Just so that you know who I am. I am a gamedev from eastern Europe (so excuse my poor english) with over 10 years of professional experience. I have worked on tiny flash games, mobile games (even for those old "stupid" phones), downloadable console games and even big AAA PC/console titles. I was born into communist regime behind the iron curtain, so my childhood gaming experiences were probably different than yours - there were almost none. I remember visiting a friend who had an Atari 2600, because his dad had connections. He let me play the game Combat and I was completely blown away. After that I spent afternoons drawing game levels onto paper and pretending to play the game. Yes, it was that sad. So you can imagine what kind of love I hold for videogames and what an amazing time it was for me when the commies finally collapsed and all the "decadent western entertainment" started pouring in for gargantuous prices.

And it did not end there. When the political hellhole I was born in turned into a real country and I started getting together with other gamers, I hit another wall. A wall of prejudice, insults and bullying. Why? Because we were the weirdos, the losers, the nerds.

But luckily, that did not last long. Games became mainstream, started making tons of money and the society slowly began to accept that gamers are not monsters, nor antisocial turds. And I thought: This is heaven.

And suddenly I am reading the "Gamers are over" articles and speechlessly watching the same insults flung at me and my friends. The same slurs and accusations that we heard in the 80s and the 90s. And who is pushing this idiotic bullshit this time? Is it FOX? Is it old conservative religious fanatics? No. It's the gaming press. The very people that gamers always counted on as their allies and their voice in the storms we sailed through. All while we are watching the cracking paint reveal corruption of unexpected proportions.

So I joined #GamerGate.

And clearly, I got what I should have expected from it: disgusting accusations and insults of incredible nature.

So now that I have been thrown in the same bag with rapists, mass murderers, terrorists, anti-semits, racists and homophobes for joining a consumer pushback on corrupt practices in the industry I love and work in, I need to say a few things.

Do you really think that tens of thousands of people would keep this up? That they would stand by the hashtag, hold debates and streams, start websites and create loads of really awesome original content (check this out: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48156684/vivtest.swf) just to bully women and minorities out of this industry or gaming?

Do you think that tens of thousands of people from all around the world (a small sample here: http://youtu.be/tzwGIHUCtjU)

, from all possible backgrounds would furiously fight for a cause that had the slightest shadow of being in fact a hate group?

Do you really suggest that all these people, awesome individuals: game devs, feminists, burger flippers, artists, babysitters, journalists, students and academics would all just give up their basic humanity and fall for something that is so disgusting?

One thing you will find quite quickly, If you dare going a bit deeper into this, is that there is so much more facts and solid data on the #GamerGate side, than there is on the other side. Like this: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48156684/vivtest.swf

Of course there is bias. Of course there is emotion. Because you are speaking to a community that had all the shit of the political and religious bigots thrown in their faces for years. Gaming has been accused of mass murder, school shootings, satanism, promiscuity and teen pregnancy. Gamers ahve been always painted like the discard box of society. Gamers have been dragged through the prejudice-mud all the time. And now that we thought this was finally over, we get misogyny, sexism, homophobia or racism thrown at us.

One would ask why. Well, here's the answer. Because we pissed the wrong people off. We pointed at journalists and said: we don't like what you are doing, it is unethical. And that is how this was born. As the media's reaction to the very real accusations of collusion and corruption.

And of course they scream and kick. Of course they will do anything to derail the debate.This outrage about misogyny is nothing but their defense.

And if you don't believe me, get into games, deep. You will find that gamers are the most welcoming and awesome people that you have ever met, no matter how "weird" or "different" you are.

In fact, the weirder and more different you are, the more you will feel at home with gamers.