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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnother Woman In Gaming Flees Home Following Death Threats
Game developer Brianna Wu fled her home last night, following what is becoming a distressingly frequent case of women in the gaming scene expressing fears for their safety due to online harassment.
Wu, a developer in Boston who recently released the well-received Revolution 60 mobile game, said on Twitter last night that she and her husband had called the police and left their home to stay elsewhere after receiving a spate of vile Tweets that included death threats and the couple's home address.
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Wu's account of her harassment was widely retweeted last night and viewed, by many, as a distressing new incident to add to the progression of people in gaming, mainly women, who've born the brunt of intense harassment largely due to their views on games and the gaming scene. Wu joins Zoe Quinn, the indie developer who was the original target for what was then not yet called Gamergate in late August and who said she had to leave her home due to threats. There is also Anita Sarkeesian, the critic behind a video series about the depiction of women in gaming, who chronicled in late August the most recent threats that had her leaving home and notifying police out of fear for her safety.
To those reading this who feel that coverage of harassment and threats is a dismissal of concerns about how the games media or gaming industry works, know that it's not. We've addressed and investigated such topics before and will do so again. But Friday's incident brings a different aspect of the Gamergate controversy to the fore: the targeting of women, the sense that discussion about gaming, games media ethics, and gamers will be forever contaminated by an ugliness disproportionate to the issues at hand. This is a potential new status quo that we at Kotaku reject. The kind of harassment that sends anyone in the gaming scene fleeing from their homes is detestable and should be condemned no matter where one stands on anything else.
http://kotaku.com/another-woman-in-gaming-flees-home-following-death-thre-1645280338
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)How dare she create a successful game?!
This is disgusting.
Triana
(22,666 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,218 posts)bullwinkle428
(20,631 posts)Hong Kong Cavalier
(4,573 posts)They call themselves "GamerGate" and they think they're fighting for "responsibility and ethics in the gaming media".
Adam Baldwin (That right-wing asshole who's actually scummier than the character he played on "Firefly" coined the term and has been stoking the fire for months now.
Supposedly, "GamerGate" has disavowed this, yet are also rooting out ways to harass anyone (especially women) who speak out against them.
This is (at least) the third woman involved in gaming these cretins have threatened.
See also: http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/22/5926193/women-gaming-harassment (Written by Brianna Wu, referenced in the article above)
And when Cracked.com has the best article on your "movement", you might want to disavow said movement.
http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-ways-gamergate-debate-has-made-world-worse/
The Verge has a good article on it, too:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/8/6919179/stop-supporting-gamergate
KitSileya
(4,035 posts)Too many even here on DU automatically defend games and gamers without even thinking when questions are raised and criticism given. Too many are unable to think rationally when someone points out that perhaps we need a wider variety of games, that gamers aren't only (white) men, and that we should work for and support people who develop games with women protagonists, as well as women game developers. They don't hear what we say, but instead hear "no games should have men protagonists, men are evil, and should be killed." They are irrational, like the Southern Confederates who, when listening to Northerners say 'Slavery should be contained in the states that has it now, and not expand' heard 'whaaa we will force your daughters to marry black men, just try and stop us!' Complete disconnect in their brains.
Hong Kong Cavalier
(4,573 posts)It's funny: I've seen every one of Anita Sarkeesian's "Tropes Vs. Women" videos about video games, and she's not once called for the banning or games or the "all men are evil" or anything.
She's just said it's prevalent in video games, and she's right. All of the "debunking" videos I've seen nitpick and falsify her stance, and it's absurd.
Heck, we even had a DUer say he was continuously petitioning YouTube to get her banned for "lying" in her videos. All because she criticized his favorite game, I assume.
I don't get angry at any of this. The term "gamer" needs to be retired, I think: most people play video games these days. On their phones, on their computers, on their consoles. And they've never called for a shutdown of the industry, but you wouldn't believe that from the reaction from 4chan and Reddit (and, most likely, a contingent from DU's offshoot site).
I see her videos and I think "Hrm, she's got some good points." And then I start to see the same thing she does when I take a critical look at games and even at my own writing; I've realized I fell into the same "damsel in distress" trope repeatedly in a book I'm working on. So I'm going to re-work the story a bit to not fall into the same patterns.
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)There seems to be a swarm of "defend the gamergate fort" trolls here, and a couple of them have even stalked me around different posts.
As always, they know how to exploit the rules system, and I think they have at least one pet Mod they can call, too.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Response to KitSileya (Reply #29)
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uppityperson
(115,681 posts)Response to uppityperson (Reply #66)
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sufrommich
(22,871 posts)trolls.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Why aren't they out there doing superior things?
greatauntoftriplets
(175,750 posts)daredtowork
(3,732 posts)The ones I tried to throw in, previously suppressed on DU for "irrelevance":
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/224400/Gamers_dont_have_to_be_your_audience_Gamers_are_over.php
http://www.bustle.com/articles/38742-what-is-gamer-gate-its-misogyny-under-the-banner-of-journalistic-integrity
http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/22/5926193/women-gaming-harassment
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/27/your-princess-is-in-another-castle-misogyny-entitlement-and-nerds.html
And the Men's Right's "Point of View":
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/09/01/Lying-Greedy-Promiscuous-Feminist-Bullies-are-Tearing-the-Video-Game-Industry-Apart
Summary: Women get ahead in the video game industry by whoring around, and any "threats" were manufactured by themselves for publicity.
And this awesome article spotted by SeaBeyond which lifts the whole issue beyond GamerGate to the 4Chan/Reddit Trolling-for-the-Lulz culture in general: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/10/the-unsafety-net-how-social-media-turned-against-women/381261/4/
Hong Kong Cavalier
(4,573 posts)I'm guessing no sane journalistic website relaizes there's really "two sides" to this.
for all the links.
Thanks for those. These are conversations we all need to have about this.
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)I like that article because it really hits all the highlights of the Men's Rights "position", though. You can see what the GamersGate articles are debating against.
And the *attitude* toward women...it burns...
Read the "Princess in Another Castle" article, though. I thought that one spoke to wider cultural problem - not just the irredeemable right-to-rape jackasses, which hopefully are a dying breed.
sweetloukillbot
(11,070 posts)Wil Wheaton tweeted something about Anitia Sarkeesian and his feed got swarmed by people demanding he stand up for ethics in gaming media. I couldn't figure out what was going on, so I dug a little deeper and unearthed this nasty underbelly. It sickens me - as a geek and a gamer I don't want to be associated with these scum. They're the same people who harass cosplayers and girls in comic shops - their precious little boy's club is threatened and this is the only way they know to deal with it.
And Intel just bowed to the Gamergate people.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/10/04/353702104/intel-pulls-ads-from-gaming-site-amid-gamergate-debate
Thank goodness geek icons like Wheaton and John Scalzi are standing up against these testosterone filled rage-nerds.
Hong Kong Cavalier
(4,573 posts)Why weren't these people vocal when Jeff Gerstmann was fired from Gamespot for his low review score of Kane and Lynch?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Gerstmann#Reason_for_GameSpot_termination_revealed
Where's their outcry about "journalistic standards" for THAT one? Oh wait, it was only when Quinn's ex boyfriend started crying online that his widdle feewings were hurt that assholes like Adam Baldwin stepped up and raised the "GamerGate" flag.
Hayabusa
(2,135 posts)We helped report the guy as well as the latest roll threatening Anita Sarkeesian. Sad thing on the latter is that he's like a hydra, manage to get twitter to delete one of his accounts and two more spring up, all by the same guy. I would admire his tenaciousness if he wasn't so much of an asshole.
Also not mentioned in that Polygon article was the fact that the doxxing on 8chan was quickly reported to the moderation team, and practically every person in that thread was telling the guy to fuck off.
You may disagree with me or not and you may discount my words immediately after I said that I'm part of GamerGate, but please bear with me. We are not a harassment group. What we are searching for is some basic journalistic standards in the gaming press. As for Zoe Quinn, the majority of us don't care about who she sleeps with unless it was such a conflict of interest as having such a close friendship with Nathan Grayson (who covered Quinn's involvement in a failed TV project as well as covering games Greenlit on Steam including and themed by Depression Quest, Ms. Quinn's game) that eventually became romantic in nature. He had covered her work before and may have been able to cover her work in the future and did not disclose his relationship with her when he could have done so.
We are not misogynistic, that is the narrative being spun by the very ones that we oppose. Gamergate counts many men, women, and transgendered people among the ranks. The NotYourShield hashtag was started by an African-American man who was tired of always being assumed to be white by opponents of GamerGate. Have a listen to the Girls of GamerGate streams if you wish to as well. We are not are also not a Conservative group, despite two prominent and visible members being Conservatives. A political test chart was compiled and a majority of the results fell into left-leaning areas.
Well, I think that covered a lot of the bases. I hope I carried the GamerGate message well. If there are any other questions, please reply.
Hong Kong Cavalier
(4,573 posts)Kotaku blew your whole beef with Quinn out of the water, as did Cracked.
Read more: http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-ways-gamergate-debate-has-made-world-worse_p2/#ixzz3Fzkg7AHs
GamerGate IS misogynistic, and you should abandon this absurd "crusade" because it's incredibly moronic.
And your claims of not caring who Zoe Quinn is are patently false, considering that this ALL STARTED WITH HER EX-BOYFRIEND
From the Cracked article above:
Read more: http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-ways-gamergate-debate-has-made-world-worse/#ixzz3Fzjm3HLY
So yes, GamerGate IS misogynistic. It was started by a conservative nutbag, it's PROMOTED by conservative nutbags and wonderful websites like Breitbart.com, and you'd be more credible if you'd actually give a shit about REAL issues (like the rampant harassment female developers receive. See the Polygon article I linked above if you don't believe me) that are going on in games rather than this "journalistic standards" crap.
Hayabusa
(2,135 posts)No, I won't. Because this is about journalistic ethics. Because I've actually looked at the hashtag and posted in it myself rather than letting the opposition's narrative and their cherry picked tweets of trolls and outright agitators tell me all about it.
Sheldon Cooper
(3,724 posts)Hahahahhaha! Sure, keep telling yourself that. When you associate with this crowd, IN ANY WAY, you are endorsing their hatred of women.
Hayabusa
(2,135 posts)I hate women. There, I said it. I absolutely hate women.
Yeah, a bit snarky, but that's what I'm feeling at the moment. So, how, if the movement hates women, did Not Your Shield get started? How are there so many women involved in the movement?
kcr
(15,320 posts)Hate can be internalized. The fact that women are involved is not evidence your organization doesn't hate women.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)reading #GamerGate on twitter can quickly figure that out. They spend a lot of time talking about "cultural marxism" and "feminazis",their fearless leaders are one of the right wing Baldwin brothers and Brietbart and many are openly MRA. One doesn't have to cherry pick tweets to see that,that's who they are. To call it a movement about journalistic ethics is ridiculous.I would encourage DUers to check it out for themselves,it's pretty obvious what it is.
Hayabusa
(2,135 posts)but not all of feminism.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)Gamergate's vicious right-wing swell means there can be no neutral stance
Far more importantly, to affect neutrality is to do profound, immeasurable disservice to the victims of Gamergate. This revolt needs to be understood in the context of years of attacks on women in gaming, under various guises.
To cede to Gamergates manufactured counter-narrative, which foregrounds the fractious consumer-creator relationship, is to ignore its place in this wider trend, to airbrush out the periodic mobbing of individual women by both trolls and malcontents. This past weekend, the developer Brianna Wu was forced out of her home by death threats, the third case in two months after developer Zoe Quinn and cultural critic Anita Sarkeesian.
Gamergate proponents deny culpability even as some of them try to imply these women brought it on themselves; most are genuinely frustrated by these incidences, but largely because they know it hurts their image.
Its incredibly telling that, when The Escapist tried to run a balanced piece acknowledging pro and anti-Gamergate reactions from male developers, it had to go to Gamergate itself for the pros, and those interviewees lost no time in revealing themselves to be gamings Rush Limbaughs and Richard Littlejohns, eager to provide and flesh out a mythology that rationalises hatred towards the feminist/progressive element in games. The female developers interviewed uniformly opted to remain anonymous.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/13/gamergate-right-wing-no-neutral-stance?CMP=twt_gu
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)meaning, as long as we stick with abortion and birth control, which makes sex more available to man, then it is a good feminism. but by gosh, of our brand dares to challenge patriarchy and the submissive role men try ot put women in, then that "brand" of feminazi is attacked.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)Gamergates patriarchal sway has allowed charlatans like Milo Yiannopoulos to become one of its preeminent champions. Yiannopoulos, who routinely writes misogynistic, transphobic, and other bigoted rants for Breitbart, would never be exalted in any forum lacking an undercurrent of reactionary right-wing sympathies. Even the American Enterprise Institute has chimed in, arguing that the issue of sexism and misogyny in video games is a fake issue created by "feminist tech writers" and "concernocrats." AEIs involvement has been led by Christina Hoff Summers, who cares very little about video games but an awful lot about the alleged War On Men, which ranks somewhere near the War On Christmas on the list of things adults ought to take seriously. Nevertheless, shes been anointed by Gamergate fanatics as a truth-teller for her views on male persecution, ditto other reactionaries like YouTube personality "Thunderf00t" who has published videos such as "Do hot girls have all the advantages?" and "Why feminism poisons EVERYTHING."
The conspiracy theory at the core of Gamergate even has parallels to other attacks on liberal journalists. Brietbart wrote how the "secret mailing list of the gaming journalism elite" had been "exposed," the same way Andrew Brietbart tried years ago to nail an allegedly liberal journalism "cabal" including writers like Ezra Klein and Dave Weigel. There was no real scandal with Journolist, the same way there is no real scandal with the game journalist list unless you believe that journalists merely speaking to one another constitutes some kind of shadowy media illuminati.
Manipulative identity politics, ripped straight from the handbook of conservative sophistry, are also at play. Under the #notyourshield banner, people who say they have vulnerable identities rallied around the Gamergate cause to counter the narrative that all gamers are angry white men (something nobody is saying, by the way) and prove that "gamers" in the movement are suitably diverse. But this hashtag campaign started as just another disingenuous 4chan astroturfing operation designed to make Gamergate critics look like hypocrites, essentially by saying "look at all these women and queer people and black people, they cant be racist or misogynist!"
Gamergate supporters, like the reactionary right-wing in general, have attempted to co-opt the vulnerability of those they seek to marginalize, while simultaneously maintaining the illusion that they are the ones being harassed. Its the same tone-deaf logic that bigots and racists use when the structural power enforcing their traditional values erodes, and is eventually conquered: "Stop saying mean things about us because we believe gay marriage should be prohibited by the state! Stop silencing us!"
http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/8/6919179/stop-supporting-gamergate
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)lazy and cowardly way.
rw is so fuggin dishonest. though not surprised, it always makes me *gasp* at the audacity.
Sheldon Cooper
(3,724 posts)seaglass
(8,173 posts)Baldwin brothers.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Palin, that 'republican tea party' and the RW trolls in general ruined twitter!
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)"Justice Warrior" is another cue term that lets you know you are dealing witb GamerGate jackasses.
How they managed to twist "justice" into a term of denigration is beyond me.
I suppose it involves the same faulty neural paths that derived a big "journalist ethics" issue out of the false premise women must sleep with reviewers to get good reviews, or to get games made at all.
*waits for the GamerGate swarm on DU to exploit the system to get this comment or whole posg suppressed*
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)said with derision. i hear ya, who would figure justice warrior is a sneer. i have heard it more often, since.
i wonder where it originated. limbaugh?
City Lights
(25,171 posts)This is absolutely disgusting!
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)K and R for more exposure
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)"law-abiding citizen" has?
This is just too weird. I'm not into gaming except as an occasional pastime. I tried online gaming ONCE and I felt like I was surrounded by 20 12-year-olds. Is this normal behavior for gaming? I'm not talking about the death threats, I'm sure that's not normal but the hatred of feminists, of women. Do males somehow believe gaming is "theirs" and no girls allowed? I truly don't understand.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)Unlike consoles which usually have children in high numbers along with adults, the costs to build gaming desktop computers tends to limit them to adults.
I'm a big PC gamer, though I prefer turn based RTS like Rome 2: Total War and Civ 5.
EX500rider
(10,868 posts)NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)The gameplay is fairly similar though the maintenance/upgrading of cities is quite a bit different. It's not a bad game. I still think Shogun 2 was probably better. I still hold out hope for a Medieval 3.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)Skeeter Barnes
(994 posts)bravenak
(34,648 posts)My husband loves it.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)And it just so happens it's my husband's birthday that day so absolutely, along with a marble chocolate/vanilla cake, special meal and a bunch of computer geek hardware stuff about which I know nothing.
We're old fucks so we have a tendency to stay with the same game/game line. I just like Borderlands because, besides the different levels, you can replay the game as a difference character and have a completely different experience.
Skeeter Barnes
(994 posts)That's my kind of birthday party, chocolate cake and a brand new BL game!
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Just waiting for it to unlock.
Sid
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)SidDithers and Le Taz Hot agreed on something. (This may never happen again, folks.) LOL!
blackspade
(10,056 posts)stonecutter357
(12,697 posts)maybe I can show you around Chernarus.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)daredtowork
(3,732 posts)As perverse as it seems, it's kind of stress-busting to watch the nukes fly at the end.
Crap did I just foment a flame war war by taking your bait?
I couldn't resist. You brought up Civ. I loved Civ.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)Did you see the Alpha Centauri remake that's about to release? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization:_Beyond_Earth
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Haven't looked too much at the betas, 'cause I have a personal rule against that after getting burned a few times in the past. Played the beta of a good game, and felt "done" with the game very quickly after release.
I'm a huge fan since Civ I. Didn't like 5 - part of my enjoyment was the complexity, and 5 took away a lot of complexity. Though I should probably try 5 again now that I have young kids - a simpler game probably may fit better with the level of attention I can give it.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)In Everquest there are lots of mature people who have professional lives and play EQ games for fun. Lots of trolls and kids too.
I also loved the Age of Empires series , started in the 'MS zone rated rooms' vs other players. Most of the best players in AOE were College students, Korean and Chinese.
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)Can't the police track down the person who wrote this?
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)bravenak
(34,648 posts)I know, right?
mythology
(9,527 posts)And you don't want to give him an opportunity in case he is serious.
I hope the idiot is found and fully prosecuted and it sinks in to the other asshats doing this sort of thing.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Seriously, how can you not know that?
arcane1
(38,613 posts)seaglass
(8,173 posts)there who are taking gaming waaaayyyy too seriously. I hope they catch this asshole and any other who thinks he can make these kind of threats with no consequence.
malthaussen
(17,217 posts)Unfortunately, it sometimes seems that such disease differs only in degree, and not in kind, from the minds of the masses.
-- Mal
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Like YouTube, Yahoo, Urban Dictionary.....probably plenty of others too. These are just the ones I know of, where commenting while female, (or posting a vid that dares to step out of stereotype ), is inviting a lot of insulting sewage.
IronLionZion
(45,534 posts)Why the hate? Someone doesn't like her views on something so they threaten violence? How about they just not buy her games instead?
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)not so weak creating one of their rape snuff porn scenario to feel like a man. put that woman in her place.... to feel like a man. do what ever to a woman. .... to fuggin feel like a man. gotta feel like a man, in a world, where he is weak and cowardy.
marble falls
(57,246 posts)IronLionZion
(45,534 posts)I wish the world were not this way. And such depraved insecure individuals would get the counseling or mental health treatment they need.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)so the woman can live her life, take care of her kids, walk in her home. WITHOUT FUCKIN FEAR!
personally. i like that answer
none of the stuff that you listed is indicative of a real man.
Actually more monster than anything. Being a man doesn't mean hurting someone or forcing anyone...
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)thrown you way?
how does it make you feel?
why was/is it allowed.
ik, r?
jeff47
(26,549 posts)- Doesn't believe anyone should make games they do not like. Any effort on games they do not like is wasted effort that should have been spent entertaining them.
- Doesn't have any power in the other parts of their lives. Think of the stereotypical early high school kid - "No one understands me!!"
This kind of thing gives them power, and lets them put down "bad" games and "bad" developers.
The gender angle (presumably - we're assuming the asshole is male) adds to the power dynamic. Someone who feels they don't get enough attention from the opposite sex is "putting her in her place".
catrose
(5,073 posts)spanone
(135,882 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)catrose
(5,073 posts)Kathy Sierra says something to the effect that Twitter is a troll's best friend.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)maybe it's just me...
catrose
(5,073 posts)at least we noticed each other.
Of course, the article was fairly long. But talk about your experts!
barbtries
(28,811 posts)or are these terrorists too smart to get caught?
that is appalling. i think we need a whole new women's movement - worldwide.
goddamn pigs women are PEOPLE
DesertDiamond
(1,616 posts)Bigotry lives on still. Someday soon, it will all be a thing of the past.
Jester Messiah
(4,711 posts)And that makes me sad because I consider myself one. But this is just one more instance in a long line of journalists, PR folk, what-have-you that got on the wrong side of a faction of gamers. People have quit lucrative careers just so they wouldn't have to deal with this community anymore. Hell, a lot of people (myself included) disdain multiplayer games altogether just to avoid having our mothers slandered and our sexualities questioned by foul-mouthed twelve year olds. It's a real problem, and I don't think anyone's hit on a good solution yet.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)I also got sick of the multiplayer world and tend to play singleplayer campaign games like Rome 2:total war. But the vile nasty world of the internet isn't just in gaming - Look at many newspaper message boards or Yahoo. It's all over the web.
yuiyoshida
(41,862 posts)and I met some pretty sick guys who just hate women. I don't know what their problem is, are they lonely? or whatever, but the way they treated women, were like we were all pieces of meat and didn't have any true feelings for them.. I have always been kind and nice to some people on line, but have gotten crap back, one..because I am a woman and 2ndly cause I am Asian.. and so If I don't cyber with them, I am ... well they use all kinds of names. The only thing to do is block them or report them, because some of them are just down right nasty. They can be that way cause they are anonymous on the internet.. but the website can block and ban them if necessary which is a good thing. I have been on Twitter a long while and never had this kind of hatred come back at me, but, I did do an on line game for a while, and some of the guys on there are ruthless bastards who will cut you up verbally just for the fun of it.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)that throw out the foul-mouthed twelve-year-olds. I've found it much harder to find similar organizations in other multiplayer game formats. Shooters seem to live off the rage of young teens.
Mostly, time and the added attention of stories like this one.
It's actually a lot better than it used to be. Gaming is a much more mainstream activity, and as a result gets a lot more people in it, which in turn tends to ostracize the really vile players.
Still got a long way to go, and a lot of people to educate or ostracize.
KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)shields such speech (nor should it). Why hasn't the person making such threats already been identified and arrested?
I don't know anything about gaming, having last purchased a PlayStation for my stepdaughter over 15 years ago. I just haven't kept up with the technology, but I don't think there's any plausible 'gaming' exemption in American society for comments like these.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)Police can and will track this guy down.
KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)this goes way, way beyond the pale. (In addition to my ignorance about gaiming, I'm also somewhat ill-adept at Twitter and like technologies. But I have to assume comments made via the internet can be linked to the person making them, via subpoenas to the relevant ISPs, TelCos and what-not).
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)I'm sure twitter would have no problem complying with an IP request. After that it's to the ISP to identify the physical address.
jmowreader
(50,562 posts)Anonymization is a double-edged sword: for every dissident it protects from an evil government, it shields ten trolls like the one in the OP. If they ever find this asshole I will be unbelievably surprised.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)I'm sure they will trace it back to a white male in his 20s who has had military service given the reference to a K-BAR knife.
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)Who may also play military games that feature a k-bar, whatever that is.
By the way - I don't know if Twitter has this kind of identifying feature - but isn't it possible this jackass is from somewhere in rural Lithuania or the Philippines who would get off trolling the Privileged American Woman even more than some American teenaged 4chan addict? If that's the case, we can't send the cops after them. Misogyny is In The Cloud these days.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Tracking down the source of the threat can be pretty time consuming, and cross a lot of jurisdictions. As a result, it has been very difficult to get law enforcement to go after the people making such threats.
KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)the physical address) that I would think tracking them down would be a high priority. But I'm not a super techie, so I'll defer to your judgement on this.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)It's the person making the threat that can be difficult to track down.
You have to subpoena Twitter to get what IP address logged in to that account. Then you have to subpoena those ISPs to find out who had that IP at the time in question. And those ISPs are probably not in the same jurisdiction as Twitter. Then you have to get a search warrant to find and seize that person's computers so you can prove they actually sent the Tweet. And that's probably in yet another jurisdiction.
And that's just if the person making the threat doesn't know enough to try and cover their tracks. Add in multiple countries and technologies like TOR, and it gets even harder.
So it's been difficult to get the local police to start the ball rolling, since they probably will not be able to do anything themselves.
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)To think that the cops have time to shoot unarmed black teens who AREN'T a threat, but chasing down an actual theta like this scum bag is too much trouble.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)The local PD needs the help of a lot of different jurisdictions in a lot of different states in the best-case scenario.
If the person making the threats has the slightest bit of knowledge about how to cover their tracks, it gets really, really hard very quickly. That huge NSA budget isn't because it's hard to spy on us.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)in that there'd only be one jurisdiction involved.
But if I was an asshole like the person in the OP, I can bounce my Tweets through another country pretty easily. Which now means the FBI would have to get the help of whatever country I chose to send the Tweets through. Russia would be a lovely choice right now, since they aren't feeling particularly interested in helping the US.
And that's assuming I don't use something like TOR, which would mean you now have to get cooperation from several different countries.
This isn't something we'll be able to easily get rid of through policing. We should have a federal law, and should aggressively prosecute people we can find. But there's going to be a lot of assholes we will not be able to find.
KitSileya
(4,035 posts)That is the truth. Anyone who claims that both sides are at fault, or think that both sides have some merit of truth, supports the guys doing this. You cannot try to distance yourself from the assholes who say these things, who come with these threats, and do the doxxing, and at the same time say that you think their demonstrably false claims have some grains of truth in them. Gamegate is a leaderless movement, and because of that, these guys can't be thrown out - they are part of the very fabric of Gamergate.
And dipshits who push false equivalence such Brad Wardell (@draginol), who retweeted "a small sample of the daily smearing" he gets...
"Hey look, one of the people interviewed" for that article is Brad Wardell. He continues the lie that feminist critics dont know games."
"Brad Wardell defines corruption as... victims complaining about sexual harassment. "
"If you're quoting Brad Wardell for your cause, you already done fucked up. He's a known misogynist."
while Brianna Wu, Zoe Quinn, Anita Sarkeesian, and other women who dared to talk about games get tweets like the ones posted by Brianna Wu, for weeks and months, and even years (Zoe Quinn still gets rape threats daily after two months since the initial accusations against her was proven to come from an ex-boyfriend she had just broken up with), well those dipshits are just as bad as the guys who post these threats. They enable these psychopaths, and they encourage them, and they refuse to support the women who experience this, making the gaming community extremely hostile to women. They are the ones that should be run out on a rail from the gaming community (the psychopaths should be arrested and tried for stalking, and threatening.)
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)daredtowork
(3,732 posts)To start pseudo-rational nitpicking your comment and asking for your evidence from specific games, for you to identify the specific malefactors, because it's certainly "not them", and it's "not gaming" (that would be generalizing...)...
Oktober
(1,488 posts)It's not a binary choice... yes or no... with or against...
That is just simplistic and naïve...
This person is an obvious asshole and troll getting exactly what he wants. He also happens to fall on the far end of a spectrum and is hardly representative of a significant number of people.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)I further confess I liked it that way.
LittleGirl
(8,291 posts)daredtowork
(3,732 posts)Troll-swarmed and actively suppressed.
Or just sunk quickly because no one understood why it was pertinent to DU or larger society. I'm not the only one who posted on it.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)I'm going to have a talk with my son about this tomorrow.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)I hope you report back.
classof56
(5,376 posts)"There are prisons in China where prisoners must spend fourteen hours a day playing online video games to build up character experience points. The prison officials then sell these characters to teenagers in the West. Here we see, in extreme form, the disconnect between the physical and virtual worlds, the suffering and exploitation upon which our fantasies are built."
Guess I hadn't thought much about gaming before, but that fact and this post have opened my eyes. The death threats are, of course, reprehensible and sickening. Makes me shake my ol' gray head and say WTF is WRONG with some people??? At any rate, I'm bookmarking this thread for future reference. A conversation with my gaming grandsons may be in order.
As we used to say in the 60s...peace.
Retrograde
(10,158 posts)a YA novel about young people around the world who unite to fight against such exploitation: one group of characters are Chinese youths who create the "game gold" to be sold.
I've never gotten into on-line gaming myself. My spouse is involved in one on-line multi-player game with a group of people from various parts of the world: his own group seems to consist of a number of women and other mature people who seem to be able to separate reality from fantasy. I still find it boring, but to each their own.
classof56
(5,376 posts)Very timely and certainly informative. I have two teen-age gamers (although one just turned 20) who'll be getting copies from their ol' granny, who, so I'm finding, learns something new every day, thanks to DU and posters like you!
Glad to know your spouse has found a group of well-grounded folks who can separate reality from fantasy, but I'm with you--the online gaming seems pretty boring.
Cheers!
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)I can also recommend a pretty good fictional analysis of the interaction between "game" economics and the larger world -- Neal Stephenson's Reamde:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reamde
Found the Gold Farming documentary on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1743932/
Web site for the documentary:
http://chinesegoldfarmers.com/
Wikipedia entry on Gold Farming:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_farming
eridani
(51,907 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)I hope they catch the vile shitbag.
Veilex
(1,555 posts)"Friday's incident brings a different aspect of the Gamergate controversy to the fore: the targeting of women" - This isn't quite as accurate as it should be. These asshats are targeting feminists/feminism or anyone who puts out a pro feminism themed game.
This "person" and anyone performing similar acts need to be shut down asap and indicted.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)good point and thank you for saying this out loud. yes. ye on the ball. thank you
yuiyoshida
(41,862 posts)good. Asshole should receive a visit from the police as well. bastard.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Maybe 20 years or so.
yuiyoshida
(41,862 posts)of a solid cold cement floor behind iron bars.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)the net. and we NEED a supreme court that are not religious, patriarchal, fucks....
WestSideStory
(91 posts)Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)the very existence of women.
It's been eye-opening. Wow.
Number23
(24,544 posts)Female journalists get harassed. Female gamers get harassed. Female ANYTHINGs get harassed and most of the time, the assholes will scream First Amendment, public space, free planet or anything to justify their unhinged and psychotic behavior.
But because the vast majority of the time, it's mainly women that protest this behavior, hardly anything happens.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)NewJeffCT
(56,829 posts)Same kind of obnoxious anti- social white males.
Skittles
(153,193 posts)oh yes
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)And told me to take it to a "Gaming forum".
I'm not even a gamer. =.=
Lord help the blind who cannot see.
The more pressure that comes down on the last enclaves of these right-to-rape man caves, the more they will strike out with lame howls like these.
Thank you for posting.
And thank you DU Mods for realizing this is RELEVANT to the issue of sexism in a Democratic society. Geez.
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)I will eat your face off with my white hot c_ _t of death.
You really think you are scaring any real human monsters with your little middle school taunts?
Come knock on MY door you little skunked slimy gray wash rag spineless fuck.
I will disembowel you without hesitation before you hurt me or anyone I care about and not even lose sleep that night.
I might even make you eat some of your own shit before you die just for fun.
Alerted?
Read what I was responding to.
And by the way....
You see how it's done?
99Forever
(14,524 posts)... despicable display of cowardliness.
May this creep get hunted down and locked up where he belongs. Permanently.
SunSeeker
(51,722 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)Because I don't know what "gaming" is.
And I sure can't understand why people hate each other over it.
Aren't games supposed to be fun?
jeff47
(26,549 posts)way too seriously.
Same attitude, different format.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)or psych ward after being involuntarily committed.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)The woman who made the game that saved the playstation, Darke's uncharted...There are great Females in gaming, and frankly turds like those manboys need to get the short shrift.
KitSileya
(4,035 posts)Don't refer to women as an adjective, please, we are persons.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)KitSileya
(4,035 posts)It is very demeaning to call women 'females'. I always imagine the Ferengi when people write it - kind of the same screeching blackboard sensation I get when people say 'the Democrat party'.
In general, animals have males and females, humans have men and women. In a thread about rampant misogyny in gamer culture, you can understand why one is extra sensitive. But you are right about the grammatical categories.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)Maybe its my science background.
KitSileya
(4,035 posts)about women in conversation. As it is, this is a conversation. I am not livestock. I am a human being, and language matters. It matters a lot. We know that, and we are trying to change it. To change it, we need to point out when someone uses language that dehumanizes and objectifies - and this has real life consequences. For example, police are more likely to use force against black kids if they dehumanize blacks - and this was independent of their prejudices. If they dehumanized blacks, in the experiment this was done with pictures, but it may just as easily be done with words, they were more likely to use force against black kids they detained.
So, what words we use to refer to women matters, just as it matters what language is used on any minority group. As such, I will continue to point it out when it is low level, such as here, or alert on it, such as deliberately using slurs against subaltern groups.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)I use male to routinely describe men, such as "white males". It's just another way to identify gender. I usually use women when referring to them, but since I am a male, I usually use males to describe men. Just personal preference.
KitSileya
(4,035 posts)Like the battle over 'Democrat/Democratic party*, it might seem insignificant, but its use has a wider disrespect for women. Many don't like it that language isn't fixed and words have the same meaning everywhere in every context, but they don't. A word can become sexist, or a slur, depending on who says it and who it is said to. A woman calling another woman a 'b!&%h' can be using it as a slur, or as a reclamation of that word. The same with 'n%¤#"r', or using the word angry about a black woman has a very different connotation than calling a white man angry. It isn't for those of us who do not belong to the groups referred to to decide whether a word is denigrating or not. So, I would never presume to lecture a black man on the use of the n-word, or 'boy' when used on him, because I am neither black nor a man. But when it comes to language and words used on women, I do have a right to voice my opinion.
I don't think that DonCoquixote was using it as a deliberate slur, but it was a typical example of unthinking use of dehumanizing language, and a teaching moment. Of course, in my discussion with you, I assume we are discussing the wider use of such language and its consequences, since you were not the one who in fact used the term.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)I do find some of your examples awkward. For instance, it's Democratic Party because that is the proper name. The other usage is just flat out wrong. A member of the Democratic party is a Democrat. I realize some Republicans misuse the term, but that's because they're childish assholes.
joeglow3
(6,228 posts)Talk about someone in search of a problem. All the people I know who use male/female (myself included) use it interchangeably with man/woman AND use it equally with both genders. If it is sexist when using female, what is it when using male?
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)I have been told using ladies was wrong, and that using women is wrong. Next time, would "programmer who happens to be a woman" work? I myself dislike that, because it makes the woman part sound like an odd fact, whereas the whole point is that it should not matter what sex someone is.
KitSileya
(4,035 posts)Who told you that? If you need to use female, use it as an adjective that describes something mentioned, as female game developer, or female champion.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)women. that it is somehow an insult. somehow calling her old. somehow saying, she grew up, and that seems to be an insult.
girl or lady, is what a woman gets to be called. i have to uncondition myself years ago. i had to uncondition my boys, bringing it up consistently until they could sya woman, without feeling like they were doing something wrong. a lot of men cannot just call a woman, a woman. totaly fuggin' mind blowing when i started picking up on it five yrs ago.
i always hated ladies. but girls was the go to.
no
woman. it is ok to call a grown, adult, woman, woman. and no longer infantize her, always
KitSileya
(4,035 posts)Yes, that is what the use of 'lady' often does - it is different than 'gentleman', simply because the cultural chains around the words are so different - gentlemen were supposed to behave properly to specifically chosen women, called 'ladies', but were allowed to do whatever with impunity to other women and while with men. Didn't matter what he did, really, he would stay a gentleman forever unless his behavior towards other men didn't fall below standard, in which case he might lose some social status and business connections, but not much more.
'Lady' on the other hand, put women on pedestals, unable to move or do much of anything, unless they wanted to fall out of society altogether. Didn't matter who they did it to, just the independent movement itself was enough to rain down incredible consequences on her - loss of status, and family, money, to becoming free-for-all prey for rape and exploitation.
Yes, lady is different than gentleman - and women can hear it in the use of the words, as lady was so long used to chain women who did have the means to get an education, and an independent life to an infantile dependency on men in their family.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)jen63
(813 posts)" I ain't no lady." I've always hated that word. Maybe because growing up I was told I must be lady-like. I guess I was a rebel, because I didn't see the point. The men were allowed to do whatever they wanted and I was supposed to be a lady? I was a tom-boy, and only dressed up for church because I had to. I was a tree climbing, creek wading, kick the can until dark kid. Lady = Ick
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)I do not remember whether it was you or someone else that told me Ladies was wrong. I stopped using it afterword.
In any case, the last thing I wanted to do was insult. I picked female because it seemed to be the least charged of words..in any case, I will use Woman.
However, getting back to the OP, Amy Hennig is who she is, a damned competent and well lauded game maker, who half these pricks do not realize is a woman. The commentator of G4 were women, but they are still remembered for their contributions to the games industry, until Bonnie Hammer, a bad programming executive (who happens to be a woman) fired them and decided to focus more on helping Vince MacMachon run his WWE programming. Yeah, that is another thing that will make MRA heads explode, Vince and the WWE were saved by Bonnie Hammer of USA Networks.
Of course it is ironic that a female exec is responsible for destroying G4 and sending Olivia Munn, Morgan Webb, Alison Haislip, Grace Hellwig, Jessica Chobot, and others to the unemployment line, all to replace it with the "Esquire Network" the network for Men (UGH). Auugh what a damned tangled web
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)The idea being that Amy Henning's legendary resume is so large that it goes THUD, and it would go THUD with gravity regqardless of what her gender was, but the fact she is a woman means she is hard evidence that woman have a prescence in gaming, a very respectable one at that. Granmted, the manboys described in this article ignore that, but that is why they need to have it kocked over their head, preferably with something large,dense and heavy, like Amy's resume.
KitSileya
(4,035 posts)However, the use of 'female' instead of woman is dehumanizing, and I like to point it out when I see such language. Most often it is used without thinking, and that means that we need to get people to think about it. Words don't have one definite meaning regardless of the context. An 85-year old black man saying "Now, don't get smart with me, boy" to his 60-year old son has not used a racial slur. A white 85-year old man saying the same thing to a 60-year old black man he doesn't know has. Calling a black woman angry has different connotations than calling a white woman angry, and so on.
I fully believe that you are anti-gamergate, that you are not sexist, and that you didn't intend to be sexist. However, using 'female' to refer to a woman in general conversation is sexist language.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)was discussing both girl and women. and it needed to be known it is not just one, woman. or girl. often times in my conversation, it is relevant who i include. so instead of having to type out girl/woman, i would instead say female to include both the kid and the adult.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)Especially as I truly do want the gaming house to be rid of these pests...I am tired of hearing them whine about the new, far better tomb raider, the one that turned lara croft from porn to person. I got tired of them whining that Bioshock Infinite sucked because the woman was the dominant personality. and I really, relaly gee tired of them praising crap like Halo and GTAV.
KitSileya
(4,035 posts)tarred and feathered. (Metaphorically speaking, of course.) It is very, very important that we gamers all speak up and clearly state that we want more varied games, that we want games with non-pornified female protagonists, that we want diversity and variety in our games. Look at Dragon Age, with its successful choice between male and female characters, with its options for romance and so on. It is possible to do it. We must give games with 'unconventional' characters (women, persons of color, differently abled protagonists) an equal chance, which means not immediately and only blaming the fact that the game had a main character who happened to be a woman if it should happen to have limited success.
The cretins are at the 'then they fight you' stage of development - first they tried to ignore us, then they laughed at us, and now they use every dirty, unethical and sociopathic trick in the book to fight us. While they hare clearly on the losing side of the debate, that doesn't mean we can assume the battle is won. The death threats are no less scary for knowing that those who make them are desperate - rather the opposite. Elliott Rodger were of their ilk, and he put words into action, and we must be very aware that all the women in the gaming community are very aware that this is a possibility with them too. I can assure you that hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of women who want to contribute to the gaming community with game development, game analysis, game reviews, and all sorts of other things think long and hard before they start, because they know the price of admission is so very, very high. Many of them choose not to contribute because of it, and so all of us lose out on insightful work because of these cretins,a nd their supporters, those who do not think it is 'their business; that women should grow a thinker skin, just ignore them and they'll go away' as well as the luke-warm opposers to these cretins.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)and I agree, these folks know they are on the losing end, especially same even the most stupid gaming companies know that they want women to buy their product. The companies realize that the sort of crap they make for the playstation will NOT cut it, even Tomb Raider had to change, which means the cretins realize they are ready to be left behind.
Response to KitSileya (Reply #114)
chrisa This message was self-deleted by its author.
chrisa
(4,524 posts)"Feminism" is an especially touchy subject, since the little boys don't want to lose their 'right to be a man' (douche) to teh 'manginas and FemiNazis' (Men and Women who stand up for women's rights and won't back down to a bunch of sniveling keyboard warriors).
Nobody cares about unbiased gaming journalism (there is no such thing, honestly). The real anger comes from the sex part. Once again, we see bands of angry men raging about a woman making her own sexual choices. Nothing makes misogynist men angrier than women making the decisions about who they will and will not have sex with. Gamergate is nothing short of an embarrassment to the gaming community.
joeglow3
(6,228 posts)But, I bet you can justify it.
chrisa
(4,524 posts)Maybe not embarrassing, but just sad. The gaming community is trying to transcend the "basement-dwelling misogynist loser" stereotype, yet these types are still so prevalent.
It's not judgmental and stereotyping to point out that the gaming community is full of elitist douchebags. Take, for example, sending Anita Sarkessian death threats because she attacked game cliches.
joeglow3
(6,228 posts)What I mean is the culture you are referring to is 1% of the overall gaming population. The VAST VAST VAST majority of people who play games don't go on shit like that....they just play games. Now, of that group, I would be SHOCKED if more than a tiny fraction fits that category. However, since I don't know, I will grant you 50% of that portion.
Regardless, it is a VERY small number of people you are using to judge the entire gaming population.
chrisa
(4,524 posts)I agree that we're dealing with a vocal minority, but it's still significant. That people like Anita Sarkessian can't even have an opinion without graphic rape / death threats, and that Gamergate is even newsworthy shows what a misogynist cesspool gaming communities are.
I am a gamer and have been for most of my life. It pains me to blast communities that revolve around what I love doing, but the truth here can't be ignored. Try discussing Feminism on any gaming forum - it's impossible. Anita Sarkessian is overwhelmingly hated by the gaming community.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)And fucking pathetic as well.
Initech
(100,104 posts)DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)a lot of what needs to be said about bigots. I post him to show that even back before, there were people who understood why this was bad for gaming and spoke up about it, warning language not safe for work.
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/26397/Sesslers-Soapbox-Attention-Bigots/
It shoudk be noted that for years, G4 made a point to always have female commenators with the males, who very often stole the show. Morgan Webb, Alison Haslip and yes, Olivia Munn.
burrowowl
(17,648 posts)For reading later.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)JesterCS
(1,827 posts)always have been since my first computer, a commodore 64 back in the late 80s.
Never have I worried about whether a game was made by males or females. Also, the whole making female characters sexually appealing has never had an impact on me. Seeing the scantily-clad female characters actually makes me roll my eyes and I more than 99% of the time play a male character just because I identify more with that.
Does that mean I would never play a female character? Not at all. In one of my smartphone games one of the classes is female only, but still fun. Do I pay attention to the sexualization of female characters, sometimes, but I don't let it affect me either way.
Point is, I play a game based on a few things. 1. Whether I find the game entertaining 2. Whether it has replay value and 3. Whether the cost is worth the length/depth of the game.
This generation of female-hating Nazis just confuses me. I don't get it. I understand the point that these female voices are making about the content of games related to females. I agree with them to an extent. But in the end it doesn't affect me either way.
Mister Nightowl
(396 posts)Last edited Mon Oct 13, 2014, 02:10 PM - Edit history (1)
Still living in Mommy's basement.
redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)I watched a graduate student throw away his degree because of his addiction to these games. He was within months of completion, but could not finish his dissertation because he spent all day and night playing games. He spent all that money to get a Chemistry PhD and pissed it away on something so trivial.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)but most of the time, the personality is addctive, and the object just varies. Some people can drink a glass of wine every blue moon, some people are drunks.
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)The stress and poor personal habits that tend to kick in at crunch time (wrong foods, poor sleep, too much coffee or ofher stimulents) probably increased his addictive impulses. Online gaming is designed to promote addiction in every way it can - especially if it is a so-called free-to-play game. Very bad mix with the milestone events in life where you need to show up.
That guy needs to make a clean break, which will be hard considering all the time, and possibly money he's invested. He will need real life friends around him when he does and other real life things to do. He will need to be busy with other stuff. I'm not personally a fan of therapy, but if his health plan will pick up the tab, perhaps that will help.
I hope he can go back and finish his PH.D. once he has broken the addiction. His professors might actually take into account the idea of a stress freak out.
I hope things work out for him. I'm sympathetic because I've read a lot of articles on the psychological tricks used in game design. Really not his fault.
ProfessorGAC
(65,195 posts)Where are the authorities? Those are bona fide threats of violence. Somebody needs to be arresting these buffoons.
Ash_F
(5,861 posts)Really, it is trivial to track these people when we are already spending trillions of our own tax dollars on the technology.
Calista241
(5,586 posts)They constantly bitch about even highly successful games. Especially if new content isn't up to their expectations.
Even insanely successful games like Destiny and WoW are ridiculed in dispicable terms by many, even some of their most loyal fans. "So and so is RUINING the game" or some variation is heard after every expansion pack, content release, published interview or sneak peak at forthcoming features.
I have trouble believing it is because there are female programmer though. Females are highly sought after members of hard core raid guilds and the fan bases in general. Most likely, the "fan" found out that picking on her sex irritated her and they pounced.
Bet they didn't believe it would become a national story though. Serves the bastard right.
derby378
(30,252 posts)Anyone remember this Atari classic? It was co-created in 1981 by Dona Bailey. A woman.
It's far too late for anyone to complain about women in gaming. They are here, and I welcome them with open arms.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)The stalker with that twitter handle should be in jail.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)FUCK is wrong with these people???? In my state that kind of shit is considered to be and rightly prosecuted as "terroristic threats." Sounds like some people need a time out in the crowbar Hilton.
Oktober
(1,488 posts)News at 11...
Bonobo
(29,257 posts)It's ridiculous to think that in 2014.
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)I can't be bothered with sorting through the posts above - but one of the GamerGate defenders was trying to declare "victory" for the Men's Rights cause because Intel had withdrawn advertising from Gamasutra and Gawker, and there was something about use of the #GamerGate hashtag, along with the continued attempt to somehow turn egregious and horrific misogyny into "nerd bullying"... well, that all had me scratching my head. Why would Intel do that?
Surely a corporate giant like Intel (and apparently Adobe) wouldn't be taken in by the way these little weasels strategize on the rules of whatever the current system they are in and turn everything around (which, by the way, they are apparently easily able to do HERE) and actually go so far as to pull advertising before fully checking to see if they were being punked?
Nope. They saw the word "bully" and made the knee-jerk response.
http://gawker.com/how-we-got-rolled-by-the-dishonest-fascists-of-gamergat-1649496579
I would like to congratulate and thank Gawker for finally standing up and laying out that this is actually a STRATEGY employed by these trolls to confuse people and deceive them into taking action against the wrong parties. This kind of strategizing is a behavior cultivated within the context of gaming, where you don't only try to win the game according to the rules, you try to beat the system itself by deploying its rules. This is deliberate behavior. It's being used here and now. Read through the comments above and find the crow of triumph about pulling the advertising from Intel and Gamasutra, and tell me it isn't so.
Then can we finally start educating each other at DU about this, and stop calling this an "irrelevant" gamer thing which only allows these trolls to continues to make the clueless their prey?
Ps. As an added bonus, here's a link from the Gawker comments with screenshots of a plan to manipulate "social justice" language:
https://twitter.com/EffNOVideoGames/status/522833853279268864/photo/1
The comments above (in this thread) also include some of the chat from 4chan with other plots to "dox" (expose the private information) of women and attempt to drive them to suicide, etc.