Game-developer harrassment, what has happened to gamers?

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I would drop Mr Fish as an example of a 'poor kittle harrassed Dev' as he was quite the doushe to both media, fans and th e people of Japan.

Infact he could be considered the poster boy for online harrassment if even just half the statements Dexter111 grabed are from him.

 

[Abomination]

A minority of people does not represent a community, they represent a portion of that community. A loud and obnoxious portion of the community, yes, but for every gamer harassing developers directly there are 98% who don't.

It can't be policed, the only thing you can do is ban/ignore people who do such things.

So if you have the power to ban them: ban them.
If you don't have the power to ban them: ignore them.

 

[Legion]

Because their always have been a lot of shitty, spoiled and mean-spirited people on this world, and the internet has given them a very dangerous tool: anonymity.

Spoiler: THAT Penny Arcade strip. You know which one.

That's pretty much it. We "allow" it because there's really nothing we can do to stop it. People will be jerks on the internet. Just how it always has been and always will be. When I played EverQuest fifteen years ago, people did the exact same things on the forums there. So I made a point of always being active on forums for games I enjoyed, offering the devs at least one supportive voice of appreciation (except for NGE-era Star Wars Galaxies, not even I could support that).

That's the best any of us can do. We can't force people out of the gaming community, and even if we forced them off of one website, they'd just go to another and continue doing the same things. Short of magically changing the world so people aren't assholes, there's no much to be done to stop it.

This is essentially the point I try and make. It's not that it's okay, or that we are happy with it, it is that such behaviour is everywhere and it simply cannot be policed effectively. It is unrealistic to believe that we can simply stop this kind of behaviour without a serious overhaul of how the internet (or people) currently works.

Stop using we. No, this isn't a we. it's only a we if both you and I have done those things. I don't know about you, but I don't spend my time sending death threats.

People criticise shit, to add to that you tend to remember the asshole typing nonsense in capslock with poor grammatical skills better than normal comments.

A minority of people does not represent a community, they represent a portion of that community. A loud and obnoxious portion of the community, yes, but for every gamer harassing developers directly there are 98% who don't.

These parts too.

There is no "gaming community" in the sense that people keep on referring to. The only thing in common is the choice in hobby. Nobody asks why "sport fans" are violent because of football hooliganism, because you cannot simply lump people into some kind of group just because they enjoy similar things. Gaming consists of millions of people from all walks of life, there is no cohesive group, it is a hobby, not a movement. As such you cannot really ask "What has happened to 'gamers'?".

The second part is also true. There are hundreds of millions of people who play games, most of them are normal, nice players who behave normally. I imagine most people on this forum have played with thousands of players in their lives. The percentage of those thousands of people who have been nasty would almost certainly be less than 1% in the grand scheme of things. It just seems like there are more due to us noticing them more than everybody else.

Again, that doesn't make that minority okay, nor does it mean we should be happy with it, but people really ought to get a proper sense of perspective here. It's a lot more insulting to the millions of normal and nice people to not get noticed in favour of the few who try and ruin everything for everybody is it not? If you want to have a more pleasant gaming experience, the mute, block and report the ones who are nasty and concentrate on getting along with the majority who are decent. It will make gaming overall a lot more pleasant than complaining about the trolls and assholes.

 

[DrOswald]

And I say we, because all of us are responsible if we don't do anything about it! If we just let all of this evil continue, without trying to stop it, we are all responsible!

What can I possibly do to prevent idiots being idiots?

In any case, this is the nature of working in a highly visible field. I would recommend to all developers of games to take careful steps to prevent their personal information getting out into the public. It should probably be part of the EA employee orientation. And maybe it is a good idea to not read the threats? Or learn to ignore them?

We can't stop the attacks, our only option is to strengthen our defenses.

Also, if you think the video game community is particularly vile then you are wrong. It is pretty much like this everywhere. The video game community is pretty good compared to religious/atheist communities, for example.

 

[bjj hero]

People are cowardly. Things are regularly written and said by bed wetters who wouldnt say a word if they were in the same room as the target because they would be within arms reach.

I personally feel death and rape threats should be pursued by the police no matter what the medium.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

I think this whole thing has been a little overblown.

She probably did receive "death threats" but who hasn't? This is the internet, I've received death threats over the internet. It's nothing to quit over. I'm just going to take a wild assumption and say she's not the only game developer this happened to. She certainly won't be the last.
It's not to excuse the people responsible, obviously, but seeing how she's been getting flak for years now you'd think she'd just learn to tune it out. Anyone with even the slightest bit of recognition will get harassed on the internet, I guess you either learn to deal with it or allow it to keep bothering you.

This has nothing to do with "gamers" or the "gaming community", it has everything to do with assholes with anonymity. A few people being dumb doesn't mean the entire industry is corroding ect... But obviously it plays well as prime linkbait to talk about how "we" as gamers are a vile and toxic community who ruin things for everyone because it gets people riled up and offended.

People are going to be dicks on the internet, that's simply how it is. If a couple of kids keep kicking down peoples sandcastles, you don't go blaming everyone who visits the beach.

Also, Anita is going to have a field-day with this...

 

[Bruce]

It all comes down to this:

[bold]What happens when someone complains?[/bold]

So what happens when somebody criticises the community for how bad the trolls have gotten?

We hear about how that's the Internet and people should grow thicker skins, and its all free speech, and you can't judge a community on five or six highly vocal assholes who appear to only exist to make conversation impossible.

And it isn't the trolls who do that. It is the 'reasonable' people. It takes the responsibility to stop the bad behaviour off of the abuser, and puts it onto the person being abused.

We hear all about the 'legitimate criticisms' the person being attacked isn't dealing with, and again that takes the responsibility off the abusers and placed it onto the person being abused.

This is what takes it from being some random nutjobs on the Internet to being a reflection on all of us, the way we treat complaints. We tend to side with the causes of problems, rather than those who point them out.

It doesn't just happen with feminist issues, but it is in those issues where we have allowed this sort of thing to breed. Every now and then it spills over to effecting everybody else.

And we are inconsistent. I honestly think the idea of defending the artist, of preventing the medium being 'neutered' as Jim Sterling put it, is a reflection of this.

The same people who are all about defending the artist's right to feature character models with big boobs, will often turn around and scream free speech to defend people threatening artists they don't personally like.

We saw this exact same sort of thing in microcosm with Mass Effect 3's ending, the cry of 'entitled' was simply another example of taking the focus off of the thing being complained about, and placing it on the complainer.

It all ties together, and it does reflect on all of us, because by doing all of that, we end up as accomplices to the very abusers we don't want to be painted in with.

 

[ninjaRiv]

You're a new member... After a few incidents here at the Escapist with "new" members, I keep expecting this to turn into a pro Xbone thread.

Anyway, calling an entire community pathetic is ridiculous. As if everyone's the same and spends their time insulting people.

That aside, why the heck shouldn't we ***** and moan at developers and publishers for messing up the shit we pay for? Insulting can be a bit of fun banter among gamers and it can sometimes spur people to improve but you're right, people take it too far. All the same, there's no reason we can't ***** and moan. The thing we SHOULD do is tone it down a bit. But, at the end of the day, we're a gaming community. WE SHOULD WANT THE THING WE'RE PASSIONATE ABOUT TO NOT TREAT PEOPLE LIKE SHIT. I don't REALLY see why the poster is so bent out of shape over the entire community and not just the minority who deserve it.

 

[Gameguy20100]

I ask myself the same question everyday man.

Gameing is a hobby it's meant to be fun and talking about it online is meant to be enjoyable.

But no we get death threats to children over a game we get death threats and hatred and bile to each other and we wonder why some anti-game people hate us.

I hate calling myself a gamer sometimes I really do.

 

[Not Gabe Newell]

BREAKING NEWS:

Sometimes, people on the internet are mean! Coming up next: bear shits in woods; scientists shocked!

 

[TrulyBritish]

First off Buster, never try linking me (and much of the rest of us) with those F***tards that issue death threats, there is no "we" in this. There is no "gaming community" as such, just variable people with the same hobby, so no, it is not our responsibility to make sure some idiots tow the line. Nor is it just a gaming phenomenon, it's pretty much how the internet is, you probably notice it more here as this is a gaming forum/website.
And if you could possibly explain your miracle cure of stopping offensive idiots being offensive idiots, I'll be more than happy to listen, but until then there is nothing we can really do to get them to f***ing behave live civilised people.

 

[A Weakgeek]

Once internet was born, all that hate we used to throw at the plastic cartridges as kids found a new way to manifest, a way that wouldn't destroy our precious property. Its cool to shout at devs because they made a thing and it wasnt good and I bought it so Im mad.

 

[stroopwafel]

Problem is some people(or gamers) invest way too much into videogames. Just look at the ME3 'controversy'. Yeah the ending sucked but in all honesty though who cares? The ending to ME3 didn't elicit any greater response in me than a slight shrug of what was otherwise a great game. But for some its like a fight between lovers where one party feels 'betrayed' and want to communicate their hurt feelings in the most cringe-worthy manner possible. Shit is being said that ultimately no one really means and developers pack their bags with a final middle finger to the 'gaming community'. Then there is the predictable internet outcry followed by business as usual. Money has to be made after all.

 

[Silverbeard]

Harassment by the public is part of the territory associated with the entertainment industry, OP. Novelists, painters, poets, dancers, sports players and actors are all harassed just like game developers- some to a greater extent, some to a lesser extent. Anyone who wants to get into the business of entertaining the masses needs to accept this as part of the job. Whether or not harassment is justified is not relevant- it happens and there is no way to stop it.
You seem to be operating under the assumption that gamers as a group are kinder and more open-minded than novel readers, sports fans or movie buffs. The truth is that they are not. Gamers can be just as spiteful, arrogant and vicious as anyone. They can also be just as generous, benevolent and magnanimous as the next person.
'Gamer's are not special in any way and game developers are not special either. They are entertainers on par with any other entertainers in our world.