Tom_Scherschel

@video_game_king: @marokai: @hunter5024: @finaldasa: @goku13k@turboman

I think this is a great idea. Maybe a twitter hashtag campaign? Seeing as how that was the delivery vehicle for so much hate it would be nice to use it to deliver some love. Maybe everyone make a Vine with an agreed upon hashtag. The risk is it could easily get hijacked I guess. But we should definitely do something immediately that is positive and apologetic.

I have to log off for the evening but I wanted to commend @rorie for stating a position on this issue and doing what he can to keep things nice around here. Between him and @patrickklepek, whose position on these issues is unimpeachable, I feel like the site is moving in the right direction. Still. Everybody knows that if this site is a family then Jeff is the Dad and things are at a point here where Dad needs to step in and throw down, one way or the other. His continued silence on issues like this is not helping this community.

@pyrodactyl: Patrick's interests are often VERY different from the rest of the staff and he meshes perfectly. That argument doesn't hold water. Also, you're slandering the staff when you say that anyone who thinks they are capable of making a progressive or pro-diversity choice is fooling themselves.

What the fuck. Somebody takes the brave step to put themselves out there in a vulnerable position and say "hey, I see this all the time, it does exist, and it makes me sad/afraid to contribute" and A GUY WHOSE AVATAR IS A PICTURE OF HIM GRABBING HIS JUNK tells him/her to quite down? Moderation my ass.

Hey guy, marginalizing half the population IS a serious problem unless you aren't in that half and don't care about what happens to them. 48% of gamers (almost half) are women, according to the ESA, so it's not crazy to think that there might be a woman or two that knows how to play Street Fighter AND wants to write about that. A person is not "playing the victim" when they are attacked by hundreds of people, calling them all sorts of foul names, for expressing DISSAPOINTMENT that increased diversity in this field has once again been denied.

You, your baseless aggression, and your joyful embrace of ignorance are emblematic of everything wrong with this community. Minority or not, you need to go.

It is now inarguable that THIS community, not twitter, not one-off random accounts, is driving people who want nothing more than to have a voice in the conversation away from the site. Props to @millionthlayla for having the guts to speak up. That's the only way things will ever change.

@qlanth: Shit. I was writing that post while you were posting that post. 'Grats!

Okay, now that that litany of apologies is out of the way (I hope, I hope, I hope) maybe it would be useful to try to clarify the problem that is causing people to feel they have to speak out?

I don't think anybody is mad at Jeff, et al, for hiring Dan and Jason. I don't think anyone thinks Dan and Jason are going to drag down the site, or won't be good at their jobs. People are disappointed in Giant Bomb, and what it represents. Giant Bomb is a big deal. The way it was created, the content it runs, its history, its voice, and overall the way it just consistently KILLS IT and proves there is another way to cover games that isn't just a rehash of what a dozen other sites are doing, all that inspires people. On top of that, all that success in the face of adversity means that Giant Bomb has a pretty high profile, and the video-nature of the sight makes us feel connected to the crew in a way you don't get through outlets that largely do print work.

So you have a site that everyone agrees is doing a great job, and that is staffed by really likable, nice, funny guys, and produces quality content against the grain of their competitors. Their livestreams and podcast draw huge numbers. They have a very loud, very popular platform, so to speak. Then they announce that for the first time in a long time they are hiring new staff. What you have to understand is that everything they have done to this point creates the expectation that they WOULDN'T just hire two more white dudes who are very similar to the existing staff in terms of likes/dislikes/taste, whatever you want to call it. If you are a straight white male who doesn't think about social issues very often (and that isn't meant as a pejorative) you might not understand what a HUGE DEAL it would have been for either of these new hires to be a woman. Or non-white. Or LGBTQ.

Because this is an industry dominated by sameness, and by chasing what's popular, and undeniably by white men. It denies opportunities to anyone who is not a white man frequently, and there is a litany of blogs and editorials that prove that to be true, not the figment of some "feminazi's" imagination. Giant Bomb became such a big thing by being different, by being what the people in charge would insist doesn't work, and by never being satisfied by "good-enough". So when people who love all that about the site see Giant Bomb miss a huge opportunity to get even better and to keep being great, it upsets them. THAT'S the word I've seen most oft repeated on Twitter and in blogs. Upset. Disappointed. Bummed. Nobody hates the site, or the guys. It's just that not all Giant Bomb fans are straight white guys, and those legions of fans would like to see somebody like them ANYWHERE in the industry, but particularly on their favorite site. It would make them feel better about supporting that site, and those guys. And when it doesn't happen, as it never does, we're just...disappointed.

@underattack86: @freshbandito: @video_game_king: I posted that without having seen that Rorie made the final post in the old thread explaining why he was locking it. My original post was assuming that all critical conversation was being censored, not just "my agenda". I am completely in the wrong to have posted here without reading to the bottom of the other thread, and I apologize again for doing so. Sorry.

@rorie: I had not seen your final post on the previous thread explaining why it was being locked. I've edited my post and apologized for writing it, but allow me to apologize directly to you for having posted without reading and for the insinuation in that post. I'm completely in the wrong here. Sorry about that.

@hailinel: Yeah, I hadn't reloaded the page to see Rorie's final post as to WHY the thread was locked. I just saw it WAS locked, saw this thread, read the first post and gut-reacted which is never advisable. I completely take back that statement and apologize to Rorie for the insinuation.