Worth Reading: 01/25/13

There is a game called Unwritten on Kickstarter that seems interesting.

Lego's just might be making a comeback into my life after that

@Carousel said:

@mdnthrvst:

How do you know that person is a man?

How do you know that person is white?

What does their gender or race matter anyway in relation to their argument?

Don't be facile. It's fucking obvious, and just because I don't feel like crafting an impervious logical thesis doesn't mean it isn't true.

As a white man who'se encountered this idiotic sentiment far too often in the past half-decade, only white men would envision a world where the male gender is uniquely and unduly persecuted. Women and minorities have actual problems to deal with, not stupid shit like "Men are 99.999% of American combat deaths and casualties!!!" as if men fighting wars is anything but routine. If feminism didn't exist, this website wouldn't either - it's a foolish and petulant attempt to shift the conversation back to where it's been for human history, men on top, and it's blatantly transparent.

Oh, and pointing out someone's race as it relates to their philosophical world-view and how they express themselves isn't "racist". Saying African-Americans are lazy or Hispanics all steal shit is racist.

@mdnthrvst:

How do you know that person is a man?

How do you know that person is white?

What does their gender or race matter anyway in relation to their argument?

@Ace829 said:

@mdnthrvst: Here's a link that proves how men are oppressed in society. http://www.avoiceformen.com/activism/about/

If that's not actually just a total parody, I'm not interested in reading some whiny white college student's desperate misogynistic ranting, which is probably what whatever nonsense arguments he makes boil down to. There are plenty of sites like these. They are not run by good people.

SOMEONE SAVE VIGIL. PLEASE.

@mdnthrvst: Here's a link that proves how men are oppressed in society. http://www.avoiceformen.com/activism/about/

@leebmx said:

@Carousel said:

@leebmx said:

@Carousel said:

@leebmx: Both.

And no one is getting anywhere.

I have a solution for you. I'll continue posting as normal, you follow me, check what threads i'm and then avoid them. Job done.

That's a poor solution, you goober.

Works for me. What's a goober?

It's another word for "Patriarchy Destroyer"

@Carousel said:

@leebmx said:

@Carousel said:

@leebmx: Both.

And no one is getting anywhere.

I have a solution for you. I'll continue posting as normal, you follow me, check what threads i'm and then avoid them. Job done.

That's a poor solution, you goober.

Works for me. What's a goober?

@leebmx said:

@Carousel said:

@leebmx: Both.

And no one is getting anywhere.

I have a solution for you. I'll continue posting as normal, you follow me, check what threads i'm and then avoid them. Job done.

That's a poor solution, you goober.

@Carousel said:

@leebmx: Both.

And no one is getting anywhere.

I have a solution for you. I'll continue posting as normal, you follow me, check what threads i'm and then avoid them. Job done.

@leebmx: Both.

And no one is getting anywhere.

That OwlBoy animation and music was fantastic.

@Carousel: Why? Because you disagree or are bored of the topic?

@Neon25: My stats on rape are from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics

You interpretation of the stats you have are ridiculous. You think men never rape other men?

Goddamit.......from the report you sent me it says 98.1% of women reported rape by a man and 93.3% of men report rape by only a man.

From the report on page 24:

Most perpetrators of all forms of sexual violence against women were male. For female rape victims, 98.1% reported only male perpetrators. Additionally, 92.5% of female victims of sexual violence other than rape reported only male perpetrators. For male victims, the sex of the perpetrator varied by the type of sexual violence experienced. The majority of male rape victims (93.3%) reported only male perpetrators.

I don't really know what else I can say. Can you show me where your original quote is in the report, because it seems to flatly contradict what they say on p24.

To your other points - I can't see anywhere where I said it is right that those women falsely accused a man of rape. Its horrible. Its just not sexual discrimination (and btw you have no idea what would have happened had it gone to trial) For a start they would have had no medical evidence and it is quite likely their testimony would be contradictory and weak but that's by the by). The point I was trying to make is that you can point to some women being bad to men. Whereas I can show you a whole institution, the male dominated police, oppressing women by denying them justice. They are both wrong but one is an institutional and societal issue and the other is not representative of anything larger.

As for the book - its all about the context. As it stands it is just a really bad joke and maybe a little rude. The other way round you are poking fun at a history of discrimination and abuse, where women were literally the possessions of men. - Its offensive. If you are offended by that book then you really are a very delicate little flower.

@hintonblogs: Rocketgirl is yet another game that used the same old mechanics that countless mobile games have exhausted. The only thing that differentiates it from them is that it uses scantily clad women to attract attention. If it weren't for that aspect, I doubt Patrick would have included it in his blog post, and we wouldn't be talking about it at all. It is completely pandering and akin to those Breakout clones where they hide a scantily clad woman behind the bricks.

If a coworker were to spot you playing Rocketgirl on your own device during your break, the likelihood of you talking to HR is almost certain. I'll admit the statue would also have you talking to HR, but mainly because it's grotesque and they'd wonder if your mental state is something to worry about in the workplace.

My distaste for Leeland Yee is approaching the point that it will soon only be able to be described by abstract mathematics.

@ominousbedroom said:

I'm glad sexism is being discussed over, over, and over again. Same for racism, violence, and tons of other things that we may be sick of hearing about. All of these issues actually still exist and there can never be enough open discussion about it.

@Neon25: Stop talking about it means it'll stop happening? You give people too much credit. Is everyone really that noble? There's a difference between being able to openly discuss things and glorification, pity-parties, and perpetuating guilt. The two don't have to be the same. Your point is lost on me.

@Neon25 said:

@ominousbedroom said:

I'm glad sexism is being discussed over, over, and over again. Same for racism, violence, and tons of other things that we may be sick of hearing about. All of these issues actually still exist and there can never be enough open discussion about it.

@leebmx said:

The arrest rate is 25% and the conviction rate on arrest is around 58%. So a very small number of cases actually end in conviction.

91% of rape victims are female and 99% of rapists are male.

Do you mind giving a source for these claims? Because from where I'm standing it seems that when it comes to rape women are 44% of the perpetrators. The data is from 2010, in United States.

http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/NISVS_Report2010-a.pdf

Quote from the data:

We find through the above statistics that 1 003 464 males and 1 245 870 females were the victims of rape or attempted rape by the opposite sex over the 12-month period previous to this study. We can conclude that over 44% of the perpetrators of rape or attempted rape during the 12 month period previous to this study were FEMALE

When it comes to domestic violence the data is not clear, but it strongly suggests the violence between male and female are more or less the same:

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/01/30/a-hidden-crime-domestic-violence-against-men-is-a-growing-probl/

And yet, more than 200 survey-based studies show that domestic violence is just as likely to strike men as women. In fact, the overwhelming mass of evidence indicates that half of all domestic violence cases involve an exchange of blows and the remaining 50% is evenly split between men and women who are brutalized by their partners.

As you can see, it's not as clear as you make it out to be.

Also if you want to talk about Taxi Drivers not being believed - check out the case of John Warboys - a rapist who drove a taxi in my home town. He raped over a 100 women from the back of his cab but police refused to be believe he could be guilty because of his proffession.

And that gives the women right to falsely report rape how exactly? If the man hadn't recorded the video he would have been rotting in prison, instead he has to prove his innocence, he's not innocent until proven, but the other way around.

Also the reason that book isn't sexist when it is a man on the cover is because men, unlike women, haven't spent centuries being treated as possesions, and aren't regulaly compared to dogs to demean them. Who gets called bitch and dog all the time? Its not men.

Huh? So if people from Asia weren't that much enslaved throughout the centuries it would be alright to make a book called "How to treat 'em yellow folks right- rice collecting 101"? What kind of backward logic is that?

wow and here i thought i was crazy ranting in the comments.

some of you people are nuts.

ultimately everyone has a different perspective, one can find the statue sexist and not rocketgirl sexist (which imo thats still fucking crazy lol)

and one can find both sexist, or one can find rocket girl sexist and the statue not sexist.

which based on the comments here, it seems to be the majority consensus that we find patrick crazy for thinking rocketgirl is not sexist to any degree.

@leebmx: Enough with you.

@MURDERSMASH: And you.

Please stop posting.

@alibson said:

@MURDERSMASH: Again, confirmation bias.

It takes one small statue for people to start shouting about how all women are oppressed, but you dismiss multiple cases of discrimination against men as "grasping for straws". That's a textbook definition of confirmation bias.

Like I said before, those examples of discrimination are the exception, and while they should not be ignored, they also should not be treated as some sort of example endemic to problems men face. They don't point to a long-standing, institutionalized form of discrimination like the statue does. So, what leebmx is saying isn't confirmation bias, because he/she isn't grasping for straws in an attempt to prove something that just isn't a problem in the same way.

Those examples provided were most certainly shitty people being shitty, and no one is trying to say otherwise.

@MURDERSMASH: Again, confirmation bias.

It takes one small statue for people to start shouting about how all women are oppressed, but you dismiss multiple cases of discrimination against men as "grasping for straws". That's a textbook definition of confirmation bias.

@leebmx said:

@MURDERSMASH said:

@alibson said:

@leebmx: Confirmation bias

Mind explaining why you feel what leebmx is saying is confirmation bias? You'd make your point far stronger if you provided context for your claims of fallacious logic.

I didn't get it either.

If anything, the claims of that post detailing discrimination against men are based on confirmation bias. To me, it looks like the people wielding that are simply grasping for straws, pointing and yelling "See? SEE?! MEN'S RIGHTS!", ignoring the fact that those examples are, by far, the exception. That's not to say that they should be ignored (no one should be discriminated against, regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, etc.), but to claim that this is concrete evidence that men have become the oppressed group or whatever is just silly and paranoid. (holy run-on sentence, Batman!)

@MURDERSMASH said:

@alibson said:

@leebmx: Confirmation bias

Mind explaining why you feel what leebmx is saying is confirmation bias? You'd make your point far stronger if you provided context for your claims of fallacious logic.

I didn't get it either.

@alibson said:

@leebmx: Confirmation bias

Mind explaining why you feel what leebmx is saying is confirmation bias? You'd make your point far stronger if you provided context for your claims of fallacious logic.

@Neon25: Just because bko did it, doesn't mean it's suddenly OK for you to do it as well. You speak of maturity, yet you defend your comments with "BUT HE DID IT FIRST, MOMMY!".

@leebmx: Confirmation bias

@Pr1mus said:

@leebmx: Before writing all that text you should have tried to understand the context of Neon25's post.

But in any case, the last part of your comment makes it easy to just ignore you from now on. You just sound like some "feminist" of the crazy variety, the kind that are not seeking to advance women's cause and fight for equality but simply want retribution for all the ill that happened to women in the history of the human race.

Not sure what point I made outs me as a crazy feminist, but you are welcome to point it out if you can keep from ignoring me any longer.

I think I got the context which was someone asking him to provide examples of discrimination against men, and he found these ones hanging around on the net none of which are really discrimination apart from maybe the school teacher and the kid. You've got a false accusation of a crime, not prosecuted. Then a mother who doesn't want to rage charges, and then a silly book.

My point was that it might be possible to find the odd case where a man gets a raw deal against women but none of these amount to any sort of pattern or overall societal unfairness.

@Sergio: I can't reply to everyone who quoted me because it'll turn this into a big mess but thanks to those who did anyway.

As for this issue I still think that Rocketgirl is in a different league to the Dead Island bust, but perhaps that's me giving the developers the benefit of the doubt. To use the movie analogy I'd say it's like someone watching 'Crank' and getting offended. The film is such an over-the-top, equal opportunities offender that you can't begin to take it remotely seriously. It's again equal to the Saints Row 2/3 thing. No one gets out of that game lightly and pretty much everyone is as reprehensible as everyone else (Indeed you could argue that being able to control a woman in the game and have her be as feared as the male character you would play means that the game is almost pro-feminism) so no one really bats an eye.

When I saw Rocketgirl I didn't think they were trying to pander, or entice me to buy the game. I saw the outrageous gameplay and style first before I saw the art of the woman and then just thought "Well of course it's a caricature of a woman riding a giant rocket." It just seems to me that the developers approached it tongue firmly in cheek. Again I could indeed be giving the developers too much credit, but that's my problem. The sole meaning behind it is different. It fits that game, the torso really doesn't fit the tone of Dead Island - which, to address an earlier point, is a little more over the top in gameplay than I gave it credit for but tonally (Narratively) it's deadly serious.

As for the Dead Island thing it literally whittles down the woman to a pair of tits. Convenient that the zombies eating her choose to stop at just an aesthetically pleasing moment. You have to think about WHY they chose to release that bust, WHY they thought that one was the best design and the only real answer is because they wanted a shitty gimmick to pander to a young, male, demographic. Why not do a his and hers matching set? Because they know no-one in their audience would buy a torn up male torso. I imagine if they'd done that no one would've actually cared.

Oh and I agree with @mdnthrvst in what he said. Those examples are not examples of men being exploited by some sort of institutionalised feminism. It's a set of stories where one group of people is horrible to another, and some legal cases where we don't really have the information as to why X didn't have to register as a sex offender (If it was the case that no women at all had to register on the sex offenders list then you'd have a point, but that's not the case is it?).

@leebmx: Before writing all that text you should have tried to understand the context of Neon25's post.

But in any case, the last part of your comment makes it easy to just ignore you from now on. You just sound like some "feminist" of the crazy variety, the kind that are not seeking to advance women's cause and fight for equality but simply want retribution for all the ill that happened to women in the history of the human race.

@alibson said:

@leebmx said:

@Neon25: Also the reason that book isn't sexist when it is a man on the cover is because men, unlike women, haven't spent centuries being treated as possesions, and aren't regulaly compared to dogs to demean them. Who gets called bitch and dog all the time? Its not men.

So can I keep white people as slaves now? They treated blacks as possessions for a long time.

I'm pretty sure that was my point.

@leebmx said:

@Neon25: Also the reason that book isn't sexist when it is a man on the cover is because men, unlike women, haven't spent centuries being treated as possesions, and aren't regulaly compared to dogs to demean them. Who gets called bitch and dog all the time? Its not men.

So can I keep white people as slaves now? They treated blacks as possessions for a long time.

@leebmx: He wasn't trying to make it seem like men are victims in society overall. Somebody much earlier had said that women should be the sole judges of what is racist and he disagreed. He was asked to provide examples of times when men were ever on the wrong wrong end of sexual discrimination. It wasn't some men's rights post.

@Neon25: Your post is so missed the point it is almost impossible to know where to start. You manage to dredge up 3 or 4 cases where a woman has been the perpitrator in a crime against a man, plus one book to prove that men are discriminated against. The reason these cases made the news is that they are such an exception to the huge numbers of sexual crimes carried out against women - which in the vast majority of which never end in conviction.

A few stats for you. In 2008 there were 90,000 reported rapes in the US. The arrest rate is 25% and the conviction rate on arrest is around 58%. So a very small number of cases actually end in conviction.

91% of rape victims are female and 99% of rapists are male.

So before you drag up scare stories consider who really bears the brunt of sexual violence the world over and ask who is really discriminated against.

Also if you want to talk about Taxi Drivers not being believed - check out the case of John Warboys - a rapist who drove a taxi in my home town. He raped over a 100 women from the back of his cab but police refused to be believe he could be guilty because of his proffession.

Also the reason that book isn't sexist when it is a man on the cover is because men, unlike women, haven't spent centuries being treated as possesions, and aren't regulaly compared to dogs to demean them. Who gets called bitch and dog all the time? Its not men.

Its right to be upset about the cases you point out - but to try and make them into any sort of case for discrimination against men in society is fantasy, and insulting to the real victims.

@Neon25 said:

@MURDERSMASH said:

@Neon25 said:

@bko said:

@jimmyfenix said:

I really like these articles alot! , in my opinion the artcles such as 1reasonwhy and the dead island statue dont really fit with the core giantbomb audience , i know you feel strongly about these things patrick but in my opinion it just doesnt fit

No one cares. Start your own website if you want to be protected from stories that require a little maturity.

Stories from a man that is proud of the fact he smuggles beers into cinemas like an asshole and makes sure to mention it on every possible occasion.

Dat ad hominem.

As if bko's comment wasn't? If these stories require maturity they shouldn't be written by Patrick. Bringing beers to a movie makes you as mature as a 14-year-old, sorry. And for Zero Dark Thirty of all movies!

You really can't get over the fact that he wrote something you didn't like, can you? It must suck to live life in a constant storm of resentment. Step outside of that storm for a while! You'll feel much better about yourself and life.

Re: speedrunning, @patrickklepek, I'd love to see what some devs have to say about how players manipulate their games.

@Fergtron said:

@jimmyfenix said:

I really like these articles alot! , in my opinion the artcles such as 1reasonwhy and the dead island statue dont really fit with the core giantbomb audience , i know you feel strongly about these things patrick but in my opinion it just doesnt fit

Agreed. I visit GiantBomb for fun videos and Quick Looks of upcoming games. These serious gender and marketing issues would fit better on a personal blog rather than the site itself. Maybe I'm being ignorant, but I like visiting this site for entertaining games content and articles like the Eight Responses thing only serve to create controversy and division within the community. Lets keep it fun, lets keep it videogames, huh?

Its possible to do both you know - Just don't read the articles that don't interest you, like I don't watch the QL for games I have no interest in.

If this community can't handle thinking and discussing some of the wider issues that are involved in videogames then they seriously need to grow up.

Treasure Adventure World... I love boating, in real life or games, so I was quick to click that youtube video. Then...another indie platformer with some visual tricks. Great. v_v

@Centurypunk said:

I liked the point about how mental illness shouldn't be so heavily a threat with gun control. Most gun violence isn't caused by the mentally ill in America, even if some of the more high profile tragedies are.

Yeah but the most horrific gun violence is. I was also thinking that Patrick has no problem telling Leland Yee to shut about about how violent video games can lead to violent acts but runs an article about the whole Dead Island naughty torso. To me the violence in video games is a much more controversial conversation or at least one that is much more important than talking about how a thoughtless bloody torso with double Ds offends women. I'm not even saying I agree with Leland Yee but I can at least understand where he is coming from. If Leland Yee wanted to talked about the now famous torso and raise questions about how violent and obtuse it was I would be much more willing to listen and care.

Just rename the site the PatrickBomb.com already whydoncha!!! GAWD! (i'm only half kidding)

@MURDERSMASH said:

@Neon25 said:

@bko said:

@jimmyfenix said:

I really like these articles alot! , in my opinion the artcles such as 1reasonwhy and the dead island statue dont really fit with the core giantbomb audience , i know you feel strongly about these things patrick but in my opinion it just doesnt fit

No one cares. Start your own website if you want to be protected from stories that require a little maturity.

Stories from a man that is proud of the fact he smuggles beers into cinemas like an asshole and makes sure to mention it on every possible occasion.

Dat ad hominem.

As if bko's comment wasn't? If these stories require maturity they shouldn't be written by Patrick. Bringing beers to a movie makes you as mature as a 14-year-old, sorry. And for Zero Dark Thirty of all movies!

It's hilarious how gullible some people can be. At this point Patrick could write articles for the Ku Klux Klan and they would still defend him.

@ominousbedroom said:

I'm glad sexism is being discussed over, over, and over again. Same for racism, violence, and tons of other things that we may be sick of hearing about. All of these issues actually still exist and there can never be enough open discussion about it.

@FloppyDog said:

@Nettacki: I am not just talking about this. He writes a variety of other articles such as his recently posted one about the development on Zombiu. He writes about a variety of topics and I appreciate the stories he covers. Hell, I think 'Worth Reading' has become one of the best features on the site.

Okay, that much I can definitely agree on. He's definitely one of those guys who writes a variety of content on the site, and my personal favorite was his 5-part in-depth examination of Telltale's The Walking Dead. I don't always agree with his stances on what he sees as sexism, but I can still respect him for all the other content he contributes to this site.

@Neon25 said:

@bko said:

@jimmyfenix said:

I really like these articles alot! , in my opinion the artcles such as 1reasonwhy and the dead island statue dont really fit with the core giantbomb audience , i know you feel strongly about these things patrick but in my opinion it just doesnt fit

No one cares. Start your own website if you want to be protected from stories that require a little maturity.

Stories from a man that is proud of the fact he smuggles beers into cinemas like an asshole and makes sure to mention it on every possible occasion.

Dat ad hominem.

Although I don't have much time to read these in one sitting, I really enjoy these articles. It's a nice giant recap of interesting issues with cool links. Also, you've given me a new resolution.

To the entire complaintive GB community: I have yet to figure out why you are all so personally uncomforted, angered, conflagrated, etc. by Patrick. Even if you don't like him for whatever bizarre reason which is probably not really significant in any way, why is there such a pressing need to whine so publicly? Go do something productive with that energy.

I'm glad sexism is being discussed over, over, and over again. Same for racism, violence, and tons of other things that we may be sick of hearing about. All of these issues actually still exist and there can never be enough open discussion about it. Even if they go away to the point of mildly statistical significance, they are such integral parts of society and its products (hint: video games and media in general) that they can never be analyzed enough. The fact that these pieces generate comments like "why is this here" or "this doesn't fit GB's audience" is proof enough.

The NeoGAF thread on XBLIG had a bit on Rocketgirl, apparently some Japanese devs questioned how that game even got past the "no porn" rules and said that hentai games would be tamer than that.

@Nettacki: I am not just talking about this. He writes a variety of other articles such as his recently posted one about the development on Zombiu. He writes about a variety of topics and I appreciate the stories he covers. Hell, I think 'Worth Reading' has become one of the best features on the site.