Fathis Munk posted:

Robo Reagan posted:

what? i see a dog at his bowl

Maxwell Adams posted:

aaaaaaahh

I thought it was a dog sig hieling.

Robo Reagan posted:

what? i see a dog at his bowl

Fathis Munk posted:

You're all making me doubt myself now you scrubs. But minimalist loss.jpg has been done before

VJeff posted:

We're being gaslosted.

The Brown Menace posted:

Ahundredbux posted:

she seems to have a lot of influence or some poo poo, how?

Ahundredbux posted:

she seems to have a lot of influence or some poo poo, how?

Fathis Munk posted:

buddies in the industry ?

davecrazy posted:

Hey, don't tell anybody but I did some modeling a few years back under a different name. I don't normally share these with people but I think I can trust you....

davecrazy posted:

Hey, don't tell anybody but I did some modeling a few years back under a different name. I don't normally share these with people but I think I can trust you....

Paladinus posted:

Was it 3D modeling or wa... Ah, okay, I get it. Heh.

quote:

strange headache

Depression Quest And How We Deal With Controversy As A Community

Apparently there doesn't seem to be a topic about this weird controversy that set the indie gaming scene ablaze. So apologies if this has been posted before already, but I thought that it was interesting talking about this since it touches a very serious issue about how, as an interconnected community, we gamers deal with controversy and how we perceive feminism in gaming today. An issue that seems to be very close to the heart of RPS.

I'm sorry for the wall of text, but it's a very complicated controversy that needs some explaining.

A good friend of mine who has been dealing with depression because he got mobbed out of his work due to his homosexual orientation recently started playing "Depression Quest", a game that is freely available on steam. Intrigued by the nature of this game an because I was a bit worried that my friend started playing a game with such a peculiar name, I did a little research and stumbled upon the blog of the creator, Zoe Quinn. I was promptly greeted by a very confusing blog entry called "Once again, I will not deal with terrorists."

At first I thought that the internet was throwing another tantrum because somebody dared making a text-based game about a very serious issue, similar to what happened to "gone home". But as I read further, the issue seemed to revolve around personal issues with a disgruntled ex-boyfriend.

Confused about why a game developer feels the need to publicly defend herself for what seem to be mostly private issues, I decided to dig a little deeper. A quick google search later, I immediately regretted doing so. Apparently the whole twitter sphere is arguing about this, including well known names such as Totalbiscuit, JonTron, Phil Fish, Stephen Totilo and RPS' very own Nathan Grayson.

Now I really don't want to go into personal and private details about what started this whole controversy. As with my personal friend, who was fired because of a very private matter that is and should not be of anyone's concern, I believe that matters of sexual nature do not belong in the public sphere. What you do beneath your very own blankets is your own problem and nobody has the right to judge your person except for the people involved.

What does concern me though is the manner how the gaming industry is dealing with this controversy. Social-media are fine and dandy, but have we all forgotten about the risks that are involved in publicly discussing personal matters? Youtube and especially twitter are open platforms accessible to everybody! I cannot fathom why so many public figures of the gaming industry and even gaming journalists feel the need to insult each other to the detriment of other people's private lives. I understand that the whole argument was started by a broken-hearted person, we all do stupid things when we are emotionally injured, but why do public figures, that represent our gaming community, feel the need to escalate things even further by publicly throwing insults and slinging mud at each other over a public platform? I expected more professionalism.

Secondly, I am truly worried that important issues on gender-equality are forced to take a step back, adding fuel to the raging flames sparked by those who do not see the need in equal rights for every human being. As a humanist I couldn't care less about the particular interests of feminism and masculism, since gander-equality cannot be resolved in conflict but in the insight that we are all human beings entitled to equal rights. Defining opposite genders or sexual orientations as the scape-goat does very little to further the cause. It will only result in people getting angry and closing their ears because they feel personally insulted.

What really rubs me the wrong way though are people seeking personal (and/or) financial gains by claiming to be a public representative of a cause that is important to so many people. Even worse are people preaching one thing to the masses while practicing another. Integrity is an important thing if you don't want to harm the very cause you seek to publicly represent! It only helps to further cement prejudice. It is the reason why politics and most religions are finding themselves in such a desolate state. But I don't want to make the discussion even more complicated than it is already, so I won't delve into that now.

Furthermore, if you truly care about your cause, you do not lose your main principle or goal out of sight. You certainly do not compete with similar causes only because they differ in minor details. And most of all, you do not try to sabotage said causes only because they do not fall in line with your own narrow definitions. In the same way, you do not denigrate similar causes only to promote your own due to the very selfish desire to remain at the center stage of said cause.

The Fine Young Capitalists is an indie game jam seeking to promote women making video games for charity. As stated by the organizers themselves, Zoe Quinn tried to boycott their cause over the definition of what qualifies as a woman and is therefore able to participate. In the same breath Quinn promoted her own feminist game jam, accepting donations for a cause that has yet to be defined. What is even worse is that the donations seem to flow directly into Quinn's personal paypal account. I guess it's even the same paypal account that feeds into her patreon since paypal seems to be the preferred patreon payment method.

Lastly I am worried about the tight connections between indie game developers, promoters and game journalists. It is a well known fact that game reviews cannot be, by human nature, absolutely objective. But if a game is being promoted or awarded, I'd like to know about existing relationships. For the same reason that I do not trust studies on environmental issues published by big oil companies, I do not wish to see games awarded or promoted by close friends of said developer. Depression Quest was one of many games IndieCade included at their 2013 festival as part of their "Night Games" selections. One of the jury members was Robin Arnott, with whom Quinn had an intimate relationship. The game was greenlit on steam after a second attempt a couple of months after the game received the Indiecade award.

I know that the indie game scene is quite small and that everybody knows everybody else, but what is true for most domains is also true for indie games: don't mix professional and personal relationships!

Finally one must admit that with great representability comes great responsibility. If you want to act as a public figure you need to hold yourself to higher standards otherwise you should not complain to find yourself amidst a massive social-media shitstorm.

Maybe it is time that we take our responsibilities as a community and carefully choose who we want to actually represent us. I know it is a tedious thought process and certainly not an easy decision to make, but at least we avoid personal harm to those unfit to do so. I am truly sorry for Quinn in the way that we as a community deal with this on twitter and other internet-platforms. If the private and personal backlash is certainly unwarranted for and the result of a rage filled minority, certain consequences are defined by your own actions.

theclockworkrat

There have been threads. They've disappeared.

strange headache

Really? I was not aware of that. Why did they disappear?


Kadayi

Deleted by the Hivemind. The subject is verboten apparently.

Drake Sigar

Shhh, you'll all disappear.

Jesus_Phish


I feel bad that you spent so long typing all that up and now it's going to get locked or more likely deleted before the morning.

sebmojo posted:

RockPaperShotgun have been deleting Quinn threads as they arise.

Leave nothing living, to spread the deadly net of knowledge.

Ahundredbux posted:

she seems to have a lot of influence or some poo poo, how?

horriblePencilist posted:

Zoe "Idunwannajob" Quinn

quote:

Btw, something awful banned me within an hour of making that thread. And deleted the thread. But NOW they have a 900 post thread discussing the thread which they deleted and banned me for.

So like, I think they should totally unban me.

The Brown Menace posted:

so this is one suggestion /pol/ came up with for the logo of the game TYFC will make



once you see it...

Lifepuzzler posted:

I thought the rectangles represented 5 guys, one rectangle laying down getting a train ran on her, and the half rectangle representing the boyfriend (since he got cuckolded).

Design Spots posted:

It looks like the spynx or a dog laying down to me. the white space looks like a dude who lost his finger to a circular saw.

Lifepuzzler posted:

I thought the rectangles represented 5 guys, one rectangle laying down getting a train ran on her, and the half rectangle representing the boyfriend (since he got cuckolded).

Vag Assault Weapon posted:

Vag Assault Weapon posted:

What's this poo poo about her real name being Chelsea Van Valkenburg and magically appearing in 2010 to cash in as a GAMER GURL? Conspiracy poo poo or legit?

VJeff posted:

Is he banned or permabanned.

In the case of the latter, unban him. In the case for the former, let's crowdfund this poo poo.