@flyingroman said:
I guess, at this point, I have just lost the thread on what both sides of these arguments want and are trying to accomplish.
As I see it there's generally the following:
GamerGate people who want the yellow game journalism to end and want game journalists to stop acting like a clique.
I know you're summarizing here, so you're intentionally leaving out details, but it's absolutely vital to mention that GamerGate people are against feminist criticism. They want what they perceive as political perspectives out of games commentary. This goal is closely tied to the origins of the group, as it developed from the harassment of feminist critics and commentators, done in an attempt to silence them. This activity has not ceased.
Abso-effing-lotely false. As someone who has been around since the beginning, and honestly it's really offensive that people just throw this out there.
Hell, because people were fed up with this offensive strawmanning, pro-women charities have been given funds, female characters were introduced into video games and there was the whole NotYourShield by all the women and minorities who were sick of being called white male sexists.
I can't speak for everyone, but my personal problem is against the use of feminism as a shield for yellow journalism. Do I want more diversity in games? God yes, everyone is sick of the bald white male protagonist. But if one of the first articles after an exciting E3 demo is "Why was this character not a woman?", well I think that's just shitty journalism.
The gamergate hashtag was concocted directly by people jumping at the opportunity to slut-shame Zoe Quinn, full stop.
If you really want to talk about the editorial direction of games journalism you really should come up with a new hashtag.
First sentence is untrue. Second sentence is terrible advice. What's stopping people saying untrue things about the new hashtag?
What would stop them is having clearly defined goals for the new hashtag/movement so it can't be so easily hijacked by assholes in the first place.
The problem with GamerGate is it's a haphazard, disorganized mess, where its own participants can't even agree on what its primary motivations are. The right hand and the left hand are doing completely different things, both using the same hashtag, and the reasonable half is being drowned out by the much louder, much more disturbing asshole side.
The reasonable people are (ironically) being unreasonable by clinging so hard to the hashtag, when they should just accept that it's been irreversibly tarnished and cut the cord. Regroup. Reorganize. Refocus. Do it better the second time around.
Hell, has anyone considered working with games journalists to create a new movement, with sites hosting an article containing these new, clearly defined goals so that everyone knows what they are? So that if someone tries to use the hashtag for some unrelated agenda, everyone can point to these posted goals as proof that it has no relation to the movement?
As a bonus, journalists could point to it as proof that they are all for gamers expressing their concerns about ethics in the industry. Sounds like a win/win, if you ask me.
Log in to comment