The Hard Way: A Lesson for Hepler

by Elizabeth DeLoria

The internet can be a scary place. Jennifer Hepler, a senior writer on some of BioWare’s biggest games, including the Dragon Age series and Star Wars: The Old Republic, learned that on Sunday when some internet users discovered her more controversial opinions.

“If you're a woman, especially a mother, with dinner to prepare, kids' homework to help with, and a lot of other demands on your time, you don't need a game to be 100 hours long to hold your interest — especially if those 100 hours are primarily doing things you don't enjoy,” Hepler wrote on BioWare’s official forums. “A fast forward button would give [busy] players the same options that we have with books or DVDs — to skim past the parts we don't like and savor the ones we do.”

It’s for views like these that Hepler was subjected to hundreds of nasty comments filled with name-calling and personal insults.

“You gotta give her some credit, though. She's sucked a lot of dick to get where she is,” read one post by reddit user skysignor.

“It's a known fact women cannot write and use their gender as an excuse,” wrote Twitter user @MikeRotch11.

On the more sympathetic areas of the internet, Hepler was perceived as the victim of a world where having a different opinion is basis for vilification.

Until she lashed out, that is.

I believe the gaming community is far more poised and intelligent than this, and we can—and should—be rising above the stereotypes handed to us, including this mob mentality.

“I just figure they're jealous that I get to have both a vagina AND a games industry job, and they can't get either,” she tweeted in regards to the abuse. All of a sudden, opinions changed.

It was as if one unprofessional tweet had erased the barrage of attacks made on Hepler, as though it had finally justified the astounding amount of abuse she was receiving. The attacks on Hepler’s name, talent and character had been forgotten — all because she implied her critics were virgins.

Grabbing the negative attention of any online community is not an easy thing. I’ve been there several times. All it takes is a contrarian opinion, or an off day and some mistakes in an article, to land you in boiling water.

The more prominent you are, the more people will criticise you for just about anything. I’ve faced the fire for everything from spelling mistakes, to the color of my hair and to the people that I associate with. I’m not even half as well-known as Jennifer Hepler.

I remember the first few times I came under fire for an opinion I held. My stomach would tighten, I would feel my chest pounding and my muscles would hurt from being so tense. When attacks become personal, it’s not as simple as taking criticism on the chin and learning from it. It hurts. It makes you anxious. It’s a terrible feeling and you start to panic.

We live in a society wired into the web at all times and when you find yourself under fire, it follows you into your home.

The attacks on Hepler don’t surprise me. The direction of games will always be a very touchy subject and the opinions of an industry professional are bound to rub some people the wrong way.

But that’s no justification for such behavior. Posting insulting comments isn’t what mature adults do. I believe the gaming community is far more poised and intelligent than this, and we can—and should—be rising above the stereotypes handed to us, including this mob mentality.

Hepler’s reaction is similar to how I responded when first faced with personal insults. She’s hurt and she’s lashing out at something that she probably doesn’t understand just yet. Hepler implied her attackers were virgins, an old insult, but one she’s used to try and hurt them back.

While it’s not the ideal way for her to address the issue, it might not be one we can expect to see again.

This is something Hepler will probably learn from, something that will hopefully make it hurt less for her next time it happens. This is what we do as human beings—we get hurt, we lash out and do stupid things and then we learn from it. It’s how people grow, no matter what age they are or what they do for a living.

After the controversy subsides, Hepler might not be so inclined to respond in a vitriolic way again. Whether or not you agree with her views on narrative and gameplay in games, these attacks are below her. Maybe she’ll realise this and she won’t even acknowledge them in the future.

This entire situation is one of callousness and displays how inhuman humans can be when given anonymity in a group. Hepler’s response is the human one, one of a person who is under stress. Yet many are decrying her for showing humanity.

It’s fine to have an opinion. It’s fine to think Hepler’s writing is awful and to criticize it. It’s not OK to start a witch hunt over an opinion that, in the end, doesn’t actually harm anyone. And it’s certainly not OK to use their humanity to justify it.

Hepler will get through this, and she will be stronger for it.