Demonization of Moviebob and other Escapist Staff

[Happiness Assassin]

Now I am going to preface this by saying that the last thing I want is for anyone on the Escapist staff to be fired. I may disagree with them in this regard, but never would I consider having an differing opinion a fire-able offense. However...

This whole thing has left me extremely bitter against people in the industry and sites that I once frequented often, including contributors on this site. Moviebob has conducted himself in an extremely unprofessional manner, both in regards to this and at other points in the past and at this point I have stopped listening to anything he says, as he is so condescending and so abrasive that he makes Richard Dawkins appear cuddly by comparison. Jim on the other hand just makes me sad. He is always so vocal when gamers get the raw end of the deal and he has said almost nothing in regards to the mass censorship that has been going on sites like Reddit. I honestly couldn't care less about his personal stance on women in gaming (FYI I agree almost entirely agree that women are underrepresented), but the fact that he has being pretty damn selective in how he applies his ideals when it comes to people he personally knows disappoints me more than anything.

However, I also Devin Faraci (editor of Badass Digest) is an asshole to the nth degree and honestly is the only person in this whole debacle who should be straight up fired. Never have I seen someone in the games industry (much less an editor of a major website) act with open contempt in regards to anyone who disagrees with them (as well as those who had no skin in this game at all, like Boogie2988).

What got me into this whole thing was when I started hearing about this whole scandal on Reddit I went into a thread regarding this and asked why no site ever talked about The Fine Young Capitalists. I was then apparently shadowbanned (and later un-shadowbanned) for seemingly no reason at all. The fact that TFYC have barely even been talked about in the games media just drives that home for me. If you had told me a month ago that I (as a person who did and still does identify as a feminist) would be railing against the likes of Anita and others, I would have said you were crazy.

 

[firebobm173]

Jesus christ.

So suddenly 4chan is all white men? Secondly, #notyourshield was started by a black developer. Even the fucking chat was asking where #notyourshield came from when it started popping off.

It caught 4chan off guard.

There are people in #notyourshield who are actually *gasp* not white. How fucking far how we fallen where if you aren't white you are suddenly a sockpuppet?

Now its not just "fake gamer girlz" anymore, I guess we have "fake black gamers" too! Oh no!

News flash: Black people exist, and they are not obligated to agree with you. Do I have to spell this out for people?

Twitter is a huge fucking entity. 4chan is not as powerful as you think it is. Its been dead for years as any sort of force on the internet. Anonymous either left or it got caught when anonOPS got taken down.

Twitter is much larger than 4chan and people actually use it. There WILL be nonwhite gamers. There WILL be women.

In fact, 40-50% of gamers are women.

Of course Zoe is going to say "its a conspiracy" because if she doesn't she will be the black sheep of the industry. Do you think the court stops at the not guilty plea too?

I never said that there weren't minorities in #notyourshield, I simply said that the whole thing was started by 4chan. While I believe that the whole was caused by 4chan manipulation, some people did get caught up in it as a sincere attempt to fight corruption in games journalism. As for black gamers not existing, I never said that or implied that in any way. I know that it's easy to get angry about this, but please do not mistake me for someone pretending minorities to not exist and shouldn't be represented in gaming, as I believe the polar opposite.

 

[firebobm173]

Now I am going to preface this by saying that the last thing I want is for anyone on the Escapist staff to be fired. I may disagree with them in this regard, but never would I consider having an differing opinion a fire-able offense. However...

This whole thing has left me extremely bitter against people in the industry and sites that I once frequented often, including contributors on this site. Moviebob has conducted himself in an extremely unprofessional manner, both in regards to this and at other points in the past and at this point I have stopped listening to anything he says, as he is so condescending and so abrasive that he makes Richard Dawkins appear cuddly by comparison. Jim on the other hand just makes me sad. He is always so vocal when gamers get the raw end of the deal and he has said almost nothing in regards to the mass censorship that has been going on sites like Reddit. I honestly couldn't care less about his personal stance on women in gaming (FYI I agree almost entirely agree that women are underrepresented), but the fact that he has being pretty damn selective in how he applies his ideals when it comes to people he personally knows disappoints me more than anything.

However, I also Devin Faraci (editor of Badass Digest) is an asshole to the nth degree and honestly is the only person in this whole debacle who should be straight up fired. Never have I seen someone in the games industry (much less an editor of a major website) act with open contempt in regards to anyone who disagrees with them (as well as those who had no skin in this game at all, like Boogie2988).

What got me into this whole thing was when I started hearing about this whole scandal on Reddit I went into a thread regarding this and asked why no site ever talked about The Fine Young Capitalists. I was then apparently shadowbanned (and later un-shadowbanned) for seemingly no reason at all. The fact that TFYC have barely even been talked about in the games media just drives that home for me. If you had told me a month ago that I (as a person who did and still does identify as a feminist) would be railing against the likes of Anita and others, I would have said you were crazy.

I have to disagree with you about moviebob. I believe that what he's said in his videos and articles here on the escapist has been professional, and that what he's said on twitter is a non issue because that's not part of his job. As for the fine young capitalists they have since made peace with zoe, saying that she didn't understand the project [http://thefineyoungcapitalists.tumblr.com/post/96578864050/on-apologizing-for-getting-punched-in-the-face]. While it's obvious they're still bitter about it, they still believe that she was simply mistaken about what their project was and that she overreacted to it. Oh and FYI for everyone trying to get Devin Faraci fired, his boss is totally on his side, because he's his own boss. He's the head honcho at badass digest and the buck stops with him.

 

[firebobm173]

Is this 2006? Because that is the only reason anyone would still think 4chan has any power to do anything.

A secret cabal of hackers manipulating the internet?

They are all gone. 4chan can't even set up a simple raid anymore after anonymous started betraying each other to avoid jail. Hell, it barely managed to piss off tumblr SJWs.

The fact that people still think 4chan controls anything shows how legendary their reputation was.

4chan is not the 4chan in its heyday. Its a shell of its former self. Nothing happens there anymore. Nothing has been happening since the feds stepped in and the NSA was exposed.

The Wild West is gone. Its been gone for a few years now. Anyone pointing to 4chan for doing anything is pointing to the boogieman. It doesn't actually exist.

Hell, it hasn't lived up to its reputation for a long while. The huge raids and the huge manipulation are long gone. Especially since website security is top notch now.

Ok, please understand that I'm not trying to get into a fight with you. However, I believe that it is clear that there are people on 4chan who have the will, hacking ability and lack of ethics to be able to pull this off. And as for 4chan being too weak to do so, while I cannot comment on how it compares to how it as 8 years ago, I think the fact that the whole thing got too big for 4chan to control and is now coming crashing down on their heads shows that while they got this started, it doesn't mean they did a good job keeping it going. I'd also like to mention that I respect your opinion, and do not wish to get into a back and forth argument for the sake of the thread.

 

[Mikeybb]

I spend a lot of time in the GamerGate thread.

I support it's goals.

I also immediately voted against firing bob and I'm glad the post was closed.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

You know, this stuff makes me miss the simpler days. You know, when we all irrationally hated pony threads for no reason.

Keep calm and blame Kross I guess, I'mma make a sandwich.

That SJW list made me laugh, and then I laughed harder when people were declaring that those people are ruining games.

I'm surprised I hadn't broken my spleen, or at least a kidney. I mean, have you ever laughed so hard your whole body hurts?

Shit ain't fun, yo.

Don't you fucking DARE get yourself hospitalized over this. We need you for the Pokemon podcast! >:O

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

You know, this stuff makes me miss the simpler days. You know, when we all irrationally hated pony threads for no reason.

Keep calm and blame Kross I guess, I'mma make a sandwich.

That SJW list made me laugh, and then I laughed harder when people were declaring that those people are ruining games.

I'm surprised I hadn't broken my spleen, or at least a kidney. I mean, have you ever laughed so hard your whole body hurts?

Shit ain't fun, yo.

Don't you fucking DARE get yourself hospitalized over this. We need you for the Pokemon podcast! >:O

Please, my internal organs are made of the hardest of things and this whole issue hasn't made a dent in them.

I think I might have pulled a liver though, I mean, I was drinking while reading all of this.

Also, Pokemon is way more important than this silly issue.

 

[DocMcCray]

I don't like MovieBob. I rarely agree with anything he says. And I'm not even talking about his "SJW" stuff. Movie reviews and nostalgia vids are generally crap in my opinion.

Know how I handle it? I don't read his articles. I don't watch his videos. If everyone else wants to, go for it. I won't fault anyone for it, as long as I'm not faulted for not watching.

 

[chuckman1]

I'm totally lost as to what this whole thing means?
Can somebody summarize what happened?

 

[firebobm173]

I'm totally lost as to what this whole thing means?
Can somebody summarize what happened?

I'd recommend my link to moviebob's intermission article(it's the second link from the top in my list of relevant moviebob commentary in the original post). The article itself has many good links, but is a little old. Only one major development has happened since then. I'll give you a link about it here [http://www.dailydot.com/geek/zoe-quinn-outs-4chan-behind-gamergate/].

 

[lacktheknack]

As I tried to type in the Fire Him thread (but it got locked as I was typing):

Oh, NOW you care about what he says on Twitter.

Tell me more about how he ought to be fired now as opposed to, say, throughout his entire career.

I have no sympathy for people who are so bloody single-minded that they they only call for action on things because it suits them right now.

 

[BreakfastMan]

As I tried to type in the Fire Him thread (but it got locked as I was typing):

Oh, NOW you care about what he says on Twitter.

Tell me more about how he ought to be fired now as opposed to, say, throughout his entire career.

I have no sympathy for people who are so bloody single-minded that they they only call for action on things because it suits them right now.

Or ignore others doing the same exact shit because it suits them. I mean, how many times has Grey shat on Therumancer on twitter by now, exactly? 20 times? 200 times?

 

[Sian]

I like moviebob. His taste in movies is similar to mine, and he makes occasional videos about comic books which allows me to talk comics with my friends. That's my entire opinion on him. I don't want it any more complicated than that. People on the internet have no power over you that you don't give them. Just because someone somewhere did something you disagree (or agree) with doesn't mean you have to care. Internet controversy saddens me because it's meaningless. Even if something gets done the amount of people affected is about six. Can we please calm down about this?

 

[Ruisu]

I don't care for much of "gamergate" or whatever the buzz is these weeks. I do think it's beyond dumb for people to lump in Jim and Moviebob together in the same bunch. Bob is usually just obnoxious in his stances even when he is kind of right, but Jim is a really pleasant and genuinely funny guy in his videos and tweets (and ask).
But since he said something like "hey, having more space for women in the industry is not bad, and also being a dick to people really hurts whatever point you could had", people go ahead and treat him like he's automatically agreeing with everything "SJW".
Like, really? You make a list of "SJW" on the Escapist and you put Jim and Moviebob on the same level? For fucks sake.

 

[thethird0611]

I'm totally lost as to what this whole thing means?
Can somebody summarize what happened?

I'm totally lost as to what this whole thing means?
Can somebody summarize what happened?

I'd recommend my link to moviebob's intermission article(it's the second link from the top in my list of relevant moviebob commentary in the original post). The article itself has many good links, but is a little old. Only one major development has happened since then. I'll give you a link about it here [http://www.dailydot.com/geek/zoe-quinn-outs-4chan-behind-gamergate/].

That is an absolutely horrible link. Some people from 4chan even released the logs, showing many of her statements were out of context.

The escapist released an article about it. You can also go on the mega thread and see all the information of what is going on there.

Lot of new stuff coming to surface.

 

[firebobm173]

That is an absolutely horrible link. Some people from 4chan even released the logs, showing many of her statements were out of context.

The escapist released an article about it. You can also go on the mega thread and see all the information of what is going on there.

Lot of new stuff coming to surface.

In my time on the forums discussing this issue, I've noticed that many gamergate proponents say that they have evidence to support their case without providing a link to it. I'm pretty frustrated by this, and I simply wish that you would present the evidence you claim debunks my case.

 

[Kontarek]

Never much liked Moviebob, always seems to come across too smug about things I don't agree with him on (not that this incident is one of them). Doesn't really surprise me that he rattled the hornets nest on this thing, but I think firing him over it would be pretty fucking stupid.

But Jim is a fucking diamond. How anyone could perceive his utter neutrality on the situation to be an affront to their chosen side of the debate is just beyond me.