I think this is one of those things that is important for people to understand before they start seeing headlines on Kotaku and react to the headlines rather than what is actually happening. Hopefully it won't even get to that point, but this has all the right elements to make for perfect click-bait.

Basically, early on in the Kickstarter for Might No. 9, there was a backer who created a very small amount of controversy by asking for the main character, Beck, to be female and/or ethnically "swapped."

A few days ago, this backer was made the community manager. Naturally, do her previous controversy and rather poor first post introducing herself to the community, people started digging up information about her. Apparently, she made a number of tweets in the past that upset people when found.

Among them:

• Her position was acquired by having a friend or "bf" that works for Comcept
• She has never been a MegaMan player
• She doesn't really get the "mighty thing"
• She will be designing for the upcoming game as well as managing the community

She locked down her twitter, and deleted the tweets. Being the internet, nothing ever truly disappears. Here's a link to an image of the tweets, though remember this source is someone less than pleased at this recent development: (Click Me)

It seems that people started reacting poorly to what they learned and her previous comments, and many started asking for refunds. The fear being that she is going to try to impose her "agenda" into the design process, and/or being the link between the community and the design team, may filter what they hear from the community.

Others are merely upset that someone who does not seem to be a fan of MegaMan got their job through nepotism, and lied about their enjoyment of MegaMan when introducing themselves, or at the least contradicted previous statements.

As of today this community manager has noticeably improved her demeanor with the community, and addressed the fact that she had little previous experience with MegaMan. She admits or has admitted that she is not a designer per se, but that with such a small team everyone is asked to contribute from time to time. She also states "I’d like to see anyone try and push a personal agenda past these guys ;)" Issues of nepotism were touched upon, but never fully addressed.

A PR master she is not, but she seems to be learning quickly.

So why do I think this is going to blow up? Because among the people reasonably trying to discuss and asses this person's ability to moderate a community are a number of people trying to turn this into a discussion about gender in video games. With this being the hottest button issue in video game journalism at the moment, it doesn't seem far fetched that this situation will be exploited by someone looking to turn the reactionary attitude people have toward this issue into easy click bait that will conflate concerns of the community over qualifications with gender equality in video games.

Again, hopefully this will not happen. Perhaps I'm even doing it a disservice by trying to get under this issue and giving it more exposure. However, I'd like for the basic facts to be out there and available before people start reacting to summations of a complex community issue. How people interpret those facts is up to them.

Sure, in small teams, everyone is nearby enough to just contribute ideas within earshot of someone who can implement them. But it's not like "OK, community manager, today is your turn to be lead designer". If her ideas are crap, they aren't going to make it into the game.

Also, c'mon, nepotism is everywhere. You know how much easier it is to get any position in the private sector if you are friends/relatives with someone who works there?

It's all about who you know. Unfortunately, this is how the real world works. I agree with you.

@bisonhero:

For the record, I don't care. I imagine this game will turn out to be the game I personally backed. I just wanted to make sure that if this issue started to spread outside the Mighty No. 9 community, that it was represented in the right light.

I just hope all the talk about asking for refunds is hot air, because I'd hate to see this project fail because of this.

Those who complain about leveraging connections to better your career probably have no career in the first place.

Whether that's true or not, it is the case that an apparently highly unpopular member of the backer community found a position closer to the game's development, which is bound to incite some level of discontent.

Thanks for the summary. It's interesting that's all I'll say...

@hailinel: The discontent is based on pure speculation of her influence in development and design. When Beck is an African Woman and Mighty No. 9 is a strategy RPG, then I'm all for the backers to go nuts.

So people are pissy because she said she wanted female characters and/or a more diverse cast of characters than more white people/robots?

fuuuuuck off

I'm not saying that their discontent is justified. Only that it's a natural and expected but equally unfortunate reaction.

also do these people seriously think a community manager is going to ruin this game somehow

Inafune is smarter than that. Gosh.

So much jealousy from the vocal minority. lol

So what? Is the game any good?

That's what matters.

Man, I really hope this doesn't become a gender issue, but knowing how sensationalist Kotaku likes to be, there's a possible chance that it will be.

Waaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttt a minute.... is this turning into a "sexist bullshit" type thing?

I'm out.

"I already flunked out, but it's cool. I'm gonna work at my dad's dealership. My dad...owns this dealership."

I hope this thread doesn't go where I fear it will go... There haven't been any of those threads in awhile.

Anyway, I'm not worried about it.

Well it's highly unlikely that her involvement will have any appreciable effect on the final product, but she does seem like a bit of a pill.

I have a feeling you are correct.

And I think you may do people more of a service by just changing the headline to:

"In a surprise to no one, some Kickstarter backers are imbalanced assholes."

If anything, now I'm kind of interested to see if Mark from 8-4 brings up this stupid thing on the next 8-4 podcast, seeing as how backer emails from Might No. 9 are now being signed by both Mark and Dina, this new community manager. It seems like the kind of stupidity where he would go off on people for making such a big deal out of it, but Comcept is a client so he'd probably have to reign it in and be a little more diplomatic and not openly diss the minority of overreactionary backers.

I don't think it can be boiled down to just that. Regardless of what she wanted, the way she introduced herself to the community was apparently demanding in tone, in terms of what she wanted to see, and she apparently made some comments that could indicate she has little to no love for Mega Man or the idea behind what Mighty No. 9 is meant to be. This same person is now in the position of community manager for Comcept, Inafune's company. That's what people are taking issue with; not specifically what she wanted, but the way she stated that want and her apparent detachment from the project's intentions, yet managing to get a position close to the development team.

Again, I'm not saying that the anger is justified, but this is more than just a backlash against a desire for gender/racial diversity in the game.

Her "apparently demanding" tone sounds a lot like how many men come off as "assertive" while many women come off as "demanding".

The real story here seems to be some backers acting like jealous idiots trying to take out a grudge and not anything to do with a silly community manager possibly being under-qualified. Seems hardly like news at all, but if it's going to be news, it will hopefully be in service of pointing out how terrible and petty some Kickstarter backers are.

I don't know, I've read posts regarding similar creative endeavors where male posters were derided for making similarly toned posts regarding what they wanted.

@truthtellah:

See, that's exactly the kind of reaction that disappoints me. Your speculating on information that you don't have, and from this information you don't have, your extrapolation is "sexism."

This is why I can see this turning into an issue over sexism, rather than what is currently happening in the community.

I suppose...

I dunno, I don't think this would not even be an issue if it weren't both a Kickstarter project people care about, and a Megaman spiritual successor.

"S-she doesn't even like Megaman! HOW CAN SHE BE EXPECTED TO HAVE LITTLE TO DO WITH THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS?!?! I WANT MY MONEY BACK! I'LL SHOW YOU!!"

No wander i wasn't getting hired. On my next appointment i am just gonna throw dollars all over the room that seems to help.

Totally. No way this chick just starts going her own way.

Thanks for summarizing it, although I'm not one to get behind the latest Internet craze. Good to know that level-headed individuals exist out there that aren't out to turn everything into a fire shit-show. The TL;DR of this whole debacle should read: "Ignorance strikes again!"

@viking_funeral: Calm down.

if it were this easy to shoehorn ideas into games, Peggle 2 would be co designed by Jeff Green.

or something.

I saw a 20 minute video of someone whining about it and thought it was hilarious

I dunno, seems pretty innocuous to me. Given that this is largely Inafune's project, I trust him with whatever decision he wants to make with the design of his characters and his game.

The only thing I will say is that the face of that fanart is way up there on the uncanny valley scale. The eyes have tear ducts!

The Year of Luigi will be one to remember.

Is this another Jennifer Hepler situation? I'm seeing this internet outrage about what seem like offhand and out-of-context quotes from this woman that are being used to demonize her.

I'm pretty sure that was only half of the Hepler situation. The other half was that she was an awful writer and responsible for some of the more eye-roll inducing moments in DA etc. And the fact that she initiated the whole 'it's because I'm a woman' thing herself.

So judging by that image link she's designing the look of a character (or the main character)? That doesn't necessarily make her a designer, she is more of an artist.

Except, that's a bad thing too. Games media recently shining a spotlight on the worst parts of the internet does nothing to help, nothing to change that behavior, and probably exacerbates the problem by putting assholes on the defensive and then giving them an audience.

internet drama from someone who isn't the artist of Minish Cap, Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Warzards and is a community manager. Oh boy, I'm still keeping my 45 bucks in there.

Calm down, it's just what it sounds like. And frankly, it's not merely speculation. Back when the idea of Mighty No. 9 having a female option was first brought up, I saw firsthand people reacting very strongly against anyone who thought it might be a decent idea, and sexism certainly played a part at times. It would then not surprise me to hear that many people formerly acting sexist(or at least ignorant) might at some point in the future act that way again. When it comes to something like this, people tend to hold a grudge, and this certainly sounds like some backers taking out a grudge.

And, hey, you brought it up. I'm just excited for the game, but if you want to tip me off to some people being sexist(or not-sexist) assholes, I'm certainly going to call it as I see it. If your main concern over this is that some people might call out sexism amongst backers, that's on you. From where I'm sitting, you seem to be doing a decent job at making the case that these backers are being terrible(sexist or otherwise), and if there are enough of them to consider the community "in unrest", well, then I hope this actually does get some coverage.

Community manager seems off base with an invested community (money is down) through lack of experience and unpopular opinions, potentially has input into final game. Happens to be a woman.

Probably worth considering that 99 percent of the demographic who backed this game are probably 20-30 year old men into hardcore platforming.

@probablytuna

So judging by that image link she's designing the look of a character (or the main character)? That doesn't necessarily make her a designer, she is more of an artist.

I think you should read what you just wrote.

We'll just have to disagree on that one, josh. A lack of acknowledgement is why it happens in the first place; more silence isn't the answer. To me, that's like seeing someone bullied and then not doing anything about it. Bullies maintain authority through the willing inaction of others. There are more good people around here and likely amongst those backers than there are bad people, and together, we can actually stand against the abuse of others. If we don't even acknowledge that there's a problem or choose to do anything about it, we're simply willing enablers to it.

We can't let our fear keep us from standing with others and saying the truth when we see it. The best case scenario is backers deal with it themselves and stop a minority from lashing out at this woman, and I say, more power to them.

Mega Man is two words. Rockman is one. That's all I have to add to this. I'm a backer, and I really don't care as long as the end product is good.

What exactly are we mad about now? The fact a backer had an unpopular suggestion and was ultimately hired using connections she had to the team?

I would hope backers would trust Inafune and his teams' judgment in hiring at least a little bit.

Something like discouraging an article about these kind of situations is fundamentally different than seeing someone bullied and not doing anything about it. In that situation, you're there, and you can actually act to do something to help. When these shitty things get coverage in the media, those journalists aren't improving the situation, and the people that may go engage with that community afterwards to stop the problem (imagining that that would actually happen, which is a big stretch anyway) will only make the jerks more jerky and rooted in thinking they're fighting an important fight by feeling like they're being attacked.

I never turn a blind eye to harassment when I see it. Even in these forums, when someone personally attacks someone else, I either tell them in the thread that it has to stop immediately, or PM them to discuss it. And I'm just as vigilant in real life. But writing articles about harassment, does not stop harassment.

The recent coverage of "bullying" on games forums and all of that, isn't for the sake of the bullied, it's for the sake of the readers to feel good about themselves that they're better than those bad people. It's self-congratulatory divisiveness, and it only hurts those in a position to actually help.

Consider the coverage of all of the absolutely horrible things written about Carolyn Petit in the comments to her GTA V review. Those things that were said to and about her were inexcusably disgusting, but what have the articles about it done to help? Will those posters question the insults they're moved to write in the future? Neither of us could definitively say, but I'd imagine, no. And I'd also imagine that those assholes, who "bully" people on the internet in order to get a rise out of someone and to get attention, are actually pretty pleased that they managed to piss off not only the people reading that review, but also all of the people reading the articles about the shitty comments in the review.

Basically, direct, personal action is the only way to resolve any conflict, and giving bullies exposure in the media only makes those person to person solutions that much more difficult.

The best case scenario is backers deal with it themselves and stop a minority from lashing out at this woman, and I say, more power to them.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Wow, i will never understand all this drama that video games in development get into. Thats what not having a job do to you.

Yup I am horribly unemployed. The amount of times I find people getting jobs cos of family is almost 100%. I apply and fail, I turn up at the shop as a customer and I am served by the new person who is 17 mumbles at me and then proceeds to hold my change hostage ontop of their till, when asked for my change they grunt pointing at the coins forcing me to read around the counter....

While that is the worst incident, I run into the same sitation with a grumpy uncaring 17 year old, when they could have a happy (atleast fake) 25 year old that excels at Customer service. That person is me.

I'm glad we agree on the best case scenario. Unfortunately, that isn't always the case. Instead of discouraging people talking about bad things happening, we can simply hope that they actually take care of it by standing up in their own community. I agree that things can get more out of hand the larger they get, but if a small incident can't be handled by just those in it, it makes sense for others to bring attention to it as well. The concern here seems to be with how quickly things can escalate, and I agree that sometimes things escalate beyond their usefulness to the original incident. Though, at that point, they can still be useful for a larger effort.

As far as motivations, I think we're disagreeing a bit on why these people do terrible things. If we just assume they're all "bully" monsters which thrive off the attention, I can see why someone might believe that any attention is counter-intuitive. Unfortunately, this is hardly at all about those who are genuinely monstrous in their actions. It's about you and me; it's about people in communities just like this. In my life, I have met far more normal people that act thoughtlessly or cruelly than I have met conscience-less monsters. I've mostly met people who believe that they are doing something good or at least okay even when they are treating others like crap or partaking in shocking bigotry. Those with a simple lust for hurting others will certainly not be impacted by attention, and they may even feed off of it. But those people like you and me which may be flawed or misled, well, they have far more hope of realizing that there may be a better way.

Of the bullies I've known in my life, none were senseless bullies, and in fact, most were rather damaged people that eventually did see that they had been wrong. Even online, most of the terrible things I've seen have come from regular, troubled people who are ignorant or deluded. In this very forum, there is a decent contingency of bigotry, but I still believe most can be reasonable. And of those here who are at times cruel and ignorant, they also show moments of kindness or surprising consideration. This is the reality whether we're online or off. We're mostly dealing with people, not just monsters.

Individuals speaking up on cruelty are still just individuals, and as you said, it is debatable whether one loud statement can make any difference. Yet, an individual speaking up does so not only as a repudiation of a wrong but also as a call to others to recognize it, as well. A lot of people denouncing something or actively discouraging something is far more likely to have an impact than single voices, and that's where joining together in talking about something has its strength. The entire concept that there might be some movement against sexism in the gaming community is evidence enough of the power of perception. Ultimately, it's still just a bunch of individuals speaking against something, but together, they represent something greater. And the more voices there are, the more likely some people will hear.

As you said, you don't turn a blind eye to harassment when you see it. You take a personal stand and stay vigilant to discourage it. If you can accept that standing up individually can make a difference on more personal problems, it stands to reason that standing up as a group can make a difference on more general problems impacting a great many people. These personal dynamics are still there whether it's between one person and another, two people and two others, or thousands and thousands of others. That's the dynamic of communities, states, countries, races, etc. An individual stand means less for a larger problem, but an individual stand can garner others to stand together against a larger problem.

I don't think these backers being idiots needs an article or two, but I also wouldn't suggest that an article or two is the real issue. The issue is those acting like idiots and not enough of the people in that community standing up to them. Those idiots are likely people, too, and those not trying to stop them have made just as much of a mistake. If you are a vigilant man, then you understand how frustrating it is to see others choose to ignore problems or see them and simply despair.

I hope he is simply mistaken and there isn't a greater "unrest" amongst backers, but if so, then I hope they take care of it. And if they don't, then I think an article encouraging them to take care of it makes sense. And if a writer wants to point out how it relates to a larger problem, as people being assholes like this is wider spread than just a few Kickstarters, then so be it. Remind people to either don't be the ones causing the problems or do something when these problems arise, that way it -is- handled without the need for any more attention. Remind people to stand not only individually in their own lives but also as a group when larger problems arise. Larger efforts are built upon the individual actions of many.

I believe there are more people that know better here and elsewhere than those who don't, and the primary reason those embracing foolishness or cruelty have such an impact is because of the people that know better either ignoring that it's a problem or doing little to stand against it. That stands true whether it's a single individual or thousands.

See, now this is the real travesty here. Not some controversial backer getting hired as a community manager. But the scourge of people who combine Mega Man into one word.

I not only don't see what the issue is but anyone even potentially offended by that lady's actions makes me angry.

Here is a shocker: You do not need to be a MegaMan Fan to be a good community manager.

Also, I don't see the problem. Make a female version of Beck and then offer the players the choice. Done. Everybody is happy (well, since it's the internet probably nobody is but whatever).

I have not played any Mega Man games to this very day.