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[Alienous]

I might be way off, but from the outside, Valve do look like they're trying so hard to not look like a corporation that they're regularly failing at being one when it involves the positive sides of a corporate culture, like customer relationship, accountability or in this case corporate responsibility.

Yeah, that was my first thought when I saw this thread. From the outside looking in it seems plausible. When even consumer-facing elements of Valve, like their customer service, is lacking, it makes me wonder how they handle something like HR and workplace standards and practices. As such, I'm not surprised by the possibility of something like the alleged events in this case occurring at Valve.

 

[X-arlo]

I hope she gets a fair trial. But If anything this incident will help lift the lid on the ideological can of worms that is currently the digital services corporation known as Valve: libertarian laissez-faire and the exploitative pursuit of profit through fansourcing.

 

[LordRaptor]

If you had taken a second to read the chain you responded to instead of exploding into outrage you would notice that I responded to someone saying Valve has a "right-wing bent" by suggesting that a chunk of their fanbase matches that descriptor. I didn't say (nor do I actually think) Gabe Newell is a racist.

When you replied to a quote specifically insinuating Gabe Newell is "of right-wing leaning" in apparent agreement with it:

Kinda weird how the "bad guys" of PC gaming, EA, are probably the most progressive publishers around, whilst our "glorious lord and savior" Gaben and Valve seem to have a lot of right-wing leaning to them.

Think about who on the internet is actually responsible for "lord gaben" and gems like "PC master race" and this won't seem so weird.

I'm not "outraged", I just think don't think it's cool to be throwing around insinuations like that without some sort of evidence backing it up.

e: more specifically, I questioned judging a person or organisation by the worst parts of their fanbase

 

[Russ T]

You have to rely on drawing the line directly from the developers, who identify themselves with white power signifiers but deny it when asked, to the game, which does not include explicitly racist content but comes off as more disturbing if you know the context of its development. I personally think it's a mistake to separate those things and I objected pretty strongly to selling Hatred but it's a question with a more defensible flipside than selling a game that is in and of itself filled with racist content.

I actually very strongly don't believe in drawing that line, though I respect that some people do. It's just that, in some cases, I am willing to overlook the author's beliefs. It's a case-by-case thing. Not black and white. For me, anyway.

In this specific case, though, there was an actual racist overtone to Hatred (or at least the initial trailer, which features mostly people of color - mostly dark-skinned - being murdered).

OK, I can see you are not worth having a conversation with. Good night.

Yeah, having opinions tends to have that effect on people. Good... good night? Weirdo!

 

[charlequin]

I might be way off, but from the outside, Valve do look like they're trying so hard to not look like a corporation that they're regularly failing at being one when it involves the positive sides of a corporate culture, like customer relationship, accountability or in this case corporate responsibility.

That's more or less my view. "We don't have bosses!" sounds like a great pitch because everyone's had experience with tyrannical, power-mad supervisors and idiotic chain-of-command decisions, but when you actually remove concrete authority from the picture completely you actually enable a ton of bad behavior while eliminating the tools needed for accountability. If you're really going to go for a flat structure you need to draw on the things that work in structures like co-ops, which include things like very strong bylaws and ironclad conflict-resolution procedures.

 

[A Link to the Past]

I don't think her supervisor referring to her as it is offensive, honestly.

I know transgenders who prefer it, and that stuff is so different from person to person, it's like walking on eggshells all the time when you're talking to anyone. She should have informed people what she wanted to be referred to as.

So in that instance, it would thus be acceptable to call a trans person the t-slur because some trans people are perfectly fine with that terminology?

Most trans people would readily tell you that indeed, 'it' is not an appropriate pronoun.

 

[hampig]

What the fuck.

She wasn't asking to be fucking called an 'it' by that person, because obviously she wanted to be a 'she'. Even the article goes by 'she'.
And if you don't fucking know what gender to call someone by I hope you don't call him or her an 'it'. Or maybe ask them? Or use their fucking name??

Also that transgender version of MyBlackFriend is fucking hilarious.

Of course I don't call anybody it that doesn't ask to be called it. It sounds offensive to me, and I honestly thing it's stupid. I'll use whatever seems appropriate unless asked otherwise. I live in the country and go to a small college, and I'm just relaying my experiences.

There aren't many transgenders here, at least not that I run into. Being an asshole to me doesn't change that all I've been doing is respecting what I've been asked to do no matter how ridiculous I find it. If you think it's stupid, then join the club. I hope you have the experience of referring to somebody as the wrong gender, having them blow up on you, and insist that you call them "it" and still expect to be taken seriously.

 

[besada]

There aren't many transgenders here, at least not that I run into. Being an asshole to me doesn't change that all I've been doing is respecting what I've been asked to do no matter how ridiculous I find it. If you think it's stupid, then join the club. I hope you have the experience of referring to somebody as the wrong gender, having them blow up on you, and insist that you call them "it" and still expect to be taken seriously.

What does any of this have to do with this situation, where the person involved clearly wasn't okay with it, since they sued the company?

 

[hampig]

So in that instance, it would thus be acceptable to call a trans person the t-slur because some trans people are perfectly fine with that terminology?

Most trans people would readily tell you that indeed, 'it' is not an appropriate pronoun.

I would not say it without asking first, but I did think that it was a common thing. I am apparently very wrong and know that now.

I know everyone thinks they've found the bad guy in ol' hampig, but I honestly just didn't know, you can move on. I've been educated. Thanks.

 

[MUnited83]

Yes it is. Sorry I have actual standards. Well, I'm not sorry. But if it makes you feel better...

If you actually have those standards that you abide for, then you haven't bought any games in a long long time. Regardless , you do know that you are not forced to buy a game because its on Steam right? If you don't want to support a whole team because a single dev is found to have extreme political connections, you are free to do so. Its not a reason to keep a game from Steam in the slightest, and good games made by jackasses, racists and bigots are plenty.


I'd agree with you if the game was made to convey those political messages, but it isn't. Hatred is a boring game that is really tame considering how edgy it was presented as.
Postal is far worse in that regard.

 

[The Technomancer]

Of course I don't call anybody it that doesn't ask to be called it. It sounds offensive to me, and I honestly thing it's stupid. I'll use whatever seems appropriate unless asked otherwise. I live in the country and go to a small college, and I'm just relaying my experiences.

There aren't many transgenders here, at least not that I run into. Being an asshole to me doesn't change that all I've been doing is respecting what I've been asked to do no matter how ridiculous I find it. If you think it's stupid, then join the club. I hope you have the experience of referring to somebody as the wrong gender, having them blow up on you, and insist that you call them "it" and still expect to be taken seriously.

Who pissed in your lemonade?

 

[hampig]

Who pissed in your lemonade?

I did.

 

[charlequin]

When you replied to a quote specifically insinuating Gabe Newell is "of right-wing leaning" in apparent agreement with it:

Yes, I did agree, I just said I think he probably has a right-libertarian lean (as is incredibly common in the tech industry.) Can you see that jumping from that to an accusation of racism was a reach?

I certainly agree you can't judge people by the worst parts of their fanbase or else we'd basically have to round up everyone at Riot and send them to the gulags.

 

[NoPiece]

It's still an issue in Valve's culture. I'll need to do some digging since I never saved them for posterity, but I've seen a lot of Gate-y rhetoric out of Valve employees on Steam's forums from time to time. And I should probably remind you that Gaben re-instated Hatred's presence on Steam and apparently reprimanded the employee(s) responsible for pulling it.
...
Kinda weird how the "bad guys" of PC gaming, EA, are probably the most progressive publishers around, whilst our "glorious lord and savior" Gaben and Valve seem to have a lot of right-wing leaning to them.

Truth

Weird, I'm old enough to remember when progressive values meant innocent until proven guilty and supporting free speech even when you disagreed with it (e.g., ACLU supporting the Nazi's marching in Skokie). But go ahead and fire up the lynch mob.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

"I could translate a book in a day"

pfffffffff what a load a bullshit

+

Will I mean depending on the size you definitely could. It would be unreadable shit but you could translate it. That's like saying someone couldn't read a book within a day if it was written in their second language.

I think it is naive understanding of something you've never tried. I think it is best summed up from a quote from Futurama Episode When Aliens Attack:

Leela: Uh, g-- uh, getting back to the, uh, matter, uh-uh, if it please the court... [whispering] Fry, there's nothing else here. You only wrote two pages of dialogue.

Fry: Well, it took an hour to write. I thought it would take an hour to read.

So is the lawsuit about the discrimination, or about the unpaid translators, or both ? Is it possible to combine completely separated accusations in a single lawsuit in the US ? And if not, why is the unpaid translators aspect even in there ?

I think the translator situation is being used as an example of poor character and practice of the employee or maybe even trying to imply "I spoke out and they decided my job needed to move half way across the country".

 

[SilentRob]

Racism and fascism are sadly legal in the USA.

So? It was Gabe Newel's decision he wanted to see a product made by racist facists on his service, not some legal mandate he had to follow.

 

[X-arlo]

Of course I don't call anybody it that doesn't ask to be called it. It sounds offensive to me, and I honestly thing it's stupid. I'll use whatever seems appropriate unless asked otherwise. I live in the country and go to a small college, and I'm just relaying my experiences.

There aren't many transgenders here, at least not that I run into. Being an asshole to me doesn't change that all I've been doing is respecting what I've been asked to do no matter how ridiculous I find it. If you think it's stupid, then join the club. I hope you have the experience of referring to somebody as the wrong gender, having them blow up on you, and insist that you call them "it" and still expect to be taken seriously.

This is not about your experience and whatever issue you may have had with transgender people in the past. It's pretty clear the individual at the centre of this story wasn't ok with being addressed as an 'it'.

 

[charlequin]

Weird, I'm old enough to remember when progressive values meant innocent until proven guilty and supporting free speech even when you disagreed with it (e.g., ACLU supporting the Nazi's marching in Skokie). But go ahead and fire up the lynch mob.

Don't do this. People are mostly behaving themselves in this thread. Looking at a statement that a company seems to have a "right-wing bent" and making ludicrous and overdramatic statements about a "lynch mob" escalates discussions and definitely doesn't contribute positively to the thread.

 

[samn]

That's more or less my view. "We don't have bosses!" sounds like a great pitch because everyone's had experience with tyrannical, power-mad supervisors and idiotic chain-of-command decisions, but when you actually remove concrete authority from the picture completely you actually enable a ton of bad behavior while eliminating the tools needed for accountability. If you're really going to go for a flat structure you need to draw on the things that work in structures like co-ops, which include things like very strong bylaws and ironclad conflict-resolution procedures.

Plus co-ops actually have co-ownership of the business rather than one massive shareholder taking all the wealth

 

[Freeman]

Sugesting to Valve that they shouldn't use their costumer as a free workforce is naive, that is all Valve does at this point.

 

[Yazzees]

I'm pretty sure that "employee handbook" was a PR stunt anyway.

 

[qa_engineer]

A lot of knee jerk reactions in here. Everyone chill out.

 

[CertifiedFP]

How would you say they cultivate them? I can't think of much of anything in terms of political sentiments in their games and they're generally very progressive in terms of character representation.

Pretty much every Human-looking character on this list looks pretty White to me. In fact, as far as I'd say, their last game with a non-stereotypical African American character was Left 4 Dead 1. Left 4 Dead 2's African-American characters, Rochelle and Coach, are both based off of stereotypes - The Sassy Black Woman Who Don't Need No Man, and the Funny Fat Black Man.

Let's take it further and look at Counter-Strike GO, shall we? The Counter-Terrorists side is almost entirely white, save for a single African-American FBI Agent model that only appears on two maps. Meanwhile, the Terrorists side is largely populated by character models of minorities, such as Arabs, Africans, and Slavs - The only real whites of the Terrorists side are... Of course, those dreaded Occupy Wall Street hipster folks.

On the 'actual evidence' side of things, you don't have to go too far down the list of 'positive portrayals of women in gaming' to find characters like Chell or Alyx Vance show up, and you don't have to go too far down the list of 'non-stereotype minorities in games' to find the L4D or TF2 crew show up.

The Half-Life series Alyx Vance belongs to hasn't had a game in almost a decade. That's more than enough time for a company to change, and not always for the better. Chell, likewise, was sidelined in the marketing in favor of those two stupid co-op robots.

Does this look like Chell to you?

Postal 1 has been on Steam for ages and is pretty much exactly like Hatred. The Postal remake is coming to PSN.

The Postal series has never been particularly racist outside of a few tasteless 9/11 jokes about Arabs. Also, Postal 2, unlike Hatred, can be beaten without ever killing anyone, without a single sequence-break or exploit. I should know, I've done it in my multiple playthroughs.

I don't think her supervisor referring to her as it is offensive, honestly.

I know transgenders who prefer it, and that stuff is so different from person to person, it's like walking on eggshells all the time when you're talking to anyone. She should have informed people what she wanted to be referred to as.

"I am not a Transphobe, I have Transgendered friends!"

 

[toddhunter]

Universal discrimination protections for sexual orientation are still probably several years away though, as it will take federal legislation to specifically amend the Civil Rights Act, rather than precedent law set by the court system, which is highly unlikely given the current congress.

Fair enough. Unfortunately we (Australia) only tend to get the worst of things in the news around social issues or desired negative changes and it can be very disheartening.

Reading the outrage in a thread like this helps remind me that there are good people in America fighting the fight

 

[Nzyme32]

So? It was Gabe Newel's decision he wanted to see a product made by racist facists on his service, not some legal mandate he had to follow.

Pretty sure the point, as was explained in the email about allowing it back on, was that it wasn't Valve's place to decide what isn't and is valid content based on their own personal views. It was successfully voted by people through greenlight and hadn't actually violated the terms of it - so if the purview of Steam is indeed “about creating tools for content creators and customers", and no terms are violated, then it should stay on for customers to judge. Whether the developers beliefs are absurd / offensive or not is irrelevant to the content of the game, which didn't actually contain any such material - it was ridiculous violent and had awful context to that for sure.

 

[Tinfoilhatsron]

Of course I don't call anybody it that doesn't ask to be called it. It sounds offensive to me, and I honestly thing it's stupid. I'll use whatever seems appropriate unless asked otherwise. I live in the country and go to a small college, and I'm just relaying my experiences.

There aren't many transgenders here, at least not that I run into. Being an asshole to me doesn't change that all I've been doing is respecting what I've been asked to do no matter how ridiculous I find it. If you think it's stupid, then join the club. I hope you have the experience of referring to somebody as the wrong gender, having them blow up on you, and insist that you call them "it" and still expect to be taken seriously.

And it turns she didn't want to be called an 'it' at all, which is what I was replying to.

If you sincerely had this experience then surely you now know that people prefer to be addressed how they want to be? This transgender person you met obviously doesn't represent the community as a whole and that's fine. From my own personal experience, I am fine being called a cripple but to others it is massively offensive, things differ from person to person. If that person 'blew up' at you then that is their own attitude problem.

But here, we are talking about someone who perfers to use 'she'. Even if the superior in question didn't know what she perferred, one still has the option of A) Asking what they perferred to be called or B) Using their full name. Even you said that using 'it' was ridiculous, yet you think this is someone walking around on eggshells?

I do apologize because I blew up at you. I shouldn't have done that because you seem interested in actually learning about this.

Also I'm from the country too, so I'm glad you go as far as extending that courtesy to transgender people.

 

[StalkerUKCG]

This isn't the first time valve have used free labour is it? Didn't they have some fuck about with a production/audio company a while back for a DOTA tourney?

 

[angelic]

Wow... that's really sad.

There are two sides to every story.

He was being sarcastic as the thread is full of people judging it based on nothing.

Once a long time in a galaxy far far away. THERE IVE SEEN STAR WARS.

 

[Vibranium]

Yeah, that was my first thought when I saw this thread. From the outside looking in it seems plausible. When even consumer-facing elements of Valve, like their customer service, is lacking, it makes me wonder how they handle something like HR and workplace standards and practices. As such, I'm not surprised by the possibility of something like the alleged events in this case occurring at Valve.

Totally, their company structure has always made it seem like an internal lawsuit was going to happen sooner or later.

I'll wait to pass judgment of course. I do believe the company needs to look at making some reforms though.

 

[Gurnlei]

A lot of knee jerk reactions in here. Everyone chill out.

How I feel about it too. Best wait to see how things played out from other sources, which we will learn about in time, before making some wild assumptions.

 

[CloudyTuba]

This is really only tangentially related but how can people claim so much money when suing someone?

That's not to say that this isn't a problem if true (it surely is), but...3 million? How is such a number quantified and decided upon? Is it just as simple as taking what you can get from a fat wallet for the sake of it?

Some situations involve a lot of legitimately lost dough and in those cases I can see why the number might be so high, but in a case that boils down to namecalling and wrongful termination....they could pay her salary and counseling for the next 5 years and it still wouldn't get anywhere close to 3 million.

I support the case if the allegations are true, I just don't understand the numbers.

 

[Abilidebob]

Pretty much every Human-looking character on this list looks pretty White to me.

I could get arguing that there aren't many female heroes in the game(which it sadly doesn't), but that's just stretching it.

 

[Palette Swap]

A lot of knee jerk reactions in here. Everyone chill out.

If anything, I'm positively surprised at the lack of knee jerk reactions. Valve are such a major player with such a defining role in the industry that I opened the thread expecting the usual halo effect where people can't separate its incredible achievements from legitimate corporate questions.

 

[Aurongel]

Lots of crazed reactions here based on early accusations. You'd think the verdict were already reached judging by some of the narratives folks are attempting to spin in here.

 

[michaelius]

Pretty sure the point, as was explained in the email about allowing it back on, was that it wasn't Valve's place to decide what isn't and is valid content based on their own personal views. It was successfully voted by people through greenlight and hadn't actually violated the terms of it - so if the purview of Steam is indeed “about creating tools for content creators and customers", and no terms are violated, then it should stay on for customers to judge. Whether the developers beliefs are absurd / offensive or not is irrelevant to the content of the game, which didn't actually contain any such material - it was ridiculous violent and had awful context to that for sure.

Which is perfect application of freedom of speech "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" and Gaben deserves a lot of respect for it since any corporate PR advisor would told him that he is walking into public relations disaster.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

so she didnt complain to HR regarding harassment, but due to unpaid translators complaint?

Did the accusations around harassment come once she was let go? It gets even trickier because she volunteered to move with the position a 2nd time (but was denied). If the complaint filed to HR was about unpaid support, the harassment charge is hard to pin on Valve.

unless i am missing something?

It's a reality alot of people have to face working in an industry where you can be replaced at any time. Sometimes you just have to deal with things in order to keep getting a paycheck, especially at companies that have certain cultures/attitudes.

 

[qa_engineer]

Lots of crazed reactions here based on early accusations. You'd think the verdict were already reached judging by some of the narratives folks are attempting to spin in here.

Yep. Not trying to downplay the accusations but we know nothing about the case but people seemingly have already decided who is right and wrong. Worst jurors ever.

 

[Audioboxer]

It's not really relevant what your Totally Real Trans Friends prefer when any reference (say, http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender) will tell people how to act in this circumstance, and almost any native English speaker will recognize that the pronoun "it" comes off as insulting when applied to human beings.

This.

Following this closey. Pretty disgusted so far, but wish to hear how things pan out in full.

 

[Nzyme32]

It's a reality alot of people have to face working in an industry where you can be replaced at any time. Sometimes you just have to deal with things in order to keep getting a paycheck, especially at companies that have certain cultures/attitudes.

Yep. Also I don't know how it works in all companies, but HR should be approachable and easy to get in touch with. I wonder with the way Valve is, if such a thing is actually easy to do and how many people it involves. Frankly there is so little information to go on to judge either side, which is why it is great that this goes to court for resolution and isn't a "trial by neogaf" based on "I never liked those guys / I love those guys they can't do bad things"

 

[ElFly]

I wonder if the laissez faire corporate structure is what made all their other games die and made them concentrate on stuff like Dota2 and CSGO.

If everyone works on whatever they want, carrying a project like Half Life 3 to completion is almost impossible, and small patches to existing games is the more you can accomplish.

 

[hampig]

And it turns she didn't want to be called an 'it' at all, which is what I was replying to.

If you sincerely had this experience then surely you now know that people prefer to be addressed how they want to be? This transgender person you met obviously doesn't represent the community as a whole and that's fine. From my own personal experience, I am fine being called a cripple but to others it is massively offensive, things differ from person to person. If that person 'blew up' at you then that is their own attitude problem.

But here, we are talking about someone who perfers to use 'she'. Even if the superior in question didn't know what she perferred, one still has the option of A) Asking what they perferred to be called or B) Using their full name. Even you said that using 'it' was ridiculous, yet you think this is someone walking around on eggshells?

I do apologize because I blew up at you. I shouldn't have done that because you seem interested in actually learning about this.

Also I'm from the country too, so I'm glad you go as far as extending that courtesy to transgender people.

I'm sorry if I offended you or anyone. I honestly mean no offense. I don't want to bring any sort of person down just because of their personal preferences in things like this, I really don't.

I realize that logically, I made a mistake with my first comment, and I made a mistake trying to defend myself. I do take the time to be respectful in actual life, I guess my comment came from a place of not liking how quick everybody was to assume that the story told is true with no evidence and wanting to give a voice of doubt and I thought I had a good point to bring up. I did not not.

I really do know a group of trans people who ask to be referred to as it. I wasn't aware that wasn't a more common thing, but I definitely go around calling anyone that in life who don't ask to be.

 

[cj_iwakura]

WTF? What are they doing exactly? Hiring interns or fans to do unpaid work or something?

That's more common than you might think. Even Crunchyroll and Aksys outsource translations as of late.

 

[Nzyme32]

I wonder if the laissez faire corporate structure is what made all their other games die and made them concentrate on stuff like Dota2 and CSGO.

If everyone works on whatever they want, carrying a project like Half Life 3 to completion is almost impossible, and small patches to existing games is the more you can accomplish.

Kind of a bizarre conclusion considering how massively productive the company has actually been post HL2 EP2. Just because they don't make the games / content / services / hardware you want, isn't to say they can't accomplish anything.

 

[Easy_D]

She'll get 2.9 at most, since Valve can't count to 3.

Bad jokes aside, I hope she gets justice, a boss referring to you as an it is dehumanizing as fuck.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

Yep. Also I don't know how it works in all companies, but HR should be approachable and easy to get in touch with. I wonder with the way Valve is, if such a thing is actually easy to do and how many people it involves. Frankly there is so little information to go on to judge either side, which is why it is great that this goes to court for resolution and isn't a "trial by neogaf" based on "I never liked those guys / I love those guys they can't do bad things"

The only assumption I'm making comes from well, the fact that Valve doesn't have the best customer support and that they're slow on responding to issues like the whole account roulette from a while back. They have a...unorthodox work structure as well?

 

[collige]

Pretty much every Human-looking character on this list looks pretty White to me. In fact, as far as I'd say, their last game with a non-stereotypical African American character was Left 4 Dead 1. Left 4 Dead 2's African-American characters, Rochelle and Coach, are both based off of stereotypes - The Sassy Black Woman Who Don't Need No Man, and the Funny Fat Black Man.

This is wildly off topic, but Chen, Dragon Knight, and Legion Commander, Bloodseeker, and probably more that I'm forgetting are all PoC. In fact, lots of racists complained when they changed Legion from being a white man in the original DotA to being a black woman for Dota 2.

 

[LordRaptor]

Pretty much every Human-looking character on this list looks pretty White to me. In fact, as far as I'd say, their last game with a non-stereotypical African American character was Left 4 Dead 1. Left 4 Dead 2's African-American characters, Rochelle and Coach, are both based off of stereotypes - The Sassy Black Woman Who Don't Need No Man, and the Funny Fat Black Man.

Let's take it further and look at Counter-Strike GO, shall we? The Counter-Terrorists side is almost entirely white, save for a single African-American FBI Agent model that only appears on two maps. Meanwhile, the Terrorists side is largely populated by character models of minorities, such as Arabs, Africans, and Slavs - The only real whites of the Terrorists side are... Of course, those dreaded Occupy Wall Street hipster folks.

The Half-Life series Alyx Vance belongs to hasn't had a game in almost a decade. That's more than enough time for a company to change, and not always for the better. Chell, likewise, was sidelined in the marketing in favor of those two stupid co-op robots.

That these are still some of the best representations in gaming says vastly more about the majority of the rest of the games industry than it does about Valve in general or Gabe Newell in particular, and sure as shit can't be used as evidence against Valve.

 

[kirblar]

The only assumption I'm making comes from well, the fact that Valve doesn't have the best customer support and that they're slow on responding to issues like the whole account roulette from a while back. They have a...unorthodox work structure as well?

And this is precisely a result of them not putting a standard hierarchy in place for a department that really needs one.

 

[HK-47]

Dota has a bunch of asian and black characters, including ones that arent even human. Rochelle is hardly a sassy black woman, she is the most normal character in the game (probably in the series) compared to the three guys, who are all stereotypes (though charming ones).

 

[Nzyme32]

The only assumption I'm making comes from well, the fact that Valve doesn't have the best customer support and that they're slow on responding to issues like the whole account roulette from a while back. They have a...unorthodox work structure as well?

Yeah, that's perfectly valid as it is what little we can go on and extrapolate from. I'm just making a bit more of a statement off what you said.