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Bungie explains the Gauntlet Incident
- Thread starter Strakt
- Start date
That's a totally sound explanation. I'm glad they're following up on this, even after taking action quickly in the first place. And yeah, it does make sense assuming the "KeK" thing was just referencing the older meme, not being aware of the more recently and specifically developed white supremacist logo (in the context of a normal production timeline, though less so examining it on its own).
All that being said, I think they're taking it so seriously because it was a spot-on visual match to the white supremacy icon. This reaction has been a breath of fresh air compared to "professionals" in the informal streaming industry.
All that being said, I think they're taking it so seriously because it was a spot-on visual match to the white supremacy icon. This reaction has been a breath of fresh air compared to "professionals" in the informal streaming industry.
You definitely did not need to see the flag to need 'inspiration' to come up with [backwards K] [no vertical bar symmetrical E] [forwards K]. It's a zero inspiration design, just the basic things you'd do. That's what is so mind boggling for me in this thread... people acting like the most basic design is 'an amazing coincidence'. No, it's really not. The green background is a minor coincidence since they could have picked red or blue or yellow, etc... but the design itself is bog standard logo.
Google 'kak logo', and you get:
google 'kik' logo and you get:
google 'kok logo' and you get:
google 'aea' [for the E] and you get...
oh wow, exactly what i'm talking about... sample logos:
Taking the bar off an E for symmetry is common. Reversing the first letter if a three letter anagram is common.
The capital "E" is often designed like that, especially when trying to give a futuristic and minimalist vibe.
I'd like to point out that the logo of emergency (a NGO that operates in war zones to provide medical support) is basically like this too.
Got eem. Nice try though Bungie.
Masterspeed
Member
4chan. Which always ends up being the answer to most disgusting things that happen on the Internet and in gaming. It always goes back to 4chan. Fuck that website, it was a mistake.
Blam
Member
It'd be difficult I'd imagine for games like this with many many armors armors.
Netherscourge
Banned
1. I do not think it was intentional.
2. Bungie is removing it regardless.
3. I'm happy Bungie is removing it instead of trying to make any sort of justification for it.
So, I'm cool. They're cool. I'm ready to move on.
2. Bungie is removing it regardless.
3. I'm happy Bungie is removing it instead of trying to make any sort of justification for it.
So, I'm cool. They're cool. I'm ready to move on.
CannonFodder52
Member
I think we call all agree, the real losers in this story are these guys who can no longer cosplay in Destiny 2
Temeculan3000
Member
Just to make it clear? People seem to only understand image posts and clickbait these days.
Clearly the 2015 artist created that artwork, and then later created the flag as part of a scheme to sneak that imagery into the game. Also Bungie knew of his plans the whole time and supported it. /s
Azure Dream
Member
So, this topic seems to have generally devolved into mockery of anyone with even a bit of skepticism. I know my first "2015" comment has gotten several snarky replies pages after I explained myself.
Look at it this way: The company accused of including something inappropriate put out a single blog post saying it's not what you think it it is, they came up with it beforehand, and they're taking it out anyway. If all those things are true, great. But to act like it isn't even conceivable that a company might fudge the truth to limit their exposure to danger? This wouldn't even be the first time Bungie did it, Marty ODonnell is a rather infamous case of that. It's just reality: Corporations are not your friend.
Now: Do I think Bungie intentionally included it? Not as such. They already stated they found it, but associated it with "kek". Do I think Bungie are secret racists? Of fucking course not. Do I think they're protecting someone? No, if someone intentionally referenced a symbol of hate, their ass is probably quietly getting fired, and every single asset they touched is being scoured over with a fine-toothed comb. Do I think someone did it intentionally? Of course I don't have psychic powers to know for sure, but I think that in a company as big as Bungie there's probably one or more GamerGate POS kicking around. It just looks too close to me to be coincidental, especially with other pics seeming to include "KEKI" (or "IKEKI"). Do I leave room for the possibility my suspicion is wrong? Yep! But that doesn't automatically mean it is. They wouldn't be celebrated for outting a racist or shitty person in their ranks like some people seem to think. And they'd probably get sued by that person too. Do I know "kek" existed beforehand? Yes. Alt-Right adopt innocent memes specifically so it's harder to call them out on it, and to instill fear into those who think "Antifa" will punch them in the face for the wrong emoji. A lot of these things start off as jokes within their communities anyway. Hell, their most identifiable symbol is a cartoon frog best known for pulling his pants down to pee because it "Feels good, man". Someone in the prior thread linked a great video on this:
https://youtu.be/Sx4BVGPkdzk
Short version: I think Bungie is doing all the right things, I just don't entirely buy their blog story. And that's fine. Either someone's ass is being shown the door, or I'm wrong. Either way's fine.
Look at it this way: The company accused of including something inappropriate put out a single blog post saying it's not what you think it it is, they came up with it beforehand, and they're taking it out anyway. If all those things are true, great. But to act like it isn't even conceivable that a company might fudge the truth to limit their exposure to danger? This wouldn't even be the first time Bungie did it, Marty ODonnell is a rather infamous case of that. It's just reality: Corporations are not your friend.
Now: Do I think Bungie intentionally included it? Not as such. They already stated they found it, but associated it with "kek". Do I think Bungie are secret racists? Of fucking course not. Do I think they're protecting someone? No, if someone intentionally referenced a symbol of hate, their ass is probably quietly getting fired, and every single asset they touched is being scoured over with a fine-toothed comb. Do I think someone did it intentionally? Of course I don't have psychic powers to know for sure, but I think that in a company as big as Bungie there's probably one or more GamerGate POS kicking around. It just looks too close to me to be coincidental, especially with other pics seeming to include "KEKI" (or "IKEKI"). Do I leave room for the possibility my suspicion is wrong? Yep! But that doesn't automatically mean it is. They wouldn't be celebrated for outting a racist or shitty person in their ranks like some people seem to think. And they'd probably get sued by that person too. Do I know "kek" existed beforehand? Yes. Alt-Right adopt innocent memes specifically so it's harder to call them out on it, and to instill fear into those who think "Antifa" will punch them in the face for the wrong emoji. A lot of these things start off as jokes within their communities anyway. Hell, their most identifiable symbol is a cartoon frog best known for pulling his pants down to pee because it "Feels good, man". Someone in the prior thread linked a great video on this:
https://youtu.be/Sx4BVGPkdzk
Short version: I think Bungie is doing all the right things, I just don't entirely buy their blog story. And that's fine. Either someone's ass is being shown the door, or I'm wrong. Either way's fine.
As I said before though: why not? You think that if they fabricated things like "We have an art team that actually flags things and goes over them to decide if they're bad" would be a lie, and that nobody who works or worked at Bungie would speak out about that? If that's not a lie, how can any of the rest of the story be false? This isn't work that was done 2 months ago, this would've been stuff they'd been doing for a couple of years, that anyone on the art team would've been fully aware of. You really think the entire company is covering up for their corporate overlords, in a scenario where the 'right' course of action (if it had been an intentional reference) would've been ALMOST exactly the same as what they did do, and would've been positive PR for them anyway?
Head.spawn
Junior Member
I've seen people claiming that the kekistan idea popped up via /pol/ as a joke to make fun of these people by calling them kekistanis then took off on reddit as people embraced it as something of a troll-like edgy off-kilter micro-nation idea and then the flag was born on /pol/ afterwards and I feel like around that time probably a good portion of gamergaters and alt-right people who saw the diet-racist potential saw something in it and two ideologies flying under the same flag. Clearly at some point that other iteration of people cosplaying and doing the micro-nation idea took a backseat to the in how it was viewed outside. Just my theory.
Especially with how leaky stuff got around Destiny 1, I can't remember the journalist but there was one prominent guy coming out with almost weekly stories about development problems on the game.
If the story from Bungie is false it will come out. Until that time I can see absolute no reason to disbelieve it.