always have. Why would I change my style of posting because I joined a user group? Wouldn't that be allowing the group to influence me?

If you're going to start a list of banning people for being one sided, I hope you have a lot of ink in your pen.

The other thing is, as noted, my posts being one sided doesn't mean people have to jump in and begin the flame war.

They could opt to ignore, or refute in a polite fashion.

Last but not least, I think it's a reaching pretty far to say one poster (me) is responsible for the decline of the forum when there are 1000s here. If you're trying say my posts have the power to shape what this board is or the tone of it, I'm laughing hard.

If I had that kind of influence, people from ATI, Intel, AMD, and nVidia should start sending me job offers? The fact is I'm just one guy posting my opinions, and the readers have the choice to accept, ignore, or flame. I personally would prefer no one flamed, ever.

Your post is just part of the witch hunt, worded more politely. For shame.

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: Bumrush99
Does it really matter if Rollo gets banned? Every new post, every reply he makes will be shot down with answers that will be linked to this post. The damage is already done, he no longer has any legitimacy in these forums. Banning him will not change his status here. It is already ruined.

I'd think my credibility would go up from this.

My benchmarks were always verifiable, and now you have a lot more reason to believe any info I give you about nVidia products comes from nVidia.

Like the purevideo fix you said which was supposed to be coming for broken agp 6800s from your (yet unknown at that time) contacts?? Face it, AEG provides a level of deniability for Nvidia.

And your comment about 5800s not being as bad as people think, they were undeniably slower and more importantly very noisy hence the dustbuster moniker.

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: beggerking
From what i've seen, advice were given from both sides everytime a question is raised.

Yes that is true and bias usually taints everyone's post but now it isn't as simple as a fanboy because I think most people expect questions to be answered in an honest manner through personal experience of hardware they bought themselves hopefully after doing some research.

For example, I remember 5150Joker used to praise the 7800 cards cause he had one and he liked the performance he got from it. Now he has a X1900XT(X) and recommends that cause he enjoys the performance of that. I actually did think he was biased towards NVidia before, but I see now that isn't the case.

The problem with marketing people is that they sometimes post out of a need to sell a product, not to give the best advice to someone who needs help.

 

[GOREGRINDER]

if rollo gets banned for this, thats a load of cr@p,...period

hes obviously a pc enthusiast,.. hes not some marketing stiff in here to flame like some try to make him sound,.if you cant handle it,. well i dunno what to tell you then,...it doesnt hurt you none,...rollo's not your girlfriend... so stop acting like he's your girlfriend that wasnt completely honest with you,....why did he have to be?,... for some. id say its non of yer d@mn business,..lol,... but i see its good theres a few around that can see this straight without being a snotty brat about it

 

[geo1]

Certainly AT forums deserves to be part of any NV community outreach program.

Whether it needs to be Rollo or not, it would seem to me, is an entirely different question.

Maybe Pete would reconsider now.

Should we start adding "Pete for AEG Rep!" to our sigs?

P.S. Oooh, he's gonna kill me. . .

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: Rollo
I personally would prefer no one flamed, ever.

QFP


You would personally prefer that nobody ever flamed anybody else? Strange then that you were given a two week vacation for doing EXACTLY THAT to many, MANY fellow members just one short year ago.

You have not helped anyone with anything with your seemingly endless, pointless, useless flaming. I am beyond tired of it, and I am even more tired of receiving complaints from others you offend.

Please spend two weeks elsewhere to consider how you can improve your forums courtesy.

AnandTech Moderator

And yet here you are once again, claiming you'll be the less "aggressive" Rollo.

You know what? YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE! I know for a fact you've been given warnings from the Moderators in addition to the two week vacation. You've gotten/tried to get people banned for hinting that you were an AEG member even though you KNEW THEY WERE RIGHT! You've been given more chances to reform than any three banned members combined and yet you continue to insult, provoke, harrass and degrade others.

Enough is enough. You are no "member" of the AT community. You're simply an individual with a personal agenda who doesn't care who he insults until he's in danger of being expelled. And then suddenly you're the reformed "less aggressive" Rollo once again. Guess what? Nobody's buying it.

You used the "Fox and the Grapes" analogy before, so I think I'll use "The Boy Who Cried 'Wolf!'" here. You've said you'll become the kinder, gentler Rollo before only to revert to the same old spiteful Rollo once the spotlight was turned off. If the Moderators don't use this opportunity to remove you, I will be deeply disappointed in them.

I used to personally chat with Anand back when AT was nothing but a free Geocities website. And knowing him as the helpful, intelligent, well-spoken teenager he was back then, I can't imagine he would ever approve of your actions or the way you've helped convert this forum from a friendly, open place to the total flamefest-ridden zone it's become today.




I vote for a permanent ban on Rollo.

 

[beggerking]

Originally posted by: RobertR1

Originally posted by: beggerking

Originally posted by: RobertR1

Originally posted by: Bumrush99
Does it really matter if Rollo gets banned? Every new post, every reply he makes will be shot down with answers that will be linked to this post. The damage is already done, he no longer has any legitimacy in these forums. Banning him will not change his status here. It is already ruined.

But will the forums improve any when every rollo post turns into a mess??? which is exactly what will happen. Judging by his ego, how long do you think before he's back to his old self????

now I see your only purpose here is simply to ban and insult anyone who has a different opinion than you.

Show me where I've advocated a ban of anyone but rollo. Please start searching.

your insults + flaming :

Sorry to be a bit off topic but after being on several different message boards for various things: motrocycles, cars and computers, beggerking takes the cake as being the most annoying/irritating/argumentative (without sufficient knowledge) personality by a large margin. If there was a f'in crown, I'd hand it to you, buddy.

This is getting ridiculous. You're the only one who's having these major issue with an the x1800xl. Everyone else is fine. For a self proclaimed enthusiast who goes through cards at a ridiculous rate, you'd be semi competant at installing a new card. Obviously not the case.

I hope the nickles and dimes being tossed your way are worth the various defmation tactics against one company that you constantly spew on here. You're a sad lilttle man.

Your lawsuit is pathetic, at best. If it'll help you sleep easier at night at the thought of being able to sue him for defamation, then please, by all accounts, continue to believe it. I'm sure attorney's are lined up at your door to take a crack at this jackpot. Hell, they might even forego their retainer fees and do it on contingency since it's a slam dunk!

Thanks for the laugh, champ!

That's like opening 10ie windows in the backgroud and blaming MS for your ****** gaming performance.

Post when you're sober, wreckage........

 

[5150Joker]

His responses were always in response to provocation by nVidia trolls like you Boogerking.

 

[beggerking]

Pete.. you gave nothing but your personal opinion in your post..

Rollo should be banned simply because his style of posting has poisoned this forum

?

if you really look into a few other fanboy posters here, you'll see Rollo's posts isn't actually that bad. At least he trys to post civilize rather than those fanyboys resorting to insult everytime.

 

[beggerking]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
His responses were always in response to provocation by nVidia trolls like you Boogerking.

so anyone who disagree with him is a troll?
if you have something to say, say it, but if you are here just to talk ******, then stop. when you have nothing useful coming out of your mouth,stfu.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: beggerking
Pete.. you gave nothing but your personal opinion in your post..

Rollo should be banned simply because his style of posting has poisoned this forum

?

if you really look into a few other fanboy posters here, you'll see Rollo's posts isn't actually that bad. At least he trys to post civilize rather than those fanyboys resorting to insult everytime.

Obviously, you are new.

Pete replied
/Thread