A professional, objective, apolitical future for The Escapist...

[RobXSIQ]

God damn it, Escapist. I applauded you for firing Moviebob for his nasty and unprofessional behavior on Twitter, so you....hire this guy? Who seems to be even worse?

Color me disappointed.

Actually, gonna just sort of agree with this dude here.
Don't swing too far the other way, or in a weird way. keep an eye on this guy and tell him he now represents something better than his trollish opinions...he is now representing your company when speaking outside. Not saying don't give him a chance..just watch him closely. know when a person is a liability

 

[Silvanus]

The problem with the former twats that got kicked to the curb is simple..they loathed gamers and the gaming culture. they misrepresented the consumer revolt movement known as GG to be some sort of terrorist organization without ever addressing what GGs stated goals were (either you say nothing about it, or you represent it fairly), and used their position as a journalist to suggest the magazine was backing their radical words and hate spewing.

Those people did not use the Escapist as a platform for the things people found so objectionable. They did not "suggest the magazine was backing" anything; whatever they said was said elsewhere, such as on Twitter.

Judging Morse on this is holding him to the same standard on which Bob was judged.

 

[cleric of the order]

Out of Curiousity, have any of you ever read any of Jim Sterlings exchanges with Anna Anthropy and Daphne from when he was at Destructoid?

yes.
A monster that stands with you is always more well liked hen against you.

I personally think that it's too quick to judge anything on this guy, heck I don't even understand what's so wrong in his comments, mind you i didn't read the links.
the personal pronoun thing was something I laughed at when the otherkin shit happened and I have no idea how or why it factors into trans.
I always thought that since they have gender dysphoria, the gender they identify with would be their pronouns. going beyond that leads i assume a lot of people into thinking of the otherkin and that likens that to the same mindset.
Section 2
>wut is all that garbled stuff?
I can say that if i ma not mistaken, being sexually a guy is being sexually a guy. your gender can be different so yheah he's kinda right, not sure about the other-stuff sounds like an insult but that could just be a personal one so whatever.
3rd one... well damn, I'm surprised a lot of people take a well fuck you if you are like this becuase i don't believe in it.
I have to give him credit, he ain't forcing himself on others but that's about it, i award him 0 points

 

[Areloch]

This thread is funny. The only thing causing the site to self destruct at the moment is everyone in here frothing at the mouth.

I mean, one could wait until he actually has posted content, but then you'd get in trouble for insulting a site member, which he would be at that point, so I guess the plan is to get it all out of the way now.

He's got bad opinions, but if it's detached from the content he produces, it's irrelevant. The Escapist's always had a "they can say whatever they want if it's not on the site itself" policy for a long time now, and I very much doubt that's changed here. He can be as unlikable as he wants on his twitter, so long as the content he produces isn't the same.

I'm not seeing a change here, other than people finally found someone they could collectively hate together.

 

[Silence]

1. Just a reminder that this is NOT the pro-GG contributor.

2. No, not everything is political. That is a viewpoint you can have but it was not decided to be true.

3. Fuck this guy. But first let us see what he writes. If there is something political in it - not good. If he pushes his views - not good. If he is there for political diversity, well, let's see. At least he doesn't seem a mentally unstable conspiracy nut.

 

[IceForce]

This thread is funny. The only thing causing the site to self destruct at the moment is everyone in here frothing at the mouth.

I mean, one could wait until he actually has posted content, but then you'd get in trouble for insulting a site member, which he would be at that point, so I guess the plan is to get it all out of the way now.

He's got bad opinions, but if it's detached from the content he produces, it's irrelevant. The Escapist's always had a "they can say whatever they want if it's not on the site itself" policy for a long time now, and I very much doubt that's changed here. He can be as unlikable as he wants on his twitter, so long as the content he produces isn't the same.

I'm not seeing a change here, other than people finally found someone they could collectively hate together.

You would have a legitimate point, if the 'MovieBob fiasco' hadn't happened.

MovieBob never called anyone "subhuman" in any of his articles or videos, but did that stop people from picking up their pitchforks? Of course it fucking didn't.

The new Escapist recruit here is getting exactly the same treatment as Bob got.

You know, if it's good enough for the goose and all that...

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

This is a 'return to fun' is it? Why not go the full nine yards and run weekly commentaries about how to beat up fags and trannies. Gotta love that total lack of politics. You know ... barring all the politics.

Come now. The fact a content creator openly mocks transsexuals and disagrees with homosexuality isn't the problem. It's only a problem if it influences his opinions on games, or things he says about gamers. If that occurs, then we must devote the next year of our lives to drumming him out of the industry before he ruins it by giving a popular game 7/10 or something instead of the 9.5 it so evidently deserves.

Postscript - I do realize there are transsexual or homosexual gamers who might be troubled by an individual who openly derides their sense of identity, but rest assured it is all fair game as long as he doesn't denigrate the hobby or your enjoyment of it, both of which are above reproach...unlike your sexuality or gender identity.

Ah... yup! As we all know trans* gamers such as myself don't exist. We're just lying either about being trans* OR gamers. Most probably both

You can't be transgender because transgender people don't exist. Therefore not gamers. And it's fascist for non-existent people like me to desire commentary about products alienating to my non-existence. I should be happy about getting no information about products problematic to my non-existence, from a right wingnut conspiracy theorist.

How about this, Archon? Why not employ someone who might discuss this blatant lack of consumer advocacy concerns GG seem to be big on? But, silly me, my consumption of my non-existent games library for the last 26 years of my non-existent life is OBVIOUSLY less important than a right-wingnut transphobe with a Christian Persecution Complex with zero gaming history. Brandon Morse is OBVIOUSLY the choice for an apolitical videogame consumer advocacy site.

... Idiocy.

 

[daynestar]

Is The Escapist intent on driving away a significant portion of its viewers?

This is the first time I've posted on these forums but i have been visiting the site on an almost daily basis for many years. In a sea of boring gaming websites, the content offered by The Escapist was a shining light. Like many I came for Yahtzee but stayed for Bob, Jim and Extra Credits. Whilst it was sad when they moved on (barring Yahtzee of course), I still had confidence that The Escapist would produce new content to replace them. This confidence has been diminishing slowly under the new EiC, reaching a nadir with his controversial statement about the site not covering 'the politics'.

Ironically I first really learned anything at all about Trans issues by lurking on these forums - there was a significant minority of Trans individuals here who posted regularly answering questions who were simply ignorant of what they were going through (when you could find them in the midst of all the MLP threads!). It is very sad that website that I always thought of being very much pro-diversity and welcoming to all in a shared love of their hobby has come to this.

For me, this is not even about GamerGate - I do not care that these guys are proGG in and of itself. I don't subscribe to the Bob Chipman view of things that everyone even tangentially related to GamerGate is part of a 'hate group'. People should be judged on their own views/actions not by those of someone else who happens to use the same hashtag. Having 'moderate' GGers and anti GGers on the site could have gone a long way to de-escalating tensions and freezing out the genuine extremists (not that the 'no politics allowed' policy would have allowed it). But it is very clear that on the basis of his views - that he stands by (had he recanted them and apologised i wouldn't care - much as Jim did with his previously sexist statements), he absolutely is an extremist who holds bigoted views.

Now he is posting his support for FartToContinue (as did the other new contributer, Liz, by the way) - a known harasser. What happened to The Escapists zero tolerance for harassment?
Twitlonger posts from Dodger (who he harassed) and Totalbiscuit:
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1s2fjne
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/nh2uij

It is also worth noting that Liz did an interview with Reaxxion - whilst there is nothing at all wrong in the content of it(it is absolutely awful that she was harassed over GG), I do have to question her judgement to agreeing to an interview with a website founded by Roosh V - the infamous PUA (he is the guy who said "While walking to my place, I realized how drunk she was. In America, having sex with her would have been rape, since she legally couldn't give her consent. It didn't help matters that I was relatively sober, but I can't say I cared or even hesitated. I won't rationalize my actions, but having sex is what I do.").

To be clear, I cannot in all good conscience support a site that employs someone who holds the views expressed by Brandon Morse. By employing someone with his views it sends a message loud and clear about the sort of website Archon wants this to be and I want no part. Do my measly clicks mean anything in the grand scheme of things? Not really, but all I can do as a consumer is express my views and vote with my wallet/page views.

So long, Escapist. We'll always have Jim reading furry porn.

 

[Gigano]

It'd be sort of boring if new MovieBob wasn't as fiercely and unabashedly politically biased as the last one. He was a decent entertainer, and knew movies well enough, even if one might've found his constant politicization insufferable.

Don't really know why the guy is getting all upset about a small minority of people of one biological sex psychologically being of the other, though. No harm, no foul is the name of the game, and the transgender thing just doesn't seem to be any sort of problem, in that no one gets hurt by it. If innocuous drag queens and such are this guy's ultimate nightmare, then he would seem to know fairly little about the actual troubles of the world. Which doesn't necessary bode well for being able to interpret movies in context of said actual real world issues and stuff.

I'd probably also be slightly annoyed too, though, if random people presumed to tell me what politically correct terminology I could and couldn't use, regarding stuff I'd virtually never talk about in the first place. But not really enough to make derisive twitter posts about it.

 

[Areloch]

This thread is funny. The only thing causing the site to self destruct at the moment is everyone in here frothing at the mouth.

I mean, one could wait until he actually has posted content, but then you'd get in trouble for insulting a site member, which he would be at that point, so I guess the plan is to get it all out of the way now.

He's got bad opinions, but if it's detached from the content he produces, it's irrelevant. The Escapist's always had a "they can say whatever they want if it's not on the site itself" policy for a long time now, and I very much doubt that's changed here. He can be as unlikable as he wants on his twitter, so long as the content he produces isn't the same.

I'm not seeing a change here, other than people finally found someone they could collectively hate together.

You would have a legitimate point, if the 'MovieBob fiasco' hadn't happened.

MovieBob never called anyone "subhuman" in any of his articles or videos, but did that stop people from picking up their pitchforks? Of course it fucking didn't.

The new Escapist recruit here is getting exactly the same treatment as Bob got.

You know, if it's good enough for the goose and all that...

Yep, he is getting the same treatment. Didn't say otherwise. I was merely commenting on how, like Bob, as long as the dude keeps his awful opinions to himself on The Escapist, there's no reason to cull his content.

And like the situation with Bob, THIS is the kind of thing that makes the forums less appealing. Not a self-contained thread about a topic not everyone likes. Wide-spread spite and targeted hatred of people with disagreeable opinions goes a LOT further to make the forums unsavory.

I didn't raise the pitchforks for Bob, and I'm not going to do it here. I'd like them to keep their bad opinions to themselves, but it's not worth forming a lynching mob over before the guy has even contributed content to the site.

 

[Megalodon]

You would have a legitimate point, if the 'MovieBob fiasco' hadn't happened.

MovieBob never called anyone "subhuman" in any of his articles or videos, but did that stop people from picking up their pitchforks? Of course it fucking didn't.

The new Escapist recruit here is getting exactly the same treatment as Bob got.
You know, if it's good enough for the goose and all that...

No, but he did have something of a history of being insulting towards anyone who did not share his opinion on a given film's quality, most notably with the whole 'blaming the Expendables, and the people who liked it, for Scott Pilgrim bombing' thing. Although the real nail in the coffin for me was probably the Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters 'review', where it was just him ranting that the film was sexist and misogynist because it had Witches as the villains, and women in real life had been accused of witchcraft and killed. To me at least, Bob's true colours were on display long before his twitter meltdowns, I formed my low opinion of the man based on his content on this site, the tweets were just icing on top.

As for this new guy, it really seems to early to judge. If his content is apolitically entertaining, then that's all good. Or if it goes down the political 'issues' route, I can at least hope that he is capable of presenting his viewpoint articulately and intelligently without the constraints of a 140 character limit. As long as it's not just more bigoted shit flinging, there's been enough of that from all angles at this point.

 

[Silvanus]

As for this new guy, it really seems to early to judge. If his content is apolitically entertaining, then that's all good.

You certainly can't blame those Escapist members who are his targets-- or their friends-- if they wish to avoid contributing money and/or page-views, though.

 

[runic knight]

Spoiler

In fairness, we have Gamergaters saying this is bad.

I will judge him on his behavior both here and elsewhere and so far his behavior has been to state a stupid point of view but do so without an abhorrent degree of unprofessionalism.

Wait, so politeness is more important than what's actually being said, even if what's being said is abhorrent?

Is not bigotry inherently rude?

I suppose it is inherently so, yes. Though not quite sure "I disagree with this assessment of something I obviously know jack shit about" is so much intentionally rude as it is just ignorant. In that regard I have to liken the perspective similar to how I would a creationist's. Yes I think they are ignorant the topic, but I can't use that alone to call for their head. The opinion starts interfering with the job, they start using it to justify attacking people or accusing them of horrible behavior, then yeah, in a heartbeat I'll call for the guy to be kicked free with the rest of everyone else. Declaring on twitter his perspective of trans people, not so much. Right now it seems a little too close to just "I don't like your politics so begone".

 

[Silvanus]

I suppose it is inherently so, yes. Though not quite sure "I disagree with this assessment of something I obviously know jack shit about" is so much intentionally rude as it is just ignorant. In that regard I have to liken the perspective similar to how I would a creationist's. Yes I think they are ignorant the topic, but I can't use that alone to call for their head. The opinion starts interfering with the job, they start using it to justify attacking people or accusing them of horrible behavior, then yeah, in a heartbeat I'll call for the guy to be kicked free with the rest of everyone else. Right now it seems a little too close to just "I don't like your politics so begone".

There was no such humility as admitting he knows nothing about it; I can't see any other way to honestly describe the comments than intentionally insulting and dismissive.

Now, on sexuality, I'd describe his views on that count as ignorant, but not intentionally denigrating, based on the article in the OP. But on gender identity, I can't see it as anything other than intentional denigration.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Based solely on the information given in this thread, I find the addition of this Mr.Morse to be odd. At least based on my visits to these here forums, the community seems very liberal and progressive. And then to see this guy's tweets regarding transgender people...I don't get it. Is management so far removed from the fan base? Did they not screen properly? Has he recanted? Does he actually fit in with management's philosophies? I don't want to judge him based on next to no info, but upon first glance the Escapist really seems to have missed the mark.

I agree. At the very least, The Escapist needs to make a full and honest statement about this situation ASAP. A complete statement by Mr. Morse would also be extremely helpful. Despite my personal attachment to these forums (and the apparent lack of anything comparable anywhere else), I will not feel comfortable supporting the site any longer even just via page and ad views unless things are clarified post haste.

 

[William Ossiss]

Once Yahtzee/Critical Miss leaves, I'm out.
I'd also leave if this site started getting any kind of political.

I've no real idea what this guys inane twitter ramblings seems to imply...
From the context of the comments, though, I'd say this moron is more than just a little offensive.

 

[cleric of the order]

So they've pretty much just hired Milo Yiannopoulos, yeah?

I went to confirm if that's the case,well you are technically right.
it does seem to have the /gamergate/ seal of approval.
if it is this
I don't tend to wander over to /GamerGate/ often enough to tell but I will say I've posted that on 8chan's /tg/ for sarcasm's sake so....
Anyway, god I'm glad I stay in /tg/ and the other boards, that place is a flustercluck. better then /b/ of halfchan or even new questia like ol' /tg/.
That being said, 'm fairly certain there still is a number of aGG and non-GG staffers here and that could be really cool.
If there's a good balance, perhaps we could have even handed discussion.
>like that would ever happen

Wait I have to wonder I heard Lizzie something or other was hired and a GGer, why aren't we talking about that either

 

[mecegirl]

Based solely on the information given in this thread, I find the addition of this Mr.Morse to be odd. At least based on my visits to these here forums, the community seems very liberal and progressive. And then to see this guy's tweets regarding transgender people...I don't get it. Is management so far removed from the fan base? Did they not screen properly? Has he recanted? Does he actually fit in with management's philosophies? I don't want to judge him based on next to no info, but upon first glance the Escapist really seems to have missed the mark.

He's done work under a different Defy Media property and... thats it, as far as I can tell. No other qualifications to work at a geek culture site. Most of his contributions seem to be explicitly political, which doesn't jive with the "we're gonna be apolitical now, mmkay?" line from the Community Manager. Of course, the Community Manager doesn't get to make the hires, nor does he have the psychic ability to know when management is lying to his face. Defy Media has been fucking with many of its properties lately, so whatever is going on, its likely a result from them.

And no, he hasn't recanted, he's doubled down, as evidenced by tweets made just today that are embedded in this thread. Its doubtful he'd recant, since he also holds a very religious view of homosexuality as well. The only difference is that he doesn't make fun of cisgender non-heterosexuals on twitter.

See this is what I don't understand. Can someone help me out? Vuz like...does he do geeky media? I knew of Jim from Destructiod, and even witnessed some of his less egalitarian moments. But even if Jim hadn't changed his stance on some issues his work at another video game site explained why he was hired as a content creator for the Escapist. I knew Movie Bob from some of his Game Overthinker videos and those videos that he did on his own explain why he was fired as a content creator for the Escapist. But what is up with this guy?

Its odd to ask for people to set the transphobia aside because transphobia is harmful, but I'm really baffled, and I'd like to assume that he wasn't hired for his political stances on sex and gender. What exactly is his role going to be at the Escapist? Like, does he have his own personal blog where he posts his opinions on geeky media at least?

 

[Vigormortis]

God damn it, Escapist. I applauded you for firing Moviebob for his nasty and unprofessional behavior on Twitter, so you....hire this guy? Who seems to be even worse?

Color me disappointed.

Agreed, barring one factor.

MovieBob could be, at times, just as ignorant and bigoted as this new guy seems to be.

Same food, different flavor.

That said: I plan to extend him the same courtesy I did to Bob. I will judge his content contributions by the, well....content of those contributions.

I didn't care that Bob was a spiteful, hateful, ignorant jerk on Twitter. Er, I mean, I did care, and his behavior colored my opinion of him as a human being, but his 'Twit'ter behavior didn't factor into my judgement of his content on the site. Just as this man's hateful transphobic tweets won't factor into my judgement of his contributions.

However, if he brings the same sort of bigoted rhetoric into his contributions as Bob did with his....

Then you need to fire him a.s.a.p., Escapist Staff.

 

[JustAnotherAardvark]

However, if he brings the same sort of bigoted rhetoric into his contributions as Bob did with his....

Then you need to fire him a.s.a.p., Escapist Staff.

I know!
It's almost as if this never would have happened if all the folks complaining *now* had complained *then*.