Jimquisition: Go Fish

[Laser Priest]

Sensitive... Now there's something the gaming community seems as far away from being as ever!

I RESENT THAT. YOU OUGHT TO DIE IN THE FLAMING PITS OF DETROIT. (That was a joke.)

But yeah, I have to agree here, although the sentiment applies both ways. The entire gaming community needs to calm itself a bit, as they seem far too prepared to harass, insult and threaten anyone they disagree with. It's rather preposterous. And I can't defend Fish in that regard. He has definitely started his share of fights. He's insulted a lot of people with no provocation. In that regard, he's just being an ass. However, while I don't agree with his actions, I can't entirely hold his retaliations to the hate against him. I've been on the receiving end of bullying from the internet, school and even my family for most of my life, and it's not easy not to want to fight back. Plus, the internet has a way of getting people to react without thinking things through. It's entirely the wrong thing to do, and I'm certainly not defending his actions, but I think it's much worse how many people seem to be simply judging and practically dehumanizing the guy.

Even if he acted like an asshole quite often, I certainly would sympathize with him more than the mobs of anonymous assholes insulting and threatening him. He may have brought it upon himself, but it's still not nice to see anyone suffer such harassment and it's hard to see the people insulting and/or judging him as any better themselves.

 

[Laser Priest]

-Snips-

I can't say he deserves better, but then I feel it is far beyond me to judge such a thing.

And I'd say if we are going to hold him to the frankly ridiculous standards of never rising to the harassment, then why don't we seem to apply those standards to ourselves?

He certainly doesn't deserve much defense. He's an asshole, that much is undeniable. But the sheer magnitude of the recoil against him is ridiculous. It's as if he stomped the internet's foot and they responded by calling their friends and beating him with tire irons.

I suppose it's a matter of opinion here. We can probably agree that Phil Fish was unkind and responded harshly to the people attacking him. Then again, the people attacking him were certainly no saints either. My view is that neither side was justified.

And if we're applying that idea of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", it does go both ways. We shouldn't be an asshole to Fish simply because he was an asshole. There are a lot more of us than him. And we can be much bigger assholes.

 

[Jimothy Sterling]

Sorry, but Phil Fish has been whining about how miserable he was at least since Indie Game The Movie... and that was way before Fez was even released and he got the majority of that abuse on the internet.
Even back then I thought to myself "If making games makes you that miserable, go find another career. It's nice you want to be creative, but if it's that painful to you, find another creative outlet".

Thinking about what I heard about Phil Fish in the last two years or so, pretty much _everything_ I can think of is him being an arrogant, angry and/or insulting asshole. On top of that, he seems to like himself being seen as some kind of a martyr.
Seriously, go on Google (or your favourite other search engine) and search for Phil Fish, excluding stuff from the last month. He's done the best he could to get as much hate as possible, as far as I can tell.

To me, it's really odd that, suddenly, all that BS gets ignored by so many and Fish is painted as a hapless victim of random internet hate. He's not. That doesn't mean it's a-okay to insult the guy without pause, but it's ridiculous how the guy can act so surprised and pissed off about the stuff he gets when he lowered himself to that level several times.

 

[Deacon Cole]

See. It's because of shit like this that I do not have a facebook or twitter account. Were I to ever become famous for... any fucking thing, I would cease to be a presence on the internet. All I'd have would be a webpage with a news feed handled by my PR lackeys and a store. That's it. No forums. Fuck that.

 

[seditary]

Goodbye Phil Fish, I won't miss you and I hope you don't come back.

Just like we don't need the community represented by the people who attacked you, we don't need the industry/indie scene represented by people like you.

 

[cieply]

When something is posted that late into the thread, it probably won't be seen, but I think I still have to try.

People hate Phil not only for his controversial views, but how he states them, here is an example, although this vid is constantly being removed from yt and hard to find as it it is bad PR 101

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHPmkf8PHLA

Basically, Phill is an asshole of the worst kind. He is an asshole that can't take it when others are assholes to him. The lowest kind of insecure, smirking slimeball that projects his own insecurities on others and then takes offence when they fight back. The guy after him just demonstrated how you can phrase an unfavorable opinion in a more polite manner. If you treat others like shit, be ready to get treated the same exact way.

Also Jim, I remember you from the beginning. Now, I would have to rewatch some of those episodes, but I remember you as an annoying trolling prick that I wanted to punch in the face. I think I even remember how close it was for you to quit, but you adapted and mixed your formula up a bit. And here I am, much later, actually listening to what you have to say because despite the fact that you still annoy the hell out of me, you are actually a person worth giving a listen. And I respect that. And others respect that too. And this is why you don't get that much heat nowadays, even from people who don't agree with you. And Phil? Phil just alternates between thinking that he is next Isaac Newton (and treating everyone like trash because of it) and wanting to kill himself. He is a perfect example of bipolar disorder gone berserk

 

[Helston]

Jim, I've paused the video a few minutes in because I need to say this: Love your stuff, you're a fantastic voice in the gaming community. You're entertaining and provide very good arguments on important issues for the industry.

Thank God for Jim Sterling.

 

[IKWerewolf]

Jim

Figure out a new name for this style of show and do it. Being honest about your situation and your past experiences from within the game industry, get special guests in etc.

This side of you is worth letting off leash more often.

The thing I've learned recently is that tit for tat helps no-one and this is breaking down the gaming community. This needs to get sorted quickly, otherwise we will remain the easy target for politicians and other media.

 

[fleischwolke]

Thanks for your insights, Jim. Even unscripted, they are much appreciated. Daily, I thank god for you.

 

[Blachman201_v1legacy]

I don't believe people should ever accept abuse, but telling someone to kill themselves over a negative comment, and then essentially going: "I'm taking MY ball and going home, then you will ALL be sorry!" is quite frankly a very unconstructive way of dealing with it.

 

[Bryan Hinson]

Thank you for staying with us and continuing to be one of the sole places of reason in this crazy gamer community. A lot of things are changing and it is nice to have it explained in a way that i can understand and that can make me laugh. I may not agree with everything you say, but you still get across the facts and i look forward to listening to you every week. Thank God for you.

 

[MadBlueWinnie]

Jim, while I do not care too deeply for Phil Fish, I just want to say here that you have done a great amount for this community and deserve the praise and fanbase you have gained. You're a fantastic entertainer and it's actually inspiring to hear that despite your career not going well for you in the past, that you stuck to it and found a way to connect with an audience. Thank God for you.

 

[paukkuii]

Phil Fish has made criticism towards certain parts of the gaming industry in a little bit childish way AND he makes abusive comments/replies on his Twitter account (and replied to Bear with abusive tweeting) to other people. This implies that he's this "fuck you in the face" kind of guy that can take piss. I don't have a problem with Phil Fish snapping I have a problem how certain blogs and people in the media make him look like the victim.

 

[Naqel]

I feel today it's especially important to thank God for Jim.

Thank you for Jim, God.

 

[BrainBlow]

I find it kind of odd how people say Fish should basically "deal with it", yet when they state their reasons as to why they are trashing him it can basically be summed up as "he said something annoying/offensive".
Uh, okay.

 

[Nazulu]

I just don't understand why he keeps saying he loves to go on twitter and other social sites but reacts to these assholes. Shouldn't we tell him to ignore it if it's really that bad? Or find a site that isn't so hostile?