[Hostile_18]

My hope for gaming is that all types of games can be made for all audiences. None of this we must convert or must condem certain games. If there's a woke game for woke audiences so be it. And vice versa an alpha male game for alpha males.

I hope story telling is fluid, organic and believable. Where decisions are made in the interest of storytelling rather than by a characters colour or race (apart from where relevant in terms of motivations). Hopefully far less "converting established franchises for "modern values". That just gets everyone's back up, and justifiably so.

Far less political activism in games. Thats not to say no politics though, some of the best games have strong politics. Just present issues as they are in real life multifacated.

Ultimately no matter who says what on either side, thankfully the consumer has the most power and the ability to vote with their wallet. That power isn't going anywhere and that gives me hope that at the very least, while it may bot be 50/50 there will always be games out there for all demographics, in some capacity.

 

[GreyHorace]

Instead of any self-reflection by the press over them perhaps having not given the game a proper shake, they opted to turn on their audience. Something we see a lot happening these days with the whole 'Toxic Fans' thing, but at the time this was unprecedented in media.

I have to ask, in the 12 years since the release of Mass Effect 3, has any gaming news outlet taken Bioware to task for completely fucking up the ending? You mentioned before that some gaming journos savaged Naughty Dog for how they messed up the story with The Last of Us 2 after it's release.

 

[Hostile_18]

The whole thing is interesting from the perspective of it being the first mainstream culture war, between the media and the public. I agree it didn't go well, but then at the same time it was always a rigged game. From my perspective, I always felt that the big moment that people perhaps miss is what led up to Gamergate. Stuff like the 'Entitled Gamer' narrative over fans' legitimate complaints about Mass Effect 3 spring to mind wherein almost the entirety of the gaming press heaped universal praise on ME3 as if it was the second coming, and then when fans finally got their hands on the game it was very much a case of 'what is this shit? '. Instead of any self-reflection by the press over them perhaps having not given the game a proper shake, they opted to turn on their audience. Something we see a lot happening these days with the whole 'Toxic Fans' thing, but at the time this was unprecedented in media. Hell, I remember EA sensing that Bioware had fucked up and asked them to work on an extended cut to try and mitigate the damage, and certain Game Journos at the time were slamming them for giving into the 'mob' as they saw it. There was this complete disconnect going on between Game Journos and the idea that the 'Fans' are in reality 'Customers'. It spectacularly backfired, and even to this day whenever I see this 'attack the fans' approach I'm always instantly reminded of Arrested Development: -

​

The Mass Effect 3 thing is really interesting. I really liked the original ending (never played the extended cut). My main beef with three was not been able to holster weapons and less interesting companions IIIRC.

I think for me I've never had a really close synergy between my opinion and the medias opinion, so the times it breaks, it dosnt really feel odd to me. Just like all enthusiast media ultimately they are there to justify there jobs and push product. I guess I see journalists just like members here, all with our opinions and hot takes. There were/are exceptions like the coverted 10/10s from some outlets, but if you have been around long enough (like we have) we've seen even these handed out haphazardly on occasions.

 

[O-N-E]

@Hostile_18 Still doesn't understand that people didn't have a problem with him or someone else enjoying a game (hilarious that he still didn't buy or play the instigating game), just because they would post hilarious and blatant examples of modern message delivery in big games. The problem started when he wanted to expel anyone who touched on the subject from OTs.

Don't let him fool you into thinking that there's a crusade against DEI-enjoying (or neutral) members. Most of what was posted on the matter was either A) For laughs, or B) to inform others so they know what they'd be paying for.

 

[Amorous Biscuit]

Are we being farmed for content

 

[Hostile_18]

@Hostile_18 Still doesn't understand that people didn't have a problem with him or someone else enjoying a game (hilarious that he still didn't buy or play the instigating game), just because they would post hilarious and blatant examples of modern message delivery in big games. The problem started when he wanted to expel anyone who touched on the subject from OTs.

Don't let him fool you into thinking that there's a crusade against DEI-enjoying (or neutral) members. Most of what was posted on the matter was either A) For laughs, or B) to inform others so they know what they'd be paying for.

Ah yes the time I said any users should be expelled from threads for touching upon the subject, let us never forget.

 

[teezzy]

I won't rest until I can play as Lara Croft with top surgery

 

[Kadayi]

The Mass Effect 3 thing is really interesting. I really liked the original ending (never played the extended cut). My main beef with three was not been able to holster weapons and less interesting companions IIIRC.

I think for me I've never had a really close synergy between my opinion and the medias opinion, so the times it breaks, it dosnt really feel odd to me. Just like all enthusiast media ultimately they are there to justify there jobs and push product. I guess I see journalists just like members here, all with our opinions and hot takes. There were/are exceptions like the coverted 10/10s from some outlets, but if you have been around long enough (like we have) we've seen even these handed out haphazardly on occasions.

Fundamentally they rushed development on the title. Certainly, the ending put a lot of people's noses out of joint. However, there were deeper issues throughout like the shitty warscore system, and yes the companions were less than ideal (couldn't even name one of the new ones off the top of my head). On the flip, the actual combat was the best of all 3 titles and I had a great time and fond memories of playing the CO-OP Multiplayer.

I have to ask, in the 12 years since the release of Mass Effect 3, has any gaming news outlet taken Bioware to task for completely fucking up the ending? You mentioned before that some gaming journos savaged Naughty Dog for how they messed up the story with The Last of Us 2 after it's release.

Honestly, I'm not sure. I dare say there have been plenty of YouTube critiques. I feel the main failure point in my view was really when Walters and Hudson opted to jettison Drew Karpyshyn's original overarching idea for the franchise in favour of their own. IIRC there was some ecological aspect to why the reapers wiped out the Civilisations originally, but for whatever reason they decided go with this whole organic/synthetic conflict angle. Either way though the ending landed about as well as a wet fart during a funeral service at launch and killed a lot of people's enthusiasm for the series as evinced by ME:A failing to garner much attention.

 

[IrishWhiskey]

The whole thing is interesting from the perspective of it being the first mainstream culture war, between the media and the public. I agree it didn't go well, but then at the same time it was always a rigged game. From my perspective, I always felt that the big moment that people perhaps miss is what led up to Gamergate. Stuff like the 'Entitled Gamer' narrative over fans' legitimate complaints about Mass Effect 3 spring to mind wherein almost the entirety of the gaming press heaped universal praise on ME3 as if it was the second coming, and then when fans finally got their hands on the game it was very much a case of 'what is this shit? '. Instead of any self-reflection by the press over them perhaps having not given the game a proper shake, they opted to turn on their audience. Something we see a lot happening these days with the whole 'Toxic Fans' thing, but at the time this was unprecedented in media. Hell, I remember EA sensing that Bioware had fucked up and asked them to work on an extended cut to try and mitigate the damage, and certain Game Journos at the time were slamming them for giving into the 'mob' as they saw it. There was this complete disconnect going on between Game Journos and the idea that the 'Fans' are in reality 'Customers'. It spectacularly backfired, and even to this day whenever I see this 'attack the fans' approach I'm always instantly reminded of Arrested Development: -

​

This is actually a good point that oftentimes the gamergate narrative tends to gloss over and ignore.

We also leading up to this had that stupid "Resident Evil 5 is racist" nonsense article, Bayonetta is too sexy etc..

Not to mention the obvious influence big publishers had on outlet review scores, paying for coverage or reviews etc..

 

[GreyHorace]

We also leading up to this had that stupid "Resident Evil 5 is racist" nonsense article, Bayonetta is too sexy etc..

Amazing how Bayonetta went from being a woman dressed like a whore to an icon of female empowerment. It shows you how fluid and hypocritical these woke assholes are.

 

[WesternBlood]

Ah yes the time I said any users should be expelled from threads for touching upon the subject, let us never forget.

We make you mad when we discuss relevant DEI in games in the threads discussing the exact games. Then you get mad we are discussing it in a thread asking about Gamergate that you somehow were so oblivious to that you claim no knowledge of it in this thread.

You may not be directly asking users to be expelled from threads, but you sure as fuck are trying to enact a chilling effect and playing innocent at the same time.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

We make you mad when we discuss relevant DEI in games in the threads discussing the exact games. Then you get mad we are discussing it in a thread asking about Gamergate that you somehow were so oblivious to that you claim no knowledge of it in this thread.

You may not be directly asking users to be expelled from threads, but you sure as fuck are trying to enact a chilling effect and playing innocent at the same time.

He's just starting a conversation.

Over and over again.

 

[kiNeMs]

My hope for gaming is that all types of games can be made for all audiences. None of this we must convert or must condem certain games. If there's a woke game for woke audiences so be it. And vice versa an alpha male game for alpha males.

The woke games flop.

I hope story telling is fluid, organic and believable. Where decisions are made in the interest of storytelling rather than by a characters colour or race (apart from where relevant in terms of motivations). Hopefully far less "converting established franchises for "modern values". That just gets everyone's back up, and justifiably so.

Far less political activism in games. Thats not to say no politics though, some of the best games have strong politics. Just present issues as they are in real life multifacated.

Ultimately no matter who says what on either side, thankfully the consumer has the most power and the ability to vote with their wallet. That power isn't going anywhere and that gives me hope that at the very least, while it may bot be 50/50 there will always be games out there for all demographics, in some capacity.

So, you want the same as us, but when we discuss it in a forum you can't handle it?

 

[Neil Young]

I was going to post but I don't want to upset the members who will get upset if we talk about Gamer Gate in a thread about.......Gamer Gate.

 

[VlaudTheImpaler]

People with loud voices shout at other people with loud voices and neither side see they are both the same, just opposites of each other. Both quoting the most extreme of each side ad nauseam, getting themselves worked up.

The rest of us inhabit a sensible middle ground, have our own opinions, express them, but largely just play games and vote with our wallets *shrugs*.

Ant - "Nom-nom." -nibbles on food- Man, I wish all you guys would stop complaining about the taste of your favorite food just because those other ants are sneaking poison into it. It won't kill you in that amount. Can't you see you're just as bad as them since you're being so negative?

During "gamer gate" it somehow passed me by, I never knew about it. I played the same games I always did, visited the same sites and nothing changed for me.

Like I say voice your opinion, vote with your wallet and move on with life. The problem with focusing on the most extreme voices is it in turn changes you. Look at how you are now compared to how you were. You've become pretty bitter tbh. I miss the poster who was passionate about games and friendly and wasn't on this crusade, dial up to 11, 24/7.

Wait, so is he passionate about games or is he not?

If I'm passionate about a game I'll fall in love with it and the series, maybe even the genre. If certain people with certain ideologies creep onto the dev team and subsequently the industry and start to bastardize what it was that I loved about the game and the genre in the first place... And that same ideology starts bleeding into EVERYTHING... I'm not going to just keep freaking consuming it. I'm going to be upset and I'm going to speak out and do something about it with the same amount of passion I had when I loved the game.

I was going to post but I don't want to upset the members who will get upset if we talk about Gamer Gate in a thread about.......Gamer Gate.

Perhaps we should start a separate thread for Gamergate feminists only.

Personally I'm upset they didn't put a trigger warning in the title.

 

[Hostile_18]

So much disingenuous bullshit. Where have I said don't talk about Gamer gate in a thread dedicated to it. OP was asking for opinions. Where did I say don't mention DEI points where relevant.

I hope people with half a brain cell can see how much is been projected/made up to try and justify their shitty behaviour.

 

[regawdless]

My Gamergate summary:

 

[Mirabilis]

How about lets keep the thread on track and the subject at hand please.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

GamerGate was co-opted by misdirection.

leading up to the 2014-2015 events we had:

- Anita Sarkeesian complaining about sexism in gaming. Tropes vs Women was in 2011.

- Kotaku journos complaining about sexism, racism, and "masculinity" especially in online multiplayer, as far back as 2012

- tranny agenda was already laughed off the internet (e.g. I identify as an attack helicopter)

- corporate stooges like Adam Orth telling us to get with the always-online future or suck it, and astroturfing bots and fanboys hand waving the big camera in our room

The folks who saw this stuff as the early signs of intrusion were 100% correct over a decade ago, years before GamerGate blew up.

And yet somehow when GamerGate arrived, it became about an indie whore and some journos she banged. All that stuff about ideological intrusion, corporate control, and brainwashing seemed to exit the conversation.

The opponents of GamerGate successfully cut its fuse and sarcastically meme'd it to death: "it's about ethics in game journalism hahah". Well no, not really. Rotten game journalism was only one tentacle of a larger beast that was exposed in the early 2010s

 

[GreyHorace]

GamerGate was co-opted by misdirection.

leading up to the 2014-2015 events we had:

- Anita Sarkeesian complaining about sexism in gaming. Tropes vs Women was in 2011.

- Kotaku journos complaining about sexism, racism, and "masculinity" especially in online multiplayer, as far back as 2012

- tranny agenda was already laughed off the internet (e.g. I identify as an attack helicopter)

- corporate stooges like Adam Orth telling us to get with the always-online future or suck it, and astroturfing bots and fanboys hand waving the big camera in our room

The folks who saw this stuff as the early signs of intrusion were 100% correct over a decade ago, years before GamerGate blew up.

And yet somehow when GamerGate arrived, it became about an indie whore and some journos she banged. All that stuff about ideological intrusion, corporate control, and brainwashing seemed to exit the conversation.

The opponents of GamerGate successfully cut its fuse and sarcastically meme'd it to death: "it's about ethics in game journalism hahah". Well no, not really. Rotten game journalism was only one tentacle of a larger beast that was exposed in the early 2010s

Don't forget the Mass Effect 3 ending brouhaha in 2012 when gaming journoscum called us entitled manbabies for demanding a better conclusion than what we were given. This more than anything led to the divide between developers and gamers.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Don't forget the Mass Effect 3 ending brouhaha in 2012 when gaming journoscum called us entitled manbabies for demanding a better conclusion than what we were given. This more than anything led to the divide between developers and gamers.

Oh yeah! Didn't that game also have an IGN writer voice one of the characters? Jessica Chobot I'm pretty sure.

But the gaming industry's journalists totally aren't bought, let me tell you!

 

[Kadayi]

Don't forget the Mass Effect 3 ending brouhaha in 2012 when gaming journoscum called us entitled manbabies for demanding a better conclusion than what we were given. This more than anything led to the divide between developers and gamers.

IIRC there was also a bit of brouhaha over the universal plaudits thrown at GTA IV as well by all the gaming outlets, especially when it came out that Take2 essentially hiring out some fancy hotel in NY and had lots of big outlet game journos play it there, which a lot of people felt influenced the overly positive scores for a title that didn't necessarily land that well with everyone at the time when it launched.

 

[GreyHorace]

IIRC there was also a bit of brouhaha over the universal plaudits thrown at GTA IV as well by all the gaming outlets, especially when it came out that Take2 essentially hiring out some fancy hotel in NY and had lots of big outlet game journos play it there, which a lot of people felt influenced the overly positive scores for a title that didn't necessarily land that well with everyone at the time when it launched.

What was it the IGN review said? Oh yeah...

Lol 'Oscar quality'. As if the Oscars are the barometer of any good story.

 

[Kadayi]

Oh yeah! Didn't that game also have an IGN writer voice one of the characters? Jessica Chobot I'm pretty sure.

Yep.

Somehow they managed to make her look like the corpse bride.

IIRC despite the fact that they had a re-occurring reporter in ME1 & ME2, they decided to eschew having them play the part versus this game Journo insert and then had the recurring character get killed fighting the alien threat in some throwaway message, that might not even have been in the game proper versus some side car tie-in. I'm a little hazy on the recollections, but I dare say @Stilton Disco being our resident ME expert can clarify. Either way though I remember it was some BS.

 

[GreyHorace]

IIRC despite the fact that they had a re-occurring reporter in ME1 & ME2, they decided to eschew having them play the part versus this game Journo insert and then had the recurring character get killed fighting the alien threat in some throwaway message, that might not even have been in the game proper versus some side car tie-in. I'm a little hazy on the recollections, but I dare say @Stilton Disco being our resident ME expert can clarify. Either way though I remember it was some BS.

Emily Wong. What's worse is that she was actually a fan favorite NPC and they weren't pleased when she was replaced with the Chobot and given an offscreen death in ME3.

 

[Stouffers]

Yep.

Somehow they managed to make her look like the corpse bride.

IIRC despite the fact that they had a re-occurring reporter in ME1 & ME2, they decided to eschew having them play the part versus this game Journo insert and then had the recurring character get killed fighting the alien threat in some throwaway message, that might not even have been in the game proper versus some side car tie-in. I'm a little hazy on the recollections, but I dare say @Stilton Disco being our resident ME expert can clarify. Either way though I remember it was some BS.

Has everyone heard my Chobot story during my IGN-Gamespy/E3 days? Should I do a AMA?

 

[GreyHorace]

Has everyone heard my Chobot story during my IGN-Gamespy/E3 days? Should I do a AMA?

Oh? Anything interesting?

 

[Stouffers]

Oh? Anything interesting?

Santa Monica for E3.. first year not in Convention Center.. I make a coffee run across the street and bring her back some ridiculous request. Hand it to her, doesn't say thanks or offer to pay and immediately drops it on the floor. She then steps over it and leaves with some fucks from ESPN.

 

[GreyHorace]

Santa Monica for E3.. first year not in Convention Center.. I make a coffee run across the street and bring her back some ridiculous request. Hand it to her, doesn't say thanks or offer to pay and immediately drops it on the floor. She then steps over it and leaves with some fucks from ESPN.

Huh. Not surprising to be honest. I've watched a Youtube video where this small time gaming youtuber recalls how journoscum from big outlets like IGN, Kotaku and Gamespot would act like entitled cunts at big events. I'm not surprised Jessica Chobot is like that. Is it any wonder why they look down on gamers?

 

[Optimus]

The whole thing is interesting from the perspective of it being the first mainstream culture war, between the media and the public. I agree it didn't go well, but then at the same time it was always a rigged game. From my perspective, I always felt that the big moment that people perhaps miss is what led up to Gamergate. Stuff like the 'Entitled Gamer' narrative over fans' legitimate complaints about Mass Effect 3 spring to mind wherein almost the entirety of the gaming press heaped universal praise on ME3 as if it was the second coming, and then when fans finally got their hands on the game it was very much a case of 'what is this shit? '. Instead of any self-reflection by the press over them perhaps having not given the game a proper shake, they opted to turn on their audience. Something we see a lot happening these days with the whole 'Toxic Fans' thing, but at the time this was unprecedented in media. Hell, I remember EA sensing that Bioware had fucked up and asked them to work on an extended cut to try and mitigate the damage, and certain Game Journos at the time were slamming them for giving into the 'mob' as they saw it. There was this complete disconnect going on between Game Journos and the idea that the 'Fans' are in reality 'Customers'. It spectacularly backfired, and even to this day whenever I see this 'attack the fans' approach I'm always instantly reminded of Arrested Development: -

​

All I know is that the big money of the globalist ESG crew began to seep into entertainment, and the easiest thing they could buy were the media and journalism outlets who were already hard up for money. The taking of the big publishers required a slightly longer game since it involves getting people into the higher up positions in addition to putting together massive ESG funding groups. It took them some years, but they have captured both ends of the industry.

 

[Kadayi]

What was it the IGN review said? Oh yeah...

Lol 'Oscar quality'. As if the Oscars are the barometer of any good story.

There's a lot to admire about the GTA series, but I wouldn't put the writing in there as one of the highlights that's for sure.

 

[GreyHorace]

There's a lot to admire about the GTA series, but I wouldn't put the writing in there as one of the highlights that's for sure.

The only writing that's ever impressed me in a GTA game is this bit from 5.



It's one of the few bits of genuine satire that Rockstar tries to do in the series but often fails at.

 

[skeem]

GamerGate was co-opted by misdirection.

leading up to the 2014-2015 events we had:

- Anita Sarkeesian complaining about sexism in gaming. Tropes vs Women was in 2011.

- Kotaku journos complaining about sexism, racism, and "masculinity" especially in online multiplayer, as far back as 2012

- tranny agenda was already laughed off the internet (e.g. I identify as an attack helicopter)

- corporate stooges like Adam Orth telling us to get with the always-online future or suck it, and astroturfing bots and fanboys hand waving the big camera in our room

The folks who saw this stuff as the early signs of intrusion were 100% correct over a decade ago, years before GamerGate blew up.

And yet somehow when GamerGate arrived, it became about an indie whore and some journos she banged. All that stuff about ideological intrusion, corporate control, and brainwashing seemed to exit the conversation.

The opponents of GamerGate successfully cut its fuse and sarcastically meme'd it to death: "it's about ethics in game journalism hahah". Well no, not really. Rotten game journalism was only one tentacle of a larger beast that was exposed in the early 2010s

All of this. I think 'me too' and 'believe all women' also tie in with what you have said on the cultural aspect at the time.

You can tie those in with Devs who committed suicide like Alec Holowka. The many who had their names dragged through the mud. Those who were falsely accused and lost everything. Generally cancelled by the 'culture.'

So for those who had it all pass them by. Good for you. Others have been witnessing truly vile behaviour go unpunished, then have those committing it placed on a pedestal by all of media. Just to support a broader message relayed in a way that isn't palatable for broader consumption and doesn't fit with tried and tested ideals.

 

[Tachyon Blue]

I'm happy to announce that the Kickstarter has launched! I see we already have some great questions submitted! I look forward to going through your questions and comments live, please keep them coming!

 

[Neil Young]

Gamergate didn't surprise me. Hollywood was the blueprint and it was only a matter of time before the same happened to gaming. Film critics get trips to do those HORRIBLE interviews you see like the Wicked ones. They get TONS of swag like screener copies and tons of DVDs and merch (back in the day at least. I used to get boxes and boxes of box sets, hundreds of movies.....and porn, which made me very popular with my buddies). They get to go to all the early screenings and pretend with the rest of the critics that they are royalty. You get to go to film fests and rub elbows with celebrities. And they think they are hot shit. I know as I was one of those assholes.

But, you make no money. Well, I didn't 25 years ago. I doubt they do now. They get "paid" in swag and access.

Game critics are exactly the same. Do you think they will be critical of the woke nonsense that is destroying gaming if it could POSSIBLY upset their perks? Hell no. Much like the film critics before them. These companies know what they're doing.

What shocks me is that there are still people who would rather bury their heads in the sand than address the issue. Perhaps you are seeing more pushback because we have already seen what its done to Hollywood. We don't want to discuss the "good" parts of The Acolyte much like we don't want to discuss the "good" gameplay of DA Veilguard.

 

[Spiders]

My hope for gaming is that all types of games can be made for all audiences. None of this we must convert or must condem certain games. If there's a woke game for woke audiences so be it. And vice versa an alpha male game for alpha males.

I hope story telling is fluid, organic and believable. Where decisions are made in the interest of storytelling rather than by a characters colour or race (apart from where relevant in terms of motivations). Hopefully far less "converting established franchises for "modern values". That just gets everyone's back up, and justifiably so.

Far less political activism in games. Thats not to say no politics though, some of the best games have strong politics. Just present issues as they are in real life multifacated.

Ultimately no matter who says what on either side, thankfully the consumer has the most power and the ability to vote with their wallet. That power isn't going anywhere and that gives me hope that at the very least, while it may bot be 50/50 there will always be games out there for all demographics, in some capacity.

I agree (mostly) but I think you're being naive.

There's two pieces that are politically neutral: 1) there is media/industry gatekeeping of the narratives, and 2) there is a political agenda being pushed agnostic of the market. The market can't solve this without an "activist" consumer.

1) You don't like people calling it out or trying to move the needle from the bottom up. Gamergate "2.0" had been all about informing people about woke content before the media can dominate the narrative and move copies.

2) If the agenda was market-driven and not ideology driven, we wouldn't see it being accelerated the more it fails to connect, and we would see woke content as selling points, not done in bait-and-switch or kept under wraps until post-launch.

I agree that the bandwidth of gaming is so large everyone should be able to be find their channels and be content. We're not arguing over the domain of all of Middle-Earth though, we're fighting over the ground the Eye of Sauron is watching (and all that follows, i.e. budget and prestige).

 

[Hostile_18]

I agree (mostly) but I think you're being naive.

There's two pieces that are politically neutral: 1) there is media/industry gatekeeping of the narratives, and 2) there is a political agenda being pushed agnostic of the market. The market can't solve this without an "activist" consumer.

1) You don't like people calling it out or trying to move the needle from the bottom up. Gamergate "2.0" had been all about informing people about woke content before the media can dominate the narrative and move copies.

2) If the agenda was market-driven and not ideology driven, we wouldn't see it being accelerated the more it fails to connect, and we would see woke content as selling points, not done in bait-and-switch or kept under wraps until post-launch.

I agree that the bandwidth of gaming is so large everyone should be able to be find their channels and be content. We're not arguing over the domain of all of Middle-Earth though, we're fighting over the ground the Eye of Sauron is watching (and all that follows, i.e. budget and prestige).

Yeah that's fair, I don't think it's quite the media vs the world. The market (the consumer) are largely divided, otherwise we would be saying places like ResetEra are purely media driven with no agency for themselves. I think all that can be achieved ultimately is a middle ground. Plus we want devs to make the games they want to make at the end of the day, it's the judgment and casting down one type of game over another that's the problem IMO.

Other places cast down games/values we like, we (collectively) cast down woke games. For me it's the converting of established franchises/models that's a hugely aggivating factor.

There's lots social justice warriors could do to better accommodate us, but in turn I do think there's thing we could be doing (like letting new woke IP games just be etc). I know it's not great to think there's things both sides could be doing to help each other, but that's how I largely feel on the subject.

We could go hard and fast on every woke game going but I don't think it's ever going to completely dissappear and likewise we are not going to dissappear no matter how hard they come after us.

 

[Tachyon Blue]

That's a very interesting project, looking forward to seeing the end result.

Feels like there's a shift happening right now in the industry, with DEI etc. being hot topics. Does that influence your work and the interviews you already did?

Hi, I'm answering some questions (chronologically) in advance of the live AMA. I definitely be replying to everyone with the live AMA as well, though you may periodically see me reply to some questions in advance.

Thank you for your question. While DEI in the industry wasn't a focus of the project, recent controversies and cultural discussions in the gaming industry are discussed in some of the interviews. The Sweet Baby Inc controversy involving Sweet Baby Inc employees harassing Kabrutus and the Sweet Baby Inc Detected Steam group in February and March 2024 happened during this project. Because of that and how the media misreported on the situation, I have discussed the topic in the book interviews with several of the people that I've interviewed about the situation, including with:

• Appabend, YouTuber
• Chris Ferguson, Stetson University professor who studies video games
• Erik Kain, games journalist
• Nick "PixelMetal" Robalik, game developer
• Peter Coffin, YouTuber and former anti-GamerGater turned neutral

I believe it is discussed in some other interviews as well, however as I do not immediately recall for certain, I will just mention those for now. The people I've talked with have a variety of perspectives on the topic. While almost everyone on the pro-GamerGate side at least is against the harassment Kabrutus received. Some are more skeptical of the work diversity-focused consulting companies do, while others like PixelMetal were more neutral on the value add consulting companies offer. Some, such as researcher Chris Ferguson and I, have expressed concern about how some of the tactics used by some of these firms appearing to resemble a protection racket, such as Anita Sarkeesian's tweet at CD Projekt Red or Sweet Baby Inc CEO Kim Belair's joke encouraging GDC attendees to scare their marketing people with the possibility of what will happen to them if they don't give them what they want.

There definitely is a perception many people have though that the games press didn't really learn their lesson about misrepresenting events that they perceive as going against their interests or ideological alignment. However, the people involved with GamerGate on both sides largely do not consider the Sweet Baby Inc controversy to be "GamerGate 2." Though I should note that the sample sizes for anti-GamerGate and neutrals was small for the optional survey.

As part of the optional survey discussed in the OP, I asked people (pro, anti and neutral) about the Sweet Baby Inc controversy. In total I asked each of the cohort to answer each of these 14 questions related to this controversy in particular:

1. Have you been following the Sweet Baby Inc controversy?
2. Sweet Baby Inc employees were right to encourage their Twitter followers to get Kabrutus and the Steam group banned
3. Sweet Baby Inc owe an apology to Kabrutus and the Steam group.
4. The games press and mainstream media have largely done a good job covering the Sweet Baby Inc controversy so far.
5. Independent media (video creators, streamers, bloggers, etc.) has largely done a better job than the games press and mainstream press so far.
6. Journalists who wrote about the Sweet Baby Inc controversy, but left out the brigading of Kabrutus, should be fired or reprimanded.
7. Media outlets that wrote about the Sweet Baby Inc controversy, but left out the brigading of Kabrutus, should apologize and work to correct the record.
8. Kabrutus owes Sweet Baby Inc employees an apology.
9. Steam should ban the Sweet Baby Inc Detected curator upon the request of Sweet Baby Inc employees.
10. Steam should ban the personal account of Kabrutus upon the request of Sweet Baby Inc employees.
11. Diveristy, equity and inclusion (DEI) based consulting firms, on average, probably improve the quality of the games they consult on
12. I would you personally call this controversy "GamerGate 2"?
13. Kabrutus and/or the Steam group have started a harassment campaign against Sweet Baby Inc employees.
14. Sweet Baby Inc employees (Chris Kindred and Felix Kramer) started a harassment campaign against Kabrutus and the Steam group.

Here's a sneak peak of how people, pro-GamerGate, anti-GamerGate and neutral people answered the last of those three queestions. 1 indicates strong disagreement with the statement, 5 indicates strong agreement with the statement.

GamerGate Supporters

GamerGate Opponents

GamerGate Neutrals

 

[Tachyon Blue]

It'll be nice to have objective, non-biased account of what Gamergate really was. None of the usual frothing anti-gamer rantings of the gaming journoscum who betrayed their audience to lie in bed with the publishers.

Thanks! I think you'll find this most interesting then. I'm only human and was involved with GamerGate, so I may have a bias in that direction, though I tried to counteract it and approach the topic as fairly as I could.

 

[Tachyon Blue]

@Tachyon Blue how does it feel to have dedicated all your time to a sham?

Thank you for your question! What exactly do you feel I've dedicated my time to that is a sham?