From: andris@rahul.net (Bob Andris)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Marathon WWW Site Gone
Date: 16 Feb 1995 16:59:35 GMT
Organization: a2i network
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In article <mcrae-1602950036350001@ts5-9.upenn.edu>, mcrae@cccc.com (Matt
McRae) wrote:
> Bungie has decided that the WWW site it was supporting is not worth the
> effort or money. If you are one of the thousands that visit the site
> every day and believe that it was a useful source for information:
>
> New releases
> Hacks, sounds, editors, etc
> Demos, online ordering of products
> Movies, faqs
>
> Please let us know so we can put the site back up.... Contact Bungie at
>
> Bungie Software Products Corporation
> P.O. Box 7877
> Chicago, Il 60680-7877
> (312) 563-6200
> Fax: (312) 563-0545
>
> Email: Bungie1@aol.com
>
> --
> Matt McRae
> Group Cortex
Matt,
Please reconsider & restore the WWW for Marathon.
Sincerely,
Bob
From: Brent@cccc.com (Brent Halliburton)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games,alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Marathon WWW Site Gone
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 16:26:19 -0500
Organization: Group Cortex, Internet Presence Development Services
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Bob Andris wrote:
> > Bungie Software Products Corporation
> > P.O. Box 7877
> > Chicago, Il 60680-7877
> > (312) 563-6200
> > Fax: (312) 563-0545
> Matt,
>
> Please reconsider & restore the WWW for Marathon.
>
> Sincerely,
> Bob
Matt has no control over the fate of the Marathon World WIde Web Site. If
he did it would still be up nd it would have about 1/2 a gig worth of more
information. :-)
If you have any comments or questions concerning Bungie's decision about
the appropriateness of advertising on the World Wide Web, contact Bungie
by fax or by phone at the numbers above.
Brent Halliburton
Brent Halliburton
Director of Business Operations, Group Cortex Philadelphia Design Building
Professional Internet Services 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 230
Brent@cccc.com Philadelphia, PA 19104
http://Www.NetWeb.Com/cortex/ Voice: (215) 854-0646 Fax: (215) 854-066
From: kbs3387@silver.sdsmt.edu (Kevin Stone)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games,alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Marathon WWW Site Gone
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.games,alt.games.marathon
Date: 17 Feb 1995 18:48:46 GMT
Organization: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
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: Matt has no control over the fate of the Marathon World WIde Web Site. If
: he did it would still be up nd it would have about 1/2 a gig worth of more
: information. :-)
: If you have any comments or questions concerning Bungie's decision about
: the appropriateness of advertising on the World Wide Web, contact Bungie
: by fax or by phone at the numbers above.
Bungie did not willingly give up the site. The problem lies
withing the company who have the site to Bungie to use. They said they'd
give it to them for free.. a few months later, they wanted $700 to keep
it going or Bungie would be cut off. They would not.. so they were
cut off. THIS IS THE REAL REASON. Don't listen to this bunk you hear
on the net if it didn't come from the creators of Marathon them selves..
THIS DID.
I know I didn't go in depth, but I hope you all understand.
Thank you,
-Kevin Stone
From: scott@kaiwan009.kaiwan.com (Scott Ellsworth)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Bungie: what a bunch of morons
Date: 16 Feb 1995 10:09:06 -0800
Organization: KAIWAN Internet (310-527-4279,818-756-0180,909-785-9712,714-638-4133,805-294-9338)
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In article <3huqtk$pi4@mudraker.mtholyoke.edu>,
Jurgen Botz <jbotz@mtholyoke.edu> wrote:
>In article <asantos1-150295223701@mac02.dana2.swarthmore.edu>,
>Tonet Santos <asantos1@cc.swarthmore.edu> wrote:
>>what happened to the official marathon WWW site? it ain't there anymore.
>>when i tried to log on it said:
>>
>>Bungie Software has decided that maintaining a World Wide Web site is not
>>an appropriate investment of scarce marketing resources.
>
>Well, obviously what happened is just what it says. The people maintaining
>the Web site were being paid by Bungie to do so, and Bungie got stingy and
>decided to can them.
>
>What a bunch of morons! This has got to be just about the most stupid
>thing I've seen a small software company do. The Web is growing at
>the most fantastic rate imaginable because everyone with an ounce of
>foresight can see that the Net is the future of marketing and
>support
Read my lips. Bungie consists of four people and a strictly limited
budget. Therefore, they had best be very, very cautious about where they
spend thier money. Figure that MArathon, like most games, has a very
limited lifespan, and it is far, far more important to them that they
have at least two more games in the queue for when it goes cold than
supporting a web site.
Web sites are not cheap in terms of time and money. A local provider
here wants a good $50 a month to support one, where you end up doing all
of the work. (This is for a single page with <10K of graphics). Just
supporting an ftp site is a pain the rump - we decided to do it with
netcom, and we have had nothing but complaints from users who cannot get
through.
If a web page is really that important to you, fine, it is a free market,
but please try to keep it in perspective. I think you hit it on the head
when you said that the web weas the FUTURE of sales and marketing. Right
now, it is being born. It is a good way todistribute information, and it
has some benefits, but until more purchases move over it, and until it
gets secure enough to trust, as well as gets some way to generate
followups, I suspect the "right" thing to do for any company is to
occasionally drop in to the best of the web pages run by fans of the
game, and to perhaps offer announcements/presss releases to the moderator
of the page. When the web gets a bit more prevelant, then one should go
for it.
By the bye, I do think that a web page can be a powerful sales tool. The
PAcBell ISDN page is a great case in point. The question is when it
becomes an effective use of time. PEople on the internet tend to demand
that ftp and web site moderators keep them up every day, prefereably
hourly. This is not an easy time commitment for a small company.
Scott
--
Scott Ellsworth scott@kaiwan.com
"When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment
results" - Calivin Coolidge, (Stanley Walker, City Editor, p. 131 (1934))
"The barbarian is thwarted at the moat." - Scott Adams
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: jcs1589@rit.edu (Justin C. Sherrill)
Subject: Re: Bungie: what a bunch of morons
Message-ID: <jcs1589-2002950237560001@p55-ld50a3.isc.rit.edu>
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References: <asantos1-150295223701@mac02.dana2.swarthmore.edu> <3huqtk$pi4@mudraker.mtholyoke.edu>
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 07:37:58 GMT
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In article <3huqtk$pi4@mudraker.mtholyoke.edu>, jbotz@mtholyoke.edu
(Jurgen Botz) wrote:
> Well, obviously what happened is just what it says. The people maintaining
> the Web site were being paid by Bungie to do so, and Bungie got stingy and
> decided to can them.
>
> What a bunch of morons! This has got to be just about the most stupid
> thing I've seen a small software company do. The Web is growing at
> the most fantastic rate imaginable because everyone with an ounce of
> foresight can see that the Net is the future of marketing and
> support... while everyone else is scrambeling to get on, Bungie drops
> off. It also pisses me off as a customer... a Web site is the kind
> of after-sale support I've come to expect of software companies I care
> to give my money to.
If a Web site is the kind of support you expect from a company, you must
expect pretty lousy support. Phone numbers or email addresses are much
more helpful.
If a program is malfunctioning, a Web site isn't much help. A real live
person to communicate with is. Not only that, not everyone has Web
access.
> Marathon is a smash-hit. It's selling like hot-cakes and Bungie is
> rolling in the cash.
Won't hurt them much to drop the page, then. I don't think it was cause
they had a WWW page.
> The Web site was nicely done and I visited it a
> bunch of times both before and after I bought my copy. But Bungie is
> too stingy to keep it up. Tonight I went to see if anything had been
> added and I got that message. As far as this customer is concerned
> that's a public relations disaster...
There are several other Marathon pages out there; which were doing just as
good a job keeping up with Marathon.
> I'm going to call them tomorrow and tell them that if they don't
> re-open the Web site I'm not going to buy any future products they
> might come with. I urge everybody else to do the same... hell, if we
> convince them that they just made a big mistake we'll have done them a
> big favor.
To base your opinion of a company's products on whether or not they
maintain a Web page for a single game they have made is rather stupid.
Your choices should be based on how well the game works for you. I am
very satisfied with the game, and I'm not going to flip out about this;
The only thing Bungie promised was what arrived in the box - a
functioning, enjoyable game. For Bungie to maintain a redundant page is
silly when they could be doing better things, like producing updates and
sequels. (!)
If you are desperate, try these:
http://balthus.dorm.umd.edu/Marathon/Marathon.html
http://198.114.176.148/101.html
http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~zderhall/marathon.html
http://www.engin.umich.edu/labs/mel/mneylon/marathon/marathon.html
ftp://ftp.amug.org/pub/marathon
Hopefully these will cushion the loss.
----Justin C. Sherrill - jcs1589@rit.edu
"It could be jazz music, or just bad. I can't tell." -EJ Hite
Captain Beefheart page at http://ultb.rit.edu/~jcs1589/hpr.html
From: goat@pelican.cit.cornell.edu (Daniel Quaroni)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Bungie: what a bunch of morons
Date: 16 Feb 1995 11:38:08 GMT
Organization: Cornell University
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Jurgen Bortz wrote:
> I'm going to call them tomorrow and tell them that if they don't
> re-open the Web site I'm not going to buy any future products they
> might come with. I urge everybody else to do the same... hell, if we
> convince them that they just made a big mistake we'll have done them
> a big favor
That seems a little immature, a little much, and a little like you're going to
preorder their next game no matter what. Seriously, I'm happy with the
resources I find on ftp.amug.org, and if I have a question I call. Yeah, it's
LD, but the call is only 1 minute long and I don't think I've ever been put on
hold by them.
-=-Daniel QUaroni
-=-goat@pelican.cit.cornell.edu
From: aearhart@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Alan D. Earhart)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Bungie: what a bunch of morons
Date: Sat, 18 Feb 1995 12:20:33 -0500
Organization: The Ohio State University
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In article <3huqtk$pi4@mudraker.mtholyoke.edu>, jbotz@mtholyoke.edu
(Jurgen Botz) wrote:
> Well, obviously what happened is just what it says. The people maintaining
> the Web site were being paid by Bungie to do so, and Bungie got stingy and
> decided to can them.
There is a new message about this. See the article titled "The REAL
Marathon WWW Story!". If this new post is true then your statements are
about as far from the truth as you can get.
--
alan "not-Bob"
aearhart@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
From: maxx111@aol.com (Maxx111)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: The REAL Marathon WWW Story!
Date: 18 Feb 1995 01:01:30 -0500
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
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> Bungie has decided that the WWW site it was supporting is not worth
the
> effort or money. If you are one of the thousands that visit the site
> every day and believe that it was a useful source for information:
>
> New releases
> Hacks, sounds, editors, etc
> Demos, online ordering of products
> Movies, faqs
>
> Please let us know so we can put the site back up.... Contact Bungie
at
>
> Bungie Software Products Corporation
> P.O. Box 7877
> Chicago, Il 60680-7877
> (312) 563-6200
> Fax: (312) 563-0545
>
> Email: Bungie1@aol.com
I think everyone here should know the REAL story behind the disappearance
of the Official Marathon World Wide Web Site. A few months ago GROUP
CORTEX got in touch with Bungie and asked them if it was OK to create an
official Marathon web site which would be FREE OF CHARGE to Bungie. Bungie
said sure, why not, after all it was free. Since Marathon was a hot topic,
GROUP CORTEX decided to do this hoping it would also help publicize their
other (not as popular) web sites. So everyone was happy for a while.
But after the Marathon Web site started to get thousands and thousands of
connections each day, it started to slow down GROUP CORTEX's other sites
as well. GROUP CORTEX decided then that it was time to charge Bungie for
the Web site because of the "high mantainence" it required. They asked
Bungie $1000 a month to maintain the Marathon Web Site. Bungie, of course,
laughed in their faces, feeling they had been deceived by GROUP CORTEX and
were now by coerced into paying for the web site.
I don't blame Bungie for saying NO. As much money as Bungie is making with
Marathon sales now, the truth of the matter is that GROUP CORTEX promised
Bungie a web site free of charge and then changed their minds later on.
Pretty slimy business practice if you ask me.
But what gets me is that GROUP CORTEX posts on message here on csmg and
makes it sound like the guys at Bungie are a bunch of cheap bastards and
that Bungie is the bad guy. I'm sure there will be at least 10 new
Marathon Web Sites and Bungie doesn't need GROUP CORTEX to have a web
site.
So if you REALLY want the Official Marathon WWW site back e-mail the real
culprits:
Brent Halliburton
Director of Business Operations, Group Cortex
Brent@cccc.com
Voice: (215) 854-0646
Fax: (215) 854-066
Don't waste e-mailing Bungie because I was told by them that there is no
way in hell they are going to pay Group Cortex a $1000 a month just to run
a web site.
Max
From: johnsonr@hoshi.Colorado.EDU (Richard Johnson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games,alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Marathon WWW Site Taken Down
Date: 21 Feb 1995 20:03:44 GMT
Organization: University of Colorado at Boulder
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Matt McRae (mcrae@cccc.com) wrote:
> Bungie has decided that the WWW site it was supporting is not worth the
> effort or money. If you are one of the thousands that visit the site
> every day and believe that it was a useful source for information:
Hmmm. The 'advertising' wasn't paying your costs, so you decided to charge
Bungie (more) money for maintaining their info at your commercial web site?
And they said nope? Oh well. Better luck with other customers.
I think Bungie will get along just fine with all the volunteer Marathon
web pages out there.
Rich
--
Loudyellnet: Richard Johnson | Sneakernet: ECNT1-6, CB 429, CU Boulder
Phonenet: +1.303.492.0590 | Internet: Richard.Johnson@Colorado.EDU
RIPEM and PGP public keys available by server, finger or request
Speaker to avalanche dragons. Do you really think they listen?