I've been following this pretty closely and here's my take:
1) Jessica Price posts a long twitter essay, talking about narrative in GW2.
2) Deroir responds with incredibly polite commentary where he disagrees with one of the points Jessica made.
3) Jessica Price reads something into Deroir's commentary that isn't there(perhaps understandably because of past experiences) and lashes out at him and others(less understandable)
4) The GW2 community sees that some their most well known/influential members are being condescended to and insulted by a dev. They are angry at the situation.
5) The community outrage at the situation leaks into the broader r/gaming community, whereupon it becomes a hot topic in the gaming community at large which sadly includes Gamergate.
6) Gamergate involvement turns the entire situation into a toxic cesspool. People start pushing for Jessica Price to be fired. People who have never played GW2 try to pressure ANet by saying things like "I was considering getting into GW2 but now I'm not going to"(ya sure bro).
7) ArenaNet caves to fan outrage and fires both Jessica Price and Peter Fries.
8) Polygon and Kotaku post "spin" articles that are blatantly trying to shape the narrative, by playing down Jessica Price's toxicity(posting edited versions of her tweets) and focusing on the firing.
9) Gamergaters feel like they've won a victory and are currently power tripping, targeting people(predominantly women) who are speaking out on behalf of Jessica Price and trying to get them fired.
I'm gonna preemptively address some points in my timeline that people might take issue with.
Why do I say that ArenaNet caved to fan outrage? Because of the firing of Peter Fries. He did nothing more than post 3-4 tweets where he defended his colleague without resorting to insults. The question is why was he fired? The only answer to that question is because the gamergate outrage machine had inextricably linked Jessica Price and Peter Fries. I'd be more inclined to believe ArenaNet's version of events if only Jessica Price was fired, because whether what she did was a firable offence is actually a matter of debate.
Why do I put Polygon and Kotaku on blast? Because, well-meaning or not, they are posting a heavily editorialized version of events where Jessica Price is a saint who's professionalism and expertise was questioned by some maladjusted nobody. DO NOT go to Polygon and Kotaku if you want to know more about the initial twitter interaction that caused all this. Instead go straight to the source.
In conclusion: What a shitshow
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