Imbarkus, your idea of being a "fan" is to tattle to a man who is known to be aggressive, combative, and hyperbolic because someone made some offhanded (and frankly mild) critical remarks about him in passing. That's definitely not how I or anyone I know express our appreciation of people whose work we claim to enjoy.
This whole comcept (sic) of tattling escapes me when you're referring to a public figure on what is essentially a public radio show. But Jeremy (my name is Dana BTW) I can at least amend my statement to say that that's my idea of being a friend, rather than a fan.
When I was a fan, I just quietly disagreed, and focused on the games. And when you think about Denis, he really did the same, from 2008 on until recently. Sure he had the tirade in 2008, the 1up Yours appearance, the blowup here, the start of the Epic suit. Mistakes that he would later admit, but that would still define the entirety of his career in the public discourse, very much at the hands of some people from 1up and some people here. Ex Gamespot people didn't give a crap, ex IGN didn't spit when his name was mentioned.
But then what aggressive, combative, hyperbolic person are you referring to having to deal with during this period? The one no one heard from but everyone still discussed? The one who barely made a peep when X-Men Destiny launched? The friendlier, apologetic one who tried to crowdfund a game and form a new studio with nearly a dozen of his former coworkers, and
not be the boss? The one who waited eight months to respond to the Kotaku article, and then only did so for the good of the team?
That's when I shifted. That's when we on that project learned how useful it was to keep to yourself, to keep quiet, to keep ignorant of what people are saying. When we tried to work together to both fund and develop the follow-up to aforementioned one-of-my-favorite-games-of-all-time, and GAF leaked the project the weekend before launch, and Polygon and Patrick and Mark and Greg and everyone else got their klicks (sic) off a bunch of unkind, untrue speculation. Finally, a vulnerable
fundraiser, such pride in the discouragement thereof... except, you know, history turns unkind, untrue speculation into mean lies. Of course six months later the 8-4 bump will still help ensure that Mighty No. 9 gets made... and then translated by 8-4, Ltd. ¯\_(ツ
_/¯
I don't know what to tell you Jeremy, disagreements are often about viewpoints and perspectives. If you had considered yourself a part of that project at the time, you might see things my way a bit more. All I've done is advocate for someone. The literal Devil, apparently.
I've actually enjoyed some of Dyack's games in the past. But all of his transgressions, combined with the fact that he's explicitly trying to appeal to the Worst People Ever (who honestly don't seem to want anything to do with him, either), give me absolutely zero incentive or obligation to respect him OR give him any of my free time.
Man I wouldn't wish a Twitter pileup on my worst enemy and I'm sorry that happened. You both came in aggressive and combative ("Delete Your Career") and what a mess. I don't hate people for disagreeing with me on any topic, and I bet we agree on 90% of life. You make a Simpsons podcast, fer chrissake!
But there is a bias here, a shared oral history among select and key people, combined with the advent of a new digital and indexible and unforgettable form of history, whatever. Was it meant to prevent him from ever getting a second chance? It's kind of hard, in light of that idea, to blame him for wanting to work with a different sort of games press entirely--given that a lot publishers have come to the same conclusion. In his case, I'm not sure he felt he had any other choice. I don't really know. Obviously GG is a disaster and a mistake for all involved, but that doesn't mean the press or the conventional opinion is right about everything or everyone.
