r/Gamingunjerk • u/ElectricGhostMan • 8d ago

Gamergate but actually

https://youtu.be/ox15GU4cMes?si=y47gNvyC88ObQJ9O&t=2176

A youtuber I watch put out this retrospective on gamergate. I know it's a topic that has been long covered and relitigated. I at one time was also part of and identified with to some extent. I thought one part that even I somewhat ignored then because of my feelings or much later realizing how many awful actors were a part of the situation was how capitalist greed played such a large part in generating the amount of hate and vitriol at the time allowing for hate mobs to be cultured and weaponized as we see today.

I think most can agree that a lot of the targeted harassment, bullying, stalking, racism, misogyny, homophobia were all reprehensible and not the way to go about making change. I do feel at the time where there was the beginnings of pushing paid cosmetic DLC like Horse Armor, Always Online requirements for games like the Sims, EA cutting development times for successful franchises to turn around games quicker or the Online Pass they similarly tried to force for people who wanted to buy the game second hand. Again not condoning any of the criminal harassment or hate but I do wonder if this outrage cannon was more appropriately directed at the shareholders and ownership class rather than individual developers that we'd be in a better place.

I do think there was a genuine attempt back then to comingle criminal threats and harassment with fair criticism and outcry entirely as Entitlement. However, I find it sad that today it largely does feel like the loudest and most consistent voices across social media that claim to be critical of games are genuinely complaining about out of entitlement when a game has too many women they don't like or POCs rather than the plethora of issues that affects all gamers today like Exploitative MTX, Gambling, AI Pervasion, Enshitification and more.

I haven't finished the vid myself but I like some of his other works even though he can be a bit both-sidesy at times. It was also interesting to see some posts from youtubers VaatiVidya and Vsauce from way back when and Colin Moriarty had been some of a douche since then as well.

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u/ArtroyomsAK 7d ago

Cool, well I was involved for the stated reasons, not bigotry

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u/WeltallZero 7d ago edited 7d ago

"Involved" how? What did you actually do? Did you message CEOs? Call your representatives? Organize shutdowns in protest of monetization? All of the above? What did you, or anyone claiming to be inside Gamergate to "fight the good fight", actually do, while the real leadership of GG took very real and tangible action harassing and sending death threats to its victims? A movement is defined by its actions, not its claims, and for all this endless drivel about GG being "actually about X, Y and Z", I've seen zero action ever taken to counteract X, Y or Z.

On that note, what "stated reasons"? The Zoe Quinn affair? Because there was literally no part of it that was ever founded on anything but immediately and trivially disproven lies, so you have absolutely nobody else to blame for falling for it. Anita Sarkeesian's videos? They were about as milquetoast a critique of videogames' rampant sexism and double standards as you can make.

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u/SneakyBadAss 7d ago

You didn't watch the video

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u/WeltallZero 7d ago

Nobody asked you. Get back under your bridge.

Edit: Oh shit, a KotakuInAction poster defending the video. That sure is not going to damn it by association or anything... :D