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[EssKayZee]

Update with timeline of events and information about the player hoax:

Mod Update:

Source: GameRant via GameInformer

On December 21, a professional Overwatch team competing in Overwatch Contenders [...] called Second Wind signed a player known as Ellie. The announcement was immediately followed by an online harassment campaign aimed at Ellie, with the end result seeing the newly-signed professional player quit her team.

The online harassment aimed at Ellie stemmed from a conspiracy theory that Ellie wasn’t real, and was instead a male professional Overwatch player posing as a female. It seems this conspiracy theory mainly started because Ellie chose not to use her legal name after signing to Second Wind [...] and that her Twitter account was brand new.

Merely a day after Ellie was signed to Second Wind, she posted screenshots of a Discord conversation where people were discussing plans to doxx her.

More info at link.

Close if old.

 

[BlackTron]

I feel bad for this girl. These days I can hardly join an online game of anything without the users ruining all the fun. This is why I turn off voice chat, play my few Quick Play games, and then leave. This has been my online gaming MO for awhile now. I just want to play games, without getting mired in all the dumb ass drama and immaturity.

Years ago I was invited to a Halo PC league and quit in less than a week because its best members got pissed off I was beating them and called me a cheater. Even though I complied with all of their insane demands to prove it, like recording my gameplay, which back then meant I put together a separate PC with a capture card. They simply said I was too accurate and it wasn't possible. Stay classy, interwebs

 

[autoduelist]

So... basically no information on it? Get out the pitchforks!

 

[Flying Toaster]

It was a giant mess that should never have happened in the first place. The campaign on if she was real or not should never have had traction.

 

[Musky_Cheese]

Feel terrible for her. Maybe she should just rejoin the team and let her playing silence the trolls. Don’t let them stop you.

 

[zeorhymer]

I had an interesting discussion about this recently. We only know part of the story. The main sticking points is that:

1) She came out of nowhere to be in contenders. If she is that good to be in contenders, people would have known her in ladder. *Some* people would have recognized her.
2) Her team didn't defend her. They should have spoken up the second people started to do this, but instead kept their head low.
3) She didn't defend herself. She could have at least put up a YouTube vod to show that she played ranked or something.

Lots of weird things going on, but all the vitriol in the community is really disappointing. All people had to do was wait and see her first match. That would have ended everything. Companies and players are trying to elevate esports into a professional level, but a loud minority wants to keep it as a backyard sport.

 

[iconmaster]

I realize there's a double standard going on here, but it also seems like this would be pretty easy to clear up?

 

[Hendrick's]

It all sounds rather suspicious. Her team didn't even issue a statement?

 

[WaterAstro]

Won't she need to play under public light at some point? I don't know enough about the history of keeping the real identity private. This is the first time I've heard of it.

I think it would have happened regardless of gender. The internet mob demands information like they are entitled to everything, so withholding information from them will result in this behaviour.

 

[Gahadmor12]

I realize there's a double standard going on here, but it also seems like this would be pretty easy to clear up?

It's not though, as expalined by the second poster in this thread. If people decided collectively that you are not who you say you are because it hurts their backward beliefs, no amount of proof will make them change their mind.

 

[TeamGhobad]

i can only imagine the fury over on the other board lol

also still no proof "she" is a she

 

[manfestival]

This sounds like one of those cases where there isn't enough information to go on. Present the case if anything, otherwise you are just pleading to the masses to get the angry mob machine going.

If you want me to get angry but making this a thing. Then give me a proper reason to be angry is essentially all I am saying. Otherwise, why even bother?

 

[Michele]

So Ellie quit because she got harassed online? Fuck them.

If you're watching us Ellie, I'm sorry.

 

[iconmaster]

If people decided collectively that you are not who you say you are because it hurts their backward beliefs, no amount of proof will make them change their mind.

You're right there are people like that, yes. But some might be willing to be convinced. I don't really understand the situation or the scene, so this is just my knee-jerk assessment.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Not only is this terrible for her, but it's insane that a conspiracy theory that she isn't a real person actually got enough traction to cause this situation.

 

[Blam]

Feel terrible for her. Maybe she should just rejoin the team and let her playing silence the trolls. Don’t let them stop you.

Seems like it's not just twitter. Even ingame she's getting harrassed and people are leaving her team.

 

[Musky_Cheese]

Seems like it's not just twitter. Even ingame she's getting harrassed and people are leaving her team.

No reason to treat anyone like that. Smh

 

[TheUsual]

I don't even understand why people go to great lengths to target someone like this. Doxxing and threatening to dox is vile.

EDIT: Reading more about this on my phone as the link is blocked at work. Strange this handle was the only one not displaying the player's real name on the Contenders roster though. Definitely fuels all the hub-bub about the player. Still doesn't warrant the threat of a dox.

 

[Thiagosc777]

It's not though, as expalined by the second poster in this thread. If people decided collectively that you are not who you say you are because it hurts their backward beliefs, no amount of proof will make them change their mind.

Or maybe she could just beat them at the game to prove her skill. Respect is earned, not given.

 

[Alexios]

Not only is this terrible for her, but it's insane that a conspiracy theory that she isn't a real person actually got enough traction to cause this situation.

Would be fine as a conspiracy theory, not as something with such hostility of this level though, that's inexcusable and everyone involved is scum even if it's eventually proven she's actually a male alien cyborg.

OT: Nobody questions any other player on that level, the proposed gender alone caused all this ire and vile movement, it's pretty damn pathetic. As if they couldn't wait for their first team appearance to see what's what and then move on whether it's a girl or not and laugh off any potential duping as useless and dumb and then focus on the game itself and potential team talent if they have any. Maybe another girl or boy in her place would power through it, maybe not, we're not ones to decide how others react to and feel things and the scum wouldn't be any less scummy if she didn't decide to quit over it.

 

[bitbydeath]

You know team, this really is the last of Overwatch.

 

[Aurelian]

I don't even understand why people go to great lengths to target someone like this. Doxxing and threatening to dox is vile.

I don't think we have to dance around the elephant in the room: it's because Ellie is female. The gaming community still has a boy's club mindset where women are outsiders. Hence the nature of the rumors around Ellie. No, there can't actually be women who are good at playing competitive Overwatch, Ellie must be a man pretending to be a woman! Ruin their life!

 

[Blam]

More just pure cancer from this Haunt guy.

 

[StormCell]

Without knowing all of the specific details, I think the reaction to "Ellie" is appropriate considering the competitive scene suspects she is actually a banned competitor pretending to be this "new girl." They've ever right to be suspicious of someone popping up on the pro scene without having ever been seen competing on the ladder. How gullible can people be expected to be?

 

[Xiaoki]

Or maybe she could just beat them at the game to prove her skill. Respect is earned, not given.

She did earn it though. Thats the whole reason why she was invited to the pro team in the first place.

Without knowing all of the specific details, I think the reaction to "Ellie" is appropriate considering the competitive scene suspects she is actually a banned competitor pretending to be this "new girl." They've ever right to be suspicious of someone popping up on the pro scene without having ever been seen competing on the ladder. How gullible can people be expected to be?

So, you're saying that its appropriate that someone be doxxed and harrased simply because they dont stream?! Are you serious? You actually think this is OK?!

Dear fucking God.

 

[Grandmaster Hash]

having said all that I do remember a story I heard many years ago where a well known halo player pretended to be a girl but got found out when they left their mic on and people could hear a guy.

 

[Thiagosc777]

She did earn it though. Thats the whole reason why she was invited to the pro team in the first place.

Then what is the problem? Can't she just play? Maybe people were mean to her. If athletes stopped playing every time they hear someone calling them names, there'd be no more football in the world.

 

[WaterAstro]

She did earn it though. Thats the whole reason why she was invited to the pro team in the first place.

I think she has to understand that if you join a pro team, you have to reveal your identity. Players are playing under public view, maybe not physically at first, but they have to be prepared to get on stage. We don't know the reason why she's hiding her identity in the first place.

There's sensationalist hate and sensationalist anti-hate, but the objective reasoning is to find the answer of why she is hiding her identity knowing full well the role and responsibility of an esport player.

 

[Gahadmor12]

also still no proof "she" is a she

But why would anybody need proof of her gender tho? Does she need to provide a birth certificate and a blood test too to be accepted by the community?
Would ANYONE request a gender proof if that was a male player hiding his identity?

 

[Meh3D]

i can only imagine the fury over on the other board lol

also still no proof "she" is a she

What exactly are your losing or gaining here knowing or not knowing the sex of person who will be playing the same characters as everyone else.

 

[Shin]

Is Ellie even real though?
I'm skeptical about this as every article running this story leads to a dead end (by all means see for yourself).

 

[The Wise Old Man]

Without knowing all of the specific details, I think the reaction to "Ellie" is appropriate considering the competitive scene suspects she is actually a banned competitor pretending to be this "new girl." They've ever right to be suspicious of someone popping up on the pro scene without having ever been seen competing on the ladder. How gullible can people be expected to be?

So you’re arguing that online harassment is warranted based on a suspicion that some people have? Have to taken a leave of your senses?

 

[TeamGhobad]

What exactly are your losing or gaining here knowing or not knowing the sex of person who will be playing the same characters as everyone else.

well the criticism of "her" was that it was a guy pretending to be a girl which happens quite a lot in the gaming world eg voice changers in MMOs
so i feel its pertinent to the situation to know whether or not they are a female or not instead of them just quitting which makes the whole thing look very sus.

 

[DonF]

But why would anybody need proof of her gender tho? Does she need to provide a birth certificate and a blood test too to be accepted by the community?
Would ANYONE request a gender proof if that was a male player hiding his identity?

You are missing the point here. People started this whole thing cause there has been no proof that she is actually a woman.

 

[Endless Fluff]

But why would anybody need proof of her gender tho? Does she need to provide a birth certificate and a blood test too to be accepted by the community?

Because of the allegations made against her. Like someone else already said, people were thinking that she is a well known banned male player who tries to get back into the game through this "backdoor" of pretending to be a girl.
It didn't help her case that she had a completely new Twitter, Twitch and two new game accounts she was playing with. Like... no one knew her main account, she just popped up out of nowhere.

It doesn't warrant harassment, but I'll take this story with a grain of salt.

 

[Stuart360]

People still play Overwatch?

 

[kraspkibble]

People still play Overwatch?

haha you're funny!

and yes 40,000,000 people play it. it's OK not to like something you know.

 

[Meh3D]

I think she has to understand that if you join a pro team, you have to reveal your identity. Players are playing under public view, maybe not physically at first, but they have to be prepared to get on stage. We don't know the reason why she's hiding her identity in the first place.

There's sensationalist hate and sensationalist anti-hate, but the objective reasoning is to find the answer of why she is hiding her identity knowing full well the role and responsibility of an esport player.

So you find harassment appropriate?

The “hiding” of this person is their business. I see no issue with a person wanting privacy in esports. Or at least I am not triggered into starting a campaign against said person.

 

[Stuart360]

haha you're funny!

and yes 40,000,000 people play it. it's OK not to like something you know.

I just thought Overwatch players had all moved on to Fortnite.

 

[WaterAstro]

But why would anybody need proof of her gender tho? Does she need to provide a birth certificate and a blood test too to be accepted by the community?
Would ANYONE request a gender proof if that was a male player hiding his identity?

Proof of identity leads to knowing the gender anyway. It's not that people are looking for her gender.
Do you think that there are any sports player in the world that hid their identity? They can't. It's impossible. A sports player has to register their identity because they're playing in public.

There's absolutely no reason to withhold the identity. If she's female, that's fine. There are female players. If she's transgendered, that's fine. Lawful society has accepted transgenders. If the public is ridiculing transgenders at this point, then we can say those people are at fault, not her. At this point, the people have good reason to question why she is hiding her identity, although the harassment method isn't necessary to finding the truth.

So you find attacks and threats appropriate?

The “hiding” of this person is their business. I see no issue with a person wanting privacy in esports. Or at least I am not triggered into starting a campaign against said person.

Nope, and I just addressed that now. There is PLENTY of issues hiding your identity in a sport, esport or normal sport.

 

[Xiaoki]

well the criticism of "her" was that it was a guy pretending to be a girl which happens quite a lot in the gaming world eg voice changers in MMOs
so i feel its pertinent to the situation to know whether or not they are a female or not instead of them just quitting which makes the whole thing look very sus.

So, because some guys pretend to be female in MMOs you think its sooooo important that you know whether or not she is female that you are openly advocating she be doxxed and constantly harassed.

Thats what you're saying? Thats your reasoning?

 

[The Wise Old Man]

You are missing the point here. People started this whole thing cause there has been no proof that she is actually a woman.

Nobody’s missing the point. I’ll say it again: unfounded suspicions do not justify treating someone like shit on the internet. Harassment is harassment. Harassment is also ILLGEAL. It’s up to the esports leagues to decide if and how they can verify someone’s gender. It’s not in the hands of fuckwit trolls who are chomping at the bit to attack someone just for giggles.

 

[TeamGhobad]

So, because some guys pretend to be female in MMOs you think its sooooo important that you know whether or not she is female that you are openly advocating she be doxxed and constantly harassed.

Thats what you're saying? Thats your reasoning?

normal reaction would be to prove that they are in fact female, instead of running away which is what happened here. proving the community right, it was a guy pretending to be a girl. if questioning if someone is who they say they are is harassment then yes the "harassment" was justified.

 

[Sqorin Hammerfarf]

Without knowing all of the specific details, I think the reaction to "Ellie" is appropriate considering the competitive scene suspects she is actually a banned competitor pretending to be this "new girl." They've ever right to be suspicious of someone popping up on the pro scene without having ever been seen competing on the ladder. How gullible can people be expected to be?

At the very least, you can't say this harassment was due to misogyny because the harassers didn't believe she was female. And they questioned the identity of this person because they were suspiciously anonymous, not because they didn't believe women played Overwatch. So this whole thing has nothing to do with gender really, but predictably, the news about it is all about how another woman was driven from gaming by harassment.

Considering I was banned from NeoGAF back during its dark days and came back years later anonymously under a different persona, I can't say that such a scenario is entirely out of the realm of suspicion. I didn't care about Overwatch tournaments in the least, but now my interests are piqued.

 

[Musky_Cheese]

If you have concerns or questions as to who this person "really" is... ok fine.

The way some in the player base is acting isn't justified. It makes the rest of the player base and gaming look bad. But more importantly they are fucking with someones life. She doesn't deserve this.

Isn't getting selected to play on a pro team evidence that she has paid her dues?

No one is winning with these kind of actions.

 

[WaterAstro]

normal reaction would be to prove that they are in fact female, instead of running away which is what happened here. proving the community right, it was a guy pretending to be a girl. if questioning if someone is who they say they are is harassment then yes the "harassment" was justified.

Yeah, people in this thread need to separate questioning from actual harassment. The actual harassment is unjustified, but that doesn't detract from the fact that her identity needs to be known.

 

[The Wise Old Man]

normal reaction would be to prove that they are in fact female, instead of running away which is what happened here. proving the community right, it was a guy pretending to be a girl. if questioning if someone is who they say they are is harassment then yes the "harassment" was justified.

Wrong. Normal reaction is: “FUCK YOU MY GENDER DOESNT FUCKING MATTER”.

 

[Haeleos]

normal reaction would be to prove that they are in fact female

You honestly didn't hear what's wrong with this when you read it back to yourself before hitting reply?

 

[Gahadmor12]

Yeah, people in this thread need to separate questioning from actual harassment. The actual harassment is unjustified, but that doesn't detract from the fact that her identity needs to be known.

Again, why? As long as the Esport organizations can confirm her identity, what kind of rule entitles other players and the general public to know her name, gender or anything else about her?

 

[TeamGhobad]

Wrong. Normal reaction is: “FUCK YOU MY GENDER DOESNT FUCKING MATTER”.

then they should have used a genderneutral handle