Gamergate Is About Harassment and Exclusion, Not Ethics (Op-Ed)

[cats_Paw]

Harrasment is not a good thing. Ever.
Personally, I dont care about journalists who inflate scores for cash (Its not like I trust them over my own judgement anyway).
I also do not care if that quinn girl cheated on her ex-boyfriend (Id care if it was my ex).

What I do care about is the fact that companies flat lie about their products.
Since I seem to be in a minority that looks at a game before buying it, companies still produce bad products that sell well.

Another thing is that when it comes to girls in the gaming industry, they are treated differently because they are different.
Its not a matter of sexism, its a matter of gender. How well or bad will they be treated will come down to the people the girl will run into, and just as in real life, in every place, and with any gender, you should stick to those who are good and avoid those who are bad.

Whan a person is an idiot, it dosent matter what gender they are or what gender they are talking to, they are still the same idiot.

 

[lolomolo]

I have to disagree here. Gaming has become an extremely inclusive medium, and that means that you can't generalize the audience. There are idiots that dox people that are vocal (on both sides), and there are people that have made death threats (on both sides). But it's kind of dumb to assume that everyone that identifies as a gamer is a part of a hive mind.
On to the point at hand- gamers are upset because their voice is being silenced. Video game journalism, as well as many video game developers are so out of touch with their core demographic, that people are outraged at statements like "gamers are dead" and sequels that have cut features from their predecessors. To be blunt, it's YOU, Jill. You claim to be above "gamers", but you still try and speak for "gamers." You claim to want journalistic integrity just as much as we do, but the research you put into this article shows that you don't care too much for it.

I just like playing games, dude. I don't like having someone's agenda forced down my throat. I don't like it when people say I'm a misogynist because I play games with more men than women. I don't like it when it's hard for me to find a good game because the people we have once trusted to tell us which games are good, now just tell us which video game developers and publishers have the best connections.

I don't speak for everyone, just myself, but you'll find many others will echo my sentiments.

 

[karadhas]

First off your characterization of the ZQ incident is based on very regressive gender roles. ZQ's ex-boyfriend was a victim of clear domestic abuse. Domestic abuse from a woman who sexually assaulted someone then got together with her friends to bully that person, shut down a charity whose sole goal is to fully fund female game developers, and lied to start a vicious raid against a community for people suffering from depression.

The feminists over at TFYC have given an extensive interview about the harassment, doxxing, and threats they've dealt with: http/apgnation.com/archives/2014/09/09/6977/truth-gaming-interview-fine-young-capitalists

The gaming media, instead of reporting on any of this honestly, chose to close ranks and spin a false narrative that hordes of white male virgin "misogynerds" from 4chan were running a hate campaign against women filled with sockpuppets.

The truth is we have passport photos and even live video proving this isn't the "white male misogynist harassment campaign" you and others have been told it is: https/i.imgur.com/cNkeRde.jpeg, tweets https/i.imgur.com/BgY7IyD.png https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYqBdCmDR0M

Similarly we have found hard evidence of a great deal of corruption from conflicts of interest, journalists being paid by the PR agents of people they were writing about, and even potential criminal racketeering involving the IGF.

Moreover the claim that gamergate is harassing people is not only wrong but virtually completely backwards. Women and minorities in gamergave have been called "house ni**ers" and targeted for harassment and abuse, even doxxing and threats, for speaking out against SJWs who use them as a shield.

In fact Zoe Quinn has herself retweeted offers to pay people Nintendo demo codes if they'll post false-flag racism and threats to her under the #gamergate tag: http/i.imgur.com/uN5dkYH.jpg

As well as having personally participated in the doxxing and threatening of even children with violence: https/pbs.twimg.com/media/BxItIhIIQAABIu7.png
https/pbs.twimg.com/media/BxFz-WhCMAAJBO1.jpg
https/medium.com/@sixthman/who-is-harassed-more-f81799a2f550
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBmifFUBmg8

Let alone developers: http/33.media.tumblr.com/f45ec5af72b60bda7c696817ca14ddbf/tumblr_nbjxzdpHI91tkhroeo1_1280.jpg

Or anyone else that dares disagree with them, here's just a HANDFUL of the vicious abuse thrown at anyone supporting #gamergate:
Terrorists (http/gamesnosh.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/devin.jpg)
Pathetic (http/gamesnosh.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/freelance-dev.jpg)
Racist (http/gamergateharrassment.tumblr.com/image/96832821253)
Nerds (http/gamergateharrassment.tumblr.com/image/96824882816)
Parasites (http/i.imgur.com/YYx4VM3.png)
Worthless (http/38.media.tumblr.com/3f7e5d258c3590d92e21a91c941cfc48/tumblr_nbel0pMV3y1tkhroeo1_1280.png)
Deserving death (http/31.media.tumblr.com/05ce05fa39964870e51b029b76eb4453/tumblr_nbdot0XTYQ1tkhroeo1_1280.png)
Confederates, Neo-NAZIs (https/twitter.com/devincf/status/509120907000823808)
Misogynists (http/33.media.tumblr.com/33f424d2dca74196a76641c295295c24/tumblr_nbgypnmym01tkhroeo1_1280.png)
Drug users (https/pbs.twimg.com/media/BwYnLcPCcAExa7T.png:large)
Dweebs (https/pbs.twimg.com/media/Bwjyo6TIgAM-3xN.jpg:large)
NAZIs (http/gamergateharrassment.tumblr.com/image/96981951159)
Subhuman (http/i.gyazo.com/af9f579b915579b16382885ee071a8a6.png)
Sociopaths (http/31.media.tumblr.com/6b838763c2a04c7356eb12aac086d2d4/tumblr_nbdfr6ZW3f1tkhroeo1_1280.png)
Scum (http/i.imgur.com/rLT5hMG.png)
Morons (http/33.media.tumblr.com/839ef95775ce258ea9b69e3092b74c13/tumblr_nbaq6t5l8a1tkhroeo1_1280.png)
Fat (http/38.media.tumblr.com/c006886fc38d780246bb0541e2158026/tumblr_nbaprdoOzq1tkhroeo1_1280.png)
Nonexistent (http/38.media.tumblr.com/4f6b44d2d02dcf5637449c43f59081f0/tumblr_nbaraiM5CK1tkhroeo1_1280.png)
Hateful (http/38.media.tumblr.com/04d047edde4912a0ae1d08d5d34eb073/tumblr_nbavqcjInC1tkhroeo1_1280.jpg)
Autistic (http/38.media.tumblr.com/070bec77b1eb20d7127eeb53e24cd739/tumblr_nb9o4uaZLh1tkhroeo1_1280.png)
Deserving violence (http/media.tumblr.com/5fcf2906cbd6a4f0a2d0d118938a6647/tumblr_inline_nb9hwmg56l1t04v2j.png)
Bullies (http/i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/821/909/564.png)
Racial slurs (https/forum.encyclopediadramatica.es/attachments/1409516437457-png.47336/)
Enablers of child pornography/Pedophiles: (http/38.media.tumblr.com/60d8774d77925c6c2b33da61a320fcc9/tumblr_nbgx6jSebG1tkhroeo2_1280.png) (This added in replacement of the Racial Slurs one as an example of some of the vitriol.)
Peddlers of child porn: (http/i.imgur.com/KJiOEB4.jpg)
Threatened with violence (https/pbs.twimg.com/media/BwYqklLIQAAJRrt.jpg:large)
Shit (http/t.co/ts4PPb3tl3)
Manbabies (http/31.media.tumblr.com/7300d99c72d76c2a2b3b90d4c3f9d222/tumblr_nb4nduL6ik1tkhroeo1_1280.png)
Terrible people (http/38.media.tumblr.com/6f9fb624582e4d5a09ceb2174da96c18/tumblr_nb4rxxXlrK1tkhroeo1_1280.png)
And best of all?—?Trash: http/i.imgur.com/E4kRwKN.png

 

[lolomolo]

I have to disagree here. Gaming has become an extremely inclusive medium, and that means that you can't generalize the audience. There are idiots that dox people that are vocal (on both sides), and there are people that have made death threats (on both sides). But it's kind of dumb to assume that everyone that identifies as a gamer is a part of a hive mind.
On to the point at hand- gamers are upset because their voice is being silenced. Video game journalism, as well as many video game developers are so out of touch with their core demographic, that people are outraged at statements like "gamers are dead" and sequels that have cut features from their predecessors. To be blunt, it's YOU, Jill. You claim to be above "gamers", but you still try and speak for "gamers." You claim to want journalistic integrity just as much as we do, but the research you put into this article shows that you don't care too much for it.

I just like playing games, dude. I don't like having someone's agenda forced down my throat. I don't like it when people say I'm a misogynist because I play games with more men than women. I don't like it when it's hard for me to find a good game because the people we have once trusted to tell us which games are good, now just tell us which video game developers and publishers have the best connections.

I don't speak for everyone, just myself, but you'll find many others will echo my sentiments.

 

[Ninjawithagun]

In the end, this article is nothing about exclusitivity of PC gamers, men or women or race, religion, sexual orientation, or whatever. The plain fact of the matter is that women don't want equal rights, they want superiority. Never going to get it, so stop dreaming. By the way, Jill Scharr - you are way to hot to be a real gamer of any kind

 

[Alec Mowat]

I'm a gamer, so I don't really waste my life trying to identify with gamers. I buy games I like and I don't buy games I don't like. I don't care what game reviews say. Anyone who takes gaming as seriously as Gamer Manifesto should probably step away from the virtual world for a long while.
" In layman's terms, games, no matter what they're about, should be about the enjoyment of the player."

First world problems.. boohoo, my games...

 

[spartanmk2]

Is this a new reality show?

 

[friendlya]

The omission of the #notyourshield tag from your article indicates you are either unaware or willfully blind to the true motives of gamergate. You have not mentioned recently raised concerns over rigging and racketeering at indie game competitions. You neglect to discuss the horrible collusion among game media sites to insult their readers by claiming those who disagree with them are bigots, etc., etc.

Let's get something unequivocally clear: harassment and doxxing are unacceptable. Ask the hundreds to thousands of people who are tweeting #gamergate - they'll tell you they do not condone it. What they will tell you is that they are tired of dubious relationships among game journalists and developers. They are disgusted by those same journalists calling them scum or nerds or "straight white guys" (as if all gamers were, or as if there was something wrong with fitting the profile). You can't tell a diverse, inclusive grassroots movement on twitter that their movement is driven by "harassment" when they tell you the exact opposite.

I had not read the "gamer's manifesto" before, but reading it now I do not see anyone forcing one world view or promulgating one exclusive definition of "gamers" or gaming. If anything, they go out of their way to define gaming as a wide variety of activities. Could you please explain what exactly you find wrong with it? You say "the Manifesto tries to create a single, narrow definition of video games while also quelling any disagreement by dismissing critiques as 'radical ideologies' attempting to 'demonize [gaming]'s past.'" But that indicates you have a misunderstanding of how "power" in social systems works: only those in positions of power that can "quell" disagreement or dismiss critiques. In this case, it is those who control the press, the gaming media themselves who are in positions of power. Quelling disagreement and pushing "a signle, narrow definition of video games" is exactly what they've done. With the exception of The Escapist, gaming sites that published the "gamers are dead" articles have only further propounded their argument, ignoring the legions who disagree, and silencing opposition. Gamers discussing #gamergate are the opposite: they are out in the open, freely discussing with myriad opinions and experiences of games.

Frankly, I'm embarrassed for Tom's Guide that this op-ed was published. The story is bigger than Zoe Quinn, Anita Sarkeesian, Phil Fish, and others; it is about the state of the gaming industry, especially the media. I hope next time you discuss a complex topic you do more critical thinking and research before you launch into an emotional tirade.

 

[PowerHungry]

To all the people that identify themselves as a "Gamer", or "Anti-Gamer" or anything else for that matter give your head a shake. One cannot escape labeling and discrimination by creating new groups and labels. Stop trying to fit into the mass media's or the current flavor of the week's definition of what they think you should be. Learn to enjoy the games and stop the hate from all directions. Think for a minute on why there are so many trolls and why they start so young. It is all about attention whether it is good or bad, and this topic is no different. Stop feeding the trolls and attention seekers and live your life. Take a step back, become a positive role model and make the world a better place. That is just my opinion.

 

[coreydwillis]

Great article Jill! I am a dude, but I am all for everything you've mentioned. Ever encounter I've had with people on Twitter on this issue have responded with anger, malice, and misinformation. It's really hard to talk to any of them seriously about the issue. It feels like I'm talking to 9/11 conspiracy advocates. It's a lot of he said, she said and no substance. I can't believe it's dragging out as long as it has. I find it strange that some gamers find diversity to be threatening to "their" type of games. We can have both. If two Gone Home type games came out in a year, that doesn't mean Call of Duty 7 would be cancelled. It's a baffling thing.

 

[OrionBlastar]

There has been more harassment of pro-gamer women from the Anti-Gamergate side, which is primarily made up of straight white men. You should see how they treat Christina H. Sommers. What ever happened to Listen and Believe?

I did listen and believe, was stabbed in the back and a victim of a hoax.

Now it is listen but verify in order to believe. So verify it with facts and proof.

 

[baldholio]

It is a great shame that I have to acknowledge the courage that it must have taken to publish your article. I believe that one of the great benefits to accrue to the Internet, is to have created a medium where people can express and debate their opinions. I sincerely hope you do not fall fowl of the treatment you have outlined

 

[surphninja]

First of all, I don't think you should have to list games you've played extensively to provide evidence of that fact that you're a gamer. Just say that you are. If anyone doesn't believe you, screw them.

Second, how is filing fraudulent DMCA take down requests not unethical, dishonest, or possibly illegal? I don't support the people making these attacks, but I also do not agree with making fraudulent claims against them in order to silence them. If someone makes a slanderous video, you sue them for slander. You don't claim copyright of someone else's intellectual property. I don't really understand why you're backing her up on this as if it's not unethical, especially since in the next paragraph you go into "And even if she did do something unethical..." Well, there ya go.

Lastly, I take issue with your flippant attitude towards ethics in journalism. First you say that you take journalistic ethics seriously, then "Should I have to disclose this or that or this?" This is ethics in journalism 101. If you have to ask, the answer is probably 'yes.' If you're not sure, disclose it just in case and then there's no way for it to become an issue. I don't understand why games journalists think they get to cut themselves some slack in the ethics department. It indicates that you don't take your work as seriously as other journalistic endeavors, and if you don't take your work seriously, why should we? Why should we trust you? How do we know you're not just serving up PR for some game?

Unfortunately, we're now also seeing this flippant attitude towards ethics in other forms of journalism, as well. The line between 'blogger' and 'journalist' is becoming uncomfortably blurred. It's a problem. Please do not contribute to it. Decide whether you want to be a journalist or a paid blogger, and then continue your work accordingly. Please don't try to pass off one as the other.

And while we're on the subject of ethics and supporting your claims, you might want to read back over what you've written here. You make some extremely broad unsupported generalizations. You should do your homework before you publish anything at all, but especially with a topic as volatile as this. Otherwise, it belongs in your blog. Generalizations contribute nothing to the conversation and only add fuel to the fire. They're good for demonizing and infuriating people. Nothing else. If you want to make accusations, specify who you're accusing.

While I applaud the guts it takes to write something like this, you do yourself a disservice by prematurely going on the defensive. Saying something like "you have to respect my opinion" and making such broad generalizations implies that those who disagree do not respect it. Instead of opening up a constructive conversation with the community, you've already backed them into a bit of a corner and put them on the defensive. You've set up a situation where instead of us being people having a thoughtful conversation, we're now different sides conducting a debate where you represent the one side and anyone disagreeing will feel like they have to be a voice for the other side. It's setting up the conversation for disaster. Everyone should only feel like they need to speak for themselves. No one has to defend or attack either position.

I think it's valuable to get a woman's perspective on a story like this. I think it's wrong to use it to segue into a broader, childish 'girls rule, boys drool' rant. This is not team vs team match. This is not a black and white issue. There are a lot of different angles and considerations to be made. It's complex. Let's treat it as such.

 

[apesoccer]

I like cookies

 

[Sultros]

I guess Jill has no sense of credibility or desire to maintain it because this article is so poorly sourced it's embarrassing. Anita and Zoe are under fire because they lack credibility and their arguments fall apart under scrutiny, just like this article. Did you do any research because it looks like you didn't. It appears you formed your opinions on talking points without doing a shred of research.

How embarrassing is it knowing that your article has been debunked in the comments section by amateur gamers? The only people approaching this with any facts, research, and investigation are the gamergate folks. The other side has to censor, lie, intimidate, and stifle discussion because they have nothing to go on but empty rhetoric and emotion. Your article adds nothing to this discussion but more vitriol, stereotypes, and sweeping generalizations of the type that would get shot down the moment they were applied to any of our precious and protected snowflakes.

Everyone is welcome in the tent of gaming but if you are going to attack us, label us, and shame us you are not welcome. Discussion and open dialogue is welcome, attacks are not. Neither you nor anyone else has the right to silence an artist because you are offended. Gamers are tired of the cry baby antics of the perpetually offended. You are not special and neither am I and we don't get to tell others what to make or what to do. We are tired of it and gamergate is the result. We will not allow gaming to become a tool for someone's social engineering agenda.

All we want is to have an open and honest discussion and to be heard. We can't do that when few in gaming journalism will even bother to look and those that do get attacked. We aren't going to back down, especially when you put out sweeping generalization and broad attacks with no facts or information to support your opinion. I hope you step up to the plate, put your big girl pants on, and own up to the garbage you just wrote and admit that you did no research, no interviews, and ignored evidence that ran contrary to your beliefs.

I hope to see you soon defending this and engaging in a real discussion, not simply talking which you claim you like to do. I would love to see you sit down with internet aristocrat and discuss this article and defend your opinions. Shouldn't be too difficult since you did your homework, right?

 

[Ency]

If we're going to talk about exclusion, why don't we talk about how I can get threats and harassment from Zoe Quinn's friends, and nobody cares? Or the women and minorities standing up for GamerGate and saying "this isn't a harassment issue, it's about the media!" while the media blatantly ignores them and talks about how it's a harassment issue?

Jill, real talk here. I understand that you probably think you're reporting on this accurately. You think you're doing the right thing. But you're /not looking at primary sources/. You're puppeting what has been said by other news outlets, or by Zoe Quinn, and that's what people are pissed off about. WE want to have an open and honest discussion, but we're just getting attacked by self-declared "social justice warriors" while the media insists GamerGate is all misogynists.

GamerGate happened because a bunch of us realized the media wasn't representing us. It was a group of friends and people with political agendas pushing their views and calling themselves a credible news source rather than a blog. We want to talk about the ethical standards you guys abide by, and meanwhile you just won't shut up about Zoe Quinn's vagina. You scour the darkest parts of the internet for someone, somewhere, talking about Zoe Quinn's vagina, and then you write an article on it. It's disgusting.

I'll check in later for a reply to this, but beyond that I'll be assing Tom's Guide to the list of sites I'm passing on. I'll get my news from people who don't just read other news articles.

 

[Tunnelbana]

This is a PR campaign to "shame" gamers, with similar talking points to this article shouted in semi-mainstream media all over the past couple of weeks.

The talking points are so similar in fact they might seem to be from a cheat sheet.

The critics of the morally corrupt, monetized games media which sarkeesian and sites like kotaku represent are not all misogynists. The criticism is mainly for lying and aggressive underhanded tactics to fund and dorito a way into a few bucks, as freelance journos and college graduates majoring in anthropology usually are broke and misunderstood.

The public corrupt game and media "journalists" are alienating is much larger than the people they pretend to defend. Who are the journos actually defending? Adbucks, Patreon, monetized video views. It's a sham, and a waste of time and mainstream media is getting suckered in for what must not be worth a few thousand clicks. Everybody's not a special snowflake and above criticism, and people don't take kindly being talked down to or spoken for.

 

[takeabreath]

Seriously this GamerGate thing has to be an absolute joke right? People don't actually believe this BS they are saying? Here's the thing, Anita Sarkeesian and the media aren't being "one-sided" when they start talking about problematic portrayals of women in video games, they are merely daring to voice concern about something that went undiscussed for years. Also, the entire point of her videos is not to say that video games are evil and force you to be sexist. Instead its just to show how casual violence against women and female objectification are casually and routinely incorporated into video game designs. She's not saying video game designers are evil or gamers are necessarily misogynistic for playing these games, just kind of acknowledging that this casual background violence and sexualization is something we should pay attention to and how pervasive it is in mainstream video games. Sarkeesian isn't advocating that the GTA series should no longer include prostitutes or that violence against women or objectification of women in games is ALWAYS bad and should be removed immediately, just that maybe that we should think about what the effects are and maybe such depictions of women shouldn't be as common as they currently are.

What is so threatening about gaming designers actually thinking about whether they really need to scatter bloodspattered dead prostitutes in lingerie around the background to create the right "mood" or whether they could achieve it some other way? Just like with movies and other artforms, sometimes it might be appropriate, but it probably doesn't have to happen as often as it does. Especially when, in many games, such portrayals of women are the dominant/only portrayals of women in the whole game.

 

[Rosalina Truong]

Half Truths here. Should be ashamed for doing a straw-man. Both sides are giving out dung to fling but you only focus on one side as if it was some holy and pure saint but its not. As an Asian Female I feel insulted, nay I feel disgusted by this.

 

[surphninja]

Speaking more broadly than this specific circumstance, why does nobody give a damn when a male developer/gamer gets death and rape threats? Because it happens. All. The. Time.

The gamer community isn't just inhospitable for women. It's an inhospitable environment for any decent human being. Let's stop asking "how can we protect female gamers" and instead ask "how can we protect gamers?" Because I would love to start gaming online again. After over 10 years, I had to stop. Every time I hear about a game or console with this or that new "social feature," all I hear is "new ways to be harassed." If game companies are going to continue integrating these new "social features," they need to address how to protect those of us that don't want that wall to come down. I like that protective wall of separation from those kinds of gamers, but devs and console makers just keep making it easier for these sociopaths to invade your sense of safety. Either give us the tools to protect and separate ourselves, or start policing your communities better. Online gaming communities are completely out of control, and set up in a way where the deviants are free to reign havoc on every player.