Update: Fez Dev Tells Media Member To Kill Himself

[Bat Vader]

It kind of sickens me that people actually believe that anybody "deserves" to get hundreds of angry, violent messages every day because they said something. I'm willing to forgive the people who for lack of thought decide to vent their anger on someone along with another hundred drones and leave it at that. What I'm not willing to forgive are the frankly crazy people who keep following, listening and viciously reacting to the same guy for months and years. What is wrong with you? If you don't like some guys opinions at least unfollow them on Twitter. There's a block button. Use it! If you really can't help reminding Phil Fish how much you don't like him day after day, I'm sorry, you are a total jerk with no life. Unless Phil Fish is actively making people's life worse by other means than cluttering their Twitter feed with arguments, surely the inteligent and healthy thing to do would be to ignore him.

These people are part of the shame of the game community. They are no better, in fact much worse, than Phil Fish and the fact we pretend their actions are harmless when they've forced someone to leave the industry they work in for the benefit of nobody is a disgusting example of the complacency we have towards the cancerous apathy that is killing this culture.

It's embarrassing that I have to be surrounded by people who have the emotional maturity of school children and watch as they gang up on whoever they can so they can give themselves a pat on the back. The fact that news writers (I'm not saying which) play along with this bullshit is pathetic.

The same could be said for Phil Fish too though. If the abuse from the people on Twitter was that bad he could have easily just stopped using Twitter, blocked said people that criticized him, protected his account, or had a friend or professional PR person handle it. Plus, from other examples people have posted Phil wasn't all that innocent and provoked people like when he called the people who bought FEZ for $9.00 ingrates. Insulting the people who bought his game seems like a surefire way to kill sales and make people dislike him.

That is such a ridiculous and backwards solution. The solution is no different than Phil's current solution of leaving the games industry altogether, the difference is merely cosmetic. If I don't want to be catcalled is the solution to not walk in the street?

I don't know how much of my post you even bothered reading. My problem isn't that Phil Fish isn't bad. My problem is that the thousands of people who attack him constantly are just as bad if not more considering the real harm they are causing by acting like a braindead lynchmob. I don't care how horrible Phil Fish was to you, when you join together with another thousand people just to make his life miserable, where I'm from that's called bullying and it's what you expect of dumb children.

I read your entire post. I have read all of the posts on this article actually. I have never insulted on twitter or spoken to Phil Fish. In fact,until I read this news article I never even knew who Phil Fish was. Just because other people and I may share the same opinion on the man doesn't mean I am joined with them. Yeah, abuse sucks and he had every right to get out of gaming because of it.

I just believe that he could have done things differently and still continued to make games.

I wasn't implying that You were responsible for abuse. Just for the record. I was just using that figure of speech. I'm don't really want to be making any judgements on Phil Fish's actions I just want to point out that I think people normalizing the kind of abuse Phil Fish has been recieving for years now is fucked up.

I understand. I was just stating where I stood on the matter. I have read of the abuse he has received. It is just difficult for me to understand why he didn't do away with Twitter when the abuse didn't stop and instead got worse. I have always found it easy to cut ties with things. I used to enjoy playing multiplayer in Call of Duty but after all the insults I received I started muting everyone. I would still sometimes get insulting messages from people after the game and decided to stop playing the COD multiplayer. I still play multiplayer in other games like TF2, Chivalry, and other games. Just not COD anymore.

I try to put myself in other people's shoes as much as I can but sometimes when I see a conclusion that is easy for me I don't understand why others didn't take it.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

Not only is he a guy who tells people to kill themselves, he's also racist and ignorant of one of the largest gaming markets today. I'm glad he's not in this industry anymore.

 

[Hazy]

-snip-
Not only is he a guy who tells people to kill themselves, he's also racist and ignorant of one of the largest gaming markets today. I'm glad he's not in this industry anymore.

It's astonishing how newcomers to the gaming industry can have a panel where they patronize other, more established game developers who are far more successful than themselves, and certainly ones that have more than a handful of games under their belts.

And let's not forget that they themselves borrow heavily from these bigger franchises to put into their games, in the vain of trying to show how unique and original they are.

 

[JoshuaMadoc]

Critics don't "ruin others", they criticize.

Since when was this a perfect world?

 

[lacktheknack]

The attack was over the twitter user calling out his hypocrisy in insulting a whole region of games when he can't release one game.

Also, I believe Fish was telling other indie devs to not participate in the IGF cause they were a scam or some shit, then he enters and wins(I dunno if it was the IGF or not).

From my understanding, not only was he trying to talk others out of showing up in the first place, he also tried to vote people out of it by claiming they had publishing deals with major corporations... while signing a publishing deal with a major corporation. And that's why Judas in the Team Meat games wears a fez.

O___O

My mind has been entirely blown.

Man, Edmund McMillan can be subtly vicious.

 

[Lightknight]

Eh, he was already showing signs of extreme stress and aversion to the kind of media interaction he was getting. The media poking him with a stick repeatedly was bound to create this kind of outlash at some point. Some kinds of reporters are just leeches. Some kinds are a true benefit to society in a number of ways. While I think telling someone to go kill themselves is distasteful, I at least understand Fish's frustration as a creator of things being insulted by one who was just tearing things down for personal gain.

Then again, I have no reference of Beer's work. I don't know what reporter he is beyond this circumstance. No do I really care enough to research what exactly was said here besides "blowfish".

Either way, Fish has some personal issues he needs to work out. He definitely places himself on a pedestal and such people deserve to be knocked down as callous as that may sound. But they should only be knocked down in the most honest ways possible.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Indeed. Especially in Fish's case, who gets abuse more or less constantly. Doesn't matter who you are, deal with that for a year or two straight and it wears you down. At this point his patience for insults is pretty much gone, so yeah. Totally understandable to see him react this way.

It's totally understandable but not totally undeserved. He's arrogant and rude to both his fans and his critics and expects the royal treatment for making a platformer with a gimmick, the indie equivalent to the multiplayer FPS.

 

[Reeve]

Personally, I admire Mr Phil Fish. He's inspirational, if you ask me.

 

[hutchy27]

He sounds like a horrible guy. Never heard of him before, I heard of Fez but never took my interest.

 

[Dragonbums]

I understand the man is suffering from depression yes? No?

In that case, Phil isn't doing himself any favors by acting like the egotistical prick he is right now.

I'm ignoring the whole interview thing in that indie movie. I can completely understand that behavior he displayed at PAX at the time. It is excusable on the simple fact that he was a one man team for basically a year with the only other help he had ditching him then potentially shutting down the entire game in his face because he- being an equal asshole in my opinion- refused to sign the contract for a game he wanted no part in but wants all the money for.

However, this is fucking ridiculous.
Really I(and to an extension the critic)would want to kill themselves after looking at their life and accomplishments and seeing Phil's?
Really?
Some people would look at your accomplishments and say "you know what? I'm going to be better than him one day." and they do it.
Just like Satoshi- after witnessing his childhood forests get paved for apartments said to himself "I want to make a game where kids can have that same experience I did when catching and trading bugs with my friends" ala Pokemon was born years later. His success led to other people to try to either be like him or best him.
Never though, did they say "hahahaha look where I am now, look at you. Why don't you go kill yourself you pathetic shit"
That's a bagful of shit and I honestly cannot believe why you still wonder why people throw hate at you on a daily basis.


I'm very certain that said critic is happy where he is. He's doing what he wants and making a decent living off of it. Probably a whole lot less stress free then yours Fish.
Hate to break it to you, but your reputation as an asshole is far exceeding your reputation as the creator of great indie game Fez, and I'm fairly certain many people on here would not want that kind of reality. Big hit game or not.
And you know what? Don't make Fez 2.
Don't.
Your call. From what I understand, Fez is the only game bringing in your income right now. You only made ONE hit game and when the fad dies you will be making the game.
Quit acting like your God's gift to fucking video games. These same people you denounce with virility are the same people that promoted your game so you have the privilege to sit on your high horse and act like a fucking demi-god.
It's not like he asked you an insulting question. Or rather, an even stupid one.
All the man requested was your thoughts and opinions about some indie dev policy on Xbox.
Seriously. Get over yourself and do a little self reflection why don't ya?

 

[Krantos]

im being attacked CONSTANTLY. and i can't fight back? ever? yeah that seems fair."

Welcome to fame.

What's wrong? Not as rosy as you thought it would be? Get used to it or get out. This is what fame is: Getting your every move critiqued and criticized. If you're hoping for universal popularity, you're never going to find it. No matter how good you are. No matter how great your contributions are, you're ALWAYS going to have detractors.

That's the nature of fame. At least you don't have paparazzi following you everywhere trying to catch a wardrobe malfunction.

 

[Dragonbums]

He didn't even legitimately tell the guy to kill himself. Anyone with two working brain cells could see he was just reciting a line from Futurama. It speaks to his arrogance, but can't be taken seriously as a death threat.

So the people who didn't catch the reference are idiots?
Even the ones who don't watch or moderately watch Futurama on a daily basis who would not get such a quote?

 

[BarkBarker]

You expose yourself to the media, you better be fucking thick skinned, get used to abuse, anyone in media has haters and people who will try and hack away at anything you give them, it's a unhappy fact but it is a fact nonetheless, get the fuck out of the limelight and DON'T HAVE A EASILY ACCESSIBLE SYSTEM WHERE PEOPLE CAN VOICE THEIR OPINIONS OF YOU, reminds me of the first twitter that David Cameron got.....it called him a wanker if I do recall, welcome to the freedom of the internet.

 

[Agayek]

For some, the answer is "why should I worry about other people's opinions of myself? They don't make me, I make me." While others actually care about how other people feel about them.

Personally, I fall into the second camp. It probably stems from my realization a while back that, simply put, the human race is just a bunch of copy-cats with very little true innovation made. Hell, even those that say they are unique and different are copying those that say the same.

It has nothing to do with public opinion. It has everything to do with being a colossal dick.

The point of my post was that Fish wasn't exercising ever the most basic forms of common human decency that governs our interactions with each other. And he should have. Not because it would make people like him more, not because it's the correct PR move, but because it's the right goddamn thing to do.

 

[Depulcator]

And nothing of value was lost.....see ya when you're strapped for cash Fish til then!

 

[Milanezi]

"To be clear, I'm not cancelling Fez II because some boorish fuck said something stupid, I'm doing it to get out of games. And I'm getting out of games because I choose not to put up with this abuse anymore."

Yeah... But that's exactly what you did after all... I mean he, caved in because he can't take criticism, he can't be on the frontline. As for getting out of games because of the abuse (of the industry and its implications I take it), well pal, you'll find life out there is pretty much the same or worse than what you're used to...

 

[Carrots_macduff]

this article is much too one sided, it barely mentions Beer's provocations and even shrugs them off by saying it was "sarcastic". Fish does enough damage to himself, he doesnt need journalists to help him with that.

this is very unfair representation of the story if you ask me, especially since Fish is so hated already

im not saying Fish was right to lash out but holy crap, the title just says fish tells guy to kill himself, no mention of provocation in anyway, and the article reflects that, from the author quoting only the tamest of Beer's comments, and writing off his insults as sarcasm.

one more escapist news contributor who has no sense of journalistic integrity. im gonna start going elsewhere for my gaming news

 

[Formica Archonis]

Not only is he a guy who tells people to kill themselves, he's also racist and ignorant of one of the largest gaming markets today. I'm glad he's not in this industry anymore.

Damn. Who are the rest of the chucklefucks on the panel? I want to make sure to adjust my opinions of the right people. I think I recognize one of them from being on some Rev3 videos but that's about it.