#GamerGate: Keepin' Journos Honest

[Blindknagg]

I saw a tweet earlier when someone did compare GG adn the WB. Sadly I forgot to save the link.

[DukeC]

I’m surprised no one from GG has compared the SJWs to Westboro Baptists. The comparison is far more apt than comparing us to ISIS, don’t you think?

Ummm.

Stirring the pot much?

[crucades]

Kamiya tanking the saki hard wondering why people are so mad over some titties, I feel bad a bit for him cause he is on twitter pulling his balls off over this shit.

[shinquickman]

Idiots keep annoying Kamiya about gamergate from both sides. The Japanese don’t give a fuck about American problems.

I’m surprised he said something to begin with. Normally, the Japanese just give out their patented “stone face” when they’re confronted with something they don’t want to talk about.

[crucades]

Doomchild (Doomchild_)

https://twitter.com/RogueStarGamez/status/523532611512434688
https://twitter.com/RogueStarGamez/status/523533200732479488

Rogue keeping it real

[DukeC]

I mean. I don’t even understand. The level of denial it took for things to escalate like this is astounding.

At the very beginning they could’ve been like “Yeah, we fucked up. Sorry”. That would have been the end of it. I’m 99.9% sure of that. Most people would have dropped it with an apology, however half assed, and it wouldn’t have come back up. Hell, they even could have gone right back to doing what they were doing and damn near no one would have cared.

Just…the absolute arrogance in thinking they could insult their ENTIRE consumer base like that…

Pride goeth before the fall indeed.

[crucades]

Yea well the journos who were caught out in the beginning threw their lot in with the SJW hoping the ensuing shit storm would mask culpability. Evidently all thats happening now is these sorry bastards are losing advertisements, reputations are shot to pieces and to cap things of we might get a Senate hearing on BBC news with a bunch of old white dudes wondering wtf is going on and who they are going to punish as a cause of it. Popcorn to battlestations.

[Blindknagg]

TechCrunch (Owned by AOL who also owns Joystiq) posted this recently.

TechCrunch (TechCrunch)

This is especially obvious in this sorry saga (for a detailed breakdown of Gamergate I recommend reading this excellent post; I won’t be rehashing the specific events here) because the players involved are exactly that: gamers. This rage-ful, over-entitled, Internet-connected fraternity of kids share one core skill: playing games. Little wonder, then, they have proved so expert at driving a toxic hellbrew of misogyny into the mainstream media — and all over social media — by gaming popular online channels using a sophisticated playbook of disruption.

[Don_Barracuda]

I’ve been reading that Reddit thread (I really should be doing my thesis), it’s very insightful, and from a woman’s point of view. Here are some highlights

Question:

[list]
[*] What impressions have you gotten from co-workers and contacts in the industry regarding GamerGate?

[*] What impressions do you have, and have you received, from co-workers/contacts in regard to game journalists, especially in the context of GamerGate?

[*] How much are people buying this “it’s all a conspiracy against women” line, really?

[*] What can GamerGate do to reach out to developers more? What can we do to encourage more developers to reach out to us?
[/list]

Response:
[list]
[*] Impressions are pretty much mixed, though with a slightly more supportive leaning. It really depends on how much background research the person’s actually done. Those who’ve actually spent the time to read all the articles and look behind the smokescreens typically are supportive of GamerGate.

[*] In terms of journalists, that’s a tougher one to answer. I haven’t really spoken to anyone about journalists specifically, more about the overarching situation and how ridiculous it is that people are falling for so brazen of a coverup.

[*] None of my female friends in the industry feel as though anyone is conspiring against us. (We don’t feel the need for tinfoil hats, either. ;D )

[*] Continue to do what you’re doing. And when someone claiming to represent GamerGate does something horrible, the most important thing you can do it SPEAK OUT AGAINST IT. Make sure people are aware that that person (if they exist at all) does NOT represent you, your views, or the point of all this.
[/list]

Question
What reasons would you give for the lack of women in the video game industry?

Response:
Basically just lack of desire to get into the field. I don’t think it really runs deeper than that. I have friends in the industry and friends outside of it, and the ones outside of it are in NO way women I could see making games. This isn’t due to intellectual capacity, they just aren’t gamers and aren’t interested in games… and contrary to what some people are trying to shove down people’s throats, that’s perfectly ok.

Question:
Firstly, what was most frustrating for you, after seeing she who won’t be named on MSNBC talking about how all female developers feel?
Secondly, what is one of the most inspiring things you’ve seen come out of GG so far, in your view?

Response:
You know, not long ago someone did that shit on twitter, too. They were like “ALL GAME DEVS ARE AGAINST GAMERGATE AND SUPPORT ZOE QUINN”. I don’t like it when people speak for me. I am my own person and have my own voice.

She Who Won’t Be Named is the worst kind of charlatan. She took something she straight up said she didn’t like and wasn’t interested in and is co-opting it for attention. I don’t feel the same as her, I don’t share her views, and I don’t like what she is doing.

In terms of inspiring things, the anti-bullying stuff you all have been up to lately really made me smile. As a former victim of bullying, that cause means a lot to me.

Question:
Have you ever felt ideological pressure as a woman to say certain things? Have you been mistreated for being a woman?

Response:
I have never been mistreated for being a woman. In fact, the only way I’m treated differently at all is by men tiptoeing around me like anything they might say could offend me.
In terms of ideologies, mostly I just stay quiet, though a number of us with the same sort of ideas know each other’s stances and keep our non-feminist and non-sjw views to ourselves to avoid negative attention.

Question:
Do you ever worry that all these efforts to do nothing but tell women Gamers will do nothing but treat them like shit, and them entering this field would be putting themselves at risk for that?

Yes it’s a loaded question but to be honest I don’t know how to phrase it so it isn’t. That simply is what these people are doing. I guess I’d just like your thoughts on that.

Constantly saying “we need more women in gaming” but then also constantly saying “gamers will literally not stop harassing women”, and then gamers defending themselves, and pointing back to that defence as “LOOK THEY’RE TRYING TO PREVENT WOMEN FROM GETTING INTO GAMING. See what I mean? They ARE all sexist women-harassers”…

I just can’t see how that’s going to want to make the average women with a cursory interest but who hasn’t yet looked into the field, want to enter it. I personally think it makes them see the area and go “yep not going near that” and that to me is just a fucking shame, because as a gamer, I don’t care who makes my games, at all. The pixels I interact with change based only on the quality of the developer, not their pigmentation or chromosomes or ANYTHING but the game.

Sorry, I kinda turned asking a question into a rant. I apologize for that, I got passionate

Response:
Actually I am VERY concerned about that.
Recently I was contacted by my favourite professor from college who told me he had a student in his Game Dev class that was worried about getting into the industry from allt he terrible things she reads online. This is a girl straight out of high school, in college to do what she loves, and these people are literally scaring the crap out of her and making her second guess her career choice.
I think that’s absolutely reprehensible.

Question:
Are there any gender-related issues in gaming or games development that you (or your female peers) are genuinely concerned about or feel could use discussing?

Response:
No, not really that I can think of.
Basically the stance of the girls I hang out with is essentially that we are comfortable and confident, and we reflect that in our work.

Question:What is your opinion of the coverage given to GamerGate in the mainstream media and in gaming media?

Response:
i think it’s sad that as a midlevel manager at a studio I’ve done more research into all of this than MSNBC has.

Question:
If there’s so much misogyny in the gaming industry according to these journalists bloggers, then why has there been no coverage (aside from Stardock’s slandering)?

Response
That’s a great question I wish I could answer for you. It’s the same as asking why there was no coverage of the syringe full of some random liquid Milo Y. got in the mail. I really just dont get it.

Question:
[list]
[*] Do you think the depictions of women in Dragon’s Crown are sexist? How about Bayonetta?

[*] Do you think it’s sexist in a way that causes or reinforces sexism in the players of the game?

[*] Do you think these games could be construed to be sexist and rude in the way that (to pull a random example) a Mexican halloween costume might be considered rude? How should this be handled, if anything needs to be one at all?

[*] What do you think about this new Christian game site actually producing two different ratings, one for general quality, and another for a morality score?

[*] As a female game dev does this lower your view of people that play a game like Dragon’s Crown?

[*] Is it ok for people to enjoy racially insensitive and sexist things in their private entertainment. Where does the line need to be drawn? 100%? Single player? Multiplayer?

[*] I can find older media with racist language and themes such as Conan the Barbarian and The Shadow older pulp fiction that are no longer written. Do we need to treat these kinds of themes and scenes in video games the same way and stop creating them in the case of “sexism”?

[*] Do you believe in the existence of rape culture and white privilege? Should kids be taught about these things?
[/list]

Response:
[list]
[*] Not really. Dragon’s Crown- More power to them if they can get that to stay on while in battle, and I think Bayonetta is awesome, strong, and hot. ;D

[*] Not really. If someone isn’t already sexist they aren’t going to become that way by playing games any more than they’d go shoot someone because they play Call of Duty.

[*] Unfortunately you can’t please everyone, and no matter what you do and how hard you try, someone is always going to be offended. Would I dress up like a Mexican person for Halloween? No, definitely not. Would I be offended by it? Eh, not really. I think that things like vampires and zombies are far more Halloween-y, though.

[*] I think ti’s great for Christians and those who are concerned about things like that in games. So long as they aren’t trying to implement it into the ESRB, more power to them.

[*] Nope. I’m personally not into anime or that art style so it doesn’t really really appeal to me for that reason. However, I know plenty of folks who dig it, so I’m not gonna look down on them for playing what they want to play.

[*] I don’t believe in being the Thought Police, and it’s not my place to tell someone what to think or believe even if I think their stance is idiotic, insensitive, ignorant.

[*] No.

[*] Rape culture? Not in the western world. In places like India where women are at risk of being gang raped on a public bus and nothing is ever done to punish the perpetrators? or in the middle east where women have acid thrown in their faces or are stoned to death? Sure. And that’s where the people claiming this stuff is happening so vehemently should be focusing their attention.

[*] As for white privilege, I came from a lower class background, have been broke most of my live and now in my mid 30s am finally reaping the rewards of all my hard work… so no, I don’t really think that’s a thing either.
[/list]

Question
Hi and thank you for doing this.
One of the more ridiculous sounding claims by “LWu” has been that she knows “almost all of the women in the game industry” and that you’re all terrified. Any truth to that?

Response:
I don’t know her, she doesn’t know me, and to my knowledge none of my personal circle of female game dev friends are personally acquainted with her, so I have no idea where she feels she can get off making a huge blanket statement like that.
We aren’t terrified of anything.

Thanks! Can I ask an unrelated question? Are there any points of the anti-GG camp that resonate with you or that you think are meritorious, and that the GG side needs to address?

No, actually… :\

Question:
Glad to have you with us!
Would you say claims, “Gamers are Hateful Misogynists,” “Games are Rape Simulators,” and, “The industry is rife with Sexism,” attract, or repel women from joining the industry?

Response:
Absolutely repel. I mean, if you were a black person and heard the entire industry was made up of Klan members, would you want to work in the industry?
That wort of rhetoric does NOTHING to attract women to the industry. It’s got a decidedly negative effect and is completely contradicting the things these people claim to want.
I just don’t get it.

[DukeC]

I didn’t even know AOL was still in business…

Niggas still use Dial-Up!?

[Don_Barracuda]

Added a few more questions and responses. One great point she makes is that Anita’s and Brianna’s slandering will put more women off working in the industry instead of attracting women.

Does anybody know of any all female dev teams?

[Ash_Crimson]

Surely one could also argue that the response both of them got could also contribute to putting women off from entering the industry?

[crucades]

Based Mom tweeted something regarding that not long ago

Christina Sommers (CHSommers)

[Blindknagg]

Nfinit "Sun King" Vylence (Nfinit)

FACELESS PILE OF POO (VoxTechnologie)

[Joshkaz]

Wait…How is Burgers and Fries sexist?
Like, how can any sane individual think its sexist? Even if its a nick name to joke on someone it’s still not sexist. Dicky thing to call someone, but not sexist to the fairer sex. Now, Womancan’tevencookbetterthanmen is sexist.

[DukeC]

I’m not gonna lie. That exchange literally made me laugh out loud for a solid 2-3 minutes.

[Don_Barracuda]

Surely one could also argue that the response both of them got could also contribute to putting women off from entering the industry?

Indeed. One could argue that, but as this developer points out, anyone that spends some time looking into this will realize the industry isn’t like this at all.

[Ash_Crimson]

Doesn’t matter if the industry isn’t like that, it matters how customers and people treat you and unfortunately women do seem to get the brunt of it for whatever reason.

[Joshkaz]

Not really.

Wasn’t until this whole GG shit that I even heard of women getting all these shit tossed at them, most of which appears to be false or faked.

Before all this shit the spokes person(s) of w/e a company is trying to sell you got the lashing from consumers, man or woman. Or developers. They get ragged on constantly.

[Ash_Crimson]

Oh well i guess if you didn’t know it didn’t happen then, case closed.