Jimquisition: I'm Going To Murder Your Children

[Phasmal]

I do think it reflects badly on gamers when our collective response to a person in the industry being harassed is kind of `Well, they had [x opinion] what do they expect?`. This could have something more to do with internet culture in general, but I don't think it's a coincidence that it happens in gaming so much.

But I imagine if we just pass around that Penny Arcade picture and stick our collective heads in the sand we can ignore this until it happens again next week, right?
Nice episode, Jim. Looking forward to the one on DLC.

EDIT: Really, now it's `white-knighting` to say that maybe people who threaten to murder someone's children are fucked up?
Stay classy, escapists.

 

[JPArbiter]

I can put up with a lot of shit in my life... but I am a dad. threaten my sons and I will end your miserable little life. the slime that threatened this woman's family did was beyond reprehensible, it was actually criminal.

I hope Bioware saved the IP addresses of the posters, I hope she prosecutes, and I hope the brats who did this spend a few weeks in jail to shock them back into the reality that they are not that important.

 

[jluzar20]

Isn't it enough already?
I mean, if those People who would harass via internet are really just a vocal minority why is this still being reported all the time by gaming media? Gaming media reports some disagreeable people who write odd bullshit on the internet.

There is quite a lot of stuff on the internet that is giving these trolls far more attention then they deserve.

It's because we don't get much as far as professionalism out of gaming journalism. It's as sensationalistic as regular news in America. Just the way the world works. Gotta get those hits and such.

Jim might have some good intentions behind this video, but it was poorly thought out and indicative of the lack of calm, rational discussion that the gaming scene really needs right now.

For those of us in the middle, who just play games and do our best to support the medium, we're surrounded by white nights and assholes alike. And that's just the fucking way it is.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I'm with you here Jim. I don't care what someone thinks a person did to them, threatening that person's kids is just completely unacceptable and I think it does paint a very dark picture of the current game culture.

How? How does this represent me and other gamers? And yeah I am gonna take it personally. You're gonna slag off a group to which I proudly belong so fuck it, might as well have a pop at someone who can take it. Go on. How does this run off on me or anyone other than the assholes personally responsible?

Did you know that crazy One Direction fans stalk the mothers of the band just in case the boys ever visit their parents and send real death threats to real people for the crime of going out with a member of a boyband that they happen to love?

Does that paint a very dark picture of current gamer culture of music culture, or does it rather just make individual crazy bitches look crazy?

Because the rest of the world doesn't see individuals, the rest of the world only sees the collective and the actions of these few very vocal morons are seen to be the example of the entire collective.

Why am I having to explain this?

 

[TWEWYFan]

The idea that gaming as a hobby might have something to do with this is no different from the people who blame rock music for causing drug addiction and violent media for causing mass shootings.

No, I agree with you there. Like I said, the game culture is by and large a good thing but it's bad that these monsters have taken up residence.

 

[MeisterKleister]

I didn't know this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QLz0CqtMVc] still had to be passed around.

Interesting, but ultimately irrelevant to the points made.
There are plenty of real cases of people in the game industry of people getting bullied and threatened en mass for no good reason - Jim included, especially in his early days.


By the way, here is a nice response to people who think that Jim Sterling is wasting his time because he is 'preaching to the choir':

Also, I would suggest putting the video title into quotes. Would be more accurate and more fitting, I think.

 

[JPArbiter]

I suspect Jim fails to provide a reason why the topic was changed because he doesn't have a real reason. He could have easily ignored these threats and talked about his DLC topic as planned, so his attempts to blame this on other people is somewhat immature.

Jim also ignores that Hepler was responsible for writing the story for Dragon Age 2 so she was responsible for many of the things that were wrong with it; specifically the bad story and inconsistent characters. The fact that Jim seems to believe that Hepler was being abused for being creative, rather being than utterly inept and writing terrible stories, just shows that he hasn't bothered to research why people didn't like her. Jim's attempts to deify Hepler to hide his white knighting isn't fooling anyone.

Mr Sterling is ignoring it because it is not relevant. some bastards threatened a mothers children because of disagreements with her, and that shit reflects poorly on gamer culture as a whole.

 

[veloper]

I distantiate myself from anyone who threatens, harasses or does anything worse than just teasing game developers.

And since no member here does any of those bad things, I expect Jim to star in some serious adult-only video material next week.

 

[IKWerewolf]

Is it just me, or has Jim's episodes been less and less entertaining and more brow beating over time? Nothing better than being called a "sick fuck" when this was the first I've heard of the Dragon Age lady thing.

Yeah, I know he's not calling me a sick fuck personally, but white knights always leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Especially so when you chastise a crowd in order to speak to a few. Shoulda stuck to the dildo, Jim.

Unfortunately whether we like it or not, this vocal minority is the reason why gaming as an industry is not entirely taken seriously. We can attack the developers as much as we like about their decisions and how they are ruining the industry but there is this vocal minority that can dictate through threat and abuse the way people operate like school yard bullies, it is this sort of attitude that will force us back to this topic again and again.

I'm actually surprised Police forces have not made arrests; as far I was aware death threats are a criminal offence?

 

[Spearmaster]

Gaming culture doesn't exist in a vacuum, the internet is what has created this problem not the gaming community, although it is one of many areas affected by assholes that know they can get away with it, if they couldn't get away with it they most likely wouldn't have said it. I do wish the honor system worked on the internet but when its the last place for unregulated free speech on earth people have a tendency to go to the extreme.

I think the bigger question here is what the gaming culture is doing to affect people in a way that causes them to feel obligated to make threats of these kind to people? Games have become more than just a favorite hobby for many, a lifestyle for some, even an obsession for a few. Developers love having legions of rabid fans till something like this happens then its the whole "gaming culture has a problem" thing again.

Almost like a drug dealer saying "no heroin today, our market study says we would have a broader audience if we sold potatoes, here have a potato you will like it more...Why are you mad, put down the knife...our customers have a problem"

 

[chiefohara]

Fair dues to you Jim for Saying it bluntly and crudely so that there is no doubt.

All of you have have endorsed or defended or tried to legitimise this type of disgusting behaviour. Shame on you. You are contemptible human beings. Shame on you.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

A woman is threatened on the internet in a grossly disproportionate manner. I was wondering when we'd have a brouhaha about how some stupid people doing stupid people shit and one/some woman/women taking it all too seriously means that gaming is sexist and we're sexist.

BRB, gotta flaggelate.

And in case you're wondering, no I didn't watch past the first minute or so, there really isn't a need to at this point.

Lady Victim, evil sexists, misogyny, gaming needs to change, THE ISSUE, etc.

Edit: Well blow me down, I've since been convinced to watch the video and while the basis of the whole thing has only happened because someone thought it was acceptable to lay into a woman, the content itself managed to subvert expectations. Good work Jim I guess.

Too bad you didn't feel the pressing need to stand up and be the hero we apparently needed when all the men you mentioned were getting threatened with death, but better late than never I guess.

Thank you kindly, for making it very clear that I need not ever take your posts into consideration.

Not only did you skip the video, and then made an opinion about how bad it was. You also, then watched it, and then still missed the point.

Jim isn't doing this video now, because some woman in the industry got death threats. Jim did it now because the person threatened her kids.

That's why the title is "I'm going to murder your children". It's about the children, who other than being the kids of the writer, have nothing to do with the game, and are not "putting themselves out there on the internet" like someone very involved with the game has to do.

The person who tried to make this all about sexism was you.

What it IS about is that death threats to anyone(even if they are made on the internet), should never be tolerated.
Those that make death threats to anyone, man, woman, and especially to children. Deserve nothing short of legal punishment, and social scorn.

 

[Bruce]

I suspect Jim fails to provide a reason why the topic was changed because he doesn't have a real reason. He could have easily ignored these threats and talked about his DLC topic as planned, so his attempts to blame this on other people is somewhat immature.

Jim also ignores that Hepler was responsible for writing the story for Dragon Age 2 so she was responsible for many of the things that were wrong with it; specifically the bad story and inconsistent characters. The fact that Jim seems to believe that Hepler was being abused for being creative, rather being than utterly inept and writing terrible stories, just shows that he hasn't bothered to research why people didn't like her. Jim's attempts to deify Hepler to hide his white knighting isn't fooling anyone.

He doesn't ignore it because it wasn't the case. Hepler was a senior writer, not the lead writer. She would likely have written a few sidequests and characters, but the lead writer, who was responsible for the main plot, was David Gaider.

 

[zerragonoss]

Great episode as usual Jim. I think at some point though we could use an episode on the point of all these message episodes. Their are way to many people thinking this is just idiots being idiots and it has nothing to do with them, and that it can never change. The ones who sit in silence and ignore the problem will always bear some part of the blame for the problem continuing, and that is why I thank god for you, and people like you. (Not that I am actually theist but you gotta run with a theme.)

 

[babinro]

I suppose I can wait 8 more days before I wish lingering cancer upon a QA tester's child in utero for you Jim.
You got lucky Skyrim QA tester, your menial uncorrected game bug will go forgotten, for now...

 

[Muspelheim]

And yet Gamers throw a hissy fit when the media brands us as psychotic mass-murderers waiting to happen.

Gee, I wonder why. Can't possibly be all the death threats we tend to throw at developers we hate, now can it?

Presumable response:

raaaaaaagh your just paintign us with the same burhs how dare you were not all the same and im going to find you i are an veteran in gorilla warfare

Et cetera.

The bad press certainly exist for a reason. Yes, being judged by the actions of someone you don't approve of or agree with in any way is very frustrating. But then again, the approval of mass media might not always be as important as mass media would like to think. What matters is that the people who do act like decent people continue to do that, and call out the people that don't when they act in ways that are unacceptable.

Even if that does risk you being labeled as a white knight. There are much worse things to be called.

Came for the lecture, staying for the dildo. I wonder if he got it in a fancy colour...

For some reason, I imagine it's leopard spotted. I don't know why.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Because the rest of the world doesn't see individuals, the rest of the world only sees the collective and the actions of these few very vocal morons are seen to be the example of the entire collective.

Why am I having to explain this?

Firstly, you aren't having to explain anything.

Secondly, anybody who gives enough of a fuck about gaming and gamer culture to know who the hell Hepler even is(and honestly, a week ago I think it's fair to say we pretty much all forgot that someone called Jennifer Hepler got a load of shit ages ago) would see this story through the lens of people like Jim 'Fuck You you idiots' Sterling and sites running this and calling it a 'plague'. We aren't as relevant on the world stage as you seem to think.

Still doesn't make me want to associate myself with these diackheads or call myself a gamer for that matter.

 

[ChrowX]

*complaints about immature children playing video games*

I'm not trying to misrepresent your argument, something about having a stack of quotes within quotes and giant posts just sort of irks me, so please don't take this the wrong way.

But the terrible, immature, rude, obnoxious gamers who make the rest of us look bad has always been an issue, and we all know it. This much is true, but there's one problem with Jim coming to a site like this and speaking directly at the camera to chastise us with generalities about our behavior as a community: We're not those people.

For the most part, the sort of gamers who do that, the ones who insult and send death threats, and whip their controllers across the room when they lose, and send death threats to developers for patching their favorite sniper rifle, and infect the whole community with an air of hostility and vulgarity don't come to sites like this. They don't. They don't partake in any larger communities or talks of the quality of video game narratives and the growth of the industry. Their circle of gaming begins and ends with their immediate friends and the matchmaking lobby of the latest call of duty.

So, yeah.. We all know it's BS to threatened someone and call for the horrible deaths of their children. We get that. We don't need to be lectured like children with snark and hyperbole every time someone gets hassled.

And just because it's worth mentioning, since Jim won't talk about this sort of thing, but take a look at this. http://gamerfury.tumblr.com/ That's some of the collection of some of the tweets that one of the Call of Duty developers received, which Jim mentioned.

 

[alphamalet]

1) Why is gaming being singled out? Why does this video make it out to be that gamers are the only ones doing this? This happens within any fan-base of fiction that has fanatics of the source material. You'll find the same amount of bile thrown around in movie and book communities as well. That doesn't excuse reprehensible behavior, but it is hardly a problem exclusive to the gaming industry. This is not a problem with gamers; this is a problem with the internet.

2) Who was this video made for? If you are having to explain to someone that the death threats they made to a creative talent are bad, then that person is stupid, amoral, and the message of this video would be lost on him or her. I highly doubt 99% of the Jimquisition viewership would ever do this sort of thing, and I doubt even more that they needed to be told that threatening people is bad. Nobody with a brain can disagree with, "Death threats are bad." This is preaching to the choir in the purest form.

3) I look forward to your video on DLC next week. I will be glad to get away from the politics surrounding video games, and I'm ready to get back to talking about video games...

 

[animeh1star1a]

It's kinda sad that the first thing i noticed about this episode wasn't the title, but rather the Fern Gully pic on the episode picture xD