
Strange things happen on the internet, which is both its power and its curse. The influence of the crowd is significant, and the most random of occurrences can take on a life of their own. Such a thing has started to happen on the Pokémon subreddit, where a 'rich and bored' user made a strange offer that many appear to have taken seriously.
In a thread titled "If I get 100 upvotes, I'll buy everyone who upvotes a copy of Sun and Moon", user PassingThroughRider made the simple statement, asking fellow Redditors to "leave a comment below after upvoting so I know to message you to send a copy." In a matter of hours it accumulated over 16000 upvotes. It's declining at the time of writing, for reasons we explain below.
The original thread itself is quite something to read, with some debating whether it's a binding 'contract', and moderators are looking into the post; in reality there seems to be no realistic chance that a post like this can be considered binding. In a much smaller thread the same user set up an AMA and seems to admit that it's all a rather bad prank - in different comments they refer to memes, being rich 'in karma' and saying they're a 'poor student'. A couple of their posts explicitly make clear that it was a 's**tpost', which is a term of sorts for trolling.
Hundreds (probably thousands) bought into the post initially, but reality is starting to dawn as the upvote counter continues to drop. If something seems too good to be true, that's because it probably is.
It's a mad world.
Thanks to all that sent this in.
[source reddit.com]
Comments 61
If it's too good to be true then......
Sounds like a good way to get some attention without any actual commitment.
Either way, he got the attention he was seeking now and when the game comes out no matter what he does he will get more attention then.
While not free, several US retailers are listing S&M for $31.99 each.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C93CWSI/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&th=1
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=92490886&cp=&parentPage=search
Target is also running a "Buy 2 get 1 free sale" on ALL videogames this week - Oct 30th - Nov 5th. Pokemon S&M are still $39.99 on Target though.
I think I may have overestimated the intelligence of the internet.
The r/pokemon subreddit mod team has declared Halloween 2016 as a day where none of the posts have to be serious. Just sayin'.
Have been reading threads or comments that ask for upvotes in exchange for something for years. Always surprised people fall for them but I suppose I should know better.
I still wouldn't want it.
Which brings us to the debate of the century:
Does the internet make people stupider?
OR
Does the internet bring the stupid out of people?
It's something like these Nigerian prince's mails, but people still believe this nonsense.
C'mon, upvote my post, I'll give you free cookies.
@TheLZdragon
It brings the stupid out. Especially so for some people...
@gcunit
You still owe everyone a Switch, remember?
"I'll buy everyone here a Switch."
I'm waaaaaiittiing...
@Elanczewski
That works on YouTube. We aren't on YouTube. Get with the sites.
I posted in the thread shortly after it hit r/all.
I knew I'd probably never get it, but there's basically nothing to lose (except some Reddit karma, perhaps).
@Tsurii No partially censoring profanity, please.
Trolls are outright - and I speak no hyperbole here - cancerous to the online world, regardless of the latter's iteration/incarnation: griefers, trolls, fecal matter posters, you name it.
Unless it's playful (read: #trintroll), trolling is annoying at best and unbearably unpleasant at worst.
You can see the worst of this "culture" at its worst at Encyclopaedia Dramatica, but beware NOT to ever look up "Offended" on that site. I swear. It's not for the faint of heart.
Only 19 days until these games ckme out in Japan and NA and 24 days for you guys. I am really excited and can't wait to play them.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Good for you
@AlexSora89 Trolling is funny
Rich and bored? He's likely to be bored when packing 100 copies of an identical game, writing labels and waiting in line at the post office.
@Elanczewski Mate you can have an upvote just for the offchance of it happening.
Yeah, I saw this original post on /r/pokemon.
I knew it was a joke just by seeing the page. People need to be a little more observant.
Too funny though.
You guys are overreacting. The r/Pokémon mods declared today as the "do anything you want day". Everything's just fun and games over there!
lol
@TheLZdragon
Personally I go with a mixture, the former due to newcomers naivety, the latter because nearly anyone can get a connection
@Elanczewski
What kinda cookies are we talking here?
@AlexSora89
I unfortunately discovered that mistake long ago, but bless you for warning the others
Is it such a slow news day that you NL has resorted to reporting on internet scams now?
The reddit craze on the Pokemon subbreddit. Once a year this is great!
Today is poop posting day in /r/pokemon. It's a fun day where you purposefully post crap that's against the rules. No one is getting tricked, the upvotes are from everyone participating in the chaos today.
Everyone needs to stop jumping to conclusion without doing research.
@TheLZdragon Or can people just have some good ol' stupid fun?
@BlatantlyHeroic I rest my case
That place went nuts overnight.
It's like they're celebrating Aprils Fools today or something... :
I don't know what's worse - the fact that people actually believed this, or the fact that someone was cruel enough to get peoples' hopes up.
I'd rather someone pay off my house if they're offering to pay for something anyway. XD
@Tyranexx But people didn't believe it.
@TheLZdragon hmm... I agree with @Ed_Fairway; by the laws of quantum mechanics, the answer is both.
Gosh...
@Ed_Fairway
You're welcome. It's my duty as a citizen of the Web.
@JubilifeRival
For the trolls that are doing it, and for them alone.
@gcunit the article has partially censored profanity.
@JubilifeRival trolling is mean spirited. It may be funny but so are mean jokes... To the person telling the joke at the very least
@AlexSora89 Mean-spirited trolling should never be done. But this is a bit of harmless fun.
@jsty3105 This was just a harmless joke, as trolling should be.
@JubilifeRival I agree with you that this was a harmless joke.
Still don't like trolling behavior. It's like, ha ha ha, I made you angry. And you can't do anything about it because I'm anonymous. /end rant
@jsty3105 I think it's kind of funny when people get angry so easily. It's just some stupid person on the internet; no need to get so touchy. People get "triggered" over the dumbest things.
But people still get touchy every time. And it's slightly entertaining.
All the grumpy old people here need to calm down. The subreddit had a day where people can post anything for fun, so that's what people did.
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy But the post got to the top of the front page!
Another Emily Rogers is born...
Oh my ducking dog... I got so surprised when I saw this on reddit.
@Naustix has a point, @ThomasBW84 (I hadn't read the article so didn't spot it). The moderators are asked to treat partially censored profanity as profanity, which we try to do. For the benefit of our beloved community of readers and commenters (and the poor mods), please clarify your position regarding the partially-censored profanity in your article. Should we all be abiding by the same rules, or should we respect the editorial licence of NL and its right to apply different standards to articles than those applied to comments?
@gcunit You said "OMFG" in an earlier article, which is an abbreviation of (https://sv.wiktionary.org/wiki/omfg). Why are "the poor mods" and Thomas Whitehead allowed to swear, but not the "beloved community of readers and commenters"? That doesn't make any sense at all. Please read the article, Thomas called it a '@#!?post'. Are you going to censor the editor of the website too? No offense, I'm just curious.
@G-Boy I reserve the right to determine what I meant by an abbreviation, thanks - neither you nor any dictionary get to decide that. Please read the Community Rules re. 'hounding our staff via comments' and drop this. Use the Contact Form if you have anything further to say on the issue.
Regarding the partially censored stuff in the article, why are you asking me about censoring the editor? Can't you see in the post directly above yours that I've asked the question? I don't make the rules here and obviously the editor/s is/are free to publish what they choose on their own site. If they're happy with different standards, that's up to them, but it doesn't mean the rest of us can follow.
@gcunit I'm sorry for the rant, can you please tell me what you meant by saying "OMFG". Where is the Community Rules?
Attention-seeking behaviour!
@G-Boy The same place they were when you asked on Friday.
@gcunit I found it, thanks for the patience.
@JubilifeRival It's because words have power. Whether they're on a screen, on a piece of paper, or spoken, they have power.
Still, doesn't mean we have to react to everything.
@Elanczewski I upvoted. Where's my cookie? Do you need my home address or bank information to process the transaction?
@JubilifeRival
Just exactly how "harmless" is messing with the hype of other players?
But if you forward this email, Steve Jobs will cure your cancer… honest.
@AlexSora89 Pretty harmless. The worst that could be done is some kid was reeled into thinking that he was saving $32-40, but you would honestly have to be really gullible to think a "rich and bored" anonymous user on the internet would spend thousands of dollars for no reason.
@jsty3105 I agree. Words do have power. Luckily, this troll's words were very low on the power scale... in fact, somewhere around "harmless."
There's no Nintendo Life version of the Magna Carta or anything like that, so the editors can say whatever they want, even if it violates their own Community Rules... The whole "homebrew site link in article" thing has already established that.
It would be nice if the same standards apply to everyone, but as the saying goes... "Power corrupts."
I never got how hard it is to set fifty bucks aside once a year for a new Pokemon game. People talk about how they need to pirate, or get a free copy but really as a minimum wage worker I can say, just pick up an extra night shift literally one time and it's taken care of, all wrapped up. Got my pre-order in today with zero issues whatsoever. Pokemon is best enjoyed when you aren't worried about cash.
@iGen you owe me a Sega CD and a copy of Snatcher
@JubilifeRival
I'm not among those who fell for it, mind you (having already pre-ordered the game also helps). But messing with gullible people is still cruel. Hence my complete lack of understanding of the, er, troll "culture". Especially given trolls usually engage in far more despicable behavior (such as Anonymous changing the home page of a website for epileptic people to a flashing lights gif among other things).
@bluesdance
Disrespecting a king is not funny. At all.
@polivar4
Proof or it doesn't exist.
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