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When Passions Flare, Lines Are Crossed [UPDATED]

One player's heated rhetoric about sexual harassment in the fighting community causes a furious debate, one that has Capcom apologizing.

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UPDATE: Bakhtanians has issued a statement in the wake of today's coverage. Read it here.

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“This is a community that’s, you know, 15 or 20-years-old and the sexual harassment is part of a culture,” said competitive fighting game player Aris "Aris" Bakhtanians on a recent live stream for Capcom's Cross Assault show, “and if you remove that from the fighting game community, it’s not the fighting game community.”

Capcom has since apologized for comments made during a conversation on sexual harassment in the fighting game community, which that quote was pulled from. It was a discussion focused on Bakhtanians, and took place during a recent episode of the company’s Cross Assault reality show. It’s part of a promotion for Street Fighter X Tekken.

Cross Assault started with 10 contestants divided into two teams, Team Tekken and Team Street Fighter. The final four contestants will be determined today, and the last matches begin March 3.

A reader initially pointed out the inflammatory commentary, which took place during day five.

Bakhtanians is the head of Team Tekken, and was engaged in a conversation that chiefly involved Twitch.tv community manager Jared Rea. Twitch.tv is hosting the daily streaming of the day-long Cross Assault episodes.

“The views and opinions expressed by cast members in the live internet program 'Cross Assault' do not reflect those of Capcom,” said a Capcom spokesperson in a statement issued to me last night. “As a company, Capcom believes that everyone should be treated with respect. This particular issue was brought to our attention and has been addressed. We sincerely apologize to anyone that was offended by any comments expressed during the show.”

You can listen to the conversation by fast forwarding to one hour and 45 minutes into the following video. A user on YouTube also collected a series of comments made by Bakhtanians on day one.

For example: "Miranda, I wanna know your bra size."

Tensions were immediately raised over Rea's suggestion the fighting game community, once insular and limited but now steadily growing year-over-year, was potentially alienating outsiders from becoming fans of fighting games or the competitive scene because of inappropriate sexual language. Bakhtanians took issue with Rea's criticism.

Here’s a lengthy transcript of their exchange:

Rea: You know what it is, to be honest with you? We’re getting older. Do you really want to keep hanging around with a bunch of [guys in their] early 20s who don’t know how to treat one another with respect? That’s what it is.

Bakhtanians: Alright, man. The thing is...if you don’t like the scene, how it is right now, it just seems like you’re trying to create...turn it into something that it’s not, and it’s never going to be. You know what I mean?

Rea: That’s really unfortunate [inaudible]...the way it is right now, they want to enjoy fighting games, but they’re so incredibly turned off by [the language].

Bakhtanians: This doesn’t involve me, Jared, I don’t know if you can hear me--this is Aris. This doesn’t really involve me, but if you don’t like onions, you get your sandwich without onions, man. I mean, this is the fighting game community.

Rea: Can I get my Street Fighter without sexual harassment?

Bakhtanians: You can’t. You can’t because they’re one and the same thing. This is a community that’s, you know, 15 or 20 years old, and the sexual harassment is part of a culture, and if you remove that from the fighting game community, it’s not the fighting game community--it’s StarCraft. There’s nothing wrong with StarCraft if you enjoy it, and there’s nothing wrong with anything about eSports, but why would you want just one flavor of ice cream, you know? There’s eSports for people who like eSports, and there’s fighting games for people who like spicy food and like to have fun. There’s no reason to turn them into the same thing, you know?

You can’t go to the NBA and say “hey, I like basketball, but I don’t want them to play with a basketball, I want them to play with a football.” It just doesn’t...it doesn’t make sense to have that attitude, you know? These things are established for years. That would be like someone from the fighting game community going over to StarCraft and trying to say “hey, StarCraft, you guys are too soft, let’s start making sexual harassment jokes to each other on StarCraft.” That’s not cool, people wouldn’t like that. StarCraft isn’t like that. People would get defensive, and that’s what you’re trying to do the fighting game community, and it’s not right. It’s ethically wrong.

I know that you’re thinking “what do you know about ethics? You say racial stuff and sexist stuff.” But those are jokes and if you were really a member of the fighting game community, you would know that. You would know that these are jokes.

Rea: So, ensuring that we alienate any and all female viewers...that’s the ethical thing to do?

Bakhtanians: Well, you know, there are layers here, if you think about this. There are layers of ethics. There are people who are racist and commit hate crimes, right? And then there are people who are racist but they have tons of friends of all colors and they have deep love for those friends. Do you think those people are one and the same? Absolutely not.

StarCraft was brought up several times during the discussion of fighting games role in the larger eSports movement, specifically in regards to what lessons the community should and should not learn from its popularity.

I reached out to Bakhtanians to discuss his comments on Cross Assault, but he didn't respond.

When I contacted Capcom, I included a transcript of the relevant conversation. The company told me the cast and crew had been informed that “any inappropriate or disrespectful comments will not be tolerated during filming.”

Upon receiving the statement from Capcom, I forwarded it in full to Bakhtanians. No response.

And there is one very important fact about this whole story: Cross Assault is not a male-only event. There are two females: Team Street Fighter’s Sherry “Sherryjenix” Nhan and Team Tekken’s Miranda “Super_Yan” Pakozdi.

During the exchange, as matches raged in the background, Pakozdi chimed in about Bakhtanians’ explanation for the pervasiveness of inappropriate sexual language within fighting game culture.

“It hurts the community,” she said.

Everyone in the stream made reference to Keystone events at the San Jose Bar & Grill in San Jose, California, a spot that’s reportedly known for its more crass comments about during play. Pakozdi acknowledged it was an issue during Keystone events, but that it never went, from her perspective, over the line.

“You don’t know where the line is,” she declared.

“My point is is where I’m from, in our arcade, our line may be different than yours,” responded Bakhtanians, “but the point is that fighting games are never gonna be the same as StarCraft, it’s never gonna be the same. You can’t turn basketball into baseball, no matter what you do.”

Rea said sexual harassment was less of an issue in the StarCraft community, a point that others, including Bakhtanians, pushed back on. He conceded. Regardless, he argued, private matches can’t be controlled, but the actions of the participants and audience members raised the real concern.

Again, here’s a snippet:

Rea: When I go to MSL or MLG and someone blows up a ghost [Starcraft], does someone go “Yeah, rape that bitch!”?

[group laughter]

Bakhtanians: But, you know, Jared, you’re right. But if there was that much money being spent on Street Fighter, it wouldn’t be happening here, either, you know. There would be more rules, there would be security here, it’s not the same thing. It’s not the same thing.

Rea: When I go to SoCal regionals and I see a Phoenix [from Marvel vs. Capcom 3] on main stage getting blown up and there’s some dude in the audience just yelling “Bitch! Bitch!” every time she gets hit and then she killed and goes “Yeah, rape that bitch!” Yeah, that’s totally acceptable! Really? Really? You’re going to tell me that’s acceptable?

Bakhtanians: Look, man. What is unacceptable about that? There’s nothing unacceptable about that. These are people, we’re in America, man, this isn’t North Korea. We can say what we want. People get emotional.

There was some light discussion after this, but it mostly trailed off.

Pakozdi, who was assigned to work with Bakhtanians as part of Team Tekken, did not simply blow things off. Like many people, she signed onto Twitter and expressed disappointment over the day’s events. She eventually deleted much of her commentary, but it was captured by the same reader who tipped me off to this in the first place.

“I hope my mom isn’t disappointed with all of this shit,” reads one tweet.

“Capcom and the stream teams know and they don’t care. I just gotta wait 2 more days,” reads another.

“I’m not leaving because by contract I have to stay here 2 more days. If it were up to me I would have left long ago," she said.

Bakhtanians is a well known in the community, explaining his Cross Assault involvement.
Bakhtanians is a well known in the community, explaining his Cross Assault involvement.

I reached out to Pakozdi, but she did not respond.

Day six of Cross Assault took place yesterday. Pakozdi played, but if you start watching around eight hours and 32 minutes into the stream, where she's playing as Balrog, she doesn't even attack. She just pushes forward on the stick. This continues in the next matches, where she plays as Ken using the same "strategy."

Essentially, she's given up.

Per the rules of the show, she would then have to face off against John "Dr. Sub-Zero" Rockafeller, who was already eliminated. If he beat her in three out of five matches, he would be "revived."

Instead, she forfeited. Moments after she bowed out, Rockafeller looked over and handed his prizes over to her.

“I would like to donate everything to Super_Yan for being an angel,” he said.

Bakhtanians also contributes the website Avoiding the Puddle and the site’s associated Twitter account.

“esports,” he wrote last night.

Previously, however, he did have his own personal Twitter account. What’s listed in his bio?

“Fuck you.”

Patrick Klepek on Google+

1225 Comments

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IamAwesome

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Edited By IamAwesome

I don't know 'mon, Phoenix is a bitch.

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LaserLambert

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Edited By LaserLambert

well fighting games are dead now.

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williamhenry

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Edited By williamhenry

@McQuinn said:

Aris is the captain because he is the biggest supporter of the 3D fighting game community. He is definitely an ass, but he does it jokingly and not insultingly although pretty blunt and childish. Making fun of people is a part of the fighting game community and it is there to build competition and hype. Everyone knew Aris was going to act like that. Sherry, the other female contestant, looked quite pissed that Miranda forfeited.

Why is being an intolerate asshole part of the FGC? Why can't people be respectful of others and treat everyone fairly? I'm not saying you can't rib each other, but you don't have to be an complete asshole when you do it. Your comments shouldn't make someone else feel uncomfortable. Giving the dude a pass because he's joking and does it to everyone isn't acceptable. Saying it as a joke does not automatically make it okay to say. If thats how the community operates, why would anyone ever want to become a part of it?

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Scarabus

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Edited By Scarabus

I've been watching the stream and it's full of REALLY immature and dumb people. It's not just the sexual harassment. As someone who takes fighting games serious I feel alienated just because I refuse sink to their prepubescent level.

I wish the fighting game community would grow up, for their own sake.

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Huntera

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Edited By Huntera

This was eventually stopped by Capcom, and Super_Yan said on her twitter, last night, that Capcom had handled it fine.

That being said, Aris is holding onto the Arcade Rat mentality and the sooner his kind goes away, the sooner the Fighting Game Community can become at least a little bit better.

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Pinworm45

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Edited By Pinworm45

@WilliamHenry said:

@McQuinn said:

Aris is the captain because he is the biggest supporter of the 3D fighting game community. He is definitely an ass, but he does it jokingly and not insultingly although pretty blunt and childish. Making fun of people is a part of the fighting game community and it is there to build competition and hype. Everyone knew Aris was going to act like that. Sherry, the other female contestant, looked quite pissed that Miranda forfeited.

Why is being an intolerate asshole part of the FGC? Why can't people be respectful of others and treat everyone fairly? I'm not saying you can't rib each other, but you don't have to be an complete asshole when you do it. Your comments shouldn't make someone else feel uncomfortable. Giving the dude a pass because he's joking and does it to everyone isn't acceptable. Saying it as a joke does not automatically make it okay to say. If thats how the community operates, why would anyone ever want to become a part of it?

He does treat everyone fairly. he smacktalks to everyone equally. It's part of his scene.

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Seroth

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Edited By Seroth

@LaserLambert said:

well fighting games are dead now.

I think you mean esports.

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mbr2

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Edited By mbr2

@Targie said:

As a member of the fighting game community I need to chip in.

Aris acknowledged his statement was taken to an extreme, he's a passionate man and so he took things too far.

People do this in passionate moments. And this article does nothing to consider that. It needlessly vilifies both the Fighting Community and Aris

Jared has been recorded calling everyone in the FGC 'F**king retards' so he is hardly a paragon of political correctness.

Starcraft discriminates against class and race to a much more significant degree than the FGC, they're more welcoming of females, but not to a huge degree.

Super__Yan giving up was not only a bad knock at everyone who wanted to be on the show, but also to Kor who lost his opportunity to be in the running for the cash prize. That was out of order. It was a big cash prize.

When given an opportunity to speak about the issues on stream she instead chose to talk about Korean dicks... This doesn't make anything better but she did nothing to help herself.

I don't condone the sexual harassment in the community, however both Jared's and Super__Yan's approaches were wrong.

Ehm.. You take offense to Patrick shit talking the FGC and the out of nowhere you yourself make a broad, unfounded statement about the SC community. In the FGC, are there female coaches, managers, casters or players who live together with 20 boys all being paid salaries?

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mafuchi

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Edited By mafuchi

I love the argument of "it's already like this so we can't change it" for sexual harassment. It's logical, you know, because rules or behavior have never nor will ever change over time for any sport.

Makes sense to me.

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Horry43

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Edited By Horry43

Kind of weird to see games press jumping on this. Write about stuff like this but never mention fighting games elsewhere.

Go to Evo, GB... write about the highs of the FGC.... not a shitty show.

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delta_ass

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Edited By delta_ass
@FlaminB said:
I can't decide if he looks more like Hagrid or Gimli...
I think he kinda looks like Darksydephil with a big beard.
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bearshamanbro

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Edited By bearshamanbro

This article is quite one sided. I thought Giantbomb was above this. Destructoid maybe, but I thought this site was better than this. As someone who has been watching all of Cross Assualt and watched all of this unfold, this story seems to leave out some things. This article makes Aris out to be some monster, which he's not. As a frame of reference for the environment these quotes were taken, right after these quotes were taken Miranda was talking about Korean penis size.

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wrathofconn

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Edited By wrathofconn

To all the "I can say whatever I want to anyone, try to stop me!" people in the comments here, I get you. You're totally free to do that, just don't be so surprised when it has negative ramifications for you or people you're representing.

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RazielCuts

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Edited By RazielCuts

@Sergeant_Stubby said:

say what you wanna say... who gives a fuck.... if i offend someone then i really dont give a shit, im for free speech and if that means some of my comments hurt peoples feelings O fucking well.

you're adopted.

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Piqued_Interest

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Edited By Piqued_Interest

All I could think about while reading this was The South prior to the Civil War with rhetoric like "America wouldn't be America without slaves"

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Twiminy

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Edited By Twiminy

This guy, simply, is a huge douche. I remember him from the EVO stream where he was making creepy comments towards that transgirl, i forget her name though :(

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pekoe212

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Edited By pekoe212

@Conceited said:

Great, now a bunch of people who have no idea what happened and have no perspective on this because they aren't involved in the FGC will blow this infinitely out of proportion and think the FGC is filled with scumbags. While I realize Aris is largely to blame for this, this article did not need to be written. Why not do a positive piece on how awesome the FGC is? How accepting they are of Ricky Ortiz (openly gay) and Kayopolice? (Trans-gendered)

I think both sides need to be examined. If I wanted to get involved in the fighting game community, I'd like to be forewarned that attitudes and comments like those of Aris would be present, so I wouldn't be taken aback and perhaps drop the whole thing. But I'd also like to learn about the rest of the community, because meeting like-minded, mature players is what allows people to tolerate the the less-than-great stuff.

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superfriend

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Edited By superfriend

The participating players should show better attitudes, yeah... but did you ever go to an ice-hockey game and listen to the audience? I think this shit should not be taken seriously. It is part of the atmosphere of sports that people in the audience are cursing and screaming insults. As an athlete you have to deal with it and ignore the audience.

However, they should not point any microphone at these idiots and broadcast it over the internet. Nobody likes fat dudes screaming insults when they want to listen to the game/commentary.

Bottom line: Tell your "athletes" or whatever you call those esport dudes to shut the hell up and be more professional, but don´t try to teach your audience. Idiots will be idiots.

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PurplePartyRobot

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Edited By PurplePartyRobot

Shit like this is exactly why I don't watch eSports. The community around them apparently must not know social ethics very well because some of them act like neanderthals and insult another's race, creed, gender, sexuality, skill, etc. Hey, I am all for watching some high-level play from games that I enjoy but I cannot overlook the distinction between that high-level play and the fact that the people behind it act like immature kids throwing slurs at each other. If eSports really wants to take off, some rules that enforce manners would be a real fucking boon.

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Snorlaaax

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Edited By Snorlaaax

First of all, everyone in the fighting game community, including Miranda until this event, love Aris. He's amusing and he treats everyone the same way. You failed to mention that during the same stream he requested player "Kor" to remove his shirt to show the "stream monsters" his abs. When Mike Ross was their for the top-player challenges he was sniffing over his shoulder telling him that he smelled good. Aris, also jokingly hit on EG Ricky Ortiz--a well known and accepted homosexual and top-player in the fighting game community. He is of course welcome to his opinions and the article itself was pretty well written, but I feel that the one-sightedness of the article is very disappointing as reader.

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Harkat

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Edited By Harkat

@mbr2 said:

@Hagane said:

Aris talks shit to everyone all the time, and sometimes people who can't handle it get offended. It just happened to be a girl this time.

Are you implying that it's ok for this guy to be a dick just because that's all he got going for him in his life?

I think he's saying that no-one says shit when he is a dick in general, but they do when his dickishness impacts a female.

I could be wrong though.

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WiqidBritt

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Edited By WiqidBritt

I kinda like Aris when he was doing some hosting for EVO last year, but yeah, does not surprise me one bit that he would say something this idiotic. Seems like the kind of guy that doesn't think through anything he says.

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vigorousjammer

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Edited By vigorousjammer

Ugh, this guy...

Does he seriously think it's integral to the community?

I seriously doubt every fighter is an asshole who uses such derogatory terms, It's on an individual level. I mean, I don't get incredibly offended, but I can see why somebody would be.

The whole point of trash talk in general is to offend the other person. Would I ever say stuff like that in the heat of a match? No... But, there's no reason why the women fighters can't come up with something else to offend the other fighters.

Or they can choose to ignore it. I mean, I can see where the guy's coming from about free speech & all. This is a tournament with thousands of people attending. There's going to be people who say all different kinds of things, you have to decide for yourself who you want to associate with, and ignore all of the people you view as fuckheads. This is life, there's always going to be assholes in it.

However, speaking as a fighting game fan who's never even heard any of his friends talk like this during a fighting game match... this guy has no idea what he's talking about. Just cause his little group of asshole friends talk that way doesn't mean the whole fighting game community does. He needs to open his mind and think a bit more. Maybe a get a bit of empathy in there, see where other people are coming from.

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s-a-n-JR

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Edited By s-a-n-JR

Wow, that's really unfortunate. Hope things will change for the better now.

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jasondesante

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Edited By jasondesante

@Pinworm45: wahh you're whining because I called the sexist a closeted virgin and called him fat because hes fat and caled him half retarded because hes half retarded.....to accuse me of being sexist because I called this homo a homo, cool.

But then you mention white knighting and implying that girls can't take trash talk and then make the example that the one girl fits under that category.

The pot is calling the kettle black. next time just stfu and don't reply.

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JJOR64

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Edited By JJOR64

Kinda surprised this made Giant Bomb.

#eSports #STAGED #8.95

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vortextk

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Edited By vortextk

Sounds like this guy plays dota, or any number of the clones. I mute everyone's mics and the first instance of "omg you stupid piece of shit blah blah blah" I ignore them ingame too. It's not funny, it's not fun, shut the hell up and act like the adult you probably are. Sounds like a low life from what little I read here.
 
Hey, Jeff calls it in all of his videos about idiot old men and video games right? They'll eventually die and maybe if fighting games mean a damn in 40 years this won't have to be a part of it then.

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deactivated-63c9a5152a56a

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The next time someone tells you that nerd culture is full of entitled white males and you want to disagree, remember this bullshit.

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algertman

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Edited By algertman

@Pinworm45 said:

@jasondesante said:

some homo virgin rips on girls because he is fat and hideous and half retarded. Just put him in a corner and let him have his tantrum. Girls that play fighting games are just as cool as guys that play fighting games. Trash talk in fighting games is a last resort for those who aren't comfortable playing the game.

He insults men just as much as girls.. just no one gives a shit about that. People have to white knight girls, which is sexist itself, because it's implying that women can't handle trash talk, which apparently this one couldn't. Pretty fucking ironic that you proceed to call this guy a "homo virgin" who can't get girls because he is fat, as if that is somehow any less sexist than anything he has ever said. it is in fact more sexist, because his "sexism" was merely gendered insults like "bitch".

He probably can't get girls because he smells horrible. Fighting game tourneys are filled with people who refuse to take a bath. It's pretty disgusting.

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longstarrr

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Edited By longstarrr

Staged.

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shadowboxer

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Edited By shadowboxer

Yeah this is pretty bad. Not new to gamers, but still sad.

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Itwastuesday

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Edited By Itwastuesday

hats off to dr. sub zero

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Goldanas

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Edited By Goldanas

I'm all for good-natured ribbing, but there is a line. Making sexual remarks like "I want to know your bra-size" to a chick during a match is kind of fucked up. If you want to call her stupid, a dumb bitch, or make yo momma jokes centered around her play, sure, that's perfectly fine. Dude's in the scene do this to one another and it's all good and no one should be upset by all this.

But dude's don't say to one another, "Yo man, I wanna' know your dick size!" That would be over the line in a public venue. In your own private time, do whatever is suitable to your crowd.

Really the big problem here isn't the harassment so much as it is the ignorance on his part. If he was offensive but at least came to reason and realized what he said was rude and defamatory, then that would be understandable. It would be about acceptance then. But instead he defends his words with ridiculous similes that are outright incompatible.

This idiocy isn't new in any sports related field. Fuck if I had a dollar for every time any athlete in any field made some gross remark about the opposite sex, I'd be as rich as all of them combined. These are a thinking man's games, and they shouldn't devolve into bouts of "say whatever the fuck you want!"

Again, good-natured ribbing with some swearing is fine by me, but we need to know the line (with anybody).

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mbr2

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Edited By mbr2

@Seroth said:

@LaserLambert said:

well fighting games are dead now.

I think you mean esports.

The FGC don't want to be associated with ESports (which is fine by me) so no.

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Discorsi

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Edited By Discorsi

E SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS... AAAAAaAaAaAAAaAAAaAaaAaaaAA.

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joshrholloway

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I'm listening to the audio that a few people in these comments have linked to in defense of Aris, and I don't see how this is supposed to be a defense at all. He seems like he's purposely making himself look like a jerk.

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Figyg

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Rea: Can I get my Street Fighter without sexual harassment?

Umm...When you make a Street Fighter that is not conducive to sexual harassment, maybe you can...

I mean, look at this cammy pic for goodness sake. How can you make a product like this and act like you are surprised when there is sexual harassment. I seriously hate how women are portrayed in these games, and when someone from the eSports community is influenced by images that they are being payed to look at, Capcom gets all "WOMEN ARE EQUAL AS LONG AS THEY HAVE HUGE BOOBS".

Give me a break

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McQuinn

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Edited By McQuinn
@BrianP

Edit: It's crazy to me that someone would believe sexism and sexual harassment is so integral to the way they interact with other human beings, that if you took it away it would fundamentally change the nature of the community (and even more crazy to think that it would make it WORSE as that dude seems to imply)

@Seroth ugh thank you for knowing what happened. Everyone here has no clue who these people are. This article just makes the FGC look bad when it doesn't deserve it :/
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Zaxex

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When I saw the blowup I wasn't sure how the news stories would turn out. I've got to say this is really in depth; and you've certainly got a good deal of information in a short amount of time.

Aris' behaviour is unacceptable; and he's right about the FGC. I love fighting games; but the community is fucking terrible, watch a stream and read the chat; racist, sexist, homophobic and generally hateful content abound. I think it's probably something psychological that attracts people to fighting games that causes the attitudes.

I love watching tournaments and other fighting game streams, but the streams are about the least pleasant part of the internet I subject myself to. I feel bad for Capcom and Spooky; they put a lot of effort and risk into the show and it's been a pretty unfortunate affair.

I find the FGC generally embarrassing. I wouldn't want to show any of my friends the streams; the chat is one thing, but the commentators are commonly similarly childish. I really like the games and I want the scene to grow and include a larger variety of people; but some of this shit needs to go. The best of the FGC; the tournament hype and general friendly competition doesn't benefit from the insular nature of some of its members. And in the FGC the most welcoming, liberal people still accept the shit that goes on.

If the scene grows up I would be much happier considering myself a part of it.

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Sergeant_Stubby

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Edited By Sergeant_Stubby

@RazielCuts said:

@Sergeant_Stubby said:

say what you wanna say... who gives a fuck.... if i offend someone then i really dont give a shit, im for free speech and if that means some of my comments hurt peoples feelings O fucking well.

you're adopted.

could be... will never know unless my parents decide to tell me otherwise.

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dream431ca

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Edited By dream431ca

If I was the manager of that show that was airing the game and I heard stuff like that, I would immediately ban that stupid bitch from playing at any other TV fighting game show. Not only is it hurting the community, it's hurting the games and their overall image to the public. If they don't make an example of him, they're basically saying "we don't mind that sexual harassment is part of the fighting game community, and we don't give a shit either". It's a shame.

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Pinworm45

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Edited By Pinworm45

@jasondesante said:

@Pinworm45: wahh you're whining because I called the sexist a closeted virgin and called him fat because hes fat and caled him half retarded because hes half retarded.....wahhhhhhhh someone insulted someone else because they deserved it, so I'm going to call them sexist and whine at them because I can't form my own opinion, so I just reply to someone else and tell them something thats pointless and try to prove to a stranger that I'm smarter than them by accusing them of something they never did. YAYYYYYY.

Trust me, I don't have to work very hard to prove I'm smarter than you. All I need to do is read your terribly, terribly written paragraph that's bordering on nonsensical, and I smile with smug satisfaction.

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UltimAXE

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Edited By UltimAXE

Nice to see an article about this. I haven't been following Cross Assault at all, then this story breaks today and I have no idea what's going on.

But, seriously, you're insane if you think that this is special. I mean, hell, if you want to tackle sexual harassment, you need to go way, way broader than the FGC because that sure as shit isn't where this kind of language begins and ends. You may as well call out gamers in general, then move into sports, the military, and then the entire country (world?). Men, in general, are dirt bags when in each other's company. It's definitely moronic to say that this is some kind of staple of the fighting game scene that has to be there, but getting super worked up about the issue seems a little crazy.

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Lagaroth

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Edited By Lagaroth

Why do gamers have to be assholes at all? You can be plenty competitive without resorting to insults or racist/sexist jokes.

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BelowStupid

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Edited By BelowStupid

this is what you get when a bunch of 15-20 year old boys play video games on a semi professional level.

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Sooty

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Edited By Sooty
@LaserLambert said:

well fighting games are dead now.

Oh yes Evo 2012 is cancelled because of this, let's all listen to this guy, he knows what's up!
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MidnightVice

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What an incredibly disheartening story, and what an incredibly brainless dolts this Aris guy has made himself out to be. Seeing him stumble as he tries to argue that sexism is essential to the fighting game community is fucking embarrassing, especially when he uses that poorly-conceived basketball analogy in his defense. The fact that sexist bullshit like this is happening is bad enough, but to argue that it's integral to the experience? It makes me fucking sick.

@gave1 said:

Bakhtanians: Well, you know, there are layers here, if you think about this. There are layers of ethics. There are people who are racist and commit hate crimes, right? And then there are people who are racist but they have tons of friends of all colors and they have deep love for those friends. Do you think those people are one and the same? Absolutely not.

I don't think he knows what the word racist actually means. What a dipshit!

Yeah, I had to look over that line multiple times just to be sure I had read it correctly. His stupidity shows no bounds!

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williamhenry

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Edited By williamhenry

@Pinworm45 said:

@WilliamHenry said:

@McQuinn said:

Aris is the captain because he is the biggest supporter of the 3D fighting game community. He is definitely an ass, but he does it jokingly and not insultingly although pretty blunt and childish. Making fun of people is a part of the fighting game community and it is there to build competition and hype. Everyone knew Aris was going to act like that. Sherry, the other female contestant, looked quite pissed that Miranda forfeited.

Why is being an intolerate asshole part of the FGC? Why can't people be respectful of others and treat everyone fairly? I'm not saying you can't rib each other, but you don't have to be an complete asshole when you do it. Your comments shouldn't make someone else feel uncomfortable. Giving the dude a pass because he's joking and does it to everyone isn't acceptable. Saying it as a joke does not automatically make it okay to say. If thats how the community operates, why would anyone ever want to become a part of it?

He does treat everyone fairly. he smacktalks to everyone equally. It's part of his scene.

Ok, so because he does it to everyone then its perfectly ok? It doesn't matter if he's a total asshole, as long as he's one to everyone, right? Being an asshole to everyone still means he is being an asshole. Doing it to everyone doesn't make it okay. Why can't he be respectful of everyone? He can still rib them but he doesn't have to be a total asshole about it. Like I said before, his comments shouldn't make anyone else feel uncomfortable, and its plainly obvious that they do. If you want to rib someone, then fine, but you don't have to be cruel.

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cornbredx

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Edited By cornbredx

Ya, that sounds like most competitive gaming which is what holds most all of it back from being popular form entertainment. 
 
While I agree with him people get to emotional about some words used, the majority of the language used in most multiplayer fighting clicks and even in FPS' is childish and not sporting at all. The thing missing is the respect and responsible tone to it all. This is one reason why StarCraft leagues are popular enough to be on TV somewhere in the world, and has a decent size audience. This is why most do not want to play with other people online in general as well (especially on consoles- just a perception not a fact nor a hit at the console gaming crowd as a whole).  
 
Even if I would speak one way with a friend I have more respect then that to talk to someone I don't know in a crass way. I do speak my mind, but there's a responsible way to do so. I also don't think using racial slurs is ever cool. 
Just my opinion though.