ElPatron said:
Savagezion said:
Sorry for taking so long to reply but, are you seriously comparing twitter to a parliament of foreign affairs? How far do you need to stretch the truth in order to make your point seem valid exactly?
Okay, nevermind the parliament.
A president/prime minister is completely free to use the vocabulary he wants.
But if he was on public, with cameras around and someone threw a shoe at him, you wouldn't expect him to throw his shoes back and run after him using vulgar words.
OK, are you seriously comparing a writer to a government official? It wasn't just the parliament comparison, it was also the comparison of a writer and someone who is elected representation for a group of people. Comparing writers to public representation positions is ridiculous as many writers are known for their reclusive habits.
When people made a big deal about Paul Christoforo, it was justified because he was the
head of the public relations department. There your analogy would fit. Here, it doesn't. Here, it is more comparable to a manager for a McDonald's or possibly just a cashier or somewhere in between making a statement that "misrepresents" McDonald's from a knee jerk reaction.
Savagezion said:
Now that you have acted unprofessionally on the internet, I guess you should be fired from your job too.
You seem to be confused. This is a completely informal conversation on a forum (this post will be read by no more than a few hundred people), while Twitter is almost a "medium" on it's own.
Also, even if I was wrong (which I might be), that would not make me unprofessional. It would be unprofessional if I was supposed to be working and spent my time here on the Escapist.
First, this was her
personal twitter account that was besieged by ignorant "fans" that were doing nothing more than harassing her on this "medium" all its own. She could file a grievance of "cyber-bullying" against some of the posters. They broke the law, no matter how ridiculous that law may be. She just had a "potty mouth" but it wasn't illegal actions. Actually, it wasn't even a potty mouth as she even kept it "clean", it was just a knee jerk reaction to being harassed.
Second, this was not a "@Bioware:JenHepler" this was "@JenHepler" and it didn't stop at twitter, she was receiving harassing phone calls and emails. You have no way of knowing if she was on the clock or not. The worst part is this was from an interview from 2006! I mean are these haters slow on the uptake or what? This is all because of an interview that was 6 years old.
And now what you all have been expecting - my amazing analogy that will finally drive my point into this post:
And I did not create an account on this forum to say that I don't like games and that you are all virgin nerds who will never get a job in the videogame industry.
If I did that, I would get a forum ban.
Catch my drift? There would be no big company defending my job. Just a ban. The forum expected me to be polite even in disagreement. We expect people in the videogame industry to not insult the people they depend on, just because a large pack of video game consumers.
If you're working in ANY kind of industry, you can't have knee jerk reactions.
You actually just worked against your point. Everyone that was harassing her should have been banned from twitter then as your ban would for personal attacks. Personal attacks that actually break American laws.
More companies should stand in your defense when people are breaking harassment laws on you and you lose your composure in a moment of weakness that humans tend to have. I actually have gained MORE respect for Bioware in this as Bioware has acknowledged that what happened to jennifer was
wrong and Bioware stands in her corner. She may have stumbled in the face of opposition, but the harassment was probably overwhelming and they don't fault
her for that. It shows compassion for their team over public company image. They are willing to take the damage from the public to stand in Jennifer's corner instead of throwing her to the wolves to save face.
It honestly is amazing to me that the community is so split on this ridiculous scandal. Calling this petty on behalf of the gaming community is an understatement.
It shows how far people will go to to invent something to ***** about on the internet. You dig up a 6 year old interview, rile a bunch of people about
1 subjective opinion in it, and then proceed to harass her in her every day life.
As well this subjective opinion people are getting riled about, if implemented, would be an option. Just because you CAN skip dialogue doesn't mean you HAVE TO. What bothers me most though is that people don't comprehend this this would probably branch into a new genre of game that caters more to social aspects of RPGs over the combat. Perhaps you'll play as a medieval banker or something amidst a war ravaged area. You won't be out fighting, you'll be focusing on social aspects to keep your shop open.
This is why I might agree with the OP in being ashamed to associate myself with the gamer community sometimes. This whole ordeal is childish, mean spirited, as well as plain out retarded. None of which do I fault Hepler for. Entitled little shits who can't even post intriguing arguments on their side of the debate (usually just saying "you suck") are complaining about her writing. As well, trying to tell Bioware how to manage their image/employees when they have no experience in public relations. The irony in this whole ordeal is abundant.
TL;DR/Bottom Line: There are laws in place against the harassment Hepler was treated with. Hepler made a faux pas and people want to crucify her and completely overlook the actions of the gaming community. THIS IS THE GAMING COMMUNITIES EQUIVALENT TO THE DEAD SPACE 2 COMMERCIAL, SIN TO WIN, BULLETSTORM MAKES YOU A RAPIST, AND SPIKE VGA'S. It's facepalm worthy and shameful.