By Jamal I. - Sat May 21, 10:41 am

Ah, the world of games development: Where ideas are presented and expanded upon, and creative freedom is expressed in interactive form. And with the aide of the internet, now these ideas can be shared at near-instantaneous levels! So is it any wonder that along with the spread of IPs comes the spread of controversy? Case in point, the current mudslinging between a member of the Terraria dev team and website TheBestGamers.

For the uninformed, Terraria is an independently developed 2D adventure/explorer sidescroller that allows players to interact with the environment they’re placed in via digging and collecting of materials, in addition to exploring dungeons, crafting items, and building structures. You may be thinking to yourself, “Gosh! This sounds an awful lot like Minecraft, an independently developed adventure/explorer game that allows players to interact with the environment they’re placed in via digging and collecting of materials, in additon to exploring dungeons, crafting items, and building structures!” Well you’re not alone…

Along comes the second player in our little play. TheBestGamers, a KNOWN videogame review satire site, posted a video pointing out just that, including a sort of meta-example referencing one of its earlier reviews of calling MineCraft a rip-off. The link for the review on their site is as follows:

In addition to posting on their website, they uploaded the video to their YouTube channel. Apparently the devs of Terraria didn’t think so fondly of this review, and filed a complaint with YouTube. The video was then removed and viewers were greeted by the familiar “VIDEO NOT AVAILABLE DUE TO” screen.

Now here’s where it gets fun…

Understandably, TheBestGamers didn’t take too kindly to having their video removed. So they did what any rational person with a deep understanding of social norms would do: They e-sleuthed information about one member of the dev-team and proceeded to slam him online. On this canvas of shame, they find his DeviantArt account and lampoon his poems about touching women. They then find every social networking/dating site the man is enrolled in and paint the him as a sexual predator of sorts with a tactile fetish.

Their virtual pillory for him can be seen here. Now, here’s where the editorial starts:

Look, I’m all for freedom of expression and all that jazz. Criticism, constructive or otherwise, is your right as a consumer/connoisseur/whatever. But at some point, you have to draw the line. Yes, we’re aware it’s satire. Yes, it was a bit of a dickish move on their part to have the video remove. You might argue that this sets up the very bad precedent that game makers should be allowed to get negative reviews off YouTube. But doing this in retaliation? Bad form…

I would hate to have a whole bunch of people on the Internet personally attacking my looks, interests and occupation. I mean…you guys are real dicks. What possible reasons do they have to hate him other than being bullies who want to make themselves feel good by hurting someone else? I genuinely like the game. And as long as they keep working on it and at least add a few more features, I’m happy. But seriously, this is taking it too far.

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