well, the the escapist was just attacked.

[xaszatm]

Out of sheer curiosity, what does "terrific" mean then? I know you are joking here but it's gonna bug me.

Well, from experience, it is usually used to describe something extremely positive.

However, it has the same Latin roots as "terrifying" (the similarity is pretty clear) and used to mean roughly the same thing.

Edit: And also terrible.

...that sounds...terrific *Gets pelted to death via a wet fish*

 

[Bat Vader]

Why the hell is this GamerGate thing even a big deal?

I'm curious too. Only thing I really know about is that it somehow involved Zoe Quinn and now The Escapist was attacked. I feel like it is a mountain made out of a mole-hill. I expect in six months to a year that it will be blown over.

 

[Thorn14]

Why the hell is this GamerGate thing even a big deal?

I'm curious too. Only thing I really know about is that it somehow involved Zoe Quinn and now The Escapist was attacked. I feel like it is a mountain made out of a mole-hill. I expect in six months to a year that it will be blown over.

Its a big deal because a lot of people are fed up with the attitude of video game journalists and they're circling the wagons and a lot of places are now censoring the discussion as well as what appears to be a bunch of journalists/website owners/developers all WAY too buddy buddy with each other for some people's tastes.

 

[Caiphus]

...that sounds...terrific *Gets pelted to death via a wet fish*

Well, as long as you don't live in New Zealand, you're safe. My arms aren't that long.

 

[DaWaffledude]

To anyone curious. Yes. This is an attack by the Anti-Gamergate side. Kuchera was unable to browbeat Greg Tito into censoring the discussion, now that the corrupt journalists are losing this debate rapidly, the Anti-GG side is desperate to shut down the discussion.

They've already begun censoring on 4chan. They've turned it into a SJW hugbox, to the point where being politically incorrect in /b/ (the bloody POLITICALLY INCORRECT FORUM) is a ban worthy offense.

If you wonder why the Anti-GG side is doing this, the answer is simple:

They're bloody terrified of losing their power.

For about 3 years now, they've had the privilege to attack, patronize, and demean others. They could insult people sarcastically, insinuate that all attempts to disagree with them were based on "racism" or "misogyny" rather than logic. Now with Gamergate being more popular and them being shown for who they are, they are absolutely desperate to end the discussion.

They've been painting us as the harassers, us as the doxxers and the "hackers". You can all see now, that this is a lie. They're a group founded on hatred, a clique desperate to retain their power and trying to censor the opposing side's discussion.

Say what you will of us, but we haven't been attempting to bring down sites for allowing the opposing side to speak.

So the next time someone says "We aren't trying to silence you" or "we aren't trying to take your games or websites away!" just know that it is a lie. It happened to 4chan. It's attempting to happen here. We wont let them silence us.

Proof. Show it.

 

[Rayce Archer]

To anyone curious. Yes. This is an attack by the Anti-Gamergate side. Kuchera was unable to browbeat Greg Tito into censoring the discussion, now that the corrupt journalists are losing this debate rapidly, the Anti-GG side is desperate to shut down the discussion.

They've already begun censoring on 4chan. They've turned it into a SJW hugbox, to the point where being politically incorrect in /b/ (the bloody POLITICALLY INCORRECT FORUM) is a ban worthy offense.

If you wonder why the Anti-GG side is doing this, the answer is simple:

They're bloody terrified of losing their power.

For about 3 years now, they've had the privilege to attack, patronize, and demean others. They could insult people sarcastically, insinuate that all attempts to disagree with them were based on "racism" or "misogyny" rather than logic. Now with Gamergate being more popular and them being shown for who they are, they are absolutely desperate to end the discussion.

They've been painting us as the harassers, us as the doxxers and the "hackers". You can all see now, that this is a lie. They're a group founded on hatred, a clique desperate to retain their power and trying to censor the opposing side's discussion.

Say what you will of us, but we haven't been attempting to bring down sites for allowing the opposing side to speak.

So the next time someone says "We aren't trying to silence you" or "we aren't trying to take your games or websites away!" just know that it is a lie. It happened to 4chan. It's attempting to happen here. We wont let them silence us.

Proof. Show it.

Not gonna happen. That would be HARD, and would include the possibility of being wrong.

My conclusion: ASSHOLES did this. I'm fairly certain that's self-proving.

 

[Alex1508]

To anyone curious. Yes. This is an attack by the Anti-Gamergate side. Kuchera was unable to browbeat Greg Tito into censoring the discussion, now that the corrupt journalists are losing this debate rapidly, the Anti-GG side is desperate to shut down the discussion.

They've already begun censoring on 4chan. They've turned it into a SJW hugbox, to the point where being politically incorrect in /b/ (the bloody POLITICALLY INCORRECT FORUM) is a ban worthy offense.

If you wonder why the Anti-GG side is doing this, the answer is simple:

They're bloody terrified of losing their power.

For about 3 years now, they've had the privilege to attack, patronize, and demean others. They could insult people sarcastically, insinuate that all attempts to disagree with them were based on "racism" or "misogyny" rather than logic. Now with Gamergate being more popular and them being shown for who they are, they are absolutely desperate to end the discussion.

They've been painting us as the harassers, us as the doxxers and the "hackers". You can all see now, that this is a lie. They're a group founded on hatred, a clique desperate to retain their power and trying to censor the opposing side's discussion.

Say what you will of us, but we haven't been attempting to bring down sites for allowing the opposing side to speak.

So the next time someone says "We aren't trying to silence you" or "we aren't trying to take your games or websites away!" just know that it is a lie. It happened to 4chan. It's attempting to happen here. We wont let them silence us.

Proof. Show it.

Not gonna happen. That would be HARD, and would include the possibility of being wrong.

My conclusion: ASSHOLES did this. I'm fairly certain that's self-proving.

We don't know either way at this point. It could have been the Anti-GG side trying to censor the thread, it could have been the GG side trying to do a bit of self sabotage to gain more PR points or it could have been someone who only did this for the lulz. Until some evidence to point us one way or the other doesn't surface, the only thing we are left is wild speculation.

 

[MathHamy]

I wouldn't put it past the anti-GG side to do something like this. Remember how they DDoS'd TFYC?
Basically, the anti-GG attack scenario is the scenario that requires the least assumptions. They have the most obvious motive and we know they have the capability.

 

[SweetShark]

I am truly trying to follow what the f*ck going on, but every time I fail...
A summary of this situation please?

 

[Catfood220]

So, what did everybody do while the site was down.

I kept pressing F4.

foreveralone.jpg

I went for a walk. The air was fresh, there was a bright warm thing in the sky.

I didn't like it.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

To anyone curious. Yes. This is an attack by the Anti-Gamergate side. Kuchera was unable to browbeat Greg Tito into censoring the discussion, now that the corrupt journalists are losing this debate rapidly, the Anti-GG side is desperate to shut down the discussion.

They've already begun censoring on 4chan. They've turned it into a SJW hugbox, to the point where being politically incorrect in /b/ (the bloody POLITICALLY INCORRECT FORUM) is a ban worthy offense.

If you wonder why the Anti-GG side is doing this, the answer is simple:

They're bloody terrified of losing their power.

For about 3 years now, they've had the privilege to attack, patronize, and demean others. They could insult people sarcastically, insinuate that all attempts to disagree with them were based on "racism" or "misogyny" rather than logic. Now with Gamergate being more popular and them being shown for who they are, they are absolutely desperate to end the discussion.

They've been painting us as the harassers, us as the doxxers and the "hackers". You can all see now, that this is a lie. They're a group founded on hatred, a clique desperate to retain their power and trying to censor the opposing side's discussion.

Say what you will of us, but we haven't been attempting to bring down sites for allowing the opposing side to speak.

So the next time someone says "We aren't trying to silence you" or "we aren't trying to take your games or websites away!" just know that it is a lie. It happened to 4chan. It's attempting to happen here. We wont let them silence us.

Have you ever taken a moment to think to yourself, "huh, if my cause is so vitriolic and offensive that it single-handedly got /b/ censored, maybe I'm on the wrong side"?

Death threats abound from the gamergate camp and then you all complain about a DDOS? And for what? Where was your constant outrage when it was money that was corrupting games journalism (which remains the case)? Why is it that money corrupting games journalism was known by anybody with a bit of sense for YEARS, but now that there are incredibly dubious claims coming from a disgruntled ex claiming a woman is doing it with her vagina, time for the death threats?

"Gamergate"'s inaction before speaks volumes about the real reason they are making an issue out of it now, as does their rhetoric. I used to come here because it was a gamers forum that wasn't full of bigots. It is disgusting the things I have seen posted here since the start of all this bullshit. Because of this movement I am now ashamed to associate myself with playing video games. I, for one, am glad 4chan took a stand against this thinly veiled hatred of women and it is disgraceful that so many gamers these days have their heads so far up their asses that /b/ has to be the voice of reason and tolerance.

 

[Falling_v1legacy]

Wow. Witty Name Here, you... you are something else.
A mountain of conclusions, built on half a shovel full of facts.
You have motivation for one side (although I can think of motivation for another side. Plus in a world where lulzsec existed, it could well have been for kicks and giggles.)
But you have no actual person, no smoking gun, from the facts, we could conclude... absolutely any script kidddie on the internet. I don't know if it was so-called anti-GG, maybe. We'll have to see. I don't know if they were pro-GG wanting to throw gas on the fire and re-rally the troops. We'll have to see. I don't if it was some random that just wants to see the world burn. We'll have to see. Or maybe we won't.

But it is ill-adviced to turn both barrels on one side with absolutely no evidence for any person or group of people. You are boxing shadows with one thin rag of evidence- that is possible motivation. You stopped posting, so maybe you are having a chance to sleep this. If so, I hope you wake up in a less pre-emptive accusatory frame-of-mind. Believe me, I will join in denouncing whoever it is, whichever 'side' they claim to be on.

It doesn't matter what 'side' did this. The person or group that did it is an asshole. That's about all we should surmise out of this.

Just keep it cool. You were being silenced, but that doesn't mean the 'sjw brigade' or whatever was clearly behind it. Again, makes the tin foil hat that much more noticeable.

As it is now I'm wearing about a quarter of a tin foil hat. Nice fashion accessory.

So is that like a doo rag then? or is it just sort of safety-pinned to the side a bit there like an upperclass women from victorian london or something?

I do view myself as the classy type for sure.

But yeah, people are just saying extremely inflammatory things now. Don't lash out at people because they happen to disagree with you.

There is no proof of who did this at this time. No one here should be an "enemy." Granted, some seem to be doing their damned best to make the situation worse.

I agree. Back around the time TFYC got hacked, there was suspected trolling 3rd group involved, though no evidence outside of speculation has arisen. At this point it could well be them. Their action is despicable though, regardless who did it.

That could be the case, but it does seem awfully fishy that only GG threads right now are getting ddosed. If there were a third party involved, why only target one side? If it's for the 'lulz', shouldn't they be trying to ddos anti-gg sites as well?

Well if you were goin to stir the shit, there would be no better target. Honestly, my money is on some anti-gamergate jackass with a hair up his rear and a script-kiddie starter set. Though I do find it very intellectually inconsistent how the people who were saying that gamergate is just this horrible, misogynistic movement that is permanently tainted for the actions of harassers seem to be saying that this action, if from an anti-gamergater, is just the actions of an individual.

It's not inconsistent if properly qualified. (And this mess for the entire month has been fraught with hyperbole and sorely lacking in qualifiers.) It is demonstrably true that a large number of people jumped on Zoe after her ex? spread their trash out on the lawn, metaphorically speaking. Demonstrably true because there was a whole bunch of posts from a whole bunch of people. Furthermore, the beginning was rift with conspiracy theories, and even sucking Anita's work into the hurricane of controversy (for some reason, I'm still not sure.) Again, demonstrably true due to a whole number of posts by a whole lot of people. Now. They may not have been the majority. They may not have been representative. But like youtube comments, they are pretty dang visible, and none too pretty. So it is fair to say that there was a significant part of Quinspiracy (as it was originally called) that posted sexist comments, and even harassed. Maybe the newest iteration- one GG- has purged the radical elements and moved on to bigger and better things, but for awhile, it was picking up some odd cowboys along the way (that white nationalist dude that wanted to make a video on the Anita effect for instance.)

In this case, we simply do not know. Was it one person, was it a group of people? What we do not have are widespread DDOS attacks coming in at the quantity of the dog-piling comments on Zoe. Short of thousands of sock puppets, you can't generate that level of furor on the internet without a whole of people. You can DDOS a website with a very small group of people... or only one person.

Think of it terms of concentration. With enough terrible people originating from a certain movement, you can say that they are at least somewhat representative of whole. (Until you try and purge 'em like Buckley and the John Birsch Society.) But if your sample is one (maybe, we don't know yet which 'side' they are), then yes you can certainly say it is an individual. (And should also be ostracized from the group.) Look, any new thing is going to attract some really terrible people. I really haven't seen what the tumblr crowd does... I am equally disinterested in them as I am of 4chan. Maybe they have a bunch of ridiculous posters, if so they need to rein them in. But what I have seen on this side from the fallout of Quin... is quite bad. That too, needs to be reined in. Especially this conspiracy nonsense. That garbage has been there from the beginning. But considering this was one attack on one website... yeah at this point, I'm thinking it's not something that's permeated one side or the other. Probably an individual or group of individuals.

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

I am truly trying to follow that the f*ck going on, but every time I fail...
A summary of this situation please?

One day, a passing fuckface dipped his tiddlies in all of the of jars of strawberry jam at the 4-H Fair. Nobody knew about this unhygienic breach of protocol when a jar of strawberry jam won the canning competition, and the innocent tyke who took home the blue ribbon became Lancaster County's target du jour after one of the judges later coughed up a pubic hair that couldn't have possibly come from human contact because said judge was a Mennonite. You could tell she wasn't Amish because she wore Nike shoes and arrived at the fair in a Toyota instead of a buggy.

(Shut up - I've been to the Green Dragon Farmer's Market, I know how this works!)

Well, this fetching Mennonite went to the press and said that she could only have coughed up a pubic hair because she once passed a game store and saw a Final Fantasy title on display. Convinced of the corruption of modern society, Kotaku ran an article about how JRPGs result in unwanted pregnancies in states that aren't run by Republican governors.

Of course, this didn't sit well with the penguins. They knew FUCKING WELL who was responsible: it had to be the damn dirty apes! But the apes were too busy showing off their enlarged members to the children of zoo patrons, so another target had to be located.

Blame was placed on U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf. He didn't raise a fuss about the accusation because he was dead at the time. Perfect!

And that brings us to today - Stormin' Norman impregnated a dog so that he could secure his place in the Blue Man Group as a herring that they smack on a silver pole after it's had a stripper's legs wrapped around it.

Does that clarify things?

 

[Zontar]

Have you ever taken a moment to think to yourself, "huh, if my cause is so vitriolic and offensive that it single-handedly got /b/ censored, maybe I'm on the wrong side"?

Are you really trying to argue that we are on par with the worst of the worst of the worst that the internet has to offer? Are you really trying to argue that it isn't the mods playing favouritism on that site, but is if fact the only side of the two in this issue which is keeping the argument civil being the scum of the internet? I'm sorry, but the path with least assumptions leads to it being the mods trying to censor discussion on the topic, nothing more.

Death threats abound from the gamergate camp and then you all complain about a DDOS?

Numbers don't lie, and right now DDOS attacks AND death threats are currently coming from the anti-gamergate camp in much larger numbers then the other way around.

And for what? Where was your constant outrage when it was money that was corrupting games journalism (which remains the case)? Why is it that money corrupting games journalism was known by anybody with a bit of sense for YEARS, but now that there are incredibly dubious claims coming from a disgruntled ex claiming a woman is doing it with her vagina, time for the death threats?

The same reason the first world war was something which was inevitable for years before the assassination of a duke by a Serb, it was the straw which broke the camel's back. Quinn was the perfect storm for this whole issue: a women game developer who used lies and slander to turn people in games media who will report anything as fact to harass a forum filled with people who have very serious social problems just to help publicise her work, who was caught cheating on her boyfriend with members of gaming media, and instead of it being reported on almost all talk of it was systematically censored, even from 4chan where that type of thing should not even raise an eyebrow. It was the perfect storm of too many red flags, bad ethics, attempts at censorship and miscalculations by games media. Had it been covered with a simple article by most gaming websites addressing it when it all started, none of this would have happened.

Instead, it birthed a controversy which exemplifies everything wrong with games media in one single incident, and that pushed us over the edge. This was inevitable, if only because no one in a position of power lifted a finger to try and stop it.

"Gamergate"'s inaction before speaks volumes about the real reason they are making an issue out of it now, as does their rhetoric. I used to come here because it was a gamers forum that wasn't full of bigots. It is disgusting the things I have seen posted here since the start of all this bullshit. Because of this movement I am now ashamed to associate myself with playing video games. I, for one, am glad 4chan took a stand against this thinly veiled hatred of women and it is disgraceful that so many gamers these days have their heads so far up their asses that /b/ has to be the voice of reason and tolerance.

There is no logical response to this paragraph, because to respond logically to it would require that it itself had some basic connection to logic or reality. There's no arguing with ideologues such as this. You neither tried to find facts on the issue at hand nor did you try to fact check the claims of the ideologues you listened to second or third hand to come to this conclusion.

I'm sorry, but there is no way you came to this conclusion yourself with first hand experience while being rational about it. You're post is nothing but lies and slander taken right from the heart of the anti-gamergate movement and as politically charged as their ideological base of thought is. That doesn't work for gamergate because we do not use ideology in our goals, only rationality. It's why you see liberals, conservatives, communist, libertarians, MRAs and feminists all on our side, while the anti-gamergate side is almost exclusively made of of left to far left ideologue and extremist feminists.

 

[Ldude893]

I am truly trying to follow that the f*ck going on, but every time I fail...
A summary of this situation please?

One day, a passing fuckface dipped his tiddlies in all of the of jars of strawberry jam at the 4-H Fair. Nobody knew about this unhygienic breach of protocol when a jar of strawberry jam won the canning competition, and the innocent tyke who took home the blue ribbon became Lancaster County's target du jour after one of the judges later coughed up a pubic hair that couldn't have possibly come from human contact because said judge was a Mennonite. You could tell she wasn't Amish because she wore Nike shoes and arrived at the fair in a car instead of a buggy.

(Shut up - I've been to the Green Dragon Farmer's Market, I know how this works!)

Well, this fetching Mennonite went to the press and said that she could only have coughed up a pubic hair because she once passed a game store and saw a Final Fantasy title on display. Convinced of the corruption of modern society, Kotaku ran an article about how JRPGs result in unwanted pregnancies in states that aren't run by Republican governors.

Of course, this didn't sit well with the penguins. They knew FUCKING WELL who was responsible: it had to be the damn dirty apes! But the apes were too busy showing off their enlarged members to the children of zoo patrons, so another target had to be located.

Blame was placed on Norman Schwarzkopf. He didn't raise a fuss about the accusation because he was dead at the time. Perfect!

And that brings us to today - Stormin' Norman impregnated a dog so that he could get secure his place in the Blue Man Group as a herring that they smack on a silver pole after it's had a stripper's legs wrapped around it.

Does that clarify things?

You forgot to mention the incident from earlier this month, when the main post office in Kansas City was pelted with alcohol-filled balloons by a resurrected Steve Jobs. Also, the band Norman was trying to get to wasn't the Blue Man Group but Creed.

 

[Ldude893]

I am truly trying to follow what the f*ck going on, but every time I fail...
A summary of this situation please?

From the very beginning:

From my understanding, this is Gamersgate in a nutshell.

1. A woman is suspected of sabotaging a charity event with feminism as her justification, even though the event supposedly aimed to support female developers.
2. A more or less reasonable group of people get upset about this, and make the issue somewhat known.
3. An ex decides to share information about this woman's sex life, which picks up popularity because of the aforementioned scandal.
4. A crazy guy builds a conspiracy from this sex life, which may have started with a kernel of truth, but quickly gets out of hand.
5. Misogynist pick up on this conspiracy and go nuts with it, attacking the woman in typical internet fashion.
6. News sites, always eager to paint things in black and white, ignore the concerns raised by the reasonable people and make the issue about feminism versus misogyny, grouping all people who don't praise the woman in the latter category.
7. The aforementioned reasonable people, having been lumped together with misogynists, become resentful of news websites who use the "feminism" debate to cover their refusal to address real issues.
8. Misogynists start backing up the reasonable people. The reasonable people don't notice, being too focused on their new enemies.
9. An unusually high number of comments, videos, and forums posts are deleted en masse for siding with "gamersgate", regardless of whether they fell into the reasonable or misogynist categories.
10. A portion of the reasonable people begin thinking there's maybe something to this whole "conspiracy" angle, and start becoming indistinguishable from the crazies.
11. Repeat steps 6, 7, 8, and 10 until the whole world's gone crazy and everybody is convinced that everybody else is a mis[ogyn/andr]ist and that there are absolutely no mis[andr/ogyn]ists on their "side".

From just now:
The Escapist got hacked by multiple anti-GG activists, who were targeting the forum's Gamergate thread. Forum's gone down for some time but the site's brought it back up.

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

You forgot to mention the incident from earlier this month when the main post office in Kansas City was pelted with alcohol-filled balloons by a resurrected Steve Jobs.

Oh, be fair! I've had half a bottle of strawberry Smirnoff and I'm teasing my cat with an empty box of Diet Pepsi cans (12-pack) at 3:30 in the morning.

You expect me to remember everything? Well then you're the problem with western society, you domineering creep!



(Oh, how I embraces the sarcasm!)

 

[Hoplon]

I am truly trying to follow what the f*ck going on, but every time I fail...
A summary of this situation please?

From the very beginning:

From my understanding, this is Gamersgate in a nutshell.

1. A woman is suspected of sabotaging a charity event with feminism as her justification, even though the event supposedly aimed to support female developers.
2. A more or less reasonable group of people get upset about this, and make the issue somewhat known.
3. An ex decides to share information about this woman's sex life, which picks up popularity because of the aforementioned scandal.
4. A crazy guy builds a conspiracy from this sex life, which may have started with a kernel of truth, but quickly gets out of hand.
5. Misogynist pick up on this conspiracy and go nuts with it, attacking the woman in typical internet fashion.
6. News sites, always eager to paint things in black and white, ignore the concerns raised by the reasonable people and make the issue about feminism versus misogyny, grouping all people who don't praise the woman in the latter category.
7. The aforementioned reasonable people, having been lumped together with misogynists, become resentful of news websites who use the "feminism" debate to cover their refusal to address real issues.
8. Misogynists start backing up the reasonable people. The reasonable people don't notice, being too focused on their new enemies.
9. An unusually high number of comments, videos, and forums posts are deleted en masse for siding with "gamersgate", regardless of whether they fell into the reasonable or misogynist categories.
10. A portion of the reasonable people begin thinking there's maybe something to this whole "conspiracy" angle, and start becoming indistinguishable from the crazies.
11. Repeat steps 6, 7, 8, and 10 until the whole world's gone crazy and everybody is convinced that everybody else is a mis[ogyn/andr]ist and that there are absolutely no mis[andr/ogyn]ists on their "side".

From just now:
The Escapist got hacked by multiple anti-GG activists, who were targeting the forum's Gamergate thread. Forum's gone down for some time but the site's brought it back up.

That's some serious revisionism right there. Also we have no idea who attacked the site other than that they are shitheads. Big giant shitheads.

 

[Stats ^1]

The reason someone might not be in the big thread is because its fucking stupid and I don't want to read shit about it.

Ddos attacks happen all the time. Who cares?