• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Scumbags Harass Woman For Working On Mass Effect: Andromeda's Animations

Heckler456 said:
It's fuel for the fire. What, do you think these people think of themselves as the evil they in fact are? Nah, they just see themselves enacting on the logical extension of large groups of people collectively shitting on the hard work of other people - which is taking the "people responsible to task".

Laughing at a bad animation was funny when people did it with the box carrying dude or push-up Roach in The Witcher 3. It's not funny when we have a pre-release 60+ page thread specifically devoted to searching and finding every single minute flaw possible, and putting a big old magnifying glass to it. It also carries little to no value, seeing as in terms of actually criticizing the game, we should be doing that sort of stuff post-release, seeing as how you need to criticize it within its context. That is, if actual criticism is the thing you're interested in, and not some misbegotten sense of "this game shouldn't be able to sell any copies, because look at this animation!".
Click to expand...

Disagree hard on this and stuff like this conflates things that shouldn't have anything to do with each other. An attack on a work is not and attack on a person and making excuses to dial down on one because you think it encourages the other feels misguided and honestly smells of fanboy protectionism.
It's just fucking simple don't be a scumbag and harass other people nothing more nothing less.

Personally I'm a bit at a loss at these problems though, because every time you call out that shit it just feels like certain people come out of the wood works and troll you. It's frustrating as heck that this is a thing to begin with.
 
Some people need to clear their minds and stop taking video games too seriously, because that's just horrible and huge acid to rest of the community.
 
Revolutionary said:
Kotaku taking the high route here when they were literally promoting (even in this article) this "lulz Mass Effect animations" bandwagon is pretty scummy. In their chase for clicks they forgot that their website has more reach than it deserves, attracts ignorant people, and that some people love harassing others from their anonymous accounts on social media.
Not solely blaming Kotaku, mind you. Any site (or anyone, for that matter) that participated in this meme bullshit but is currently decrying the end result has no right to speak.
Click to expand...
What? Making fun of buggy animations much like everyone does about FIFA is somehow responsible for personal attacks?

Literally nobody outside these fuckwits did anything with malicious intent and just had fun with broken stuff and made funny gifs and videos.

The fact people do personal attacks like this is a problem and it's terrible but don't generalize people having fun with broken animations for these idiots.
 
Shows us how thick and stupid some people are to think 1 person is responsible for the performance of Frostbite on facial animations and the money Bioware invested in that side of the project.
 
Regardless of what a technical mess ME turns out to be (& Bioware as a whole deserves criticism for it), this kind of witch hunt followed by sexism & vilification is absolutely and unequivocally unacceptable. It has serious ramification marginalising women in game development and the industry overall.
 
Revolutionary said:
Kotaku taking the high route here when they were literally promoting (even in this article) this "lulz Mass Effect animations" bandwagon is pretty scummy. In their chase for clicks they forgot that their website has more reach than it deserves, attracts ignorant people, and that some people love harassing others from their anonymous accounts on social media.
Not solely blaming Kotaku, mind you. Any site (or anyone, for that matter) that participated in this meme bullshit but is currently decrying the end result has no right to speak.
Click to expand...

Could not disagree harder.
 
jack_package_200 said:
So did the Escapist take a hard right turn after Jim Sterling and Moviebob left?
Click to expand...

Ehh. They hired some shitheads for sure, and the owner's a known whacko, they've been mostly just a Zero Punctuation site for a while. Their articles are mostly generic stuff, aside from a widely panned Star Citizen article (headed by a GG hire, shocker).
 
Corpekata said:
Ehh. They hired some shitheads for sure, and the owner's a known whacko, they've been mostly just a Zero Punctuation site for a while. Their articles are mostly generic stuff, aside from a widely panned Star Citizen article (headed by a GG hire, shocker).
Click to expand...

Yeah because they went all in on GG.... and oops turns out that doesn't produce much quality content.
 
Corpekata said:
Ehh. They hired some shitheads for sure, and the owner's a known whacko, they've been mostly just a Zero Punctuation site for a while. Their articles are mostly generic stuff, aside from a widely panned Star Citizen article (headed by a GG hire, shocker).
Click to expand...

I see they had hired Ian Miles Cheong...

Woof
 
Unfortunately not suprising. Gamers are awful.

If you look at the ME threads you definitely see it happen here on Gaf aswell. Criticism is fine for subpar animations but all these "lollol trash game, fuck bioware amateurs" posts show that Gaf isn't that much different from some other people.


Make fun all you want but hoping people lose their job or harassing people is not okay and it shows how many manchilds we have in gaming
 
Holundrian said:
Disagree hard on this and stuff like this conflates things that shouldn't have anything to do with each other. An attack on a work is not and attack on a person an making excuses to dial down on one because you think it encourages the other feels misguided and honestly smells of fanboy protectionism.
It's just fucking simple don't be a scumbag and harass other people nothing more nothing less.

Personally I'm a bit at a loss at these problems though, because every time you call out that shit it just feels like certain people come out of the wood works and troll you. It's frustrating as heck that this is a thing to begin with.
Click to expand...

Didn't the exact same thing happen here with Mass Effect 3? People criticized the writing en masse, and it slowly morphed into the harassment of a single person? I'm not conflating these things to try to concoct some criticism against a benign behavior - I'm pointing out a genuine correlation, at the very least, that has previously been established as an actual thing.

Like, seriously, can you really not see how threads like the GIF one don't even serve as "attacking" or "criticizing" work anymore, but simply exist for other people to have fun at the expense of others? That's exactly what those people attacking her on twitter are doing to, expect they have even less of sense of scruple.

And as to you "fanboy protectionism" jab, yeah, I really like Mass Effect, and I really liked what I played of the trail. That being said, if the vast majority (or even a smaller subsection) of reviews on Monday come out and say "the benefits do not outweigh the negatives, and this is a badly made video game in all respects", then I'll be OK with that. Because presumably those people have actually consumed the entire product, and did not largely derive their opinions from a combination of isolated and magnified instances of bad animation, and animation bugs that happen in the best of games.
 
These people can get to me so much.. probably the kind of people that rape women and make them feel even worse afterwards because they wouldn't enjoy their "function"
 
Welp, I will state for the record that I believe in free speech, but lately the rhetoric surrounding free speech is really just a trigger-response from the right stating that oppositional free speech to their own is actually oppression. I mean, it's been going on for a good long while, but now it's just kind of front-and-center normalized at this point. So with that said, I do wholeheartedly believe if someone is free speeching like a jerk, then they deserve to be called on it and made to look like the damn fool that they are. Still, the institution of free speech does feel a lot weaker due to the aforementioned trigger-response horseshit we've kind of collectively allowed to hit the mainstream. The fringe that participates in these clearly sexist, GamerGate-esque attacks either don't mind this because it lines up exactly within their authoritarian viewpoint and they don't actually have any belief in free speech, or they are really just stupid and stubborn enough to just bully their way into a cry wolf scenario where the typical alarmist response creates an unconsciously-created cannibal culture that just eats away at the very right that frankly everyone purports as being under attack.

Regardless of whatever causes for the shit-pickle we find ourselves in as a collective society right now, I for one and really relieved to not identify myself in a culture that can so casually, even proudly, embrace sexist and overtly rapist rhetoric to champion its right (to free speech), knowingly at the cost of security and well-being of other human beings.

It's a sad and pathetic state of affairs, and it's even sadder knowing it's not recent or new. It is, however, an extra layer of soul-draining to know that it's only been emboldened by leaders that have risen in larger society that reflect this behavior.

It's the edgelordy notion that the way to become resilient to the world's horrors is to embrace and perpetuate them. That's not resilience, that's surrender, and for all the glinty-eyed escapism we lay claim to as games players in particular, it's a continuing sadness that those of our own common interest persist to be destructive in such a visible and disruptive way, very likely under their misplaced pretense that they are somehow stronger and more resilient because they are able to embrace the ugly.
spinelessness if I ever saw it
 
Xando said:
If you look at the ME threads you definitely see it happen here on Gaf aswell. Criticism is fine for subpar animations but all these "lollol trash game, fuck bioware amateurs" posts show that Gaf isn't that much different from some other people.
Click to expand...

Yup. They're just more subtle and indirect here. But ultimately, same attitude. And the most amazing part is that they don't even realize it.
 
Messofanego said:
That doesn't sound like someone I would ever respect. Take this person out of your recommendations (click "not interested" all the videos on the recommended sidebar).
Click to expand...

Yeah I did... Too bad too but I just have no time for people who's knee jerk reaction is to take some boring ass middle of the road because they feel the need to take a shot at Kotaku or whatever.
 
LIFEHACK

Whenever someone says they are advocating for free speech in response to criticism of racist, sexist, homophobic or xenophobic behavior, they aren't actually advocating for free speech.

They're advocating for the freedom to be an asshole without consequence.

LIFEHACK
 
Fucking disgusting. Sexist manbabies pieces of shit.

Ratrat said:
Even someone here tried to start something. Sad.
Click to expand...

Well... I mean, we have (had?) an entire thread dedicated exclusively to making fun of the game's animations, and people spamming gifs for weels. I know it wasn't a direct attack to anyone, but it is still disrespectful and childish to dogpile on something like that imo.
 
Heckler456 said:
Didn't the exact same thing happen here with Mass Effect 3? People criticized the writing en masse, and it slowly morphed into the harassment of a single person? I'm not conflating these things to try to concoct some criticism against a benign behavior - I'm pointing out a genuine correlation, at the very least, that has previously been established as an actual thing.

Like, seriously, can you really not see how threads like the GIF one don't even serve as "attacking" or "criticizing" work anymore, but simply exist for other people to have fun at the expense of others? That's exactly what those people attacking her on twitter are doing to, expect they have even less of sense of scruple.

And as to you "fanboy protectionism" jab, yeah, I really like Mass Effect, and I really liked what I played of the trail. That being said, if the vast majority (or even a smaller subsection) of reviews on Monday come out and say "the benefits do not outweigh the negatives, and this is a badly made video game in all respects", then I'll be OK with that. Because presumably those people have actually consumed the entire product, and did not largely derive their opinions from a combination of isolated and magnified instances of bad animation, and animation bugs that happen in the best of games.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter the core idea of let's be less critical of a game so we don't encourage scumbags to be scumbags is a pretty stupid message, it dilutes the real issue and it doesn't feel like that should have a place in this discussion. And that doesn't even go into the inherently problematic nature of this idea. So I'd appreciate if this topic doesn't get diluted by misplaced fanboyism. Also it's not a jab I was calling it out based on how I perceived it and it doesn't seem like I was wrong.
 
Disgusting. I fully understand when some people abandon all social media sites even if it complicates their work, because not many have the stomach to deal with so much hate.
 
Risk Breaker said:
Well... I mean, we have (had?) an entire thread dedicated exclusively to making fun of the game's animations, and people spamming gifs for weels. I know it wasn't a direct attack to anyone, but it is still disrespectful and childish to dogpile on something like that imo.
Click to expand...
Do you think the same about the FIFA thread? Or any other for that matter showing animations breaking?

Are we only allowed to post "oh wow the graphics" gifs? Any and all negativity is inherently dogpile, disrespectful and childish?
 
Holundrian said:
It doesn't matter the core idea of let's be less critical of a game so we don't encourage scumbags to be scumbags is a pretty stupid message, it dilutes the real issue and it doesn't feel like that should have a place in this discussion. And that doesn't even go into the inherently problematic nature of this idea. So I'd appreciate if this topic doesn't get diluted by misplaced fanboyism. Also it's not a jab I was calling it out based on how I perceived it and it doesn't seem like I was wrong.
Click to expand...

What? Are you even reading my post? I'm saying being critical is fine. Bad reviews are fine. Pointing out a flaw is fine, even pre-release. Bad opinions regarding the trail is fine. That GIF thread, for example, isn't "being critical". It's reveling in the misery of others. Worthwhile criticism involves things like "nuance" and "due diligence", not circlejerking over every single flaw, imagined or otherwise.

At any rate, this is getting off-track. I think it's pretty evident that if there wasn't this insane whirlwind of negativity surrounding Mass Effect Andromeda, the person is question would not have been in the position she was in right now.

Tecnniqe said:
Do you think the same about the FIFA thread? Or any other for that matter showing animations breaking?

Are we only allowed to post "oh wow the graphics" gifs? Any and all negativity is inherently dogpile, disrespectful and childish?
Click to expand...

I personally don't think "animation bugs" are funny in the slightest, and I never partake in them to begin with. But I see that FIFA thread as being good-natured, and not serving as a way to go "See? This game is trash!".

Like, take all of those types of comments out of the GIF thread concerning Mass Effect, and that thread is fine too.
 
Risk Breaker said:
Well... I mean, we have (had?) an entire thread dedicated exclusively to making fun of the game's animations, and people spamming gifs for weels. I know it wasn't a direct attack to anyone, but it is still disrespectful and childish to dogpile on something like that imo.
Click to expand...

You can't disrespect a commercial product that's had millions of dollars and thousands of man hours spent on it.

If it's doing anything that's a bit shit, calling it out is beneficial to us all as it allows us to make more informed buying decisions, and alerts us to be more critical of the rest of the product in question, because it may be of low quality in other ways.

What's more, doing it in a lighthearted 'childish' (which entirely depends on your subjective sense of humour and possible lack of maturity to be able to enjoy such things) way keeps things light and impersonal. There's a huge difference between adding a silly laugh track to some bad animation and direction, and the organised mass harassment of women via social media.
 
Harassment is beyond disgusting, but are people really saying I should feel bad for laughing at the animations in the new Mass Effect?
 
Heckler456 said:
What? Are you even reading my post? I'm saying being critical is fine. Bad reviews are fine. Pointing out a flaw is fine, even pre-release. Bad opinions regarding the trail is fine. That GIF thread, for example, isn't "being critical". It's reveling in the misery of others. Worthwhile criticism involves things like "nuance" and "due diligence", not circlejerking over every single flaw, imagined or otherwise.

At any rate, this is getting off-track. I think it's pretty evident that if there wasn't this insane whirlwind of negativity surrounding Mass Effect Andromeda, the person is question would not have been in the position she was in right now.
Click to expand...

The gif thread is criticism in the form of comedy. That you feel slighted by that is a different issue like I've been saying and has no place to be mixed up with scumbags harassing other people. Even if there was such a causality between those things, asking people to dial back is absolutely misguided. It's like saying games shouldn't be violent anymore because they encourage instability in already mentally unstable people.
It diverts the responsibility which should exclusively belong to the people harassing.
 
texhnolyze said:
Yup. They're just more subtle and indirect here. But ultimately, same attitude. And the most amazing part is that they don't even realize it.
Click to expand...

I see this thread has evolved to a point where people who criticizes the game's animation has been grouped together with the same people who harassed the lady.

Or that laughing or making comedic content out of the bizarre glitches and animations on a game is somehow equal to promoting harassment towards the people who made the game.

Give me a break :/
 
Stilton Disco said:
You can't disrespect a commercial product that's had millions of dollars and thousands of man hours spent on it.

If it's doing anything that's a bit shit, calling it out is beneficial to us all as it allows us to make more informed buying decisions, and alerts us to be more critical of the rest of the product in question, because it may be of low quality in other ways.

What's more, doing it in a lighthearted 'childish' (which entirely depends on your subjective sense of humour and possible lack of maturity to be able to enjoy such things) way keeps things light and impersonal. There's a huge difference between adding a silly laugh track to some bad animation and direction, and the organised mass harassment of women via social media.
Click to expand...

"Making it impersonal" is exactly what is at the root of this problem. It's not a boon. There are in fact actual people who work on these "million dollar products". People who work in a pretty tough industry, who literally put years of their lives behind "products" like these. That deserves some recognition, and intentionally devaluing that aspect of it not only is not something to be proud of, but it also leads to shit like this, at some level.

Holundrian said:
The gif thread is criticism in the form of comedy. That you feel slighted by that is a different issue like I've been saying and has no place to be mixed up with scumbags harassing other people. Even if there was such a causality between those things, asking people to dial back is absolutely misguided. It's like saying games shouldn't be violent anymore because they encourage instability in already mentally unstable people.
It diverts the responsibility which should be exclusively belong to the people harassing.
Click to expand...

What do we lose if don't have that GIF thread? What do we lose if we just had that "Trial impressions" thread with some "huh, this is a pretty bad animation" GIFs sprinkled throughout?
 
Tecnniqe said:
Do you think the same about the FIFA thread? Or any other for that matter showing animations breaking?

Are we only allowed to post "oh wow the graphics" gifs? Any and all negativity is inherently dogpile, disrespectful and childish?
Click to expand...

Did people actually call out the devs for being 'lazy, amateurish, etc' in that FIFA threads? The Fifa thread is created to provide actually funny gifs and it delivers. People are having a good time in that thread.

You who have been dwelling in the Andromeda thread should've known what's the purpose of that thread. Some of the clips are not created to amuse people. Does this seriously look funny to you?

5qOu2Zd


or this:
a bad case of writing, acting, and animation
Click to expand...
 
texhnolyze said:
Did people actually call out the devs for being 'lazy, amateurish, etc' in that FIFA threads? The Fifa thread is created to provide actually funny gifs and it delivers. People are having a good time in that thread.

You who have been dwelling in the Andromeda thread should've known what's the purpose of that thread. Some of the clips are not created to amuse people. Does this seriously look funny to you?

5qOu2Zd
Click to expand...

Yes... I do find it funny? Are you going to accuse me of promoting harassment now?
 
excelsiorlef said:
So now it all makes sense:

Nick Monroe the guy who was doing all the digging and had a hand in stating this shit is literally @pressfarttocontinue (fuck I hate gaming culture for making me have to type stupid shit).. you know the guy who stalked Dodger... Escapist hired that guy...
Click to expand...

I remember when The Escapist was a cool site with cool shows. Seems like eons ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Mass Effect Andromeda Actor Says "It Was Done Dirty" By EA And Fans
Opinion Game Dev  2 3
147
476
DonkeyPunchJr replied
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
RTTP  2
92
1K
Ellis replied
BioWare Is So Busy Developing Mass Effect 5 That It Doesn’t Have Time For Teasers, Says Developer
Game Dev  2 3
102
502
KanKamAndNob replied
Mass Effect modding introduces M3TO - Texture overrides without package edits
20
1K
Teslerum replied
Mass Effect TV show ordered to rewrite scripts and make them "more appealing to non-gamers"
2
62
444
StereoVsn replied
Top Bottom