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[#MeToo] Comes To Gaming
AngelHedgie
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
The Verge has just dropped a major story - several notable figures in the gaming industry are being publicly accused of sexual assault and rape:
There have been further stories coming out in the wake of these initial revelations, but the prominence of the people accused - most notably Soule, known for his work an a number of soundtracks for Bethesda titles - makes this feel like it has more impact, along with the gate opening that this seems to have primed. In many ways, this feels like a sword that had been hovering over the industry's head finally dropping.
hings started with a lengthy blog post from artist and game designer Nathalie Lawhead, bluntly titled “calling out my rapist.” In it, she accuses Jeremy Soule, a longtime game composer behind series like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and The Elder Scrolls, of rape while the two were working together at an unnamed games studio in Vancouver in 2008. The post also points to a severely degraded work environment following the assault, in which Lawhead was disrespected at work, had to fight for pay, and was ultimately let go from her job. These claims are backed up by extensive documentation in the form of dozens of emails.
“I share not expecting to be able to get through the backlash, the lying, the excuses, the gaslighting happening all over again, the fanbase that might come after me because that’s just what happens in games, or hearing more of ‘his side of the story,’” Lawhead’s post reads. “My side of the story was never given a chance. I’m willing to try. I’m sharing this hoping that there will be information about him out there so other women can be informed.”
Following Lawhead’s post, others started speaking up. Zoe Quinn — developer of games like Depression Quest, author of Crash Override, and a focal point of the misogynistic Gamergate movement — posted a harrowing account on Twitter, recounting alleged abuse from indie developer Alec Holowka, best known for his work on Aquaria and Night in the Woods. “I’ve been silent about this for almost my entire career and I can’t do it anymore,” Quinn wrote. The post includes disturbing accounts that include Quinn hiding in a bathroom to avoid an attack. It also notes that Quinn was inspired to come forward in part because of Lawhead’s post, which Quinn says “shook me to my core.”
In a statement on Twitter, Scott Benson, who worked with Holowka on Night in the Woods, wrote that “we believe Zoe’s account of Alec’s actions, we’re very sad and very angry.”
A third incident came to light when indie developer Adelaide Gardner wrote a lengthy Twitter thread accusing Luc Shelton, a programmer at British studio Splash Damage, of sustained psychological and physical abuse two years ago. “It’s been two years and every once in a while, like now, I realize I’m still terrified of him,” Gardner wrote. “He’s a country away and I will never see him again and he has no way of contacting me, and I’m just as scared of him as the day I left his flat for the last time.”
There have been further stories coming out in the wake of these initial revelations, but the prominence of the people accused - most notably Soule, known for his work an a number of soundtracks for Bethesda titles - makes this feel like it has more impact, along with the gate opening that this seems to have primed. In many ways, this feels like a sword that had been hovering over the industry's head finally dropping.
XBL: Nox Aeternum / PSN: NoxAeternum / NN:NoxAeternum / Steam: noxaeternum
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He's disgusting, and the fact he's gone undetected until now, profiting from the suffering he's inflicted on others, is rage inducing.
Edit - corrected for appopriate pronouns.
That it's out in the open at last, yes.
Everything else...
I mean there's a reason one of Quinn's games is called Depression Quest.
Also notable is that the incident related was the SECOND one. Jackass took advantage of her while she was recovering.
(The first is unnamed because they've since made amends. Lo, it is possible! Just takes more humility than your usual assaulter has)
Various indie game people:
He is now threatening legal action against them.
Why are people so routinely shitty.
God. Fucking. Fuck.
I wish I could say more than this, but I don't really know what I could say about this.
Having said that, fuck those guys
The sad thing is that it felt like the scene around Failbetter was meant to be the healthy and inclusive corner of the industry.
Now I'm starting to wonder if maybe this is why Alexis left Failbetter. But wondering is all I'll do unless Failbetter puts out a statement or something.
This sounds like sexual assault and outright rape. #MeToo has been memed into a softer accusation than it should be. Wrongly, I believe - but it has happened.
I'm hopeful people continue to call these people out for what they are and who they've hurt. I'm not fond of hashtags, though. I also am not looking forward to the obvious MRA gamah gooblahs that are going to filter into communities trying to address this stuff.
Hell, there was one guy who randomly popped into D&D to drop some vague thread about the accusations against some YouTuber being refuted just the other day.
I don't envy the mods here under the best of days, but yeah, this could definitely cause an influx of more than the usual bullshit.
Tube has stated in the SE++ Youtube thread that he knows Holly Conrad and has no interest in rehasing the ProJared stuff here.
You can't give someone a pirate ship in one game, and then take it back in the next game. It's rude.
Given Gamergate, I would be completely unsurprised if a #MeToo movement in the video game industry turned up almost infinite amounts of shit.
Not that weird. The smaller the company, the less professionalism since there's less accountability. Hell, the big problem with Silicon Valley and, for this thread, Riot Games, is that they are fighting tooth and nail to be able to keep their lack of professionalism despite being large companies that people expect to take seriously. Corporate Peter Pan Syndrome.
Which is why I'm not surprised that the indie industry (and all the "nerd" companies for that matter) are plagued with sexual harassment.
I don’t think should ruin the achievement of all the other skilled and committed folks who helped bring it to life.
Morrowind and Skyrim and KOTOR also have fantastic sound design which includes music written by a goose, it seems. I’m still going to enjoy the product, while hoping that dude never gets the opportunity to work again.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Yeah, Meg Jayanth is saying pretty much exactly that:
Since Alexis was head of the company and they had no actual HR, that made it basically impossible for anybody to document or hold him accountable for behavior that went over the line.
Alec Holowka coded and also composed the music for NITW, which bums me it immensely because I listened to that soundtrack all the time while working and now I need to cut it out of my life.
I'm glad all of my other favorite things about that game don't involve the rapey manipulative shithead. At least I still get to enjoy the story, characters, and dialog.
It's horrifying how people like this get to operate seemingly without recourse for so long.
Steam ID XBL: JohnnyChopsocky PSN:Stud_Beefpile WiiU:JohnnyChopsocky
I've seen a few comments similar to this and I'd be very appreciative if anyone has examples. I'm not... sure what I get out of reading it directly, but I'm in the same "hey I connected with that soundtrack/ sound design and would like to more fully appreciate what I was an accessory to" club.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Really don't know how I feel about this kind of thing. Drop him and an apology I get, you'd heard stuff but he seemed like a nice enough guy and it wasn't until you had your eyes opened that you realised who you'd hired and what that meant. Just drop him and nothing else, feels a bit like he's fired for the bad PR so best get ahead of it.
Quick note that I actually didn't realize until today: Zoe Quinn uses they/them nowadays.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
If I'm reading your post correctly, it might help to have the full tweet instead of the condensed "We've cut ties with him" snippet:
EDIT - the relevant bit that's in that tweet chain:
Maybe thinking of the #OneReasonWhy era of things?
Spoilered for content.
He talked about the mystical power women hold over men with sex. How men are helpless and they need sex. How he needs sex, and a relationship, so he can write his music.
He talked about how composing is sexual, and how he will write about sex as inspiration in his music. He talked about how performing music is very sexual. He wrote songs about women that he had relationships with this way. What he does to women, is what inspires his music.
The work he composed for video games is based on this. He “needs women to inspire him”… there was so much of this, very uncomfortable inappropriate stuff (inappropriate even for friends), and it kept getting darker and darker.
He made advances on me and I explained that I didn’t want this and wanted a friendship. He was very threatening, and didn’t listen. He made it clear that it’s “him or bust”.
He raped me.
Throughout this time Jeremy acted like a victim, and blamed women he was in relationships with (or forced relationships on) for what he was doing."
http://www.nathalielawhead.com/candybox/calling-out
I worked with a guy who used to literally beat his girlfriend and say racist shit all the time. The employer 'didn't know' because they didn't want to know. Because knowing meant acknowledgement of the behavior and would require action. Wouldn't want silly ethics to get in the way of business or have to act morally and intervene.
He was eventually fired. He kicked his dog, which bit him on the foot, which got infected and he died. Fuck that guy, but everyone knew.
I'm not saying employers need to thoroughly intrude or investigate the lives of employees, but maybe look into a thing if your entire female talent pool has an issue rather than feign ignorance until you can tweet about it and score points for being woke.