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#gamergate gamebros harassment misogyny oppressed men patronizing as heck twitter

Angry GamerGaters Telling Brianna Wu to Shut Up and Make Games, Not Realizing That's Already Her Job

Screenshot from Revolution 60, the game with women in it that Brianna Wu already made
Revolution 60, the game with women in it that Brianna Wu already made, dudes!

When women, in conversations online,  point out the ridiculously tiny percentage of video games that feature women as protagonists, they tend to get flooded with responses from indignant gamebros telling them that if they don’t like the games out there, they should just make their own.

The gamebros mean their comments to be conversation-enders. Just as Vivian James, #GamerGate’s imaginary girlfriend, tells game critics to “shut up and play,” these guys are telling critics of the retrograde gender politics in gaming to “shut up and make games.”

It never occurs to them that some of the women they smugly tell this to … might already be doing this.

One of the more entertaining aspects of following the Twitter account of much-harassed game developer Brianna Wu — known in #GamerGate circles as Literally Who 3 —  is watching clueless gamebros try this “argument” on her.

The whole thread is here if you’d like to see what an unpleasant fellow this Simon Wood really is.

Oh, but there’s more:

WU1

 

It never ends:

 

neverends

 

Of course, some of her, er, critics seem to realize that she already makes games. But somehow this doesn’t keep them from yelling at her to make games anyway.

https://twitter.com/mchugepants/status/524445877398544384

Others demand that she start making GOOD GAMES.

https://twitter.com/BABPEEGTWO/status/525769579595718656

(Huh. Seems like a decent number of people think the game she just releaased is good.)

And this demanding GamerGater wants to know why she doesn’t make MORE games.

 

moregames

Oh. That.

This guy apparently thinks that instead of criticizing the game industry, Wu should be personally training a new generation of girls to make games.

It must be hard to find time to make games with all these dudes yelling at her to make games. And then yelling at her more when she does.

 

 

 

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andiexist
andiexist
10 years ago

@Mary

…yeah, after reading the comments section, it’s not what you did so much as what you said, and calling the reaction of the regulars “reactionary wailing and gnashing” is a bit inaccurate. If you’re going to start talking about your parenting style (especially in lovely shades of teal) people are going to disagree.

Okay, done. Sorry if I’m accidentally resurrecting that thread, but it just seemed a bit passive-aggressive. Sorry again. (Is that too many sorries?)

Anyways, tell me if I’m being too necromancer or too teal. 🙂

Misha
Misha
10 years ago

@andiexist, I wouldn’t worry, you’re not the one resurrecting the thread of wank. This isn’t the first time Mary’s brought it up in a martyred ‘here’s an example of how badly I’ve been treated’ tone, and it’s passive-aggressive as hell.

@M the SJR,

That is genious. Steal.

Policy of Madness
Policy of Madness
10 years ago

Seconding Misha. You haven’t done anything, andiexist.

andiexist
andiexist
10 years ago

@Policy & Misha

Thank you for reassuring me. I managed to misinterpret something in another thread quite horribly, and so I’m a bit leery of having another communication fail. 🙂

strivingally
10 years ago

I know David’s already banned thr troll, but I can’t let this bullshit slide:

None of these people mentioned GamerGate, why is it that they are roped in with GamerGate? This just seems like tweets taken by random people to be used as more bait against GamerGate so Brianna Wu can be even more “harassed”(get more mentions among GamerGate because of her popularity and misguided hate of GG she and her followers have)

I’d like to note that I really respect Brianna Wu as a developer, and for wanting/fighting for more women in the gaming industry. But she actually has nothing to do with GamerGate except for when she and the media inject their agenda/narrative into it.

Fuck you. Seriously. Fuck right off into the sun. KotakuInAction, well-known GG rallying point, brigaded a local radio station because they dared to interview Brianna Wu. And when the station head told them to fuck right off because he didn’t negotiate with terrorists, they bullied him into apologising while explicitly missing the point he was making in the first place.

Brianna Wu has been a target of this whole mess and pretending that “Literally Who 3” means GG is ignoring her is really insulting the intelligence of people who’ve actually been watching this disaster unfolding for three months now and HAVE SEEN HOW THIS SHIT WORKS.

ignotussomnium
ignotussomnium
10 years ago

*A woman makes a post complaining about lack of representation in video games.*
GG: “MAKE YOUR OWN GAME AND LEAVE OURS ALONE”

*A woman makes a game.*
GG: “GET OUT OF OUR SANDBOX. THAT ISN’T A REAL GAME. WE DECIDE WHAT GAMES ARE.”

Bina
Bina
10 years ago

So much self-contradiction and internal inconsistency! It’s almost like Gamergate isn’t really about ANYTHING, actually!

YamaraTheGod
10 years ago

I paid for the full version of Revolution 60 and played it all the way through, and it didn’t make a single sammich!!

Everyone go buy her game, it’s fun.

kittehserf - MOD
kittehserf - MOD
10 years ago

I find the indifference of the world towards this obnoxious assholes disturbing.

Take it as a sign that the world at large failed to notice their presence.

Plus there are an awful lot of people who have zero interest in anything game-related. I wouldn’t have seen a thing about it if I didn’t read WHTM or Pharyngula.

wordsp1nner
wordsp1nner
10 years ago

It is too bad Revolution 60 is i-devices only, AFAIK. I only have Androids.

NickNameNick
NickNameNick
10 years ago

Most people who, when hearing criticism they don’t like, claim that the critic should “shut up and make it yourself!” have – being hypocrites lacking self-awareness – not actually done that themselves.

They assume that the way they enjoy it means they have some greater understanding of something than one who points out its flaws. Although, really, those who apply critical analysis to a work obviously have the respect to treat such material seriously. They might actually understand how to construct narrative and develop characters – whereas those who “turn off their brain” and simply consume it see it nothing more as a novelty and a distraction. The fact they have to get so angry over anyone like Sarkeesian making her videos, while never bothering to do something similar, says they’re incapable of enjoying Art on an intellectual level.

booburry
10 years ago

Plus it literally silences all reviews that are even somewhat critical, which makes no sense. I do not believe that these same people haven’t complained when their favorite movies/comics/shows were remade or when their favorite book became a movie. Apparently the proper response to any critic ever is “STFU and make your own version!!@#”. I would hate that world if it somehow managed to exist, which wouldn’t be possible.

booburry
10 years ago

Also, Mary, I mostly lurk but I have seen you bring up the previous argument a few times now, painting yourself a victim. I really don’t think that is a good path to continue down, especially if you’re not interested in rehashing the whole thing. Just my 2 cents which you can take or leave.

Deoridhe
10 years ago

I own Rev60. I love it. I’m going to buy it again when it’s ported to PC because she’s going to change the game engine so it’s fun for PC and OMG I LOVE THE GAME ENGINE IT’S SO FUN OMG OMG OMG

buy the game. Buy iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

NickNameNick
NickNameNick
10 years ago

Plus it literally silences all reviews that are even somewhat critical, which makes no sense. I do not believe that these same people haven’t complained when their favorite movies/comics/shows were remade or when their favorite book became a movie.

Because they’re solipsistic enough to think their personal standards are universal. So, only they’re allowed to glorify or degrade as they see fit and no one else is allowed to speak out of turn.

I wouldn’t be surprised if these same people who were FREEZE PEACH absolutists – who, ironically, see anyone disagreeing with them as “censorship.”

cassandrakitty
cassandrakitty
10 years ago

Get off that cross, Mary, it’s getting chilly outside and we need the wood.

On a more interesting note, I love when these dudes try to impersonate feminists. That’s not sarcasm – I really do love reading their attempts to present what they consider to be the feminist worldview, because they’re just so silly. For example, this.

This falsely so called ‘feminist game’ is actually a sexist depiction of womyn. The barbie-doll figures set unreal and unfair standards for womyn. Also by giving male players control over female characters it is intrinsicly a patriarchy violation of their bodies. So this game is literally rape.

Sorry, kid, but actual feminists know the word “patriarchal” and how to use it in a sentence. Strange grammar and, um, let’s just call is creative punctuation are angry online misogynist trademarks.

(It’s because English teachers are misandrists, as a former troll helpfully informed us. The poor boys are attempting jazz without ever having learned to sing Mary Had A Little Lamb properly.)

brooked
brooked
10 years ago

a patriarchy violation

You get a $300 ticket for your first patriarchy violation and they boot your car if you get a second one in the same year. Don’t get me started on what that does to your insurance rates.

cassandrakitty
cassandrakitty
10 years ago

Due to widespread implementation of the three strikes rule your third patriarchy violation lands you in Man Prison, where the worst punishment of all happens – no porn.

Kootiepatra
10 years ago

Anita Sarkeesian was a guest on the Colbert Report tonight. I’m now busy giggling at various online reactions that are indignant at how “biased” the interview was.

Seriously, gators… do you even know what Colbert’s show IS?

Michael Lindsay
10 years ago

I’d like to note that I really respect Brianna Wu as a developer, and for wanting/fighting for more women in the gaming industry. But it’s totally her fault that she like got targeted because she wouldn’t shut up dudebro.

Fix’d for what Gamergate really means.

aebars
10 years ago

When is somebody going to make a flash game titled ‘Social Justice Warrior’, where you play as a fat black lesbian who goes around telling fedora-clad gamergaters, MRAs, Nice Guys, white nationalists, objectivists, Tea Partiers, et. al. to check their privilege instead of shooting them, which causes them to scream and foam at the mouth before their heads explode? Davis Aurini, Theodore Beale, Matt Forney, et. al. would be the bosses, and it would end with you taking over the video game industry and forcing it to only make games with fat black lesbians as the protagonist.

Jesus Christ, that’d be the fucking bomb.

If anybody else has any further ideas for such a game, feel free to state them.

pallygirl
pallygirl
10 years ago

@aebars: that whoosh noise was the set of conversations on this blog flying over your head.

vaiyt
10 years ago

@aebars:
0/10

vaiyt
10 years ago

I could give a couple points for not misusing complicated words, but as a gotcha attempt that post was abysmal.