Control Point Sells Out, Ubercharged Doesn’t
Its been an interesting few days. I’ve been contacted by a company related to the game industry about a commercial arrangement with ubercharged.net. I was tempted by it for a bit, but after thinking it through I decided that the changes they were wanting just weren’t worth it. So from the point of view of this site, there really isn’t much to talk about.
The interesting bit though, is who is selling out:
The guys over at Control Point do a great podcast, and I’m sure they’ve thought it through and all. But if they’ve signed up to the same conditions this company was talking about for ubercharged.net, they should probably rename it to “Control Point TF2 Informercial Podcast”
How do I know this? Here’s a little snippet of a steam chat I had between me, and a representative of the company. Lets call her “Susan” (not her real Steam ID)
Never tell your password to anyone.
Susan: Hi there. Are you able to talk now?
madlep: sure. Whats up?
Susan: Did you get a chance to read over the draft contract I emailed?
madlep: Yup.
Susan: What did you think?
madlep: It seems like I’d have to make a lot of changes if I signed up to this deal. I don’t know if I’m all that comfortable with them.
Susan: Well, its a starting point, and we are open to negotiation.
madlep: I really don’t think I’m all that interested after reading it. Its tempting and all, but I was doing the maths, and I’d need to give up my day job and work on ubercharged full time to reach all the traffic and content targets etc in there. And if I did that, I’d be earning less than I am now with a “real world” job.
Susan: Maybe, but there is room to grow, and you’d be doing what you enjoy.
madlep: I don’t think I’d enjoy it with all the ads and sponsored articles I’d have to do. The whole site would basically be an infomerical for you guys.
Susan: Think of it as being part of a network providing real value to the gaming community. You’d be working to build up the network and help people that way.
Susan: A lot of other sites are on board already. This is going to be quite a big deal.
madlep: Other TF2 sites?
Susan: There are fansites for a whole range of games: Counter Strike, Battlefield series, UT3.
Susan: In the TF2 area, the “Control Point” podcast team has signed up. I think you’ve heard of them.
madlep: CP? Wow.
Susan: Yeah, we’re quite excited about it. Especially with the strong community they bring.
madlep: Good for them I guess. If that works for them, then thats great.
madlep: But I still don’t think I’m interested. It just really doesn’t fit with me.
Susan: OK. We’re still open though. If you are still thinking about it, you know how to get in touch with me.
Susan: I’ll talk to you again in a few days to see if you’ve changed your mind.
madlep: Sure. Whatever. I don’t think I will.
Susan: You never knowThanks for your time
madlep: No probs. Good luck with it all
Update 28th March 2008
The guys have addressed the issue in their latest podcast.
Update 2nd April 2008
Yup. This was all part of the setup for the CP guys elaborate April Fools gag. Nice work by the Dead Workers guys :D.
madlep on March 8th 2008 in community, control point, news, team fortress 2, ubercharged
Stumble it!
LOL responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 2:25 pm #
WTF? I would have taken the $$$
Maybe the deal was sweeter for CP cause they don’t suck as much as you do lol
YnosHD responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 2:31 pm #
ur a dick LOL
At least this site isnt gonna turn into some stupid gamespot commerical crap with rigged reviews and boring ads stuck everywhere
I like it the way it is. GG madlep
RabbidRaven responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 5:30 pm #
Was it EA games trying to promote battlefied heroes? Just a guess…
Also, nice job not selling out.
reefpirate responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 7:14 pm #
Indeed, gg madlep
I like the site the way it is, it’s because of the way you make the site that kept me coming back and keeping track or your rss feed.
You should take the corporate offer as a compliment, but keep doing what you do even more so to keep it independent, fresh and relevant.
Keep up the good work!
sgt_goomba responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 7:31 pm #
Respect on that decision, but have you ever thought of starting your own community? A forum would be a good start.
UncleSpoon responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 7:59 pm #
WELL DONE! That’s all I can say. You were invited into the devils lair and had the fortitude to refuse. Excellent. My respect for this site just went through the roof.
Bill Hicks said it best about people like “Susan”.
“By the way, if anyone here is in marketing or advertising…kill yourself. Thank you. Just planting seeds, planting seeds is all I’m doing. No joke here, really. Seriously, kill yourself, you have no rationalisation for what you do, you are Satan’s little helpers. Kill yourself, kill yourself, kill yourself now. Now, back to the show. Seriously, I know the marketing people: ‘There’s gonna be a joke comin’ up.’ There’s no f***in’ joke. Suck a tail pipe, hang yourself…borrow a pistol from an NRA buddy, do something…rid the world of your evil f***in’ presence.”
{LSM} Boxx responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 8:06 pm #
Rock on madlep!!
I dont know if i could have made the same decision as you
LOL responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 8:24 pm #
i cant beleive how much you guys are sucking off. its all $$$ based. there is no honor here
he said he’d earn less if he did this than the job hes already got. Really, he sold out by NOT taking it lol
John responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 9:14 pm #
“LOL”, you make so much sense.
Anonymous responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 9:37 pm #
If it ain’t broke…
TF2-sajten Control Point uppköpta av gamingföretag | Onlinegamer - Team Fortress 2 på svenska responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 9:58 pm #
[...] som dock nappade på erbjudandet är, enligt Ubercharged, podcast-sajten Control Point (som vi skrivit om här vid ett flertal tillfällen). Vad [...]
Max Collin responded on 08 Mar 2008 at 10:03 pm #
Nice decision not selling out, even though I think you deserve some cash for your good job with UC.
Want a beer?
funkeystu responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 12:01 am #
@madlep - congrats on the offer, ubercharged.net is a great site and it looks like its getting a bit of corporate recognition! I must say that I really like the casual/indie feel of the site and how it gives me all the latest info without taking too much time out of my day. Thanks heaps for giving so much to the community and good onya for making the decision to stay independent (though if you ever change your mind I’ll respect that decision too)
refuel responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 3:52 am #
You made the right choice. Don’t bow down to corporate sponsors. You make the choices. Don’t let someone else contractually make them for you.
Crushing Reality responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 4:01 am #
Guys, THIS IS A JOKE ARTICLE, OKAY?
MADLEP LIKES MAKING JOKE POSTS!
There was no selling out of any sort here.
Ben responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 4:15 am #
Wow, nice.
How much money would they have been paying you? 0:
WesWilson responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 5:12 am #
Thanks for spilling the beans, DICK!
Yggdrasil responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 6:34 am #
/applaud for not selling out
Gryffinp responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 7:08 am #
Basically what Crushing Reality said. Come on guys, think about it for half a second.
Susan responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 7:35 am #
madlep - this is disappointing and highly unprofessional releasing confidential information between us prematurely to the community in this manner.
I appreciate that you didn’t actually sign our NDA, and that is probably our fault for commencing negotiations without it. However, I felt that we had an element of trust that what we discussed was in private, and that you would keep our business plans confidential.
This stunt has the potential to undermine my companies business strategy, and unfairly cause pain for the Control Point team - who wanted to break this news gradually and tactfully to the community in their own time and manner.
I hope you are sure that you will decline our offer, because the deal is now well and truly off the table.
Regards
“Susan”
(No, that isn’t my real name, and I’m glad you at least didn’t disclose that yet)
Pinko responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 7:38 am #
I don’t know if this is a joke or whatever, but I’d like to mention that I still like the whole “no ads” thing on UberCharged.
lolwut responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 8:33 am #
DISCLOSE HER NAME!
[SAS]==Monarch== responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 8:45 am #
It was unfair of you to release the news in this way. You could have told us what was going on without leaking the CP details (or asking them first). I agree that you are better off going your own way as far as ubercharged is concerned but the guys at CP deserved the right to reveal their deal when they were ready.
Anonymous responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 8:56 am #
I’m kind of sad about this, I liked things when it was because we all enjoyed it.
There are some people who put the same amount of work into this community as the hosts do. I would think they will be turned off now that the hosts will be gaining from it all.
Use Your Brain! responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 8:57 am #
JOKE POST! DUH!
Anonymous responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 9:17 am #
Susan,
Your company is ruining the things we love.
Take a hike.
Kudos, Madlep.
Anonymous responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 9:36 am #
HA HA HA!
I can’t believe you had a chance to go into business with VALVE and you turned it down to maintain your stupid blog site! Those Control Point dorks are at least smart enough to know when something is good for them!
Bill Gates responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 9:45 am #
No one refuses an offer from me.
BUY HIM OUT BOYS!
b4dboyz- responded on 09 Mar 2008 at 1:49 pm #
Oh Shi- it’s Bill Gates!!!
I hope this is just a joke post. Probably is…
Suraj responded on 10 Mar 2008 at 1:29 am #
So I guess in next CP podcast hosts will be holding banners in their hands promoting the sponsors. Ah there goes the visual quality of the podcast.
Logic responded on 10 Mar 2008 at 4:11 am #
Good for you man, dont sell out. Last thing this site needs is to be a huge infomercial.
LOL JOKE POST! responded on 10 Mar 2008 at 5:40 am #
Hey idiots, joke!
UncleSpoon responded on 10 Mar 2008 at 10:29 am #
This seems awfully contrived for a joke post. The other one was fairly obvious. This one… Well clearly if it is it’s a more subtle attempt at comedy. As in not funny. Post-modern humor.
Elvis! responded on 10 Mar 2008 at 11:07 pm #
Hey madlep, I think you should’ve taken the offer I mean, how else are you gonna pay my salary?
hurka responded on 11 Mar 2008 at 3:02 am #
I don’t get it. Usually joke posts are funny.
Anonymous responded on 11 Mar 2008 at 4:32 am #
Not cool man, the guys over at CP don’t deserve this garbage from you. This is obviously a hoax as this ‘Susan’ person would be more professional (Example: correct spelling and grammar.), and probably not have been able (Due to legal issues) to tell you that the guys over at CP had signed on. So stop being a dick.
tehPete responded on 11 Mar 2008 at 4:39 am #
Nicely done Madlep, nicely done indeed
+1 to you!
Doubtful responded on 11 Mar 2008 at 6:49 am #
I’m beginning to think it’s true. Either that, or this is a very elaborate hoax by madlep and the CP guys. Check this post:
http://deadworkers.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1762
Pie21 responded on 11 Mar 2008 at 3:57 pm #
If it’s a joke post, gg to madlep. If it’s not, double gg (gggg?) to madlep. Either way, you the man!
Notger responded on 12 Mar 2008 at 7:04 pm #
That was a good one.
If it was invented, it was done so with skill. I just love “network providing real value to the gaming community”. That sounds exactly like the BS you hear from managers.
If it was real, it was great to disclose it. I love the line “network providing real value to the gaming community”. Very typical words to express: We will sell them things they never missed.
And I liked Susans post. Though that one was obviously a fake and not as well done as the main post.
bonehead responded on 13 Mar 2008 at 3:06 pm #
Nice. Doing what you want, to hell with the consequences. Nice job not selling out, being a pyro rockstar.
Wormbrain responded on 15 Mar 2008 at 1:10 am #
This is a cover-up to distract from the fact that ubercharged.net REALLY DID SELL OUT! It’s obvious Control Point paid madlep to drum up some publicity (albeit negative). Look at the blatant banner at the top, the blatant linkage..
so... responded on 27 Mar 2008 at 6:10 am #
Is it real or not? EXPLAIN!
madlep responded on 28 Mar 2008 at 7:46 am #
@so - Real. Addressed in the latest podcast http://www.ubercharged.net/2008/03/28/control-point-episode-24-mach-4/
JazzUK [CP-EU] responded on 02 Apr 2008 at 12:55 am #
You have all been Rick Rolled by madlep and Control Point. lol. It’s all a hoax. Check out the link to the ooberservers if you need proof