Last week I came across a plan file of a reporter by the name of Mat Bettinson aka 'The Lurker', a PC Gaming World UK reporter, who apparently was invited to id software to take a close look at the upcoming Quake 3:Arena.

It was an interesting unofficial article, which made a great teaser for PGW's upcoming preview they plan to publish in the magazine.

During his visit he had the opportunity to interview a few of id's big shots, such as Paul Steed, Kenneth Scott and John Carmack. Apparently, he used a tape recorder, so that later on, when he had to actually sit down and write the article, it would make things easier for him to turn it to written content.

I would like to state, that Mat gave me a very good overall impression of his professionalism as a gaming reporter. I even wrote him a short note congratulating him on a job well done. I was impressed.

A day or two later he released some audio tracks including the interviews he conducted with John Carmack.

This is where the story becomes ugly.

As part of the interview with Carmack, issues such as 32-bit color depth in Voodoo3, Quake 3 status and more were mentioned. Issues which overall caused quite a stir throughout the community, and like always, the plan files, mini-interviews and quotes started to appear all over the place.

The interviews became a big issue. Things that were said were misunderstood, speculations were posted everywhere, and with the leak of the Quake 3 IHV build, things were getting out of control.

Image is an important factor in this game, and id's image was not exactly glowing at this stage.

id's Director of Business Development, Anna Kang, then released the following announcement to Blue's News:

Negotiations were under way to secure an interview with the id team by Mat Bettingson. Due to id's limited time, discussions led to a visit in April. However, Mr. Bettingson came to our offices in February under false pretense and without a proper appointment. According to Mat, he had been told that arrangements for a February interview had been confirmed. A courtesy was given to Mr. Bettinson because he had flown from the UK and we believed that his intentions were honorable. Rather than tell him to simply pack his bags and return to the UK empty handed, we treated him with respect and gave him time with members of the development team in addition to giving him the opportunity to check out Quake III Arena. The understanding was that Mat would be doing a written article on Quake III Arena, nothing more. As a general rule, it is allowed that reporters bring audio equipment to assist them with their notes. However, it has never been the case that these recordings be displayed as audio files. A courtesy given was severely abused and the damage from this unprofessional behavior has resulted in distrust and lack of confidence. We are requesting a formal apology and the termination of any release of audio files.

Do me a favor ok? Read that again.

Done? Good as I am honestly confused here.

Has this company lost it? I mean have they absolutely moved on and are now sitting up there in heaven with the rest of the angels?

Remember the description of the word "snob" above? This is where it comes in.

Mr. Bettinson is a reporter for PC Gaming World. Like it or not, that is a very respected publication. Mrs. Kang makes it sound as if id did him and his publication a huge favor for allowing him to even come over. Who do they think they are? If they feel they are doing PGW a favor, I wonder who they consider "worthy" to visit their offices. Snobs

Mr. Bettinson flew all the way from the UK, costing his publication a good 2k in expenses, and yet arrives at id "under false pretense and without a proper appointment." Do me a favor! Pull the other leg it has bells on! I do not think anyone would fly half way around the world to visit a company with no set appointment, which was not verified before leaving at least once. Snobs

"A courtesy was given to Mr. Bettinson because he had flown from the UK and we believed that his intentions were honorable. Rather than tell him to simply pack his bags and return to the UK empty handed, we treated him with respect". What a considerate thing to do, don't you think? I think that is remarkable. Snobs

"As a general rule, it is allowed that reporters bring audio equipment to assist them with their notes. However, it has never been the case that these recordings be displayed as audio files." Well, Carmack is probably the new messiah, his voice is so powerful it must not be heard. I think this is the most ridiculous "rule" I have ever heard. Fact of the matter is this: Mat is a clever guy, who is doing a great job promoting his publication, and managed to turn a nice visit into a huge set of scoops. id, which are used to "selling" their screenshots depending on how far your tongue goes, must have probably wished they used these scoops to gain credit with other publications. Thing is, and this is something I have noticed more and more lately, that PR tend to think their job is to "sell" the content rather than provide it. The term "public relations" has changed drastically in the past year. I will leave that though for another editorial, is it too big of an issue. Snobs

Nothing John Carmack said in the released interview was "secret" or "under NDA", " as I trust Mat would never have released it knowing it was sensitive information. Mat even states "I have made efforts to remove unsuitable comments from the interviews, both those that have been release so far and those that I'm yet to release on my unofficial. plan preview pending id's approval."

"A courtesy given was severely abused and the damage from this unprofessional behavior has resulted in distrust and lack of confidence. We are requesting a formal apology and the termination of any release of audio files." In other words, now that we have totally made Mat look bad, lets step all over his pride as well and make him apologize in public. How low can you get? Well apparently to a new level according to id. Snobs

Mat released this information to the public on his page, which has no banner. He gained nothing other than "wonderful positive E-mails and ICQ messages".

Poor Mat. I don't think he purposely did anything to harm id. He states on his page "I'm a fan of id's and I knew how much everyone would love that stuff". I believe him, but id, thinking only about id, just stepped all over him. There is no other way to put it.

Yes, I have a big problem with the way id software treats others. I can live with people and companies who walk around with a halo above their heads, but I do not think it is necessary to show so much disrespect to others while they do it.

UPDATE 03-02-1999: Bill J. "crash" McClendon, our technical editor, has come up with a rebuttal to this editorial, you can check it out over here. On another note, I have removed the part about Christian "Disruptor" Antkow, as it is off topic, and after second thought, I might have expressed how I feel in the wrong way. As this is about Mat and how id treated him, I feel the part about Disruptor is not relevant.