BioWare Supports Beleaguered Writer

[SL33TBL1ND]

As much as those people are fucking morons, he shouldn't have come out and said it. But yeah, it is cute that we want our community to be taken seriously when stuff like this is still happening.

Huh? Of course he should have. They're a bunch of cunts. It should be highlighted, and as many people as possible should condemn them for it.

I know they are, but he needs to show professionalism.

I fail to see how backing your own member of staff, who has been subjected to an inordinate amount of online abuse, is unprofessional.

That is practically the definition of professional.

This is like working in customer support. It doesn't matter if a customer is yelling at you and being as obnoxious as possible, you never stoop down to their level. He could have defended her without calling someone a fucking moron.

He could've, sure. That's different to should. If someone is a fucking moron, I'd say it's the duty of people to let it be known. What's intrinsically wrong with calling someone a fucking moron if it's the truth?

His position. You don't lose your cool like that. Leave the mud slinging to the morons. There is a reason that most talking by higher ups is done in generic PR statements.

I respectfully disagree. Some people just need a slap on the back of the head, either verbal or non-verbal.

 

[Shjade]

I respectfully disagree. Some people just need a slap on the back of the head, either verbal or non-verbal.

You're disagreeing with not-his-point.

Some people may need a slap on the back of the head. That doesn't mean everyone is an equally valid choice to provide said slap. Whether or not these morons were deserving of being informed of their being moronic is irrelevant to whether or not the person who called them fucking morons was a person who should have done so.

To put it another way, when you see someone speeding, do you pull them over and give them a ticket? Not unless you're a cop you don't. It's not your job. They still should get the ticket, but that doesn't mean you should be the one giving it to them.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

I respectfully disagree. Some people just need a slap on the back of the head, either verbal or non-verbal.

You're disagreeing with not-his-point.

Some people may need a slap on the back of the head. That doesn't mean everyone is an equally valid choice to provide said slap. Whether or not these morons were deserving of being informed of their being moronic is irrelevant to whether or not the person who called them fucking morons was a person who should have done so.

To put it another way, when you see someone speeding, do you pull them over and give them a ticket? Not unless you're a cop you don't. It's not your job. They still should get the ticket, but that doesn't mean you should be the one giving it to them.

It seems I should've been more clear. I was implying that a slap in the back of the head from someone in his position (i.e. a position of authority) is worth more than most other people's.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

As much as those people are fucking morons, he shouldn't have come out and said it. But yeah, it is cute that we want our community to be taken seriously when stuff like this is still happening.

Huh? Of course he should have. They're a bunch of cunts. It should be highlighted, and as many people as possible should condemn them for it.

I know they are, but he needs to show professionalism.

I fail to see how backing your own member of staff, who has been subjected to an inordinate amount of online abuse, is unprofessional.

That is practically the definition of professional.

This is like working in customer support. It doesn't matter if a customer is yelling at you and being as obnoxious as possible, you never stoop down to their level. He could have defended her without calling someone a fucking moron.

He could've, sure. That's different to should. If someone is a fucking moron, I'd say it's the duty of people to let it be known. What's intrinsically wrong with calling someone a fucking moron if it's the truth?

His position. You don't lose your cool like that. Leave the mud slinging to the morons. There is a reason that most talking by higher ups is done in generic PR statements.

I respectfully disagree. Some people just need a slap on the back of the head, either verbal or non-verbal.

I respectfully disagree. Some people just need a slap on the back of the head, either verbal or non-verbal.

You're disagreeing with not-his-point.

Some people may need a slap on the back of the head. That doesn't mean everyone is an equally valid choice to provide said slap. Whether or not these morons were deserving of being informed of their being moronic is irrelevant to whether or not the person who called them fucking morons was a person who should have done so.

To put it another way, when you see someone speeding, do you pull them over and give them a ticket? Not unless you're a cop you don't. It's not your job. They still should get the ticket, but that doesn't mean you should be the one giving it to them.

It seems I should've been more clear. I was implying that a slap in the back of the head from someone in his position (i.e. a position of authority) is worth more than most other people's.

We are going to have to agree to disagree. I don't think that it was his place to say that.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

As much as those people are fucking morons, he shouldn't have come out and said it. But yeah, it is cute that we want our community to be taken seriously when stuff like this is still happening.

Huh? Of course he should have. They're a bunch of cunts. It should be highlighted, and as many people as possible should condemn them for it.

I know they are, but he needs to show professionalism.

I fail to see how backing your own member of staff, who has been subjected to an inordinate amount of online abuse, is unprofessional.

That is practically the definition of professional.

This is like working in customer support. It doesn't matter if a customer is yelling at you and being as obnoxious as possible, you never stoop down to their level. He could have defended her without calling someone a fucking moron.

He could've, sure. That's different to should. If someone is a fucking moron, I'd say it's the duty of people to let it be known. What's intrinsically wrong with calling someone a fucking moron if it's the truth?

His position. You don't lose your cool like that. Leave the mud slinging to the morons. There is a reason that most talking by higher ups is done in generic PR statements.

I respectfully disagree. Some people just need a slap on the back of the head, either verbal or non-verbal.

I respectfully disagree. Some people just need a slap on the back of the head, either verbal or non-verbal.

You're disagreeing with not-his-point.

Some people may need a slap on the back of the head. That doesn't mean everyone is an equally valid choice to provide said slap. Whether or not these morons were deserving of being informed of their being moronic is irrelevant to whether or not the person who called them fucking morons was a person who should have done so.

To put it another way, when you see someone speeding, do you pull them over and give them a ticket? Not unless you're a cop you don't. It's not your job. They still should get the ticket, but that doesn't mean you should be the one giving it to them.

It seems I should've been more clear. I was implying that a slap in the back of the head from someone in his position (i.e. a position of authority) is worth more than most other people's.

We are going to have to agree to disagree. I don't think that it was his place to say that.

Fair enough. Good talking with you.

 

[Shjade]

I was implying that a slap in the back of the head from someone in his position (i.e. a position of authority) is worth more than most other people's.

Maybe I was misinformed: what is his position, exactly, that it gives him the authority to refer to people as "fucking morons" and have it be looked upon more highly than people who were, essentially, calling him the same thing?

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

I was implying that a slap in the back of the head from someone in his position (i.e. a position of authority) is worth more than most other people's.

Maybe I was misinformed: what is his position, exactly, that it gives him the authority to refer to people as "fucking morons" and have it be looked upon more highly than people who were, essentially, calling him the same thing?

Are you deliberately misinterpreting my posts? Because I don't know how anyone could read what I wrote like that. I'm not saying his position gives him the authority to call someone a fucking moron, we're all allowed to do that. No, what I am saying is that his position of authority (general manager) gives his slap a bit more sting.

Tell me, what has more of an impact? Being called a moron by some random on a train, or by this guy?

 

[Shjade]

Tell me, what has more of an impact? Being called a moron by some random on a train, or by this guy?

Considering I don't know him or work for him, he is some random guy on a train to me, so there's no difference. In practice, his "slap" is indistinguishable from the trash that was being thrown his way; he gave away whatever "authority" his position might have afforded him by choosing to respond in the manner of some random moron to random morons.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Tell me, what has more of an impact? Being called a moron by some random on a train, or by this guy?

Considering I don't know him or work for him, he is some random guy on a train to me, so there's no difference. In practice, his "slap" is indistinguishable from the trash that was being thrown his way; he gave away whatever "authority" his position might have afforded him by choosing to respond in the manner of some random moron to random morons.

That's not true, though. We do know who he is.

From the article:

but I think the fact that BioWare Edmonton General Manager Aaryn Flynn was driven to publicly refer to at least one commenter as a "fucking moron" on Twitter speaks volumes.

See that? The people who would've seen that tweet know who he is, he isn't the guy on the train.

Also, how is calling someone (arguably) what they are giving away his authority? He's swearing, not resigning.

 

[Shjade]

Also, how is calling someone (arguably) what they are giving away his authority? He's swearing, not resigning.

Knowing his name and job title isn't knowing him as a person, so no, we don't know who he is, and giving up his authority isn't the same as giving up his job. It's more akin to a politician who rails against homosexuality and is then discovered to partake in the services of a male prostitute: he's still got his political position, but no one is going to take him seriously after that, or at least no one should. He gave up his authority, his respect, even if he retains the position. He didn't live up to it.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Also, how is calling someone (arguably) what they are giving away his authority? He's swearing, not resigning.

Knowing his name and job title isn't knowing him as a person, so no, we don't know who he is, and giving up his authority isn't the same as giving up his job. It's more akin to a politician who rails against homosexuality and is then discovered to partake in the services of a male prostitute: he's still got his political position, but no one is going to take him seriously after that, or at least no one should. He gave up his authority, his respect, even if he retains the position. He didn't live up to it.

I don't see how swearing can be equated to that at all. And I can't see how swearing at some douchebag does any of the things you listed.

Obviously, neither of us are going to come to an agreement on this issue.

 

[Shjade]

I don't see how swearing can be equated to that at all. And I can't see how swearing at some douchebag does any of the things you listed.

It was an exaggerated example pointing out the hypocrisy of calling people fucking morons for calling people fucking morons.

They insulted him, he insulted them back, and nothing of value was done.

 

[Therumancer]

A game developer who dislikes playing video games is a bit of a joke

Writer != Developer

I could write a game script. Writing is what I do. I couldn't develop a game for shit; code is an alien language to me.

Writing is part of the game development process, I was using it as a generic header to cover what she's doing. What's more her comments imply that she IS someone who has a say in game development and pretty much states she wants to see games developed where the gameplay is optional... which kind of defeats the purpose of gaming. Given that her proposals, years ago, which were not opposed then (probably due to being under the radar), reflect a direction Bioware seems to be actually be going in much to the disgust of a lot of it's fanbase... hence the reaction she received.

An analogy here would be you writing say a script for a TV show or movie, and then saying it should be a video game script, and all the gameplay should be secondary to it and avoidable. As opposed to say writing a game script that is designed from the beginning to intergrate gameplay.

As someone who wants to remove gameplay from games, yet still call them games, she's basically someone who wants to switch labels on animated movies, and she has been part of, and influential to, the development process.

 

[Darkmantle]

I just adore how the internet/gamers like to rise up against bullies, calling them all sorts of names and phrases, calling for a beat down of any kind....and then go do this. Stay classy guys.

There seems to be a mistaken assumption going around that "the internet" is one big group of people who are all like minded. This is not the case even in this thread, and hell, in the article itself. Just because a some people do good on the internet, and some people do bad on the internet, doesn't mean " the internet" has conflicting morals, because "the internet" is not a single entity.

 

[Herr Schatz]

These snotty little entitled brats disgust me I can only hope this is just a phase and they grow the fuck up.

Unfortunately my friend, they will only be replaced by the next generation of entitled brats and the cycle will continue.

The lengths people on the internet will go to, to attack and attempt to discredit people is mind boggling. The frightening thing about it all is, they probably feel as if they are justified in what they're doing. It's absolutely pathetic.

I won't even bother writing up some kind of defence for this woman, as not only have other posters on this thread covered it extensively already and have mirrored my sentiments, but I also feel it is unnecessary. She is a Professional Writer, hired by an experienced Games Developer to write stories for their games. And although I'm certainly not the most prolific player of Bioware games (which I suppose would automatically exclude my opinion from having any relevance to these douchenozzles) the Bioware games I have played have been engrossing affairs, and certainly kept my attention throughout the narrative. Whether Jennifer Hepler was involved in the writing of these games, I have no idea, and really it doesn't matter one iota.

So to once again go back to what Harker067 was saying, people need to grow the fuck up.

 

[manga-minx]

What is the point of going to these lengths to harass and attack someone for a comment of this kind? Regardless of whether or not she enjoys playing video games, she has a great love of writing, which allows her to help create the stories the games are created on.

She is a writer - that is her job. Playing video games is not necessary for the part she plays in the creation of games at Bioware.

Not only that, there is no excuse for the way the offenders bullied and harassed the poor women. If they have that much aggressive energy inside them they should put it to better use and do something productive, not destructive.

 

[afroebob]

Well, I really want her to stay on board and make more stories. Like REALLY want her to stay. But what I want more is for her to do something that makes her happy. So, I wish her good luck and hell maybe I'll pick up a copy of her book.

 

[samaugsch]

You seem to have missed the part where she fanned the flames by retorting to her detractors. Honestly, this is a situation where I just hate everyone involved. Responding to torrents of bile with the phrase "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." is just asking for trouble.

Hehe. That's actually pretty funny.

OT: And some people wonder why people don't open up on the Internet more often...

 

[Double A]

I heard about her new book, how piss poor it is, plus she wrote some really bad parts of DA:O and I just have to say this, the fact that they are adding male homosexuality in the last installment of Shepard's story seems very off if you ask me.

All the same, saw the title of this article, had to grab this.

What parts? She wrote most of the Dwarven stuff, which was all fantastic, IMO.

Not to mention, as so many people like to disregard, she has NOTHING to do with Mass Effect.

Orzamaar was great, but her book was terrible (according to a whoooole lot of people). That's what's got me so confused.

 

[jibjab963]

This is why I love Bioware. One of their own is being harassed and not only do they show their support for her but they help out many other people with the donation. I know that I'm probably going to get flamed for this but there are planty of times to where I wanted to skip the actual gameplay of a game to find out what happens next too. Wheither it's from a story being so good I want to know what happens next right away or the gameplay is just ruining it for me. It's really sad that something like this happened but some people on the Internet are just stupid -.-