On the PC Master Race and the Language Police

Strazdas

Robots will replace your job
May 28, 2011
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C.S.Strowbridge said:
So let me get this straight... A gamer website said that people should stop using Nazi terminology to describe themselves and in response these people double-down on the Nazi imagery. (Google PC Master Race Flag if you don't believe me.)

And in response... Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw is siding with the fucking Nazis.

What the fuck happened to Yahtzee? Or was he always like this and I only recently noticed this?
The problem with this and the Politically Correct Gamer website article is the same. Neither of you seem to understand that the term destroys nazi terminology, not supplements it.

Also thanks for the flag image. though this one is better: https://www.google.com/search?q=troll+pride+world+wide&tbm=isch

These guys had the flag for decades now.


MarsAtlas said:
I think "PC Gaming Bourgeois" is a much better counterpart to "Console Peasantry" than "PC Gaming Master Race" ever was, as not only does it contrast better, but "Bourgeois", to me, is much more obviously self-depricating, as Bourgeois has never been used as a positive identifier.

Thoughts, anybody?
I think PC Master Race is the best term there will be and no amount of whining is going to force people to change language. it didnt work for soviets it wont work for a few bloggers.

Also the current hierarchy in PCMR is PC owners are kings. heres the image:


NuclearKangaroo said:
hence the fact right now it keeps being substituted steadily by the term "mustard race".
The correct term is Pea See Mustard Rice, because Consoles need to Ketchup.

Also the term "mustard race" originated from youtube comments as an attempt to insult pc gamers as well.

Aesir23 said:
Explaining why the consoles are a bit shit is fine. It strays into elitism territory when some PC users forget the concept of preference, act as if console users have a mental deficiency, or act as if console users are holding back gaming as a whole.
The concept of preference is not exactly what you think here. you can prefer to drink buffalo urine, but that does not preclude us from making fun out of you drinking urine.

Also a lot of console users do act like they have a mental deficiency, though admittedly far less in these forums where that is usually moderated out.

As far as console gaming holding gaming back - absolutely true. you dont need to go far back, just look at how the lack of memory in last generation pretty much killed AI an everything else dependent on RAM on every title released for consoles.

Silentpony said:
A quick Google search shows that an X-Box 360 cost roughly $180-200. A decent price, actually. Little pricey, but I'd pay it.
But a top-of-the-line AlienWare Desktop? $5,000.
So if Eastern Europeans really needs to play The Witcher III on a $5,000 rig, then truly God bless you. I'll make do on a 360(Waiting a month or two extra, to be fair), and do something else with my extra $4,800.
please tell me your just baiting.

A PC that will run games at the equivalent of 360 will costs just as much as your used 360 costs here. and noone who cares at all about where their money are going buys Alienware, ever.
A rig to run Witcher 3? My 700 dollar one will run it just fine, and at better graphics than your 500 dollar Xbone.

Johnny Novgorod said:
Thanatos2k said:
But....a PC does every single thing better than a console.
There's no universal answer to gaming. Each medium has pros and cons.
Pray tell what pros do console gaming has?

And yes i am asking only to shoot every argument you're going to produce down.
 

Magicite Spring

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Strazdas said:
Pray tell what pros do console gaming has?

And yes i am asking only to shoot every argument you're going to produce down.
The major pro for me is that my PS4 will be able to play Bloodborne and Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, aka, the two games I'm looking forward to the most this year, which is something no PC will be able to do.
 

Kingjackl

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I like that after he made good points on the futility of getting roped into futile debates on the internet, the comment thread is turning into a futile PC vs Console debate on the internet. Good job guys, that wasn't even the original point of Yahtzee's column, or the original PC Gamer article.

The more I think about it, the dafter it sounds that the term "PC Master Race" could offend someone based on some tenuous link to the Nazis. Again, the problem is with certain elements of the culture, not the language, and the culture is not racist, just elitist.

I like that Yahtzee is going for the Mel Brooks defence on this though. That was a good end to a pretty fantastic column.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Strazdas said:
Johnny Novgorod said:
Thanatos2k said:
But....a PC does every single thing better than a console.
There's no universal answer to gaming. Each medium has pros and cons.
Pray tell what pros do console gaming has?

And yes i am asking only to shoot every argument you're going to produce down.
Then why bother? :)
 

Teoes

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Jun 1, 2010
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The arc of comments in this thread couldn't miss the point of the original column more if they tried. As for that original PC Gamer article, what a load. As is fairly common with these sorts of things (i.e. not necessarily with all things): if someone takes offense at something, the fault can (and should) be easily laid at the the feet of the one and not the thing.

Has anyone linked the Stephen Fry or that Aussie comedian's comments on offense, yet? Probably about time that was done (again).
 

VanQ

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ZiggyE said:
micuu said:
I've only ever used the term in self-deprecation. Are there people who actually take "PC master race" completely seriously? Because I've never met them.
I came here to post this. The term "PC Master Race" has always been used self-mockingly by the community, using inflated hubris for a giggle, in much the same way Yahtzee first used the term. I don't doubt they believe themselves to be playing on a superior platform, but they take that to the extreme as a community so people don't take them too seriously and they can have a bit of fun with the whole thing. I don't believe there's anyone out there who seriously considers them to be a part of some master race because they predominantly play on PC.
Not to mention that when using the term, even jokingly, there is always one or two guys that will show up and shower thread in butthurt. So some people use it ironically to troll people and as always, someone always feeds the troll.
 

Biran53

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Apr 21, 2013
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All I know is that it only seems practical to get my potential future children a console first. What are they gonna do with a desktop Gaming PC? Plus I anticipate that the games of consoles will still have a decent variety of less mature games. Damn, I hope Nintendo's still kicking 15 years from now.
 

BrockAly

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Yahtzee, you beautiful creature. May your imps forever be impish, and your heros forever charming.

I was afraid, going into this (despite everything I've learned about you over the years), that you would indeed take offense as the masses wanted. Like you, I saw nothing worth getting worked up about - though the thought police aspect of it put me off as well.

I think you've handled the whole thing marvelously. Saying your piece, and then calmly tucking it back down into the rest of the bog of nastiness it crawled out of.

You have earned a great amount of respect from me today, Sir.
 

reverse_rpm

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Yahtzee, don't try to make "the PC Ubermensch Club" happen :) It's not going to happen :O
Lighning doesn't strike twice in the same spot.
 

Scow2

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The_Darkness said:
Thanatos2k said:
But....a PC does every single thing better than a console. It's completely closed the gap on things that consoles used to do better, and even exceed them in many areas: for example, the time it takes from inserting a disk to starting to play a game has vastly increased on consoles to the point where it's faster on PC - they have lost the "plug and play" benefit completely. You can easily play PC games on a couch with a controller now.

That's why people can argue that PCs are a better medium unironically at this point. PC Master Race is used ironically and unironically at the same time, to inflame the ire of console fanboys.

Attacking the language used has become a pathetic tactic growing all the more popular over the last few years, and you know the kind of people using it. When you can't argue with facts, just attack the language used and say the people using it are wrong! Then you don't even have to attack their actual argument because they're meanie heads.
I disagree. Consoles still have one major advantage:

If I buy a game for a specific game-console, that console will play it.
I thought the advantage was in local multiplayer.
 

ND

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I believe a considerable part of the joke is karma - back when Yahtzee first used the "PC Master Race" joke in his video, there was quite a lot of drama and hubris floating around along the lines of PC gaming being either dead or dying and so back then the self-proclaimed console fan boys would wade in to take turns poking the supposed corpse that was PC gaming.

...and then PC gaming didn't die :)

So nowadays what we see is a complete reversal of the situation above where it's now consoles that are painted as being dull, broken, stagnant, obsolete, etc and PC's are the new realms of the latest and greatest innovations and technology. Add to that how much it seems to annoy all the console fan boys and well, it ain't too hard to see why the term has become so popular.
 

Ishal

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Oct 30, 2012
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It's funny that people take issue with it, because really, it's telling on a few levels. It's harmless. And to be honest, I don't think the topic would come up, or would have had a genesis to begin with if people didn't continually insist that consoles are better (as in performance/speed). They aren't. Period. Simple As. The catch is, objectively better on a spread sheet doesn't mean someone will still want to choose that option. It's a platform for entertainment, and if someone wants what a console can offer then that's what they'll buy.

I think this quote sums in up nicely.

Unlike Lolcatz, Borat, and doge, the ?PC Master Race? is something only gamers would understand. It?s something outside of popular culture, and for good reason: the moment it became popular culture someone would get offended by it. It?s a joke. No one takes it seriously, unless you really do believe you are a ?console peasant?. Which is stupid, since there are a good majority of PC gamers that have consoles, me being one of them. I just would prefer if every game on consoles were on a PC. They?d run better, look better, and control in whatever way I wanted.
 

Ishal

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Vault101 said:
oh for crying out loud has he played ANY games within the last 3 years+/?
I mean, yeah... yeah he has. It's kinda his job. Particularly the always under fire AAA games where the so called "problems" are. Strange that he doesn't see anything "pernicious" huh?

you wanna tell me its progessiville central?
No, far from it. But it's not misogyny-ville central either.


oh how reasonable/middleground/sensible of you
Shit, man. I know. It sucks when sensible people don't want to join my particular echo chamber.

honestly I think Yhatzee's correct to not talk about social issues, its not his area of expertise
Nor is it yours, or 2/3 of feminists.


Look, Vault. I know where you stand on these issues. That's your prerogative. But when you come to a yahtzee article of all things and blame the man for taking the middle ground, and not taking a side, specifically your side... well, it looks kinda bad.
 

Itsthefuzz

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Ishal said:
you wanna tell me its progessiville central?
No, far from it. But it's not misogyny-ville central either.
I thought that was the point Yahtzee was trying to make. No one was arguing that video games are the vanguard of progression, but they're far from the bastions of women-hate and racism that some subset of people try to make it out to be. Not sure why this guy is all in a huff about that.
 

Scars Unseen

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Thanatos2k said:
C.S.Strowbridge said:
So let me get this straight... A gamer website said that people should stop using Nazi terminology to describe themselves and in response these people double-down on the Nazi imagery. (Google PC Master Race Flag if you don't believe me.)

And in response... Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw is siding with the fucking Nazis.

What the fuck happened to Yahtzee? Or was he always like this and I only recently noticed this?
I think you got it wrong. Here's a more accurate summary:

A gamer website said that people should stop using a joke because it offends them, and in response these people double-down on their mockery of the PC Language Police.

And in response... Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw is siding against the PC Language Police.
Or as you could say, the other PC Master Race. Goose stepping as softly as possible, so as not to break the egg shells.
 

Casual Shinji

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All this talk generally boils down to is the ever childish 'My toys are better than yours XP', which I got more than my fill of back in kindergarden. So yeah, people never grow up.

I'll just take extra joy out of knowing that my playing on consoles pisses off so many people.
 

hermes

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micuu said:
I've only ever used the term in self-deprecation. Are there people who actually take "PC master race" completely seriously? Because I've never met them.
Lets see...
(Moves to the last page)

Ohhh... right :(
 

Phourc

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Not to interrupt the lively pc versus console debate going on in this thread, but I'd just like to say the original PC Gamer article was just... really bad. I don't understand how it got spread around so much in the first place.

It reads more like an opinion piece that links to... one other person on twitter who dislikes the term. Oh, and one of the nine rules in the associated ("pleasantly welcoming") subbreddit reminds people it's not actually about racial superiority. The first rule says no harassing, does that mean the whole thing is secretly about harassment? Bad example, this is still the internet.