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Gaming journalist refuses to cover Hogwarts Legacy due to its "ties" with J.K Rowling.

Swift_Star

Banned
As funny as ridiculous as this sounds some of the comments sound just as funny because the people even laughing at this journalists are some of the very same people that make very similar if not more ridiculous comments regarding pixels on video game characters. So before any of you sit back and start questioning this journalist and LoLzing at how dumb he is, I would make sure you're not playing a video game based on someone's chin size or their hair color or making conspiracies about the gender of a character and if it's a secret agenda to take over the world ala Pinky And The Brain.

All of that shit sounds stupid as fuck and this person falls right along those lines of stupidity...

If you take a job to be a journalist you need to maintain that integrity and regards to running a story the person's views of opinions political beliefs religious beliefs or anything like that have no fucking relevance to covering a news story.

I may not care about JK's views on this subject as I disagree with them greatly, that has nothing to do with her being an amazing writer, but I have a feeling many of you don't even care about that btw, I think some of you are only reaching to this whole integrity argument because you simply agree with her views, NOT because you care about any real integrity, some of the same people on this very board crying over games based on chin size, who a developer voted for or prays to or what they believe in or the arm size of a girl in a game, yet shit....are pretending they have nothing in common with this dumbass "journalist"?

I'm not too sure about that folks. Some of you know quite a bit about avoiding something or judging it based on the views of the writer, developer, creator of something etc. Why fucking pretend this is bad now cause its on the other side? This shit is dumb regardless.
Sad that this comment was ignored, you’re on point.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Guy has an opinion about JK, and Neogaf tears him to pieces because JK should have the right to have her controversial opinions regardless of how they might rub certain people the wrong way. Why is that same right to one's controversial opinion not extended to the games journalist as well? So confused. Are people allowed to have their own opinions about stuff we don't personally agree with or aren't they?

Is it really the same though?

Consider, JK Rowling's claim to fame is as a writer. That's why most people are aware of her and her views, which are separate from her work. For sure, the thorny issue of biological sex vs gender identity I highly doubt will come up in any Game based on her IP.

Khan's claim to fame, miniscule by comparison, is as a games journalist. Furthermore as part of his activism, his views are strongly reflected in his work. Due to his political stance, he is choosing to censor a game based on a JK Rowling related property.

The appeal of the product in question doesn't mean shit to Khan. Rowling has enough money not to care about any potential sales damage caused by her views.... So....

Bottom line, Khan is unquestionably making an entirely performative gesture. Its the definition of virtue signalling.
 

Catphish

Member
I honestly can't think of a more unnecessary profession than political game journalism. Maybe I'm not trying hard enough.

Now, people who play games, and review them objectively, I appreciate those people. The ones who take the time to make YouTube videos, or write lengthy articles, commenting on their quality, describe their content, or offer tips on how to have a better experience with a game, I love those people and am truly grateful for them.

But others who waste time editorializing on a game's adherence to cultural or political views, and actively attempt to financially harm their creators if they disagree with them? Those fuckers are a waste of life, and offer nothing of benefit to anyone.

They are absolutely, objectively, worthless. Well, except maybe to those who get paid by the click.
 

mortal

Gold Member
We should thank these so-called "journalists" for exposing themselves as activists, as it saves us the trouble
Maybe this way their bullshit review scores won't bring down the score of what could otherwise be a decent game based on its own merits.
 

ANDS

King of Gaslighting
Due to his political stance, he is choosing to censor a game based on a JK Rowling related property.

Guy isn't genuine in the slightest, but there's nothing wrong with someone self-censoring themselves. Hell, even if his own publication decides to not cover it, that's still fine.

We should thank these so-called "journalists" for exposing themselves as activists, as it saves us the trouble
Maybe this way their bullshit review scores won't bring down the score of what could otherwise be a decent game based on its own merits.

There's nothing wrong with a journalist being an activist. If a journalist really cared about exposing the extent of child trafficking you'd really finger wag them? The problem with this guy is that the "activism" rings hollow. Rowling is a wildly easy target and boycotting a game that likely wasn't going to have much engagement on their website anyway has zero risk for them. That's the issue, not that the guy has "opinions."
 
I guess remove the “art” from the “artist.”

Adults into Harry Potter have always been embarrassing.

I wouldn’t cover that bullshit either.
 
JK Rowling isn’t even associated with the game right? (According to FAQ on Hogwarts Legacy site). Like, by Imran’s logic, he’s doing the opposite of what he’s intending by tweeting about it, hence the “look at me everyone!” Virtue signaling.
 
Gene's response to people calling him out on it
BPoHDR1.jpg
 

FunkMiller

Gold Member
As funny as ridiculous as this sounds some of the comments sound just as funny because the people even laughing at this journalists are some of the very same people that make very similar if not more ridiculous comments regarding pixels on video game characters. So before any of you sit back and start questioning this journalist and LoLzing at how dumb he is, I would make sure you're not playing a video game based on someone's chin size or their hair color or making conspiracies about the gender of a character and if it's a secret agenda to take over the world ala Pinky And The Brain.

All of that shit sounds stupid as fuck and this person falls right along those lines of stupidity...

If you take a job to be a journalist you need to maintain that integrity and regards to running a story the person's views of opinions political beliefs religious beliefs or anything like that have no fucking relevance to covering a news story.

I may not care about JK's views on this subject as I disagree with them greatly, that has nothing to do with her being an amazing writer, but I have a feeling many of you don't even care about that btw, I think some of you are only reaching to this whole integrity argument because you simply agree with her views, NOT because you care about any real integrity, some of the same people on this very board crying over games based on chin size, who a developer voted for or prays to or what they believe in or the arm size of a girl in a game, yet shit....are pretending they have nothing in common with this dumbass "journalist"?

I'm not too sure about that folks. Some of you know quite a bit about avoiding something or judging it based on the views of the writer, developer, creator of something etc. Why fucking pretend this is bad now cause its on the other side? This shit is dumb regardless.

Fire Cmt GIF by The Dude Perfect Show
 

Kacho

Member
Check out this "essay" from Gamespot :
Youtube Dog GIF

These people are delusional.
Holy shit. There is a promotional tweet for the game directly before the virtue signaling tweet (the virtue signal tweet has the comments disabled of course). Clown shoes.
 

Arioco

Member
I'm not worried about "journalists" that don't want to review the game, I'm worried about those who will review it just to try to boycott it and harm J. K. Rowling.

I'm afraid we can't teus Metacritic this time (could we ever?). Not even the user score, many nolifers will give it a 0.

This situation is pretty crazy, to be honest. People can't distinguish between the author and the work. Many of my favorites authors were horrible people (which I don't think J. K. Rowling is, she's just someone being devoured by the monster she helped create), but that doesn't make their novels or poems any worse. Should we stop reading Shakespeare, Cervantes or Dostoyevski because we might not agree with some of their statements? That's so silly that I can't believe some people actually think like that.
 

Swift_Star

Banned
Is it really the same though?

Consider, JK Rowling's claim to fame is as a writer. That's why most people are aware of her and her views, which are separate from her work. For sure, the thorny issue of biological sex vs gender identity I highly doubt will come up in any Game based on her IP.

Khan's claim to fame, miniscule by comparison, is as a games journalist. Furthermore as part of his activism, his views are strongly reflected in his work. Due to his political stance, he is choosing to censor a game based on a JK Rowling related property.

The appeal of the product in question doesn't mean shit to Khan. Rowling has enough money not to care about any potential sales damage caused by her views.... So....

Bottom line, Khan is unquestionably making an entirely performative gesture. Its the definition of virtue signalling.
It is the same thing. The journalist is free. He can do whatever he wants.
 

Umbasaborne

Banned
Im all for trans rights, but i love harry potter and im sure as fuck not going to ignore this game. I guarantee you that most of these journo’s will set their online status to private so they can play it without fear of being cancelled. How the fuck did this video game become a political statement
 

luffie

Member
It's why they never quote her. What she has said on record has been totally reasonable, non-controversial. But ask any of these people what they take offense at and they just vaguely say "transphobic". It's a shame, she's a nice person who gives a ton to charity and even goes out of her way to meet fans.

Ah well. The enthusiast press is all about DOOM articles and virtue signaling these days rather than actually covering the games.
This is true.

I don't follow JK nor care about what she says. But there was a period of time where she kept on getting heat and the HP stars were in support of trans. I got curious and went to see what she actually just tweet. She simply tweets, quoting an article that says "menstruating people"

JK: wasn't there a word for this?.....'woman'? (not exact words)

There it is, she is transphobic because she says "women menstruate".... Most of the comments were screaming how Trans women(men) also menstruate. Until there's one guy who sincerely asked "I'm really curious, is there really a case where men menstruate, if there is can someone explain to me?"

A reply came, saying "yeah, it's called Swyer syndrome"

Curious, and wanting to learn more, I actually checked what Swyer syndrome is. Turns out that there is 0 case of men ever menstruating in this world.

Swyer syndrome is when a biological female is born with some left over parts of a non functioning male gonads. Which will be removed when she is a few years older to prevent the risk of the lump turning into tumor.

For all intents & purposes, anyone who has Swyer syndrome is biologically female and grew up as a female with 0 differences.

So it turns out that the person who tries to reply the genuine question with "Swyer syndrome" is LYING. There is 0 men in this world that has ever menstruate, and JK is transphobic for saying that.

Really, anyone who has ever said JK is transphobic has never read what she says/tweets. And if they have ever read, then they are insidious and deliberately lying to push an insidious lie.
 

Elginer

Member



It's a shitshow.

If any of guys can find other journalists doing the same, please post it here.

I know I shouldn't say anything but this comes across as narcissistic ass wipery. For fucks sake, if your job is to write about games, write about games not your personal agenda to be a cuck and somehow try and save the world (which you are not) you simply come across as an entitled dick bag. That's like me working at McDonalds and talking shit to my customers because I'm a vegan. My job is to serve hamburgers not wax poetic about my beliefs.
 

mortal

Gold Member
Guy isn't genuine in the slightest, but there's nothing wrong with someone self-censoring themselves. Hell, even if his own publication decides to not cover it, that's still fine.



There's nothing wrong with a journalist being an activist. If a journalist really cared about exposing the extent of child trafficking you'd really finger wag them? The problem with this guy is that the "activism" rings hollow. Rowling is a wildly easy target and boycotting a game that likely wasn't going to have much engagement on their website anyway has zero risk for them. That's the issue, not that the guy has "opinions."
Being a journalist and being an activist are two very different things.
If someone wants to be an activist on their own time, they are more than welcome to do so. Simply don't do it under the guise of journalism

Journalists are expected to relay news and stories as they happened, not as they choose to see things.
Journalistic integrity, be it in gaming or otherwise, has taken a nosedive because of this conflation of journalism and activism imo.
 
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Ezquimacore

Banned
Lol imagine thinking his opinion is THAT important. He should stop covering Nintendo games, since they made Birdo a woman and not a trans like the first iterations the transgender community have been suffering too much.
 

Fishels

Member
I’ll make sure to buy a second copy just to cover his sale. I actually will 😂😂😂

But who are we kidding? We all know Imean is secretly going to play and enjoy this
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
Just say she's a piece of shit then move on and talk about the game. How hard is that?
But she is not, her stance is controversial only in the US, in the UK it is part of mainstream feminism that focuses not on identity, but practical challenges women face in life - education, employment, etc.

This reminds me when Trevor Noah decided to be a smartass and referred to “Africa winning a World Cup for France” while applying US ideals on race and completely misunderstanding the French stance on nationality. Boy, did this cause a shitstorm over here.

Yes, she choses to refer to people by their biological gender, not gender identity - the whole mess with “people who menstruate”. Yes, to have a period you need to be a biological woman, no way around that. So what she might be doing is not very nice, but she should be getting that amount of vitriol - just move on.
 

Abriael_GN

RSI Employee of the Year
Check out this "essay" from Gamespot :
Youtube Dog GIF

These people are delusional.

I don't think the comparison with the article in the OP is fair, and I believe those who are attacking Gamespot's article should read it with a bit more attention (or at all, because I'm sure some stopped at the headline).

The article in the OP basically baits the readers under the guise of news to read the writer's hostile stance on a game based on a person's ideas, without providing any of the news promised by the headline, and basically proclaiming that the writer or their colleagues won't do their job reporting news about the game.

Gamestop's article is an extensively argumented (and clearly titled and labeled) opinion piece feature on the controversy surrounding the author of the novels from which the world of the game derives. It's actually quite balanced and doesn't demonize those who will purchase and enjoy the game, nor those writing about it. Of course, it's opinionated. Of course, it's critical of Rowling. And of course, it explains why the author won't support the game. That's what opinion pieces are for. You can agree or disagree with it, but the writer is expressing their opinion pretty literally in the most appropriate form in a journalistic outlet about an entertainment & art medium. It's likely one of the most balanced articles I've read on the topic, and it certainly doesn't take a stance as extreme as many's.

It also doesn't tell you "we're so much against this game that we won't report about it" (harming its developers in the process). In fact, Gamespot came out with a proper news article about the State of Play, for those who simply want to read the news. Don't care to read the opinion? You don't have to. But it's fine for it to be expressed in the article form that literally exists for that.

Games are art, and art will generate opinions that go beyond the sphere of pure entertainment. There's really nothing wrong if these opinions are expressed in opinion pieces as long as the outlet's editorial line allows it (some do, some don't. Obviously GameSpot's does). If they annoy you so much, you can simply skip them. They're not rubbed in your face with an automatic unskippable popup. But it happens with movies, with paintings, with poetry, with books, and has happened for centuries, even in forms that predate journalism.

I haven't read a single Harry Potter book, nor watched a single movie (I've seen a couple of trailers), but today's gameplay video sold me on the game, because it looks awesome and right up my alley. I'm 99% gonna buy it at launch, and I'm likely gonna have a hell of a time if the promise of what we've seen today even comes close to be realized (besides, I tend to love games made by Avalanche). But games don't exist in a vacuum, and if there are people who don't want to play it because it's against their principles and want to express that in article form, that's certainly their prerogative.
 
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Wikipedia definition of journalism: "Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the 'news of the day' and that informs society to at least some degree."

Based on the Tweet in the OP... it is then clear as day that the activist who some people call a journalist is, in fact, NOT a journalist.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Sweet. Every time I don't feel like doing my job, I'll just take this dude's example and claim bigotry on anyone who criticizes me. Hell, this should spread all over.

"Doctor, she faces a serious risk of exsanguination if we don't staunch that wound and stabilize her. We need you up here, stat. Everyone in the room are just interns!"

"You know...I don't think I will. But hand her this list of trans charities. THAT will be how I perform surgery today," *yawns loudly*

Or

"Please officer, my child has been missing for twelve hours! I've put up fliers, organized neighborhood searches, but I need the police resources!"

"You know, that's terrible Mrs. Peter's. You know what else is terrible? The amount of trans people who go missing on a daily basis due to bigotry and hate. Here's a charity. I'ma hit the drag show, peace,"
 

Airbus Jr

Banned
Guys an insuferable twat if someone defecate on his faces that would be an improvement cos that butt ugly faces is only faces a mother can love good riddance for another anoying ashat gone out of existence
 
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