Axiom Verge PR Scammed by Fake Reviewer, Who Is Also a CAG Member.

FriskyTanuki

FriskyTanuki

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http://dan-adelman.com/post/114584204446/my-very-first-experience-with-a-scammer

Dan Adelman, former indie relations guy at Nintendo and now PR Manager for the highly-anticipated Axiom Verge, writes about his first experience with a review code scammer that happens to be a CAG. He tried to do the extra legwork to send out codes to legit sites and Youtubers to avoid some of the nasty situations some devs have been been in, but still got bit by one site that he suspects has been selling codes for years. Definitely give it a read if you want to learn about the indie PR side of code distribution and see how he tries to get the drop on this guy only to have CheapyD nearly ruin his hunt for the confession.

Edit: And just to add this from the article, Dan doesn't want there to be a witch hunt to get back at the guy since just outing him this way means more potential targets (developers) will know to ignore any requests and be more vigilant about code distribution.

 
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no surprise here,  it happens with a ton of pc game codes, people are still buying from non-authorized sellers from different website are early review copies. yet, people still support them by purchasing it.

 
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FriskyTanuki said:
http://dan-adelman.com/post/114584204446/my-very-first-experience-with-a-scammer

Dan Adelman, former indie relations guy at Nintendo and now PR Manager for the highly-anticipated Axiom Verge, writes about his first experience with a review code scammer that happens to be a CAG. He tried to do the extra legwork to send out codes to legit sites and Youtubers to avoid some of the nasty situations some devs have been been in, but still got bit by one site that he suspects has been selling codes for years. Definitely give it a read if you want to learn about the indie PR side of code distribution and see how he tries to get the drop on this guy only to have CheapyD nearly ruin his hunt for the confession.
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Ethics? We don't need no stinkin' ethics.

[selling review codes is gross]

 
I saw him post in the PSN trade thread all the time, and I always wondered why he had codes for niche Japanese games at like 25% off MSRP.

 
Never thought I would click through and read an entire article but it was pretty engaging stuff.  Thanks for the link Frisky.  

You'll find a review of Dan's story on my video game story website at http://www....   lol.  :)  

 
Really?! Scamming for a $20 game? It was even discounted for Plus the week of release. What makes it even worse is I read that the game was made by one person, and it looks like the creator put a ton of work into it. It's not like scamming some big faceless corporation, which is still wrong, but this is extra scummy.  I'm a big fan of the metroidvainia genre and was going to pick this up eventually during a good sale since Bloodborne is taking all my game time currently. Now I'll go ahead and get it as my next game to make up for the "scumCAG" that's making us honest CAG's look bad. I'm extremely cheap, but I can't stand a thief and a con.

 
Amazing story, cruddy CAG user. 

Axiom is certainly a "must buy" for me at some point, but my backlog is huge, and MKX is out today... so there goes a month of my time. 

To Dan Adelman: You tried to do due diligence - you certainly are not to blame for this. Some people are deceptive, and very good at it.

This might sound silly, but you could somehow flip this into a business, with screening people and/or having them put a returnable deposit on the game(s) for reviewers - or at least, have them sign legal documentation with penalties of a civil suit. 

I sell insurance to doctors, and there are plenty of "credentialing" agencies out there. If you start a business like this, I want my shark tank 20% plus a royalty (per Kevin O' Leary).   :)

 
Ah, this was probably a reason I couldn't get a code :(

And yes, Deidara was super fishy, as he/she/it always had codes for sale right after I got them for review, so I knew where they were getting them.

 
They could always subvert that market by just letting people buy the games when they're done. 'Reviewers' be damned.

Just a thought...digital future...blah blah blah. :beer:

 
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