Author: Damion Schubert (Page 35 of 136)

On L&O:SVU and Mark Kern’s Petition Thingy

February 18, 2015 / Damion Schubert

Okay, it’s not as bizarre as Mercedes Carerra ranting about Anita, but Mark Kern’s petition against Kotaku and Polygon is strangely uninformed, out of left field and… well, just plain wrong. Patrick Garrett has some thoughts here. So does Cara Ellison. But they left a couple of things out.

1. First off, let’s make one thing clear. Polygon, Kotaku and the other gaming sites have not been feeding this fire – they’ve actively been trying to ignore it. I documented this clearly in this article here where I noted there was far more coverage of the topic on Verge, Breitbart, Forbes and motherfucking CRACKED than on any major games website – despite many commentators and activists (including myself) actively shaming them for it. It wasn’t until the major media (MSNBC, New York Times, CBS, NPR) actually caught on to the story that the gaming press picked up on the thread again, presumably because it seems pretty shitty when a game-themed story hits the New York Times and your top five gaming site is pretending that shit doesn’t exist. Here’s a great example of IGN explaining why they choose not to feed the trolls. A week later, all these sites would drop that shit like it was a hot potato.

2. So this episode of Law & Order: SVU is gaming’s ‘Reefer Madness’? Um, sure. Look, shitty gaming related TV shows and movies have been on the television for YEARS. Here’s a CSI: Miami from the Jack Thompson days. The CSI: NY episode about Second Life is a wonder of badness that’s almost amazing to behold. Neither really resulted in much more than uncomfortable conversation, and I doubt that last year’s #46th ranked show is going to make much of a blip in their lowest ranked show of the year. If Furries can survive their CSI episode, I’m sure we’ll be fine.

3. It was not “relentless and histrionic slander” against all gamers. It showed a full game con of mostly peaceful, happy men and women playing and loving video games. It showed an Anita analog standing before a conference room of enthusiastic fans, cheering for a game that could be played both peacefully and through might. It tried to show the main protagonist of the show as being a hardcore, con-dwelling, Kotaku-reading, FPS-rockin’ gamer himself, even if the results of those efforts were unintentionally HILARIOUS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7faUHdlh9g#t=128

4. The episode was eye-rollingly bad at times, and yes, the ending was downright shameful. And yes, it clearly shows perpetrators who had taken things farther than any real life analog has so far. Still, let’s not pretend that its not based on fucking nothing. Some of the topics the episode tries to cram into a very short amount of time that are very much based on the reality that some people, particularly some women, have faced since last August include doxings, swattings, stalkings, constant rape and death threats, accusations of sleeping your way to success, threats of mass murders against public gatherings where prominent feminists are speaking, and lunatics screaming death threats to a camera to pander to an anonymous Youbute audience of nutballs, all of which, if you click on the links I’ve provided, link to some pretty clear analogs that have actually happened. I’m sure that if they’d contacted Zoe, Anita, Brianna or observers like myself, they could have written an entire fucking miniseries. It’s very nice that Mark Kern lives in a world where he hasn’t experienced any of this personally, but to be clear, this shit is still happening. Yes, it’s a tiny, tiny group of assholes doing it, but its impact is still huge on the people in its crosshairs.

It’s an insult to those who have been victimized over the last few months to describe what limited press that HAS occurred as ‘yellow journalism’. It’s even more of an insult to suggest that the press should be sweeping the very real fucking events of the last 8 months even more under the rug than they’ve already been. If Mark Kern was serious, he’d be talking to the people who are actually DOING the damage, not the ones who are merely reporting it.

Anti-Collusion ‘Journalist’ Shocked To Discover Drinking With Colleagues At Professional Conferences

February 12, 2015 / Damion Schubert

It’s not even Valentine’s Day yet, but we have an early frontrunner for the Stupidest Thing You’ll Read All Month: Ralph Retort’s SHOCKING REVELATION that people get drunk at GDC (and the comments thread is even more hilariously idiotic than the article), and then collude (i.e. drink with people we like, instead of presumably alone in our hotel rooms). This article was the merit of widespread mirth and mocking on my social media network, mostly from people who, you know, are planning to go to GDC, and are probably going to FUCKING GET IT ON.

Elder Scrolls Ditches the Subscription Model

January 22, 2015 / Damion Schubert

Well, they didn’t TECHNICALLY go Free-to-Play, so I can’t say I told you so. It looks more like they are going with the Guild Wars model. I can’t say I’m a fan yet – from what I’ve heard the game would sincerely benefit from the massive influx of population that would happen if they ditched all barriers to entry — but I guess I can see the merit in getting what you can from what is hopefully a reasonably large console launch. Console gamers still need to be taught how free-to-play works, so this is arguably a necessary hedge.

I still bet the entry price falls to below $10 by the end of the year.

‘Built From the Ground Up for DLC’ is Not a Selling Point

January 21, 2015 / Damion Schubert

Jimquisition has something to say about Evolve’s seemingly all-consuming monetization focus. Go ahead and watch, I’ll wait here.

Here’s one example of Turtle Rock saying that Evolve was built to support DLC “more than any game ever before.” Now, I want to be clear: it’s great to hear of a team that had that foresight and that luxury. Building good monetization infrastructure isn’t technically trivial, and adding all of that stuff late in development or even post-ship can often mean you’re jamming something balance-breaking into a game that wasn’t built for it or, in the minds of players even worse, ripping off a piece of the core gameplay and putting it up for sale. So a company thinking ahead about this stuff well before launch, and addressing these issues ahead of time, is good.

And having a game built around the billing model is not crazy. I mean, Magic: the Gathering is built around a billing model of selling packs. Candy Crush was built from the ground up to be free and microtransact. These are both billing-model centric designs, and they work BECAUSE of it. So why is Evolve being forced now to defend themselves for their DLC plans?

The Orphans of GamerGate

January 12, 2015 / Damion Schubert

As the temperature around GamerGate continues to fade, the various forums and threads about the subject have been cooling. Many people around the industry seem to be warming to the idea that the worst is finally over. KotakuInAction is slowing, GamerGhazi is encouraging discussions of other topics, NeoGAF is looking to let its gamergate thread die without replacement once it hits max length.

Zoe Quinn, on the other hand, reminds us that for some people, it’s not over. Abusive shithead behavior towards her and Anita long precede GG, and there is no real sign that will end in the future. This is probably true of many of the prime targets of GG, including Brianna Wu, Leigh Alexander, Grace Lynn, Mattie Brice, Chloe Sagal and Randi Harper, all of whom can’t pretty much say anything without getting Sea Lioned to oblivion if not worse. And often, its way worse, as in lose-your-faith-in-humanity worse. Zoe’s take reminds us that for a small, select few, it isn’t just about throwing spaghetti on a screen and hoping you don’t piss off 8chan, it’s instead about lawyers and legal dates and leaked legal documents, it’s about trying to explain to cops what the fuck twitter is, and its about having a number with the FBI so your regular contact there can add more shit to an open file.

Pornhub Metrics are Deeply Fascinating Look at Worldwide Trends (SFW)

January 12, 2015 / Damion Schubert

If you’re the sort of person who doesn’t get offended by the notion of porn, then you’ll likely be as intrigued as I am by PornHub’s annual statistical review, which gives in-depth analysis to the trends of their viewership. The report is here, and is, at least visually, safe for work. The previous year is here. I realize that some may find the topic distasteful but, truth be told, large data analysis like this really IS what gets me all excited. (Seriously, I’d equally love to see this kind of statistical infographic breakdown of the board game database I discussed yesterday. Because I’m a massive data nerd)

It’s also somewhat interesting to see parallels between that entertainment industry, and the gaming industry – which makes sense, to some extent. If you think about it, we’re all competing for the scarce spare time of the public. One clear parallel is that, much like gaming services, PornHub also sees serious declines during major sporting events. Among other interesting tidbits.

The Best and Worst Board Games

January 11, 2015 / Damion Schubert

538.com is long one of my favorite sites, as it was founded by Nate Silver, who is of course the statistics savant who made a name for himself pretty much nailing the last two presidential elections based on a lot of disparate polling data. Since that time, they’ve left their home on the New York Times and expanded their mandate to pretty much do statistical analysis of anything anywhere there happens to be a large amount of data to examine.

Recently, they gave this treatment to Board Games, utilizing the database housed on BoardGameGeek. Of particular note, they examined the best-ranked board game in the database (Twilight Struggle) and then delved into the list of the worst. The latter list tends to contain a lot of passive aggressive hate for classics like Candyland and.Monopoly, both because these ancient bits of family fare are poorly designed by modern hardcore standards, but also because board game geeks tend to have quite hipster attitudes towards any game you can pick up at Target. Both articles are great reads. Continue reading

Pentagon Wars, Foldable Humans and Other Miscellaneous Stuff

January 8, 2015 / Damion Schubert

It’s been a while since I did a grab bag of stuff, but there was a convergence of minor stuff that merits a mention.

* Remember the GamerGate 8chan child porn story? People who aren’t horrible human beings will be pleased to know that the journalist who found, documented and reported on the child porn, only to have zealous true believers attempt to get him arrested, will be pleased to know that he’s been questioned and cleared. Also, in the discussion, the officer reported that there was plenty of child porn in plain sight on the site – which is probably a good thing to know before you go traipsing around on 8chan. Well, you could if 8chan wasn’t mysteriously down all day. After yesterday’s awesome events, it’s overall been a good week for people who find GamerGate distasteful.

Just had a discussion with a Staff Sgt. at the I.C.E. My article generated over 20 reports against me; all have been cleared as unfounded.

— Dan Olson © Butts (@FoldableHuman) January 7, 2015

* To celebrate, you should totally watch this video that Dan did about Fight Club, and the themes of toxic masculinity that are discussed within.

* Car Wars was reprinted. Just as fun trivia, did you know that the makers of Auto Assault were flirting with acquiring the Car Wars license for it?

* Polygon points out that this clip of the Pentagon Wars is a pretty good analogy for how large software projects (such as AAA video games) often lose their way in the hell that is conferring with upper management.

* Watching this video of Nicole Kidman telling Jimmy Fallon he had a chance to date her, but blew it, is oddly heartwarming and yet horrifying. Watching this video of the women of Downton Abbey play Cards Against Humanity is a nice chaser.

Intel Steps It Up On Diversity

January 7, 2015 / Damion Schubert

Yesterday, Intel made a major announcement, effectively setting a dare up for other tech companies by declaring a $300 Million dollar investment in Diversity, including the goal of a fully representative workplace by 2020. This is a pretty staggeringly ambitious goal for a large, major international company, and by at least this account, we largely have GamerGate to thank.

In October, though, Intel unwittingly became a villain in a controversy over the treatment of women in gaming, which has come to be known as GamerGate. A loose-knit brigade of Internet users lobbied the company to pull an advertising campaign on the game website Gamasutra because it had run an essay attacking the male dominance of games culture.

Intel, which was caught off guard by the ensuing controversy over its actions, eventually resumed advertising on the site. Mr. Krzanich said he used the incident as an opportunity to think more deeply about the broader issue of diversity in the tech industry. The issue resonated with him personally.

“I have two daughters of my own coming up on college age,” he said. “I want them to have a world that’s got equal opportunity for them.”

Note that this hilariously seems to not quite match Breitbart’s super secret report of Intel’s super secret GamerGate fanboyism. The remaining dregs of Gamergate were not pleased, largely because both Anita Sarkeesian and the IGDA were listed as key partners of the initiative.

Intel shows it’s opposition of #GamerGate and support for gender diversity at #CES2015. @femfreq is in there! pic.twitter.com/Qn9RaLjL1A

— (ง •̀_•́)ง (@smashtic) January 7, 2015

GamerGate adherents are already are planning a counter-email campaign, making sure, as always, to hide their GamerGate affiliation specifically to avoid getting filtered. They continue to unload on Anita as a ‘member of a hate group‘ and a ‘demagogue’ among other old, debunked crap, (as frequently noted, she’s not always right but she’s definitely enlightening, and her voice should be welcomed). As for the IGDA, GamerGate adherents have that organization on the shit list for at one point having a link to Randi’s GG Autoblocker on their website to help out game developers felt under siege (unlike ). As an amusing artifact of history, this all happened while there was a bug in the blocker, which resulted in KFC’s official twitter account being included, which is why you’ll occasionally hear a Gator cry out ‘KFC!’ in Twitter the same way Braveheart shouted ‘Freedom!’

If you pay attention to the zombie-like shuffling husk that is the GamerGate saga nowadays, this last paragraph is what you’re going to get –petty, unworthy bullshit peppered by anonymous harassment targeting individuals on both sides of the fence. Many, particularly the moderates on both sides, have backed out — there was a particularly large egress on the topic in the week when people were discussing the relative defensibility of various child-porn like substances that ultimately cost 8chan their Patreon. Reddit banned KiA from posting the email addresses of boycott targets to prevent witchhunts which caused some on KiA to declare reddit a left-wing enemy of free speech (really), and some suggesting starting their own reddit, only with blackjack and hookers.

Doxing and swatting remain hot topics, though usually sourced to theoretically unrelated 8chan boards famous for stirring shit up for the lulz. The Mens Rights Activists continue to eagerly throw their cancerous opinions into the fray. Some asshole told TotalBiscuit that he hopes he dies of the cancer he’s currently battling (anti-GG forces are being blamed, though no one knows who the fuck the tweeter is). Randi Harper pointed out that many Facebook GamerGate user groups were set improperly to be public, which caused a freakout that she ‘doxed 9000 people’.

The actual time spent discussing anything that looks like what reasonable people consider ‘ethics in journalism’ continues to approach zero. For their part, the games press continues to mostly ignore the whole nine yards, other than occasionally doing things like having fun with disclaimers.

So yeah, the whole shitstorm is still a complete and total cesspool of suck that most journalists and developers do and should avoid. For those who were smarter than me and stayed away, congratulations, and I envy you! For those who were not, perhaps this one man’s tale of dealing with Post-GamerGate Depression may aid you.