A petition to black out Steam for an hour

[disgruntledgamer]

"I wish people who don't like Anita Sarkeesian would stop caring about what she has to say...as they rightfully shouldn't care anyways."

If she was just saying controversial things that I didn't agree with I wouldn't, but she lies without shame and it's having a damaging effect on the gaming industry.

"Anita Sarkeesian mirrors edge 2.

Apparently EA has told Dice to listen to what she has to say and implement it into the game...I have a bad feeling about this one..."

http://steamcommunity.com/app/17410/discussions/0/38596747747884096/

 

[RJ 17]

Apparently EA has told Dice to listen to what she has to say and implement it into the game...I have a bad feeling about this one...

And why do you think that is? As you said yourself: the more trouble she stirs up around herself, the more popular she becomes. Take away alllllllll the people that disagree with her yet still insist on making forum topics and such about her and you take away any controversy, take away the controversy and you take away her notoriety, take away her notoriety and she's just another person with an opinion on the internet...preaching to her choir.

It's never too late for someone to fade into internet obscurity.

 

[Vigormortis]

Huh.

You know, I had someone follow me into several game lobbies recently, during which time he or she made repeated threats to me and my family. He or she even threatened to come to my home wherein he or she would "rape my ***** face" and then slit my throat.

I guess I need to tweet about it, call the authorities, start a petition to shutdown PSN and Xbox Live, and begin accepting donations.

I'll update this post the moment I have the Paypal account setup to accept those donations.

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[Smooth Operator]

I would endorse it for a good cause, i.e. making people understand just how little power they have over their own gaming library, I would even extend it for a full 24 hours.

But to fuel gender wars... No, not ever.

 

[disgruntledgamer]

And why do you think that is?

That was actually a quote from the link not my writing, my bad I fixed it now and added the quotes you'll need to follow the link for the expanded version.

 

[Autumnflame]

When you stir the hornets nest you are always going to enact the wrath of the hive.

for someone who speak against women stereotyping them selves into the " damsel in distress " trope.

she seems to do an excellent job of putting herself into each and everyone.
pleading for help from the greater community.

Granted ill agree the people that make these threats are wrong in what they say and promote little if any opposition to be taken seriously.

Combined with her videos are often terribly misinformed and biased in their views she discredits her validity with incorrect assumptions and wild accusations.

Growth can only be achieved by consensus by a discussion of all parties involved not just one person telling everyone else you are wrong I'm right now change to meet my demands.

The basic concepts of what she is fighting for is a good thing. HOW she is going about it is what brings the trolls out of the shadows and when you push them they push back and you need to be prepared for it. To weather it. to gain strength from their trollish behaviour and ultimately win.

To kick the ants nest and then cry out for pity "oh why are the ants biting me" weakens her position considerably.

If a man made the same claims about Tropes vs women tries to raise. He would suffer large amounts of abuse.
But maybe just maybe he would endure through it and say to his critics see this is whats wrong.

This sensationalist demands and blame game needs to end.
If people like Anita want to be taken seriously they need to have open discussions and debates with members of all sides of the issue.

Debate rather than demand.
Discuss rather than demean
put thought and integrity into your work instead of misinformation designed to beguile and mislead to prove your point

 

[DeaDRabbiT]

You adapt to the culture you want to join, the culture doesn't adapt to you.

This is the most poignant excerpt from your post and I'll tell ya why.

Just like the feminist side of gaming (and it makes me vomit a bit to even utter that with any amount of seriousness) would have us believe that we just have to accept the fact that women are misrepresented, mistreated, and marginalized; the other end of the spectrum is that gaming is gaming, and whether you like it or not, it's going to be what it is, and as we've seen over the past couple of weeks, the gaming industry and it's fans have limited patience when it comes to this debate.

The problem also with this particular assault on first amendment rights is that the downside of non-compliance as it pertains to the developer, is it's possible enough groundswell can be generated by a subset of overly sensitive, maladaptive people to actually affect their bottom line, thus leading to decisions being made that probably aren't going to be favorably viewed by the whole of gaming culture, but becomes irrelevant due to a very vocal, "offended" minority.

Am I wrong that most of the people on the NOT SJW side of this whole gaming culture debate would rather just keep enjoying their games, and let those that don't like particular content to simply vote with their dollars and shut up about the rest of it? I mean this shit is such a new phenomenon anyway and just look how toxic it is. It's not going to produce good, it's going to produce resentment.

If you are a woman that wants to create games, GO DO IT, and make something great and we will buy it. There are plenty of shitty games made by men that get heaped in the bargain bin, or turned into bedding for livestock. They don't appear to think it has anything to do with their gender. What I've seen and I'm sorry but I hold it to be true is that this is absolutely not an "equality" debate. It's a 51%/49% debate in favor of the ladies.

And as a closing note, Depression Quest is a joke of a "game" Zoe Quinn is a living, breathing turd, and I derive no extra pleasure from from causing harm to digital females; even though Anita would have me believe that because I'm part of the patriarchy, I might just not know that I'm a misogynist.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Here's the collection of games she bought after her Kickstarter got funded. So if as she's claimed various places she's a huge fan of it and has been since launch why on earth is it there ? I mean if she were a huge fan she's still have it right ??

Because people never give away, trade-in, loose or buy games for another console other than the one they first played it on? Nor do they buy multiple copies of games if several people are going to be playing the same game, obviously...
Seriously, the sheer amount of tinfoil that has to go into making some of the hats seen in any thread about Sarkeesian, Quinn or any other form of harassment of women in gaming is astounding. There are literally a dozen explanations other than "she lied" that are equally or more plausible yet the internet misogynists always go for "She's a lying *sexual expletive*!"

Don't you people ever get tired of hating this much?

 

[DeaDRabbiT]

Huh.

You know, I had someone follow me into several game lobbies recently, during which time he or she made repeated threats to me and my family. He or she even threatened to come to my home wherein he or she would "rape my ***** face" and then slit my throat.

I guess I need to tweet about it, call the authorities, start a petition to shutdown PSN and Xbox Live, and begin accepting donations.

I'll update this post the moment I have the Paypal account setup to accept those donations.

Thanks in advance everyone!

You don't think notifying XBL/PSN and the authorities is a good idea in these cases?

I'm a big guy, I have the ability to defend myself, and I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over these sort of attention seeking death threats, but what you are describing is a legitimate reason for that person to be investigated and arrested.

Trust me, notifying your service provider is easy, they will track the idiot that said that shit to you down, and make their life a living hell.

You honestly owe it to the community to do that service. Hopefully enough kids get their life turned upside down because they are spoiled, anti-social little brats; and the behavior might stop.

But yeah, I agree, getting horrible death threats and then tweeting about it, then asking for donations, is just exploitative and in Anita's case, shows her motivations. It's no different than major political parties fundraising on the back of a tragedy; just in this case it's a hypocrite.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Am I wrong that most of the people on the NOT SJW side of this whole gaming culture debate would rather just keep enjoying their games, and let those that don't like particular content to simply vote with their dollars and shut up about the rest of it? I mean this shit is such a new phenomenon anyway and just look how toxic it is. It's not going to produce good, it's going to produce resentment.

Short version? Yes, you are wrong.

Long version: Look at how much time and energy the Anti-SJW/Anti-feminist/misogynist side of this conflict pours into making a mountain out of every single molehill-issue that comes up. Sarkeesian makes a new video? Cue two weeks of flame bait internet discussion. Some indie developer that most people don't know off might have been cheating (says her scorned and spiteful ex?)? Cue massive conspiracy theories, doxxing of her private life and scouring of the internet to find all the little tidbits about her personal life, as well as one of the largest (if not THE largest) and fastest growing threads ever to grace the Escapist. These people aren't content to just play their games, or these issues would never have become as toxic and inflammatory as they have. They want to dig into them, to tear apart the people they don't agree with and they seem to be spending more time doing that than just playing the games that some girl on the internet doesn't like.

Not to mention how your suggestion here is deeply undemocratic. You are asking that people shut up with their silly opinions because you don't agree with them. Those of us who care about representation in games have every right to talk about it, to suggest how we think it could be better and how it is failing right now. You have every right to say how much you think we are wrong, but you never have the right to tell us what to discuss or how to discuss it.

Besides, I spend maybe 4 hours a week discussing representation, gender and other shortcomings of games, but I spend at least 20 hours playing them. Most of us "SJWs" already love games and gaming, we just want to improve the games we play.

 

[oooooooooooooooooooooooooo]

Huh.

You know, I had someone follow me into several game lobbies recently, during which time he or she made repeated threats to me and my family. He or she even threatened to come to my home wherein he or she would "rape my ***** face" and then slit my throat.

I guess I need to tweet about it, call the authorities, start a petition to shutdown PSN and Xbox Live, and begin accepting donations.

I'll update this post the moment I have the Paypal account setup to accept those donations.

Thanks in advance everyone!

Because that is equivocal to a public figure, some of whom's personal details are publicly known, receiving a threat that obviously seemed especially dangerous in relation the hundreds of other threats she has received.

for someone who speak against women stereotyping them selves into the " damsel in distress " trope.

What? The damsel in distress is a writing trope, it doesn't even have the vaguest connection with how someone should react when their life is actually threatened.

When you stir the hornets nest you are always going to enact the wrath of the hive.

To kick the ants nest and then cry out for pity "oh why are the ants biting me" weakens her position considerably.

And statements like this prove to me least that Anita still has a strong point. She, and by extension any woman who feels the way she does, have been cast by you lot as the outsiders who've come kick in your anthill. The idea that women have to earn their place and are only allowed stay if they're willing to play along is exactly the problem.

If a man made the same claims about Tropes vs women tries to raise. He would suffer large amounts of abuse.
But maybe just maybe he would endure through it and say to his critics see this is whats wrong.

Well that was blatant, but I suppose this is a further demonstration of how far out of touch some people are from real sexual equality.

 

[oooooooooooooooooooooooooo]

Well, maybe the gaming industry doesn't want to change. And the feminists who constantly want change maybe should back off and allow the gaming industry to make it's own choices. If we want to continue to have AAA games mistreat woman in a symbolic way, that's our choice. This isn't real life. Feminists need to realize that gaming culture that started with the arcades shouldn't have to change their views now. You sure as hell didn't care about us viewing woman the way we do 20-30 years ago when we were trash talking playing SF or MK in the arcades. No reason, absolutely no reason why now you immediately start whining and moaning about gender equality now in gaming culture. You adapt to the culture you want to join, the culture doesn't adapt to you.

And anyone thinks otherwise hasn't been in competitive gaming communities for very long. Only times opinions matter is when you have the skills to back them up.

So if there was a history of racism in gaming then a KKK game would perfectly acceptable right? I mean who are the black people to tells us gamers to act like actual human beings?

Gaming doesn't exist in a bubble, it's mechanism for providing competition and telling (interactive) stories. As such the relationship between how the gaming industry and game stories view social issues and how greater society views them matters. And right now the gaming industry is out of touch even with the male skewed social scales of the real world.

Also, this ain't exactly Sparta, calm it with the; 'Only times opinions matter is when you have the skills to back them up'

 

[Autumnflame]

Huh.

You know, I had someone follow me into several game lobbies recently, during which time he or she made repeated threats to me and my family. He or she even threatened to come to my home wherein he or she would "rape my ***** face" and then slit my throat.

I guess I need to tweet about it, call the authorities, start a petition to shutdown PSN and Xbox Live, and begin accepting donations.

I'll update this post the moment I have the Paypal account setup to accept those donations.

Thanks in advance everyone!

Because that is equivocal to a public figure, some of whom's personal details are publicly known, receiving a threat that obviously seemed especially dangerous in relation the hundreds of other threats she has received.

for someone who speak against women stereotyping them selves into the " damsel in distress " trope.

What? The damsel in distress is a writing trope, it doesn't even have the vaguest connection with how someone should react when their life is actually threatened.

When you stir the hornets nest you are always going to enact the wrath of the hive.

To kick the ants nest and then cry out for pity "oh why are the ants biting me" weakens her position considerably.

And statements like this proves to me least that Anita still has a strong point. She, and by extension any woman who feels the way she does, have been cast by you lot as the outsiders who've come kick in your anthill. The idea that women that women have to earn their place and are only allowed stay if they're willing to play along is exactly the problem.

If a man made the same claims about Tropes vs women tries to raise. He would suffer large amounts of abuse.
But maybe just maybe he would endure through it and say to his critics see this is whats wrong.

Well that was blatant, but I suppose this is a further demonstration of how far out of touch some people are from real sexual equality.

There can never be a " true " equality we can have something close but there will never be a true. as there are things both physical and social that prevent a true equality from ever existing.

There are things that women will inherently have strengths and weakness in just as there are with men.

We can achieve limited social equality but this will never be enough for some extremists on both ends will always fight for the unobtainable.

and yes we have seen many many male activists recently that take the abuse and say can you see what wrong with what your doing.

compared to being DID trope as certain other have

 

[oooooooooooooooooooooooooo]

There can never be a " true " equality we can have something close but there will never be a true. as there are things both physical and social that prevent a true equality from ever existing.

There are things that women will inherently have strengths and weakness in just as there are with men.

We can achieve limited social equality but this will never be enough for some extremists on both ends will always fight for the unobtainable.

and yes we have seen many many male activists recently that take the abuse and say can you see what wrong with what your doing.

compared to being DID trope as certain other have

Of course there can be true social equality, when people stop looking it as an attempt to consolidate two very different groups, and rather as it actually is, an attempt to demonstrate there are no groups. Women and men have a few biological specialisations, sure, but that does not translate in to men somehow being more competent feminists or either group being better at any sort of intellectual exercise. The human mind is not so simplistic that major intellectual differences would be drawn down gender lines. Let's say, for example, that Anita Sarkeesian is not actually a very effective feminist, is that because there is something inherently missing in all women, or is it more likely got to do with the people and things Sarkeesian was exposed through her life? Who raised her, who were her heroes, who did she detest, what did study or read, etc are all much insightful things to look at in understanding her take feminism, as opposed to just going, 'she's failing because she's woman'

 

[loa]

Why is this a 10 minute video with only a screenshot as its content?
Would it have killed you if you had just posted a picture?

 

[Ticklefist]

Why would anyone that doesn't agree with this woman's views even look at her twitter feed? Pathetic.

 

[Madame_Lawliet]

there is a good chance she might of done it to her self

Wow, going straight for the victim blaming angle huh? Great way to get people to see your side of the issue pal.

and everyone of SJW threatening claims have turned out to be false!

I could site the literally hundreds of examples of so-called "SJWs" experiencing very real death threats, rape threats, threats of violence, you name it that have accumulated over the last couple years that have been verified, but I know I'd just be wasting my breath.

OT: I already signed it earlier today.

Will Valve actually do it? Probably not. But if something like this gets a significant level of support then Valve will see there's some necessary dialogue to be had in combating the cancer that is the unrepentant hatred and misogyny consuming a disturbing amount of "gamer" culture.
We need someone like Valve, someone gamers love and admire, to put their foot down and take a stand against sexism in the gaming community, because that's how we drive the message home. It's one thing for these neanderthal MRA dickbags to say they're going to stop supporting Tim Schafer or William Gibson, but Valve? They worship Valve! That's about the only bridge they will refuse to burn, that's gonna sting for them, maybe it'll be the wake up call this community needs.

Reality: Feminist criticism is here to stay, just like it is in every other form of artistic media in human history, and it's not going anywhere, and you can either accept that fact or fall to the wayside as the industry evolves without you.

Wanna call me a "Social Justice Warrior," or whatever the hell that means? Go ahead, you wouldn't be the first.

 

[Evonisia]

Yes slightly punishing a huge segment of gamers because a few said (horrible) things. I'm sorry, what would this blackout achieve? Even if Valve took it remotely seriously?

 

[Sea Sponge]

as opposed to just going, 'she's failing because she's woman'

The thing is there are quite a few people that aren't saying she is "failing because she's a woman".

To be perfectly honest I see more people saying she's "failing" because she's an idiot than I do saying it's because she's female.

 

[Mad World]

For fucks sake.

Let's, for a minute, ignore the fact that people are asking for Valve, a company that has done absolutely nothing wrong, to shut down their business for an hour, for the fault of others.

Let's forget about that potential lawsuit Valve could have leveled at them for intentionally denying game access to their customers (Whether the lawsuit would be successful or not).

Let's gloss over how attempting to strong arm a company into emulating the SOPA outages is not the same as companies volunteering and working together towards a particular goal that is not only right for the public, but for their personal and financial benefit.

Lets just let that all go for a minute and ask one question:

Why does anyone think that because a few dumb, impotent internet hornets stung you, that setting fire to the hornet nest where millions of hornets that have no interest in coming after you live is a good idea?

This phrase may be terrible to say, but I think it applies: Why are you asking for it?

A lot of people lack logic and reasoning. That's why.

I agree with you; it's a stupid idea.