As was expected, that alleged "leaked" memo for Fallout 4 has been confirmed to be a fake, as the author behind it has finally come forward to take credit for his work.
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Under the alias of "Jesse," the author revealed his whole elaborate plan and intentions in an e-mail to Kotaku. "Generally, most people on the internet are gullible, and fall for most things," wrote Jesse. "This is how I get rumors to spread. All it takes is one person to see it, believe it, and tell his friends. Some of his friends believe it, and they tell all their friends. Before you know it, it goes viral."
After the Fallout hoax involving the Survivor2099 site (which Jesse applauds), you'd think that perhaps people would be a little less gullible. To be fair, you can't say that we didn't try to warn you, but a lot of other outlets fell for Jesse's scam hook, line, and sinker.
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But how? Well, law of averages certainly helps. As we've seen before, communities for games like Fallout are both large and dedicated, and if you dangle a carrot in front of the fans that make them up, the odds are good that a few are bound to take a bite.
"Even within minutes of posting nonsense, you'll get hits," Jesse wrote. "I then have a false account tweet a link or two, occasionally use the false Facebook account to post on a few people's walls. From there, if it's plausible, it spreads and gets picked up by small sites. At this point Google picks it up as one of the first results. If you searched 'Fallout 4' right now, within the first page are several references to the memo."
Jesse's sole motivation for such actions? "I do it all just because I personally find it entertaining. Got to do something to keep the boredom away."
Jesse's method of staving off boredom doesn't end with Fallout either. He also claims to have been responsible for the rumor that the next game in Activision's famous shooter franchise was to be called Call of Duty: Patriots, and he also claims to have had plans to circulate a rumor for a Watch Dogs sequel involving a similarly styled memo.
"I've been doing it for a few years now, and this is the first time that I've actually spoken about it," he said in an e-mail. "I tend to plan ahead a little and time things appropriately. Timing really is what makes or breaks a rumor."
Years, huh? I'm not a psychologist, but the does seem to fit the definition of a compulsion. And as far as using the lies as a simple means to get kicks, all while irritating a large group of fans, likely getting a charge from that as well? There's a term for that, too.
