Any good game/general geek sites that dont moan about sexism/racism/homophobia?

Recommended Videos

Pete Oddly

New member
Nov 19, 2009
224
0
0
Are there any GOOD sites that avoid these things? No.
The reason being no site that avoids deeper analysis and discussion of geek culture, whether it be the problematic issues of various prejudices or the growing presence of geek culture in the mainstream consciousness, can be considered anything but mediocre.
 

The Lunatic

Princess
Jun 3, 2010
2,291
0
0
Ishal said:
It's called TechRaptor. Look it up. They do some good work and have some pretty insightful writers from what I've seen so far. Given that I just built a gaming PC. I've been able to jump in to more of their articles since they're now relevant to me.
TechRaptor is pretty good.

I mean, there's still articles about the whole social side of things, but usually from a more neutral standpoint.

However, there are a few not-very-neutral articles, which, given one of the people working there was subject to an "internet hate campaign" (As is the current fashionable term.) led by a developer after they dared to give the game a mediocre review, it's understandable that they would have a less than positive point of view on the work of that person.

So, it's not an ideal choice for somebody looking to avoid it completely.
 

Erttheking

Member
Legacy
Oct 5, 2011
10,845
1
3
Country
United States
insaninater said:
Please point out the part where Life Character said games had to be political tools designed only to advance social justice, because I don't see it.
 

Erttheking

Member
Legacy
Oct 5, 2011
10,845
1
3
Country
United States
insaninater said:
Wrong. I'm pretty sure it's more in response to him saying, multiple times throughout the thread mind you, that he only cares about gameplay and that it was more important than anything else. Story? Themes? Characters? The OP more or less says he doesn't care about that, which is where Life Characters frustration came from. Hence the "It plays nice" part of the comment.

Well that isn't the view that's being held, so you don't have to to worry.
 

Erttheking

Member
Legacy
Oct 5, 2011
10,845
1
3
Country
United States
insaninater said:
Genocidicles said:
Because racism, sexism and homophobia have no effect on the gameplay, which is the most important part of a video game.
Genocidicles said:
Because if the writing in a game effects someone so much they can no longer play it properly then I'd wager they're a candidate for psychiatric help.
More or less saying that if you think that bad writing is a major problem with gaming, enough to make you not to want play it, you need mental help.

Not exactly putting storytelling in gaming on a high pedestal.
 

Drathnoxis

I love the smell of card games in the morning
Legacy
Sep 23, 2010
6,509
2,464
118
Just off-screen
Country
Canada
Gender
Male
LifeCharacter said:
insaninater said:
OP, you have my sympathies for dealing with these people simply for asking a simple question.
So is it my turn to correct another person's blatant misrepresentation of what happened in this thread so they can stop pretending the OP just innocently asked for something and all the evil SJWs jumped on him? I guess it is.

The OP was only "asking a simple question" if you now consider dismissing things you don't care about as pointless bullshit and insulting anyone who might actually care about those things as "asking a simple question." No one would have cared if he just said, "Anyone know a good site that focuses on things like gameplay in their reviews?" but that obviously wasn't enough for the OP. He wanted to mix insults in with his curiosity, and people happened to not like that and respond accordingly.

OT: I have no idea. Not that I would care very much because I don't see video games as mindless toys whose reviewers should be reduced to saying "it plays nice and looks pretty!"
Are you kidding? Did you even read the OP? That was in no way a challenge to anyone who believes in those issues, he just doesn't care about it and doesn't want anything to do with it. He has an abrasive manner of speach, sure, but I think that's simply how he talks and didn't mean any particular insult in the OP. I would hazard a guess that this is how the majority of the people he interacts with IRL talk. And then the entire thread is basically attacking him over his desire to find reviews free of social issues. It wasn't until post 17 that anyone made an earnest attempt to recommend him some sites that would appeal to him.
 

Erttheking

Member
Legacy
Oct 5, 2011
10,845
1
3
Country
United States
insaninater said:
I can't really see how that was what he said. He said gameplay was the MOST important part of a game. By his logic, the Walking Dead would've been shit.
 

Erttheking

Member
Legacy
Oct 5, 2011
10,845
1
3
Country
United States
insaninater said:
erttheking said:
insaninater said:
I can't really see how that was what he said. He said gameplay was the MOST important part of a game. By his logic, the Walking Dead would've been shit.
So only one factor has ever affected your perception of a game? I can't choose between story and gameplay myself, but i can appreciate both, so i don't see how ranking gameplay above story automatically means one cannot appreciate story, only that they wish to have access to a means of being recommended games that are good by gameplay standards, and that they personally believe gameplay is more important to them than story. I like the flavor of food more than texture, but that doesn't mean i think texture is irrelevant to food.

For example, i would probably personally rank story and gameplay above the environment, but that doesn't mean i didn't love the shit out of games simply for their great environments.
I didn't say that. My entire frustration with the OP is that I'm 100% against that mindset. Sometimes gameplay is important in a game, like X-COM. Sometimes it isn't, like the Wolf Among Us. There is no set standard for how much each can have an impact on the game, with it varrying from game to game, something the OP disagrees with. Him speaking in absolutes is what's getting on my nerves.
 

IceForce

Is this memes?
Legacy
Dec 11, 2012
2,384
16
13
insaninater said:
It's about finding a review that say "gta was/was not fun to play, it had these mechanical issues, it had these plot holes, ect ect" in the malestrom of "OMG U KAN KILL PROSTITUTES IN GTA!!!!!!" without talking about or considering any other aspects of the game.
Where are you getting your reviews from? tumblr.com?
 

Gordon_4_v1legacy

New member
Aug 22, 2010
2,577
0
0
My advice is simply look in as many places as you can, you'll find something to your tastes eventually. YouTube is probably a good bet, if nothing else the discussions are worth a laugh.

Also, every time I see someone, with or without irony, using the word 'problematic' I hear it in my head with Mordin Solus's voice: how's that for the staying power of a gaming narrative.
 

TallanKhan

New member
Aug 13, 2009
790
0
0
I kinda get where you're coming from, although I don't think the problem you describe is overly prevalent here. The only contributor at the Escapist who I think crosses the line into outright bias is probably Bob Chipman, which is a shame because I find myself agreeing with a number of the things he says and I think he has some genuine talent as a reviewer. However he does have a tendency to build straw man arguments so he can label things as evidence of racism or sexism or whatever it is he wants to get on his soap box about on any given day.

Don't get me wrong, he makes some very valid points too, like when he talks about the casting choices for Exodus. If he could just learn to tone it down, be a little more balanced, and not try to contrive reasons to insert these themes into episodes where they have no place then his content would be great.
 

Ishal

New member
Oct 30, 2012
1,176
0
0
The Lunatic said:
Ishal said:
It's called TechRaptor. Look it up. They do some good work and have some pretty insightful writers from what I've seen so far. Given that I just built a gaming PC. I've been able to jump in to more of their articles since they're now relevant to me.
TechRaptor is pretty good.

I mean, there's still articles about the whole social side of things, but usually from a more neutral standpoint.

However, there are a few not-very-neutral articles, which, given one of the people working there was subject to an "internet hate campaign" (As is the current fashionable term.) led by a developer after they dared to give the game a mediocre review, it's understandable that they would have a less than positive point of view on the work of that person.

So, it's not an ideal choice for somebody looking to avoid it completely.
Really?

News to me. I only just started visiting there a week ago.

Well, I tried.
 

TheMysteriousGX

Elite Member
Legacy
Sep 16, 2014
8,580
7,223
118
Country
United States
Ishal said:
It's called TechRaptor. Look it up. They do some good work and have some pretty insightful writers from what I've seen so far. Given that I just built a gaming PC. I've been able to jump in to more of their articles since they're now relevant to me.
Just make sure to give them a couple days to make all their retractions and corrections first!

(Sorry, couldn't help but poke at them a bit. I'm sure they'll fix that issue as they get more experience.)
 

Kerric

New member
Jul 28, 2012
21
0
0
Genocidicles said:
I want news about games/movies/comics, I don't give a shit about whether or not something is 'problematic'.

Are there any major sites that keep this shit out of their reviews, previews and basic discussions? I don't want to give ad revenue to any company that thinks these things are relevant in the discussion of video games, tv shows or comics or whatever.
I can understand that you aren't interested in the issues of misogyny, homophobia, etc. Some people are, and some people aren't, and for you it's a distraction. What I don't understand is your position on revenues.

For example, I can toss my empty soda can in two recycling bins. One bin will go to help support a charity to shave the whales. Now, I don't care if whales are shaved or not. It's really not of interest to me and a bit of a distraction from more important issues. But hey, some people hate hairy whales, so ... whatever. Now the second bin goes to support a charity to buy weasel-stomping boots for Weasel Stomping Day. That bothers me. I don't like the idea that I am contributing to weasel-stomping. I resent the fact that I might actually support it.

In your case you seem to be upset that you are implicitly supporting a reviewer in their giving information that you don't care about to someone else. It's not simply that you don't care about it, you don't even want to remotely support other people learning that info.

That seems... extreme.
 

mmiki

New member
Mar 1, 2013
49
0
0
Try GameWatcher.com (they used to be Strategy Informer). They do news and reviews without politics and drama - there isn't a single article about GG on the site. The reviews are mostly short and to the point.
 

weirdee

Swamp Weather Balloon Gas
Apr 11, 2011
2,634
0
0
insaninater said:
weirdee said:
You're basically asking for people to compartmentalize when untraumatized human brain activity consists entirely of interconnected thoughts, feelings, and memories, and even if they never made direct mention of them, it'd still show in the work anyway. If you can't shut out the concepts you don't like reading or thinking about by your own effort, what makes you think that it's easy for everybody else to do it for you, for basically free? If anything, the main reason why it's so prevalent now is that it was largely suppressed in the past, and to continue doing so would probably ruin everything for everybody, including you, in the long run, when that bigger dam cracks. The closest thing you could achieve would be willfully lying to yourself and surrounding that with other people corroborating that lie, and if you want that, you know exactly where to find it, and what kind of people would resort to it.

The only place where something could exist without any influence from nearby sources or historical events would be outside this universe. To feel sorry for yourself, to be subjected to the expressions of other people, is a direct consequence of prior events that EVERYBODY in this community feels, not just you, and many others have had it worse. Feel free to join the circle of lies, but know that doing so, you are actively contributing to the problem that is currently nagging at you.
It's not about shutting these topics out completely, it never has been. It's about having a few small sources of game review not completely consumed by social justice ideology. It's about finding a review that say "gta was/was not fun to play, it had these mechanical issues, it had these plot holes, ect ect" in the malestrom of "OMG U KAN KILL PROSTITUTES IN GTA!!!!!!" without talking about or considering any other aspects of the game. It's not about eliminating that malestrom, it's just about finding a review that has a bit more class than the click-bait hype-engine social justice machine many gaming media sites and reviewers have become.
In that case, you want a website that is entirely self funded, because there's no other type of news now.
 

Sanderpower

New member
Jun 26, 2014
93
0
0
insaninater said:
LifeCharacter said:
insaninater said:
OP, you have my sympathies for dealing with these people simply for asking a simple question.
So is it my turn to correct another person's blatant misrepresentation of what happened in this thread so they can stop pretending the OP just innocently asked for something and all the evil SJWs jumped on him? I guess it is.

The OP was only "asking a simple question" if you now consider dismissing things you don't care about as pointless bullshit and insulting anyone who might actually care about those things as "asking a simple question." No one would have cared if he just said, "Anyone know a good site that focuses on things like gameplay in their reviews?" but that obviously wasn't enough for the OP. He wanted to mix insults in with his curiosity, and people happened to not like that and respond accordingly.

OT: I have no idea. Not that I would care very much because I don't see video games as mindless toys whose reviewers should be reduced to saying "it plays nice and looks pretty!"
Wow, ok, if you think that games have to be either "mindless toys" or political tools designed only to advance social justice ideology, you have a SERIOUSLY depressing outlook on games.

There's more to depth in a game than social justice, and a lot of people really need to start realizing this.
Of course there can be more to a game then social justice. There are other artistic forms then just being politically inclusive/politically correct.

The problem however, is that any website that evaluates video games based on artistic merits are also going to have some of it's reviewers or some of it's forum goers also talk about social justice in the video game. There are many, many reviews that don't even touch social justice. But there are very few websites that don't at least have some form of mentioning of it.
 

Belaam

New member
Nov 27, 2009
617
0
0
Genocidicles said:
I want news about games/movies/comics, I don't give a shit about whether or not something is 'problematic'.

Are there any major sites that keep this shit out of their reviews, previews and basic discussions? I don't want to give ad revenue to any company that thinks these things are relevant in the discussion of video games, tv shows or comics or whatever.
Sure. after the great GamerGate fiasco of 2014, the Pure Gamers(tm) founded a website that hosted reviews that were almost exclusively the specs of the game and never had a single sentence of analysis of the social/religious/political/gender/racial contents of the game. Due to the millions of gamers who were clamor in for such a thing it is wildly popular and the reviewers and site are doing great business.

Unfortunately, because I think they're idiots, they refuse to give me the URL, so I don't have it to pass on to you. Try googling GamerGate Reviews or entering random strings of letters as a URL and see if you find it.