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this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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Right? Gamergate is something I've never understood at all. Like... People try to summarize the whole thing for me and after two sentences I just blank out entirely because it's all so weird, convoluted and dumb.
A gigantic "he-said-she-said" that somehow devolved into tons of harassment, death threats, violence and "calling someone's boss so they'd get fired because they weren't nice enough online" or something...
Your 1-sentence answer to understanding Gamergate has less to do with any of the people involved or a timeline of events. Gamergate, more than anything else, was an opportunity. A springboard to indoctrinate people into far right politics by playing to people's fear of the Other, mistrust in media, and stoking anger at a perceived scandal.
If it never happened, if it wasn't video games, it would just as well be something else. It would be music or sports or anything that people are passionate about. Right wingers were running out of steam with the Tea Party, and Gamergate was in the right place at the right time.
EDIT: Some contemporary discussion on GG actually, prophetically, supports this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/GamerGhazi/comments/2k0bpi/why_gamergate_is_a_rightwing_movement/
https://www.reddit.com/r/AgainstGamerGate/comments/2km45o/a_few_days_ago_i_said_that_gamergate_was_a_right/
https://www.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/comments/l3fq6t/the_tea_party_and_gamergate_were_things_i_was/
I don’t want to get involved with this discussion so I only have 1 point to make.
Using r/gamerghazi as a source on the reality of what happened is like asking Trump to defend Bernie Sanders position on an issue. That subreddit is the complete opposite side of the coin and they paint a very different picture from reality.
Gamergate started with the premise that professional game reviewers were being biased by publishers due to being granted preferential treatment and access.
All the same stuff people are saying now about Clarence Thomas, which is TRUE, they were saying about video game reviewers back then.
I was actually a game reviewer back then, and, yeah, I got review codes for games and backstage access at Pax... it didn't influence my reviews though and I never had pressure from publishers or editorial to give good reviews for access.
My experience may not have been the norm though:
https://www.gamezone.com/originals/the-fallout-of-the-kane-lynch-debacle/
By having those privileged access doesn't it have an implication regarding the tone of the review you're making? If you shat on the game that the publisher gave you access to there might be a possibility that they won't invite you to future events?
This had happened on PC component review space. I remembered that LTT used to get review units for Apple products, but because of their reviews mostly just shat on Apple products, Apple basically stopped inviting them to events and sending review units.
There's the possibility it could happen, all I can say is I never saw it. Everyone was perfectly cordial before and after reviews.
Largely I think because when someone releases a garbage game, everyone knows it. The two biggest disasters I reviewed were Brink and Duke Nukem Forever, both of which I was granted backstage preview access for, both of which released in an absolute shit state.
Of the two, I still feel bad about Brink, it had such promise as an IP and then just absolutely fell apart.
Kind of funny that nowadays people just watch random YouTubers who get review codes instead, and don't seem to care.
People are already teetering on the edge. Mental health treatment and awareness in this country is replaced by toxic masculinity and the idea that taking care of your head is for cucks.
Was he radicalized for it, or is it what finally set him over? These are two very different things, even if they may immediately appear “the same”.
dude was living in a garage playing video games and presumably under or unemployed. I wish we would just pay to let these people live an ok if unremarkable life already.
Should have tried to apply for disability for anxiety. It isn't that hard to get.
Pfft like hell it is. Friend of mine, her body has gone completely through the wringer, between bad genes and motor accidents. She can barely stand for long periods of time and she’s only like 39, can’t lift considerable weight, and can barely lift more than a few pounds above her shoulders.
Add to that, PTSD from being the one who discovered her dads suicide, anxiety over dooming genetic diseases her dad would’ve gotten and she’s watching her mom fight, and the anxiety over not being able to afford healthcare because she can’t perform full time work, her husband makes enough to disqualify them from Medicaid but his employer doesn’t offer insurance to spouses, and they are 8 months behind on their mortgage.
She’s been trying to get on disability for 18 months. Thats when she stopped working because the pain was too much.
Crazy thing is, she’d be eligible for a ton of programs…if she also were pregnant. But they don’t want kids. And for good reason (no money, pain, they’re now in their late 30s which is a bit late for starting a family, aforementioned genetic disorders, etc)
I am very sorry for her situation. You are right, I am going off what I have seen relatives of mine do so I shouldn't have spoken so broadly.
Can she call social services btw?
She has. It varies a lot from state to state and unfortunately, at least around here, it helps a lot if you have the resources to have an attorney work with you from the start.
Ok to be frank I fucking hate religion and am the stereotypical angry atheist, but like it or not religious groups usually have this figured out. What about her church/temple/mosque/whathaveyou? Some of them have disability advocates or partner with interfaith networks that do. I helped someone a few months back by reaching out to one and they had nothing (small congregation) but knew a whole mess of people to call who did know what to do.
I imagine this is something that can vary wildly from state to state.
It's practically impossible to get unless you're over 55 or severely physically disabled. And good luck living on the payments anyway.
How actually historically relevant it is is just mindboggling. It is literally the codification and beginning of the alt-right. Britebart news guy and eventual Presidential advisor Steve Bannon and a massive swack of the early alt talking heads right got their start with Gamergate. It's essentially the proving ground of the model of engagement and the networking that brought the scum together.
I suggest Ian Danskin's talk on "A Case Study of Digital Radicalization " https://youtu.be/lLYWHpgIoIw?si=WD8gi7XXFVrIKg-n
It is one of the best breakdowns of Gamergate I have ever heard while keeping sight of just how bloody insane the whole thing is. It's a really long video yes but it really has some interesting takes on digital Radicalization and a key part of the modern history of how we got where we are.
It's incredibly fucking stupid.
I was even on /v/ at the time and it still doesn't make sense to me.
Just shows how seriously people can take their dumb niches and conflate them to be representative of the whole world.
Idiots.
Ian Miles Cheong got his start with Gamergate. That sholud tell you everything you need to know about what it was.
Cheong was around before gamergate. He switched from being left leaning to full on alt right to get that grift going.
Sounds like it's all you need to hear, not all there is to know. Plenty of extremists use legitimate movements or concerns to prey upon those desperate individuals who are seeking redress.
Dude, I watched gamergate spring up. I damn well know what it was and the damage it caused not just to gaming but to politics in general.
When Steve Bannon decides to use your movement as a recruiting tool and playbook, you KNOW it’s rotten.
Game journos got real chummy with indie devs and everybody was fucking everybody. All objectivity was lost and it was full of corruption. Look up the gamejournopros group.
Everything you said was wrong, wow.
Everything I said was true. Just because you think it's wrong doesn't mean it is. Maybe do a little research outside your bubble.
My brother in Christ, I was there watching it happen. I saw the sad, misogynistic weirdos who used it as an excuse to harass women or as a way to gain a platform (ie, Ian Miles Cheong, Miles Yiannoppoulos). So miss me with that. Hell, Cheong and I used to follow each other on Twitter before his heel turn during GG. So yeah. Miss me with that.
Yes, those are the people who used it to gain clout. That doesn't mean that's not how it started, though. There was a loss of objectivity in game journalism due to personal relationships, then a bunch of mysoginistic shitbags took the bag and ran as far as they could so they could gain a podium to spout their hatred.
It's never just one thing.
Some people had different ideas about it but the vast majority that I saw were all about corruption in games journalism. Sure a lot of trolls got their start there too but it doesn't mean that was the point.
The vast majority of the movement was misogynistic, but even the parts that were legitimately focused on corruption were focused on the AAA devs "paying" for preferential reviews of their garbage. That A. hasn't stopped and B. had nothing to do with indie developers.
This seems rampant in mobile app reviews, too. Using the Health Equity app made me pissed enough to go look at the app reviews in the Google Play store. Shocking - if you look at all the people that give it 5 star, glowing (canned) reviews? Who did they work for? Just take a look for their names on LinkedIn and it'll be real obvious what was happening.
Not a 1:1 comparison, but your thread immediately reminded me of it.
That doesn't explain the rampant misogyny and death threats.
Bro, it's the fucking internet. It's been intentionally toxic since the beginning. Trolls gonna troll.
Yeah, you are a good example of what happens to somebody who shapes their reality after nonsense like gamergate and other right wing bullshit conspiracy theories.