Vainamoinen Posted February 2, 2015 Today's gamergate short story: Nintendo decides to take 40% of YT Let's Player revenue "Pewdiepie" blogs to ever so politely remind them that Let's Plays drive their sales Polygon unfortunately titles "Pewdiepie attacks Nintendo" Pewdiepie justly claims that there has been no attack whatsoever Polygon takes the article down (or at least there's only an archived version of the Jan 30th article left) for some hard to understand reason, gamergaters find themselves victorious in the fight against corruption and declare Pewdiepie a worthy ally in their cause. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Problem Machine Posted February 2, 2015 It is here that Bain, maybe unbeknownst to himself, still disagrees with first wave gamergaters. As stated above, his opinion on games and even on corruption in the industry was welcome to me until he started to post buttloads of imbecile social commentary and tweeted fuel into any hate war he could find. It is inherent in the gamergate victory conditions as proposed by Aurini et al. that reviewers flaunting their political opinion around are to be put out of a job (while the definition of the 'apolitical' is in the hands of gamergate). That explicitly includes Bain. The thing is, politics which agree with gamergate worldviews don't count, since by their understanding such views aren't political. This is why Bain, as a voice of white privilege, isn't really targeted for injecting his own opinion. While this is a contradiction with the stated worldview of gamergate, it's perfectly aligned with their views as put into practice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vainamoinen Posted February 2, 2015 The logic possibly is that Bain supposedly keeps his political opinion pieces and his game reviews separate. ...as if. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
osmosisch Posted February 3, 2015 A propos of nothing, I'm kind of tempted to make a Sean Vainamoinen account that posts about dota/sports in trochaic tetrameter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apple Cider Posted February 3, 2015 As for 4 PM CST today, there will absolutely not be a Patreon going up. It would not be a way to support Wow Insider, if you happen to play Warcraft. It would not be a way to give them money to run a new site that covers Blizzard and I have no idea why you're reading this post at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vainamoinen Posted February 3, 2015 a Sean Vainamoinen account I've kinda had enough of that mixup on the Telltale forum. Oh the conspiracy theories. I once received a PM from Gavin Hammon Adam Harrington even ("It's you Sean isn't it"). That was the good part though. In any case, I think I was there first. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brkl Posted February 3, 2015 You were everywhere first. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bjorn Posted February 3, 2015 As for 4 PM CST today, there will absolutely not be a Patreon going up. It would not be a way to support Wow Insider, if you happen to play Warcraft. It would not be a way to give them money to run a new site that covers Blizzard and I have no idea why you're reading this post at all. Exciting, I hope it goes well them! On the same subject, I've been listening to the goodbye podcasts with all the staff. Its amazing. Joyful, insightful and a bit heartbreaking too (Jess Condit really got to me). Seriously, everyone should listen to them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apple Cider Posted February 3, 2015 I will probably listen tomorrow, I already saw that Budweiser commercial with the puppy and the horse and have fulfilled my ugly sobbing quota for the day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Professor Video Games Posted February 3, 2015 Yeah they are good listens. This sucks. What's a good Joystiq alternative for an industry news feed of sorts with minimal fluff stories? (obviously they must be ethical and unbiased) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JonCole Posted February 3, 2015 Kotaku comes to mind first, though "minimal fluff stories" is suspect. I guess if you just read the KotakuCore tag you'd minimize that fluff aspect. I'm thinking about trying to read Gamespot again. I used to read it when a friend of mine was a news intern, but dropped off since. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Professor Video Games Posted February 3, 2015 Yeah I glanced through Kotaku when Patrick Klepek moved over there and it wasn't really what I was looking for. Maybe I'll just start my own news aggregator, Traqball. How hard could it be? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dewar Posted February 3, 2015 Kotaku comes to mind first, though "minimal fluff stories" is suspect. I guess if you just read the KotakuCore tag you'd minimize that fluff aspect. I'm thinking about trying to read Gamespot again. I used to read it when a friend of mine was a news intern, but dropped off since. Seeing Danny O'Dwyer and Mary Kish on GB live streams has really made me want to watch/read more of their content. If only there were more time in the day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SecretAsianMan Posted February 3, 2015 Yeah I glanced through Kotaku when Patrick Klepek moved over there and it wasn't really what I was looking for. Maybe I'll just start my own news aggregator, Traqball. How hard could it be? This is my main use for Twitter. I follow a number of gaming sites (Kotaku, Polygon, IGN, Gamespot, RPS, GiantBomb and I think a couple others I can't remember) along with a handful of individuals and that's where the majority of my information comes from. I also use an aggregator app on my phone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Griddlelol Posted February 4, 2015 I've honestly found Patrick's writing on Kotaku to be...too Kotaku for me. Generally off-topic and "hey look at this weird thing" kind of posts. Maybe he's still finding his feet (or maybe there's nothing interesting to talk about right now). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vainamoinen Posted February 4, 2015 Yeah, kotaku. Far too tabloid for me. In other news, FeministFrequency's first annual report was, not unexpectedly, a field day for gamergaters. Conspiracy theories abound. I'd usually assess gamergaters to be in their 30s and 40s, because the 'outsider' gamer identity was of course created most strongly in those times when NOT everybody and her brother was somehow gaming. However, I find myself continuously baffled with reaxxion's articles. There can not be that many adults writing articles on that site. Their article on FF's annual report throws so many punches into thin air, I just had to have a little sit-down trying to untangle the many ways "Steve Alexander" speaks about stuff he does not even remotely understand. FeministFrequency is a not-for-profit organization. The article begins with that statement, but later shows an embarrassing lack of knowledge about what that means. "Presumably Intel is expecting to see a return on their investment from Feminist Frequency", Alexander fantasizes. Oh, yeah, right, they want a cut of the profits from the not-for-profit organization because of their donation. Good luck with that, Intel! Of course, the whole "will Intel get their money" bit is more or less just a segue into the allegation that backers of the Tropes versus Women Kickstarter would never receive their physical rewards, while the series would not deliver on its promise. Now, I personally would assess that that the main Kickstarter promise was to raise awareness about a lack of diversity in games, and it fucking delivered the shit out of that promise. Alexander would rather wreck his brain on elementary math: Sarkeesian supposedly, as of yet, only made three videos from the Kickstarter list with 12 items. That is of course first grade miscalculation. She has only covered three topics, but made seven videos. And of course the series profits from being stretched out over time, welcomed by backers, because of the awareness it raises. As to the fifty-one future recipients of physical rewards, to whom Alexander touchingly explains Kickstarter regulations, they will probably receive their DVDs with about as much delay as the thousands of Broken Age backers. What Alexander doesn't comment on: ( A ) the list of expanding activities Sarkeesian has planned for 2015. This should make any honest gamergater bite their own toes off in anger. I'm really looking forward to that stuff. And of course, ( B ) the statistics show $64,000 total expenditures in 2014. Compare that to the ca. $50,000 Owen and Aurini have as of yet received for their "Social Justice Warrior" "documentary" without delivering. Heh, I think Sarkeesian plans that project a bit better. I am not even that certain that the huge influx of about $400,000 Sarkeesian notes for Q4 2014 is really already Intel's money. There may be other investors still, and the initiative was only announced in January 2015. Intel's diversity strategy has its faults, I'm not a big fan of hiring quotas, but here their money seems well spent. "Vote against corruption with your wallet" are Alexander's closing remarks. Where was Alexander when god distributed brains? Gamergater wallets fortunately can't vote Sarkeesian away – while customer wallets unfortunately can't vote for more diversity in their games. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mawd Posted February 4, 2015 I'd usually assess gamergaters to be in their 30s and 40s, because the 'outsider' gamer identity was of course created most strongly in those times when NOT everybody and her brother was somehow gaming. Throughout this I've encountered: People just losing the status of tweenagehood expressing outrage over Zoe Quinns sex life after hearing about it through their favourite youtube ranters. People in their late teens cracking out of the blue a hamfisted Sarkeesian joke in some bizarre attempt to fit in. A 22 year old with depression calling Depression Quest a piece of shit because it "trivialised depression" re: it didn't fit in with his experience of it (ignoring the fact that hey this is one of the few games trying to explore or portray depression in the first place). To a 26 year old linking accusatory articles about the Zoe Quinn sex/cronyism thing and responding with neutral "hey everyone's in the wrong" when I didn't share a favourable opinion of the article's statement, call to arms, or harassment done-in-the-name-of. Apart from my partner I've only encountered two friends who play a lot of video games that share my opinions about Gamer Gate and they're both feminist audio/cinephiles. I guess if I wanted to jargon it up a bit without labelling too hard I'd say the supporters I know are all socially concious people. I don't think all of the supporters or sympathisers of GG are angry or abusive people by default but I think all of them at some point closed off to the opinions of 'normals' in some type of arrogant way. They either trivialise outcries of sexism or critique of GG or don't care because they see all people who disagree with GG as related to the tumblr brand of SJW. When they discover someone earnestly telling them in person about GG's doxing, harrassment, and general nastiness they usually take on a condescending terse tone and attempt to 'educate' you. From what I can tell they don't see their opponents as level headed people. They see people whose attention seeking emotions are so out of control they short circuit their own cold hearted logic and reason; some kind of mid teens caricature grown in the bowels of tumblr that creates teacup storms over 'tiny' 'social misunderstandings' while talking about their trigender starfox fursona. I suppose a lot of this is well trod opinion whether its accurate or not. I'm really just posting this because it's my first time ITT actually talking about my experience of GG. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Problem Machine Posted February 4, 2015 It's weird and distressing the ways that who we understand ourselves to be blinds us to who we are. I spent a chunk of my life convincing myself I was fearless, and in the end all that did was take away the word 'fear' while leaving the fear itself, shapeless and unnameable, to control my actions with no accountability. I feel like the same thing happens to these people, labeling themselves as logical and unemotional, so that when their biases and emotions come from underneath to twist their worldview they no longer have the words to describe it and it slips by invisible. Names are powerful, and when you rescind your ability to name something within yourself it's like losing a handle to an object in memory: Just because it's invisible doesn't mean it's no longer there, it's just lost, out of control, and possibly damaging you in ways you can't describe even as you've convinced yourself you've destroyed it by making it disappear. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bjorn Posted February 4, 2015 It's weird and distressing the ways that who we understand ourselves to be blinds us to who we are. I spent a chunk of my life convincing myself I was fearless, and in the end all that did was take away the word 'fear' while leaving the fear itself, shapeless and unnameable, to control my actions with no accountability. I feel like the same thing happens to these people, labeling themselves as logical and unemotional, so that when their biases and emotions come from underneath to twist their worldview they no longer have the words to describe it and it slips by invisible. Names are powerful, and when you rescind your ability to name something within yourself it's like losing a handle to an object in memory: Just because it's invisible doesn't mean it's no longer there, it's just lost, out of control, and possibly damaging you in ways you can't describe even as you've convinced yourself you've destroyed it by making it disappear. That's interesting, and not something I've really considered before. I even went through a phase like that, describing myself as unemotional, when in fact I was an emotional wreck and couldn't face that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Architecture Posted February 6, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6I1VQTkrCU Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bjorn Posted February 6, 2015 "They're being uploaded through the darknet." dammit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Architecture Posted February 6, 2015 It gets worse, folks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL9_t6P7tkY Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Architecture Posted February 6, 2015 Maybe it's just me, but I think the..."artistic license" these Dick Wolves have taken trivialize the actual harassment being perpetrated by basement-dwelling creeps. I mean, the Sarkeesian stand-in saying she doesn't want a law enforcement presence is far different than cancelling a talk because the police can't violate state gun laws. I just...man, I don't know. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted February 6, 2015 Wow that's... special. Like at first I was like "huh this is pretty accurate" and then I was like "huh this is basically exactly what's happening every day right now" and then I was like "wait she's REFUSING PROTECTION???" and welp. Welp. I mean it's TV and she has to get hurt some how so of course she's going to. Welp. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
