Larian Studios Forums General Chat Gaming Journalism or #Gamergate

From the Gamergate side in general:

- Indie devs are getting unfair advantages by sleeping with/being overly friendly with journalists and PR people. (agree)
- The indie development scene is very clique-ish, with disproportionate bias towards people living in close proximity. (agree)
- Discussion has been censored. (agree)
- The journalists involved smeared critics by calling them "misogynists" and "privileged straight white males" and so on. (agree)
- On social media the same journalists openly harass and insult level-headed criticism like 8 year olds (Leigh Alexander anyone?). (agree)
- Eron Gjoni (an emotionally abused ex that wanted no part in harassment) has been demonised to an extreme degree. (agree)
- Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian are considered representatives of women in the gaming industry, which has not been received well by many of Gamergate's female supporters.
- Mainstream publications and the Wikipedia article have taken the journalists' unethical articles as gospel and have perpetuated the smear campaign. (agree - but disagree that it was entirely intentional)
- Harassment towards Gamergate advocates has been downplayed in favour of the harassment against Quinn and Sarkeesian. (agree)
- Widespread hypocrisy from the people involved (many racist, homophobic, misogynistic and transphobic slurs have been used by anti-Gamergate people in stark contrast to the narrative they want to tell.) (agree)
- People who condemn harassment are being unfairly lumped in with the (mostly anonymous) harassers. (agree)
- Zoe Quinn sabotaged a feminist game charity for her own personal gains. (agree that she sabotaged the charity, unsure about the motives)
- People are using "social justice issues" as cheap tactics to garner sympathy and get donations from the public. (on the fence)
- It has been made a gender issue because the catalyst was a female. (mostly agree but requires context)

From the Gamergate fringe:

- Progressives want to enforce an ideology of Cultural Marxism
- Extreme feminists want to increase their influence on pop culture
- "Pop culture critics" want mass censorship of art.

From the Gamergate opposition:

- Women are not welcomed by the gaming consumers
- Eron Gjoni was a bitter ex that wanted revenge
- Zoe Quinn's relationships didn't give her more exposure/better connections in the industry
- Eron lied/Photoshopped evidence for his thezoepost blog
- Zoe Quinn has been slut shamed (agree)
- Zoe Quinn was merely expressing her sexuality
- If Zoe Quinn's infidelity is true, it doesn't warrant harassment (agree)
- Gamergate supporters accused Anita Sarkeesian of faking her own harassment without decent evidence (agree)
- Gamergate has been a shield for misogynistic harassment
- Gamers are content with the status quo and don't want better female representations in games and games design
- Opposition is mostly or entirely from straight white male gamers
- People that aren't part of the aforementioned demographic are liars
- Gamergate is full of conspiracy theorists
- Gaming journalism isn't a big deal and has more similarities with blogging therefore ethical standards need not apply
- Gamergate is full of socially inept fanatics that need to get outside more
- Gamergate supporters are reluctant to oppose the harassment of Quinn and Sarkeesian

From the Gamergate opposition's fringe:

- Gamergate wants to re-enforce an oppressive patriarchal societal structure that benefits men only
- Female supporters of Gamergate have internalised misogyny
- More moderate feminist speakers are trying to push regressive, conservative politics

The dark side of the gaming industry. While I'm not really into the issue, I do have my own observations on how gaming journalism is running and how they seem to try to impose their collective view on what games should be rather than on what it actually is.

Remember the flak that Ubisoft got for not including a female character/avatar in Assassin''s Creed Unity? I think that's just pathetic sensationalism from people who wanted to push ideas and agendas that are out of context. I've read probably around five articles talking about how regressive Ubisoft's stance was, and how it does not promote gender equality,etc, etc. Surprisingly, none of them took note of the fact that the game lets you control one protagonist only, and the avatars were intended to replace Arno in someone else's system. Getting a female avatar while you are playing as a male in your own console makes no sense whatsoever.

While I also want to see more games with female (heck, maybe even gay) protagonists, I'm wary about putting it in a game just to satisfy the "demand" for more representation. If the story does not call for it, I don't see any reason why.

When I make reviews (yes, I write for a website with a different handle), I give my impressions, but ultimately leave it to the reader to decide for himself if he or she will like the game or the movie. For example, I reviewed both Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno and The Legend Ends, and while it is clear that I liked both, I did highlight some parts that may not be that good for other people. The same when I wrote about Assassin's Creed Rogue. Was I excited about the announcement? Hell, yeah! I haven't made the jump to next gen so that's welcome news. Did it ever cross my mind that Ubisoft is milking this franchise dry by releasing a game that's 80% carbon copy of Black Flag? Of course it did, but I'll judge the game when it comes, and on its own merits and flaws.

I also remember an incident way back when the Tomb Raider reboot was still in its development stage and there was a talk (or a video, I think) of Lara being possibly raped. I don't know the details, but I do remember there was outrage about it. But hey, I'm cool with it, if it furthers the story that Lara Croft was hardened by her experiences on that island. It wasn't included in the game, but I do find it ironic that people are angry about Lara being "objectified" when she has been so for years since the late 90s. Maybe it depends on how the "rape scene" would have been made, but the idea of a woman being raped by men who had been stranded on a place for an untold period of time is as real as it can get. It doesn't make Lara Croft an object in my eyes, it just hammers the point that she's been going through hell. Putting in women's rights in a game that's about a strong woman is, well, irony at its finest. But much of those anti-gamergate folks love to put issues where they don't belong.

So in principle, I sympathize with gamergate, because they are real problems that no one wants to see. But it's the fact that no one wants to see it that forms the backbone to its resistance.