so a storywriter doesnt like games (i would assume she likes books isntead, as seeing she writes them) and everyones angry about it. so are you going to threaten your randpaderents for not playing some gorefest too? then again her public statements really put her into the lowest level.
BioWare Supports Beleaguered Writer
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
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Charlie Brooker actually was asked about the internet hate he received after a poorly timed joke about George Bush, where he signed off on a piece for the Guardian with "The last line from the piece had said: "John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley, Jr-Where are you now that we need you?"The_root_of_all_evil said:
For that he received a tidal wave of death threats from Americans, stating that he'd be arrested or shot if he ever set foot in the US, that he should never feel safe again, we'll get you eventually, etc, etc.
However, his attitude, having visited the US a few times since then is that America's a bloody nice place, and thoroughly welcoming to Brits, it's just that people are generally dicks when they're online, wherever they're from. As far as I know he's still not been shot at, either.
In short, I think as hurtful as the internet can be, it can help to remember that you're just reading the unrestrained hate of people, and if you actually met them they'd find it hard to even say 'I think you're a bit silly, actually' to your face, never mind the tirade of violent attacks they posted under a youtube video or wherever.
There's nothing wrong with her as far as I can see, she is just a writer who doesn't play games as a hobby.Volf said:
Not exactly a crime against humanity.
Utterly disgusting, these stories make me ashamed to be part of the gaming community. I've always liked to see gamers as people who enjoy said hobby, but lately it's become such an elitist culture that focuses more on negativity it makes me sick.
Bioware have a writer who doesn't like video games, so? Isn't it a good thing to see non gamers seeing the potential in the medium?
Gaming is such a flexible and vast industry, it really baffles me when people throw stupid, childish tantrums and bully people like this because they don't like the fact games only do things the way they want them to do them. Bioware have given alot of choices to cater for both and yet people throw a tantrum because they feel they should be excluded?
Seriously, people like this need to grow the fuck up and maybe get a girlfriend.
Bioware have a writer who doesn't like video games, so? Isn't it a good thing to see non gamers seeing the potential in the medium?
Gaming is such a flexible and vast industry, it really baffles me when people throw stupid, childish tantrums and bully people like this because they don't like the fact games only do things the way they want them to do them. Bioware have given alot of choices to cater for both and yet people throw a tantrum because they feel they should be excluded?
Seriously, people like this need to grow the fuck up and maybe get a girlfriend.
Hey, if I had to choose, I would take a game writer who can write but doesn't play games over one who plays games but can't write worth a damn. I'd take the former any day of the week. If you go with the latter, you end up with Metal Gear Solid. Ha!
But seriously, without even knowing the situation, I'd stick up for Jennifer Hepler, because fuck people on the internet. The more time I spend on the net, the more I become convinced that 99.9% of them are complete fucking morons. You know, the sort of people who would attack a writer for her writing but themselves make grammatical and spelling errors that would embarrass a third grader, and couldn't be counted on to write anything remotely coherent longer than 140 characters if their lives depended on it. The sort of people who speak and think in memes. The kind of people who were too nerdy to be accepted by the majority of their classmates and yet were somehow still too dumb to be accepted by the nerds -- the middle children of society.
So yeah, fuck internet people who will organize some kind of hate campaign against someone over some ill-informed notion that she's ruining their Precious Franchise. I say, if you've managed to garner the hatred of thousands of morons, you're probably doing something right.
But seriously, without even knowing the situation, I'd stick up for Jennifer Hepler, because fuck people on the internet. The more time I spend on the net, the more I become convinced that 99.9% of them are complete fucking morons. You know, the sort of people who would attack a writer for her writing but themselves make grammatical and spelling errors that would embarrass a third grader, and couldn't be counted on to write anything remotely coherent longer than 140 characters if their lives depended on it. The sort of people who speak and think in memes. The kind of people who were too nerdy to be accepted by the majority of their classmates and yet were somehow still too dumb to be accepted by the nerds -- the middle children of society.
So yeah, fuck internet people who will organize some kind of hate campaign against someone over some ill-informed notion that she's ruining their Precious Franchise. I say, if you've managed to garner the hatred of thousands of morons, you're probably doing something right.
There is nothing mindless about it. It annoyed him enough to make him comment and it annoyed you the same way. The fact that some knee jerk arsewipes are upset because i have the audacity to buy her book delights me to no end. Mission accomplished.Swiftkillz said:
I'm not sure what sickens me more: the fact that there are people out there who think it's okay to call someone a "fat *****" for the kind of stories they've written; the fact that a AAA studio including the option (note the word OPTION) of male homosexual romance is equivalent to a 'cancer'; further to that, the fact that it's okay to call someone a cancer because they admit that they don't quite as much enjoy the parts of their product that they don't personally work on; or most of all, the fact that when said person and her fellow employees stick up for themselves and retort in kind, people start tutting their heads and complaining about how they are expected to just sit there and lap up all the bile like good little doggies.
Everyone complains about Call of Duty fans, but I honestly think Bioware fans - at least, the kind of 'fans' who delineate themselves by believing that the only decent games Bioware ever produced were the Baldur's Gate series and everything else has been watered down for casual players - are far worse. It's one thing to shout homophobic insults into a headset mic when you're in a heated game, and probably fourteen years old; but it's a completely different thing to basically accuse a gaming company of not being good because they won't let you have an option to avoid any of the (male) gay encounters in the game. I know which one seems more like a serious case of homophobia.
And this is coming from someone who thought that Dragon Age II was boring and insipid. So I didn't have a very good time for my 50 bucks and I thought the writing could have been better in places. Big friggin' deal. It's not like the game tried to wipe my system or something. Get some perspective, idiots.
Everyone complains about Call of Duty fans, but I honestly think Bioware fans - at least, the kind of 'fans' who delineate themselves by believing that the only decent games Bioware ever produced were the Baldur's Gate series and everything else has been watered down for casual players - are far worse. It's one thing to shout homophobic insults into a headset mic when you're in a heated game, and probably fourteen years old; but it's a completely different thing to basically accuse a gaming company of not being good because they won't let you have an option to avoid any of the (male) gay encounters in the game. I know which one seems more like a serious case of homophobia.
And this is coming from someone who thought that Dragon Age II was boring and insipid. So I didn't have a very good time for my 50 bucks and I thought the writing could have been better in places. Big friggin' deal. It's not like the game tried to wipe my system or something. Get some perspective, idiots.
The following is a post that I made over on the BioWare Social Network (BSN) for this topic. Unfortunately, even while I was writing this lengthy essay-like post I didn?t really expect any kind of discussion from it to emerge there as it isn?t on a level of extreme, which is the standard currency one normally needs to spend in order to buy what passes for discussion there. And after thinking about my thoughts on this situation overnight I find myself more compelled today to actually seek out some real discussion concerning what I?ve written and the topic in general, even if it?s to have someone simply point out that I?m missing some vital piece of information which is skewing my perception of the bigger issue at hand. So, with that in mind I now shamelessly submit my lengthy post?
?This situation is terrible, and I honestly feel for Jennifer Hepler. Nobody should have to wade through a cesspool of verbal abuse and, in some cases pure hatred, simply for having an opinion/idea which differs from the one that others have.
However, even though I truly believe that Jennifer was treated horribly (and wish that things like this would never happen), the article at Gamespot (and Kotaku?) is disingenuous and sensationalistic at best. The article (unfortunately) presents a very narrow, one-sided view of the bigger issue at hand by choosing to focus solely on the obnoxious, self-entitled gamers who choose to go overboard in their criticism of products, creative personnel and companies whilst leaving the other major parties/factors out of the equation.
Something that each one of us needs to recognize and remember is that this situation doesn?t exist solely with the ?extremist baddies who criticize?, not by a long shot. This situation also encompasses the fans that support games and game companies (or any other product and its associated creators) with the extremist attitude of religious zealots. These people are just as bad, just as abusive and just as wrong as those who engaged in insulting Jennifer Hepler. Just look around the BSN for all the evidence you could possibly need. Both the DA:2 forum and the ME3 forum are rife with instances of abusive dog-piling on individuals who dared to offer criticism of any kind on those respective games. This occurs/has occurred not only against individuals that have gone too far in their criticism and ended up personally insulting people involved with the project(s) but also against individuals who have offered well-thought, well-presented critique. It doesn?t happen all of the time (just as Jennifer Hepler doesn?t get lambasted for every single thing that she puts out for public consumption) but it does happen. The number of times that individuals benignly offering their opinion have been victims of this mob mentality and have subsequently been called stupid (whether it was overtly or simply alluded to in one of a thousand different ways), useless, ?basement dwellers?, and a host of other insults and judgmental terms is simply staggering. Just as there is a sense of entitlement with some fans to criticize games/game developers in the harshest ways possible, there is an equal sense of entitlement in the fans that overzealously protect the games/games developers with a fair amount of abuse of their own aimed toward any and all who don?t share their exact opinion of the respective product(s).
For a full picture of the situation we also have to look at the companies and the individuals that speak for them. In this particular situation we have to fairly asses the responding comments made by Hepler and Flynn. Now, while I understand that they were both angry and frustrated over what had occurred, and that Jennifer was definitely the victim in this scenario, it doesn?t make their respective comments any better or any more palatable. They are in the (unenviable) role of leadership in this developer to customer relationship, and thus have to set the standard for behavior by leading through example. This can be extremely difficult to do but it is the right way to proceed/respond. For them to take it upon themselves to make abusive/judgmental statements back to the initial offenders is as much a sense of entitlement as that which fuels those individuals who feel that they can say anything because they felt ripped off/disappointed by a game purchase. In other words, because Jennifer was wronged she and Flynn felt entitled to similarly wrong others.
Now, I can already anticipate a ton of posts attempting to justify the responses by Hepler and Flynn. That being the case let me present a comparable scenario that often plays out on the BSN. Going back to the zealous fans and those instances where they protect the games and the game developers at all costs we can see the dog-piling and the associated abusive comments, and it?s simply business as usual. However, when one of those individuals who has been bullied/abused inevitably strikes back, with equal or escalated comments of their own, suddenly all of those involved in the bullying point the finger and play the role of helpless victims to this ?horrible? individual who they then want called to task for their abhorrent behavior. Of course, this does happen in the reverse as well, but the attitude of the forum, the developers who participate in the forum, the moderators and gaming journalism in general is that the blame always lies at the feet of the individuals who don?t like and dare to critique/criticize the products and the companies ? again, even in instances where the individual didn?t go too far with the initial critique and was bullied into striking back. If an action is wrong on one side of the coin it has to still be wrong on the other side as well.
As far as the gaming companies in general are concerned, there is also a fair amount of entitlement going on. Look at some of the policies put forth by gaming companies over the years and some of the DRM schemes and the large sense of entitlement that we (the paying customers) should simply and gladly swallow these things without a word of concern or protest, regardless of the situation. For BioWare in particular there is a sense of entitlement and hubris put forth in regards to public perception and reception of their games. The whole mess of generalization/homogenization with DA:2 that ?people can?t accept change? which morphed into ?they only wanted DA:O2? (which intrinsically implied that no matter how good of a game BioWare would have made those people who didn?t like it were so stubbornly dysfunctional that they wouldn?t have accepted anything else ? even if it was the best game ever) was nothing less than an attempt to erroneously lay the blame at the feet of those who didn?t like the game rather than taking responsibility for making a game that a lot of people simply didn?t like. In addition, we have the conspiracy theories put forth for both DA:2 and SW:TOR surrounding the Metacritic user scores. Of course, the large number of ?9?s? and ?10?s? for both games are completely legitimate because nobody who likes a game would spam a gaming site with high scores, just as nobody would spam a gaming site with votes for a certain game to be named ?Most Anticipated?. To me, and (judging from comments I?ve seen in various places) to many others, these things speak volumes of BioWare?s particular sense of entitlement.
So what does all this mean? Is this an indication that pretty much everyone is showing some sense of entitlement? In a word, yes. But it?s more than that. There?s this overarching theme that an injustice was done and that it needs to be addressed. This is true. But, my concern is why now? Why should this persistent, all-encompassing problem be addressed only when an individual who works for a developer is the victim? Why wasn?t this addressed after DA:2 launched and many that didn?t like the game were verbally abused because of it? Why wasn?t this addressed after Stargate Universe premiered and individuals that didn?t like the way the sex scenes were portrayed were bullied and harassed as they were deemed sexually dysfunctional in a variety of ways on a number of public forums where the mob mentality became particularly ugly? Why wasn?t this addressed for the thousands of incidents across the various forms of entertainment media when a person who doesn?t like something was attacked in this manner? Why are the people who voice discontent with a product always generalized into some homogeneous hive-mind of filth and left to bear the brunt of bullying without a voice as they are persecuted for what nearly everybody else is doing?
What this all really comes down to is the concept that if we want to see justice done, then it truly has to be just and apply to everyone equally. We can?t pick and choose where justice will apply so that it is enforced only in favor our particular flavor of bias, because that isn?t justice at all. I really hope that Gamespot, and any other site that is featuring this article, will at least do a follow up piece where all of the aspects of this very dysfunctional, circular situation, which has each piece of the equation playing off of and perpetuating the others, are laid out for some honest scrutiny and discussion. Because as it is currently presented, this is just another piece which reinforces by omission the erroneous belief that those who dislike something and have the gall to voice it are always the ones to blame, while those who like and praise products are left completely out of the cross-hairs, regardless of their behavior. I?ve been on both sides of the coin with different media and this situation is always the same.?
I realize that some of the things which I mentioned are undeveloped but I didn?t want to end up with two or three more pages added to the body. I will attempt to clarify in depth any point that may be deemed weak and/or simply a product of my fancy.
Thanks for reading.
?This situation is terrible, and I honestly feel for Jennifer Hepler. Nobody should have to wade through a cesspool of verbal abuse and, in some cases pure hatred, simply for having an opinion/idea which differs from the one that others have.
However, even though I truly believe that Jennifer was treated horribly (and wish that things like this would never happen), the article at Gamespot (and Kotaku?) is disingenuous and sensationalistic at best. The article (unfortunately) presents a very narrow, one-sided view of the bigger issue at hand by choosing to focus solely on the obnoxious, self-entitled gamers who choose to go overboard in their criticism of products, creative personnel and companies whilst leaving the other major parties/factors out of the equation.
Something that each one of us needs to recognize and remember is that this situation doesn?t exist solely with the ?extremist baddies who criticize?, not by a long shot. This situation also encompasses the fans that support games and game companies (or any other product and its associated creators) with the extremist attitude of religious zealots. These people are just as bad, just as abusive and just as wrong as those who engaged in insulting Jennifer Hepler. Just look around the BSN for all the evidence you could possibly need. Both the DA:2 forum and the ME3 forum are rife with instances of abusive dog-piling on individuals who dared to offer criticism of any kind on those respective games. This occurs/has occurred not only against individuals that have gone too far in their criticism and ended up personally insulting people involved with the project(s) but also against individuals who have offered well-thought, well-presented critique. It doesn?t happen all of the time (just as Jennifer Hepler doesn?t get lambasted for every single thing that she puts out for public consumption) but it does happen. The number of times that individuals benignly offering their opinion have been victims of this mob mentality and have subsequently been called stupid (whether it was overtly or simply alluded to in one of a thousand different ways), useless, ?basement dwellers?, and a host of other insults and judgmental terms is simply staggering. Just as there is a sense of entitlement with some fans to criticize games/game developers in the harshest ways possible, there is an equal sense of entitlement in the fans that overzealously protect the games/games developers with a fair amount of abuse of their own aimed toward any and all who don?t share their exact opinion of the respective product(s).
For a full picture of the situation we also have to look at the companies and the individuals that speak for them. In this particular situation we have to fairly asses the responding comments made by Hepler and Flynn. Now, while I understand that they were both angry and frustrated over what had occurred, and that Jennifer was definitely the victim in this scenario, it doesn?t make their respective comments any better or any more palatable. They are in the (unenviable) role of leadership in this developer to customer relationship, and thus have to set the standard for behavior by leading through example. This can be extremely difficult to do but it is the right way to proceed/respond. For them to take it upon themselves to make abusive/judgmental statements back to the initial offenders is as much a sense of entitlement as that which fuels those individuals who feel that they can say anything because they felt ripped off/disappointed by a game purchase. In other words, because Jennifer was wronged she and Flynn felt entitled to similarly wrong others.
Now, I can already anticipate a ton of posts attempting to justify the responses by Hepler and Flynn. That being the case let me present a comparable scenario that often plays out on the BSN. Going back to the zealous fans and those instances where they protect the games and the game developers at all costs we can see the dog-piling and the associated abusive comments, and it?s simply business as usual. However, when one of those individuals who has been bullied/abused inevitably strikes back, with equal or escalated comments of their own, suddenly all of those involved in the bullying point the finger and play the role of helpless victims to this ?horrible? individual who they then want called to task for their abhorrent behavior. Of course, this does happen in the reverse as well, but the attitude of the forum, the developers who participate in the forum, the moderators and gaming journalism in general is that the blame always lies at the feet of the individuals who don?t like and dare to critique/criticize the products and the companies ? again, even in instances where the individual didn?t go too far with the initial critique and was bullied into striking back. If an action is wrong on one side of the coin it has to still be wrong on the other side as well.
As far as the gaming companies in general are concerned, there is also a fair amount of entitlement going on. Look at some of the policies put forth by gaming companies over the years and some of the DRM schemes and the large sense of entitlement that we (the paying customers) should simply and gladly swallow these things without a word of concern or protest, regardless of the situation. For BioWare in particular there is a sense of entitlement and hubris put forth in regards to public perception and reception of their games. The whole mess of generalization/homogenization with DA:2 that ?people can?t accept change? which morphed into ?they only wanted DA:O2? (which intrinsically implied that no matter how good of a game BioWare would have made those people who didn?t like it were so stubbornly dysfunctional that they wouldn?t have accepted anything else ? even if it was the best game ever) was nothing less than an attempt to erroneously lay the blame at the feet of those who didn?t like the game rather than taking responsibility for making a game that a lot of people simply didn?t like. In addition, we have the conspiracy theories put forth for both DA:2 and SW:TOR surrounding the Metacritic user scores. Of course, the large number of ?9?s? and ?10?s? for both games are completely legitimate because nobody who likes a game would spam a gaming site with high scores, just as nobody would spam a gaming site with votes for a certain game to be named ?Most Anticipated?. To me, and (judging from comments I?ve seen in various places) to many others, these things speak volumes of BioWare?s particular sense of entitlement.
So what does all this mean? Is this an indication that pretty much everyone is showing some sense of entitlement? In a word, yes. But it?s more than that. There?s this overarching theme that an injustice was done and that it needs to be addressed. This is true. But, my concern is why now? Why should this persistent, all-encompassing problem be addressed only when an individual who works for a developer is the victim? Why wasn?t this addressed after DA:2 launched and many that didn?t like the game were verbally abused because of it? Why wasn?t this addressed after Stargate Universe premiered and individuals that didn?t like the way the sex scenes were portrayed were bullied and harassed as they were deemed sexually dysfunctional in a variety of ways on a number of public forums where the mob mentality became particularly ugly? Why wasn?t this addressed for the thousands of incidents across the various forms of entertainment media when a person who doesn?t like something was attacked in this manner? Why are the people who voice discontent with a product always generalized into some homogeneous hive-mind of filth and left to bear the brunt of bullying without a voice as they are persecuted for what nearly everybody else is doing?
What this all really comes down to is the concept that if we want to see justice done, then it truly has to be just and apply to everyone equally. We can?t pick and choose where justice will apply so that it is enforced only in favor our particular flavor of bias, because that isn?t justice at all. I really hope that Gamespot, and any other site that is featuring this article, will at least do a follow up piece where all of the aspects of this very dysfunctional, circular situation, which has each piece of the equation playing off of and perpetuating the others, are laid out for some honest scrutiny and discussion. Because as it is currently presented, this is just another piece which reinforces by omission the erroneous belief that those who dislike something and have the gall to voice it are always the ones to blame, while those who like and praise products are left completely out of the cross-hairs, regardless of their behavior. I?ve been on both sides of the coin with different media and this situation is always the same.?
I realize that some of the things which I mentioned are undeveloped but I didn?t want to end up with two or three more pages added to the body. I will attempt to clarify in depth any point that may be deemed weak and/or simply a product of my fancy.
Thanks for reading.
I never once stated that what she did was a "crime against humanity", I just stated that there are many women to look up to(like Amy Hennig, and Mary DeMarle), and that Miss Helper is not one of them. Side note, her twitter comments show that she isn't above lowering herself to the level of the jerks who bully her.xXxJessicaxXx said:
Why isn't she though? She hasn't done anything wrong...Volf said:
If some guys were saying that stuff to me I would tell them where to shove it too. Good on her tbh.
Also amazing how people are okay with models and 'gamer gurls' reviewing games and interviewing devs when they aren't actually gamers but god forbid an overweight woman does her job and writes a freaking storyline...
Read her book then, and tell me if here writing skills are really something to praise.xXxJessicaxXx said:
As multiple people have pointed out, there is a certain level of professionalism that is expected, and she crossed the line with her comment about her gender and occupation. Also she broke the rule, don't feed the troll.xXxJessicaxXx said:
Are you intentionally ignoring the people who I have given as examples of women to look up to? Are you reading what I typed at all?xXxJessicaxXx said:
and the women with the glasses is Mary DeMarle
That last comment wasn't anything to do with youVolf said:
just thought it was quite an amusing irony. I don't really care about her writing skills, although it seems unlikely she would get such a job through having no skill whatsoever. No one deserves to be bullied on a personal level.
Are you suggesting she just sits there and take the insults and that giving a retort to such vicious bullying makes her fair game? Because that seems very unfair on her.
Cry more. There are a lot of websites about games on the internet. Smash started off by doing the exact same things the story is about. Calling Hepler names and making up facts about her. He deserved every bit of ire he got. Not to mention he was the one who called out Andy first.Volf said:
Responding to these attacks really only serves to feed the fire though.xXxJessicaxXx said:That last comment wasn't anything to do with youVolf said:
I don't really care about her writing skills, although it seems unlikely she would get such a job through having no skill whatsoever. No one deserves to be bullied on a personal level.
Are you suggesting she just sits there and take the insults and that giving a retort to such vicious bullying makes her fair game? Because that seems very unfair on her.
Like many have said nobody deserves this kind of attack but like not as many have said regardless of morality it's an unfortunately effective means of scaring somebody into submission. It's hard to find unbiased material on the subject as it seems to be reasonable yet annoyed people defending her and mostly a maelstrom of hatred against her. Ive always thought bio ware's writing had been a step above other games but I just didn't like what I found in DA2. I'm concerned that being able to skip game play might mean that they won't improve on it to make it more enticing. Factually or not it is hard to not see her as at least contributing towards this trend and although I hold these opinions I will never reduce myself to hate mail effective or not. I happen to think that kind of behavior even on the internet makes you more of an animal than a person.
As I clearly pointed out, it isn't as clear cut as you make it out to be(look at the examples I gave)xXxJessicaxXx said:That last comment wasn't anything to do with you
So now you have changed your stance, because before you were stating how there is nothing wrong with her writing, and now your saying that it doesn't matter what her ability is. wtf.xXxJessicaxXx said:
Agreed, she doesn't deserve the harassment shge got, but her response only made the situation worse.
No, I'm suggesting that she be an adult and a professional and ignore such childish comments she received. Instead, she lowered herself to their level and made a comment about her gender and occupation. If she must respond, it could have done in a more adult and mature manner.xXxJessicaxXx said:
How very mature of you to respond in that way.aftohsix said:
As I stated, I acknowledged the behavior of Smash, but my point was that Mr.Chalk is a staff member of this site and as such, is held up to a certain level of professionalism. Instead, he has personally attacked Smash. Two wrongs don't make a right.aftohsix said:
Not mature enough for you? Go cry about it. (I'll give you maturity when you stop trying to defend somebody who thinks it's okay to participate in a smear campaign of somebody over the internet)Volf said:
Andy Chalk is a columnist. Which means he's allowed to express his opinion in his pieces.
The people who are using the internet to hide behind as they insult a woman because she doesn't like the things they like are shitheads.
Smash did the same thing as those shitheads. I'll say it again. It doesn't matter who you are or what your job is. If someone is being a shithead you should be allowed to say it.
Though if I were in Andy's shoes I wouldn't have insulted him back I would have just banned his ass.
As I stated, I acknowledged the behavior of Smash, but my point was that Mr.Chalk is a staff member of this site and as such, is held up to a certain level of professionalism. Instead, he has personally attacked Smash. Two wrongs don't make a right.aftohsix said:
Ok, I'm not going to address your poor attitude any further, seeing how your responding in such a immature manner.aftohsix said:
You may feel that way, but if you worked in customer support or if you went to a foreign country and represented a company with that kind of attitude, it would not get you very far.aftohsix said:
While I don't think Smash could be banned for such activity, I think that we are in agreement that there were alternatives to responding to Smash's antagonizing comments.aftohsix said:
The examples you gave do nothing to disprove my point though do they. While there are , of course, competent women in the industry people are still accepting of hot girls who know nothing about gaming or the industry while a chubby woman whose job isn't even to comment on or design the gameplay is called out for it. She was at least honest with what she thought.Volf said:As I clearly pointed out, it isn't as clear cut as you make it out to be(look at the examples I gave)xXxJessicaxXx said:That last comment wasn't anything to do with you
So now you have changed your stance, because before you were stating how there is nothing wrong with her writing, and now your saying that it doesn't matter what her ability is. wtf.xXxJessicaxXx said:
Agreed, she doesn't deserve the harassment shge got, but her response only made the situation worse.
No, I'm suggesting that she be an adult and a professional and ignore such childish comments she received. Instead, she lowered herself to their level and made a comment about her gender and occupation. If she must respond, it could have done in a more adult and mature manner.xXxJessicaxXx said:
I have never read her writing but I have played the Anders romance which she reputedly wrote(?) and I enjoyed it. I like the fact that he comes onto you, it was a good decision and made it feel more natural to me. I didn't like DA2 over all though.
My initial point wasn't that there was nothing wrong with her writing just that she had done nothing to invite this shit storm of childish personal criticism. Her job has nothing to do with playing actual games. I don't think people should be forced to sit there and take it and 'be professional' when the criticisms she is receiving have little to do with her work and more to do with her appearance.
If someone had said 'look this woman's writing is below par' and given examples of that and that's what the internet furor was over I would say that her retort was inappropriate. But one off hand comment from her hardly weighs up against the vast amount of insidious insults she has received.
What she actually said wasn't all that offensive and was probably right on the mark.