Over on Return of Kings, one brave gamer dares to ask the question of our age: What will the world look like after the inevitable triumph of GamerGate?
I know, I know, just humor him for a few minutes. Because he has a rather, well, revealing notion of what triumph will look like, and it’s not one that’s compatible with the #NotYourShield propaganda that GamerGaters use to disguise its retrograde goals. Greendestiny, a veteran of TheRedPill and KotakuInAction on Reddit, sees in the video game “war” a new opportunity for gamebros to become Game Men:
It is my personal belief that, after GamerGate, video games will evolve to become a tool for raising a new generation of men. Our current education system fails horribly at providing real information on how the world works, what motivates people, and how to get laid.
Our education system is a disaster! Can you believe that not one college in the United States offers a major in Getlaidology?
More importantly, it pussifies men and turns them into starry-eyed believers in the Disney variety of life and love.
Huh. You know, there’s a cultural critic who’s made some interesting videos challenging the sexist tropes you can find in Disney movies and elsewhere in popular culture. Her name is Anita Sarkee… oh wait. Never mind.
The entire concept of sitting quietly and reading is meant for girls. Boys need the fight, the challenge, competition, and a test of their strength.
So why exactly are you trying to convince guys of this in a post you expect them to sit down and read? Shouldn’t your blog post be a video game or an arm-wrestling contest or something?
Games were always learning tools. Now they can become a tool for learning greater masculinity.
If by masculinity you mean “the proper sequence of buttons to push that will enable you to pull off an awesome combo.”
To become real men, boys must overcome challenges and find the true strength in themselves. Whether this is done in a virtual or real arena is irrelevant. By creating games that are consciously aimed at presenting a proper challenge, we can collectively make the world a better place for the next generation of men. And possibly help them get laid more.
“Hey, babe, I bet you didn’t know you were sitting next to a Level 90 Fire Mage.”
But seriously for a second: Yes, video games do teach gamers certain skills, and even something about the value of persistence. But why are the skills involved in, say, shooting dudes with maximum efficiency in Call of Duty any more intrinsically valuable, or “masculine,” than the skills involved in doing this?
I had to look up that leapfrog incident, but yup, it’s real. And the author of the book on it also calls it immature.
And yeah, I’d really like to see how these dudes would function in a real post-apocalypse, should one ever come to pass. I’m guessing they’d win Darwin awards at the hands of more than a few women who took exception to being “owned” by a would-be Mad Max.
I know this is beside the point, but it sounds like he mixed up modern art with contemporary art. Since PUAs tend to fail at biology and history it’s not a huge surprise that they fail at art too.
Yup, I read about the leapfrog incident in Francois Billacois’ book The Duel: Its Rise and Fall in Early Modern France.
Bouteville ended up on the block for his constant flouting of the law, btw. Sent the nobility into a collective screaming hissy fit, a man of their rank actually being executed for that.
Yes, he did! There’s quite a difference between, say, Picasso and Damien Hirst. So yeah, PUA is a shallow thinker on all subjects (including that one, which isn’t even my strong suit, but even I know the difference). Big shocker there, eh?
Heh. Just like the shrieking from PUAs, MRAs and GamerGomers whenever someone points out how empty all their arguments for preserving the status quo are.
Kind of makes me nostalgic for the headsman, that does…
Very similar, Bina! I can never get over how often they went through that cycle – dipshit commits treason, gets arrested, gets decapitated (sometimes very messily, like Chalais), nobility has screaming fit about being expected to obey the law, rinse and repeat. They never did get it through their spoilt-brat heads that Louis meant what he said and, unlike his father, wasn’t into leniency for people trying to assassinate him or his chief minister, or start rebellions. It’s amazing how often those fuckwits tried the same thing, and it never worked.
Off topic. Is everyone else enjoying all the white male tears over the Star Wars teaser featuring a woman and a black man? Because I sure am!
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–OCR3Perz–/19dyysx9ik4pygif.gif
Oh my dear paws and whiskers, yes. Yes I am.
@M., you make a good point and as somebody on the spectrum, socializing IRL often didn’t go well for me as a child but the computer was a good way to make friends. I think the internet has been a boon for a lot of people with disabilities to improve their social lives.
However, there is a bit of truth to the notion that gaming for 10 hrs straight every day and avoiding other pursuits is probably imbalanced and unhealthy. Sometimes your goals are just different. There’s a lot of different things that I wanted and couldn’t have because of this disability but I’ve had to find my own way in life and be satisfied with what I do have. But if I had a child who was neurotypical and perfectly capable of social learning I would not allow him to be cooped up all day pulling 12+ hrs of screen time. I would definitely put him in structured social settings until he learned to play well with others.
Also, it’s not clear what the first poster on this subject was referring to. I think games where people work in teams are very different socially from non-network single-user games, especially ones of the more masturbatory or repetitive-addictive ilk.
WWTH, I knew nothing about that, but now I do – yes, I am pleased. 🙂
Rats. I can’t see the image in the OP. It may be because I’m on my phone.
Someday I’ll get my hubby to help me make an avatar of our kitty. Meanwhile, a quilt block is obviously better than a lot of things I could be!
Do you have any pics of your kitty on your computer, twincats? Because if you get a Gravatar account (free) it’s dead easy to make one.
Also, as someone with a mood disorder I feel like 12+ hrs of repetitive games played indoors day after day would induce depression and exacerbate an existing one. No sunlight, no exercise, you never accomplish anything, you’re sitting, you’re in physical pain from being hunched over the controller, no social interaction. It sounds like Hell.
And if you are being treated for a mood disorder already like a couple of people I know, it’s a good way to sabotage your treatment plan. Seen it happen.
Evercrack and WoW are also good ways to flunk out of college.
Some people–many people–can game or gamble in moderation. But just realize these games are designed to be addictive and some people have emotional problems, un-dealt-with-drama, anxiety or other mood disorders, etc, that make games a black hole.
Lots of people can drink, smoke pot, take cocaine, drop acid, etc with no problems (or few problems, or they can have a problem and fix the problem). Lots of people can’t do any of those things. Ever.
People are all different. Is my point.
This is the latest 8-chan gamergate Op:
https://archive.today/WQX5S
They are going to try to act like progressives to befriend anti-gamergate people online and then use what the anti-gamergaters say against them.
I’m sure it will work just as well as all their other operations where they try to act like they care about social justice.
They’re going to try and cause the “SJWs” to fight with each other. I’ll bet all that happens is the undercover GGers will just accidently start fighting with each other instead of real “SJWs.” It’s a pretty common sight on Jezebel for one misogynist troll to pose as a straw feminist and then another troll, unable to figure out the difference between a real and a straw feminist will start arguing with the first troll.
Sure, but that would probably be true for any activity you did for 10 hours straight every day. If you worked out that much, for instance, you’d be seriously likely to get injured.
My favorite quote from that thread
Such delusions of grandeur that they still think they’re going to put Gawker out of business. And that they think trolling feminists on Twitter is some sort of dangerous super spy mission.
@wordsp1nner: Lol.
They don’t even realize that all the top sikrit undercover stuff they try to pull proves beyond doubt that what they really want is shit – otherwise they wouldn’t have to do it so covertly.
Or that their little fakes are incredibly obvious.
Yeah, and it isn’t like any of the Mamotheers have to provoke the manosphere into saying terrible shit. They do it all on their lonesome. If you have to make your enemies do terrible things, maybe they aren’t so bad at all?
re: Getlaidology, they actually used to have something like that for women. There were schools of manners and comportment for making young women attractive to potential husbands. Their academic coursework was comparatively light. These places produced fairly useless and shallow graduates, if Jane Austen’s portrayals are any indication. These guys have already mastered useless and shallow, so I don’t see the point in spending all that time and money.
XD
There is a spectacular amount of projection in this sentence since no other thing on earth fails more horribly at providing real information on how the world works that RofK. If the gamer gators fall for this blatant pandering and actually start read RofK en masse, it may create some sort of black hole of pure aggravated ignorance void of any good ideas or successful thought.
Also, one of Brianna Wu’s dogs might be dying, and gamergators are harassing her over it. 🙁
She posted this video on her Twitter, though:
Really, guys? You’re going to use the fact that someone’s pet is sick to bully them? Look at your life, look at your choices.