@ScoutGhst said:

"Good job, Kor... Hopefully, she's crying in the restroom".... Aris's last words on the video above. If there was any doubt of Aris's intentions as he was "coaching" SuperYan, that should clear it up. Steve, Bronson, and 200Yen were allowed to practice in (relative) peace during the time that Aris's attentions were focused on SuperYan, but she was distracted and pestered the entire time she should have been working on her game skills. Kor was less fortunate due to his proximity to SuperYan... but apparently he managed to do a good job anyway. Aris used his position of authority as leverage against her while she was under contract and could not talk back, fight back, or leave.

Sherry "Cherry" with an "S" Jennings was not there in the room with Aris and didn't see or hear what the rest of the world saw since she was cloistered in the Team Street Fighter room with a *real coach*. I would not lend her credibility on this subject.

And.... Please remember that it was Aris who brought the entire FGC into this harassment issue, in a feeble attempt to defend himself. SuperYan never, *ever* mentioned the FGC community at large.... the community she's embraced for years and had become accustomed to and loved... warts and all.

I don't understand how Miranda's contract has anything to do with her pushing back against Aris's pervy aggressiveness. Not a jab at you, of course, but I've read a few threads about the contract, like there's no sexual harassment clause protecting her? Pardon my naivete but that part of the story is very strange.

@SpikeSpiegel: I'm saying that the people who are saying language that they don't agree with should never be used and would try to exert influence to change the FGC from without are advocating censorship based on their own moral/ethical worldviews. In this case it's internet/media pressure.

I've said a few times before that the FGC would have to deal with consequences from sponsors or general viewership if they chose to dig in and their sponsors didn't like it. But that it should be their choice, and that of their market interaction. Not the media fueling internet cop activists.

What SRK did wasn't instigated by the FGC coming to terms with anything. It was initiated by the most part by people who don't play, don't watch, don't contribute, don't go to EVO or local tournaments, but are professional at being offended on the internet.

Who likes when right wingers try to control other people's lives based on their own beliefs? Same idea here, though on a smaller and less significant scale obviously.

Not to take anything away from GB, who did an great job reporting the events as they unraveled, but Eurogamer wrote an excellent retrospective piece that frames this, not as an issue within the FGC, but with gaming as a whole. Anyone who loves gaming should give it a read.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-03-its-time-to-kick-back-against-gaming-bigots

Bakhtanians says he didn't mean to offend and maybe he didn't, but he clearly lacked the ability to judge where that line was. So let's correct him and all the others who behave like him by ramming home that 'this, this right here, that is the line'.

While reading the eurogamer article posted above, I found this link to an interview with Aris in the comments. It shows a little bit of his personality.
 
  

@RagingDaemon said:

@SpikeSpiegel: I'm saying that the people who are saying language that they don't agree with should never be used and would try to exert influence to change the FGC from without are advocating censorship based on their own moral/ethical worldviews. In this case it's internet/media pressure.

I've said a few times before that the FGC would have to deal with consequences from sponsors or general viewership if they chose to dig in and their sponsors didn't like it. But that it should be their choice, and that of their market interaction. Not the media fueling internet cop activists.

What SRK did wasn't instigated by the FGC coming to terms with anything. It was initiated by the most part by people who don't play, don't watch, don't contribute, don't go to EVO or local tournaments, but are professional at being offended on the internet.

Who likes when right wingers try to control other people's lives based on their own beliefs? Same idea here, though on a smaller and less significant scale obviously.

What does or does not count as sexual harassment always comes down to the person being harassed feeling uncomfortable. If I say any innocuous comment about a woman's appearance at work, if she feels uncomfortable, she can report me for sexual harassment. That's just how it works. Accept it.

The embarrassing part of all this is the FGC reaction. People, for the most part, leveled their disgust at the guy saying these things. Then the FGC got up in arms and got all defensive, and started protecting him. That's what has made everyone start to think less of the FGC. Before it was mostly focused on him, but now you're included in it because you're defending him vociferously. You guys threw your cards in with him, we didn't.

It's not North Korea, that's true... that means that everyone should be respected, because this kind of hatred is accepeted only where people aren't important to their leaders, in backward countries.

Hey fighting game community, defend your elementary school though talk all you want, it's not ironic, it's sophomoric and stupid. You can think of other things to yell than "rape!" can't you? What's wrong with destruction and carnage regardless of gender?

Here's something you'll never see on GB or any other site: http://shoryuken.com/2012/03/04/an-emotionally-charge-opening-to-one-of-fighting-games-most-celebrated-events/

@King9999: Yes, because Giant Bomb is not a fighting game-centric website. If the FGC wants better press for the masses, they need to make the effort to put the word out in a way that goes beyond their circle of insular web communities like SRK.

I'd like to invite you to check out the FGC for what it really is - http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/flstyle/ladies-and-gents-i-present-the-real-fighting-game-community/30-91475/

@King9999 said:

A lot of you have no clue what the community is really like to be making these accusations. For example, did you know that the community helped out one of their own when he lost his life savings to a fire? If you were part of the community, you would know that. Sites like Giant Bomb sure as hell aren't going to report it.

All I'm saying is, don't write off an entire community because of the actions of one man. You have no right to be saying anything if you don't know the scene. And Jared Rea isn't exactly on the level.

Yeah, just like they dont report on the lot of good other communities do either, but when someone fucks up... and its big, it gets reported. I dont have the exact quote, but Alex on Twitter said something around th lines of , Journalists and news are not created to champion your community, they are there to report news good or bad'. Maybe some sites will pick up on the happenings at Final Round, maybe not, after the cold shoulder alot of journos got after this story, why should they report it?

Edit: also... While I don't consider GB an expert on the FGC, I think they know enough about it. On the Bombcast they had an understanding of it, they grew up in arcades and some are fans of fighting games. How many times has Jeff and Brad stated then wanted to go to EVO?

Im not sure how anyone can defend this in anyway. He never stopped. He never let up.

She handled it as lighthearted, and as playfully as she could. But I felt terribly uncomfortable watching that. Hopefully he has seen the footage and realizes how disgusting he was acting.

@OneManX: If Jeff and Brad want to go, they should go. Being journalists, I figure it would be in their best interest to report a big event like Evo. X-Play did it last year. I know Jeff is a big fan of fighting games.

@FLStyle said:

I'd like to invite you to check out the FGC for what it really is - http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/flstyle/ladies-and-gents-i-present-the-real-fighting-game-community/30-91475/

Been there, didn't help. All I found was an argument with someone that refused to understand how important it is for the FGC to reach outside their insularity to promote a wider understanding.

@KoolAidMan: You're right. Aris is an asshole, but at least a consistent asshole. Deezer is aswell. CombatEX is being too uncertain if he want's to remain a douchebag. The day he stops completely, he'll have to prove his skill and then he'll be forgotten. Thus, he should remain an ass.

CombatEX's problem is he's not just BM, he's a cheater. If someone gets caught cheating in sports (e.g. a runner who uses illegal substances), they're basically marked for life.

This was a little OT, but I guess we concluded Aris is an eternal ass. The reason why he doesn't want the fighting community to get exposure is because he looks like a butt. ^_^

Well, in my eyes, @RagingDaemon has won me over due to the obnoxious posts of people like @DesertDog and @Hailinel who don't seem to want any improvements anymore. They just want a witchhunt and an oppurtunity to come off as morally superior. People like you are what cause the Comics Code, McCarthy Trials and Video Nasty hunts to happen. You are becoming fountains of negativity spewing pure sewage rather than constructive solutions or new talking points because you're running out of ad hominem attacks.

I've made my share of thoughts about this deal in the other threads, so I'm not gonna beat a dead horse an reiterate them. I do suggest you take a look at your own posts before you decide to take another swing at the carcass to. Maybe you'll have an epiphany that most people you are attacking and calling for the heads off are actually agreeing with you to an extent. You've just decided to go full on fundementalist jihad.

@TeflonBilly: Of course I want to see improvements. But I also want to see more of the FGC own up to the fact that they have some abject scum within their ranks, and that for all their proselytizing about the community being about the nature of competition, there are some who use it as a means to demean others.

Is this about girl gamers not liking sexy comments?

P.S. That Miranda is a hottie!

@Hailinel said:

@King9999: Yes, because Giant Bomb is not a fighting game-centric website. If the FGC wants better press for the masses, they need to make the effort to put the word out in a way that goes beyond their circle of insular web communities like SRK.

In other words, the FGC should expect to only be discussed when it's time for the next witch hunt. Problem is that it's this lack of support that's part of the problem. While media and sponsors flooded MLG for Starcraft and Halo/CoD for a decade, the FGC is almost entirely grassroots. That's lead to bitter resentment of newcomers which has created part of the issue in the first place.

Aris should never be allowed on a stream again, and neither should Marn. EVO and SRK sent a strong message last week that this shit wasn't going to be tolerated on streams, and hopefully this opens up dialog about the comfort and safety of event participants and spectators, regardless of their differences. However, it's not enough to ONLY talk about negative things. That's going to bring resentment from a community that's been ignored completely while other games have quickly formed competitive leagues, helped by massive early sponsorships.

As I said before, it's not enough to smack the bad guys. We have to cheer the good guys too. Too many in the FGC only view this as a media witch hunt.

@stryker1121 said:

I don't understand how Miranda's contract has anything to do with her pushing back against Aris's pervy aggressiveness. Not a jab at you, of course, but I've read a few threads about the contract, like there's no sexual harassment clause protecting her? Pardon my naivete but that part of the story is very strange.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Miranda says she DID try to get Aris to get off her back and he brushed her off.

This would not be ok in any professional sport.

I miss the days of when you could play a VS game face to face or side by side cause no one would say anything unless they could back it up. In other words you would watch what you would say cause if you stepped out of line the opposing player would just either give you beating right there or just wait for you outside the store.

I don't think this is simply an issue based around a certain genre and small community of gamers, this has become a general problem over the years. From Arcade to PC and now Console, the whole community within gaming has gone markedly down hill, ever since the ability to communicate online during play was enabled. Even on less competitive arenas, such as unranked online play, the whole attitude stinks to high heaven.

I've lost count of the times I've beaten a guy or been beaten and got a microphone tirade or a message with text / voice, coating me off with various expletives featured in Shakespeare's famous work "How To Be A Cunt And Influence People"

Then you get the whole hitting on the female player in the room, because apparently in some bullshit unwritten rule, that's okay too, they expect and want it.

Couple this with the self-entitlement of being able to say what you wish, there seems to be an ever growing mass of Racists and Misogynists playing videogames of late, and its these same pricks that will stop gaming rising above its "immature" status in the eyes of the non-gaming world. I've been gaming for 30 years and I have to say, I hate what my community has become.

As for people with an outlook like Aris, I just go to the greatest invention in gaming of late... the mute button