Adam Orth, Microsoft Creative Director, No Longer Works at Microsoft

According to an article written by Game Informer (which can be seen here), Adam Orth does not work at Microsoft anymore. It's not known whether it was a forced resignation, or of his own will, but Game Informer will update the story when and if they receive comments from either Microsoft or Adam Orth.

Instead of regurgitating the article in full, I also want to give my own thoughts on this whole debacle. I followed the controversy all last week, from its inception to the end of it all on NeoGAF. From the sidelines, it was evident from the start Adam Orth would be fired. His actions cost Microsoft customer loyalty, money, as well as any positive press about their upcoming console. Now everything is going to be doom and gloom leading up to their conference, which is supposedly slated for next month.

Having read the reactions from other journalists and gamers alike, there's a split on this decision. Some gamers feel Adam Orth was wrongly fired; the reasoning for firing him wasn't "a big deal". Likewise, journalists on Twitter remarked that it is sad that he got fired. Some are even baffled about it, surprised to see it actually happen. The other end of it is that he deserved to be fired. There is this thought, from journalists and others, that the Internet is "celebrating" him being fired. Mistaking the remarks about him deserving to be fired as "celebrating".

That's all based on what I have, personally, read. Granted, I don't have the knowledge of everyone's thoughts, those are just a select few. What are mine? My thoughts align with those who feel he deserved to be fired. But before I get into that, there is a huge amount of shocking revelations to me, as a Communications major.

From what I have read, many people are surprised he got fired. Many people feel he was wrongly fired, that it was "small". Here's the thing, here's the reality: any company, any business, big or small would do the exact same thing Microsoft did. It's no secret social media is used to its full advantage by businesses, but employees are expected to keep their personal lives separate from their work and vice versa.

Placing your exact job title right on your Twitter page is making yourself a target. You're also giving the false impression, to the general public, that you represent the company. Your opinions represent who you work for. And that's what lead to Adam Orth's ultimate demise. He placed, right on his personal Twitter, "Creative Director at Microsoft". Any old Joe isn't going to know how big that role is, other than the "director" part of it makes him seem important. So, what does that do? It makes someone or everyone think his opinion holds weight within the company and is either partially or largely shared with the company as a whole.

Thus, you have a huge amount of angry consumers about Microsoft's next console possibly requiring you to have an internet connection just to play single player games. Couple that with the continual recurring rumors about it and you have possibly the worst narrative generated from this whole debacle. And what's even worse is, it's a negative narrative. And that's what got Adam Orth fired. It circulated among tons of gaming websites, the majority placing it smack dab on the front page. Making the news known to even the least core of gamers.

It all boils down to the power of social media. It's why other businesses have a policy about it. As a Communications major, I've even been told about how you should be careful with what you say on Twitter. And you should dissolve any connection or ties you have to who you work for on your personal Twitter. Basically, avoid bringing any negativity to your employer, otherwise you face with being fired or dismissed from your job.

And that is what happened to Adam Orth. Yet, tons of people have never been aware of this! You're never supposed to paint the company you work for in a bad light. He deserved to be fired for what he said. He treated the customers badly, created tons of negative press, and brought their next console into a negative light (even if said console was only implied by Orth's comments). You're never supposed to list your exact job title on your personal Twitter. There's a reason you create a professional Twitter and a personal Twitter. One of my college professors does that and avoids any of his personal life/opinions being exposed to his students.

Basically, he had it coming to him. It's okay to feel bad for him, but I think it's silly for the customer to be sad about what mistakes he made. He chose to spew those statements on Twitter. And he even tried to scapegoat them by saying, "hahaha guys i was just trolling my friend from Bioware, relax" (not exact quotation). That doesn't work at all.

There's also another aspect to this firing of Orth. Something no one has really mentioned. Other businesses, when an employee does something customers didn't like (and also negatively impacted the business like Orth did), will fire the employee to restore relations with the customers. They are essentially making a "right" for those that were "wronged". It's a strategy used to create some amount of positive press to counteract the negative press or public relations created by the employee in question.

On the subject of "celebrating" him being fired: I briefly talked about this above and I feel journalists or other people with this mentality are completely misinterpreting what's being said. Saying "he deserved to be fired", is different from saying, "yay he's fired!" However, being mad at some people celebrating is also ridiculous. Maybe those people felt insulted or "wronged" by what he said. And they may be happy that Microsoft dealt with something they didn't like. This relates to what I was saying above; Microsoft fired Orth to "right" those who were or felt  "wronged". They are actively (not actually but you know what I'm saying) trying to repair their relations with the public by removing someone seen as "toxic" by many people.

Would people have been mad if Microsoft didn't fire Adam Orth? Who knows. However, I think it was the right move. If they had kept him, they would run the risk of customers being mad at them for not firing the employee who insulted them. On the other hand, the people who were "wronged" may not have been as many as Microsoft is thinking; losing such talent like Orth over it may not have been smart. Either way, what's done is done and people should just deal with it. (See what I did there?)

Welcome!

Hello world! My username is Revven and I've been meaning to have some kind of outlet where I can make articles or opinion pieces about gaming related issues/games themselves. I want to try and break into the industry in some form or another, if I can. As a Communications major in College, this is certainly my area of expertise; I may not be a game designer but I've been playing games for almost 20 years and following the industry since I was 14.

I'm not sure when the next time I'll have time to write about something, but rest assured I will try to get some kind of piece out this month at the very least. It's the near end of my semester of college so I've got a lot of my plate already. That said, I hope you'll find whatever I write of sublime quality, insightful, helpful, or entertaining.

If you want to follow me somewhat more closely, you can follow me on Twitter via @Revvven. I don't use it extremely often because I'm still adjusting to it but hopefully I'll begin to soon. You can also subscribe to my youtube channel: www.youtube.com/smk2 where I upload gameplay fairly often of certain games (for the moment it is Uncharted 3).

Anyway, that about covers it. Hopefully with my credentials of working on a mod (Super Smash Bros. Project M) and this blog I can elevate myself to get noticed and make connections somehow. If not, well... at least I have some sampling of my writing!