Note To Future Politicians: Being A Geek Can Only Hurt You If You Let It

[LysanderNemoinis]

I understand that a conservative reader is likely to feel a bit battered by the article, but perhaps you shouldn't be acquiring your serious-beeswax news through a DECIDEDLY LEFT WING VIDEO GAMING WEBSITE!!!

Yeah, the sad fact is that much like the media at large, the gaming press is pretty much all on the left. I don't know about you, but can anyone name any gaming site that so much as sits to the right of Engles? Actually, I don't even want a conservative gaming site. I'd just like to be able to go through one day without having some smug liberal shove their holier-than-thou attitude in my face. Especially when it comes to gaming...which is one of the things I turn to to get away from said smugness. That's all I'm asking for. I mean, can't conservatives and liberals at least agree on ONE thing that doesn't become a political football?

 

[Rellik San]

I understand that a conservative reader is likely to feel a bit battered by the article, but perhaps you shouldn't be acquiring your serious-beeswax news through a DECIDEDLY LEFT WING VIDEO GAMING WEBSITE!!!

Yeah, the sad fact is that much like the media at large, the gaming press is pretty much all on the left. I don't know about you, but can anyone name any gaming site that so much as sits to the right of Engles? Actually, I don't even want a conservative gaming site. I'd just like to be able to go through one day without having some smug liberal shove their holier-than-thou attitude in my face. Especially when it comes to gaming...which is one of the things I turn to to get away from said smugness. That's all I'm asking for. I mean, can't conservatives and liberals at least agree on ONE thing that doesn't become a political football?

Anyone who thinks any media outlet isn't pushing an agenda of some kind is a fool, especially when it comes to political writing. I can understand wanting actual coverage of political discourse to be partisan as hell, especially in a country with a stupid system (2 parties enter, one party leaves: THUNDERDOME! (Yes I'm also applying this to my nations politics as well)). But understandably, when a gaming website... gaming a hobby that has received years of flak from both parties but undeniably more so from the right than the left, gets to cover a story like this, of course there is going to be bias, and more than a little smugness about it.

If you wanna get your gaming done a-politically, then don't read political articles on the subject, don't read articles published by gaming media outlets on politics and don't listen to politics who talk about gaming. It's not that hard.

As for Conservatives and Liberals not agreeing on something, maybe that wouldn't be such the case if more people stopped defining themselves exclusively as one or the other and looked for alternative options that actually appeal more towards your views. And before the "I dun wan throw away mah vote!" parade kicks in; if you all actually dropped the "all or nothing" attitude with such things as political leanings, maybe it wouldn't be such a 2 horse race.

 

[Something Amyss]

As a practicing Christian

What does that have to do with ANYTHING here? Would anything change if he was a practicing Muslim? Do Jews enjoy being harangued over their choice of hobby? Would there be any particular difference if "Mormon," "Red Sox Fan," "Pro Wrestler" or "lesbian?"

(Don't take this as mocking Christians or anyone else listed. The statement popped out me and baffled me)

He either implied or believed that every republican/conservative is that kind of fool, which is silly and as stupid as the attitude he lampoons.

Unless it's been edited, he did no such thing. He indicated the party to which the guy belongs to is one which engages in shame, ridicule, and invasions of privacy. He did not indicate or imply every member of the party did it nor that they were alone.

On a similar note, the 2012 GOP platform specifies stances on gay marriage and abortion. Bringing that up doesn't mean that every Republican feels the same way, merely that this is the party line.

I don't get why people are missing this.

Please stay objective in your articles Escapist.

I also don't get why people are suddenly up in arms about the "objectivity" of Escapist news stories. In fact, people routinely seem to like the editorialising the News Room does. There's this apparent pattern where people only come out and start chastising them when they editorialise (or merely quip, in some cases) on certain topics.

Yeah, the sad fact is that much like the media at large, the gaming press is pretty much all on the left.

Assuming that to be true, I don't know why we don't see the conservative gamer do what conservatives have done in every other field: make their own sites dedicated to whatever spin makes them feel comfortable. We now have conservative news, conservative wikipedia, conservative science (because apparently, facts have a known liberal bias) and conservative mathematics. It's become increasingly easy to shelter one's self from the evil liberal menace.

And gaming seems a great place for it. There's already a site for pretty much everyone. There are news sites for Sony fanboys, Microsoft fanboys, Nintendo fanboys, Steam fanboys. There are (gaming) news sites for the PC Gaming Master Race and the Filthy Console Peasants. There are news sites for social justice warriors and MRAs alike. For women, and for people who think women should get back in the kitchen lest they incur rape. I find it hard to believe if one is so horrified one cannot find their own niche site to coddle their politics.

But then, I'm not even sure the sentiment is true. "Liberal bias" has been this battle cry for people not hearing what they want to hear for the last 20 years, to the point that Bob Dole and John McCain have been accused of being RINOs. So when I see claims of a liberal media (news, gaming, Nashville), it's hard not to look at it as a complaint that people aren't getting their way. For comparison, see the debate on video games causing violence. Studies that back up a notion of a link are automatically false and studies that disprove a link are lauded as reliable by gamers, and the flip by--to use as nice a term as I can--watchdogs.

And nobody gave a shit because he's working for the Antediluvians that run the Republican party IRL anyway.

Maybe this is all part of upholding the Masquerade.

 

[Kuredan]

I love how large swatches of the world see the world in strictly black and white... with each side thinking they are on the white. Life isn't black and white or even grey- It's a rainbow of colors with little bits above and below our visible spectrum. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." as they say. I also think it's interesting how people are politically typecast by their hobbies. "You like nerd stuff so you must be an X" or "You like science so you can't like religion." These are arbitrary rules by arbitrary people: forget about them. Like what you like and believe what you believe so long as you don't force others to the same. So long as they aren't hurting anyone, what does it matter? There's enough garbage in the world to get enraged about (The Ukraine anyone? Syria? Let's dust off that old chestnut.. Darfur? Anyone? Bueller?) so picking apart a person's political affiliation should be last thing on the list, right below preferred pizza toppings (If you can't agree on that, just get another pizza, jeez. I know the coupon is only good for 1, but suck it up. It's like an extra 12 dollars so everyone needs to chip in at least two bucks more. Crap, we forgot the tip. Who has the tip? I don't have the tip. Because I have a twenty that's why. No! We are not giving quarters. It's demeaning, I'm telling you.) Anyway, I digress. What was I talking about?

 

[IceForce]

Please stay objective in your articles Escapist.

I also don't get why people are suddenly up in arms about the "objectivity" of Escapist news stories. In fact, people routinely seem to like the editorialising the News Room does. There's this apparent pattern where people only come out and start chastising them when they editorialise (or merely quip, in some cases) on certain topics.

It's because, in those other cases, people actually agree with the quips.

I just wonder if flagrantly insulting (even if in a childish way) another average forum goer is grounds for a warning?

Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

And it's quite funny if you consider that mentioning a certain web browser add-on, is often more rigorously moderated than blatant insults are.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Can we please stop referring to these as "news" articles? These are clearly editorials, and should be labeled as such.

Not that there's anything wrong with editorials, but it would be constructive to properly categorize it.

 

[Strazdas]

So, an editorial political advertisement in the news room now. Looks like regular advertisement isnt enough anymore.

What does that have to do with ANYTHING here? Would anything change if he was a practicing Muslim? Do Jews enjoy being harangued over their choice of hobby? Would there be any particular difference if "Mormon," "Red Sox Fan," "Pro Wrestler" or "lesbian?"

This is a candidate for election in US speaking. Of course it matter. In US mentioning your a christian = automatic charisma stats increase.

Unless it's been edited

It has.

Yeah, the sad fact is that much like the media at large, the gaming press is pretty much all on the left. I don't know about you, but can anyone name any gaming site that so much as sits to the right of Engles? Actually, I don't even want a conservative gaming site. I'd just like to be able to go through one day without having some smug liberal shove their holier-than-thou attitude in my face. Especially when it comes to gaming...which is one of the things I turn to to get away from said smugness. That's all I'm asking for. I mean, can't conservatives and liberals at least agree on ONE thing that doesn't become a political football?

I support Jim Sterlings opinion on this subject. Most of what he does is as centristic as it comes and it takes special kind of extremist to think its left or right wing stuff. And while this article was leaning pretty much left, that sort of was intention seeing as it was political advertisement. Escapist on the whole however isnt leftist, and there are plenty of right wing news outlets. I think the misconception comes out of US. Mainly because you imagine that you have a left party. You have a right wing party and an extremist right wing party. However from your point of view anything less than extremist right is left, which is where the misconception comes from.

 

[Murais]

And nobody gave a shit because he's working for the Antediluvians that run the Republican party IRL anyway.

Maybe this is all part of upholding the Masquerade.

I mean, they do a shit job, then. You seen some of those pallid corpse fucks? If they ain't Nos, they're ugly as sin for any other clan. And I guarantee half their voter-base is ghouled. Either Absimiliard has finally knocked his cobwebs out and gives zero fucks, or we're about to see some full-on Justicar-consented purging soon.

 

[Tom_green_day]

I love being English, it means I have no idea what Americans are talking about when they argue about politics. Nor do I care.

 

[razer17]

(if not for the voters of Gainesville, who are essentially arguing about which Republican to send to Washington to ruin the country),

Meanwhile, I am keenly aware of the irony in defending the hobbies and privacy of a man whose chosen political party is devoted to the precise opposite behavior. Fortunately, I'm sure this ridiculous episode will encourage him extend the same courtesy to other peoahahahahahahah. Just kidding. [http://www.jakerushforcongress.com/issues]

Considering how much I've seen this site's news stories mock Fox News, this is ludicrous hypocrisy. I actually agree with what you are saying, but when you work on a site that regularly calls out other news outlets for being biased, this sort of post is ridiculous.

I understand that most news isn't 100% free of bias. However, usually they're a little more subtle. This is why I come to the Escapist less and less for news. When you're being this biased, how can you be trusted to report the news? I still read editorials, and watch the shows, but the news I'll get elsewhere.

 

[RedRockRun]

"if not for the voters of Gainesville, who are essentially arguing about which Republican to send to Washington to ruin the country"

There goes your objectivity, pal. Don't you think it's hypocritical to bash small-minded people for ridiculing LARPers and then turning around to ridicule all Republicans just for being Republican? Can't you just talk about what's going on in this story, or if you have to take a side make it one of "Open-minded people vs closed-minded witchhunters"?

 

[Amir Kondori]

This guy deserves to be condemned, not for this creepy roll play stuff, which I don't have a problem with, but for his politics. I sure as hell wouldn't vote for him.

 

[Sarge034]

I just browsed through the Escapist COC and this "article" breaks something like half of them so... reported. If a normal poster had put this up I'm sure it would have gone down shortly for being "intentionally inflammatory".

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/codeofconduct

 

[Scorpid]

I suggest you keep your political opinions out of news posts. they are news posts not editorials.

First, You are silly to post this!
Second the 'editorial' bit is clearly offended that the hobby he most identifies himself with and its various crossovers of the fanbase is being treated like they're a bunch of, punch drinking, satan worshiping, blood sacrificing cultists with ill intentions. And since you are on this site and bothered to make an account for yourself I would imagine you at least understand where he might be coming from.
Third, this isn't the new york times nor even IGN where the idea of having opinion on gaming is not limited to just 'CoD, best game ever?'.
FOURTH the idea of actual important life changing news as unbias is a myth and can't be done unless you get it from a primary source. Like say watching Cspan where the unblinking and unthinking camera has no opinion and you are not asking it to witness and digest it then compare it to its own knowledge to give you the facts that are the most important in a given event which thus makes that an opinion no matter what.
Fifth! and final. You know that this is an absurd case and thus there really is no relevant 'well what does the otherside think so that viewers can have the most important information made available.' So why bother demanding one here?

Calm down kid and let me explain.

I understand the thrust of the article and that supports my point all the more. The reason for the post is that role playing is being less demonized than it was before. There is no reason for him to put his political opinions about how he dislikes republicans. It's not part of the discussion, it's irrelevant to the discussion and thus unnecessary. Look at the comments, more posts are about his political leanings than the actual topic of the post, and thus making the post less effective.

And I know that it is impossible to be completely unbiased, but you can be less biased. There was no reason to say things like "(if not for the voters of Gainesville, who are essentially arguing about which Republican to send to Washington to ruin the country)".

You're right he should show more consideration to calling a spade a spade. I'll rephrase, GO ROSSALINCOLN YOU'RE THE BEST! I don't know why a party that is so hypocritical, they, much less anyone else, don't bat an eyelash when caught... daily. Only some democrats with their knowing snickers or exasperated sighs care at this point. Most democrats aren't awesome but at least running a actual government is on their list of priorities.

EDIT: I of course mean nationally. Locally republicans get more sane but living in a right to work state makes them still nasty.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

As a practicing atheist I wish people would stop fucking using their belief in God to imply that they are sound people that value fairness and tolerance. If anything I've probably seen more of that from atheists if I had to choose between the two, and the more you reinforce that being religious is a point in your favour, the more of an obstacle you are to it not mattering in elections, which it shouldn't.

As for the rest of it, it's not a matter of letting it, some people look down upon people with hobbies like LARPing and gaming. Those people are fuckwits in most cases and you're better off not chasing their vote. If the point is that they're be less fuckwits as they die of old age, that's probably true, but there'll always be some people who want to judge you on completely irrelevant things like hobbies, religion, sexuality and gender, and those people should really reconsider how they choose who to vote for.

 

[IceForce]

I just browsed through the Escapist COC and this "article" breaks something like half of them so... reported. If a normal poster had put this up I'm sure it would have gone down shortly for being "intentionally inflammatory".

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/codeofconduct

Yeah, that won't work.

The forum rules don't apply to employees of The Escapist, (not that I've seen, anyway).

 

[Albino Boo]

"if not for the voters of Gainesville, who are essentially arguing about which Republican to send to Washington to ruin the country"

There goes your objectivity, pal. Don't you think it's hypocritical to bash small-minded people for ridiculing LARPers and then turning around to ridicule all Republicans just for being Republican? Can't you just talk about what's going on in this story, or if you have to take a side make it one of "Open-minded people vs closed-minded witchhunters"?

Don't you know only liberals really think. Only liberals are intellectuals. Only Liberals understand the needs of their fellows. Fundamentally, lurking under the skin of every liberal is an aristocrat who believes only the best people should be in charge, i.e them.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Urg, guys I get you're a gaming website and it's expected that your biased towards gaming and other hobbies similar to it but as other people have said don't put your political opinions into your articles. It makes this site look even more like a sensationalist tabloid than it already is.

 

[shadowmagus]

I'm glad this guy stood up and said "yeah I'm a gamer. What about it?" It's nice to see.

In other news, the more I read articles by this guy, the less inclined I am to read more.

 

[MrMan999]

How much do you guys want to bet that the guy plays a Ventrue character?