Am I the only one seeing a pattern here?

[T_ConX]

Internet 'bullies' terrible game writer.
Game Company responds by donating $1,000 to anti-bullying charity.

Game Company makes game with terrible ending(s).
Internet responds by raising $77,000 for childrens charities.

Since when did internet rage so profitable for non-profits? KONY 2012!

 

[Fleetfiend]

Since it would look bad if all the money went to the companies.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Since when did internet rage so profitable for non-profits?

Since gamers decided to do better things with their money than give it to companies who don't give a shit about their consumers.

 

[ms_sunlight]

Children's charities are the uncontroversial ticket to the Moral High Ground. Personally, I can think of better children's charities to get a load of money than Child's Play, but I suppose it's a "gamer's charity". I found the whole business of abusing Jenifer Hepler entirely unfair and repulsive, and much of the campaign for a better ending somewhat fatuous, but there you go.

If you want to give a crap about something, why not something that really matters. save lives rather than buy Xboxes? [http://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-killer-of-17-year-old-trayvon-martin]

 

[Panzervaughn]

Desert bus: Directly make Loading Ready Run suffer by giving a charity money

Childs play originally began from comments saying that gamers were shitty antisocial people, so penny arcade said "Oh yeah?"

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I like Childs Play, but I wish more gamers were aware of just how awesome the EFF is. It's not really relevant to this situation, but on the various humble bundles, it seems like people go "yeah, child's play!" and completely ignore the EFF. If you really want to make a stand for individual rights connected to the internet, they're your non profit. The ECA (Electronic Consumer Association) is good, too, but they really don't seem to do much; the EFF is lobbying congress and representing people in court all the freakin' time.

 

[ms_sunlight]

i support childs play (i assume thats the charity you ment with the "than buy xboxes" remark) because i had to spend almost 2 weeks in a room by myself in hospital because i had a super-infection and despite receiving regular visits (flat out breaking the visiting hours) and my mother spending money on a PSP for me to play (and games) i was bored out of my mind and miserable 95% of the time, and i fully support a charity who gives kids who have to spend months in hospital under similar conditions a chance to play xbox with their friends every once in a while so they can have a good time and feel normal

are there charities that do better work? yes of course but i think its a fairly new internet thing that you can only support ONE charity, i support allot of charities, practically every time some one waves a collection box under me and i have the money spare i donate so why is it that im a terrible person for donating to "the wrong cause" when all these charities do is help people

No, I get it, I really do - I spent weeks in hospital in traction as a child due to an infection inside of one of my hip joints, I too was bored senseless and miserable. I suppose I was just personally disappointed that a campaign against a company owned and making money for a big media megacorporation took the form of... giving money to buy stuff from big media megacorporations. Also, it's easy to empathise with people who remind you of you, but sometimes it's the people who are nothing like you, whose lives are nothing like yours, that need empathy (and support) the most.

There are loads of great charities out there, and everyone will have their reasons for giving to one rather than another, it's not my place to criticise that. In this instance though, I personally have no desire to give money to Child's Play so I personally had no attraction to the campaign.

 

[Timberwolf0924]

I never really understand how people can let bullying get them down. I was never a real victim of it so I can't say from experince.

Spoiler: Rockstar had this cornered already

 

[RJ 17]

Internet 'bullies' terrible game writer.
Game Company responds by donating $1,000 to anti-bullying charity.

Game Company makes game with terrible ending(s).
Internet responds by raising $77,000 for childrens charities.

Since when did internet rage so profitable for non-profits? KONY 2012!

Don't forget the controversy over that special controller back in December, the one where the biggest ass-hat in the PR business was dragged into the spotlight and collectively flogged by the entire internet. After the whole ordeal, the company that made those special controllers made a huge donation to a charity that supports gamers with special needs.

 

[DoPo]

I never really understand how people can let bullying get them down. I was never a real victim of it so I can't say from experince.

If you have somebody repeating over and over again that you are a worthless piece of shit (no offence meant) they will get to you eventually. Imagine being constantly criticised for days, weeks, months, years. Even if you don't say to yourself "Maybe that guy has a point, I did pretty badly there" you will be ultimately defenceless. Ignoring can only go so far - insults and hate will get on your nerves.

Now multiple those insults, criticisms and hate by the thousands. Every new day you wake up with the lovely knowledge that there are thousands of people who will happily give up their time and resources to make you as miserable as possible.

 

[Timberwolf0924]

snip

I guess thats what I can't get. Why would anyone wast time bullying? I understnd it's fun to troll, but what did you do to get yourself cornered? Why not fight back? The worst thing you can do is hurt yourself, go for them.

I'm not trolling here, despite previous comment, but I can't wrap my head around someone just having to hone in on someone and spit venom in their eyes.

 

[DoPo]

snip

I guess thats what I can't get. Why would anyone wast time bullying? I understnd it's fun to troll, but what did you do to get yourself cornered? Why not fight back? The worst thing you can do is hurt yourself, go for them.

I'm not trolling here, despite previous comment, but I can't wrap my head around someone just having to hone in on someone and spit venom in their eyes.

You know, it really show that you don't know about bullying. Again, no offence meant. Bullies do it because you don't fight back. Because you don't want or cannot fight back. You can view it as schadenfreude, I suppose - they get a kick out of you being miserable. They don't choose a random person to bully. Well, mostly - they try first to see if their shit will fly. Sometimes it doesn't and they move on to another victim. But it's easy to sense who is "weak" or not.

And being on the Internet fighting back is virtually impossible. What would the victim do? Use ALL CAPS on them? That doesn't work. How can the victim even hurt them? They would only be succumbing to the same hate and mentality as their oppressors. Not a really constructive thing.

 

[trooper6]

I never really understand how people can let bullying get them down. I was never a real victim of it so I can't say from experince.

First off, not all bullying is verbal only. Some bullying involves physical abuse. So that can certainly get you down...or hospitalized.
Secondly, bullying is harassment. Taking place when you are young and still figuring out who you are and how you relate to the world. And it usually involves socially isolating the targeting of bullying. You think it doesn't have an effect on you to have few friends and have the majority of your peer group spewing hateful garbage and regularly trying to make your life miserable?

I was told I was ugly every single day that I was in school for thirteen years. I was harassed every day. Every day. Do you think that isn't going to have any effect? I had a very strong character (or let's say stubborn), so I didn't let it "get me down," but I also accepted that people thought I was ugly and undesirable--which then turns into thinking I'm ugly and undesirable. I internalized that and it effected me deeply. Luckily for me, when I joined the Army, I learned more about myself and I got very different perspectives about my attractiveness. I learned the problem was not that I was ugly, but that I was not white in a majority white school and that I had a non-traditional gender presentation...which turned out bunches of folks found hot. But it did take some years for me to undo the 13 years of abuse I had gotten in school. But I was lucky in that I had a community that embraced me once I left high school and lots of kids aren't that lucky. They see only alienation in their future, they don't have a community that will embrace them in the future. And for those kids bullying can become lethal or crippling.

 

[trooper6]

I guess thats what I can't get. Why would anyone wast time bullying? I understnd it's fun to troll, but what did you do to get yourself cornered? Why not fight back? The worst thing you can do is hurt yourself, go for them.

What does fighting back look like?

Somebody regularly harasses you. Calling you ugly, fat, stupid, gay, whatever.

So what does fighting back look like?

Do you punch the people harassing you? That will get you suspended. And if the harassing is widespread, you can't punch everyone. Also you may have been taught not to punch people unless they punch you. And of course, a lot of bullies are physically huge and pick on people who aren't. Bullies (who also often work in groups) usually have the ability to beat up the victim...so that's not always the best strategy.

Do you insult the people harassing you? I never did that, because I'm not a jerk. I don't like being harassed, so why would I harass back? That goes against my ethics and honor. I don't believe that two wrongs make a right.

So what did I do? I pretended like I didn't care, like it didn't effect me. Don't give them the satisfaction. But you know what? Even though I pretended not to hear or not to care...it did still affect me, and bullies still enjoyed messing with me. Why did they mess with me? Not because I was weak, but because I threatened their idea of gender. I wasn't going to change who I was to make them feel more comfortable...and they weren't going to stop attacking me for being different.

I did have a friend who decided to physically fight back from the bullies. He was beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalized. And the harassment didn't stop when he got back to school.

 

[Timberwolf0924]

Snip

You're right, I dont' know about bullying because when I was growing up it wasn't a big thing. Yea someone called you dumb, stupid, ugly, fat, or gay and you either stood up for yourself or you let it off. If someone calls me a stupid fat fagwad for 5 years for any amount of time I doubt I'm going to think I'm stupid, fat, or gay.

Snip

On both of your posts.

I'm Sorry you were harassed in school, but when you learn to stand up for yourself, you find there's nothing that can hurt you. You joined the army and 13 years of abuse was changed and taken from you in the matter of, I'm guessing, less than half that time.

You know the answer to your next question. If someone in the army or workplace starts calling you stupid and fat and ugly now, what are you going to do? Curl up and whine about it? No you're going to stand up for yourself.

I was taught at a young age, to stand up for what you believe in and don't let someone put you down verbally, without putting them down physically. I DO KNOW NOT ALL PEOPLE WERE TAUGHT THAT. But when it comes down to it, I believe anyone should be able to stand up to their bully, if anything, even if you end up face down in a pool of blood and teeth, they'll always respect you that much more for actually showing them you won't take it without getting a beat down.

Everyone thinks bullies are like they are in the movies, you hit him once and he decides to pummell you for the rest of the school year. Not true, resepect is usually earned through action, not in action. yea you can hold your head high and say "I never once struck my bully" but you'll never be able to say you didn't have a bully.

 

[trooper6]

I was taught at a young age, to stand up for what you believe in and don't let someone put you down verbally, without putting them down physically. I DO KNOW NOT ALL PEOPLE WERE TAUGHT THAT. But when it comes down to it, I believe anyone should be able to stand up to their bully, if anything, even if you end up face down in a pool of blood and teeth, they'll always respect you that much more for actually showing them you won't take it without getting a beat down.

Everyone thinks bullies are like they are in the movies, you hit him once and he decides to pummell you for the rest of the school year. Not true, resepect is usually earned through action, not in action. yea you can hold your head high and say "I never once struck my bully" but you'll never be able to say you didn't have a bully.

You said yourself that you've never been bullied (have you been a bully?). I have let me tell you, standing up to your bully doesn't result in your bully gaining respect for you and leaving you alone. I did stand up to bullies. I did say: Knock it off. Leave me alone. What is wrong with you. etc. And heck once I even gotten into a physical fight with one of my bullies. Did that stop the bullying? No. Did it make my bullies respect me? No. It just made it worse actually. You also have to recognize that quite a few bullies verbally harass you in order to goad you into physically responding so they can pummel you with justification.

So in the Army did the bullying stop because "I wouldn't stand for it?" No. The bullying stopped in the Army because the Army didn't tolerate bullying--and because people don't tend to bully people as often once they become grown ups and bullying becomes harassment--which can get you arrested.

ETA: Also, I in no way condone responding to repeated harassment with violence...that is the sort of thinking that led to Columbine.

 

[Timberwolf0924]

more snip

I'm not the one to bully people, I was slighty religious in high school, carried a bible and would often be found praying over meals or offering advice to people when needed.

But there's a difference from standing up for yourself and curling up and saying "please stop" You can't give them the option to stop and keep going.

Yea I know people will see the whole religious thing and think "well he didn't turn the other cheek" you're right I didn't, and I didn't get bullied either.

Also there's a difference between aimed anger and wild anger. Columbine would've been totally different if they walked into the jock club and shot the hell outta the guys who picked on them instead of targeting a Christan girl because she believed in God, and shooting everyone.

If you find you're being bullied, then get a support group, friends to back you up. I have stood up for one of my friends who were being bullied, it stopped quick also, seniors tried to dump him in the trash. And a brawl broke out, yes I got suspeneded, and so did my friend. But as we sat at the mall on our days off we just laughed at the fight.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I think it's funny how people on the interned express rage by throwing money at other people.

 

[trooper6]

Also there's a difference between aimed anger and wild anger. Columbine would've been totally different if they walked into the jock club and shot the hell outta the guys who picked on them instead of targeting a Christan girl because she believed in God, and shooting everyone.

Are you really saying here that it would have been okay for the Columbine kids to murder their bullies? That boggles my mind. I respectfully bow out of this conversation with you.

 

[Timberwolf0924]

Also there's a difference between aimed anger and wild anger. Columbine would've been totally different if they walked into the jock club and shot the hell outta the guys who picked on them instead of targeting a Christan girl because she believed in God, and shooting everyone.

Are you really saying here that it would have been okay for the Columbine kids to murder their bullies? That boggles my mind. I respectfully bow out of this conversation with you.

No, not at all. You're taking what I'm saying and twisting it.

What I'm saying is that it would've brought to light bullying instead of three kids, who always wore black, called themselves a mafia and decided to shoot up school for no reason at all other than they were 'outcasts' who used arcade games to help them hone in their shooting abilities (which was a statement by the media by the way). When you go on a a wide spread massacre then no one knows why you're doing it, or who you're after. But if it was down to just the people who picked on them and bullied them, then more questions would've been answered and maybe the whole bullying thing would've been looked at more.