Nike removed from ArenaNet partner program

Cademonium · 2022-07-21T12:58:19+00:00

I was going to say I'm not surprised since Nike has the kind of personality that I could see doing something to get unpartnered but the reasons cited don't seem to be good reasons to unpartner him. Unless they recently changed the rules, the stuff Nike has said is no different from what Teapot has said. Are they going to unpartner Teapot too?

MalevolentMurderMaze · 2022-07-21T18:10:03+00:00

I'm not very surprised that Nike was unpartnered, but am very surprised that it was for these specific comments.

I would have expected some of his rants during teapot's twitch streams to be the real issue.

This feels like anet wanted to find a reason to unpartner him and were just too lazy to dig up something actually substantial.

pastrynugget · 2022-07-21T16:51:12+00:00

At this point they should just nuke the partner program and make everyone re-apply. There's so many partners that aren't active anymore that are still on the list.

Edit: I'm gonna add to this since I got some traction, the oversight of the program also needs to be more transparent. They should have open windows/periods of time to apply and also everyone who applies should get a rejection if they are not accepted, even if they are not told why.

The fact that Nike got booted for the reasons he stated, and Sneb can't get an answer out of anyone makes the whole program feel like it stinks of nepotism. Anet has definitely improved their communication over the last year or so but this is one glaring area where it has been woefully inadequate to say the least.

LeberechtReinhold · 2022-07-21T12:57:08+00:00

ANet hates warriors so much that they are also removing its players

Azureavocadoe · 2022-07-21T13:00:28+00:00

I love drama Thursday, wicked

_dizzee_ · 2022-07-21T12:59:50+00:00

Seems like pretty tame stuff, pretty suprised it wasn't the "failed abortion" comments about the recent patch on Teapot's stream, but I think that was scrubbed from the internet.

Anet digging through social media and specifically the political stuff is pretty troubling. To me it looks a lot like they went looking for an excuse to get rid of him as he is consistently critical about the game, while not really providing much in terms of representing the game in a good light.

It's their perogative to remove partners if they deem them to have broken the rules, but maybe if Anet wish to stifle criticism, they should focus on not consistently shooting themsevles in the foot every few months.

ze4lex · 2022-07-21T13:15:46+00:00

If thats why he got unpartnered then i exoect the majority of the partners to be nuked from orbit then.

Suavepuppy · 2022-07-21T15:55:41+00:00

The most surprising part is that they didn't do it on Friday afternoon

fohpo02 · 2022-07-21T13:04:08+00:00

Hasn’t Teapot insulted players before… going through some of the other comments and the rest of the tweets confirm my first reaction. Seems targeted and not consistent, the portion about political statements made with no relation to ANet or mention of an affiliation is just… omega oof. Someone grab them some more straws.

New_Problem_806 · 2022-07-21T13:58:34+00:00

Not surprised but the reasons given by him don't reflect his worst behaviour.

OftenSarcastic · 2022-07-21T15:30:33+00:00

Apparently ANY use of a pejorative insult is against the rules.

I don't know what ArenaNet's normal policy is, but this shouldn't be a surprise when dealing with any company. It's basically a community PR program and the behaviour of the partners reflects on the company since they're selected/approved.

sB-_- · 2022-07-21T17:39:57+00:00

Was sitting here trying to figure out why a clothing company was ever on anets partner program.

GuildWars2Helper · 2022-07-21T13:30:25+00:00

I will always maintain that Guild Wars 2 is the best MMORPG on the market. With the absolute worst management of any game period.

Yeah there are some pretty bad content cycles from other companies in their games.

But the reason I hold such a grudge with Anet management is the raw potential.

This game‘s systems are so damn good. Combat, fashion, mounts, exploration, open world, WvW, collection.

They are so out of touch with what makes a game good, with the added tragedy of having so many tools to actually make one of the best games.

TheReaperAbides · 2022-07-21T13:24:58+00:00

Ngl when it said they combed through his Twitter, I'd expected for some actual offensive shit to come up to at least justify this. But apparently all they dug up was him being.. Critical about the game? Perhaps in a vaguely undiplomatic manner? And him being.. Outspoken against the kind of bigoted politics that you might try to dig up on someone in this kind of situation?

Nani the fuck, Anet.

LuxSpooky · 2022-07-21T13:17:55+00:00

Stephanie sounds like a GW2 forum moderator. If you criticize you gonna get banned. Soon all GW2 partners will be drawing artists xD

GreenKumara · 2022-07-22T01:47:23+00:00

He used to run this guild right?

DnT removed from raid testing

rym1469 · 2022-07-21T13:53:11+00:00

Frees up a partner slot for another artist or once-a-year content creator with 20 views, can never get enough. Excellent.

UnScience · 2022-07-21T13:11:46+00:00

Seems like anet took offence that he knows more about warrior than their entire balance team

vikirosen · 2022-07-21T15:10:34+00:00

I don't know this person, but the way he tries to explain his way out of things makes me think I wouldn't have liked him anyway. Not being an asshole is not an unreasonably high standard to uphold.

2022-07-21T16:24:32+00:00

Regardless of his relationship with the game, I just find Nike to be an incredibly annoying and abrasive person.

PsychologicalMine294 · 2022-07-21T14:32:24+00:00

Guys. remove your pink tinted glasses. Anet is a company like everyother conpany. When a company Sponsors someone. E.g. nike for runners. Canon for Mountainbikes etc they do that for Marketing reasons. If the sponsored person insults the product or the customers and customers report that. The company will have to check that and take action. I read the twitter comments and they are valid Arguments for removing sponsorship. That was not "critical" that was just insulting tge product and the customers. Stuff like that happens all the time in sponsorship relationships.

xsdf · 2022-07-21T16:16:58+00:00

I'm not too surprised, Nike!'s comments were frequently inflammatory and seemed to be getting worse over time. Most comments were satirical jokes but some were purely spiteful. Most commonly it was about having to deal with underperforming players in hardcore content. He often took an uncompromising stance that didn't encourage player growth but rather player exclusivity. It undermined contructive feedback and hampered inclusivity in the community, which goes against what Arenanet wants representing them.

I think it was more the staw that broke the camel's back that made this decision rather than some explicit comment. I don't think Nike! is awful or anything, I think he just became a bit jaded and wasn't mindful of his comments as a partner.

ghoulsnest · 2022-07-21T15:53:22+00:00

lol, that's not a surprise at all...

The_Shiniest_Skritt · 2022-07-21T13:00:04+00:00

I’m surprised he was a partner to begin with when he’s always had a negative tone about the game (not saying it is unjustified) on TeaTime. If Anet was my company, I’d also not want him being associated with my brand. But I agree that their justification for removing him is unfair.

sinisteacup · 2022-07-21T20:59:55+00:00

ain’t this the guy who flames individual people for not doing good enough dps at chak gerent?

Solicor · 2022-07-21T14:26:51+00:00

Right now Sneb put his sweaty bandana back on in hopes he will now get partner to fill the gap.

ShingJade · 2022-07-21T16:34:22+00:00

It's incredible that he was a partner in the first place. No-one has a right to be a partner, and partner's are essentially an extension of ANet's marketing - you don't become a partner to give your honest and frank feedback (that is never the point of a partner - there are other avenues for that), you become a partner to promote the game in some way. Nike and several other partners actively harm the game and community morale, unlike some of the others I don't see what Nike does to make up for it.

I don't pay close attention to these things, but I don't think this is the first time he lost partner (or at least he's been kicked out of beta access in the past because of his behavior).

Honestly it was a mistake at all for them to cite specific reasons he was being unpartnered. I doubt many people would be shocked to see him lose partner, giving specific examples isn't necessary - it's not a job, it's a privilege and one that either party can walk away from any time they wish.

GW2 will potentially be reaching a larger audience with the Steam release. It's in the game's best interest to ensure we have the best ambassadors representing the community with ANet's stamp of approval. It's crazy people think this is controversial.

Lon-ami · 2022-07-21T14:50:58+00:00

[deleted]

7BitBrian · 2022-07-21T16:57:35+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/w4fue6/nike_removed_from_arenanet_partner_program/ih2cmiu?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3

Just read this thread and we have all the reason we need to justify this removal. Nike presenting himself in the best way possible is not the truth. This is the truth, and he does it a lot. Why would ANet want to be associated with someone like that?

EuphoricNeckbeard · 2022-07-21T19:04:11+00:00

Based on his own thread he sounds like an asshole.... If you're working with a company you typically need to uphold a certain standard of professionalism. I wouldn't expect to keep my job if I called one of my company's projects "dogshit", even if I thought it was a terrible idea.

I think Nike has a lot of love for the game, and I don't wish him ill, but I don't think he was a good fit for the partner program.

ComfyFrog · 2022-07-21T12:59:25+00:00

I can think of a few partnered streamers that based on such light requirements to get unpartnered would lose their status within minutes.

CallMeBigPapaya · 2022-07-21T14:57:44+00:00

Unless we're about to see a big crackdown on partnered streamers for similar behavior, and Nike is just the first, then this seems unfair.

Tharuzan001 · 2022-07-21T20:06:54+00:00

They suddenly remembered he was a Warrior right?

Malusorum · 2022-07-22T10:44:41+00:00

Whenever people report something negative that happened to them in an extremely public way they're subconsciously revising the truth. It's clearly presented in an unnuanced way that makes him appear totally innocent and ANet as the total villain.

When things are presented this way it's to create a narrative, however, what's created is a crybully performance.

There's an extremely high chance of there being more to this than he presents and the complete picture would make him look extremely bad. The way he presents this, in public and with a clear narrative, makes him look extremely bad and ANet is fully justified in booting just for this as that sort of behaviour is one that's extremely Karen.

TwistedAlga · 2022-07-21T13:35:13+00:00

Mmmmhhh, drama on a day like this? Yes please!

Tormentor- · 2022-07-21T18:46:24+00:00

I'm actually surprised he lasted this long.

I hold no ill feelings towards the dude, but i knew it was only a matter of time, with the way he speaks about the game.

Shmendalf · 2022-07-21T13:19:04+00:00

Anet is hard at work dismantling the little goodwill Grouch managed to build with his blog posts.

whatsforsupa · 2022-07-21T13:20:57+00:00

What are the perks of being a partner anyway? It’s not like they put the spotlight on their biggest streamers /tubers often.

I don’t know the whole story but Nike is a big influence in the community and is one of the best warrior mains in the game. He had some pretty strong comments about the changes, but somebody big in the community needed to.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2022-07-22T00:33:31+00:00

I remember this clip from Nike. "Whats the Loss" in regard to old people committing suicide

Adilem · 2022-07-21T13:43:01+00:00

not surprising that anet wanted to get rid of Nike, but they could at least try to find some of his spicy takes on feet fetish instead of the most vanilla takes he gives in the specified tweets lmao

Nawrotex · 2022-07-21T13:52:36+00:00

What are benefits of being ANet partner?

Dull_Function_6510 · 2022-07-21T13:22:27+00:00

People hate on Nike because he is often blunt and uncaring about sugar coating players feelings. Sometimes this comes off as egotistical. But he has been one of the longest running gw2 players to continue to produce content. He has helped plenty of players become better at the game, and is often critical but fair of Anet, and the playerbase. The stuff they are removing him from the partner program for is ridiculous, and absolutely right of him to be pissed. They are a private company and can do what they want, but this is a shame. Been boycotting gem purchases until they fix the balance, likely to keep boycotting until they free nike.

Won_Too_Tree_For · 2022-07-21T16:04:59+00:00

I'm fully convinced it is solely because Nike isn't very PC a lot of the time, using "ret*rded" and talking about people having extra chromosomes and such. I can't imagine Anet being happy about that. That being said they should've cited that instead of random irrelevant bs.

But this is nothing new, Anet has been shooting themselves in the foot with content creators since day 1, e.g. when they banned Krippararian for karma flushing. Congrats on eliminating yet another free source of marketing guys!

mandala30 · 2022-07-21T15:37:30+00:00

He shouldn’t be surprised. He’s been looking for drama and doing his best to antagonize the game and the company. I don’t even understand why he’d want to still be a partner anyway, seeing how critical he’s been of the game, especially recently.

Also, his brand of vulgarity is a few steps over the line Anet is okay with, I’m sure. His partnership was a relic they finally decided was corroded enough to just toss out.

A split that should have happened much sooner than it did, really.

SuperRetardedDog · 2022-07-21T14:32:15+00:00

New week, new drama.

NoSuchThingAsBalance · 2022-07-21T15:19:39+00:00

Why is he crying about it? Especially for someone who talks so highly of himself and down to others, this seems very out of character.

I haven't seen any good come from him being a partner anyway. So, there's literally no change...regardless of his fanbase being upset or not.

I also think a LOT more of the partners should be removed, because they clearly don't serve the purpose. So, not just him, but a lot more in similar position. The whole program is a joke.

It should come as no surprise to anyone, given his personality and a lot of the comments he makes. If I was in ANet's marketing position, I wouldn't allow him to have partnership either, because that would mean he represents the company to an extent. It's not about silencing criticism, but about how the company is represented.

Also, for all you know, there's a lot more to the story than what is stated by him. He's also partaking in fear mongering tactics. So, in fact, all in all, his removal from the partnership program was well deserved.

Blackdragon1400 · 2022-07-21T18:32:19+00:00

Do I agree I violated their agreement? Yes. Using any pejorative violates it.

There you go. No need to read through the 20 tweet admission of guilt.

If Anet doesn’t like how partners are portraying their business they have every right to remove that status from them.

Stable_Orange_Genius · 2022-07-21T15:53:54+00:00

God i hate Twitter

Keorl · 2022-07-22T00:44:16+00:00

I used "dog shit" as criticism, and called people "idiots" to describe how wrong they are.

"This is a standard that not a single partner could uphold."

Just because he can't uphold doesn't make that "not a single partner" could ! As much as the balance patch he called "dog shit" is worth criticism and as much as there might be valid reasons to criticize people who raged at a specific balance change, I doubt that you can only do so by respectively calling it "dog shit" and them "idiots".

Btw I don't follow the guy and don't know the links he's referring to, but it's a bit fun to read those 2 examples as one where he rages against a balance patch and one where he hates some people who rage again a balance change ...

mini_mog · 2022-07-21T13:09:36+00:00

My guess is he was too negative about the game and this was Anets out. Almost feels like a cult disowning a member or something. Not a good look.

2022-07-21T15:24:02+00:00

[removed]

aliamrationem · 2022-07-21T13:18:20+00:00

I guess ANet can choose not to partner with whoever they like. I just hope they realize that being this knee-jerk over nothing makes them look like, well, dogshit.

leafeytea · 2022-07-21T13:31:18+00:00

This doesn't surprise me frankly. Not the part about anything you have said or tweeted, but the part about the response.

The last MMO I played takes roughly the same approach to criticism - they try to squelch it.

Even when it has come from people who were far, far more eloquent and professional in their speech than you.

For example, threads on official forums get buried, people get banned permanently from the game even just for discussing things on forums they don't want discussed, and media partners are monitored and dismissed very easily; generally speaking, anything beyond very light questioning of game changes will result is some sort of disciplinary action against the person.

That said, to see that here is disappointing because to take it up against you over comments made on your own social media thread about things which have nothing to do with the game, and which focus on your politics instead? Is something I have not seen, but I suspect is in this case the reason for the split.

It's the same rule everywhere when it comes to money: don't piss off your donor/supporter/investor. If someone was offended over the comment and they reported this, then likely that could be the real reason this was brought to your attention.

The issue that I see wrong with this, is that unless it's explicitly stated somewhere in your agreement that you will have to adhere to their rules around non-political discussions of any sort while interacting on social media, I fail to see how the tweets about that which they cited are grounds for the actions they took.

I mean, if there is no transparency about a policy on this specifically, they are in the wrong for using those tweets as part of the justification for the split.

Bronze1979 · 2022-07-21T15:51:32+00:00

Who cares.

BlueC1nder · 2022-07-21T13:43:16+00:00

Good, now remove toxic Teapot and toxic Sneb (edit: he's not even in it) from the programm too! /s

Jokes aside, what's going on at Anet? It looks like the company and Grouch battle each other when it comes to community managmemt stuff. I mean Noxxi never got partnered too so yeah, memeing on decisions made from Anet are a criteria since forever, it just isn't enforced equally.

young_sint · 2022-07-21T14:44:31+00:00

Thank heavens this, might I say, cancer, to the community has been removed! Thank you Anet!

f3m_shack · 2022-07-24T07:26:14+00:00

deserved lul

therealmyself · 2022-07-21T16:24:04+00:00

I don't really care if he is banned or not.

It does feel to me like quite a few of the streamers on teatime are playing the wrong game, and should quit. It feels like they want the game to be something it isn't and have become really bitter.

ezcrammi · 2022-07-21T13:56:17+00:00

I never really liked Nike as a content creator but this is stupid as fuck.

Erick-Alastor · 2022-07-21T20:05:58+00:00

Since this got downvoted in this thread and could excape your attention, please consider it before formulating your opinion about Anet's choice.

Marok_Kanaros · 2022-07-21T13:40:27+00:00

I'm surprised thats all the found as reasons to terminate the partnership..or at least all they listed.

SaiyanOfDarkness · 2022-07-21T13:25:52+00:00

This isn't the first time ANet's acted like this toward one of their Partners. Remember when Deroir voiced his opinion and Jessica Price didn't like it. Jessica of course ended up losing her job.

Long story short, they don't like negative feedback of any kind.. especially from their assigned Partners.

Well your fucking game won't improve unless you actually look at both the positive and negative feedback. Not what you only want to see.

sitarskeh · 2022-07-22T07:46:05+00:00

I like Nike's content and his personality. However, I have no idea how he got partnered with ANet in the first place knowing how ANet operates and wants to be perceived.

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