This post will make me few friends, That's okay tho', because those that will be most offended already have me blocked on social media ;)
Here is the story of "Gamer's Gate" in a nut shell, broken down to it's core existence. Names have been changed to protect the assholes involved at the core - the nuts in the center of the shell if you will.
On the one side we have "The Dark Side", which is strange as she see's herself as a force of good. Her main henchman - the infamous "Research Assistant."
On the other side, we have "Punk Porn", who also sees herself as a force of good, albeit with tattoos and piercings and other aspects that are not regarded as usual by those that are boring and usual. Her main henchman - the short and smug "Third Rate Porn Actor Artist."
Both sides claim to speak for all sides, even those that have taken no sides.
If you fail to agree with "The Dark Side", all hell and wrath shall be brought upon you, ye unbeliever, harasser and general evil doer. Beware, the "Rainbow Haired Master of Fate" my come to their aid, and then begins the true name calling. Social media blocking may come at a later point, but not before they attempt to brand you with a Scarlet Letter.
If you disagree with the "Punk Porn" side of things they will simply talk over you in a louder voice before you eventually get blocked from this and all further communications. They simply don't have patience for those that don't toe their line, and as they are smarter than the rest, or at least, more smug, they'd rather just converse with their converted. Their sometimes aid is "Destructo."
Both sides share one common trait - inability to listen to anyone that disagrees with them in the least. Both sides could be considered fundamentalists of sorts, preaching to their drones and then sending them out to do battle with the opposing side.
I'd tell both sides to go fuck themselves, but all the main players have me blocked. I guess it was obvious fairly early on that I was not convertible, that I would walk my own path. Thus, like I would assume the majority of The Tavern's readers, I am damned to Gamer's Hell by both sides. In this case, it is better to game in hell than listen to the same drivel about full length chainmail armor on fictitious female characters and bronze braziers. Remember, it's all in the mind anyway.
Sure, maybe it's not a PERFECTLY accurate story of Gamer's gate, but it does put it all into perspective ;)
Glaciers & Glyptodons
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One of the very first things I blogged about (more than five years
ago...geez...) finally got its shot on the videoconferenced tabletop last
night. The...
1 hour ago
I had no idea what "Gamer-Gate" was. I appreciate the brief and colorful description of the various factions involved. Almost makes me long for the good old days when religion was the only playground for such absurdities and dogmatic personalities.
ReplyDeleteGlad to help Tom ;)
DeleteI thought this was PunditGate (or ConsultantGate) and not GamerGate. Gamer Gate is a different cast of characters related to video gaming.
DeleteMaybe call it RPG-GamerGate (as opposed to the video game-based #GamerGate) to avoid confusion.
I . . . I think that I want you to tell me all of the big controversies like this.
ReplyDeleteComing from you Charles, that's a HUGE compliment.
DeleteThank you :)
When did I miss your chain mail bikini post?
ReplyDeleteThere's larger forces at play Erik. I don't disagree with this instance of the larger scenario. But it affects each of us more than you may give it credit for.
ReplyDeleteBTW I do have a "side" in this but it's not personal in any way.
I don't imagine I'll win a lot of friends with this either, but I've been turned off by the whole "if you say nothing you are allowing atrocities to be committed" vibe. I will never be able to understand how what someone says about you on the internet can so detrimentally affect your life. People tend to forget the gaming industry is centered around fictional worlds and places that don't even exist. So ultimately, all this animosity and rage is really being generated because one group of people has a problem with how another group of people play make believe.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. Like my favorite line from the recent Battle of Five Armies when Dain Ironfoot (Billy Connollly) sitting astride a war hog, shouts "You can all just sod off". Now there's a proper Dwarven warrior for ya!
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand any of this, and I think I'm o.k. with that. Alas, I must go...there is a Thomas the Tank Engine/Mighty Machine/Transformers/Pirate War about to break out on my living room floor and that is way more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, this whole Gamergate thingis some nerdy shit. And you know what I mean by that. To be nerdy about something is to get uptight and anal over stuid shit. That's the real definition of nerdy. And this whole thing is some stupid shit. I remember when people effing played games instead of arguing about them. Now this shit. Depressing and pitiful.
ReplyDeleteI think much of this revolves around a generational shift in RPG - the more defined the rules, the shift from rulings to rules, led folks to think if there isnt a rule for it, you can't do it.
DeleteMy wife, who is new to RPGs, having played her first true sessions at NTRPG Con last June, put it this way:
"If I wanted to play a one legged transvestite hermaphrodite who is a recovering drug addict, is there a rule in D&D that says I can't? No? Then I'm fucking playing one next time we game and if anyone doesn't like it they can blow me!"
This was of course, after drinks at the pub earlier tonight, and she is both Irish and a Social Worker, so there may be issues involved, but the idea is a good one - with the older rule sets, if it didn't say so explicitly, and you wanted to do something, you bounced it off the DM and worked on a ruling. With the new rule sets, they are written so the rules cover everything, and if it isn't covered, you can't do it.
There's a post in there somewhere...
I agree, regardless of whose right or wrong I am tired of hearing about this stuff in my gaming stream.
DeleteAll I do is game, I'm 40 years old at this point in my life there is no social baggage attached, I don't catch feelings over who agrees with me or not about gaming. I'm not complicit to anything I am just not involved.
Also is should be said after that quote your wife is obviously a keeper, good on you.
"I think much of this revolves around a generational shift in RPG - the more defined the rules, the shift from rulings to rules, led folks to think if there isnt a rule for it, you can't do it
Delete...
"There's a post in there somewhere..."
It would be really interesting to compare mechanical obstacles to obstacles in the presentation of the game.
For example, you can theoretically make all the new stuff you want for OGL games, and the internet used to be full of people doing it. It's just that it's hard because of all the mechanical moving parts (unless you're making something like a feat or a spell). In this case, the mechanics are an obstacle to creativity.
On the other hand, the language used to present a game can also have an effect. For example, when playing D&D 3.x, I had a hard time seeing the classes as mechanics to be used to create the character you wanted, even though there were people who did just that. But when I played in a d20 Modern game, I had no problem trying to create an interstellar archaeologist by reflavoring an advanced class. I suspect this was because the core classes in Modern all have names like "Strong Hero" and "Fast Hero" instead of descriptors that sound like occupations.
I'm not entirely sure what this whole issue has to do with the controversy in the main post, since I'm not on Google+ very often, but I thought I'd put my two cents in on the side issue.
Hell ain't a bad place to be.
ReplyDeleteUgh. Maybe this is why I don't game much anymore, except with my kids. The older I get the simpler I like stuff to be, or more to the point my own original(or stolen but properly credited) creations not the junk that is churned out and supplanted by corporate game companies. Maybe we all just need a sign in the gaming area that says "Leave your political shit at the door".
ReplyDeleteI tried to get some level of understanding on this whole thing and it just left me scratching my head, which I guess was a spot of relief for my ass. My opinion is this is so much BS on top of real BS that just stinks a bit more than it should because too many people think their shit doesn't stink to begin with. A few too many self-important folks weighing in where they should probably just STFU.
ReplyDeleteSome battles are automatically lost just by engaging in them, which is definitely a gaming generational difference. IMHO some encounters are never intended to be used. If your 1st level party decides to take on the Dragon, or your gaming group the firmly entrenched/empowered forum troll, I don't think you shouldn't expect anything other than a TPK. Fair? Maybe...maybe not, but life isn't a "balanced encounter".
Cheers mate, I have been ignoring all mention of it, I don't even know what it is about but I am suspicious of anyone who is "outraged" - about anything not at the level that happened to those two brave policeman recently.
ReplyDeleteI also have had to uncircle several dickheads bagging the nyc pd and supporting banning immunisation.
Had quite a clean up off my circles as a result.
I want to play games and listen to cool geeks and nerds not get into s gender or perception war where as a middle class white male, I suspect I will not survive.
Cheers for the post.
I count you as a friend, so I hope you take this with respect. I think a piece like this does nothing to shed light on the issue. That people have strong feelings, or that things are complex doesn't mean that everyone on both sides are equally jerks (though of course they could be). Saying they are without real argument is just as bad as saying it's about angels vs. devils without real argument.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been more interesting if you had explained why you were blocked. But instead you sort of made the blocking claim with the implication that those who blocked you were irrational or biased (or whatever). Do you have evidence for that?
My two cents.
"If I wanted to play a one legged transvestite hermaphrodite who is a recovering drug addict, is there a rule in D&D that says I can't? No? Then I'm fucking playing one next time we game and if anyone doesn't like it they can blow me!"
ReplyDelete- your wife sounds awesome!
I find the extremism on both sides that I've heard rather grating, but also can see where some of the points are coming from on both sides.
mostly its the 'well, you've made your choice' aspect of some of the arguments/debate, that bugs me, along with the accompanying name slating.
Every time I think one side of the gamergate issue can't get any crazier shit-stupid, I then read commentary from the other side.
ReplyDeleteBoth sides seem to be filled with twits, asshats, and ,melodramatic victims. I'm sure there are some confused yet decent people in there, but I've yet to see any commentary from them.
This is just an issue that allows people who kind of quietly hate each other to do so noisily. As another poster said, this kind of nonsense used to be reserved for political and religious zealots. It saddens me greatly that the gaming community has become home to such vial nastiness.
I don't think this post is about that GamerGate (the one centered on videogames and Twitter). It looks to me like it's about some controversy within the tabletop RPG community that's playing out on Google+. It makes me glad I'm not on Google+ that often.
DeleteGood grief. If there are now separate and distinct iterations of gamergate and gamer's gate then the world is truly coming to an end. The lease people could do is come up with a more unique name. I'll just add inconsiderate and rude to the list of offenses.
DeleteI waste enough productive time already (of course I stood out in the snow, a grown man, and smoked a cigar with scotch last night, proof that I'm an idiot) without wanting to figure out what all this is, or isn't.
ReplyDeleteGoing to hell has plenty of advantages. Hot meals, for one thing.
-Rick
(High marks to the Onyx Black Prince 46-gauge cigars, by the way)
See, now I don't if this is a different thing from "Consultant Gate" ... same players apparently. It is so over-the-top to append "-gate" to these silly gaming controversies that I just can't take them seriously.
ReplyDeleteConsultantGate, GamerGate ... histrionic bollocks.
ReplyDeleteTo whomever got their panties in a bunch over WhateverGate: You know who cares less about you and your polemic gaming conceits than you do?
Everybody.
The expression, "no such thing as bad publicity" comes to mind. This chatter is good for many involved.
ReplyDelete