@kibblez: Giantbomb is personality driven, and I like the people who run this site. I can take a step back and realize that people who have different political opinions have the right to express them without being attacked. I think the idea that Palmer Lucky is automatically a racist, or supports racists, because he wanted to do what Cards Against Humanity already does for Hillary is disingenuous.
As an Independent who saw first hand how Bernie was treated in the primaries, I am not happy how Democrats have gotten away with labeling anyone who opposes Hillary as Bernie Bros, Sexist, Racist, Misogynist, Alt Right, Deplorables, etc. These sort of attacks are why I will be voting for Jill Stein in November.
Yes, I agree. The whole Pepe the Frog thing is another example of how hyperbolic and babyish progressive reactionaries are. And let's not start on the strained cultural Marxism, aggressive gender supremacy politics, and resistance to condemning anyone whose skin tone is brown, regardless of their actions.
I don't want to turn this into a whole political debate here, but I hope GB and its readers know that communities always have differing opinions and stances on these matters. That's what was frustrating about listening to Patrick and Austin talk about this on their new VICE podcast - hyperbolic rhetoric and virtuous political posturing doesn't make for engaging listening for someone who might disagree, even slightly. At least this Beascast had a little heat in this respect.
A while back, I thought that the whole bomb-crew had agreed that harassment of women is wrong, while ethical disclosure was important in video games and games journalism, in regards to the "Gamer-gate" fiasco. This is my stance as well, and I suspect a lot of people who gravitated towards Jeff after the Kane & Lynch debacle.
So it is quite disappointing to see both podcasts discuss the over 100 hit pieces on Palmer Lucky and completely ignore the fact that a women was doxxed and exposed for harassment in every article I glanced through... for daring to identify as a "gamergater"
That's just the nature of partisan politics. Giant Bomb is very close to progressive media, progressive game devs, progressive friends of the site, etc.
I'm someone who thinks the majority of progressive politics and talking points are often absurd and anti-liberal. I'm not a Trump supporter, nor would I necessarily defend Palmer's actions. But progressive types are so insanely hyperbolic and contradictory on these matters, it's quite laughable. Again, it's just politics, and people like to think they're more informed than they really are. Progressivism tends to be just as silly and outlandish as the opinions of those on the far-right - the needle is just sat in the opposite direction.
So of course, a lot of the social justice advocates aren't interested in acknowledging their double standards when their side of the argument does the doxxing, the gossiping, the harassment. It's not relevant to them because she's not part of the groupthink. She identifies as a member of GamerGate, so clearly she's automatically venomous and morally bankrupt, and not worth any respect. This is identity politics and it's totally cancerous - most who consider themselves 'progressives' are utterly entrenched in it, and I don't think it's reasonable thinking.
I still like GB and they never really make their allegiances that obvious, partly I think because Jeff G might think differently in some matters compared to his peers. But I digress..
This episode shows that the one thing making Dan less likeable in the West is Brad. He doesn't know how to play off Dan's goofiness like Vinny and Alex (and Jeff); instead he just gives really empty 'hmm's and 'yeah's whilst looking and acting superior. Always hated that.
One of my biggest problems with these things is them talking about games people outside of PAX (or even some people there at the show) might never have seen or heard of, and just aimlessly trying to build up some desperate jokes around it to keep people interested. It's not fun to watch, it's just tedious. Same goes for Jeff making the 'videogames today...' speech every time they do a show like this. Yes, I get it, the industry is changing and getting weird. I don't watch these things to hear you slowly ramble about the state of gaming, I come for some wackiness and laughs.
Not trying to be a dick but I feel like they need to remember what made these things eventful in the first place and double down on it. Jeff has openly remarked about how he doesn't plan much; well, maybe he should.
@kibblez: How about the people who wrote in, explained why it bothered them, and asked the crew what they thought? They might not have been "hurt" but it sounded like they were a bit off-put by the skin. Does their explanation not suffice?
Austin, Alex - here's a question you should honestly ask yourself regarding the Overwatch skins: who is it hurting?
I don't mean that as a cheap point. It's a genuine question for you to raise.
(And if your conclusion is the typical progressive idea of 'cultural appropriation' subtlely inciting racial prejudices/lack of value, that explanation still demands a world of evidence to back it up.)
Quite frustrating to listen to Brad be effusive about Uncharted whilst tippy-toeing around Jeff's dislikes of it. But I suppose that's the result of everyone being snarky and critical of everything all the time - that is deemed more valid in some way.
It's worth remembering that most of the vocal games press (and a considerable portion of outspoken devs) have adopted this hard-left, hyper-feminist stance on this sort of stuff. You know, the people who infantilize Western women and talk about them like they're a protected species.
I imagine it would be social and/or professional suicide for someone in a position like theirs to say something actually contrary - not to suggest they think other than what was said on the podcast, however. It's the same weird thinking that gets someone like Danny O'Dyer to suggest that a character's butt pose inevitably leads to more women being raped. Just an outrageous line and a fanatical bit of politicking.
But yes, it is a little tiring to be reminded of the double standards. What about someone like Adam Orth?
At the risk of being banned again for saying something that doesn't toe the party line, you guys are missing some information regarding the Allison Rapp situation.
It seemed like things with her employment only escalated when she ran afoul the anti-child sex trafficking charity "The Wayne Foundation" and she only fell into the cross-hairs of the "internet" due to her twitter behavior. She was actively taunting and being belligerent on twitter which is odd behavior for someone in a marketing position. She certainly seems like a very strong willed and outspoken person but it was THAT that got her noticed, not the fact she was a woman.
Furthermore, this had nothing to do with GamerGate, or even Operation Downfall. Discussion about Rapp was flat out banned on the 8chan GamerGate board and people there were VERY annoyed with anyone bringing it up and members of the Downfall hashtag or general threads lost interest in her the moment it was clear she had zero to do with the localization and was in fact against the changes that were being implemented.
I think it's a shame what happened to her. I don't like her as a person, purely from her very public views in regards to child sexuality and her defense of people being charged for possession of child pornography (often publicly on her Nintendo branded twitter account) but Nintendo dancing around exactly why her employment was terminated is highly suspect considering the chain of events. Their claim that it was the moonlighting gig is highly suspect considering the chain of events.
In the end she seemed to be quite passionate about games and we need more of those people in this industry, not less. I hope she lands on her feet, I hope she has a chance to return to Nintendo in some role but the suggestion that this was just a manufactured hate campaign isn't correct, nor do I blame the boys for not having all the facts. You would need to be following it quite closely and interacting with some communities that I imagine most of the GiantBomb staff avoid like the plague.
Well said.
My problem with the GB guys is that they're almost too pro-women. They ignore it so hard that, when they finally talk about it, they're spouting mis-information.
Like, I get that you hate misogyny, but just because something bad happens to a women doesn't -always- make it that.
Jeff can be particularly polarizing on this issue, which I guess is just Jeff in general.
I remember when the remake of Tomb Raider was about to launch, one of the devs had mentioned wanting players to "care about" Laura, and "want to protect her". Jeff flipped his shit and was saying he'd refuse to play the game if they kept with that stance. bizarre.
In this specific instance, if you look at all the facts on both sides, it's not hard to understand why Nintendo did what it did. If a guy had done all the same things, no one would be on his side.
We're supposed to have equal rights, equal. It's not equal when you expect women to get special treatment.
lol funny to see this article bring all the 'libertarians' out of the woodwork, the right wing already dominate the entire U.S. media yet these people who screech so much about freedom of speech and 'political correctness' are furious over an article about labour rights, and actually delude themselves into thinking their views are somehow suppressed and not already massively over-represented (as pro-oligarchic views tend to be). How oblivious can you be to your own history
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