MICROSOFT is happy with the Nextbox rumors. 

First of all, all these rumors about blocking used and offline games sound like lies. None of these features are positive, doesn´t make any sense, the PS4 had rumors like 4k res, 5gb ram, stuff like that, why the Nextbox would be so weird and bad all of sudden? I don´t believe it. 

Not only that, I think Microsoft is letting these lies to spread, so, when they reveal that the console is actually very cool, it will sound much more awesome. 

In his book THE PRINCE, Nicolau Machiavelli TEACH THIS VERY SAME MOVE, he says that is very wise to let bad rumors to spread through the land for a little while, them, very stronglly, reveal that the reality isn´t so bad, it makes people happy. 

The same principle is used in companies when the employees want a salary raise. The management let it out some rumor of downsizing and other bad measures, after a while, no one want raises anymore. 

Thanks to these rumors, when the NEXTBOX is revealed, and it plays used games and offline ones, everyone will think this is as awesome as the second coming of Christ.

what if people stop investing in microsoft after hearing about their rumors and it devalues their stock?

I think the investors would wait for the real news. Also, if the stock drop, MS buys it in the low,  announce the good news and get even richer.

The stock would hardly go down and possible gain a lot when all or a part of the rumors get debunked at the announcement of nextbox.

No, not reasonable. As I said in another thread, gamers might be too angry about MS keeping their mouth shut to care. It's not like everyone's going to just bend over and be happy about MS taking them on for a ride.

As far as I know Machiavellian tactics are not held in high regard.

This was my thinking for a while...until that fiasco with that Creative Director asshole yesterday. I mean, a really up-there guy comes out and starts defending all these bad rumors, and he's definitely the type of person who knows what's going on next gen.

Part of me hopes that it's all true and that Microsoft fails. Companies need to start learning that some things are just plain wrong, and that customers aren't going to magically love you when you treat them like crap.

"Perception is reality" - Jack Trout

Yeah I was thinking the same thing.

If they are 100% set on what the rumors suggest they would have confirmed it by now to let people get used to it and be done raging by the time the benefits are announced.

This way they have everyone hanging on their lips until the end of the presentation when they reveal: oh btw all you heard were lies, of course we're here for the gamers. Instant save in case of a lackluster presentation.

Man, you are right, these tatics are in a way, very mean, but, they work. I remember when I was a kid and worked at a little company. The salaries were awful and everyone was pissed. Then, the manager said it would have to take our food bonus, which was a basket of food the company used to give us. Everyone got really sad because our families depend on that. Then, the manager said he decided to NOT take the food away, everyone got happy.

My father gave me the book from Machiavel and said that it would help me to understant what happened. I read and left the company 2 weeks after.

I guess that could be a possibility and it makes sense. Still, it seems to me that correcting these rumors (assuming they aren't true) would be a better move, customer wise anyways. I don't know, I don't know how business works at all.