Bully Hunters (RIPD) (AKA, go home, Bully Hunters!)

Bully Hunters (RIPD)

Well, I was about to do some editing on my post about Bully Hunters and just got news the entire thing went belly up. The main BH site went down and the folks behind the headphones wrote a statement distancing themselves from it. The site is completely dead. Strange...It is fun to watch the entire thing explode over five days.

Then, the companies and people associated with the site/idea started to distance themselves from BH. After the shitty live stream, even the often supportive gaming press started turning on BH. I found this a shock because they fully embraced the idea before the shady stuff came to light.

None of the BH concepts make any sense to me other than a way for these people to make a fast buck in the form digital white knight on call. Who can tell when the person needing the rescue needs a true rescuing by the Bully Hunters?

Interestingly enough, I didn't care about the bogus stats and the controversy behind DMCA threats. I really didn't care about the SJW stuff. I was more interested in the complete cluster-f' that was the live stream and the sheer cringe I got from watching it.

The live stream format was more akin to an infomercial than a presentation of new software. And, it sort of reminds me of those Sega and Nintendo helplines from the 80s and 90s. Then, the un-moderated chat was something to behold with all the text penises. Then, you have the fake gameplay and bad acting from the angry gamer and the Bully Hunters (77). I expected Billy Mays or the ShamWow Guy to come out and pitch it. And, what was with the lights and heavy smoke in the room?

The whole idea of Bully Hunters seemed odd and ripe for failure. None of this makes any sense to me other than a way for these people to make a fast buck in the form digital white knight on call. And, who can tell when the person needing the rescue needs a true rescuing by the Bully Hunters. Plus, this sort f “ride share” format isn't going to work in other games. Many games in the  MMORPG genre are none PVP and both parties have to Opt-in on certain worlds.  

What about muting and reporting the behavior? Many games and streaming services have strict policies for this sort of thing. What the fact some games have banned team killing?

So, who was to really blame for this mess? FCB Chicago is taking the blame, but it appears everyone should take some of the blame.

While I hate quoting Polygon, they had this statement. From Polygon, ((“The sole creator of the campaign was FCB Chicago,” Cooke said. “All other organizations mentioned in the campaign did not provide any kind of financial or formal sponsorship. In most cases they were just supporting the cause. SteelSeries helped connect us with a few gamers and provided some headsets for the live event. That’s all. One [host was paid], but the other was not.” ))

2018 has been a great year for drama.