Yesterday, I wrote about Vox Day’s extravagantly evasive — yet highly revealing — interview with David Pakman. But the interview also featured a few striking moments of candor. One of these came when Day — a sometime gave developer as well as the biggest asshole in Sci Fi — offered his answer to the question: “What is Gamergate really about?”
Suggesting that the issue of “corruption in game journalism” was little more than “the spark that set the whole thing off,” Day declared that
what Gamergate is fundamentally about is the right of people to design, develop and play games that they want to design, develop and play without being criticized for it.
Which is an. er, interesting perspective, as there is in fact no “right” to be immune from criticism.
If you write a book, if you make a movie, if you post a comment on the internet — you should be ready for it to be criticized. Because that’s how free speech works. That’s how art works. And that’s how ideas work.
Criticism — whether it is positive or negative — helps to sharpen ideas and make art less self-indulgent; it pushes creators to hone their craft and expand their vision of the world. And it helps the consumers of art not only to look at art with a more critical eye but also to appreciate it more fully, by helping to draw out the more subtle meanings of this art and to put it in a broader cultural (social, political) perspective.
Of course, neither the artists nor the consumers of art are required to listen to this criticism, but they have no right to demand that such criticism be eliminated.
But Vox is right in one sense: the elimination of criticism is in fact is what #Gamergate has been about all along — or at least the elimination of criticism aimed in their direction. Indeed, that’s what most #Gamergaters mean when they talk about fighting “corruption in game journalism” — shutting down those writers and publications that have dared to critique the prejudices of a backward portion of the gaming universe that is hostile to any challenges to the status quo ante — particularly from women with opinions different from theirs. That’s what drove the outrage over the “death of gamer” articles last Fall. And that’s what has driven “critics” of Anita Sarkeesian from the start.
Speaking of which: If you want to see how testy Gamergate types get when the criticism they lob at others gets turned back in their direction, even in jest, take a look at Jordan Owen’s new video responding to a post I wrote a few days ago gently mocking Owen’s recent plea for more money to fund The Sarkeesian Effect, the alleged “film” he and far-right Anton LaVey impersonator Davis Aurini are allegedly putting together.
Owen has devoted much of his life over the past several years to attacking Sarkeesian, a woman whose main “crimes” in the eyes of her detractors have been that 1) she raised more money than she asked for to produce a series of videos looking at sexist tropes in video games, and 2) that she’s taken longer than originally planned to put out these videos (which is largely because the extra money she raised has allowed her to research these videos more thoroughly and increase her production values, but never mind).
Yet Owen is outraged that anyone would even gently tweak him and his partner Aurini for going over budget and missing deadlines on their own film. Of course, Owen and Aurini are planning on charging their Patreon supporters more money at the end of the month unless these supporters specifically opt out; Sarkeesian herself never even requested any of the additional money she received.
In his video, Owen also compared me with Bill Donohue of the Catholic League which is, er, weird. But hey, it’s his right to criticize me, no matter how ineptly.
Here’s the video, if you’re interested. Alas, he did not film it in his famous bathtub.
A LOT of people have been saying that they need to adopt the model that Nexus has, which is to encourage people to donate to the modders directly. Nexus doesn’t get a single red cent of that money. Whatever you donate, the modders get.
Hence why I think I’m going to have to uninstall all my workshop mods. : /
I’d rather go to Nexus and get my mods there.
I mean, shit, I bought a SECOND copy of Skyrim just for my PC so I could play mods! That was the biggest reason! (The other reason was I misplaced my XBox disc.)
Pelagic has never played Papo & Yo. Papo & Yo was the fucking designer’s heart on a sleeve, man. Play Papo & Yo in it’s entirety and come back and tell us games aren’t art!
Oh, if you guys want a good game that has a really emotional storyline, I’d recommend Spec Ops: The Line.
Most people thought it was going to be another COD-knockoff, ‘Murrica!, patriot-wank style FPS, but even people who hated those genres loved the hell out of SO:tL because it turns that entire genre on its head.
Though, the whole pro-military, patriot-wank genre has its own political issues, which always gets me when Goobers are like “No Politics in gaming! We want to play COD in peace!”
I’ve also been watching some of my favorite Let’s Players play a horror game called White Night, which is beautifully designed in its visual department.
It really plays on the “Black and White”, “Light and Dark” theme. You’re a guy who was drinking and driving around the time of the Great Depression in America, and you crash your car after you veer to avoid hitting a woman.
You go to a mansion off the road to call for help, and you discover the dark past hidden in the house.
I just don’t understand how people can continue to say games aren’t art. Art is such a massive category and games fit within it very easily. Games are art, and games contain art, music, story, visual art, art art art art ART!
@Paradoxical
I got the Elder Scroll Anthology (for $26, which includes shipping and handling I might add) so I can use mods too, when I get around to it. I’m currently playing through Dawnguard storyline which I never played before so, yeah. Mostly a map mod would be nice.
I’m also going to play Morrowind soon, too, when I’m finished with Skyrim. I dipped my toe into it and it’s really good so far buuut I got distracted by Sexy Skyrim. Morrowind has a real learning curve to it as well. Two of my characters died before I even got out of the starting town (and saved). Well, one died in the starting town when I picked up something I thought wasn’t owned, and the other got wiped by a bandit in the first bandit cave I decided to try out.
I have to say, I actually quite like that there’s no quest compass. I wasn’t sure how I’d fare without it. It would be nice if the next ES game could be played without it as well. (But THAT won’t happen pffft.)
Oh gods, I was playing Morrowind, and I was talking to a Kajhiit (I kind of wish that they got to keep their more animal-like legs, now that I think about it) who was telling me about a mage upstairs who had a magic belt.
Me, becoming momentarily stupid by mention of shiny magic treasures, took my level one self upstairs to pickpocket the mage.
They noticed, summoned a daedra, and attacked me. I managed to kill them and pick up the belt, only to notice that they had drained my strength to zero. I couldn’t move unless I was buck-fuckin’-naked.
I figured this was just like Oblivion and my strength would return to me. I waited five minutes, and nope. Nothing.
I ran around like an idiot in my underpants trying to get people to help me. Eventually I tried cheating in alchemy items that restored strength, but no matter how many I ate, my alchemy level was too low to have the items do anything to help me.
Eventually, I cracked open the console and set my strength back to normal because there was no way I could have carried on like that. 😐
FRIGHT NIGHT! WOOO!
@Spindrift
*facepalm* Totally forgot about music in my games are art rant.
Fifth) Games are carefully constructed soundtracks and leitmotifs to create certain emotions and show where safe/not safe place and when certain people or enemies are near (which can also create emotions).
I mean, high-pitched radio static at night gives me the chills like you wouldn’t believe.
Paradoxical Intention writes “We’ve decided as a society that those things are bad, so we’ve moved on from them. We’ve “evolved” in a cultural sense.
So who is this “We” stuff? You and couple of others? “Just decided”? Is this the Totalitarian Left? who preach “tolerance and diversity”? What a bunch of Hypocrites!
Traditionalists did not sign on this program of yours. “You’ve evolved”? Right, belonging to a genocidal death cult is “evolved”?
So we are out to persecute those who haven’t “evolved” is that correct?
Traditional Western Culture rests on virtue. And one of the first Virtues is Righteousness. The psuedo-Aristotlian defines the virtue of righteousness as “to preserve ancestral customs and traditions and the established laws”. As a Western man, I am constrained to hold onto Virtue. There is nothing of evolving here. All you are doing is evolving into Marxist soldiers.
In the act of your evolving, you are busy tearing down and destroying Traditional society. So you are in essence engaged in destruction. Cultural destruction of patriarchy and masculinity.
From the Wikipedia page on Critical Theory: “The Frankfurt School’s work cannot be fully comprehended without equally understanding the aims and objectives of critical theory. Initially outlined by Max Horkheimer in his Traditional and Critical Theory (1937), critical theory may be defined as a self-conscious social critique that is aimed at change and emancipation through enlightenment, and does not cling dogmatically to its own doctrinal assumptions
It is Social Critique. You are not at all engaging in Game Critique of Vox Day but SOCIAL Critique. You are trying to demean, tear down, deconstruct anything that is of Traditional Western Culture in order to come to some sort of “emancipation”.
Morality is not about minimizing harm. Morality is about The Good. Doing The Good. And part of that is about Obeying the ordinances of God. What you are doing is attacking the Will of God thru your ideology of freedom. Yes, Freedom from God and Freedom from the Natural Order that God created.
So us Traditional Western people do NOT subscribe to your evolved program. We don’t accept your terms.
Second, this “I’ve never seen “racism” in animals.” by Paradoxical Intention is a joke.
Ant colonies of the same species fight each other. Lion prides, Wolve Packs. Gorilla and Chimpanzee troops fight each other. Ever watch National Geographic? Racial prejudice is everywhere in the animal kingdom. And no exceptions don’t make the rule. Hell, I watched dairy cows pick on another cow that looked like a deer! Racial prejudice doesn’t exist in animals? That’s ludicrious.
@Banana Jackie Cake “*facepalm* Totally forgot about music in my games are art rant.”
Easy to forget some, there’s just so many artistic elements that can go into making a game!
I didn’t think that gamergaters could get any more overdramatic. Now, mocking Vox Day – who is known far more for bad writing and bigoted opinions than anything to do with gaming – is the equivalent of burning people at the stake? Huh?
Who wants to bet this troll thinks women are all emotional and irrational and he’s a supremely rational and logical being on account of being a man?
@Paradoxical
HAHAHAHAHA! Aw, man, that’s great. I mean that in that it’s funny and that it’s just so goddamn brilliant from a gaming perspective, too. Newer Elder Scrolls should have penalties like that. Of course, they’ll also have to have a better criminal system than Morrowind or Skyrim has, too, because draining all your strength would suck on top of being arrested and shit. I mean, people would have to directly inform the law of what’s happening to get arrested–you know, like, I’m not even gonna get into it.
But, man, it would still be great–
OH OH OH OH
A lax guarding perspective would work GREAT in Elsweyr as Khajiti culture doesn’t really acknowledge stealing as “stealing” but more like borrowing. They can even get rid of that stupid system of just picking up an object to move it causing everyone to freak out and think you’re stealing something and have it be whether or not the character who owns the object wants it to be “borrowed” or not!
Of course, IDK about the law with the Aldmeri Dominion in Elsweyr, so maybe the law is the same as Summerset Isle?
A good tumblr I follow has a counter-argument to the anti-paid-mods stuff:
http://askagamedev.tumblr.com/post/117259074616/my-main-probably-with-the-whole-payed-modding-is
http://askagamedev.tumblr.com/post/117200179771/what-is-your-opinion-on-priced-mods-on-steam-its
Highlights are that 75% of the money going to Steam is actually fairly normal for video games sold through that platform, and the $100 transfer actually makes it so that less of the total money is taken by financial services, and prevents mod-theft or bad mods from being profitable.
@deniseeliza
Ah, 75% is normal? Well, nope, sorry, horrible practice overall then. Nexus model seems the right one. Thanks for the links, BTW. Reading those right now.
Also, I hope everyone is ignoring a particular someone because now they’re just being an absolute cartoon character.
You forgot this??
Yeah, that is a safe bet, WWTH.
I am just sitting here eating popcorn while watching windy troll’s emotional meltdown progress. LOL!
I think it would be easier to explain basic concepts of societal agreements and rights and responsibilities of its citizens to one another than this troll.
And when I say Nexus model I mean the people hosting the mod get nothing. I personally wouldn’t mind modders setting a price for their mod, especially if donations aren’t enough.
You live in a very strange reality. Most ‘Western’ people, by and large, do agree that homophobia, racism and sexism are wrong. And are totes cool with accepting these terms.
wlindsaywheeler is ok, but I prefer t1oracle. That was some fine trolling. He even accused Mammothers of trolling him back because they were posting cat pictures instead of paying him attention.
Good times.
@katz
Well, one, I’ve never played a Civilization game–GAAAH DON’T HIT ME!
I just haven’t been a PC gamer for very long. Consoles have always been cheaper. It wasn’t until I got decent internet to download games online and when older PC-exclusives I’ve always wanted to play were updated for newer machines a la GOG that’s I’ve been able to PC game.
Uh, hate crimes are a thing, broski.
You can be charged, legally, for committing a crime against someone on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, religion, or race.
Pretty sure that means that means a majority of society agrees that those things are bad, mmkay?
And we mean “tolerance and diversity” as in “not being a jackass to other people just because we can”. Not “You can say whatever you want, and do whatever you want!”
And that’s why “traditionalists” are being left behind, throwing their tantrums like an embarrassing child in the cereal aisle.
And “genocidal death cult? lolwut?
No, we’re just out to mock them.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH.
You mean the patriarchy and masculinity that tells men they can’t be raped? The patriarchy and masculinity that tells men they can’t cry because it’s “feminine” and therefore “weak”?
You mean the patriarchy and masculinity that actually hasn’t been around as long as people have been around, but rather is more of a “new” thing? (Because female-led societies were a thing. Worshiping female goddesses is still a thing and has been for a lot longer than Christianity’s been around.)
Oh good, more clinical definitions.
I don’t think you know what “critique” means.
To “critique” someone is NOT to “Destroy or demean” someone, but to say “Hey, this is kind of shit and maybe you should stop doing it because of these reasons”.
No one is saying he should go die in a fire or something. We’re just saying we disagree with him.
ACCORDING TO YOUR RELIGION.
Had you read my post all the way through, I did mention I am pagan at the end of my first post addressing you. I don’t believe in your God.
Who died and made you God’s Spokesman? I didn’t vote for you.
Who died and elected you leader of the Traditional Western People? I didn’t vote for you.
But, if you want to get down to it: From one white person to another: if you’re American, and you’re not a Native American, you’re not a “Traditional American”.
That’s being territorial, not “racism”. That’s a group of animals defending their territory from other animals because they don’t want to share resources (food, space, females) with invaders, not “I don’t like you because of the color of your fur/where you came from”.
Male hamsters don’t like associating with other male hamsters because they’re solitary animals, are territorial as fuck and will fight one another. Female hamsters don’t like associating with males outside of their breeding season and will fight.
I wasn’t saying that these things were exceptions, I was saying that if your premise is true, and that humans MUST follow things that are natural, then why don’t we have more matriarchies or gay people? Or feeemales that mate with males and rip their heads off and devour them?
“Animals are racist!” is the funniest shit I’ve heard today though.
Wlindsay,
Calm down sweetie. We can’t talk to you while you’re all hysterical and emotional like this. You males are so fragile and irrational!
Maybe someone should explain to you that the religions who worship this God you speak come from the Middle East. These aren’t Western religions. So I’m not really sure why your waxing on about how wonderful western values are while also talking about the Bible. You might want to read things other than conspiracy theories and neo Nazi sites. Maybe you’d know this stuff.
@Windsaywheeler: Freedom from criticism is the very definition of censorship. No one has the right to express an opinion and not be criticized for it in return; to do so would deprive everyone of their rights to freedom of speech and expression.
Also, here in the United States, we light fireworks every 4th of July to celebrate the overthrow of “ancestral customs and traditions” like the monarchy and unelected despots. If our values weren’t allowed to evolve and change with time, we would all be living under authoritarian regimes.
Hey, you do you. That song is important, though, because it was the first video game song ever to win a Grammy.
@deniseeliza
Huh, yeah, reading those posts changed my perspective a bit. Maybe if Valve was a little more transparent of where that 75% is going I’d feel better about it. 25% still seems so little though.
Okay? This may surprise you, but no one is requiring you to do so, as long as you don’t actually physically harm anyone. You may be thought of as quaint, or foolish, or harmful, or stupid ignorant assholes who think other people don’t matter, but no one is actually stopping you from staying just as you are. If you want to stagnate like standing water, immoving and immovable, growing ever more poisonous as time goes on, that is your business as long as you don’t make it mine.