Fine. Here's an official statement for you.

You can't not get sucked into these things, can you? Try as you fucking might, no matter how much you might not want to get sucked into a topic, if they want you, they'll drag you in.



Just tried filming a Jimquisition with a brief explanation as to why I won't want to talk about stuff, but just ended up rambling for a show's length about stuff anyway. So fuck it, let's pull this thorn out here and now, and talk about Zoe Quinn and Nathan Grayson.



I was saving this for a video, but fuck it - I've interacted with Zoe online on and off, and always found her a fun person to talk to. I like her, and a LOT of what's been going on right now is, frankly, none of my business. I have zero interest in the personal life shit, in the gossip and the muckraking. Also, as a matter of full disclosure, many of y'all know I have been doing voice acting in certain games, and there has been potential discussion of me doing so for one of Zoe's projects. The whole thing slipped my mind because it was only casually mentioned, and there's no indication I'm doing anything, but as I think about it, there's a conflict of interest there for me that needs to be brought up.



As far as my allegedly invaluable opinion goes, though, I mostly echo TotalBiscuit - who I also like (yes, I like people on all sorts of sides here, shock horror!) - when he says there's so much shit flying around, and it's better to wait for cooler heads to prevail before trying to make any sense of it. I have been trying to communicate that for days, but apparently when *I* say it, it's a sign that I have no principles or spine, even though it's actually not the first fucking time I've waited for sense and reason to return in a particularly ghastly shitstorm.



The way I see it, there are only four elements to this entire mess that have any relevance to the topics I care about professionally - the idea of sex between journalists and developers as a form of corruption, the whole mess with the DMCA takedown notices, harassment, and the overarching issue of devs and media being friendly. I am not going to say any of those issues should be the real takeaway of the whole thing, and I am not saying they're equally important. I'm just saying they're the sum total of aspects I feel I should have ANY interest in.



On the topic of sex, here's an excerpt from a draft of that Jimquisition I plan to do WHEN we can look at this without our emotions going crazy:



"Sex is complicated, simple, important, and not a big deal at all. Sex is as complex as you want or need it to be. The big difficulty in discussing sex as it pertains to professional boundaries is that it so often tends to ascribe a single personal view on what sex is and should be to a wide variety of people, with a wide variety of ideas on the nature of sex. So, when we talk about sex as a conflict of interest, we have to understand that our own personal, uniquely personal view of it is coming into play.



... This is why, when it's suggested to me that I should stand against the idea as a form of corruption, I can only say this - I will take an absolute stand against industry sex as a form of corruption ... WHEN it's corruption. By that, I mean that it all depends on who is doing what and what they believe sex to be. This isn't cold, hard cash. Cash is a commodity. It's currency - literally. Sex is a currency when you *want* it to be, when you *believe* it to be. As I said, sex is as important or as unimportant as you want it to be, and I'm not about to say anybody's correct or incorrect. To some people, sex is this powerful thing, this crucial element of life. To some, it's so sacred as to be saved for marriage or, dare I say it, true love. For others, it's just something to pass the time, like drinking or chatting. And while I am in the latter camp, I don't think any particular attitude toward sex is invalid, provided it's a personal view that you're not demanding others obey.



"...I know some of you are wanting me to join the rallying cry in suggesting inter-industry sex is a scandal worthy of burning games journalism to the ground, but really, my brain just isn't wired to view sex, on its own, as a transaction, and I hope y'all would rather me be honest about that. I just can't bring myself to feel anything, one way or another, about who is fucking who. If I ever find out that sex is being genuinely traded for positive reviews, then sure, you have my axe. I see no reason to believe that's been the case lately, and therefore it's really not my fucking business."



That should give you an idea of what I think about that topic.



On the topic of takedown notices. People have a right to say what they want about all this, even if I may disagree. I've always believed in that. There are many YouTube videos out there that say some straight up nasty shit about me, and I wouldn't ever consider tearing them down. Now, given the sheer sensitive nature of THIS topic, and the personal life shit, I can understand why a kneejerk reaction *would* be to shut it down. This is not quite the same as a developer snapping because someone mentioned their game in a negative light. The emotion attached to this whole thing is at fever pitch, and I don't expect many rational moves (again, why I didn't want to go near this whole issue for a while). Overall though, you know my feelings on DMCA stuff. Bad idea. If you're a dev, please don't ever go that route. It always makes things worse, and it disappoints me, and nothing about that has changed.



Same goes for harassment. I know some of you don't want me to "make this about that," and I know many of you are saying you only care about this for the "integrity," but harassment IS still happening, and not just to Zoe, and it fucking sucks, and ruins any chance of more reasonable discussions happening properly. I know it's happening, because there's been plenty of it thrown my way over this whole thing, just for standing near the bomb when it went off. I have no idea what's going on with the "hacking" thing, but I know that I got more messages sent to me with some variation of the word "whore" in it than I ever got with the word "journalist." I realize I'm shouting at the wind here, but please don't harass people, on any side of this. Just fucking ... don't.



And over all of this is the nature of press and devs. They are like-minded people who work in overlapping arenas. Friendships are BOUND to happen, and people are going to be friendly. I've always said it's best to try and maintain a friendly rivalry with devs and PR - no need to be cold, but keep *some* distance. But that's how *I* like to try and do it... and even then, it's hard not to be friends with some people, because that's what happens. I've made no secret of the fact that I get along famously with Mike Bithell, and I can't make myself NOT like him.



It's a tough issue, because we're all human, and we all end up liking or disliking people through natural interactions. On the WHOLE, the writers I read are writers I trust to not let who they like flavor their coverage, and while I can only speak for myself, I know I don't let it affect me. Just ask Neil Castle what score I gave APB, and we get along famously.



The best I can offer here is advice. Advice for press - try and keep some distance, and if you can't, being open and honest about your proximity is always, ALWAYS the best way to go. People can forgive a lot when you're clear about the stakes beforehand. I've always disclosed when I confirm a voice acting gig before talking about a game, and nobody's been mad at me for it. It's just a good way to avoid anybody, especially yourself, getting upset.



And advice for gamers - "game journalism" really isn't one big hive mind. Places like GAF, 4chan and Reddit often argue that they're not one groupthinking entity and, honestly, the same is true of games media. I've said it before and I'll say it again - the best thing you can do is find the ones you trust and stick with them. Whether you trust Kotaku, TotalBiscuit, John Walker, Leigh Alexander, or - Heaven help you - myself. You can pick and choose. There's games media for all flavors. Or choose none. I can respect that.



I am very tired and stressed and should be editing video right now, so if this is rambling, spelled poorly, or whatever, I'm sorry. Also, I am sure many of you will tell me I've missed important parts or not focused on the right thing, but that's the problem with touching this at a time where the goalposts have kept moving and about five different things are the "biggest" problem in the industry right now. I've tried to isolate the things that matter to me while leaving stuff I don't feel I should be interested in.



I know some of this still won't be enough for you, but I've tried to lay out what I think in as calm and rational a manner as possible. I hope that counts for fuckin' something.

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