Why is casual racism/sexism more accepted in video games than other forms of media (these days)?

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*they, that is

flamboyant goon tie included, Monday, 2 September 2019 00:38 (four years ago) link

which one of Soule's accusers?

quelle sprocket damage (sic), Monday, 2 September 2019 02:22 (four years ago) link

I thought it was clear I was referring to the woman who has alleged that Soule raped her, not the other woman who describes having received an unwanted explicit video from him

flamboyant goon tie included, Monday, 2 September 2019 03:05 (four years ago) link

sorry! I googled in order to keep up with the thread and found an article with three (or 2.5) accusers and no screenshots of anything, was just trying to orient myself with what ppl are talking about

quelle sprocket damage (sic), Monday, 2 September 2019 04:41 (four years ago) link

I don’t understand why anyone’s still defaulting to a position of “this person can’t produce any hard evidence so I don’t believe them”. Sexual assault is really fucking common, people lying about sexual assault is really fucking rare, and jesus, no, rapists don’t tend to send emails mentioning the fact they’re rapists. Believe the victim.

Engadget’s take on recent events was actually quite an optimistic one and I’d like to think they’re right.

https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/30/gamergate-sexual-abuse-twitter-developers-zoe-quinn/

JimD, Monday, 2 September 2019 09:33 (four years ago) link

I understand where fgti is coming from. I fully acknowledge that sometimes people make false accusations and that those false accusations hurt people who are falsely accused. I do still take the position of defaulting to believing accusers until or unless I have reason not to.

Speaking up about abuse, for me, is a powerful step towards breaking the cycle of abuse, even though frequently it leads one to be dismissed and not believed.

sock fingering, baby (rushomancy), Monday, 2 September 2019 12:49 (four years ago) link

I do not let my mandate to "believe survivors" evaporate my critical facilities. And: it's not that I disbelieve Soule's accuser, it is simply that her account of Soule's rape of her does not read to me, in its current state, as being credible. Considering that civil cases (such as defamation) are decided by who appears to be more credible-- the plaintiff or the defendant-- I am concerned that Soule's accuser may lose, in the event of a defamation suit, which I intuit will be Soule's response. And regardless of the veracity of her allegation of rape, it is clear from the rest of her post that she is absolutely the victim of a toxic work environment, where she was belittled and left unpaid and not given credit for the work she did. I think she is a victim and deserves justice; I intuit that her allegation of rape, as it currently has been stated, may currently succeed in the court of public opinion, but will not succeed under legal scrutiny, and a woman who has been victimized (via a toxic work environment) will not receive justice because her complaint about her workplace has been coloured by a rape allegation that may be determined, in the future, to lack credibility. (I do not relish reading Twitter in the event that this turns out to be the case, and I will pray every night to be rendered illiterate.)

I read the article you posted, JimD, and I am frustrated with its inaccuracies and fallacies. In the first paragraph alone, the author states that "Soule has denied [both] allegations", but this is false; Soule did not deny the allegation that he'd sent explicit video to his second accuser, he simply stated that the context in which the video was sent differed, in his memory, from the context that his accuser described. As his second accuser is not apparently engaging in defamation-- she is not lying, i.e., she is credibly describing something that happened, and speaking about her feelings toward what happened, and Soule seems to tacitly confirm that the facts of her account are correct-- I do not intuit that Soule will press for legal action against his second accuser, as he has no grounds for it; it makes no sense to sue somebody who is telling the truth. Either way, the Engadget article is incorrect, and it is worth noting, journalistically, that Soule has tacitly confirmed the facts of the second accuser's account, as it demonstrates that he's willing to publicly acknowledge the facts of his behaviour. Omitting this detail misrepresents Soule, and portrays him as an individual who issues blanket denials, with no capacity toward self-examination.

I too believe it is important to speak up about abuse, but I personally believe that all possible avenues of resolution should be explored before making public call-outs. I say not as a criticism of individuals who choose to make public call-outs, but as an observation of the inefficacy and, well, danger of making them; Quinn's abuser killed himself, and I intuit that Soule's accuser will be facing legal action-- no justice will be served in either scenario.

flamboyant goon tie included, Monday, 2 September 2019 14:20 (four years ago) link

When I read about allegations of these sort, I typically choose to not use my critical faculties. I don't believe that I am competent, in most cases, to judge what actually happened in these contested cases, because typically I don't have access to sufficient evidence to make an objective judgment. When I choose who to believe - this is pretty much always "the victim" but I also, I find, have certain latitude to decide who I feel "the victim" is - this is very much a subjective judgment. That's my compromise. I don't feel comfortable choosing to abstain from all varieties of judgment, because of the environment I live in, because silence favors the oppressor.

I agree with your assessment that "naming and shaming" possesses certain dangers, that it is fallible, that it can lead to grave miscarriages of justice. I support it despite these dangers because, right now, it seems like this process is the best form of justice victims of abuse and/or assault have access to.

sock fingering, baby (rushomancy), Monday, 2 September 2019 15:51 (four years ago) link

<3 very well said!

flamboyant goon tie included, Monday, 2 September 2019 16:01 (four years ago) link

it makes no sense to sue somebody who is telling the truth

It does when you have money to burn on lawyers, no? See Michael Jackson.

Melon Musk (Leee), Monday, 2 September 2019 16:02 (four years ago) link

Good post flamoyant goon tie, but why do I feel like you're sercretly shilling for TurboTax?

☮ (peace, man), Monday, 2 September 2019 16:03 (four years ago) link

I just think it's worth approaching this kind of thing from a position of "what good or harm am I doing by publicly applying my critical facilities?". Your chances of impacting the specific case in question are effectively zero, so no good is coming of it in that sense. But other victims who haven't yet told their stories are possibly (probably!) hearing you, and the message you're giving them is "if you want the truth of what happened to you to be known and don't just want to be victimised further, you'd better make sure you tell the story in such a way that you meet *my* critical standards", and all that can do is make it harder for people to feel they can identify predators, which of course is actively helpful to those predators.

Like, the full version of "believe the victim" should probably go "believe the victim and state publicly that you do, OR feel free to not believe them but if that's your position then at least keep quiet about it because really, how is your voice helping anything otherwise?".

And ok I get that the answer to the last question is probably "it's helping protect people who might be falsely accused now or in the future" but a) that's a much tinier group of people than the group of people who have been victims of sexual misconduct and b) it's already a much better protected group of people too, and worst of all c) if it's a group that you feel you're potentially a member of yourself then that slips into the "my self preservation is more important to me than my compassion for people who have had been through traumatic experiences" zone.

JimD, Tuesday, 3 September 2019 08:43 (four years ago) link

but I personally believe that all possible avenues of resolution should be explored before making public call-outs.

fwiw I do absolutely agree with you here, but I still can't bring myself to be critical of anyone who doesn't feel they can do that, and chooses the public callout route instead.

JimD, Tuesday, 3 September 2019 08:46 (four years ago) link

(Which isn't to say you *are* being critical of those people, I mean you've specifically stated you aren't being, so I guess "but" was just a bad choice wrong word in that sentence).

JimD, Tuesday, 3 September 2019 08:48 (four years ago) link

A good and powerful and grim post about the Night in the Woods developer: https://medium.com/@bombsfall/alec-2618dc1e23e

Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, 4 September 2019 10:28 (four years ago) link

he posted on reddit a few days ago, saying he would follow up with a detailed post - this was it. really sad, but very thoughtful and explains things pretty well

Nhex, Wednesday, 4 September 2019 13:24 (four years ago) link

Great essay.

☮ (peace, man), Wednesday, 4 September 2019 13:48 (four years ago) link

That's an exceptionally heavy essay and very well written and compassionate as well. I have learned (too late, in one instance) that it's very good practice to stay far away from people who seem to have nothing but negative shit to say about their exes, or their former close friends.

@ JimD, I could type all day about my thoughts on this, but I don't have much luck communicating effectively my thoughts on this topic in forums. It's more of a conversation. In general, though, you're right, I'm not generally critical of the people who engage in call-outs, I am critical of the mechanism itself. (I say this, too, as somebody who has engaged in a call out, and found the experience to be exhausting, professionally harmful, and ineffective.) I don't think "callouts" generally have a good track record for helping survivors heal, or holding the accused accountable. Certainly, on social media, it's become more of a circus-of-bullying than anything even tangentially related to social justice.

flamboyant goon tie included, Wednesday, 4 September 2019 21:42 (four years ago) link

Game publisher Nicalis, successful for smash hits like Cave Story and Binding of Isaac, has a dark side. A Kotaku investigation reveals employee exploitation, mismanagement, and a whole lot of workplace racism from founder Tyrone Rodriguez. My latest: https://t.co/S6U8RghwOO pic.twitter.com/btXZmWPPu8

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) September 12, 2019

Evan, Thursday, 12 September 2019 16:25 (four years ago) link

yikes

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Thursday, 12 September 2019 16:35 (four years ago) link

"please enjoy the comedy racism of Tyrone Rodriguez"

brigadier pudding (DJP), Thursday, 12 September 2019 16:55 (four years ago) link

that guy & nicalis in general has always been extremely shady

ciderpress, Thursday, 12 September 2019 16:58 (four years ago) link

yeh not surprised that terribly run company is run by a terrible person

( X '____' )/ (zappi), Thursday, 12 September 2019 17:07 (four years ago) link

nine months pass...
two weeks pass...

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-07-10-interplay-silent-on-earthworm-jim-developers-racist-homophobic-remarks

No surprise that he's still a piece of garbage.

Nhex, Saturday, 11 July 2020 09:51 (three years ago) link

one of several original Earthworm Jim creators returning to work on a new exclusive entry in the series for the upcoming Intellivision Amico console


the what?

sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Saturday, 11 July 2020 11:37 (three years ago) link

huh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R2CRuQNBzk

peace, man, Saturday, 11 July 2020 11:42 (three years ago) link

Finally, cornhole the way YOU want it

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Saturday, 11 July 2020 15:03 (three years ago) link

surely GenXSys would've been the better name

Mein Skampf (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 11 July 2020 15:07 (three years ago) link

roid rage

fkknutter, Saturday, 18 July 2020 21:58 (three years ago) link

one month passes...

https://www.wired.com/story/retro-gaming-violent-tragedy-rudy-ferretti/

Nhex, Monday, 31 August 2020 04:28 (three years ago) link

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-08-30-ubisoft-pulls-black-lives-matter-raised-fist-from-new-tom-clancy-game-following-backlash

Ubisoft pulls Black Lives Matter raised fist from new Tom Clancy game following backlash
Admits it was "insensitive and harmful"

オニモ (onimo), Tuesday, 1 September 2020 13:21 (three years ago) link

Doesn't explain why they chose to go with the harmful image in the first place. They really can't claim ignorance to the symbolism of a raised black fist.

オニモ (onimo), Tuesday, 1 September 2020 13:22 (three years ago) link

they can replace it with a facepalm

sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Tuesday, 1 September 2020 14:09 (three years ago) link

shocked that a Tom Clancy adaptation could even be insensitive or harmful, what has the world come to?

Anti-Cop Ponceortium (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 1 September 2020 14:14 (three years ago) link

one month passes...

this is. a real good thread pic.twitter.com/X0zcL7oTmE

— Nunki (@blodhundur) October 20, 2020

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 26 October 2020 19:31 (three years ago) link

three months pass...

She’s amazing!

JimD, Wednesday, 10 February 2021 09:56 (three years ago) link

If you need another reason to avoid anything related to Harry Potter: https://kotaku.com/hogwarts-legacy-lead-designer-used-to-run-anti-social-j-1846316222

RZA Minnelli (Leee), Sunday, 21 February 2021 20:24 (three years ago) link

one month passes...

this is just hands down the funniest image ive seen in a while. intel is making automated bleep software and im howling at the backend pic.twitter.com/w4fRq9qYIX

— bea (@beesmygod_) April 7, 2021

G.A.G.S. (Gophers Against Getting Stuffed) (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 8 April 2021 19:14 (three years ago) link

"Just some misogyny and a few slices of apple servant. Perfection."

G.A.G.S. (Gophers Against Getting Stuffed) (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 8 April 2021 19:15 (three years ago) link

yeah that is achingly stupid

rob, Thursday, 8 April 2021 19:17 (three years ago) link

I am wheezing

Dana Jel Pey (DJP), Thursday, 8 April 2021 20:15 (three years ago) link

two months pass...

https://www.polygon.com/22538276/five-nights-at-freddys-creator-retiring-scott-cawthon-fnaf-new-developer

I have no appreciation for Five Nights at Freddy's so... yep, don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

Nhex, Thursday, 17 June 2021 14:21 (two years ago) link

Non-casual republicanism not accepted in video games

Clara Lemlich stan account (silby), Thursday, 17 June 2021 14:44 (two years ago) link

one month passes...

Hadn't seen this mentioned (the details of the case raised by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing can be pretty harrowing tbh)

https://kotaku.com/the-activision-blizzard-lawsuit-fallout-is-what-women-h-1847350882

The cherry on the cake is who put out the "nothing to see here" statement

*squints* wait the Bush-era torture lady is an exec at Activision? https://t.co/fiOJ8AnOIl

— 10,000 Motivated Rats (@bombsfall) July 23, 2021

Andrew Farrell, Sunday, 25 July 2021 16:18 (two years ago) link


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