Dragon Age II Conspiracy: Bioware Employee Reviews Own Game!
An interesting thread popped up on Reddit this afternoon pointing out that the top user review on Metacritic seemed a bit “off”.
“The immersion and combat of this game are unmatched! A truly moving and fun epic. Anything negative you’ll see about this game is an overreaction of personal preference. For what it is, it is flawlessly executed and endlessly entertaining”
We have to agree that it reads pretty much like a press release doesn’t it?
The story gets more interesting when we go on a hunt for the writer of this review:
So I check Avanost’s Metacritic profile (http://www.metacritic.com/user/Avanost – deleted), and, whaddya know, he’s only ever written one review. On Dragon Age II.
So I Google ‘Avanost’, because I’m starting to not trust this motherfucker. And a Plurk (WTF is Plurk) profile shows up (http://www.plurk.com/avanost), revealing a name.
So I Google the name, all the while cautioning myself that this could be a completely different Avanost, and not to jump to conclusions, and WHAT THE FUCK HE’S AN ENGINEER AT BIOWARE.
I have to laugh, because this really borders on farce.
Despite reeking of impropriety (and the fact there has to be a rule against doing this in the Bioware employee handbook), ole Avanost has no problem writing a review with zero disclosure of his industry ties, as long as you pick up a copy of the “flawless” Dragon Age 2 at your nearest retailer.
Oh oh Bioware.
[Source]