Here we go again: Anita Sarkeesian and the gaming community

[T_ConX]

So?

I played through Mirrors Edge when it came out and thought it was kind of weak. As a result, I'm not particularly interested in who is developing it. If she was getting involved with development in a game series I actually enjoyed, I might have a problem.

I'm thankful that so far the only devs paying her any respect are ones that sucked in the first place; like EA, Naughtly Dog, and Anthony Burch.

Holy dick sticks these captchas are bullshit...

 

[EternallyBored]

As has already been stated, there doesn't seem to be any real proof that this story is even true, just the usual hyperbolic overreaction to anything involving the dread lord Sarkeesian.

Even if it is true there's still no reason to freak out, consultants have very little power to change things, they just make suggestions based on their experience, companies are free to ignore or take their advice as they see it.

On top of that, there's really not much there to screw up, even if she was the anti-male monster some people paint her as. Mirror's edge was already a game featuring a non-white female protagonist beating up an all male security and police force in a story that featured pretty much zero blatant sexualization, what exactly could she do to it? The game was already pretty much exactly what she wants out of games character wise, and she was supposedly a character consultant, not a gameplay consultant.

Overall, I couldn't care less about some game EA brought her on to give suggestions for, and trying to sign petitions to get any influence of hers removed from the game strikes me as just as dumb as that petition that got GTA5 removed from Australian Target stores.

 

[The Lunatic]

If true, it does rather dampen my hopes of the game having a decent portrayal of a female character.

 

[marioandsonic]

I'm curious as to what kind of changes she'll have in the final game.

Also...Mirror's Edge 2? Wasn't that supposed to come out a while ago?

 

[Atmos Duality]

Well, assuming for a moment this is real (and it kills me that I have to vocalize suspicion on the internet now)...

EA is doing this for the PR. And it's not the best idea for PR either.

That's really all there is to it.
I sincerely doubt her contributions will improve the game or the characterization in any way, but even that is just window dressing for all I care, since I refuse to buy EA games on principle.

 

[Zontar]

I thought this was old news. Seriously I've known about this for months. And wasn't Mirror's Edge just kind of boring to begin with?

I have to agree with you, I herd about this at least 6 months ago. Plus even though we know her 'consulting' won't improve the game, it's not like the quality can get much worst since it was mediocre gameplay mixed with a horrible story. I don't think they'd have someone with zero programming skills consult them on gameplay after all.

 

[Bizzaro Stormy]

So how do you handle the problem of someone getting too much attention in the forums? Start a thread about her and complain she's getting too much attention in the forums.

Mirror's Edge seems to me like the Tron of gaming. I've heard of it, but very little good about it. It has a cult following but I've never met someone who actually played it. So of course it needs a sequel!

If she is part of the team making the sequel than she's part of the team making the sequel. Maybe she'll make a fool of herself and that will be that. Maybe she will learn something about the hobby she has attacked, wouldn't that be nice? Maybe her supporters will find someone else to adore and her detractors will find others things to complain about. This is the internet after all.

Personally I've found the entire debate over isms and making games "meaningful" rather obnoxious. If your game is hip and smart today it will be called dated and insulting tomorrow. Make them fun and make the ones you want. The public will buy the ones they want.

 

[WhiteNachos]

So apparently Anita Sarkeesian is helping develop Mirror's Edge 2, as a consultant, more at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D3D8Y1aqiw .
Accordingly the community is once more throwing a bloody fit, with videos and petitions. I swear to god, the community is giving so much ammo to the anti-gamers out there that it isn't even funny. So what does the Escapist think?
NO TROLLING. If I see trolling I will bloody well report you, regardless of the ideology you purport to represent. This is to be a clean discussion.

Captcha: Orange juice. Captcha, ur next. I swear to God you are next.

Isn't this old news?

And my opinion is that unless we get a specific detail about what her contributions were it won't matter.

Anything fishy with the characters or writing will be blamed on Anita by people who don't like her. Every good part of it will be blamed on Anita by people who do like her, when we don't know quite how much she's contributing.

So I'll get my popcorn ready for when it releases. Perhaps I should play the first game first (I got it from the Humble EA bundle a while back and still haven't played it).

 

[WhiteNachos]

Anyone else find it strange that EA would hire someone as a consult with ZERO experience in game development and ZERO ties to the games industry?

Someone in the youtube comments said that there's been no statement by EA, the dev team or Anita herself so I'm willing to chalk this up to an internet rumor.

 

[asdfen]

who cares about feminism or lack thereof as long as the game is good and whoever that person is she doesnt belong to DICE dev team.

imo the only possible issue here is waste of funds on some probably unneeded consultants but thats EAs problem as the game is gonna be sold for the usual amount I would think without extra consultant tax.

 

[InsanityRequiem]

While I consider this more rumor than news, good on her if true? I just have no idea what could be brought to the table with Anita being a consultant. The clothing? But a no-sleeve shirt is best, nothing able to restrict arm movement. Baggy pants? Possibly, since those could get caught on the myriad parkour items that little the city. Story wise? I don't know. What can be changed for the sequel when the first was about a guy you know getting killed, your sister getting framed, finding and exposing corruption in the city, and then saving your sister. Maybe character interactions?

While I find her work rather suspect, I just don't understand what Anita could bring as a consultant for Mirror's Edge 2.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Can someone link to a recent and solid source?

I've generally defended her, as I agree with some of her points and think her earlier videos had a good deal of merit. But her very recent stuff was--- well, problematic... and seemed to suggest she has some issues with understanding context or game design that allows for player agency.

I'm a little skeptical over Mirror's Edge 2 as it is[footnote]I just want more of the same - with a few twists and even shinier visuals.[/footnote], and frankly I don't want Sarkeesian anywhere near an IP I value. The only person that series needs is more Rhianna Pratchett. Anita should at least work on a few indies, first, to see if she has anything of value to add to actual development or design.

Won't sign a petition, though, because it'll no doubt be signed by all the peculiar little misogynists who like to vilify Sarkeesian, so I'll pass.

 

[EternallyBored]

Anyone else find it strange that EA would hire someone as a consult with ZERO experience in game development and ZERO ties to the games industry?

Someone in the youtube comments said that there's been no statement by EA, the dev team or Anita herself so I'm willing to chalk this up to an internet rumor.

That's not strange, it's extremely common, and pretty much one of the main points of hiring consultants.

You hire consultants with experience in areas you aren't experienced in to give advice, like when Activision hires special forces soldiers to act as consultants on Call of Duty games, none of those guys have much in the way of programming experience or ties to the game industry, but that's not the point, Activision has entire teams of programmers and game makers, they don't need consultants to tell them how to program or make games. They hire these guys to give advice on how actual real life special forces units work, or how real military weapons work, which is a form of experience that the game makers generally lack.

In Anita's case, if the rumor isn't made up, and EA actually did hire her as a consultant, it wouldn't be for her game making or programming experience, it would be because they would want to hear about what she knows about writing and presenting female characters, something the game makers might want information or a different perspective on.

 

[sageoftruth]

I'm looking forward to finding out. It could be a learning experience for her, and possibly us if it leads to the creation of a very well-defined character. We'll see. I think she could use some more hands-on exposure to the process of making video games and the industry as a whole. She claims she's done her research, but I think an experience like this will top all of that by a long shot.

While we're on the subject of useful experiences for Anita, I've been hoping lately to see a direct discussion between her and TotalBiscuit. He's the sort of person who would listen and keep things civil, and he's got a wealth of information about the game industry from his personal experience. With all the shots being fired back and forth, I think a direct discussion between both of them would be eye-opening for either of them or both of them, and for plenty of us as well. Call me optimistic, but if such a discussion led to an agreement between both of them I think at best it could lead to at least a minor diffusion of the hostility between GamerGate and Feminist Frequency.

 

[renegade7]

You know, Mirror's Edge is probably one of the most gender-neutral games out there. I wouldn't really call it a matter of Faith being empowered somehow or the premise of the game itself progressive because Faith is an Asian woman, just that it's one of the few AAA games to have a female lead who actually looks like she wasn't created just as eye candy and isn't surrounded by constant macho military bravado.

So if a AAA studio wanted to break into the almost completely untapped market of female players, Mirror's Edge would be a good game to base such an effort off of.

However, I've tried to look this up, and I can't find anything suggesting that this is actually something EA is going to do. It seems to all originate with a Destructoid post from 2012, and then nothing, and then a Change.org petition out of nowhere. I think this is just a hoax.

 

[Haerthan]

You know what is the worst that could happen? The tropes that she brought to the forefront in her videos are just going to disappear. I stopped calling myself a gamer back in August 2014, when the GG thing started. I am really ashamed of this community. Just how the hell did we get at this point?

I'm sorry but I find this attitude to be silly.Why do you let other people affect the fact that you're a gamer or make you ashamed of the gaming community?

That's like me saying I refuse to call myself a football fan just because some fans can be rowdy,don't let other people dictate who you are and what you like.

And "we"?There is no "we" here since gamers aren't a collective group with the same personality and mindsets.

Simple, because the minute I say I am a gamer I have people look at me like I am a monster. When even the freaking New York Times, a HUGE mainstream paper showed that GG was founded on nothing but misogyny, when we are proving bloody Jack Thompson RIGHT through our inability to think as reasonable adults in face of criticism, when we throw fits cause a woman dared join an industry and make games, when we send death threats to women in the community and other such examples I am ashamed to call myself a gamer. Just how 50% of women in America don't think feminism is a good thing cause of the "tumbler feminists" (stupid thing), so does the world see the actions of the minority as being condoned by the majority.

Until the community, the entire community, comes out and says we are not those guys, says that we don't condone that, says that nobody deserves that level of harassment regardless of ideology, without ANY BUTS ATTACHED< only then the world might look at us and say: hey gamers aren't that bad. They are just like any community. That is what those articles tried to say in mid-August, that gaming is so diverse, so many people of different genders, ethnicities, races and religions play videogames, that to cater to only one demographic is ECONOMICALLY stupid. But I am wasting time here, time that I could spend finishing up an essay. The minute that everyone comes together and says We do not condone harassment under any way shape or form, only then can we be taken seriously. Regardless of how big the industry is.

 

[WhiteNachos]

Anyone else find it strange that EA would hire someone as a consult with ZERO experience in game development and ZERO ties to the games industry?

Someone in the youtube comments said that there's been no statement by EA, the dev team or Anita herself so I'm willing to chalk this up to an internet rumor.

That's not strange, it's extremely common, and pretty much one of the main points of hiring consultants.

You hire consultants with experience in areas you aren't experienced in to give advice, like when Activision hires special forces soldiers to act as consultants on Call of Duty games, none of those guys have much in the way of programming experience or ties to the game industry, but that's not the point, Activision has entire teams of programmers and game makers, they don't need consultants to tell them how to program or make games. They hire these guys to give advice on how actual real life special forces units work, or how real military weapons work, which is a form of experience that the game makers generally lack.

In Anita's case, if the rumor isn't made up, and EA actually did hire her as a consultant, it wouldn't be for her game making or programming experience, it would be because they would want to hear about what she knows about writing and presenting female characters, something the game makers might want information or a different perspective on.

I have yet to see Anita try her hand at writing characters or writing a book. She doesn't have expertise she's just someone with an opinion who got internet famous.