Gamergate

[Ben]

Although I have heard of and read a bit on Gamergate, I never really understood what the whole controversy was about. The below article by Reason, though a long read, actually spells it out in a language I understand.

The URL was linked on another article about how the "social justice" segment of the gaming community is attempting to ban Jayne Cobb from a big event. How dare they.

http://reason.com/archives/2014/10/12/gamergate-part-i-sex-lies-and-gender-gam

NOTE: Though I play games on occasion, I'm not a "gamer". I don't necessarily have an interest in 'Gamergate" one way or the other, besides the fact that it pops up so much around the Internet that I wanted to learn what it was about underneath all the shouting.

Also might need to be moved to politics, depending on the direction of any discussion.

[HankB]

I play some videogames, including some on-line stuff (mostly Mechwarrior Online) and this is the first I heard of "GamerGate."

Maybe that's because I don't buy gaming magazines or go to video game conventions dressed as my favorite game character. 

The linked article doesn't really make it clear exactly what the heck is going on, but I gather a handful of people are upset with one another and are throwing a tantrum because their "issues" are largely being ignored by people who really don't care about them or their opinions.

Looks like a whole lot of nothing to me.

[Ben]

I don't really care about it myself, and if it was confined to gamer forums or whatever, I wouldn't care one way or another. However it keeps popping up in mainstream articles I read that have nothing to do with gaming or gaming culture. I like to try to understand what writers are referencing, in the same way that if I see a word in an article I'd never heard of before, and can't infer its meaning, I try to look it up.

The Gamergate thing really is a "first world problem" and a lot of these people should back away from their computers, go outside and look at the trees and the sky, and thank God that they have a roof over their heads and food to eat everyday. I was actually surprised Adam Baldwin immersed himself in it. If it were me, I would have coined "Gamergate", then driven on and let them all drive themselves crazy with their microagressions.

Again, my only interest was learning what it actually means, since it has entered the mainstream and is referenced to things that have nothing to do with gaming.

[Phyphor]

I don't really care about it myself, and if it was confined to gamer forums or whatever, I wouldn't care one way or another. However it keeps popping up in mainstream articles I read that have nothing to do with gaming or gaming culture. I like to try to understand what writers are referencing, in the same way that if I see a word in an article I'd never heard of before, and can't infer its meaning, I try to look it up.

The Gamergate thing really is a "first world problem" and a lot of these people should back away from their computers, go outside and look at the trees and the sky, and thank God that they have a roof over their heads and food to eat everyday. I was actually surprised Adam Baldwin immersed himself in it. If it were me, I would have coined "Gamergate", then driven on and let them all drive themselves crazy with their microagressions.

Again, my only interest was learning what it actually means, since it has entered the mainstream and is referenced to things that have nothing to do with gaming.

In a few words: Tempest in a teapot.

Basically, some chick gets accused of boinking game journalists & producers for professional gain.  Other idiots jump into the fray, and people like Anita Sarkeesian get into it as well.  It turns into a big 'ol SJW free-for-all against so-called Misogynists.

(Don't get me started on Sarkeesian's dishonest bullshit.  )

[Scout26]

I never understood it either when I saw mentions of it.  But I understood it to be the SJW's upset with guys who play video games.  Much ado about nothing, was the best I could figure.

And it is a crime against humanity to post about Jayne and NOT post his theme song.   For shame....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anp3vAJjYBg

[cordex]

So I game some, but I don't associate with any gamer culture.  Do "gamers" even care about this, or is this drama more for the gaming industry insiders?

[BlueStarLizzard]

*shrug* just another example of how the modern feminist are their own worst enemies.

and, I'll be honest, the video game Quinn wrote and that got all this controversy sounds like an absolute snooze fest.

[AJ Dual]

It's "good" in that it's the first battle or showdown between SJW's and "regular people" who are not under threat of the MSM/pop-culture which normally defers to SJW's (plus a fringe of actual prejudiced/misogynist guys I guess). And while no one sane should expect any kind of clear-cut victory from what's essentially a Jerry Springer Show slap-fight, it is the first resistance to SJW's en-masse, and win or lose, that's important.