Worlds are colliding: Roosh Valizadeh, the reactionary, woman-hating pick-up guru, is starting a #GamerGate inspired game site, just as #GamerGate itself is descending into a morass of mutual recriminations and generalized douchebaggery.
Reaxxion – the title presumably a reference to Roosh’s neo-reactionary political views – doesn’t seem to have officially launched yet, but it is up, and looking a bit threadbare at the moment, with only a handful of articles posted yet. Billed as “a safe space for gamers who support #gamergate,” the site is an obvious attempt to cash in on #GamerGate anger. Roosh’s timing is a little less than perfect; he’s jumping aboard this money train as it seems to be derailing.
Roosh introduces the site in a post that is one of the most inadvertently ridiculous things he’s ever written. He begins by introducing himself, boasting about the page views his sites generate. And then he writes this amazing paragraph:
I have written well over one million words, but less than 2,000 of those have been taken out of context to paint me as an extremist, misogynist, and rapist, accusations that my friends, family, and women I’ve had relationships with can’t understand. I must state that I have never once committed assault against a woman or been accused of assault, but … such accusations are being used as weapons to marginalize speech.
Well, since he brings it up, I might as well quote the 311 of his words that have been, er, “taken out of context” to “paint [him]” as a rapist. In his ebook Bang Iceland, he recalls one of these. er, bangs:
While walking to my place, I realized how drunk she was. In America, having sex with her would have been rape, since she legally couldn’t give her consent. It didn’t help matters that I was relatively sober, but I can’t say I cared or even hesitated. I won’t rationalize my actions, but having sex is what I do.
The context for this passage? A book offering men advice on how best to manipulate women into bed, in Iceland.
Anyway, back to Roosh’s amazing little introduction. After some more complaints about the alleged evils of the SJWs, Roosh drops this little confession:
I’m not a gamer
I’m starting a video game site even though I haven’t played video games seriously since the year 2000 (Starcraft was my jam). I don’t even play mobile games. I won’t blow smoke up your ass by pretending I’m a gamer or have a deep commitment in furthering game technology.
Huh. A dude who couldn’t give two shits about gaming is starting a site to capitalize on #GamerGate. ETHICS, yo!
So why, aside from sheer opportunism, is Roosh starting the site? Well, as he sees it, he’s doing it to stand up for the rights of the truly oppressed.
I aim to protect the interests of heterosexual Western males, a category I’m in.
How are these poor creatures being oppressed? Well, as Roosh sees it,
The far-left is trying to censor and criminalize masculine behaviors that are normal. They want to relabel consensual sex as “rape” and relabel innocent flirting as “harassment,” and as I learned with #gamergate, they’ve successfully infected the gaming industry and gaming journalist sites by damaging the very nature of gaming development to fit their extreme political agenda. So while I don’t play video games, the idea of starting a pro-#gamergate site is compatible with my overall mission.
Apparently he wants to make video gaming safe for … date rapists? Sorry, date consensual-sex-that-has-been-relabeled-as-rape-havers?
He tells the sad story of his younger brother, an actual gamer who likes games with stories to them. If the evil SJWs get their way, Roosh warns, his poor brother will have to endure game narratives that include, you know, girls.
The infiltration of SJW’s into gaming may mean that my brother will have to put up with their narrative in his games. It may mean that his entertainment options become more limited because a developer was subtly threatened unless he inserted another “empowered female” in a game where such a character simply doesn’t fit.
We wouldn’t want to limit his brother’s choices, huh? Like the choices available in Grand Theft Auto V, in which players can switch between three different protagonists, none of whom are icky females.
Roosh acknowledges that he’s got an ideology of his own, but assures readers that he won’t impose it on them like those terrible SJWs do.
[I]f you don’t don’t agree with ROK, that’s fine, because Reaxxion will not try to jam ideology down your throat like the existing gaming sites. We won’t tell you to go to the gym and live in Eastern Europe to sleep with thin women, behaviors that I currently engage in.
But dudes, you totally should go to the gym and move to Eastern Europe to sleep with thin women instead of those uppity Western fatties. Just sayin.
Heck, Roosh’s site is so committed to not shoving ideology down anyone’s throat that it has a special page setting forth a list of prescribed “Reaxxion Community Beliefs,” which include:
1. Men do not become more violent, sexist, or racist because they play video games.Gamers should not be shamed for a hobby that does not cause harm to others.
And:
7. Heterosexual men should not be shamed for enjoying things designed to appeal to heterosexual men. There is non-harmful entertainment value in traditional story lines involving masculine men and feminine women.
Gosh, nothing ideological here!
And since Roosh isn’t going to try to push his ideology on anyone, his site will presumably extend its welcome mat to everyone, huh?
Oh, wait.
Our goal is simple: create a safe space for heterosexual males who play video games. We won’t exclude homosexuals or attractive women from commenting on our articles, and we sincerely hope they find value in what we have to say, but understand that this site will be written by male gamers for male gamers.
Oh.
It aims to be a place where men can be themselves without SJW infiltration, judgement, and influence. In the year 2014, surprisingly, there are very few spaces for men online where their message isn’t attacked by white knights, man-haters, and SJW’s. I know an unmet need when I see one.
Finally, men’s voices will at last be heard!
And unlike some gaming site, Roosh’s Reaxxion will be all about ethics. Heck, he’s even got an official Ethics Policy setting forth how totes ethical his site will be. For example, he pledges that Reaxxion
won’t attempt to ruin individuals or companies. Any critical story is based on facts and properly sourced. We don’t publish articles with the intent to incite a mob.
So, no ruining or mob-inciting. I guess that’s better than the alternative.
We don’t bully, harass, threaten, SWAT, or dox anyone. Contact us if you see such activity in the comments.
Wait, what? You feel the need to announce publicly that you won’t SWAT people? That is, you won’t maliciously call 911 and report an imaginary crime in order to get a SWAT team sent to your victim’s house? Is this something that happens at other game sites? I mean, does Kotaku regularly send SWAT teams to harass makers of games they don’t like?
We will not publish clickbait with the intent to outrage. Authors will have 100% belief in what they write. Contributors who are found to be “trolling” will be blacklisted.
Yes, the dude behind Return of Kings, the publisher of pieces declaring that tattooed women are “broken” and offering “5 Reasons To Date A Girl With An Eating Disorder” is telling us that he’s not going to publish “clickbait with the intent to outrage.”
Anyway, Roosh apparently feels he’s got all he needs to run a totally kickass gaming site for cool dudes. He’s got a publisher – himself – who knows nothing about gaming. He’s got that ethics policy. He’s got a stable of expert writers … oh, wait, about that. Apparently he might be a little light on writers.
[S]end us your submissions. We want you to inject your DNA, your ideas, and your stories into Reaxxion. Instead of trying to silence you like the other sites, we want to make your voice louder, even if you are not a “professional journalist.”
Yeah, there’s no possible way Roosh’s site could turn into a complete fiasco that embarrasses everyone involved in it. Or is there?
I still don’t understand how being given the option to play as either a man or a woman takes away choice rather than adds it.
I need to learn how to use this interface properly, but I’m pretty sure kittehserf just hit the nail right on the head. “Bingo!” was the first thing that came to mind right after I read that.
That said, I’m still hoping for the combustion.
(Darn WordPress keeps defaulting to my other account. StudioKagato is me, as you’d probably guess.)
NINJA’D.
It’s really interesting how this bunch of geese keep demanding their personal views be held up as the objective.
Like, it’s beyond cognitive dissonance. Many of them have so fundamentally internalized a worldview that they don’t feel the need to hand wave away the obvious contradictions in their demands. The dogmatic certainty would be awe-inspiring if it weren’t so vicious and insipid.
I’m reminded of a younger me adamantly asserting, “I don’t have an accent, dude.” (Read that in a central Californian clip. Hell, read it in any accent that tickles you.)
@magneisum, I just wanted to say that I love the way that Mike Whatshisface is universally and unironically known as Juicebro Lawyer.
@Rob Christie
I’m new to this site so I don’t know if there is a recommend feature for posts but you sir certainly win an internet for that comment!
Thanks, Rob Christie – and count me in on wanting to see some spontaneous combustion there. 🙂
Oh, and for all you new commenters who haven’t had one yet, here’s the Official WHTM Complimentary Welcome Package – lots of pics, info about html, stuff we try to avoid (ableist or gendered terms, and the like) and background to some of the in-jokes that float around, like Scented Fucking Candles and Whore Penguins. (Yes, a famous troll really did say female penguins are whores. But then he called pretty much anyone who breathes and isn’t male a whore, so there is that.)
Here’s another great one from that “Community Beliefs” page.
Um…no. Video games do not constitute “values and beliefs,” they’re a hobby. “Gamers” do not share a common set of values any more than people with an interest in woodworking, astronomy, or archery.
And really, that’s been the whole point of this exercise – that “gamer” is a ridiculous and out-of-date phrase that fails to acknowledge that it’s not just one homogenous group that plays video games. I’m not even necessarily talking about age, race or gender here. Even within the angry young white male demographic these assholes claim are the only true “gamers,” there’s still not a lot of common ground.
Put it this way: That one lonely article that’s up on that site claims that the best games ever are Metal Gear Solid, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7. That’s a very conventional list, with an almost by-committee feel. Nevertheless, I could easily find people who disagree with any or all of them. Like me, for example (I hate Ocarina of Time). Point is, there are specific subgroups within the larger group who would have their own very predictable Top X lists, and there wouldn’t be too many titles in common.
@Mewens: Of course their views are the objective, the mean. After all, they’re the True Hardcore Gamers (TM) and their opinions are the only ones that matter. We know that they are the True Hardcore Gamers because they play True Hardcore Games (TM). And we know that those are True Hardcore Games because filthy casuals don’t play them. We can identify the filthy casuals by the filthy casual games they choke down, and we can identify the filthy casual games because True Hardcore Gamers won’t touch them.
What is this “tautology” thing of which you speak?
Thanks Kittehsurf (hope that quote worked), good to get the tour!
Now there are more articles! 1: “A Gaming Website for Gamers Is Now Taboo”. Awww, wah!!! 2: “Why Does It Seem Like Everyone Is Speaking Out Against GamerGate?” And my answer to that question is another question: Why does is seem like no one in GamerGate matured past middle school?
I’m not even gonna archive.today my hatevisits because I legitimately want this site to limp along for a while. It is WAAAAY too funny not to encourage.
I had a brief ‘conversation’ with their ‘Ethics Officer’ about whether they have an ‘editor’ to go along with an ‘ethics officer’. It was kind of great.
https://twitter.com/SBRoberts10/status/532606004132065280
(go to the full tweet to see the conversation in its precious entirety)
Count me as a dissenter. I also disagree with the whole concept of saying “best 3” for anything subjective. It’s comparing apples to oranges a lot of the time, especially with how quickly game technology has changed.
And I’ll echo everyone else in saying that his worry that his brother’s (currently expansive) entertainment options *might* be limited in the future, while ignoring how limited everyone-not-like-him’s options are is GG self-absorption and selfishness perfectly crystallized. Maybe he really should be the new face of GG.
Well, on a completely unrelated topic, I would like all gamergaters to try out my official GamerGate Snake Oil-guaranteed to show those uppity SJW’s whose boss-it’s YOU! The boss is you! All with a bottle a day of my official(tm) Gamergate Snake Oil.
This is not, repeat NOT, your everyday Snake Oil with the word “Gamergate” written in permanent marker. Nope this is a perfectly designed Snake Oil to suit the unique needs of the GamerGater!
Order now! Order in bulk! Because you know that SJW’s will be trying to ban such a product as soon as they hear about it!
I have been playing a lot of Destiny lately, and it offers a range of male and female (and cyborgish) characters. It seems to have solved the problem nicely. In addition to this, the characters are covered head to toe (armor, spacesuits) most of the time so most characters look similar anyway. I like to play video games and this simple offering of character choice in no way limits anyone.
Snrk. Yeah. Gamergate is starting to resemble a game of Dwarf Fortress in the early stages of a tantrum spiral.
For those of you not familiar with the game, Dwarf Fortress dwarves are essentially living bundles of muscle, hair, and barely-repressed rage. When things start to go badly for your settlement, it’s only a matter of time before one goes berserk, which usually leads to further problems: For example, Urist McCarpenter gets caught out in the rain, which causes his frayed nerves to snap; he throws a tantrum and smashes one of the beautiful bas-relief murals in the dining hall. This causes Urist McEngraver to tantrum — she worked long and hard on those murals! — and she promptly turns on the nearest dwarf, who happens to be Urist McCook, and beats him to death. The sudden and violent loss of her husband berserks Urist McCook’s wife, Urist McFisherdwarf, who reacts by setting herself ablaze and punching, kicking, and biting everything she can reach. Meanwhile, Urist McCarpenter, unable to bear the sorrow of having been rained on, kills himself, causing his friend Urist McMiner to mourn in the traditional dwarven fashion: A killing spree of his own. Now you have no cook, a smashed dining hall, and at least three dwarves on murderous rampages (one of whom is setting shit on fire everywhere she goes)… and your fortress probably isn’t long for this world. Thus the dwarven maxim “Losing is fun.”
So, yeah. That’s how gamergate is starting to look… and like Dwarf Fortress, there’s a sort of perverse wonder in watching them tear themselves apart.
The difference, of course, being that getting rained on is a more rational spur for a rampage than “they put girlz in mah vidyer game AND THEY DIDNT DO THEIR SHIRTS OFF.”
It’s worse than that. He’s complaining that there will be one less game where the ONLY choice for playable characters is white straight men.
Shouldn’t his brother make his own games?
I agree with those upthread, He seems really excited to have identified fresh marks with deep pockets.
While obviously that’s good since there is no reason not to do it, I really like games with a strong story where the main character is important, not just an avatar for the player. Most of the time you could probably just swap out the physical appearance of the character and leave the character and story mostly unchanged, but making it a choice for the player rather than the devs makes the character seem kind of arbitrary for me. You know what I mean?
What’s hilarious is that without a hint of irony, some Gators have been complaining that Brianna Wu’s game, Revolution 60, will only let you choose female player characters. Yeah.
Slightly OT but deliciously schadenfreude-ish: the past few days there’s been some aggro directed towards Wikipedia for their “biased” coverage of GG (in the same sense as everything else, ie. if it’s not fawningly approving of GG it’s “biased”). So what does Wikipedia overlord Jimmy Wales do?
He’s asked the Gators to write their own Wikipedia article.
I know you’ll be shocked to hear this, but it turns out there’s almost no agreement between GGers about what the cause of GG was, who’s been harassed, whether or not harassment has even happened, who is “pro” or “anti”, who the leading figureheads in the movement are, etc etc etc…
As one Redditor puts it: