Someone used the term #Gatesplaining in twitter today. This is a term that really needs to catch on. But now, onto other links!
Want to read a timeline of the very earliest days of Zoe’s abuse/the genesis of GamerGate? How about this timeline that the ‘burgers and fries’ irc chat log were planning this spin well before the ‘gamers are over’ articles. A must read. Then read this reminder of how everything about the early days of #GamerGate is, in fact, about harassment.
between attempts to dig up dirt on Quinn’s friends, we see first mention of a familiar message. (Journalistic Ethics). This is it. This is the crux of the “movement”. “Journalistic ethics” was their #1 smokescreen for harassment. Wondering where this fits in the timeline? Logs for the “burgersandfries” IRC raid room start just hours later.
Amanda Marcotte nails it in her discussion of how Gamergate is, like, really really bad at journalistic ethics.
Anyone who legitimately cares about ethics in journalism would react to #GamerGate by screaming in horror and hanging garlic from the doors. To sincerely care about ethics precludes any involvement in #GamerGate, a movement that is singularly defined by its utter lack of any ethics whatsoever. But, and I’ll explain in a moment why, it’s also physically impossible to care specifically about ethics in journalism and have any reaction to #GamerGate outside of thorough and complete denunciation, because it is a movement against ethics in journalism.
Jennifer Allaway argues that #GamerGate has a lot in common with hate groups.
I do not say this to make the people of #Gamergate seem any more important, or effective, or powerful, or to give any sort of new credence to their ideas. Rather, this is just a structural designation: as immediately dismissible as their tactics and stances might be (at least to anyone who has not become victim to them), I believe it’s important to note that group was formed like a hate group and functions like a hate group in every way.
Briana Wu details her attempts to talk on Milo’s show, then goes straight to defcon one.
I have to be honest. A mob telling you they will castrate your husband, make you choke to death on the parts, murder any children you might have and then rape your ass until it bleeds has a way of scaring the hell out of you.
But, you know, because I am the Godzilla of bitches, by Saturday morning I was pissed off. I’m talking Jack Bauer pissed off. So, I decided I was going to do everything in my power to stop these fuckers.
James Fudge talks about the good of the should-be-noncontroversial GameJournoPros List.
No one at GamePolitics has ever written a “Gamers are Dead” article, despite the assertions that writers on the GJP list were engaging in “group think.” In fact, given the sheer number of writers on that list, very few web sites wrote articles like that or covered GamerGate at all. Most editors and writers wanted to avoid the topic like Ebola because it was just too toxic. In fact, no one on GP has written much of anything about GamerGate.
Joseph Scrimshaw wants to reclaim ‘Social Justice Warrior’.
If you honestly disagree with those things and want to insult people who choose to fight for them, here are some other insults you could try:
Fairness Tool
Equality Jerk
Decent Hole
Big Ol’ Human Rights Head
Mister Thinks Murder Is Wrong Guy
Kyle Wagner of Deadspin sees #Gamergate as how the culture wars will be fought in the future, and how people who insist on giving both sides air are fucking things up for everyone.
Bringing together the grievances of video game fans, self-appointed specialists in journalism ethics, and dedicated misogynists, it’s captured an especially broad phylum of trolls and built the sort of structure you’d expect to see if, say, you’d asked the old Fires of Heaven message boards to swing a Senate seat. What’s made it effective, though, is that it’s exploited the same basic loophole in the system that generations of social reactionaries have: the press’s genuine and deep-seated belief that you gotta hear both sides.
This morning, this made the front page of the New York Times.
The malice directed recently at women, though, is more intense, invigorated by the anonymity of social media and bulletin boards where groups go to cheer each other on and hatch plans for action. The atmosphere has become so toxic, say female game critics and developers, that they are calling on big companies in the $70-billion-a-year video game business to break their silence.
PixieJenni is digging a little, and finding assholery.
But putting him and his history aside; I really tried to listen to both sides of this conflict — the so-called “SJWs” and “anti-SJWs” (which I should probably make clear aren’t really “MRAs” like some people are making them out to be, since this particular “side” has a tendency to make unfunny “fedora” jokes towards actual MRAs) — but it’s very hard for me to do so when [the loudest/most vocal of the “anti-SJWs” are basically shouting “HAHAHAHAHA FUCK ALL OF YOU BUTTHURT TRIGGERED SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE FAGGOTS AND YOUR SHITTY POLITICAL CORRECTNESS; YOU SHOULD ALL KILL YOURSELVES” (paraphrasing/hyperbole, I know, but that really is the general consensus).
“I have found a lot of the actions of self-confessed hardcore gamers horrendous, upsetting and unjustifiable over the past two weeks…I don’t have a problem with the term ‘gamer’…I have a problem with gamers who deny that this industry needs to improve its representation—in terms of race, gender and sexuality.” (Said one reporter)
This guy thinks I’m full of shit (hoping to find time to respond later, linking now so I don’t lose in the tweetstorm). Quick prequel, I find him wrong on everything.
Lacking a central organisation or any true leaders is what has helped make #gamergate work and has given it the authenticity and power that it has. It is a genuine, grassroots consumer and resistance movement, despite claims to the contrary. The ‘leaders’ are emergent, the cause of the moment is emergent and it lacks a ‘head’ to be attacked, silenced or harassed. These tactics, contrary to what many seem to think, are far more characteristic of the AGGros than GG itself.
Vice asks, “Does somebody have to die before gamergate settles down?”
The Five People you meet in gamergate, and how they’re all wrong.
The most bizarre part of this entire mini-culture is the willful blindness that is necessary for the movement to continue functioning. At any given moment each substrata must be willing to ignore and decry, or signal-boost and support the others, all depending on what the goal is at the time. In essence, people in GG can be divided into one of five groups.
Allum Bokhari clarifies how gamergate is actually NOT about corruption, but actually IS about political correctness in games.
The tenor of moral panic has changed since then. Now, the main source of fear, loathing and general misanthropy in the gaming industry stems from the cultural left rather than the socially conservative right. Similar to the old right, the new cultural warriors argue that games promote violence and reinforce so-called rape culture
The guy who sparked Eron Gjoni (I call him ‘Fuckwad Zero‘) apologizes for nothing. Seriously, I hope every girl this guy dates in the future is smart enough to google him first.
“If I could go back in time and tell myself not to do this. I wouldn’t. That is, I wouldn’t tell myself not to. Because it’s for the best. Regardless of how the outcome is actually getting painted. As this giant harassment campaign against women filled with all sorts of death threats. On the ground the movement isn’t barely like that.”
First of all: thezoepost mentions Zoe Quinn by her full name six times in the text; and many more times in the screenshots from her Facebook. So for Eron’s lawyer to state court that it doesn’t is a huge lie.
Basically I just want you to go away from Blessing of Kings blog roll . YOU are the perpetual rage machine. No actual original thought from this blog for weeks – just link bait blog titles and links to other blog posts.
I disagree. While I don’t necessarily agree with everything Damion espouses, I’ve found his articles to still be thought-provoking, not to mention that saying he has no original work is a blatant lie; in the past week alone I count at least 4 blog posts that are about his thoughts rather than linking other people’s thoughts.
I think it’s been fascinating watching him go from being a moderate on #GamerGate to basically denouncing the pseudo-organization based on research.
It seems like most of the “moderates” are ending up that way – myself included. I guess when you’re consistently called an enemy you can’t help becoming one eventually?
I’ve found the most powerful arguments against gaters are those made by gaters in defense of gaters.
As a side note, has anyone else noticed that this is the first game-related culture war that’s PvP instead of PvE? Gamers vs gamers rather than gamers vs non-gamers, I mean. This is an internal war for our culture rather than an external war for our legitimacy. Step up in some ways; step down in many others.
Although, of course, several of the major Gater voices are non-gamers, and the Equalists have had no qualms about involving non-gamers of late, either… And I have no idea whether the Haters are gamers. They seem to prefer playing games on people rather than on computers.
As a side note: I’ve also heard people claim the most powerful argument PRO-Gater are those arguments made by Equalists against Gaters. Which is to be expected: when angry extremists start slagging it back and forth, there are a lot of moderates caught in the crossfire.
“As a side note, has anyone else noticed that this is the first game-related culture war that’s PvP instead of PvE?”
That is brilliant. Not the situation mind but the way you phrased it.
Wait, a blog roll? The list of blogs that’s in the sidebar of some blogs? That’s what you’re complaining about? People actually still care about about blog rolls? Am I missing something?
Yes kind of. I get all my game blog reading pleasure from one site now (used to be VW). Plus he is a good writer himself and if page hits count towards buying him a cup of coffee one day, even better. I have noticed most bloggers are trying to move on towards more positive or at least game related topics, whereas Damian’s posts have just sort of fallen into a cymbal clashing effect in the ol blog roll.
Oh, I think I get it now. I’m thinking of blogroll as a list of blogs, but that blogroll actually lists the newest headlines from each blog (which isn’t standard for blogrolls, I don’t think) and you’re using it to keep tags on a whole bunch of blogs, I guess?
Honestly, I really recommend using Feedly or something for that. You’ll be much happier. As soon as you hear a “cymbal clash”, you can just click unsubscribe and never think about it again. It makes a lot more sense than complaining to anyone about blog rolls, which I don’t think anyone will ever take seriously.
OK, I’m calling it now: That was satire, wasn’t it?
If you have a problem with that, you will need to bring up this site to BoK. I have no control over who he puts on his blogroll, and for all the reasons I have to edit content, catering to his audience will not be one.
Also, who the hell still blogrolls?
I don’t know that the Deadspin piece is entirely fair, but I’m pretty sure that they’re right about their prediction. There will be more GG-like movements in the future.
Deadspin mentions Lee Atwater, but, no, I’m thinking much bigger. I’m thinking private intelligence firms, people with an interest in manipulating politics for the sake of corporations and governments who are already experienced at dealing with underground hacking communities.
There was a blog post I remember from a couple years ago on “arseholes as a strategic resource”. Some of it, in this context, is chilling:
#GamerGate is not a reactionary citizens’ militia, and probably doesn’t even have the numbers to be useful as one. But it sure seems like something that anyone who plans to recruit and command a lot of assholes (I’m American 😉 should watching and taking notes on. GG has some impressive innovations in magnifying the influence of people with confused motivations and entitlement issues. GamerGate, with it’s insularity and recursive memes, is to asshole studies as Galapagos is to evolutionary biology or Bali is to anthropology–an isolated space that’s a sort of natural experiment for field researchers to learn from.
I thought the deadspin article was really good, esp. considering it’s on sports site.
Oh, yeah, definitely. It’s almost certainly the best discussion of GG from outside gaming out there.
It’s just the comparison to the Tea Party bothered me a bit. For one, the comparison didn’t seem particularly deep. As an example, it talked about GG as a small number of individuals having an outsize impact, but polls show a quarter of the U.S. population willing to call themselves TP supporters (and slightly more than a quarter calling themselves opponents, but still).
But more than that, it just seems like a dangerous idea to link together GG with a relatively popular political movement. If it weren’t for that connection, I would probably be sending that article around to my Facebook friends, but as it is I’m afraid some of them, being conservatives, would see “Tea Party” and side with GG!
Deadspin was amazingly good.
You should read up on the early history of the American Legion, very similar to the Tea Party, but mobilizing military veterans to bulk up private security for strikebreaking.
–Dave
Sounds intriguing, I probably should! Thanks for the heads up.
Usually I try to make a sincere effort to hear dissenting opinions, but I open an article and read the subtitle “Gamers are not happy with the right-on activists ruining their hobby” and I swear to god my mouse hand just automatically gravitates towards the close tab button.
You missed some good stuff.
See, they just want to de-politicize the game industry by staging a rebellion that forces people they don’t like out of games. And they’re calling for people outside of gaming to pay attention to it. There’s nothing politicizing about that, is there?
That’s right, it wants that special kind of diversity you can only get by forcing people out and forcing activists and journalists to ‘lose their influence’. Only when I never have to hear anyone disagree with me can I escape conformism. The unexamined life is the only one worth living.
” It wants the cosy clique of activists and journalists to lose their influence.”
Because, you know. It’s the activists throwing the good parties and offering to fly people to conferences first class to play Xbox One games on 70-inch widescreen TVs alongside comped vacation tickets for your family in exchange for some coverage.
Actually, wait. That’s the auto industry.
But this is ALL ABOUT ETHICS.
Damion, the guy who thinks you’re full of shit is none other than James Desborough himself, who was one of the male developers interviewed by The Escapist about gamergate along with you (and had his interview subsequently removed by them because he’s a harassing asshole).
Yes, Grim. Who is the one supposedly making a game based on Chronicles of Gor.
http://talesofgrim.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/in-defence-of-rape/
…which was backed by the Escapist’s Alexander Macris, a connection that was not mentioned in the Escapist piece when Desborough’s interview was still up.
Ethics in gaming journalism!
Mm hmm. https://twitter.com/untimelygamer/status/521337873615052801/photo/1
There was a suicide scare with him last night (no one is sure if it really is that, but some key players in #GG were freaking out). As such, I’ll likely let this one go unanswered unless he directly asks me to respond again himself.
Here’s another one. The AWL compiles the sorry parents that have to react to their children about Gamergate. “It’s about ethics, mom. Don’t you care about ETHICS?”
http://www.theawl.com/2014/10/the-sad-parents-of-gamergate
I belive you are endorsing a witchhunt. But do what you think is rigth.
idledillettante’s statement is blatantly false. “Zoe Quinn” is not her real name. This was pointed out to idledillettante as soon as the post was published(on October 3rd), yet she has never corrected her post.
Not that it should have needed to be pointed out, because it’s incredibly easy to infer if you even have basic deduction skills. (Or had any passing familiarity with any of the prominent doxxing attempts on ZQ.) Because if the lawyer had told such an extremely falsifiable “huge lie”, it would be so transparent as to be instantly seized upon by ZQ and the lawyer would be damning himself, as the website is easily checked.
Also, here’s the only info anyone actually has on the whole prior restraint via restraining order thing:
https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/2i50xp/i_went_to_erons_hearing_on_tuesday/
Your comment made me realize that idlediletante’s comments were not linked properly. Fixed.
Also, I don’t think anybody who is outside of Gamergate sees the fact that someone inside of gamergate decided to go to that hearing and report the findings to reddit as anything other than (a) incredibly creepy and (b) proof positive that #gamergate just can’t quit their Zoe Quinn obsession, no matter how often they swear it’s not about her.
You can’t be serious.
“someone inside of gamergate”? Did it never once cross your mind that Eron’s friends might support him (as he’s posted about before, he talked to them a lot concerning thezoepost while drafting it)? That’s literally his best friend posting on reddit.
Then his best friend’s a creep. If he wanted to bear witness for his own sake, that’s fine and is his right. He didn’t need to do reportage for fucking Reddit.
I don’t follow. Reporting on reddit isn’t fine and his right? How?
He considers it relevant to the public interest, that, from his perspective, an abuser has gotten an unconstitutional gag order against their victim to prevent them from speaking about their abuse, protecting themselves from criticism.
How does posting about public court proceedings online qualify Ben as a ‘creep’?
Because it’s a court proceeding between two people. The only reason anyone else cares what’s up between ZQ and Elon is because Eron made it everyone else’s business, and that in turn mushroomed into Gamergate.
Reporters are supposed to have editors. Yeah, it’s a public hearing, but there’s a difference between public interest and busybodying. Someone else’s failed and toxic relationship is no one else’s business except, arguably, in the case of celebrity.
ZQ wasn’t a celebrity until her ex made her into some kind of black widow. And fuck you if you think that justifies it as public interest.