Thank you for writing this.

@honkalot: It's somewhat ironic that his twitter handle is Nero, because I bet he's getting great enjoyment out of watching this industry burn down around him.

Also Breitbart (the site Milo writes for) is apparently extremely pro-Tea Party. It's extremely easy to connect dots that may not be there when you have this rattling around the back of your mind, and you don't know whether to believe it or not. But honestly? I don't think he has either the best interests of the consumers - or the industry at large - in mind. As Eric Bischoff would say: Controversy Creates Cash.

@juniper: The issue I have with this whole thing, is that regular Joes like you and I end up talking about this, as we are, and we end up caught up in the snowball rolling down Everest. It did start out as an extremist thing, you're dead right on that, but it has spiralled out of control and anyone who chimes in gets caught in the avalanche and they're just as much of a part of it as those who are on the more extreme side of the fences.

@freedo: I think that that's why some of the rational people are trying their best to re-establish themselves on their own without attaching it to that hashtag, purely because of the negative connotations involved in using it. And that's pretty great. At the same time, you're right in that we can't really just bury our heads in the proverbial sand and hope it all goes away. That's probably what most of us are doing, whether we're aware of it or not, but those times that folks do address these GamerGate people, they're usually met with nothing but hostility. With that in mind, why would anyone want to voluntarily invite that upon themselves? Unless you have extremely thick skin and can cut through the crap, actively charging in and trying to find the needle in the haystack (or in this case, perhaps it should be a strand of hay in a needlestack) probably isn't the best course of action.

Giant Bomb has become a target for certain folks because of the all male staff. This all started during the E3 livestreams when certain individuals decided to call for boycotts against the site because of some perceived lack of women on screen, despite the fact that there were more than ever before. It only continued when Dan Ryckert was hired to fill the editorial slot. Ever since then it seems as if there has been a very loud, very vocal sliver of developers or voices in the industry that have tried to label Giant Bomb as the poster child for what they believe to be wrong. Targeting Giant Bomb based on something they have absolutely nothing to do with reeks of yet another attempt to tarnish the image of the site.

@murdoc_: There have been plenty of people that are pro-GG harassed, but that gets absolutely no coverage. Like I said, Harassment is bad no matter who it is targeting.

Thanks for posting this Patrick.

At first I thought GamerGate would blow over if starved of the oxygen of publicity, but the longer it's gone on the clearer it's become that what's needed in this case is the harsh light of scrutiny to be shone directly into the Gater's faces.

If this toxic movement won't fade away on it's own, then it has to be fought.

this shit is just so freaking sick. cant you like track the persons twitter or something like to the phone or something. i mean this is directly a death threat.
i just dont understand people who thinks this is anywhere remotely okay.

You might be under the false impression that I'm pro-GG. I am not. I will call out bad writing when I see it, just as they may point out what they find problematic with a game. Sometimes I may agree with them, sometimes I won't. There is no anger or trying to force change, just acknowledgement of bad writing and calling it out.

The solution I've come up with was to not actively read those sites or promote them. I've installed adblock for those times when someone links an article with a URL-shortener and blacklisted them. That doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to criticize them when I still come across bad writing. That's the other side of telling people not to play a video game or critique it if they don't like it.

Video games are much more than the end product we consume at retail. This industry has done a disservice to the people that create these wonderful pieces on interactive entertainment for ages; from the early days of companies like Atari not ever giving developer credit to the deplorable work conditions of crunch time and contract employment.

It would continue to be a disservice if we continue to let venomous subsections of the community to attack and threaten those that ply their craft for our enjoyment.

I don't know how anyone can read about this story and have any other reaction than this is sick and it has to stop. No ifs, ands, or buts. This behaviour should not be tolerated or defended.

One thing I don't understand is how many people I see on this website talking about the "gamergate" hashtag as if it's some kind of cohesive group, or that it possesses an inherent nature, or "core." I thought we were all more internet literate than this. It's exactly like when the media talk about "Anonymous" as if it's some kind of organization, rather than a random collection of people who appropriate a name to prove a personal point There is no essential group of hateful people hiding behind the hashtag "gamergate" - people using the hashtag have all sorts of different motivations for using it, far too many to list, and it's always a bit disappointing (though unsurprising) to see anybody, with or without a platform, conflate crazy individuals with an amorphous undefined identity. The way you perceive it as originating is often brought up, but it seems pretty clear that's no longer very important.

It's also seems pretty clear to me that the undercurrent to this whole "debate," if you can call it that, has its roots in a clash of cultural identities and values. I don't think anyone would deny that (in general), game development and journalism are overwhelmingly liberal professions. Most liberals find it hard to believe that there are people who still take issue with things even so minorly progressive as gaming being more inclusive to women, which is why it's unsurprising that the majority of the games press reacted aggressively to this gamergate stuff. But the gaming audience is much more diverse than its press, and as much as that diversity includes a lot of people that feel excluded by the conversation about gaming, there are as many that would like everyone to just shut up and report about/make games (still mostly about white dudes). Certain members of this group - let's call them "conservatives" for expediency - feel very strongly that there not be a whole bunch of hand-wringing over actual problems mucking up their games or news about games. Gamergate just gives everyone pissed off about whatever political agenda they feel is being pushed on them a banner to rally behind. It's essential differences about values (a.k.a. moral politics) thinly veiled under a discussion we think it's more polite to have instead.

I'm tired of the whole thing. It sucks that Wu got harassed by some lunatic (lunatics?), it sucks that anyone gets harassed, it sucks that the internet age is such that pretty much anyone with a little knowhow can harass anyone else with an internet connection at any time, it sucks that we spend so much time and energy yelling at each other and none of us have any good solutions (other than Twitter needs to get on this shit), and bottom line, it sucks that people are so bad at understanding each other. I would love to do something productive about these things, but it just seems like the more time you spend on the internet, the more you feel like humans are fucked. The well of closed minds and misdirected anger never runs dry, and I feel like I need a vacation in a hut somewhere away from wifi.

@itspizza: Videogames are serious business, that's what you missed out on.

You want to hear @chatterwhiteman's side of this? Maybe he had a good reason for this?

@cataphract1014: What is there to pro about? Some one is actually pro hacking people's accounts and sending death threats?

@nurabsal said:

Because the of teens doing the actual getting personal thing, like the kids responsible for the DDOS attacks on everything gaming recently and sending bomb threats to Sony boss planes and pictures of his fathers grave to his house, are in a tiny insignificant number and not interested in talking.

It's a lot of noise about a couple of assholes on the internet giving hell to people and it's not going to do anything at all to stop the problem or to help bored teenagers understand that what they're doing is wrong. The see the headlines and they get acknowledged, they see personal-letter style blog and twitter posts and really get acknowledged and really turned on so they pump it up a notch.

Famous/wellknown people in other lines of work have forever and always and still dealt with all of this without making it a public event, even yours motherfucking truly from working spending years in national television and radio. Nothing is going to stop stalkers, threats, disturbances. The people at blame are the few nutbags who stalk, threaten and disturb, but even more the ones who keep talking and trying to reason with the people giving them all that. It's a fact of life that I long have known myself and from other people in the business of being public figures.

(If mods or admins need proof go ahead and google my subscriber data (with umlauts), I have a unique name in the country, you'll find me and even some ugly posts of harassment that people have made)

Folks, if you've come in here just to say "I don't want to read this lolzors wut" we will be deleting your comments. Either add something constructive to the conversation or don't bother commenting at all.

Republicans with legitimate concerns about the Government distanced themselves from the ignorance, racism, and sexism in the Tea Bagger movement publicly. Maybe those who use the GamerGate hashtag for actual concerns about the industry should form a new hashtag, or better yet an actual organized effort. You guys lost control of your message very quickly and you guys will never be able to damage control a movement that was born out of Zoe Quinn's personal life.

@sil3n7 said:

@goreyfantod said:

@heftymadmonkey said:

@sil3n7:

Sil3n7 speaks the truth, we only see Patrick with this stuff, if you guys like it so be it but I'm gonna avoid it. I'm coming to this site for fun gaming not a lecture in sociology.

Hrmm, what's all this then, Guv'nor?

You are using a 3rd party to verify this? What a joke haha. Why don't you just ask a person off the street as well. That's just as accurate.

Come back when you have evidence that anyone other than Patrick and sometimes Alex is interested in this. Here's a hint: based on every bombcast episode that exists, they aren't.

Ah, so you're alleging that Jeff, Brad & Alex have been placed on this #GamerGate hit list in error. Gosh, how could such a thing happen?

At any rate, while I take note of your tendency toward inaccurate hyperbole & issuing commands, I decline to care a whit about either.

@sparky_buzzsaw:

As a paying member so we don't get a say either ?

I don't care if ten monkeys got together and made a videogame. I'd still play it if it was good enough.

By the other side I meant the people who are Pro-GG that have been harassed as well. Not the idiot that did the harassing. Where is the coverage about Milo Yiannopoulus getting mailed a syringes? Or the person on Twitter GGfeminist that has doxxed and has been emailed death threats?

You might not have intended it this way, but this comment comes off as suggesting that she either fabricated or purposely drew the ire of these nut jobs to draw attention to her work. Let's not go there and treat these threats as serious as they are.

@dogdays: One of the more outspoken Gamer Gate Youtube channels, Internet Aristocrat, actually did do a video on Shadow of Mordor. So there are people staying on message for the movement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfDNZXU79Tg&list=UUWB0dvorHvkQlgfGGJR2yxQ

I'm so confused. Why do people care who is making a game? At the end of the day isn't if you think the game is good or not what matters? Game developers don't have any power over anything that goes on in your life, so why do their opinions matter so much to these disgusting fucks? Just 'cus their women? That's fucked up.

If the only site you look to for this sort of story is GB, you'd think females were the only ones seeing any sort of negativity out of anything.
You're a cool guy, Patrick, and spreading the word about the crappy stuff happening in the industry is good, but it often feels like you're trying to push some sort of feminist agenda or something.

The immediate responses to this were just shocking. Some people/websites spread her info and used it as a platform to advertise, while others were disgusted and tried to find/stop the doxxer and at the least reported them to twitter.

Thankfully Wu is staying in gaming, regardless of what her peers do to her.

PS: Calling these people "liberal" is sickening. They are extreme authoritarian leftists, removed from the likes of the Jack Thompson only by semantics. Trade violence for sexism and "it's indecent" for "it's triggering". The only real difference is that JT wasn't embedded in the gaming industry, I wonder where we'd be today if he was.

@mangopup: It's funny to say that a group has "lost control of a message" because another group with more media power is changing it as suits them.

A paid membership does not get you any leniency, no. Everyone is under the same Forum Rules. Posts that serve no purpose other than to say "I don't want to read this" or "I want to hear about games" don't add to the conversation and are disruptive. Those kinds of statements will be deleted. If, however, you wish to state a well thought out argument or have something useful to say, we'll definitely have no problem with it.

No, really, why doesn't Gamergate ever talk about any of the things written in this list? Why do they seem so laser-focused on alleged conspiracies involving women and socially progressive commentary in the video games industry? I guess it's possible that somebody who identifies with Gamergate might talk about something genuinely problematic in the games media* or the games business, but if it's something used cynically in to discredit outlets and individuals in order to punish them for agitating for increased inclusivity in the medium of video games, then it doesn't deserve much recognition, does it?

*disclaimer: I have never actually seen a legitimate argument be made by anyone within Gamergate but I will acknowledge that such a thing is possible, however unlikely.

@branthog: "Does the world really need one more gaming site posting daily articles about how gamers are vile pieces of shit and someone had to move to Pluto because the Internet? Wasn't your best move to just be good people doing good gaming stuff?"

Yes. No.

This article is signal boosting that this bullshit is happening to people. It's not accusing all gamers (a classification that means less than ever) of being vile, just the ones making these types of threats.

All the stuff you want still exists on the site and will continue to exist. Feeling that non standard content being generated will diminish or replace the content you already enjoy and being upset about it is understandable but I think just like there being room for all types of games, there's room for all sorts here too. You can skip the things you don't like or care about and continue to enjoy the things you do. Or leave if it's all just too much. I've seen you around and I have to say, I'm super happy that even though you're not happy with things on the site, you're not throwing around a bunch of hate speak and being vile =]

I can see why some sites want to stay out of this. Look how much hateful back and forth has been done in this topic since it was posted 3 hours ago.

Had to reread what you wrote so I didn't do any misstakes. But I still stand by what I said except you shall not take my response as an "Get out!". That was actually not my intention from the beginning either way. My response was also not directly aimed at you but rather in a general sense. I'm tired people just complaining and trying to force change (by making advertisers pull ads for example) instead of just moving on and find greener pastures. Life is to short to be hateful and sour.

It's absolutely in your right to tell someone when you don't agree with them. Discussion is great! What I referred to was if you see it becoming a trend and if that trend devalues the site for you in the long run then it's better to leave then stay put and just get angry and write critical stuff all the time. You can probably use that energy in more positive way :)

Also....I don't always agree with that criticism you listed but I tend to keep my mouth shut and not get to riled up about it every time. Sometimes it's a bit to sensitive but sometimes it's really not.

I hope I made myself more clear now?

Thanks. That's the second time in a couple weeks I've heard the Kingdom Come game referenced as an example of concern. Which also means I've heard about the criticism two times more than I've heard the actual criticism. Who are these people criticizing? How did they hear about a game that is definitively not mainstream? What are their complaints? I'm guessing there aren't articles on large game sites that discuss the criticisms. If there are it'd be interesting to read them.

But when there aren't it makes it difficult to lend any real concern to a situation like this. I agree that the idea of people being forced to censor themselves is not pleasant, but I don't know if that's happening the way that many people assume is happening. After all, Kingdom Come Deliverance is still shipping as intended, right?

There's also a huge difference between criticizing a product and calling for its censorship. People subjected to criticism often feel like they're being censored, or that it's being advocated.

I have stated I value anonymity above all else. But people having their lives profoundly harassed brings out the despised nanny state in me. Pretty much there is a segment of sick F**ks that ruins for everyone a valid view of avoiding all extremes. I hope there is hard and cold justice in the future. This kind of evil torturing because one can, it needs to hit a hard wall. Something with both jail time and compensation.

I myself have little use for Gamer Gate. My views are personal, and I never have looked for company to push my views. When Pat is on his game at this site, he is the guy I love disagreeing with. He is intelligent, and I feel I share core values despite.

This is why I don't like leaving my house because I may run into people like this. It's good to see Brianna is going to keep making games.

@sil3n7 said:

@goreyfantod said:

@heftymadmonkey said:

@sil3n7:

Sil3n7 speaks the truth, we only see Patrick with this stuff, if you guys like it so be it but I'm gonna avoid it. I'm coming to this site for fun gaming not a lecture in sociology.

Hrmm, what's all this then, Guv'nor?

You are using a 3rd party to verify this? What a joke haha. Why don't you just ask a person off the street as well. That's just as accurate.

Come back when you have evidence that anyone other than Patrick and sometimes Alex is interested in this. Here's a hint: based on every bombcast episode that exists, they aren't.

Based on every bombcast episode that exists is a meaningless metric.

You want evidence? Here's my evidence: They've all spoken out against this stuff on their personal public social media accounts. They have women, homesexuals, transgenders who are outspoken advocates of this "social justice" on the site, their podcasts, their panels, etc with some mild regularity. They hired Patrick. They've praised his work. They've never spoken out against the things he's written. He is a representative of their organization. He essentially works for Jeff. This is all evidence that Jeff tacitly agrees with everything Patrick produces for the site... otherwise it, or he, would not be on the site.

Now aside from not bringing up a heavy topic like this on what is essentially their goofy podcast, what evidence do YOU have? Because based on every bombcast episode that exists Jeff's dad didn't die, Alexis didn't leave the site, Cool Baby isn't a thing.

Your theory that it hasn't been brought up on the Bombcast means they support GamerGate, or that they have no problem with the way women in the industry have been treated, is nonsense.

Thanks, Patrick. It's good to see Giant Bomb come out against this in a simple text article. I know most of you have talked about it at one time or another but it's been deep in a Bombing the AM or other videos.

Glad to see that most of the comments have been very supportive as well.

To all GGers: the well has been poisoned, move on The fact that no real journalistic controversies have been uncovered, but numerous women have been threatened and harassed speaks volumes. No, a listserv and long videos trying to connect the dots on TFYC don't count. Leigh Alexander has provided a helpful list of real potential ethical concerns in gaming.

http://leighalexander.net/list-of-ethical-concerns-in-video-games-partial/

Worth reading, let's talk about some of those.

When did social justice become a bad thing to fight for? I must have missed that meeting at the docks.

Gamergate is a bunch of angry boys worried that their special thing isn't going to focus entirely on them forever. They are scared, and probably bored. The fact that they claim it to be a question of ethics is an irony that's maybe lost on them.
The Bomb Duders are in a really invidious position. To formally make a statement about the whole tiring mess would seem to give the turds validation, but to keep quiet seems unhealthy.

Want this to stop Patrick? Then don't talk about it. These articles just gives those causing this crap to happen satisfaction. It's pointless.

Right. If social and political issues in gaming needed anything, it was a signal boost.

Also, you can not just "ignore the stuff you don't care about". Gaming journalists have almost uniformly stated that they subscribe to the Bush doctrine of "you're either with us or against us". There is no room for "well, but I disagree with you on one aspect" and there is no room for "I'm just going to continue enjoying video games while you twenty-something ideologues and angry internet trolls suffocate on your own fumes". We have been told *repeatedly* that we are culpable for everything if we simply "ignore the stuff you don't care about".

"Because they're women" is an actual thing and I'm quite sure it's about the upbringing, male-dominated, male-has-the-say raising of male children still leads to it. At the older age spectrum now they are writing anti-women laws in Texas and Arizona and some other states (too much to google). At the ages of teens to 20somethings they are the ones sending threats and posting terrible things online to female writers, artists, youtubers, streamers. Middle-age it's the typical household where the wife is essentially chained to the kitchen.

Work is being done here and there in the world to keep children from being brought up wrong, so no boys will end up like that, no girls will be taught that they have to be docile and always agree and never say no. It'll be better in the future, it just sucks that it'll be ~1 generation from now and that'll be when it's done in Sweden.

(Used to run a raiding guild in WoW, we had a minimum age for entry because the moment a voice sounding remotely female was heard the younger ones tended to go wild. Same for Counter-Strike back in my professional days of it. They don't listen very well to "stop doing that" and once kicked out they raise hell and spam, threaten, even today.)

Untrue. Not talking about it allows it to continue. Nothing has ever changed from people ignoring injustice.

They really made those lame death threats over some dumb fake account she made mocking gamer gate?

Just goes to show you cant out antagonize the dregs of the internet.