GamerGate, or, Why I Contemplate Giving Up On Games Every Day

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regularassmilk

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Edited By regularassmilk

I want to write about Kiefer Sutherland right now. I want to write about the come-up of indie and what that means to me, but I can't do that shit. I can't fucking write about why I trust Hideo Kojima to make a meaningful Metal Gear Solid with a Hollywood actor attached when people are being driven from house and home.

Those other posts will come. Maybe even later tonight, but I would feel sick to my stomach if I neglected this issue in this forum for another second.

I've had a couple false starts with Twitter but I began again in June or May of this year and have been going strong, when I finally made sense of that platform, and practically since I've been there, GamerGate has been right alongside me. Every time I see somebody posting death threats, rape threats, and people being doxxed, I just feel sick.

I want to fight and bitch and do what I can to help, but it's hard just not to say "You know what? I quit gaming. I quit games. I quit writing about games. I don't want to be associated with this anymore." I want to throw up my hands and surrender.

It's fair to say that games are mainstream, because they are. It's expected that most adult ages 10-35 have some sort of Call of Duty connection at least, but nobody on this site is that kind of person. None of us pop in Call of Duty a couple nights a week and that's it. We have accounts on a video game website. Lots of us pay for special content on a video game website. I listen to at least four hours a week of Bombcasts, and am consuming content here everyday. I got on Twitter for the precise reason of following industry people because this is the kind of work I want to do, but I'm willing to throw it all away if the loudest voices in my community are the people screaming "CUNT!" out of a car window.

I used to feel a twinge of annoyance when I would tell people that I was really into video games and they would immediately draw a line to CoD if they didn't just cringe instead, but the rampant hatred, entitlement, and sexism in the industry from the people who play games just like I fucking do makes me want to cut my ties to video games altogether.

I'm not here to do a comprehensive writeup about whatever I think GamerGate is, because that's available in a million other formats from writers far more informed and competent than I am. I can say though, that even if you do think that GamerGate is about corruption, pay-offs, and agendas, the right answer is not to send somebody a rape threat or a death threat, make their private information public, and harass their friends and families. That shit isn't a game, those are human beings.

I want to play games. I want to talk about games with other people, and talk about the industry. I love it. I love most of the people in this industry--that's a huge part of why I'm here in the first place. I don't want to be a part of this machine though when parts of the community are so toxic and loud. And I'm not saying that gaming is the only thing with this sort of community problem, but to the outside world, it's hard to see what's really going on, and really easy to see the terrible comings-and-goings of an event like this.

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Sterling

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#1  Edited By Sterling

I just wanted to drop in and say, I love your username. Its fantastic. Carry on.

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TruthTellah

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@regularassmilk: I feel you on that, and it does suck a lot. I'm pretty invested in the online gaming community, and sometimes you do just want to throw your hands in the air and say, "Eff it! I'm out!"

But, really, most of this stuff is short term nonsense. Things that are tragic but soon long forgotten. Seen in the short term, it can often feel like a real mess. But when you look at gaming in months and years instead of days, you see how hopeful the direction is.

This storm will blow past like all the others. Fun games will keep coming out. Good times will be had. And slowly but surely, gaming will continue to become an even better pastime to be a part of.

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TheManWithNoPlan

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#3  Edited By TheManWithNoPlan

Yeah, the idea of people associating any of this nonsense with me, or any of the other people I know, just because we like games is really upsetting. The fact that we as a community at large can't discuss things about the industry in a mature reasoned manner is really troubling. I wouldn't let anybody disrupt my enjoyment of the hobby though.

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GERALTITUDE

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At the risk of sounding dismissive, I will just say that I don't understand.

Do you give up alcohol because some people are aggressive drunks?

Should we not watch sports because some fans take it to a violent level?

I appreciate that comparisons can come across as simplistic, and I don't want to be reductive, but why let a fraction of gamers push you out of something you love? Take that anger and write something positive with it. Your MGS write up could possibly do more good than this blog. One focuses on games. The other shares negative feelings about people who play games. I feel on GB we are desperate for the former! Well, I am.

Finally, the outside world... has no idea about GG. Either way, people lumping *you* with *them* have never been worth listening to. At this point in time (2014) assuming anything about anyone because of a group they may or may not belong to is nonsense.

Hope you don't lose sight of what matters duder and stay happy. Haters ain't shit you know? Hurry up and write that MGS blog!

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TruthTellah

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#5  Edited By TruthTellah

@regularassmilk: And write that post on Metal Gear.

We've all gotta speak out, but you can't let it get to you and prevent you from enjoying games as you have. It's natural to feel like this right now, but one of the best things you can do is talk about some Kojima bullshit. In life, there will always be more reasons for despair and outrage, but we must go on.

We can feel the pain around us, stand for things, and still have some dumb fun.

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deactivated-6050ef4074a17

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@geraltitude: I feel the same way and similarly don't understand why some people are so easily put off by what other people do. When I look at certain aspects of the gay community I don't think "Ugh, I should just give up on being gay, these people all suck!" It seems silly to me to let what other people do color my perceptions of myself. I am not them.

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Anonymous_Jesse

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The subredit for this has 10,000 subs and the hashtag has over a million tweets and been going on for months. Through the internet's anonymity some crazy, awful people act and you want to give up something you love. Instead I ask you to think about your hobby if it means that much to you, to do something positive like send those people who got bad messages a good message and if this is personally affecting you, your mood and how you feel then don't engage in it.

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deactivated-5f8907c9ada33

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@regularassmilk: Why would you give up doing something you enjoy because of a vocal minority? A lot of people on the internet can be assholes. A lot of gamers can be assholes. That's just how it is, the world will always be this way.

If you love gaming, play games!! If GamerGate and all that bullshit happening is bothering you, ignore it. If you want the community aspect, you can easily find people here on Giant Bomb to talk to about games, without partaking in conversation about some political bullshit agenda, supported by stupid teenagers.

People harassing others, sending death threats and exposing personal information is awful. However, that truly shouldn't get in the way of your enjoyment of a hobby you love and hold dear to you.

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Hailinel

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@regularassmilk: The people doing the harrassing are assholes to the extreme, but don't let them feel like you should abandon something you enjoy. Individually, there's not much any single one of us can do about what's going on. There really isn't an easy answer. But if voices of cool and mature people all feel the need to flee their hobby over the actions and behavior of sociopaths and children, then I don't see a real benefit to that.

@larmer: Please don't bring that in here. This is not a he said/she said argument thread.

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Milkman

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It's all fucking exhausting.

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shinjin977

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I feel you but I just want to let you know, right this very moment in africa/asia/europe/america/the world, children are being killed and raped, women and men are being sold like meat in a market, people are dying in drove from a disease so deadly modern medical knowledge can not (yet) destroy it completely. These events do not make anything going on in regards to harassment any less disgusting but if you think that the rest of the world is any better than this community. I don't know what to tell you. Endure because you are strong.

If you wish to take a break from the gaming community, I fully support you but if you want to give up on your dream because some assholes? Hey it is your life, I can not tell you what to do but if Martin Luther King Jr. had that attitude, racial equality may have never made progress. (btw I am not equating the struggle of African American to this internet drama GG thing.)

We do not live in a world where we can just sit down with everyone in the world and understand everyone instantly. Understanding, compassion and sympathy SHOULD be something we all have for each other but not all of us are like that. Fighting for something is always a struggle, this is just another. If you want a progressive, friendly and inclusive community you must fight for it. By dissipating hate, by patience, by extending a branch, by stopping your own anger. These are all things that we must practice on ourselves and on people throwing vile insult because calling them names and getting angry does not solve the problem. It merely makes you one of them in the long run.

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TruthTellah

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#13  Edited By TruthTellah
@marokai said:

@geraltitude: I feel the same way and similarly don't understand why some people are so easily put off by what other people do. When I look at certain aspects of the gay community I don't think "Ugh, I should just give up on being gay, these people all suck!" It seems silly to me to let what other people do color my perceptions of myself. I am not them.

In this case, it's probably not something he can easily avoid. It pops up on Twitter and on sites he may like. So, it's just sad stuff that distracts him from having his normal fun.

Like, I'm used to some hate, but like today when I received some rather unpleasant harassing PMs and comments for talking about GamerGate, well, that still sucks, ya know? And I hate to see that these sad things are happening and the weird way some conversations about this go. I come to Giant Bomb a lot, and it's natural that problems and crappiness here may have an impact on me.

I still push through, of course, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't get to me at all.

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xyzygy

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I know that this shit is garbage, but it's hoenstly not that hard to separate enjoying the act of actually playing a game and what is going on right now.

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BradBrains

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I never will be able to quit games (though I don't play much anymore) I do find myself wanting to get far away from the term "gamer" more then I ever did before

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Jimbo

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#16  Edited By Jimbo

Gaming Community didn't make a death threat, an individual did. Unless you are that individual or are incredibly insecure, I don't think you should feel guilty by association.

What I like best about all of this though is the fantasy that the sort of people who send death threats on twitter are going to read an article condemning it on Game Website X and suddenly realise the error of their ways, rather just thinking "Look at all the shit I caused and all the attention I'm getting! This is brilliant! I should do this more often!"

The internet cannot solve this problem, it can only make it worse. Notice how the number of incidents has increased as the amount of coverage has increased? That correlation won't surprise anybody with any sense. The only actual solution to this problem is for the assholes doing it to have the fear of god put into them by law enforcement turning up on their doorstep. If that requires Twitter to be forced into being more cooperative then that's what needs to be campaigned for. No amount of words written condemning it on Giant Bomb et al will make one positive bit of difference; it will just give attention to people desperately craving attention.

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Baillie

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#17  Edited By Baillie

Or you can just ignore it like I have, continue you play games and enjoy the content on Giant Bomb.

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cabrit_sans_cor

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I'm with you man, but here's what's kept me in:

If we throw up our hands and say "fuck this, I'm out," then the shrill sadistic fucks will be the only ones left. They'll have won.

I'm not going anywhere.

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mpgeist

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I keep games and this stuff all separate. Honestly I didn't even follow or understand much of what was happening until this week.

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BBAlpert

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@hailinel said:

@larmer: Please don't bring that in here. This is not a he said/she said argument thread.

Thank you, Hailinel.

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cornbredx

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What's sad is that because your thread is about Gamergate it will get a lot of attention.

I'm on no ones side when it comes to Gamergate, though. It's all gross- all around. That's why I'm sick of hearing about it.

There are more important things in this world than girls influencing video game critics and developers opinions on games. All I'm seeing is bile being thrown, from both sides of whatever you want to call this mess, and it's nothing but gross.

I'm on the side of "live and let live" and "fuck trolls."

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zombie2011

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Gamergate? Can we stop adding the word gate to any sort of controversy.

Watergate wasn't a scandal involving water, it was the location of the scandal, so the term Gamergate makes no sense. Also every community has it's bad seeds, most people just ignore these people as being idiotic, looking at you football hooligans. Not sure why the gaming community makes such a big deal about this, maybe it's so websites can get more traffic.

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bybeach

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#23  Edited By bybeach

I am not advocating trivialization when I say this, the issues are important. But it is best to just step back for a bit and laugh about something. Don't let things demand so much of your focus you forget that games are to be enjoyed, on one level or another. The fact they can be escapist doesn't bother me a bit. That can be in proper amounts a good thing. Even when they are pronouncing on the issues themselves.

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joshwent

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And I'm not saying that gaming is the only thing with this sort of community problem, but to the outside world, it's hard to see what's really going on, and really easy to see the terrible comings-and-goings of an event like this.

That's because, "Millions Play Video Games, Are Generally Okay People Who Aren't Bigoted And Don't Send Death Threats" is not a very catchy headline. The "outside world" will always be misinformed about something they're not involved in by definition. These attacks are horrible indeed, but they do not define any of us.

If you feel like the negativity is rubbing off on you, there's a very easy solution... don't be a jerk. We all make ripples that have consequences we'll never know about every day of our lives. The splash made by horrible harassment is certainly a wave that's hard to ignore and comprehend, but by just being the best person in life yourself and approaching every situation with love and respect, you're actively counterbalancing the waters.

Okay, ripple analogy over. Don't let the assholes win and go back to thinking about how sexy Kiefer is or whatever that was. :)

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Wolfgame

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#25  Edited By Wolfgame

All I really know is that the gaming landscape on sites is far more inflammatory and sensationalized then what I witness in reality. I have switched programs at my school but at least in my small sampling at college I see a vastly diverse group of both men and women pursuing an interest in gaming. Most of whom don't even have a idea or concern for this scandal. This whole controversy primarily radiates in a disillusioned bubble. That's not to say terrible things aren't happening but in terms of shit happening on the internet that is shameful nothing has significantly changed. An impression of gaming based solely on a war neither side has any intentions of ending will always make you think gaming has just become an unbearable hobby to occupy. That's only a truth if you allow it to be one, I see many positive signs that gaming is growing, maturing, and will be stronger in the times ahead. Even if getting to that point is a little rocky.

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larmer

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#26  Edited By larmer

@hailinel: What are you talking about? He said she said? Dunno why my post got deleted.

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Tom_Scherschel

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mike

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#28  Edited By mike