[Updated] Jeff Bell asks message board user: "And your contribution to society is ... what?"

Think twice before you start slingin' bombs towards Microsoft's corporate VP of global marketing, Jeff Bell. He might just show up on your message board and troll you right back.

That's what happened to NeoGAF user "a Master Ninja." Having heckled Bell amidst the Peter Moore departure, he awoke this morning to find a personal message in his inbox direct from Bell, proposing a curious question.

"And your contribution to society is ... what?"

The account, "bell801," was quickly linked to Microsoft's token white guy by both the community itself and the moderators of NeoGAF, confirming the account as registered to Bell's official Microsoft email address. "A Master Ninja" still hasn't said what his contribution to society is, but he has put forth a challenge to Jeff Bell to any Xbox Live Arcade game of his choosing.

For the sake of your recently revoked ghetto pass, Jeff. Do it.

[Update - NeoGAF administrator, Tyler Malka, has responded to the situation with an apology, stating "What happened in the Jeff Bell thread was a mistake and has been dealt with. I hope that NeoGAF can continue to be a community where gaming industry members wanting to remain anonymous can feel safe posting without "trusted sources" confirming their identities."]

Reader Comments (69)

"RICH PEOPLE SUCK!! ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE NOT RICH!" Then go buy Bruce Berman's "Get Rich Quick" books or spend time bettering yourselves and careers instead of playing video games, but don't whine, you worthless wage earners!

I'm so glad "Master Ninja" got played like that. He says a guy should be fired and all of a sudden Bell is the asshole? Riiiight. And why the hell has this become a rich/poor issue? It should be a faceless,douchebag hiding behind his screen name versus a Man issue. Then because he knew he was being an asshole , he challenges Bell to a goddamn game of XBLA?

True. "A Master Ninja" could be some "rich asshole" too, for all we know. It's notably funny how some posters here have read the situation differently, and made it into a personal rant about what they like or don't like - like how they would punch Bell in the face, or how rich he is and how he shits on society, pays a lot of taxes, microsoft marketing's uselessness... Reading a lot into it.

What really sucks is how neogaf allowed Bell's identity to be revealed. It was an unprofessional move to get into it with a forum member, but everyone here has mixed it up with some jerk on the internet at some point or another - mostly under the veil of anonymity. Imagine someone posting your name and work address next time they didn't like your rebuttal. Pretty uncool, even if you're just a smug dude working at Microsoft.

That's exactly why I don't trust "journalists". A lot of these websites should stop trying to tip toe into the realm of real journalism and just say, " We're basically a bunch of gossiping hens who have no moral convictions." I don't expect anything from forum posters, they're the first ones to lie or totally change topic when confronted with their inaccuracies. But yeah, NeoGaf is very douchey (I don't care if its not a word) for getting this guy's email address like that. Good post lil soldier.

LOL! 95% of the internet PWNED!

And your contribution to society is... what?

-having a shitload of google stock :)

Jeff Bell is stupid for replying. If "a master ninja" is so irrelevant, why was he worth messaging in private.

Bell's fragile ego just made him look weak and oversensitive. You'd think everybody from Microsoft would know THE INTERNET by now.

It gets juicier. The owner of that damn leper colony has been relieved of his moderating previleges, and the inmates now run the asylum.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7098842&postcount=12
I knew this day was coming...

Belly Boy shouldn't get too cocky. At least many of us can wear the badge of honor that we aren't in marketing.
I think the real question is what is HIS contribution to society? I mean day in and day out I fix people's computers and get them up and running again. Each day I get a handful of people who's systems are so heinously infected because they are directed connected to the internet with MS's crappy firewall, and an expired copy of AV software because as the newbies that they are they didn't know that it expired.
So I would ask Bell: What have you done for society? Other then propagate an OS that for the novice is the equivalent of handing a loaded gun to a 7 year old and telling him go and have fun but be careful.

Master Ninja...shame on you for wasting the perfect opportunity to go on a little game of pot calling a kettle black.

Sooooo many possibilities, and he decides to challenge the dude in an XBLA game??? That'll tell him!

I hope that Jeff Bell isn't posting anonymously in a public forum on topics that are directly related to his job as a high level employee at MS.

That's a no-no and would potentially (most likely) be violating MS's standards of business conduct (or most companies SBC for that matter).

If you work on a certain product it might be tempting to go out and convince people to buy your product (in all sorts of subtle and not so subtle ways) under the guise of a common non-partisan person.

Or you may wish to engage with competitors in order to coerce some inside information to gain a competitive advantage all without revealing your position or your employer.

These may seem like great ideas, but most(all) companies command their employees to do business above board with honesty and integrity (basic ethics).

Of course I'm saying all of this without any clue of what Jeffs involvement on NeoGAF is.

I hate the internet sometimes. I really do.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TROLLS !

Why NG of all places. That place is a cesspool just as bad as Gamefaqs. Every other message is lololol, fail, bomba, and other stupid catchphrases that will get you banned from most other boards.

Interesting.

I didn't know Godisamyth had a 1up account.

Oh, Jeff Bell, why'd you have to be like that? I thought Jeff Bell was awesomely hilarious. Every thing he ever says is like he's a abd actor in a TV infomercial, it seems so manufactured. This would normally be annoying, but with Jeff Bell it is so over the top I find myself enjoying it, laughing and hanging on his every word. It's great. With me he had the rep of the funny stereotypical PR guy, and I enjoyed watching him speak. But now he's an internet tough guy.

"I hope that NeoGAF can continue to be a community where gaming industry members wanting to remain anonymous can feel safe posting without "trusted sources" confirming their identities."

Forum Rule #7: If you want to remain anonymous, you probably shouldn't use your last name in your handle.

everything about this is HILARIOUS

This is great, sweaty nerd rags on microsoft vp, and in turn, gets called out for being a useless sweaty nerd, and his response? "i can play video games better than you" thus proving that he really doesn't make any valid contribution to society. amazing. Jeff Bell probably sucks at games because he's too busy figuring out how to make you buy them. Does the guy who sweeps the floor at McDonald's have any basis for criticizing Morimoto? I'd hate to side with the rich people on this one, but ninja's opinion would actually hold weight if it were coming from someone like will wright.

Previous 50 Comments

[Updated] Jeff Bell asks message board user: "And your contribution to society is ... what?"

Reader Comments (69)

Posted: Jul 18th 2007 11:33PM (Unverified) said

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