shadowmirage: Edited to make sure this is a reply to Shadowstalker16: *sorry, I had to snip your quote because GOG was having trouble processing such a long post*
I find your post interesting and thank you for the link you sent me. I do recognise many of these journalists by name, but I am unaware of what they have done that is considered corrupt. I do believe, as I said earlier, that gaming journalism needs to maintain the same kinds of ethics as more mainstream journalism; but remember that this is still a young medium. The issue is that the circles are small and insular, therefore it is easier for a game reviewer to have met a game developer. Perhaps even have a friendship with them. A lot of gaming conventions (E3 being the most famous, perhaps) even welcome this sort of networking. In many ways, gaming journalism is still highly unprofessional, but I remain optimistic that as time goes by, things will improve. Already I see many reviewers adding addendums to their articles stating that they know the developer personally. This is a good sign. I also see less product placement and "hype" about new games coming out.
The last part is because of GG pushing really hard for it. Pretty much everyone except for Grayson has started disclosing conflicts of interest now. Yay GG!
I saw the birth of gaming journalism as a child and things were very different back then. Games and gamers were not taken seriously and "gaming journalists" were just hobbyists often paid to promote a product by the magazine they wrote for. Back then magazines were often focused on specific consoles/platforms (Playstation, Nintendo, PC) and as a result, they (especially the official Sony and Nintendo magazines) were heavily biased. They also liked to advertise "booth babes" and pay for models to pose with controllers to attract a certain audience. Hyping a new game with exaggerated language was common and definitely had an impact on the purchases I made as a naive girl.
I was actually more OK with that because the magazines never had a professional veneer to me. I saw them as almost pure PR with the odd exclusive every now and then. As games journalism started appearing more professional, my distrust lessened, though it should have been the other way around.
As a young female gamer, I never did have any problems playing as a "macho space shooter marine" (to give the stereotypical example). It never even occurred to me to think of "diversity" in games back then. I was an "odd duck" however and, apart from my younger sister, the only female gamer I knew. As this was before the mainstream internet era, I was a loner and games were my friends. The few times I met gamers, they were often male, and being young, awkward around me. I was often questioned about my "geek cred" which is why I am still touchy about it.
My geek cred was never questioned, mostly because I looked like a serious, serious geek (and male), Other than that, I too had never ever heard of "diversity" in games. I had never thought about, never imagined that anyone could care about it. I never thought anything about playing a woman or black dude or alien or fish. I was the protagonist, regardless of who that creature was, and most of the time I would get into character (unless the immersion sucked).
Hell, I probably spent more time choosing outfits, hairstyle, clothing colour, and lipstick than three 14-year old girls at that age. Talk about breaking norms!
I will also say that I met quite a few other gamers in school, and us geeks would play almost every weekend (thinking about it, 5 sweaty geeks in a basement all picking out clothes and hairstyles and lipstick does seem kinda creepy now). In particular we loved playing RPGs together,
The issue of how to make gaming more welcoming to non-gamers is a complex one. I hate the idea, for example, of games being "made for women". Especially as the people making those games tend to focus on stereotypes that I cannot relate to. Perhaps my favourite genre is and has always remained the RPG because I feel that I can often put myself into the shoes of the character. Before voice acting became common, the protagonist was often silent. Old CRPGs also allowed for many different playstyles and I always felt like I could relate to my character. I also have no issue playing as someone different from myself, in fact, I find it interesting to put myself in the shoes of people from varying backgrounds.
I don't think gaming needs to be more welcoming. Does football? Does chess?
In the end, people that want to play will play. Not everyone likes it, and not everyone has to. We're different after all, and being different is okay. Isn't that what diversity means?
I also think that a big step in making gaming welcoming is to get rid of all these idiots that keep shouting about how gaming is a boy's club, or how gaming hates homosexuals, or how gaming is only for sweaty basement-dwelling geeks (this one in particular has resurged as a popular insult towards anyone pro-GG). I think if being a gamer could be prejudice-free, a lot more people would be willing to try it out and see for themselves if they like it or not.
(Also, I preferred my protagonists quiet, it's easier to put my own personality on him/her that way.)
Games these days are mimicking the film industry a lot and I think that is why the issue of diversity has been brought up. When the protagonists are actual voiced actors, perhaps some people feel that it is time for there to be a more varied "cast". I welcome this, although perhaps there has been too much focus on this lately.
And that's also a strange point. Anyone is free to make any game, and make it as "diverse" as they want. But strangely, the journos don't want that. They want to force their "diversity" into other people's games instead.
You won't find a single pro-GG that's against creating new games, but the authoritarian drive to force game developers to include identity politics into their games must stop.
I think it can be summarised like this: "If you want it, make it! If you can't make it, launch a Kickstarter for the project! Don't just sit on your ass and complain that other's aren't catering to your ideology". I may have missed a few points, but I think that is the gist of the contention.
Perhaps I have misunderstood the GG movement. If it is true that GG was not behind the harassment of these public figures, then I apologise for my assumption. I do, however, believe that since the GG movement is diverse (as you said) it may also attract individuals who are less interested in journalistic ethics and more interested in trolling. I suppose this is true of any large, diverse and controversial movement.
GG is pretty big. When the sampling was done, it was estimated at around 170,000 active members. So, by distribution it should have the same percentage of unpleasant individuals as you would expect from any random sampling of 170,000 people. That is one of the drawbacks of being diverse, any and every kind of person has a place.
I would actually be interested in hearing more about this topic and your side of the story. You are the only poster here who has answered me in a polite and civil manner. I respect that. If I could get some links to evidence of game journalism corruption (preferably from a reputable source), I would be willing to continue this discussion and reconsider my perspective on the issue.
Then you have come to the right place!
I also want to ask, what would your solution be to making gaming more welcoming as a medium?
I may have answered that already.
On the one hand, I almost dislike how "mainstream" gaming has become (I don't like the blockbuster direction they are taking) even though that makes me sound like a hipster :-P. On the other hand, I wish that there were more active female gamers so that I would have friends I could relate to. I also want to hear more diverse stories told through the medium of gaming.
I do too :(
I think it's because I'm old and I remember how good it used to be (BG, IWD, Fallout, Diablo2, Warcraft 2, UFO, Duke Nukem, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana .... and the list goes on). Nowadays, there's too much hype and not even close to enough originality. New games used to mean 'NEW' games, not 'rehashed version of' game. But sometimes there's a good one still!
-SNIP-
My first post may have upset people, but I honestly believed that the #GG movement was the main culprit behind the attacks. If I have been misled, then I apologise. I would love to see proof of this, however.
I think the easiest way to see the bogus is to
a) read the Eron Gjoni post and correlated what he
actually says with what certain journos claim he has said.
b) Check how many sources on the GG wiki page link to an article that actually uses the very GG page on wiki as a source. That's a pretty good indicator that someone is outright lying.
c) If you want to see something funny about Brianna Wu, check out all the times she got caught trying to stir up an attack against herself (funniest is when she tried to start a hate thread against herself on Steam but forgot to log out of the official Spacekat account first).
