Uhm, no @RogueStarGamez and some #gamergate folks: I am saying several things:



#1- I am not saying to TOLERATE asshole/crappy journalists. I am saying the way to ACTUALLY make them go away is to cut off their funding by supporting other sites that do things the way you would like them to be done. When I say many who support #gamergate are naive I am not talking about their belief that SOME game journalism should not be so toxic. I AGREE with that. You may recall I'm the guy who got slammed as a misogynist by @kotaku. So I'm with you on that. What I feel is naive and even embarrassing to (and damaging for) some of the correct desires of the GG crowd is that they've taken this anger and act as if there is some barricade to tear down to get at the powers that be. That's just so backwards. I hate FOX NEWS but what? I'm gonna march in the streets to get it taken off tv?!? No,I just don't watch it and if it succeeds (which it does) I respect there are folks out there that are fine with that sort of 'news'. For me though, I get my news elsewhere. Does it suck FOX NEWS is so successful that they- from time to time- can actually nudge public policy towards their agenda? Totally. But what would suck more is if the people who hated them- me included- were able to kick them off the air. Doesn't sound very American to me.



#2- I simply do not buy that bloggers (and even big game journalists) are affecting small devs ability to do work and/or make money. Every time I ask for proof I get a link to two things:



1-a game dev CEO who kickstarted a game and got told he was anti-women and such but refused to change his game (good for him)



2- an artist who had a boss who said he needed to change the box art (or some kind of art) for the game because some complained the woman in the image showed too much skin. To this I say: so fucking what? That is not creative freedom being denied anymore than if the same boss told the same artist 'sorry, I know you wanna draw a bad ass Space Marine but we're making a game set against the backdrop of ancient history and as cool as you think it would be to mash up DOOM and GOD OF WAR, I- as CEO- feel the game won't do as well with that mash up and I choose to make decisions that are in the interest of sales'. That happens- for all kinds of reasons- all the time. That's why some devs go pure indie so they can make whatever the hell they want. Whatever you think of a game like GONE HOME (and I know some of y'all hate it) you think a game about a teen's first lesbian love affair set against the backdrop of a supposed haunted house would get greenlit by Capcom?!? Sounds to me- with Steam and ios and even PSN with games like Journey and Unfinished Swan- there's not a lot of proof that creative vision of individuals is being denied. Do you have better examples of the two I always get sent?



3- The idea that a game journalist (and even more some fringe game blogger like @leighalexander- who I am on record as really, really, really disliking) can affect sales because they don't agree with the politics of a developer is laughable. Again, specific examples please? A whole host of game reviews slamming or praising a game CAN (and perhaps even should) affect sales but 5 or 10 or even 100 game journalists not digging the politics of a game and thus shitting on it won't hurt sales. The public perhaps agreeing with those journalists about the game's politics would- and should- affect the game. But in that case, all those journalists are doing are bringing their views to the fore to be discussed and debated and- quite often- totally ignored by 99% of the buying public.



4- Related, I keep getting hit with people going ,'Well Jaffe, these journalists are SMEARING devs by saying bad shit about them!!!!'...ok, well welcome to the big leagues of putting something out in the world for public consumption and getting judged for it. If you don't have the courage to stand behind what you create and pass out into the world then you probably should not be creating stuff and passing it out into the world. Michael Bay gets called terrible things by the movie critics and press but you know what? The people who dig his movies- and they are LEGION- have shown time and again that they don't give a rat's ass about that. Just like ANYONE who was turned off of Twisted Metal by Leigh's rude and cruel attack on the game probably isn't the audience for that game anyway.



5- Finally, if #gamergate ACTUALLY wants to be taken seriously you need to:



a- have genuine, solid, and- above all- POWERFUL facts that people can easily see. All I see is hyperbole and speculation and stories about game journalists on a mailing list where they discuss their craft and the business. That proves and SHOWS and IMPLIES very, very little if anything.



b- change the name of Gamergate to something that isn't so linked to terrible behavior on the part of some of y'alls crew. Because all of the woman hating and threatening people bullshit (which I simply do not come ANYWHERE NEAR supporting and I think is just terrible) has nothing to do with journalism ethics. NOTHING. And if you think it does- even if you are talking about the Zoe story- then you're probably not much smarter than the fucking monkeys you see at your local zoo.



c- And as for you specifically @roguestargamez- you say one of your goals is to 'destroy cunt hipsters'- wow, and you wonder why so many people think GG is a fucking joke. But the truth is, GG is NOT a joke but only because the good ones in GG ARE actually talking about important stuff (ethics in ALL journalism should be SUPPORTED and PAID FOR and REWARDED and the bad stuff should be shunned) but you, sir,you ARE a joke. You make GG look bad, you make men look bad, and you make gamers look bad. From your picture it looks like you are in the military and for that- as I always will- I thank you for your courage and service and bravery- THANK YOU! BUT shame on you as well. Cause it just feels creepy to know one of the fine members of the armed services who fight to protect MY DAUGHTERS and my MOTHER and my SISTER goes around threatening to 'destroy cunt hipsters'.

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