Stuff Under the Header

12/07/2014

I Didn't Want To Do This

As an online identity, as ZephyrBurst, a guy who (for now) makes hobbyist games, I had chosen to stay silent for current issues in gaming culture. I've never supported GG, and never will, but I also didn't want to be part of any of that. All I want to do is make and play video games. I just like things to be simple. I have been watching it all unfold since this stuff blew up in August, but I've remained an on-looker.

However, I can't be silent anymore and really, a silent supporter is useless. Things have become a bit more personal now. A friend of mine has been a target of the misogynistic bullshit that is happening and its been an eye opener in all this. I will be speaking out against inequality and unfairness from this point on.

I would like to note that this will probably be the only post about this on the blog, but in the places I may frequent where these discussions occur, I'll be there. You may see my twitter get a bit heated from time to time as well. I've watched this stuff from the sidelines for way too long and its been angering.

Blog Update
We'll be returning to DT stuff after this, which by the way, I'm making some dedicated pages for the three games. The first draft buttons on the side will link to the start of those. I'll be expanding those and getting a better format sometime this month. (Maybe? or January :P DT dev tends to come first.)

3 comments:

NegativeZeroZ said...

Have I severely underestimated the scale of this stupidly-named
"scandal?" The internet has always been wont to make mountains out of anthills so I tend to ignore it ("it" being the internet) and am usually content to hide under my rock until the shitstorm blows over.

I read the Cracked.com article by Zoe (because hell will freeze over before I trust the internet over their victims), and what I got out of it was "how dare a woman have sex and not tell the internet about it?! BLARGH!" and apparently that shit gets people's SSNs posted on 4chan, so I opted to stay out of it. Call me a coward or whatever but the prospect of social suicide isn't exactly motivating me to create a social media account just to give myself the privilege of speaking to "Friendzoned Anonymous."

ZephyrBurst said...

It's worth noting that there are legitimate debates made from some people who associate themselves with gg. My biggest issue with it is the lack of any barriers to entry. If all you need to do to 'be part of it' is tag a post or say you're in support of it, then you've got any random fucktard able to say random shit. And with that ease of access, you will inevitably have the trolls who do it just for the sake of doing it.

The problem I see is that those who are legitimate in what they say gg is for, need to separate themselves from it. There's just too many voices when there are legitimate discussions. Too many negative people who go in with hateful comments and threats to anyone with breasts and it drowns out any legit discussion, which of course these will become the spotlight. It's like the shit that Scientology used to do in the late 90s to cover up criticism about the organization. They had people dedicated to finding these articles, and had a slew of accounts that would fill the comments sections of articles and discussions with bs that would drop the legit discussions past the first page.

The article on/by Zoe that you found is part of what sparked the whole thing. Which to me, is silly rubbish. If you're going after bad ethics in game journalism, there are bigger fish out there, much worse things to uncover. To me, they only targeted Zoe because it was easy, but that's just my opinion on it.

I'd like to further clarify my statement in the original post. I won't be out there commenting and objecting to everything I see. That's a pointless battle, as like I said, many of those people are just in it to troll. If someone isn't willing to have an actual discussion, the block button is a handy feature that more people need to be using, specifically on twitter. It's handy for silencing people in certain ways.

I don't have an issue with those that are legitimate in their cause against bad ethics in journalism, but like I said up there, I do feel there needs to be a separation and a better focus on things. I don't have the answers for that, but I do hope something on that is figured out that has a way to keep the shittards from flooding a good discussion.

What I am after, are those who would harass and threaten others, especially when that is based on their gender, whether that being biological or identity. Not to attack them, but to hopefully get them to explain themselves and hopefully encourage them to change their behavior. This is where the block button comes in handy, where you separate someone who is either misguided or misinformed, and could change their behavior, from someone who is unwilling to have a discussion.

In the end, this is more than just about gg, it's more about addressing harassment, threats, and the doxxing that people have been subjected to. GG is just a movement that is now too deep in hate and harassment at this point to be saved. It needs a restart and organization if it wants to succeed. So no, I'm not a supporter of gg.

If you are curious about what's going on, I do suggest researching a bit more as well.

NegativeZeroZ said...

Ah, the good old "man covered in shit" problem. No matter how valid your point is, if the man who's covered in shit is the first to agree with you, it makes you look bad.

It seems like GG was just an excuse for the internet to do what the internet does more than it was the actual problem, but that doesn't change the fact that I think the name is fuzzing stupid. These are games journalists, not politicians. Just how many orders of magnitude of exaggeration does it take to name any movement to do with videogames after Watergate?

I've never cared about misogynistic meatheads being misogynistic meatheads, but this is setting a venomous precedent that women aren't wanted in this industry, and this is an industry that desperately needs more X chromosomes. The fact that female devs are seeing GG and thinking of quitting is the most telling sign that this shit should have ended approximately two decades before it started, I think.