5. The articles with all those stereotypes of gamers were talking about how those stereotypes are being destroyed in the eye of the public because everybody is a gamer. They aren't calling people that.
Its just too bad that they all have really poor titles that might be interpreted otherwise. And that they all came out at roughly the same time. (I'm being serious)
I'd say the problem is a lack of critical reading and reasoning on the part of people who are reading the articles. And they all came out around the same time because of gamergate. Also the people who write the articles don't name them. That's the editor who wants lots of clicks fault.
I agree. Actually they all came out just before PAX because all the writers had to go to PAX, so the writers wrote articles just before and submitted them in time.
The only other thing I take away from this ongoing debacle is that Twitter is the worst form of communication.
Can you explain this? I don't know what you're talking about. As long as it is on-topic.
Milo of Breitbart London had a Google group called "GameJournoPro" leaked to him. This is a group filled with publishers of various gaming websites, a few game developers, and others. It showed collusion in how to cover certain stories, specifically for this instance, GamerGate.
After the big scoop, the creator of the group got all indignant and started attacking people in the group he suspected of leaking it. I believe he suspected Greg Tito of The Escapist because he defended allowing discussion of GamerGate on his site's forum. That was until he finally decided to close it completely.
Its just too bad that they all have really poor titles that might be interpreted otherwise. And that they all came out at roughly the same time. (I'm being serious)
Which is what the whole GameJournoPros (designed on JournoList) was about.
Can you explain this? I don't know what you're talking about. As long as it is on-topic.
One of the allegations is that there's a list server of a bunch of gaming journalists (true!) where they conspire to promote progressive values (not true!). That's GameJournoPros.
JournoList was the list server a bunch of mostly bloggers turned mainstream political writers (Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, Dave Weigel, for example) discussed politics (true) and conspired to swing the 2008 election to Barack Obama (not true!)
The idea that your vote is a moral statement about you or who you vote for is some backwards ass libertarian nonsense. Your vote is about society. Vote to protect the vulnerable.
Its just too bad that they all have really poor titles that might be interpreted otherwise. And that they all came out at roughly the same time. (I'm being serious)
Which is what the whole GameJournoPros (designed on JournoList) was about.
Can you explain this? I don't know what you're talking about. As long as it is on-topic.
GameJournoPros was an email group for journalists in the industry to privately talk about current happenings, pass around sources confidentially, and generally do normal things colleagues all working in the same field do.
It got leaked to the scumbag Neo Milo Jerkbag, and Gamergate latched onto it going "oh noes, collusion!", without understanding how professionals in an industry interact with one another.
5. The articles with all those stereotypes of gamers were talking about how those stereotypes are being destroyed in the eye of the public because everybody is a gamer. They aren't calling people that.
Its just too bad that they all have really poor titles that might be interpreted otherwise. And that they all came out at roughly the same time. (I'm being serious)
I'd say the problem is a lack of critical reading and reasoning on the part of people who are reading the articles. And they all came out around the same time because of gamergate. Also the people who write the articles don't name them. That's the editor who wants lots of clicks fault.
I agree. Actually they all came out just before PAX because all the writers had to go to PAX, so the writers wrote articles just before and submitted them in time.
The only other thing I take away from this ongoing debacle is that Twitter is the worst form of communication.
Twitter is a perfectly fine method of communication for many things, but it is a tool that is easily used for harassment.
Can you explain this? I don't know what you're talking about. As long as it is on-topic.
Milo of Breitbart London had a Google group called "GameJournoPro" leaked to him. This is a group filled with publishers of various gaming websites, a few game developers, and others. It showed collusion in how to cover certain stories, specifically for this instance, GamerGate.
After the big scoop, the creator of the group got all indignant and started attacking people in the group he suspected of leaking it. I believe he suspected Greg Tito of The Escapist because he defended allowing discussion of GamerGate on his site's forum. That was until he finally decided to close it completely.
Its just too bad that they all have really poor titles that might be interpreted otherwise. And that they all came out at roughly the same time. (I'm being serious)
Which is what the whole GameJournoPros (designed on JournoList) was about.
Anita has done nothing aside from create a web series of videos talking about misogyny in gaming. If you disagree with her, boo fucking hoo. Don't watch the video. You do not get to engage in a campaign of intimidation to silence opposition. Which is exactly what you're doing. You're going to say that's not you, that's someone unrelated, but here you are, Willie, right in that post, villifying her simply for voicing her opinion.
And to your notion about how games shouldn't be 'wholly' political? What does that even mean? What the bloody hell are you talking about? 'Wholly' political? Since when are games wholly political? Since when is anything wholly political? That is a made up term, and is extraordinarily dishonest. No, Willie, what you want is to go back to when gamers as a whole could treat people like shit and no one cared because everyone looked down on gaming as childish. Well, unfortunately, gaming grew up. Now it appeals to audiences as wide as film and books and music. And so you get experiences and voices as wide and varied as in film and books and music. Don't you dare tell me that's a bad thing. Don't you fucking dare.
What GamerGate is really about is that the light of mainstream attention is shining on the racism and sexism endemic to the gaming circles that used to be safe havens for this vile behavior and they are freaking out.
*Sigh.* I'm not defending the threats she's received.
Endemic? Really? So, all that money raised to get women-created games made means nothing? GamerGate isn't about sexism, racism, or harassment.
Look, Willie, what is your problem with Anita Sarkeesian? Just, lay it out. Because you keep saying it's not what the rest of us think it is, and that may be on you to clear up if so many of us are completely misunderstanding it.
And yes, sexism is endemic to gaming. Has been for years. That people are fighting against it doesn't suddenly mean the problem goes away, as if by magic. Like, remember Gabe's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory? The comics making fun of the incredibly racist things said on XBox Live? Mike and Jerry weren't making it out of whole cloth. Gamers, for as long as I've been playing games, have said vile things about people that aren't white and aren't male. Only now is it changing. Only now is that no longer tolerated by most people playing games. And the people who want to continue mouthing off about what they think of minorities and women have a huge problem with that. And so, GamerGate.
Its just too bad that they all have really poor titles that might be interpreted otherwise. And that they all came out at roughly the same time. (I'm being serious)
Which is what the whole GameJournoPros (designed on JournoList) was about.
Anita has done nothing aside from create a web series of videos talking about misogyny in gaming. If you disagree with her, boo fucking hoo. Don't watch the video. You do not get to engage in a campaign of intimidation to silence opposition. Which is exactly what you're doing. You're going to say that's not you, that's someone unrelated, but here you are, Willie, right in that post, villifying her simply for voicing her opinion.
And to your notion about how games shouldn't be 'wholly' political? What does that even mean? What the bloody hell are you talking about? 'Wholly' political? Since when are games wholly political? Since when is anything wholly political? That is a made up term, and is extraordinarily dishonest. No, Willie, what you want is to go back to when gamers as a whole could treat people like shit and no one cared because everyone looked down on gaming as childish. Well, unfortunately, gaming grew up. Now it appeals to audiences as wide as film and books and music. And so you get experiences and voices as wide and varied as in film and books and music. Don't you dare tell me that's a bad thing. Don't you fucking dare.
What GamerGate is really about is that the light of mainstream attention is shining on the racism and sexism endemic to the gaming circles that used to be safe havens for this vile behavior and they are freaking out.
*Sigh.* I'm not defending the threats she's received.
Endemic? Really? So, all that money raised to get women-created games made means nothing? GamerGate isn't about sexism, racism, or harassment.
Ah yes, The Fine Young Capitalist. The group willing to encourage harassment of women in video games in order to make their funding goals. Good choice.
Besides the fact that donating to a cause your actions are directly against doesn't all the sudden make people blind to the actions of your movement. A movement can't buy goodwill.
They're offended at the people using politics as a cudgel against them. Which is precisely what Anita is doing.
Sure, and I bet that the backers of Prop 8 viewed the judge's gayness as a cudgel against him.
If you assume your own viewpoint as the universal default, then all contrary viewpoints are scene as an attack. It's like when Christians are offended at the very idea of Muslims building a Mosque in their neighborhood, because they see it as a slap in the face. Not because the Muslims are doing anything to actually hurt them, but because their very existence is scene as an invasion.
What exactly has Anita done to "cudgel" you? How is your day worse as a result of her?
I know when somebody makes an argument that lays into my preconceived notions of what is normal and right, and lays bare my privilege, it definitely leaves a mark. Sort of a cudgel-shaped indentation. It could be that.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKERS
0
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
Its just too bad that they all have really poor titles that might be interpreted otherwise. And that they all came out at roughly the same time. (I'm being serious)
Which is what the whole GameJournoPros (designed on JournoList) was about.
Anita has done nothing aside from create a web series of videos talking about misogyny in gaming. If you disagree with her, boo fucking hoo. Don't watch the video. You do not get to engage in a campaign of intimidation to silence opposition. Which is exactly what you're doing. You're going to say that's not you, that's someone unrelated, but here you are, Willie, right in that post, villifying her simply for voicing her opinion.
And to your notion about how games shouldn't be 'wholly' political? What does that even mean? What the bloody hell are you talking about? 'Wholly' political? Since when are games wholly political? Since when is anything wholly political? That is a made up term, and is extraordinarily dishonest. No, Willie, what you want is to go back to when gamers as a whole could treat people like shit and no one cared because everyone looked down on gaming as childish. Well, unfortunately, gaming grew up. Now it appeals to audiences as wide as film and books and music. And so you get experiences and voices as wide and varied as in film and books and music. Don't you dare tell me that's a bad thing. Don't you fucking dare.
What GamerGate is really about is that the light of mainstream attention is shining on the racism and sexism endemic to the gaming circles that used to be safe havens for this vile behavior and they are freaking out.
*Sigh.* I'm not defending the threats she's received.
Endemic? Really? So, all that money raised to get women-created games made means nothing? GamerGate isn't about sexism, racism, or harassment.
Ah yes, The Fine Young Capitalist. The group willing to encourage harassment of women in video games in order to make their funding goals. Good choice.
And who have no clear idea or goal as to how the woman they chose game will actually come out or even benefit her in any way in her career.
I mean, there's this dude called W.E.B. DuBois who wrote a pretty good speech about why all art that's worth a damn is inherently political back in the 1920s, and it's still just as true today.
This isn't some new theory getting trotted out for the first time.
Kana on
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
+15
Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
Wait, you mean the example he gave of gamers supporting female developers wasn't on the level? I didn't even look into it. I assumed the example was given in good faith.
Still, it doesn't matter. The existence of an opposition to misogyny does not mean that misogyny is magically gone.
As far as Twitter goes, twitter is an amazing tool to meet like minded people, find interesting articles, promote ideas or products, and having interesting conversations.
But it's absolutely worthless at stopping any form of negative, harassing interaction. That's one thing GG has actually shed light on.
As far as Twitter goes, twitter is an amazing tool to meet like minded people, find interesting articles, promote ideas or products, and having interesting conversations.
But it's absolutely worthless at stopping any form of negative, harassing interaction. That's one thing GG has actually shed light on.
It's pretty good at covering somewhat chaotic live events too, if you know how to sift through the bullshit.
enlightenedbum on
The idea that your vote is a moral statement about you or who you vote for is some backwards ass libertarian nonsense. Your vote is about society. Vote to protect the vulnerable.
I mean, there's this dude called W.E.B. DuBois who wrote a pretty good speech about why all art that's worth a damn is inherently political back in the 1920s, and it's still just as true today.
This isn't some new theory get trotted out for the first time.
Critical thinking? In my internet discussions? Boy.. I don't know..
As far as Twitter goes, twitter is an amazing tool to meet like minded people, find interesting articles, promote ideas or products, and having interesting conversations.
But it's absolutely worthless at stopping any form of negative, harassing interaction. That's one thing GG has actually shed light on.
It's pretty good at covering somewhat chaotic live events too, if you know how to sift through the bullshit.
that's really the only time I use twitter, for like a "What the heck was that big boom" kind of quick conversation that you can't really have anywhere else
It really pretty much just sucks at everything else
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
0
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
Wait, you mean the example he gave of gamers supporting female developers wasn't on the level? I didn't even look into it. I assumed the example was given in good faith.
TFYC was funded by GG after they opportunistically used them to attack Zoe Quinn (the part that he notably left out of his description you will notice) and the way it works is TFYC take a woman's game idea, farm it to another company (who aren't all women either, before he comes in with the "But they are female developers!") and then if the game is successful (somehow) they will get 8% (iirc) of the profits.
How this actually helps women get into games an development is rather a mystery to me, given the lack of involvement the winner actually really had in getting the game made or sent to market. TYFC have had to defend this point numerous times and frequently shown a lack of any good faith - particularly in the "resolution" of their argument with Zoe Quinn.
The original issue with TFYC and Zoe Quinn was over a potentially transphobic policy that needed to be clarified and discussed, but turned into rather more of a shit show.
GG have since tried to point to it repeatedly as how they support women in games, meanwhile they harass women to quit entirely like Jenn Frank and Maddie Myers, threaten Anita Sarkeesian, Zoe Quinn and Brianna Wu out of their homes and otherwise are generally led (not that they have a centralised leadership) by awful people who have long histories of attacking/abusing women.
It is more than a little bit of a hollow gesture to try to weaponise charities while engaging in behaviour that would be totally against what that charity stands for (see my previous point about the guy who donated $1000 to a charity in GG name who talks about how it would feel to rape women on his twitter).
Wait, you mean the example he gave of gamers supporting female developers wasn't on the level? I didn't even look into it. I assumed the example was given in good faith.
Still, it doesn't matter. The existence of an opposition to misogyny does not mean that misogyny is magically gone.
It's a mixed bag. TFYC isn't a charity, but it acted like it was. The contest winner is a woman who came up with the idea for the game.
It's basically just a kickstarter where the team is making the game on commission, TFYC gets a cut, the person who came up with the idea for the game gets 8% of profits (not donations), and the rest of the profits go to charity.
As far as I know all of the donations go to the team/the PR firm who constantly attacked Zoe Quinn anytime funding slowed down.
4chan gets a voice on the game, and they got to choose one of the charities, colon cancer.
And again, the only person who isn't in the industry, the contest winner, is an "idea person" who gets 8% of the PROFITS of the game. So, no real experience and probably no money.
It was a scam, a kickstarter wrapped up as a charity for women.
As far as Twitter goes, twitter is an amazing tool to meet like minded people, find interesting articles, promote ideas or products, and having interesting conversations.
But it's absolutely worthless at stopping any form of negative, harassing interaction. That's one thing GG has actually shed light on.
Yeah, here is a thing everyone can do that could actually be super helpful: write Twitter and encourage them to overhaul their policies and tools for dealing with harassment with input from people who have had to use them a lot. Every person I've seen that's had to deal with this stuff has had massive complaints with their systems. (I remember seeing some tweets from Zoe where they locked her out of one of their tools after she had filed some ridiculously low number of harassment complaints.)
As far as Twitter goes, twitter is an amazing tool to meet like minded people, find interesting articles, promote ideas or products, and having interesting conversations.
But it's absolutely worthless at stopping any form of negative, harassing interaction. That's one thing GG has actually shed light on.
It's pretty good at covering somewhat chaotic live events too, if you know how to sift through the bullshit.
As far as Twitter goes, twitter is an amazing tool to meet like minded people, find interesting articles, promote ideas or products, and having interesting conversations.
But it's absolutely worthless at stopping any form of negative, harassing interaction. That's one thing GG has actually shed light on.
It's pretty good at covering somewhat chaotic live events too, if you know how to sift through the bullshit.
It's also an excellent taco diary platform
Well, and also a place to make jokes about your favorite football team being terrible. Which is mostly what I would do with a Twitter account.
The idea that your vote is a moral statement about you or who you vote for is some backwards ass libertarian nonsense. Your vote is about society. Vote to protect the vulnerable.
If you were actually that dedicated to ethics in reporting, you'd dump a movement with tons of baggage that people can use against you. A new movement that actually targets monied interests and not someone who says "Gosh guys, damsels in distress is an overused, sexist trope." would not have to fight public opinion so hard.
Without all the labels and hashtags and shadow governments and he said she said agendas, I've really broken down my feelings about this whole situation as such:
I like video games. A whole bunch! As a straight white dude, I've been able to play, talk about and participate in video games and the culture that surrounds them, in any way, shape or form that I see fit.
I would hope that anyone who also enjoys videogaming as a hobby will feel as welcome as I have to participate in whatever way they see fit.
There is simply no reason in my mind for anyone to object to this beyond the silliest of goosery.
If you were actually that dedicated to ethics in reporting, you'd dump a movement with tons of baggage that people can use against you. A new movement that actually targets monied interests and not someone who says "Gosh guys, damsels in distress is an overused, sexist trope." would not have to fight public opinion so hard.
But we all know it's not about ethics.
I've got an idea. To symbolize the cleansing power of water, we shall wash away all of the negative connotations of #gamergate with our new games journalism ethics hashtag, #watergate
the person who came up with the idea for the game gets 8% of profits (not donations)
Oh great, so movie studio accounting, only even shadier
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
Wait, since when was Breitbart considered a source for anything other than drivel?
When they agreed with gamers with a weak convictions, no reading comprehension skills, and absolutely no ability to judge character.
This is the group that has neo nazis in its rank. PROUD to have neo nazis in its rank. Proud to have their forums hosted on a site with child pornography. Who got kicked off of 4chan.
Who turned on a supporter as soon as that supporter called Neo BullshitHead out on transphobic comments. Who thinks they can buy their way out of negative press.
Who was literally last night calling an opponent who is probably the calmest person I've seen violent because he's a Sikh.
Who claims to not support harassment while using the tag, but if they're not harass as much as possible.
Who uses the exact same rhetoric as the tea party when describing their opposition.
GamerGate is supported by people who don't know when something is drivel, because if they did they'd leave the damned movement.
the person who came up with the idea for the game gets 8% of profits (not donations)
Oh great, so movie studio accounting, only even shadier
Exactly. Because the vast majority of kickstarter games use their funds to fund the game, which is the profit because you get to live while making the game. There is no "profit", just a sustainable business unless your game flops.
And again, the only person who isn't in the industry, the contest winner, is an "idea person" who gets 8% of the PROFITS of the game. So, no real experience and probablyno money.
Fixed that for you.
"We promise to give all the profits away" is a fancy way of saying "We're going to pocket everything and not give a fuck."
I really wish someone would come up with a better Game Industry ethics platform, because that's something I could actually get behind.
Going after friggen indie developers while the status quo of huge publishers buying ads on review sites and flying out people extravagant events to show off the game is really sad. Going after indie developers and then ignoring a big juicy story like the Mordor Youtube scandal is anger-inducing.
+5
Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
I really wish someone would come up with a better Game Industry ethics platform, because that's something I could actually get behind.
Going after friggen indie developers while the status quo of huge publishers buying ads on review sites and flying out people extravagant events to show off the game is really sad. Going after indie developers and then ignoring a big juicy story like the Mordor Youtube scandal is anger-inducing.
Hm, I'd not heard of that scandal. Looked it up.
Business as usual.
Like, this is what's been done forever. I used to read Gamepro when I was a kid. It was absolutely an industry mouthpiece. The notion that that's going to change because a bunch of dudes are posting to twitter is ridiculous.
Actually, serious question for GamerGate supporters: What are you actually doing to limit or discourage publishers having undue influence on a review?
the person who came up with the idea for the game gets 8% of profits (not donations)
Oh great, so movie studio accounting, only even shadier
Even worse, assuming that one of the developers actually does have a good idea, they're probably signing away all their IP rights to a company that won't ever actually do anything with it.
+1
Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
Can somebody summarize Mordorgate/Nazghazi? That's the third time I've seen it referenced lately in this context.
I just googled it. Looks like the publisher offered independent Youtubers early review copies and money to give the game positive press. Not agreeing meant no early review copy.
Can somebody summarize Mordorgate/Nazghazi? That's the third time I've seen it referenced lately in this context.
Basically Youtubers could get what amounted to a review copy of the game as long as they didn't say anything negative about it, never showed off glitches and bugs, and generally promoted the hell out of it.
The idea that your vote is a moral statement about you or who you vote for is some backwards ass libertarian nonsense. Your vote is about society. Vote to protect the vulnerable.
the person who came up with the idea for the game gets 8% of profits (not donations)
Oh great, so movie studio accounting, only even shadier
Even worse, assuming that one of the developers actually does have a good idea, they're probably signing away all their IP rights to a company that won't ever actually do anything with it.
What's even worse?
They USED the idea of helping women break into the industry to basically fund a kickstarter that was about anything besides that while supporting a hate campaign against female developers.
And now they're being used to fool people not aware of this into believe GamerGate in some way helped a noble cause.
Note: I get most of my info from here
So, there’s been a lot of back and forth about TFYC. Are they trustworthy? Are they feminist? Will this help women get into the industry?
The way 4chan would talk about it, they donated to a charity to help women get into games. TFYC is not a charity, tho. They’re a for profit. They’ve admitted such themselves.
The money raised doesn’t go to charity. Absolutely none of it. It goes directly to TFYC and to Autobotika who they’re hiring to make the winning game. Even if they get more money than they need to make the game. They still get to keep any excess. This is a very important detail.
Matthew Rappard, the founder, says this is to show that games developed by women can be profitable. But remember, the winner of the contest isn’t making the game. Autobotika is. She is just the “idea person” who hands off her idea to them to make.
EDIT: He now says the winner, Danielle, will be in charge of a team. I source TFYC’s website because whenever they talk about it, they always do so as, “These developers bringing the idea to life,” and talk about the winner and the developers as separate entities. At no point does he seem to clarify what the winner’s role will be in the process besides providing ideas.
If the game is profitable, the message sent is not that women can make profitable games. It is that Autobotika can make profitable games. So, how does this help women get into game development?
Well, then Matthew would say that because the woman gets to have the game in her portfolio, it will help her get a job in the industry. There is a problem with this, too. The point of a portfolio is to show a potential employer work you have done. It is a resume of sorts, to convince them that you have the skills they want for the job. An Autobotika developed game does not show the skills of the woman who came up with the original ideas. It shows the skills of Autobotika.
What game development company is looking for an ideas person who has nothing in their portfolio to show that they can execute those ideas? I’ve seen many job listings at game development companies. “Ideas Person” has never been one of them. Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps this very moment Bioware or Platinum Games is looking for someone with “good ideas” and is okay with that person having no experience with the work necessary to make those ideas a reality. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
The other women don’t even get that. They essentially have a way to show off their ideas but no game in their portfolio. “I have good ideas!” they can say, but everyone thinks they have good ideas. At least, most people do.
Well, at least the profit will go to helping women, right? No, it will not. Exactly 8% of the net profit will go to the “ideas person”. I suppose this could be a decent amount of money if the game sells well enough. But will it sell well? Autobotika is not a well-known name when it comes to game development. They don’t have a pre-existing fanbase to buy a bunch of copies and to convince others to do so.
Does TFYC intend to advertise the game when it’s ready for release? What are their marketing strategies? Will those come from money already raised or will they be deducted from the gross profit, thus lowering how much the “idea person” gets?
74% goes to charities. So, assuming it sells well (which is a pretty generous assumption), this will help charities a decent amount. So yay, it can still help women get into game development! Except that’s not what /v/ and 4chan want their chunk of the profits to go to. They want their profits to go towards finding a cure for colon cancer. “To cure butthurt” Very mature of them.
EDIT: Apparently other considered options were male abuse shelters and prostate cancer. It sounds definitely like 4chan thought it’d be a laugh to give their profits from a feminist game jam contest about getting women into the industry to services specifically targeted towards men. So, just keep that in mind the next time 4chan tries to abuse that goodwill.
So, not only does that not help women get into games, it isn’t even women-focused at all. So much for this allegedly feminist organization.
I don’t know if TFYC is intentionally scamming people or if their complete lack of experience with this sort of thing has resulted in the trainwreck we see today, but it’s clear that the main benefactors of this are Matthew Rappard, TFYC, and Autobotika. Fun Fact: Matthew Rappard is an executive director at Autobotika. Did you know that?
He has an explanation, that he had them list him on the site so he could threaten to sue someone not paying them, something he did out of the pure, loving generosity of his heart. Perhaps you believe his explanation. I do not.
I’m sorry for the folks who donated to TFYC. They’re being taken advantage of in a big way, and they’ve committed themselves so completely to this on an ideological level that I don’t think they can even convince themselves to pull out before it’s too late. I simply hope that after this people will be a little less trusting of TFYC, and of certain websites that helped fund them.
Addendum: This week, Humble Bundle is donating to a charity to give scholarships to women. This would help women get into the industry. Maybe pull your donation from TFYC if you can and give it to Humble Bundle instead? https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly
EDIT: The post originally said 92% went to charities. This is incorrect as apparently 8% goes to TFYC and 10% to Autobotika. So 74% to charities. The net profits are also “after royalties” which I am unsure as to what that would entail.
Can somebody summarize Mordorgate/Nazghazi? That's the third time I've seen it referenced lately in this context.
I just googled it. Looks like the publisher offered independent Youtubers early review copies and money to give the game positive press. Not agreeing meant no early review copy.
This hardly sounds like hardly something new? It's only the growth of youtube personalities that's making it now happen on a new platform.
When a movie star shows up on Leno to promote their new movie Leno is never gonna mention what a piece of shit it actually is.
And when pewdiepie is suddenly playing an early release of alien isolation on his channel, I was hardly expecting him to declare that actually it sucks
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
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It's reached 6 pages. Yay us.
I agree. Actually they all came out just before PAX because all the writers had to go to PAX, so the writers wrote articles just before and submitted them in time.
The only other thing I take away from this ongoing debacle is that Twitter is the worst form of communication.
Streaming 8PST on weeknights
After the big scoop, the creator of the group got all indignant and started attacking people in the group he suspected of leaking it. I believe he suspected Greg Tito of The Escapist because he defended allowing discussion of GamerGate on his site's forum. That was until he finally decided to close it completely.
Unfortunately, with GamerGate being pushed off of most forums, Twitter was one of the few places left to discuss it.
PM me with yours if you add me
One of the allegations is that there's a list server of a bunch of gaming journalists (true!) where they conspire to promote progressive values (not true!). That's GameJournoPros.
JournoList was the list server a bunch of mostly bloggers turned mainstream political writers (Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, Dave Weigel, for example) discussed politics (true) and conspired to swing the 2008 election to Barack Obama (not true!)
GameJournoPros was an email group for journalists in the industry to privately talk about current happenings, pass around sources confidentially, and generally do normal things colleagues all working in the same field do.
It got leaked to the scumbag Neo Milo Jerkbag, and Gamergate latched onto it going "oh noes, collusion!", without understanding how professionals in an industry interact with one another.
Twitter is a perfectly fine method of communication for many things, but it is a tool that is easily used for harassment.
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
Doesn't the fact that so many places don't want to be associated with Gamergate make you thing harder about what supporting gamergate is saying?
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
Look, Willie, what is your problem with Anita Sarkeesian? Just, lay it out. Because you keep saying it's not what the rest of us think it is, and that may be on you to clear up if so many of us are completely misunderstanding it.
And yes, sexism is endemic to gaming. Has been for years. That people are fighting against it doesn't suddenly mean the problem goes away, as if by magic. Like, remember Gabe's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory? The comics making fun of the incredibly racist things said on XBox Live? Mike and Jerry weren't making it out of whole cloth. Gamers, for as long as I've been playing games, have said vile things about people that aren't white and aren't male. Only now is it changing. Only now is that no longer tolerated by most people playing games. And the people who want to continue mouthing off about what they think of minorities and women have a huge problem with that. And so, GamerGate.
Ah yes, The Fine Young Capitalist. The group willing to encourage harassment of women in video games in order to make their funding goals. Good choice.
Besides the fact that donating to a cause your actions are directly against doesn't all the sudden make people blind to the actions of your movement. A movement can't buy goodwill.
Sure, and I bet that the backers of Prop 8 viewed the judge's gayness as a cudgel against him.
If you assume your own viewpoint as the universal default, then all contrary viewpoints are scene as an attack. It's like when Christians are offended at the very idea of Muslims building a Mosque in their neighborhood, because they see it as a slap in the face. Not because the Muslims are doing anything to actually hurt them, but because their very existence is scene as an invasion.
What exactly has Anita done to "cudgel" you? How is your day worse as a result of her?
And who have no clear idea or goal as to how the woman they chose game will actually come out or even benefit her in any way in her career.
This isn't some new theory getting trotted out for the first time.
Still, it doesn't matter. The existence of an opposition to misogyny does not mean that misogyny is magically gone.
But it's absolutely worthless at stopping any form of negative, harassing interaction. That's one thing GG has actually shed light on.
It's pretty good at covering somewhat chaotic live events too, if you know how to sift through the bullshit.
Critical thinking? In my internet discussions? Boy.. I don't know..
that's really the only time I use twitter, for like a "What the heck was that big boom" kind of quick conversation that you can't really have anywhere else
It really pretty much just sucks at everything else
TFYC was funded by GG after they opportunistically used them to attack Zoe Quinn (the part that he notably left out of his description you will notice) and the way it works is TFYC take a woman's game idea, farm it to another company (who aren't all women either, before he comes in with the "But they are female developers!") and then if the game is successful (somehow) they will get 8% (iirc) of the profits.
How this actually helps women get into games an development is rather a mystery to me, given the lack of involvement the winner actually really had in getting the game made or sent to market. TYFC have had to defend this point numerous times and frequently shown a lack of any good faith - particularly in the "resolution" of their argument with Zoe Quinn.
The original issue with TFYC and Zoe Quinn was over a potentially transphobic policy that needed to be clarified and discussed, but turned into rather more of a shit show.
GG have since tried to point to it repeatedly as how they support women in games, meanwhile they harass women to quit entirely like Jenn Frank and Maddie Myers, threaten Anita Sarkeesian, Zoe Quinn and Brianna Wu out of their homes and otherwise are generally led (not that they have a centralised leadership) by awful people who have long histories of attacking/abusing women.
It is more than a little bit of a hollow gesture to try to weaponise charities while engaging in behaviour that would be totally against what that charity stands for (see my previous point about the guy who donated $1000 to a charity in GG name who talks about how it would feel to rape women on his twitter).
It's a mixed bag. TFYC isn't a charity, but it acted like it was. The contest winner is a woman who came up with the idea for the game.
It's basically just a kickstarter where the team is making the game on commission, TFYC gets a cut, the person who came up with the idea for the game gets 8% of profits (not donations), and the rest of the profits go to charity.
As far as I know all of the donations go to the team/the PR firm who constantly attacked Zoe Quinn anytime funding slowed down.
4chan gets a voice on the game, and they got to choose one of the charities, colon cancer.
And again, the only person who isn't in the industry, the contest winner, is an "idea person" who gets 8% of the PROFITS of the game. So, no real experience and probably no money.
It was a scam, a kickstarter wrapped up as a charity for women.
Yeah, here is a thing everyone can do that could actually be super helpful: write Twitter and encourage them to overhaul their policies and tools for dealing with harassment with input from people who have had to use them a lot. Every person I've seen that's had to deal with this stuff has had massive complaints with their systems. (I remember seeing some tweets from Zoe where they locked her out of one of their tools after she had filed some ridiculously low number of harassment complaints.)
It's also an excellent taco diary platform
Well, and also a place to make jokes about your favorite football team being terrible. Which is mostly what I would do with a Twitter account.
But we all know it's not about ethics.
I like video games. A whole bunch! As a straight white dude, I've been able to play, talk about and participate in video games and the culture that surrounds them, in any way, shape or form that I see fit.
I would hope that anyone who also enjoys videogaming as a hobby will feel as welcome as I have to participate in whatever way they see fit.
There is simply no reason in my mind for anyone to object to this beyond the silliest of goosery.
I've got an idea. To symbolize the cleansing power of water, we shall wash away all of the negative connotations of #gamergate with our new games journalism ethics hashtag, #watergate
Oh great, so movie studio accounting, only even shadier
When they agreed with gamers with a weak convictions, no reading comprehension skills, and absolutely no ability to judge character.
This is the group that has neo nazis in its rank. PROUD to have neo nazis in its rank. Proud to have their forums hosted on a site with child pornography. Who got kicked off of 4chan.
Who turned on a supporter as soon as that supporter called Neo BullshitHead out on transphobic comments. Who thinks they can buy their way out of negative press.
Who was literally last night calling an opponent who is probably the calmest person I've seen violent because he's a Sikh.
Who claims to not support harassment while using the tag, but if they're not harass as much as possible.
Who uses the exact same rhetoric as the tea party when describing their opposition.
GamerGate is supported by people who don't know when something is drivel, because if they did they'd leave the damned movement.
Exactly. Because the vast majority of kickstarter games use their funds to fund the game, which is the profit because you get to live while making the game. There is no "profit", just a sustainable business unless your game flops.
Fixed that for you.
"We promise to give all the profits away" is a fancy way of saying "We're going to pocket everything and not give a fuck."
Going after friggen indie developers while the status quo of huge publishers buying ads on review sites and flying out people extravagant events to show off the game is really sad. Going after indie developers and then ignoring a big juicy story like the Mordor Youtube scandal is anger-inducing.
Hm, I'd not heard of that scandal. Looked it up.
Business as usual.
Like, this is what's been done forever. I used to read Gamepro when I was a kid. It was absolutely an industry mouthpiece. The notion that that's going to change because a bunch of dudes are posting to twitter is ridiculous.
Actually, serious question for GamerGate supporters: What are you actually doing to limit or discourage publishers having undue influence on a review?
Even worse, assuming that one of the developers actually does have a good idea, they're probably signing away all their IP rights to a company that won't ever actually do anything with it.
I just googled it. Looks like the publisher offered independent Youtubers early review copies and money to give the game positive press. Not agreeing meant no early review copy.
Basically Youtubers could get what amounted to a review copy of the game as long as they didn't say anything negative about it, never showed off glitches and bugs, and generally promoted the hell out of it.
What's even worse?
They USED the idea of helping women break into the industry to basically fund a kickstarter that was about anything besides that while supporting a hate campaign against female developers.
And now they're being used to fool people not aware of this into believe GamerGate in some way helped a noble cause.
Actually, here's a pretty good article on TFYC, ironically enough written by the future star of their game, GamerGate's creation come to life, Vivian James!
This hardly sounds like hardly something new? It's only the growth of youtube personalities that's making it now happen on a new platform.
When a movie star shows up on Leno to promote their new movie Leno is never gonna mention what a piece of shit it actually is.
And when pewdiepie is suddenly playing an early release of alien isolation on his channel, I was hardly expecting him to declare that actually it sucks