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?
So, a site is pretending to review and report on computer games with the express purpose of doing so purely to shill an ideology.
What was that about keeping social issues out of gaming again?
@Buttercup:
A third-person asswiper would be worse. 😛
Another Commodore 64er here, remember Activision as well as EA?
And this was pointed out to me as an example of neutral journalism in gaming, enjoy: http://www.polygon.com/forums/the-legend-of-zelda/2013/9/10/4665866/ocarina-of-time-the-objective-review
*snorts coffee @JuiceBro Lawyer*
@Mwa – Serious question: Is Destiny worth playing if you can put 5-10 hours (absolute max) into it per week?
Buttercup Q. Skullpants, great, now I have to explain why I’m laughing really loud in the office
How terrifying. They might have to put up with the narrative of… errr.. uhm… eeeh.
Well it’s like in Bioshock: Infinite where sometimes the antagonists fielded female soldiers, because the game randomly generated NPC models from a set of basic models (as all games sort of do) and that set included female models. I tell you, when I was running around shooting lighting from my hands across the alternating interprations of different timelines all intersecting in a giant floating city in the sky held in the air by some quantum mechanism, it reallybusted my immersion that sometimes the enemy had a female soldier.
—-
Snark off. That’s what I don’t get. What “narrative” is it people stand the chance of being subtly and insidiously exposed to, here? How exactly are SJW memes warping the entertainment industry? “Women are people too, so they’ll also be included in the pool of possible enemies” or “Hey, it turns out a minor NPC is gay” isn’t bloody earth shattering stuff.
What “narrative” is it people stand the chance of being subtly and insidiously exposed to, here?
Well, the point of diversity in gaming isn’t just to continue doing the same old boring stories but with more chicks, is it? It’s about telling other kinds of stories too, that don’t revolve around the Great White Male. And that does change the narrative. Take the Dragon Age games for example, where there are so many shades of grey and which take place in a world where same-sex love is generally accepted.
Good, because I got tired of fanboys telling me how to do my job. So it’s great they’ll just meet somewhere to make misogynistic speeches freely. It makes perfect sense to me that he makes it clear from the start that they’ll just be ignorants talking of things they know nothing of. Points for honesty?
Besides, this means that they’ll stop crying “Sarkeesian is not even a gamer!” every time, right? Because they have ethics and no double standards. At all.
And the “it’s been prooved the threats were all false” ranting evidenceless claims will most likely finally stop as well, as I could expect no less of them.
… Right?
Uh… doesn’t this guy know of IGN already? Late to the party!!!
What about any non-cis men? And how does the “female attractiveness” filter work? Nevermind, I don’t think I really want to know any of that.
“Freedom of speech” for commenting… depending on your gender and appearance.
In a way, this is awesome, because I got tired of blocking people on social networks and reading disgusting and triggering trolling. So I’m rather happy they’ll have another hate island of theirs to go to rant of their fantasies of “misandry” and “ethics”.
strivingally:
There is not enough popcorn on the planet.
Well, you see, it’s because video games are for men, inherently and unalterably. NOT FOR WOMEN! These dudely dudes are just trying to keep THEIR hobby pure and free from feeeeeeemale taint, while TEH GURLS are – by definition – interlopers trying to ruin it!
I think that’s how the “logic” goes.
@Proxieme
Yes, it is an easy game to jump in and out of. I have a weird work schedule that leaves me relatively free for weeks and then absolutely buried and unable to play at all for weeks. Because you can play Destiny in a non-linear way, it is easy to jump in and out of without losing your place. For this reason, I find it really difficult to complete games with more structured plots because I will often forget the mission I was on or do things in the wrong order.
Also, that “The 3 Best Video Games In The History Of Gaming” article reads like it was written by someone who has literally never played a game before.
Such analysis. Wow. Clearly intended for an audience of super hardcore gamers.
Also the lack of even cursory proofreading:
Honestly, if this is the level of commentary they’re hoping for in their SJW-free utopia, they’re welcome to it. I’ll stick with Kotaku and Polygon.
@AnnaB
I imagine it all comes down to cooties, which apparently are no joking matter in the US.
Fibinachi:
“Women exist”?
WWTH, that article is a thing of beauty. Cracked doesn’t always get it right, but when they do, it is awesome.
@tinyorc
So the level of coverage they’re aiming for is as follows?
“It is a game. It has characters in it, and also chocobos/treasure/many guns. Try to kill the big boss to win.”
Wow, I can sure feel my mind expanding.
@ cassandrakitty – I felt that, too. Unfortunately, I suspect it is actually a stoopid-induced CVA.
…well, as long as he keeps it about ethics in gaming journalism…
Exactly. They think gay men all play the “female” role during sex, and therefore, that makes them de facto women, and thus “not men” and “inferior” and blahblahblah. Shhhh, nobody tell them that gay tops exist. As do gay guys who, you know, take turns.
Oooh, he wants people to submit articles?
Quickly, mobilize the parodists!
Anita Sarkeesian says something once, years ago, about not fitting the traditional definition of gamer, and she is “not a real gamer” and therefore GG claims she can offer no meaningful evaluation of video games.
Roosh, by his own admission, has not gamed for YEARS — not even at the most casual level — but there’s no problem at all with him starting a games site.
Got it.
Also, all the lols at his appropriation of feminist language and comment policies, while demonstrating zero real comprehension of what they mean or why they work.
You mean there wasn’t any place for me, as a man, to discuss video games on the Internet?
I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.
Obviously there is only one thing I can do now.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/49c35091e4d9d2716c7d32d7f0328f7a/tumblr_mj88inc4aw1rnzcl1o1_500.gif
@Bina
Wait until they realize that some cis hetero couplings involve woman-as-top/man-as-bottom.
How do they fit that into their incredibly narrow worldview?
Kootiepatra:
This has been a bit of a running theme for the poor old gaters. CH Sommers is their Based Mom despite the fact that she hasn’t played a videogame since the 80s, by her own admission. Milo Yiannopoulos and Juicebro Lawyer have both used the “fat basement-dwelling loser” stereotype to attack gamers in the past – you know, exactly the kind of bullying GG claims to stand against – but now they are mysteriously reformed and all is forgiven.
It’s so weird. It’s almost like they literally don’t care about your gaming credentials as long you agree with them.
Oh no wait, that’s exactly what it’s like.
Holy hell, I just checked in on the proposed GG Wikipedia article again. Someone has crossed out every single “achievement” in the Advertiser Pullout section and just written “Rewrite this entire section, Jesus.”
This is the gift that just keeps on giving.
@Mwa – So it’s a lot of loot farming + short side quests?
I’ve read that a big complaint is that its main story is sparse, but you’re looking at someone who milked local co-op play with her husband on Bl2 from release day through release day of The Pre-sequel so that’s not a huge issue.
(Thanks, BTW – I could ask my brother, but all dude does is play so he’s coming at it from a very different place.)