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I'm becoming disenchanted with the larger internet gaming community

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Lime

Member
This is why I read game news, previews, etc. I stay away from the "drama" theads.

I simply don't get involved with those discussions and move on elsewhere

Just ignore the threads/articles about this kind of stuff, I guess?

Just ignore the stuff you don't like, no one is forcing you to associate with the gamers you don't like.

Sticking your head in the sand won't make the pain and hurt that others are experiencing go away.

If anything, ignoring the troubling aspects of a culture you engage in only lets the hate and bigotry grow even further.

All the shit needs to be called out for how fucked up it is, otherwise it just festers and grows (best example of the games industry refusing to curate the game culture space: Gamergate and people having similar ideology).

Of course, self-care is needed and you shouldn't break yourself over this, but my point is that ignoring the problem is not the solution and frankly inconsiderate to the people being affected by the troubling elements in the "larger internet community".
 
Do you forget literal riots happen when a sports team loses sometimes? Gaming is small time.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't feel like that's quite the same thing. It seems to me that people riot just as often when they win as they do when they lose. It's not lashing out. It's getting caught up in the moment. It seems pretty aimless and it's not some intentional movement dedicated to ruining someone's life.

Not saying rioting is right or anything, just an observation. And again, maybe I'm wrong. Can't say I've ever personally been involved in a sports riot...
 

Gator86

Member
The rest of the gaming community collectively burying their heads in the sand over these issues is the biggest reason this shit still goes on.

Absolutely just as toxic. Every person posting some "that's why I avoid game drama" or "I'm just here to play games" shit is absurdly self-centered and only a peg above the GGers in my book. The number of comments like this I saw during peak Gamergate basically destroyed any respect I have for the community here.
 
I was going to say pretty much the same thing, but you hit the nail on the head.

People pulling the race card, screaming bigotry, and gender shaming. Jesus people, give it a rest..

I mean, there's nothing wrong with discussing these problems. But you can't go just a few posts into a new game preview or a reveal without someone turning it into a affirmative action debacle.
People are tired of being silent on those issues in media. They want their voices heard.
Sorry if that gets in the way of your fun video games.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
They could have denounced the harassment as soon as it was happening and not after they fired her. That was the least they could have done but they just threw her under the bus. Did I mention how shitty it was that they publicly revealed the circumstances of her termination? What kind of company does that in a press release for a individual employee.

TL;DR Nintendo could have handled this situation a shit ton better.

Completely agree on all points. The way it was handled was incredibly poor. At the same time, I can imagine that their hands were tied depending on the circumstances.

The public reactive statement from them was absolutely not necessary, but I imagine they thought being silent would have fed even further speculation.
 
This is why I read game news, previews, etc. I stay away from the "drama" theads.

Yeah those threads are toxic. Most of them have OPs that have more disclaimers than an insurance contract so there really isn't anything to say other than "man those people are terrible". Any kinda of nuanced statement is a quote to ban and you are some kind of terrible Gamergater. Nope. I'll think I'll just stick to game threads.

Sticking your head in the sand won't make the pain and hurt that others are experiencing go away.

If anything, ignoring the troubling aspects of a culture you engage in only lets the hate and bigotry grow even further.

All the shit needs to be called out for how fucked up it is, otherwise it just festers and grows (best example of the games industry refusing to curate the game culture space: Gamergate and people having similar ideology).

Of course, self-care is needed and you shouldn't break yourself over this, but my point is that ignoring the problem is not the solution and frankly inconsiderate to the people being affected by the troubling elements in the "larger internet community".

I think it is terrible what terrible people are doing but there is nothing we can do but say "that is terrible". Reading those threads casually and it is hard to understand it as you guys have almost your own language because the people fighting that Internet war have your own insular language.
 
The whole world should really just learn to ignore what the internet says, doesn't matter where it's coming from, twitter ,Facebook whatever. People just need to stop taking that shit seriously because it gives power to literal lunatics and results in others losing their jobs or getting doxxed. (among other things)

It would be cool though if next time a dev says "Hey we don't like this skin/pose so we're taking it out" and it's just turns out to be a one page thread of everyone going "k" instead of a mole hill being turned into giant mountain of shit.
 
I saw Batman V Superman with a couple of friends.

We all had differing opinions. I was bored by it. Others saw some good in it. We had a really cool discussion afterwards.

There's this scene where Wonder Woman falls on her back, looks up at the monster and smiles.

In the corner of my eye at the theater I saw one of my friends throw his hands up and go "ahuggjhhhh" something like that.

We all made note of it.

During the discussion, he brought it up. Watching the movie, I didn't see a problem with it because I don't think the intent was there in this action scene for "HEY CHECK OUT HER VAGINA" like my friend here did. Even some of my friends who would ordinarily agree with him when some media is being mean to women by showing them being hot(?) they also decided there was nothing wrong and he was reading too much into it.

But since his cause was so just. He never let it go.

Neogaf and all the people we follow on Twitter are like this friend of mine who was offended that he stared at Wonder Woman's vagina as her legs were slightly open on her back.

I think someday we'll all do some growing up and decide that fake things that we read too much into may literally have no effect on how people act and how they treat others. Maybe then, we can safely enjoy things like superhero movies. Or video games. And I hope GAF is still there with me.
 
Absolutely just as toxic. Every person posting some "that's why I avoid game drama" or "I'm just here to play games" shit is absurdly self-centered and only a peg above the GGers in my book. The number of comments like this I saw during peak Gamergate basically destroyed any respect I have for the community here.

What exactly should we be doing?
 
Absolutely just as toxic. Every person posting some "that's why I avoid game drama" or "I'm just here to play games" shit is absurdly self-centered and only a peg above the GGers in my book. The number of comments like this I saw during peak Gamergate basically destroyed any respect I have for the community here.

As someone who would likely be labeled as "SJW" by some circles, I honestly find it hard to blame those people for feeling that way. There are times when I wish I could just approach games in an ignorant happy-go-lucky way. But with the stuff I've seen, I can't do that anymore. Because I know I am just as vulnerable to the type of mentality that GG or other hate groups have if I'm not mindful of this stuff.
 

Azoor

Member
The majority of the online gaming community is vile, though. Even a not-insignificant percentage of GAF, SomethingAwful, and Penny Arcade (3 forums off the top of my head I can think of as generally having a good reputation) believe in GG shit. And then the dozens of other forums out there are full of it or an equally fucked up attitude. I don't think you can say the same for film communities or other groups.

When it seems like the majority of people playing the same hobby as you are just awful fuckers, I completely understand being resentful of the hobby.

I respectfully disagree.

I think what you're saying is an exaggeration. I've been through a lot of sports communities and they've been as bad if not even worse. A lot of them regularly spew racist, bigot and sexist shit all the time. It's not something unique to gaming nor does gaming have it worse than a lot of other communities.
 
I saw Batman V Superman with a couple of friends.

We all had differing opinions. I was bored by it. Others saw some good in it. We had a really cool discussion afterwards.

There's this scene where Wonder Woman falls on her back, looks up at the monster and smiles.

In the corner of my eye at the theater I saw one of my friends throw his hands up and go "ahuggjhhhh" something like that.

We all made note of it.

During the discussion, he brought it up. Watching the movie, I didn't see a problem with it because I don't think the intent was there in this action scene for "HEY CHECK OUT HER VAGINA" like my friend here did. Even some of my friends who would ordinarily agree with him when some media is being mean to women by showing them being hot(?) they also decided there was nothing wrong and he was reading too much into it.

But since his cause was so just. He never let it go.

Neogaf and all the people we follow on Twitter are like this friend of mine who was offended that he stared at Wonder Woman's vagina as her legs were slightly open on her back.

I think someday we'll all do some growing up and decide that fake things that we read too much into may literally have no effect on how people act and how they treat others. Maybe then, we can safely enjoy things like superhero movies. Or video games. And I hope GAF is still there with me.

People and their families getting doxxed, forced out of their homes and jobs, and their lives ruined, is not a "fake thing that we read too much into".

As someone who would likely be labeled as "SJW" by some circles, I honestly find it hard to blame those people for feeling that way. There are times when I wish I could just approach games in an ignorant happy-go-lucky way. But with the stuff I've seen, I can't do that anymore. Because I know I am just as vulnerable to the type of mentality that GG or other hate groups have if I'm not mindful of this stuff.

Yup.

That was the kind of mentality I had a few years ago. I didn't really care so much and tended to be more passive when it came to that sort of thing. I can't say I don't understand where those people come from, because we ALL wish we had the luxury of being able to ignore things we don't like, and just have fun.

Things have changed a lot in the past 2 years.

The important thing to remember is that I can still have fun with my games AND acknowledge that the community has a lot of things it needs to work on. That's pretty much the only way I can really stay sane.
 
The word "gamer" just makes me cringe now.

I don't see why. There are seedy and ugly sides to any group, whether that is race, sex, club, etc.

The majority of gamers I know are just people who want to play games and enjoy themselves. Not downplaying anything, the actions of others don't define me or my particular hobby.
 

Lime

Member
The whole world should really just learn to ignore what the internet says, doesn't matter where it's coming from, twitter ,Facebook whatever. People just need to stop taking that shit seriously because it gives power to literal lunatics and results in others losing their jobs or getting doxxed. (among other things)

It would be cool though if next time a dev says "Hey we don't like this skin/pose so we're taking it out" and it's just turns out to be a one page thread of everyone going "k" instead of a mole hill being turned into giant mountain of shit.

What if I can't even exist on the Internet because of these elements? The Internet is such an essential part of Modern life that being unable to simply log-on because of bigoted shitheads is incredibly unfair and unjust. You can't tell me to look past something that actively hurts someone every single day.

Ignoring 'doxxing' and swatting and whatever won't make these things go away.
 
Absolutely just as toxic. Every person posting some "that's why I avoid game drama" or "I'm just here to play games" shit is absurdly self-centered and only a peg above the GGers in my book. The number of comments like this I saw during peak Gamergate basically destroyed any respect I have for the community here.

So because I am smarter than you, I am part of an organized(?) group in your head that you do not like
 
But the larger community in itself by definition cannot be fine, if this percentage of it is becoming more and more active and hard to ignore.
If you don't see a problem then okay, but for myself, it's just reached a point where it has coloured virtually every game community there is.
You can also say this about the whole human race then so why even single out the gaming community
 
Sticking your head in the sand won't make the pain and hurt that others are experiencing go away.

If anything, ignoring the troubling aspects of a culture you engage in only lets the hate and bigotry grow even further.

All the shit needs to be called out for how fucked up it is, otherwise it just festers and grows (best example of the games industry refusing to curate the game culture space: Gamergate and people having similar ideology).

Of course, self-care is needed and you shouldn't break yourself over this, but my point is that ignoring the problem is not the solution and frankly inconsiderate to the people being affected by the troubling elements in the "larger internet community".

Once again, though, you can't make people care. And trying to do so by shaming or other means isn't going to help anybody either.

At the same time, though, people should care, but it's also hard to care about what people see as nothing more than drama in the industry (this mostly refers to people who aren't so invested in the gaming community) when you have other, more immediate concerns that have a great effect on your life.

Absolutely just as toxic. Every person posting some "that's why I avoid game drama" or "I'm just here to play games" shit is absurdly self-centered and only a peg above the GGers in my book. The number of comments like this I saw during peak Gamergate basically destroyed any respect I have for the community here.

See, like this kind of response isn't going to help your cause, only hurt it.

Insulting people does not work.
 

Auctopus

Member
I knew I wasn't a part of the /r/gaming side of the gaming community from the start. But I agree over the last few months, certain events and reactions have pushed me away from being active in the community as a whole. I just like the games I like, talk about them with other people that like them and stay out of the bullshit reaction/drama/outrage threads.

I've learned that there are such things as wrong opinions.
 

DJ88

Member
I don't get why people always say that this isn't a gaming community problem, that all communities have bad groups of people.

I'm sorry but I just don't see the same level of garbage that the OP posted about from other communities.

Do fans of cars wage a war against the design crew at Honda to get a female employee fired because they decided to take out a bit of HP from the domestic model of a Civic?

Do fans of tech or gear flip out when a talk show host makes a silly joke about the latest gadget looking dumb? Sending him enough death threats to make him do a follow up on it the next night?

Maybe I just haven't been exposed to it, so if you know of any cases please show me. But no, I disagree with that claim.

Pockets of the gaming community are more toxic and just down right baffling than anything else I've seen.
 

Lime

Member
I think it is terrible what terrible people are doing but there is nothing we can do but say "that is terrible". Reading those threads casually and it is hard to understand it as you guys have almost your own language because the people fighting that Internet war have your own language.

Right, this is the #1 reason why "neutral" game companies and others need to step the fuck up and call out the bigots and harassers, in order to signal to the uninvited such as you that these people are the Gaming equivalent to white supremacists.
 
Basically as long as people are vocally apathetic about the negativity, things like Gamergate will remain fixtures of gaming-but I guess people don't care about that either.

Pretty much until a high-level criminal act is unquestionably linked to it I feel like it's pretty much all downhill from here.
 
Basically as long as people are vocally apathetic the negativity, things like Gamergate will remain fixtures of gaming-but I guess people don't care about that either.

Pretty much until a high-level criminal act is unquestionably linked to it I feel like it's pretty much all downhill from here.

Even then, I doubt people will care about the matter.
 
I don't see why. There are seedy and ugly sides to any group, whether that is race, sex, club, etc.

The majority of gamers I know are just people who want to play games and enjoy themselves. Not downplaying anything, the actions of others don't define me or my particular hobby.

I think it probably has to do with the term in mainstream culture becoming associated with the vocal minority of gaming, similar to how feminism is now viewed. The smaller vocal parts of the group unfortunately become viewed as the norm so you may address yourself as one way, but doing so makes you seem to be another.
 

G-Fex

Member
I don't get why people always say that this isn't a gaming community problem, that all communities have bad groups of people.

I'm sorry but I just don't see the same level of garbage that the OP posted about from other communities.

Do fans of cars wage a war against the design crew at Honda to get a female employee fired because they decided to take out a bit of HP from the domestic model of a Civic?

Do fans of tech or gear flip out when a talk show host makes a silly joke about the latest gadget looking dumb? Sending him enough death threats to make him do a follow up on it the next night?

Maybe I just haven't been exposed to it, so if you know of any cases please show me. But no, I disagree with that claim.

Pockets of the gaming community are more toxic and just down right baffling than anything else I've seen.

pockets?

how about a good amount of them are insane fanatics?
 
I don't get why people always say that this isn't a gaming community problem, that all communities have bad groups of people.

I'm sorry but I just don't see the same level of garbage that the OP posted about from other communities.

I think people just want to feel better about their hobby and try to wave it all away. It's only one step removed from "but men get death threats too!"
 

Azoor

Member
I don't get why people always say that this isn't a gaming community problem, that all communities have bad groups of people.

I'm sorry but I just don't see the same level of garbage the OP posted about from other communities.

Do fans of cars wage a war against the design crew at Honda to get a female employee fired because they decided to take out a bit of HP from the domestic model of a Civic?

Do fans of tech or gear flip out when a talk show host makes a silly joke about the latest gadget looking dumb? Sending him enough death threats to make him do a follow up on it the next night?

Maybe I just haven't been exposed to it, so if you know of any cases please show me. But no, I disagree with that claim.

Pockets of the gaming community are more toxic and just down right baffling than anything else I've seen.

Then I'm sorry to say, you don't have a lot of experience with many communities it seems. Like I said in the post above, sports fans can be very toxic and uncivil.
 

Gold_Loot

Member
People are tired of being silent on those issues in media. They want their voices heard.
Sorry if that gets in the way of your fun video games.
Make a thread for it then. No reason to derail every preview or reveal about these issues. Sorry if that gets in the way of your voice being heard.
 

axisofweevils

Holy crap! Today's real megaton is that more than two people can have the same first name.
There's bad people in every group. Don't let them affect your enjoyment.
 
Absolutely just as toxic. Every person posting some "that's why I avoid game drama" or "I'm just here to play games" shit is absurdly self-centered and only a peg above the GGers in my book. The number of comments like this I saw during peak Gamergate basically destroyed any respect I have for the community here.

Is it really so criminal that people on a videogame forum might want to just discuss videogames, and not the drama surrounding them? Isn't it normal for hobbies to allow a variety of levels of involvement? (i.e. someone who just likes movies and keeps up with upcoming films vs. someone who is extremely enthusiastic about movies and researches the history behind filming techniques, what the actors are doing, etc.)

A lot of people play games as a way to unwind and temporarily escape from the stress and drama of their real lives. Is it really so despicable that they don't want to get involved with drama surrounding a hobby they use to escape from their own personal drama?
 
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