Steam User Finds Misogynistic "Joke" Buried in Dead Island Code [UPDATED]

[Jabberwock xeno]

I don't see what the big deal is.

Plenty of games and their devs are very laid back about this kind of stuff.

I'm more concerned that the person resposble will be punished for somthing that reall isn't a big deal.

It's a big deal because it pissed off potential customers, and the primary responsibility of any business is serving their customers. Devs aren't supposed to be laid back about this stuff, because a lot of their customers aren't.

The programmer responsible deserves to be punished, because he embarrassed the entire company, damaged its reputation, and probably cost it sales.

How did it piss of pontential customers?

All of the threads I have seen about it on steam after it's discovery have been either inddifrence or finds it funny.

Borderlands has a gun it called the "*****", and it's discription is "smack em", for example.

Nobody cared about that.

 

[cobra_ky]

How did it piss of pontential customers?

All of the threads I have seen about it on steam after it's discovery have been either inddifrence or finds it funny.

Borderlands has a gun it called the "*****", and it's discription is "smack em", for example.

Nobody cared about that.

Uh, did you read this thread? There are people here who are pissed off by it. People who are generally interested in buying games, people who are in Dead Island's target market.

 

[Kinguendo]

Who gives a shit about misogyny? Besides, isn't there something more important in the world to complain about? Like the actual STATE of Dead Island on Steam instead of some silly little line of code?

The second post on the Steam thread nails it: QQ more.

What does Quick Quit have to do with misogyny? Are you saying the people who dont agree with misogyny should quit the game? I dont... What? What does Quick Quit have to do with Dead Island and this misogynistic comment? I sincerely hope you have an explanation.

 

[Kinguendo]

Its not even funny, I say if the person who wrote that piece of code cant contextualize it so it is actually funny then they should get fired.

 

[Do4600]

... Except for the N-word. That honestly has way too much hate behind it to have a reason to live.

The more you try to ban a word, the more you try to control it's usage, the more afraid you are to use it, the more power you give it.

Admittedly, I suppose.

:/ Still, that word and its history just bothers me. You are right about what you say, but still...

In a perfect world it wouldn't exist, and in a polite world we would all agree not to use it, sadly this is neither, all we can do is try not to let such words affect us, because if we allow them to it gives them power and the people who use them have won.

 

[RevRaptor]

Wow really, what kind of sad F^&K complains about this stuff. It was buried in the code and was just a placeholder.
I can totally understand why they did it, when I was programming I would do this kind of stuff all the time the more colourful the description the less likely you are to forget it or confuse it with something else.

They are just words people get over it. It's not like you are going to get the herpes from a dirty comment.

 

[Caverat]

Had a good laugh at this one. People will ***** and moan about anything.

I find it hard to believe that anyone who takes themselves seriously could give a shit about a line of code in a game. So what if this programmer's desire for the code surrounding a skill is less than politically correct. It'd be sexist if the skill was actually named that, but they used that line in a place he never expected anyone to see.

 

[Partezan]

It's a big deal because it pissed off potential customers, and the primary responsibility of any business is serving their customers. Devs aren't supposed to be laid back about this stuff, because a lot of their customers aren't.

The programmer responsible deserves to be punished, because he embarrassed the entire company, damaged its reputation, and probably cost it sales.

The company embarrassed itself already by making a character that is misandric and at least in my eyes (and it's a really shame that it's not in more people's eyes) made itself look even worse by attacking a coder that pointed their bs out.

Imagine if the roles were reversed and there was a character that dealt extra damage to black people, and not only that, this character was a main character on the good side and was expected to be taken seriously. Then a code was found where the char was named a "RacistPigIdiot". The coder would be called a HERO!

Now imagine all this happened and then the company came out and said we are sorry for being so unprofessional and having the word "IDIOT" in our code, we will punish the code right away. How messed up would that be? That's the way I see it, and the sad reason that more people and especially men don't see it that way is the same reason why if you type in mysandry it needs to be spell checked while misogyny does not.

 

[cobra_ky]

It's a big deal because it pissed off potential customers, and the primary responsibility of any business is serving their customers. Devs aren't supposed to be laid back about this stuff, because a lot of their customers aren't.

The programmer responsible deserves to be punished, because he embarrassed the entire company, damaged its reputation, and probably cost it sales.

The company embarrassed itself already by making a character that is misandric and at least in my eyes (and it's a really shame that it's not in more people's eyes) made itself look even worse by attacking a coder that pointed their bs out.

The Gender Wars skill was a deliberate design decision, and you have every right to be offended by it. (although i don't think anyone bothered to raise a stink about it before this whole "feminist whore" fiasco.) Duke Nukem was very deliberately misogynist; when people complained about all the terribly offensive depictions of women in that game, the developer response was basically "that's the point." Nobody is blaming the individual programmers at Gearbox because it was a company-wide decision to release that game, and they have taken responsibility for it.

What this guy did was step off the company line and get them embroiled in a controversy they didn't want in the first place. so Techland is understandably pissed at this guy (and whoever's responsible for letting the dev build release onto Steam) and are taking disciplinary action against him.

Imagine if the roles were reversed and there was a character that dealt extra damage to black people, and not only that, this character was a main character on the good side and was expected to be taken seriously. Then a code was found where the char was named a "RacistPigIdiot". The coder would be called a HERO!

Now imagine all this happened and then the company came out and said we are sorry for being so unprofessional and having the word "IDIOT" in our code, we will punish the code right away. How messed up would that be? That's the way I see it, and the sad reason that more people and especially men don't see it that way is the same reason why if you type in mysandry it needs to be spell checked while misogyny does not.

You very deliberately reversed the scenario so that the programmer is now the defender of the marginalized. Here's the real analogy: The character is a black separatist with an ability that does more damage to white people. The programmer charged with coding the ability decides to call it "RacistNiggerWhore".

Now, you're asking me to believe that the programmer was gravely offended by this design, but instead of bringing it up with management, or refusing to write the code, or asking to have his name scrubbed from the credits, or even quitting entirely, he decided he would protest it by giving the ability an internal name, which under normal circumstances would never be seen by anyone outside the company, and to the uninitiated observer would appear to be a stark racist slur.

Sorry, but I think the much more plausible explanation would be that the programmer is just racist. And I think a sexist programmer is the most plausible explanation for the Dead Island fiasco.

If you have to go looking in code then frankly you're actively looking to be insulted. I feel sorry for this programmer, I give all my variables memorable names and I've also had to go through code and rename one (not for this reason) and I know how easy it is to miss some tiny expression like that.

The other thing is that he didn't intend this to be funny, this wasn't a 'joke' on his part. He simply named the variables in a memorable manner for his own amusement and convenience. This wasn't intended for viewing by anyone but him and anyone who ended up debugging his code so it's not like he presented it to the world.

On the other hand...yeah, unprofessional mate. I mean really, think it through next time.

so he didn't intend it to be funny, he just found it amusing? That's a beautiful piece of cognitive dissonance you've got working for you there.

Let me ask you something, if you overheard someone insulting you behind your back, would you just brush it off because "you weren't intended to hear it"?

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

so he didn't intend it to be funny, he just found it amusing? That's a beautiful piece of cognitive dissonance you've got working for you there.

Let me ask you something, if you overheard someone insulting you behind your back, would you just brush it off because "you weren't intended to hear it"?

I don't think that phrase means what you think it means.

For example, I name my devices like ipods and phones with their own names. They aren't called by my own name, they each have a name like Gerald. That is not a joke, that is something I do privately because it amuses me. It isn't intended for anyone else's consumption so it's not me joking, it's just me doing something private that I find amusing.

And yeah, I brush insults off, I am an adult. If someone comments on me and I have no reason to confront them I don't bother.

this is very true, and the people that are freaking out about this giving counter arguments are taking them to the extremes

if there was a character in game, that was a fat white male, who would shit a bible out every time he attacked someone, and he was called "merica" or some sort, i would definitely get a kick out of it.


to the people freaking out over this

Spoiler: not for those without a sense of humor/mercy, which many have shown they don't have

seriously? it's a bit of coding, buried in a game, it isn't the name of the fucking game nor the main point of it, and some of you are asking for him to be fired?

...i can't even describe how much i hate dealing with customers like you.

 

[cobra_ky]

so he didn't intend it to be funny, he just found it amusing? That's a beautiful piece of cognitive dissonance you've got working for you there.

Let me ask you something, if you overheard someone insulting you behind your back, would you just brush it off because "you weren't intended to hear it"?

I don't think that phrase means what you think it means.

For example, I name my devices like ipods and phones with their own names. They aren't called by my own name, they each have a name like Gerald. That is not a joke, that is something I do privately because it amuses me. It isn't intended for anyone else's consumption so it's not me joking, it's just me doing something private that I find amusing.

And yeah, I brush insults off, I am an adult. If someone comments on me and I have no reason to confront them I don't bother.

Please explain to me the difference between "funny" and "amusing", because according to my thesaurus, those are synonyms. If you're saying it's technically not a "joke" because it wasn't directed at an audience, then yeah, i get that.

And OK, good for you. I'm glad you're completely immune to anything anyone says about you. it's just that a lot of people think getting insulted is a good reason to confront people.

this is very true, and the people that are freaking out about this giving counter arguments are taking them to the extremes

if there was a character in game, that was a fat white male, who would shit a bible out every time he attacked someone, and he was called "merica" or some sort, i would definitely get a kick out of it.


to the people freaking out over this

Spoiler: not for those without a sense of humor/mercy, which many have shown they don't have

seriously? it's a bit of coding, buried in a game, it isn't the name of the fucking game nor the main point of it, and some of you are asking for him to be fired?

...i can't even describe how much i hate dealing with customers like you.

then do what i do and stay the hell away from customer-facing positions.

I don't think anybody's really "freaking out" here, except the people who think nobody should ever get offended unless someone is deliberately insulting them to their face. i'm not asking for anyone to be fired, i just think that whatever disciplinary action Techland takes against him is entirely justified.

The company i'm at now had a similar situation before i started there. A programmer stuck a error message into production code, and because the error wouldn't come up under normal use conditions, he stuck all kinds of profanity in it. Well, guess what. A customer got that error message, called up to complain, and the programmer was damn near fired on the spot, and rightfully so. He undermined our customer relations and made himself a liability.

A pissed off customer isn't going to give two shits about what you think is funny, or whether you insulted him out of malice, or mere incompetence.

 

[TonyVonTonyus]

Nobody likes feminists. They're annoying and hipocritical. Being misogynistic is one thing but hating what is essentially an advocacy group for hipocracy seems fine to me.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

so he didn't intend it to be funny, he just found it amusing? That's a beautiful piece of cognitive dissonance you've got working for you there.

Let me ask you something, if you overheard someone insulting you behind your back, would you just brush it off because "you weren't intended to hear it"?

I don't think that phrase means what you think it means.

For example, I name my devices like ipods and phones with their own names. They aren't called by my own name, they each have a name like Gerald. That is not a joke, that is something I do privately because it amuses me. It isn't intended for anyone else's consumption so it's not me joking, it's just me doing something private that I find amusing.

And yeah, I brush insults off, I am an adult. If someone comments on me and I have no reason to confront them I don't bother.

Please explain to me the difference between "funny" and "amusing", because according to my thesaurus, those are synonyms. If you're saying it's technically not a "joke" because it wasn't directed at an audience, then yeah, i get that.

And OK, good for you. I'm glad you're completely immune to anything anyone says about you. it's just that a lot of people think getting insulted is a good reason to confront people.

this is very true, and the people that are freaking out about this giving counter arguments are taking them to the extremes

if there was a character in game, that was a fat white male, who would shit a bible out every time he attacked someone, and he was called "merica" or some sort, i would definitely get a kick out of it.


to the people freaking out over this

Spoiler: not for those without a sense of humor/mercy, which many have shown they don't have

seriously? it's a bit of coding, buried in a game, it isn't the name of the fucking game nor the main point of it, and some of you are asking for him to be fired?

...i can't even describe how much i hate dealing with customers like you.

then do what i do and stay the hell away from customer-facing positions.

I don't think anybody's really "freaking out" here, except the people who think nobody should ever get offended unless someone is deliberately insulting them to their face. i'm not asking for anyone to be fired, i just think that whatever disciplinary action Techland takes against him is entirely justified.

The company i'm at now had a similar situation before i started there. A programmer stuck a error message into production code, and because the error wouldn't come up under normal use conditions, he stuck all kinds of profanity in it. Well, guess what. A customer got that error message, called up to complain, and the programmer was damn near fired on the spot, and rightfully so. He undermined our customer relations and made himself a liability.

A pissed off customer isn't going to give two shits about what you think is funny, or whether you insulted him out of malice, or mere incompetence.

i MIGHT be inclined to agree, in some cases, however this is a game company, in the ENTERTAINMENT business, not a bank, or a financial company, or a law firm...

a game company, there is a difference, if you don't like the product then don't buy it, but when people are claiming for someone to be fired or have that programmer given hell over something so insignificant, they need to re evaluate how they spend their day, because i'm surprised they can even make it through the day without freaking out on everyone if that's what they feel like getting "offended" or angry about.

(and yeah, that's why i quit my previous job, i was third party customer service/fraud security for thousands of banks across the nation...for 8 dollars an hour...it fucking sucked)

 

[cobra_ky]

i MIGHT be inclined to agree, in some cases, however this is a game company, in the ENTERTAINMENT business, not a bank, or a financial company, or a law firm...

a game company, there is a difference, if you don't like the product then don't buy it, but when people are claiming for someone to be fired or have that programmer given hell over something so insignificant, they need to re evaluate how they spend their day, because i'm surprised they can even make it through the day without freaking out on everyone if that's what they feel like getting "offended" or angry about.

(and yeah, that's why i quit my previous job, i was third party customer service/fraud security for thousands of banks across the nation...for 8 dollars an hour...it fucking sucked)

When customers stop buying because of a programmer's stupid joke, that is costing the company directly. And whoever's in charge at Techland needs to decide whether the work that programmer is producing is good enough to justify his salary and whatever costs he incurred with his mistake. Given how competitive the industry is for jobs, I don't think Techland would have a problem replacing this guy if they wanted to.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

i MIGHT be inclined to agree, in some cases, however this is a game company, in the ENTERTAINMENT business, not a bank, or a financial company, or a law firm...

a game company, there is a difference, if you don't like the product then don't buy it, but when people are claiming for someone to be fired or have that programmer given hell over something so insignificant, they need to re evaluate how they spend their day, because i'm surprised they can even make it through the day without freaking out on everyone if that's what they feel like getting "offended" or angry about.

(and yeah, that's why i quit my previous job, i was third party customer service/fraud security for thousands of banks across the nation...for 8 dollars an hour...it fucking sucked)

When customers stop buying because of a programmer's stupid joke, that is costing the company directly. And whoever's in charge at Techland needs to decide whether the work that programmer is producing is good enough to justify his salary and whatever costs he incurred with his mistake. Given how competitive the industry is for jobs, I don't think Techland would have a problem replacing this guy if they wanted to.

you could apply what you just said to hundreds of different companies in so many different ways, but they don't end up firing those people based on something small and insignificant, so i don't see why it would be any different here.


ha and that'd be a site to see, well when he's being replaced, i'll be sure to accept his resume and hire him up then.

 

[cobra_ky]

you could apply what you just said to hundreds of different companies in so many different ways, but they don't end up firing those people based on something small and insignificant, so i don't see why it would be any different here.


ha and that'd be a site to see, well when he's being replaced, i'll be sure to accept his resume and hire him up then.

It depends how "small and insignificant" this really is. What makes this issue more complicated is the fact that a development build was accidentally rolled out on Steam in the first place; that alone is a pretty huge fuckup. A lot of things went wrong here and I can guarantee you that Techland is going to take steps to fix them.

Uh, why exactly do you want to hire this guy? (Assuming it was one guy responsible and not a group decision) You don't know anything about his experience or abilities, all you'd know is that he got fired over this. He could be a complete idiot for all we know.

 

[xdiesp]

Poor chap, fired for a bad word in a game about graphically tearing people to shreds with chainsaws. That's what matters most, the bad baaaad word.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

you could apply what you just said to hundreds of different companies in so many different ways, but they don't end up firing those people based on something small and insignificant, so i don't see why it would be any different here.


ha and that'd be a site to see, well when he's being replaced, i'll be sure to accept his resume and hire him up then.

It depends how "small and insignificant" this really is. What makes this issue more complicated is the fact that a development build was accidentally rolled out on Steam in the first place; that alone is a pretty huge fuckup. A lot of things went wrong here and I can guarantee you that Techland is going to take steps to fix them.

Uh, why exactly do you want to hire this guy? (Assuming it was one guy responsible and not a group decision) You don't know anything about his experience or abilities, all you'd know is that he got fired over this. He could be a complete idiot for all we know.

nevermind, your like talking with a brick wall, nothing is going to change anything in the end, because it still is just a brick wall no matter what you do or say.