James, when SJWs kick up a stink it is invariably illogical [Dead Island busts, anyone?], and it is inevitably shrill. The subjects of their dissatisfaction are so illogically chosen and cherrypicked that it is almost impossible to predict them, as they may take exception to one game while ignoring another that does the exact same thing. This is a problem for any studio that is looking to avoid SJW controversy. This social justice inclination cannot help but have a chilling effect on creativity, and it is already happening. If you think for a moment that your fears are illogical, then take a look at this.

One example of this, Zoe Quinn, has unfortunately gone and destroyed a lot of what she built up in recent weeks. Before GamerGate happened, I thought of Zoe as somebody that could bring some change not only in the way that feminists fight for their place in the industry but also as somebody that could turn some heads on the other side. Depression Quest, although it is closer to an interactive book than a game, was a look at a subject that hasn’t really been before(to my knowledge) in other games. Quinn’s personal actions not only brought to light some horrible happenings in gaming “journalism” but they also made people question many things about her to the point that she has done more harm than good for her cause.

I will admit to being guilty on many of the other things you bring up, namely not listening to the other side, keeping my shield up, and trying to solely focus on the wrongs of the other side. Part of this is born from frustration with how these issues are handled. Not just from the SJW side, but also the way the media handles it as well. I think Julian’s picture is sadly how many people feel when it comes to these issues(I myself have been guilty of it in the past with certain laws proposed in my state).

The other part of my reluctance comes from fear. I love video games, but I also know they could benefit from having a more diverse audience. A more diverse audience that in turn leads to more diverse development teams that churn out innovative games with stories we haven’t experienced before. But, as good as all of this sounds, I fear that the wrong people are the ones being the most vocal. I fear that these people don’t have the same vision that I do for gaming and instead hope to make all games with every audience in mind, games where just about everything disparaging to another group is totally taboo. It’s a gaming world filled with Match 3 games and RPGs that have stories revolving around bland characters so that nobody is offended. Sure, I’ll admit my fear may be a bit illogical, but I haven’t seen a lot from the other side that alleviates my fear.

Like Julian, I appreciate your view on things Ethos. I think the different way that you see some things and your commentary on them helps give me a different view of my opinions. Sometimes it reaffirms my beliefs, other times it challenges them but it always makes me think about my opinions in a different light.

Jeega didn’t read (i), (iii), or anything else I suspect. Nice straw man btw.

Gamers are not all right wing or all left wing – but the entirety of games coverage has been hijacked by a leftist social justice agenda – so yes, SJWs in this instance are interlopers. I doubt that many of them care much more about gaming than does Anita Sarkeesian. I specifically mentioned minority gamers in relation to #notyourshield in my initial story, so what about that would lead you to suspect that I regard all minorities as interlopers? I have mentioned nothing about ethnic minorities being interlopers, and actually know a couple of moderate liberals who pretty much share the same views on GamerGate as myself, so please peddle that sophistry elsewhere Jeega.

Next time please read my comment before raising points that I’ve already addressed. I don’t mind if there exists left wing game media – but there is only left wing game media, and I find it lamentable that there is no apolitical coverage of the game industry. That is what makes me furious, and that is what I’m writing about.

@Ethan:

“This is an example of when I believe you are misrepresenting my position, although not intentionally. I understand the leap based on my past arguments and based on arguments I’m sure you face elsewhere.”

OK, I probably did misinterpret your intent, and if I did then I’m still a little fuzzy on what you mean (i.e. whether you are talking about minorities in relation to games, game media, or game culture – some examples would help). I’m now assuming that you ment in relation to gamer culture on the whole?

“I think suggesting that things are already reasonably equal enough for people to “stop bitching” denotes a healthy dose of ignorance. Once again, I think that no matter how difficult it is for a white man to make a game – and believe me, it is – that it is observable that anybody but faces a lot more undue pushback in the industry. Such as not being taken seriously and being told to stop bitching.”

I have very little tolerance for people crying about things that aren’t important. If a coloured person is called a ‘nigger’ on Xbox live for no reason, then they are probably entitled to be pretty upset. If a woman is subjected to proper rape threats [by which I absolutely do not mean the competitive banter that SJWs have kicked up a fuss about at fighting game tourneys] then she is probably entitled to be upset about it. Not every point raised by a SJW is a bad one, but so very many of them are. I have very little experience gaming online [just FFXIV] so I don’t know how bad it can get in XBL chat etc., but my experience of comment threads and forums has led me to believe that there is nothing particularly malign there, and certainly nothing to be upset about on the whole. That is to say that when there is something worth getting upset there, it tends to be the work of an isolated arsehole [because this is the internet], rather than something that reflects on gaming culture as a whole.

I highly suspect that if you took a representative sample of anti-SJW gamers and asked them to come to a consensus on a bunch of politically uncharged social questions then the group would probably arrive at some sort of middle-ground – but this is something that absolutely cannot happen once you add politically polarising SJWs to the mix, as the moment something doesn’t go their way they begin labeling people as ‘racist’ and ‘misogynist’.

At any rate, I have very little appreciation of social issues in gaming. There are instances when individuals can feel legitimately aggrieved – but this current situation is not one of them. Further, I would argue that attempting to hamfistedly foist leftist ideology on all of gaming [while excluding those who do not get with the program] is a pretty futile strategy to foster inclusion and acceptance, as it is liable to result in quite the opposite occurring.

“But this is the point I was trying to make in my original post, it is beginning to feel like you seek out those arguments as a way to undermine the original issue, and I feel like there is a distinction that you constantly fail to make.”

I don’t seek out social justice shenanigans, unless you consider reading game media to be looking for it – which it almost could be at this point ;_; – I have also encountered a metric fuckton of it on twitter and facebook, far too much for me to actually report on [Leigh Alexander definitely rates a mention]. I could have filled my entire news post with much worse than you actually see here, but decided to just focus on the big issues like the open letter intended to shame gamers and unverified reports of gamers issuing death threats [which I consider to be a smear campaign for the most part].

BTW the SJW aspect of the GamerGate narrative didn’t even exist [for the most part] until the games media used it to smear gamers who were upset at journalistic impropriety.

I think you might be surprised about how much we agree upon.

As for the principles you describe, I almost fully applaud and endorse them. I think they are laudable and it is why I support so much of your stance and reasoning behind this issue. I have been long dissatisfied with gaming journalism, and a (poorly reasoned) leftist takeover is not something I desire either.

I think it’s important for both of us to not assume we know entirely where the other stands based on past experience alone.

The one thing I do wish to make clear once again, however, is when you say this:
“I think you’ll find that the ability of a minority to force their partisan political beliefs onto video games [and the coverage thereof] is actually quite tertiary to the hierarchy of human needs and self-actualisation.”
This is an example of when I believe you are misrepresenting my position, although not intentionally. I understand the leap based on my past arguments and based on arguments I’m sure you face elsewhere. Because I agree with your point, but it was not my point. I’m not saying that we should throw large sums of money at people who want to make games who are not white men, and I am not saying that a view that is not the majority should have the ability to force their views on the majority. Or that they shouldn’t have to put in the hard work and unavoidable struggles that come with trying to break into the gaming industry or trying to make a game. I’m saying that they shouldn’t have to face relentless discrimination in addition to the hardships that come with game design. I think suggesting that things are already reasonably equal enough for people to “stop bitching” denotes a healthy dose of ignorance. Once again, I think that no matter how difficult it is for a white man to make a game – and believe me, it is – that it is observable that anybody but faces a lot more undue pushback in the industry. Such as not being taken seriously and being told to stop bitching.

Of course, where I DO agree is that this real issue – which I do not believe is resolved to a significant enough degree for discussion to be dropped – has become wrapped up in self-righteous rhetoric and that what the gaming “journalism” scene has become is actually counter-productive to the progression of the cause.

This is why I continue to post here and why I continue to feel it so important to make the distinction. I have no qualms with the deconstruction of fallacious and damaging arguments that the SJW movement perpetuates and that I am equally exhausted by. I do not disagree that is it ironic and awful to take a position like the one represented in the third image you use on a regular basis. But this is the point I was trying to make in my original post, it is beginning to feel like you seek out those arguments as a way to undermine the original issue, and I feel like there is a distinction that you constantly fail to make. It’s why I am constantly suggesting you not only continue to defend your position (it’s a just one), but that you also listen to others, just for the sake of listening. I gained a lot by doing this, and it is why I tell you to reassess what you believe I am arguing. Perhaps I would stop feeling like my arguments are being countered with points that I agree with but that I feel are ultimately irrelevant.

I’m not suggesting you should change your position, but I am suggesting that the scope of it is more limited than I expect you would expect.

Yet, you’ve stated and clearly seem to enjoy remarking on these kinds of issues, which is your prerogative, but I begin to wonder (after much remarking) if here is the appropriate place for doing so.

I don’t claim to have that answer, but I’m of the mind that it is at best a tired subject matter.

Skeptical? I assure you that my spite and glee are both quite genuine – but that doesn’t make me wrong.

As for the browbeating you gave to poor James [ :P ], well I think you’ll find that the ability of a minority to force their partisan political beliefs onto video games [and the coverage thereof] is actually quite tertiary to the hierarchy of human needs and self-actualisation. If someone has an axe to grind then it is quite reasonable for James to suggest they make their own games, because games are a form of entertainment [when not made by David Cage], and not a social service.

Of course many minority gamers do not have an axe to grind – hence #notyourshield.

I am well aware before, during, and after writing on these issues that my conclusions will meet nothing less than your total dismay, Ethan, but then I don’t write these articles for you. If you want some touchy-feely leftist coverage of gaming then you have literally all other games media to choose from. I write to my conscience [what little I have] and my values, and am attempting to convey a voice that is being silenced in contemporary mainstream games “journalism” – which is by all accounts heavily concentrated in San Fransisco [along with many of the indy devs we have been hearing about], and is comprised almost uniformly of hipsters. My core beliefs on this matter are:

i) Game media should not be politicised, and should instead focus on the fun and accurate discussion of the medium. I realise the hypocrisy of this statement after writing heavily political stories for the past three weeks, but I’m just sick to death of the SJW colonisation of the gaming press. I remember how gaming coverage used to be, and this bait-and-switch is most unwelcome. I am not interested in being educated about my “privilege”, and I sure as fuck am not interested in being talked down to by smug sophists who are literally in bed with the people they write about.

ii) Gaming journalists should be held to the same standards as conventional journalists – and this really isn’t very much to ask. Just don’t write about people you are sleeping with or have a commercial relationship with. Easy. If one cannot help but touch upon a friend or lover in an article, then full disclosure is the only way to go.

iii) I don’t mind that the leftwing social justice crowd have some gaming media which cater to their world view – the problem is that it’s all of it. How do you think Tumblr feminists would like it if a whole bunch of people started writing feminist articles on their favourite feminist blogs, but kept giving very deliberate MRA slants to them? There would be a riot. When a whole group of people find something they really like and then develop a group identity around that thing, they really do not like it when that thing is transformed into something completely different by people who clearly do not give a shit.

I am always happy to receive your constructive criticism, Ethan, especially when it is as extensive as this, but I have long ago made peace with the fact that our views are too far removed for you to ever be fully comfortable with my mindset. I write principled news for gamers, which I try to convey as accurately as the internet will allow for – social justice issues are just incredibly unimportant to me. I can’t bring myself to care about them at all – and that’s OK, because they’re not relevant to gaming.

James, it is very easy to tell repressed groups to stop bitching and [make a game] themselves, but it does not appear as though you believe they are repressed, please correct me if I’m wrong. I think this is enormously ignorant. I think it’s true that repressed groups make poor points wrapped up in anger. I think it’s true that people latch on to these issues without understanding them and start to use these issues as a shield. I think it’s just that people are fed up with others using them as a shield. I think so many points that you guys make are enormously valid and I entirely understand your frustration when basic logic and an ability to look at and discuss the facts is tossed out for rhetoric. I do not think that frustration should enable you to start acting in a similar fashion.

Of course it is a better business decision for games to be aimed at white dudes. EA makes excellent business decisions all the time, but I do not think that that is reason in and of itself to defend their choices. Often their choices that earn them more money is at the expense of integrity or good game design. I believe it is – generally, not absolutely – harder to be a woman, gay person, or visual minority in not just gaming, but most things in life. I believe this is observable. I think the arguments I often hear on here boil down to “well things are a certain way and therefore they are a certain way.” This disappoints me because I believe the community here should be smarter and kinder than this. We should be able to defend ourselves without attacking others. This is not a position driven by sentiment, but a position that has observed that firm kindness (distinct from self-interested “niceness”) is the most effective stance in arriving at a considered, fair, and logical solution, if that is – indeed – the goal. I believe that it is a genuinely difficult stance to maintain, which also separates it from sentiment.

I do not disagree with all the valid concerns that are often raised at this site that tend to be difficult to raise elsewhere. It’s a battlefield out there and I hate it as much as you guys. But I believe it dilutes the points we make to constantly harass, mock, and dismiss those on the outside – however cleverly or insidiously we do so – from the inside instead of attempting to listen, educate, and interact. I believe in gamers, I have no anger or distrust toward women, men, white people, non-white people, straight people, not-straight people, and I’m sick of every side belittling every other side just because they can point to what the others do wrong. We are all doing a lot that is wrong. Just because we are not the extreme abusive minority does not mean we wouldn’t have a lot to gain from taking a hard look at ourselves. I believe that change comes from within, not from condemning – and only condemning – the behaviour of those with whom we disagree.

I agree with most criticisms raised against Sarkeesian. I believe it’s disappointing and irresponsible that the production value of her videos remained unchanged and the frequency of her videos worsened after raising such an astonishing amount of money. I think – although she frames it this way – that it’s not particularly helpful to focus so heavily on the negatives when educating. I do not think that is an effective teaching method and I believe that over time, such a method becomes void of perspective. It is the same issue I often have with this site.

I am as frustrated with the sweeping unhelpful rhetoric as you guys are. I think these issues have become so muddy that it’s hard to pull anything out to look at it clearly any more.

I believe that all sides, including myself, including those you hate, including yourselves, would benefit greatly from listening more. I think there are very important perspectives that everybody is missing by continuing to shout so much. I think being a non-white male is more difficult in more ways than people at this site appear to acknowledge, and I think pointing to the things people do wrong in their frustration or – I feel – legitimate anger at this repression is just battling symptoms, despite the legitimacy of the accusations. It appears to me that people on this site will seek out poor arguments made by the other side in order to defend a position. I think that because – as James rightly points out – we DO make up the majority of the market, it means that we have a responsibility. Not to start making games about multi-gendered rainbow people that we wouldn’t make normally, or to start censoring the content we do make, but to start listening to and including other voices instead of telling them just to do it themselves without understanding how truly difficult that is. I believe that to be arrogant and childish. I think it’s time to stop standing behind the shields of the valid points we have and start sharing what we know and listening to what others know. A war is not going to help anybody.

As a feminist I am disillusioned by modern internet-style feminism and the SJW movement and I am also disillusioned by this site. I have been guilty of jumping to conclusions for the sake of rhetoric in the past and I am working hard to correct this in myself. While individual members of this site have been helpful in guiding me to look at myself in this way, the tone of arguments made on this site and this news column has not been helpful. I felt isolated and unable to voice my opinions. Maybe this was all my fault. I’m willing to seriously consider that. I hope that you also seriously consider my disappointment in your coverage not as an attack, but as an opportunity to look within. So that you can more easily point out where I’m being unfair and so that you can more easily look at where you might also be unfair or only focusing on one perspective. If we are going to be a source of principled journalism for gamers, by gamers, I think there is some growing we must do to fit that description. I think your position on GamerGate makes sense, Julian. I think you would also benefit from some significant introspection. All this was a considered opinion, but an opinion nonetheless, so dismiss it if you wish.

It is sad that these people and their followers get away with calling us, as a group, terrorists, misogynists, racists, and any other of a number of their favorite terms merely for pointing out blatant hypocrisy or questioning the shoddy logic found in a Sarkeesian video.

In essence, the Social Justice Warriors are the European settlers to the gamers’ Native Americans. We are being told our way of life is wrong and we are terrible people for not have noticing it sooner. The SJW’s beliefs are being forced upon us, not with the hope of convincing us through logical debate but with the hope that our voice will be suffocated under their lies, screams, and cries of harassment.

All I can say to this is FUCK THAT. If women(and any other minority that the gaming industry is “repressing”) really want a RPG or FPS that is designed for them then they need to stop bitching and make it themselves. What’s that? Woman Studies doesn’t include a programming course? Well maybe it’s time to make a change in your major(trust me, you’ll thank me later when you have your nice $150k programming job rather than begging for money on Kickstarter to make yet another Feminist Frequency video).

The reason that developers don’t make RPGs, Platformers, FPSs, and other types of games aimed towards women or homosexuals is because that section of the market is incredibly small. This isn’t a section of the market that is just dying for the next installment of Final Feminist Fantasy, it’s a segment of the market that doesn’t give a damn about these types of games. I made this point on a video that Zoltan put up on YouTube but I’ll repeat it: Aiming towards the minority of your audience at the expense of the majority of your audience is not a winning business strategy.

HUZZAH!!!

“show the cranks that their worldview is not shared”…
…”Can’t Build Inclusion on Exclusionary Language”
I laughed like a drain.

shortly before holding out her cap and requesting alms
That is all it has ever been about for her, and all it will ever be about.

If one repeats a lie often enough it becomes the accepted truth, even if there was not a shred of evidence to back it in the first place.
This has been the narrative for these people from the beginning. It also undergirds all of their theoretical assumptions. I was delighted to see one of them (I think Gamasutra) trotting out “Video Games Are Violent and They Make People More Violent” as an (and I quote) ‘obvious truism which cannot be denied’. Similar ‘truths’ are that any man who disagrees with them is a Miogynist/Racist/Bigot/Oppressor and any woman who disagrees with them has ‘internalised’ Misogyny/Racism/Bigotry/Oppression — a ridiculously illogical and discussion-precluding line of thinking almost entirely dispensed with in real academic feminism by the mid-1980s.

So, they have neatly created a world where anyone who disagrees with them can be categorically denied validity on account of… ad hominems? I guess.

One more thing…

Requiring evidence for an allegation of criminal activity is not ‘victim blaming’. It is a fundamental principle of a just society. It is not wrong to require dependable evidence when someone makes an allegation of a criminal activity. In fact, it is necessary.

But it is worth noting that it is wrong to make accuse someone of a criminal activity without proof. That is a crime: slander, or libel, depending on the form.