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Gamergate and Cyber Bullying

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posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 05:27 AM
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Gamergate is a group of people who think that feminists go too far in trying to shut down free speech in gaming. The feminists usually are pushing for anti-sexism in gaming, more woman lead roles, and things of that nature - they have a lot of complaints, to be sure.

Feminists Zoe Quinn, Brianna Wu and feminist culture critic Anita Sarkeesian were targeted by a series of mysoginistic online attacks under the hashtag #gamergate. These included Doxing, which means revealing personal information (including home addresses) of someone to the online community, death threats, mass shooting threats and the like.

Recently, Brianna Wu was targeted by someone named ParkourDude91 posting a video message of himself on YouTube wearing a skull mask and threatening to come to her house and kill her. He claims that he was a past victim of schizophrenia, but is now on medication. You can see this new video he posted online that is of him after he wrecked his car "street racing" on the "highway" on his way to murder Briana Wu in a drive-by shooting. If you watch the video, you can see the man is obviously a bit out of it.



But one has to wonder, is everyone involved in the #Gamergate movement as crazy as this guy, or is he just making a bad name for the movement? Obviously he is crazy, and are feminists jumping on the opportunity to say "See? I told you men are out to get us" from this outlier?

A Man is Making Bizarre, Terrifying YouTube Videos about Brianna Wu

Here is an example of a feminist video that would likely invoke the attention of the Gamergate group. In fact, I think it already did, as I'm pretty sure I read about this lady getting death threats, too. I would watch it in order to get a sense of what Gamergate is fighting against - when you watch the video, do you think the lady is crazy or has some good points about gaming? She is talking about how women are treated as a damsel in distress in video games and criticizes such games as Mario.



So after watching that video, what do you think? Is Gamergate a legitimate group of people with a legitimate viewpoint that video games should be left alone? Are a few crazy people making a bad name for the movement? Or is the movement a bunch of backwards thugs?

Are the feminists off their rocker by pointing out what they consider to be offensive video games like Mario Bros.? Or do they have legitimate points?

Another topic of discussion that comes up in this is cyber bullying - what should someone do if they are famous (or not) and getting hate mail or death threats in their inbox? What about Doxing, which is posting physical addresses or other personal information of people online? That was even done by a liberal newspaper on the east coast recently that revealed the addresses of gun owners and was heavily criticized for it.

Another form of cyber-bullying is called swatting, which involves hacking into someone's phone in order to call the emergency services with a false claim - for example pretending to be the person in question, and claiming to be on a killing spree. This gets law enforcement to come to the victim's house and as they have been tricked, they are very harsh to the victim because they think he is the one who called in.

What is the verdict on cyber bullying and death threats made online? Do people take them too seriously? Or are they something that should be regulated? Should there be punishments for someone who makes online threats or does cyber bullying? What about with kids? In the U.K. there has been a recent movement to censor the internet in this regard.







edit on 12amThu, 12 Feb 2015 05:48:26 -0600kbamkAmerica/Chicago by darkbake because: (no reason given)

edit on 12amThu, 12 Feb 2015 05:49:35 -0600kbamkAmerica/Chicago by darkbake because: (no reason given)


+4 more 
posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 05:41 AM
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So, i am coming at this from a gamer prospective, i have about 500 hours on skyrim and more than that on stuff like battlefield 3 or diablo 3, overall i have played games for close to 18 years, and i am pretty involved in "gaming culture"
And here is, in my experience the issue:
is there sexism in SOME videogames? yes.
Is there sexism in the gaming industry? most probably since sexism exists everywhere, the gaming industry is not immune.

So you can argue there is a need for feminist ideology, the problem is the most vocal feminism today, like the people you mentioned in your OP are not for equal rights, they are pushing an anti-male agenda.
They take specific scenes of videogames, remove all context and build a story around the footage that boils down to something like this:
"This scene is specifically designed because all male gamers get sexually aroused from the idea of beating, killing, raping or using women."
Again the scenes that they use are often without context and their broad generalizations are an explicit attack on men. their viewpoints are so skewed that female gamers (feminists and not) have spoken out against them in various occasions, specifically saying those women do NOT represent them (and for that, we love you)
This constant defamation campaign is bound to attract all sorts of attention, some of it negative of course.


What is the verdict on cyber bullying and death threats made online? Do people take them too seriously? Or are they something that should be regulated? Should there be punishments for someone who makes online threats or does cyber bullying? What about with kids? In the U.K. there has been a recent movement to censor the internet in this regard.

Absolutely yes, they always should, People like Anita need to be exposed for the joke they are, but death threats, is NOT the answer, not only is it frighting and stressful, but it works against what normal gamers like me are trying to do.
Anita's arguments need to be attacked, not her physical person, and by sending threats, by doxing her and others, you are doing nothing but proving her point. she will forever be able to use that to make yet another generalized argument:
"You say there is no sexism in the gaming community? check the rape threats i got just this week!"
the threats need to stop and we need to attack her and others on an intellectual level, and expose her for the fraud she is.
edit on 12/2/2015 by IShotMyLastMuse because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 05:45 AM
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a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

I agree with this, I think that the few crazy people who go too far are taken out of proportion to make it look like any opponent to the feminist movement is like them. My point is that your moderate take on being cordial and non-violent but still opposed to some viewpoints of feminists makes sense.
edit on 12amThu, 12 Feb 2015 05:46:57 -0600kbamkAmerica/Chicago by darkbake because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 05:56 AM
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a reply to: darkbake

I will give my two cents.

Penny Number One says; that no threats should be made, and no hacking/doxing/nor should be done to the feminist... cause that is just dumb.

Penny Number Two says; The Feminist involved in trying to change the way in which video games portray women should just kinda go away.

Why?
Well because its art. People are kinda supposed to leave the arts alone, as it is supposed to be an expression of creativity.
Most Games have a story, which is in fact an artistic expression and the games certainly have art directors who attempt to design these artistic outlets in such a way as to set mood via the rendition of the world in which the action takes place. Environments ranging from the bizarre (Think Little Big Planet) to the outlandish (Saints Row) to the dark and shadowy atmosphere of something like the upcoming game the Order 1886

Art can be polarizing both with good and bad images and sounds, depending on ones sensibilities.

If Christians were told to lump it when the Cross was submerged in a jar of urine in the name of art, surly the feminist can deal with how women are portrayed in a different art form.

If the issue is one of "OMG I am so offended at how Princess Peach was shown to be a damsel in distress!" then I would question their priorities, when movies like the "Serbian Film" can be sold to the public at large.



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 06:08 AM
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I'm not a big Gamer but i do ove to read, my favourite genres are sci fi, urban fantasy and fantasy. It is frustrating as a women to invest and spend time reading a book, where the women are sappy, please can some man save me princesses.
I like characters with guns and swords killing the bad guys on her own. Strong female characters.
Whats wrong with women in the gaing community expressing the opinion that games are disappointing and asking for stronger female characters.
Games may be an art form but then all art is put up for critisims. and for review, they are just telling it like it it!



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 06:10 AM
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They seem to want to force companies to make games that gamers, to a degree, aren't interested in. Just so they can check that box and make a small, but extremely vocal, minority happy.

The flip side is that FemShep was an incredibly popular character, so it can be done. But I think something like only 11% of Mass Effect players played as a female. Again, a small but vocal minority.

The threats are entirely over the top and uncalled for. But the feminists, as pointed out already, aren't pushing for equality they're pushing to see what they want foisted on the entire gaming community regardless of the quality or intent behind it. It won't make money? So what, it makes me feel better about pixels shaped like women!

Personally, I think Zoe Quinn is trash and played the hell out if the victim card. From my recollection she slept around, while in a relationship, lied continuously, then had a litany of excuses as to why it wasn't her fault she slept around on her boyfriend. Do I think she deserves the threats and attacks? Not at all. But I wouldn't cross the street to shake her hand.



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 06:11 AM
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To me, gamergate is a bunch of pathetic virgins living in mommy's basement that are pissed that they cant find a girl, and theonly girl they will EVER get is their right hand, or have to PAY for one



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 06:18 AM
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originally posted by: WilsonWilson
I'm not a big Gamer but i do ove to read, my favourite genres are sci fi, urban fantasy and fantasy. It is frustrating as a women to invest and spend time reading a book, where the women are sappy, please can some man save me princesses.
I like characters with guns and swords killing the bad guys on her own. Strong female characters.
Whats wrong with women in the gaing community expressing the opinion that games are disappointing and asking for stronger female characters.
Games may be an art form but then all art is put up for critisims. and for review, they are just telling it like it it!


There is nothing wrong with wanting or asking for something, but to get mad that you don't get it, and them to start going on about game designers promoting some patriarchy or some such because they write characters that they relate to, or can make the most profit from is intellectually dishonest I think.
Being critical of the Art form is one thing but trying to force designers to alter their art form is quite another.



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 06:36 AM
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So many uninformed people in one thread I don't even know where to begin. Bad day to be on a smartphone instead of a laptop thats fo sho.

Lets start with the superbly obvious troll video. Which was apparently the best bait of the year considering how many people fell for it. Its just a guy with a warped sense of humor taking advantage of some grade A fear mongering that would make McCarthy proud.

Second GG has nothing to do with femisim or female representation in gaming which btw shocker is about 45% but you wouldn't read that because it doesnt fit an agenda. Or maybe how women are actually lead devs on a ship load of AAA titles.

What about Bayonetta? One of the biggest topics for people to look at and say oh yeah clearly sexist and designed by a man except it wasn't. Made for women by women. But what is sex positive feminism? A joke to Sarkeesian, Wu, Quinn, etc.

Actually instead of Sarkeesian I should've said McIntosh since she's just a mouthpiece for his words. Because he has an agenda to push.

Forget all that though GG is about accountability in gaming media it always has been except the media sites and publications that were selling reviews and giving handouts to each other and their friends such as awards and blacklisting desenters of course dont want you to know that so they pushed sexism as being what it was about. Its not.
edit on 12-2-2015 by Awolscout because: Spelungz an grammerZ



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 06:50 AM
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a reply to: darkbake

I'm not here to derail, or take away from what the op is saying. I do agree that there are still things that need to change for women in the gaming industry. Certain gaming communities treat them poorly, it's harder for them in the business, and on top of that, they're constantly being harassed by these little boys trying to act tough. It's really ridiculous, and needs to stop.

But there are some things I do tend to agree with regarding the fear of feminists in the video game industry. Best example:

Dragon's Crown for PS3

kotaku.com...

I am all for more female heroines in games. I'm all for them making games that fit their standards. But I'd also like them to leave the games they don't like alone. The reason I mentioned Dragon's Crown, is because there was such a huge stink regarding how the female characters are portrayed, that not only did they try to get the characters changed, they also harassed the artist of the game(who's got really good art), and tried to prevent the game from being made.

Why??

Because the sorceress had gigantic boobies that flopped around while casting magic.

I've played this game with my wife, and her character was the sorceress. My wife is tiny and petite. She was not offended in any way, shape, or form regarding the character. In fact, like me, she loves the art work.

But feminists were enraged. Now maybe it was a vocal minority, but it was so vocal the artist had to come out and explain why he exaggerates his artwork(link provided up above). But that wasn't good enough for them, nope. They felt it was bad for all the reasons they usually state it's bad.

What bothers me the most, though, isn't just that they constantly try to change things like that in games, but they won't change things they enjoy. What do I mean??

We sell books where I work. When I walk by our "Romance" section, the majority of the covers are half-naked men with unrealistic muscles(at least for most males, unless you're a fitness guru). In all honesty, they're doing the exact same thing they hate being done to them.

I'm all for equality, and making conditions for women in the industry much better than they are. But I do wish they would let us have our cheesecake as well. Playing games with scantily clad women has never ruined how I view women, never ruined what I perceive as beauty, and has not turned me into some terrible monster out to get them.



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 07:01 AM
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a reply to: Awolscout

To deny that gamergate contains elements of gender ignores what has happened in gamergate. Part of (most of) the reason Quinn got involved is because it was alleged that she was sleeping with the guy reviewing her game.


That article is over a month old, though.

Right. #Gamergate actually began in August as a pernicious attack on one female game developer, Zoe Quinn, and her sex life.

Quinn has been the victim of death threats and harassment since she began trying to publish Depression Quest, a text-based game partially based on her own experience with depression, in 2013. Last month, the New Yorker attempted to explain why Quinn and her game inspire such outrage among gamers —Depression Quest is not a "real game," it's "just words," its portrayal of depression is too personal to be relatable—but it's hard not to look at the last several weeks of chatter in the gaming community and not come to the conclusion that it's about the fact that she's a woman.


gawker.com...

And that article is written by a gent who goes into a "gamergate for dummies" explanation, and focuses on journalistic integrity rather than how it's solely about Quinn sleeping around, pixelated boobs, etc.

There is language in that article, by the by.

ETA - Much like threads on ATS can start out as one thing and end up talking about something only somewhat related, it happens in real life too. I can't remember the last time I saw a thread on ATS that was about one topic and one topic only, the entire way through. #GG isn't any different.
edit on 12-2-2015 by Shamrock6 because: eta



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 07:03 AM
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a reply to: Punisher75

Of course you can be angry that you dont get want you want.
And this is a conspiracy website where people have strange political ideologies and theories about secret controlling bodies with sinister agendas.
It may not make sense to everybody, but then a lot of the ideas on the website dont make sense. but everybody has a right to express them.
Look at some of the comments on here, talking about women complaining about sexism in gaming and somebodies brought up the personal sex life of tone of the people, would that have happened if it was a male?
highly doubtfull.



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 07:05 AM
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As a gamer (and have been for 20 years now), I look at this mess of a movement and think to myself how bad the community has got, how bad the "new" titles have got, look at the whole thing in general as a horrible horrible mess. Full of trolls, whiney little toads and people who constantly think they are the victim (Yes there have been REAL victims in this of threats etc).

All I can say to everyone in this:

Grow the f**K up. None of this cr*p when it wasnt cool to play games, now its the latest fashion trend to own the latest and greatest or get mummy and daddy to buy the newest console people b*tch and moan like they invited gaming.

Remember Lara Croft in the original tomb raider? A lot of commotion over the size of her breast. A lot of people kicking off saying it is sexist and damaging women everywhere....

Remember the original Jill valentine from RE? Strong female lead (if you chose to play as her and if you didnt you are a moron... better story + more inventory space = win). Same with Clair redfield. Oh well, lets ignore the strong char's and focus on these big breasted women to complain about.

ALSO the whole game dev's jumping into to bed with critics, so what? Im sorry but if you have to base your judgement on buying a game purely on what someone else suggests then you need a slap (Please note this view comes from someone who would buy mag's to get floppy disk demo's of a game to try it out before buying so... 1/3 of the game played before wanting to play the rest or going - nope dont like it).

Amount of games I bought because I liked the look of the trailer or the idea and was let down is high yes, but looking back these games were bigged up by so many people after I played it... I look at the latest games now and see it all, latest call of duty getting 11/10 because if the critic doesnt give it a high score waves of their readers will flock to another person all because they would give their honest opinion.

It annoys me so much... Yes Im a generic gamer.... My list of games on steam is high but I only play 2 of them. Yes I play a MMORPG (can you guess which?) and have racked up a staggering and degrading 256 DAYS of play time on one character. Yes I play Minecraft when I want to relax.

YES this rant is all over the place, I am just so sick of this BS.

Only one thing worse then GG... thats the gaming community over all.... 90% of them foul mouthed, small minded "humans" spouting "I hope you get" the big C at people, shouting racist gibberish down microphones (I hear its worse on the xbox and ps networks)... I remember playing the original CS in beta... at most you would be called a d*ck followed by a bit of swearing then you carried on...

Now these little trolls...



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 07:09 AM
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originally posted by: WilsonWilson
a reply to: Punisher75

Of course you can be angry that you dont get want you want.
And this is a conspiracy website where people have strange political ideologies and theories about secret controlling bodies with sinister agendas.

To be fair though this thread is not actually in the Conspiracy portion of the fourms.

It may not make sense to everybody, but then a lot of the ideas on the website dont make sense. but everybody has a right to express them.
Look at some of the comments on here, talking about women complaining about sexism in gaming and somebodies brought up the personal sex life of tone of the people, would that have happened if it was a male?
highly doubtfull.


I don't know if it is doubtful or not, has it happened? If it has start a thread and see what happens.



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 07:11 AM
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We are still talking about this? I thought this horse was already beaten to a tiny pulp.



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 07:12 AM
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Forget all that though GG is about accountability in gaming media it always has been except the media sites and publications that were selling reviews and giving handouts to each other and their friends such as awards and blacklisting desenters of course dont want you to know that so they pushed sexism as being what it was about. Its not.


a reply to: Awolscout

The media and much of the mainstream internet has painted a different picture of Gamergate, it barely mentioned how Gamergate was against vanilla corruption in the game review industry. Thanks for clearing up some stuff.



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 07:29 AM
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I had never heard of this and frankly I couldn't help but chuckle as I watched the videos.

Am I the only one that thought this was a joke? They were serious?

This is what our world is coming to??

People need to get a life. I spent 1000 hrs playing...........REALLY?

We are doomed.

Turn it off and do something real, ANYTHING.



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 07:34 AM
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originally posted by: stosh64
I had never heard of this and frankly I couldn't help but chuckle as I watched the videos.

Am I the only one that thought this was a joke? They were serious?

This is what our world is coming to??

People need to get a life. I spent 1000 hrs playing...........REALLY?

We are doomed.

Turn it off and do something real, ANYTHING.


Well you know 1st world problems and all.



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 07:40 AM
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originally posted by: Punisher75

originally posted by: stosh64
I had never heard of this and frankly I couldn't help but chuckle as I watched the videos.

Am I the only one that thought this was a joke? They were serious?

This is what our world is coming to??

People need to get a life. I spent 1000 hrs playing...........REALLY?

We are doomed.

Turn it off and do something real, ANYTHING.


Well you know 1st world problems and all.


Exactly, cant people step back and see how pathetically irrelevant this is?

There are real issues in the REAL world.



posted on Feb, 12 2015 @ 07:55 AM
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I always saw a difference between a feminist and a feminazi. I consider myself to be a feminist,




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