what was gamergate like?

[psychic_dream]

Sorry to revive this thread, but something’s been on my mind. Why did so many game developers side with Anita over their audience? What was the real reasoning behind it, beyond just them being liberals as well? Also, what is it about Trump that mind broke liberals when he got elected? They never reacted as strongly to other GOP presidents, so what was different this time?

[ArcaneLurker]

Sorry to revive this thread, but something’s been on my mind. Why did so many game developers side with Anita over their audience? What was the real reasoning behind it, beyond just them being liberals as well? Also, what is it about Trump that mind broke liberals when he got elected? They never reacted as strongly to other GOP presidents, so what was different this time?

If it wasn't just personal inclination, there must have been a greater social pressure aside from what was explicitly shown to people, people like Anita.

Much like how there were protests for Feminism/ Civil Rights, but do you really think most people alive back then, or the state, caved to demands from these protests?

Sometimes public displays from influencers/ spokespeople, or rallies/ protests are actually just a way of creating context for something that the state wants to enforce on the populace.
BLM created context for stricter DEI, and stripping more rights away from White people. The powers that be do that because they wanted it.

Since videogames are an arm of the media which is capable of social engineering the populace, they would want to control that and make sure they are all on the 'same page.'
Now, no matter the medium, they all have some kind of purpose to further the Fabian Socialist & Jewish goals. It all feels very monopolised by one faction/ ideology, which is a reflection of society to a degree.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Why did so many game developers side with Anita over their audience?

Fear of being blacklisted from the games industry.

what is it about Trump that mind broke liberals when he got elected?

Daily exposure to 24/7 news media, "comedy" shows like John Olivier, and social media makes people very anxious and programs them to be fearful about whatever the man on the screen is saying. The man on TV said Trump was bad, people watched the guy on TV say that a hundred times over a year, and that is what they start regurgitating.

Trump was slightly different in that he was a political outsider to Washington rather than being the controlled opposition in the scripted play between Republicans and Democrats.

[J1M]

I member when every gaming news / journo website suddenly decided "gamers are dead", all at the same time..

While being supported by the very industry that makes those games, attacking their own customers, lmao.

Perhaps it would be a fun exercise to see how many of the sites that published gamers are dead articles are still operating.

[J1M]

Sorry to revive this thread, but something’s been on my mind. Why did so many game developers side with Anita over their audience? What was the real reasoning behind it, beyond just them being liberals as well? Also, what is it about Trump that mind broke liberals when he got elected? They never reacted as strongly to other GOP presidents, so what was different this time?

Basically if you agreed with the groupthink they all clapped like seals and if you disagreed you would lose your job, your social circle, and for these losers who had to live with roommates, your home.

[Tangerine]

Sorry to revive this thread, but something’s been on my mind. Why did so many game developers side with Anita over their audience? What was the real reasoning behind it, beyond just them being liberals as well? Also, what is it about Trump that mind broke liberals when he got elected? They never reacted as strongly to other GOP presidents, so what was different this time?

I blame the critical success of Bioshock. Maybe there's an earlier example, but that's the first game I recall where journos were hyping up that games could be more than games, but be stories/art just like movies. And if there's one thing faggy devs wanted, it was the prestige associated with working in an artistic/creative medium. So if journos (who had yet to ruin their reputations) and Hollyweird had dumb beliefs, they'd believe them too to get into the cool kid's club. And since the cool kids said the audience was bad, they followed like lemmings.

[Roguey]

Sorry to revive this thread, but something’s been on my mind. Why did so many game developers side with Anita over their audience? What was the real reasoning behind it, beyond just them being liberals as well?

Yes, the game industry has always been overwhelmingly left/liberal/libertarian.

Also, what is it about Trump that mind broke liberals when he got elected? They never reacted as strongly to other GOP presidents, so what was different this time?

Republican presidents have caused much seething since the second half of the 20th century. Bush deserved the hate, Reagan who deserved some of it, Nixon who didn't and it's an injustice that his legacy is one of disgrace.

[rusty_shackleford]

Yes, the game industry has always been overwhelmingly left/liberal/libertarian.

one of these isn't like the others

[Roguey]

Yes, the game industry has always been overwhelmingly left/liberal/libertarian.

one of these isn't like the others

Left-libertarians are a squishy disappointment.

[rusty_shackleford]

Yes, the game industry has always been overwhelmingly left/liberal/libertarian.

one of these isn't like the others

Left-libertarians are a squishy disappointment.

Left-libertarians don't exist

[Roguey]

Left-libertarians don't exist

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Scott_Alexander

This was also the evolution of the Something Awful forums/Josh Sawyer. From libertarians to lefties.

[rusty_shackleford]

Left-libertarians don't exist

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Scott_Alexander

This was also the evolution of the Something Awful forums/Josh Sawyer. From libertarians to lefties.

Then they're not libertarians

[Boulder Gains]

Sorry to revive this thread, but something’s been on my mind. Why did so many game developers side with Anita over their audience? What was the real reasoning behind it, beyond just them being liberals as well? Also, what is it about Trump that mind broke liberals when he got elected? They never reacted as strongly to other GOP presidents, so what was different this time?

In addition to what others have already said I think another big factor was how gaming and nerd culture at large was comprised of outcasts. Because of that gatekeeping wasn't really ever a consideration since people who were legitimate nerds were likely bullied in the past and didn't want to do the same thing to people like Anita who were coming into the hobby. The guys in power in the industry weren't exactly alpha males either so it was quite easy for Anita and her ilk to grab power.

[Kalarion]

what is it about Trump that mind broke liberals when he got elected?

Daily exposure to 24/7 news media, "comedy" shows like John Olivier, and social media makes people very anxious and programs them to be fearful about whatever the man on the screen is saying. The man on TV said Trump was bad, people watched the guy on TV say that a hundred times over a year, and that is what they start regurgitating.

Trump was slightly different in that he was a political outsider to Washington rather than being the controlled opposition in the scripted play between Republicans and Democrats.

I don't think this either explains their reaction or gives a full view of how jarringly ******** the reaction actually was.

► Way Off Topic

"Trump IS a political outsider" is at least a defensible point today, but in the context of 2016 it would be silly. He had well-known and -publicized political views, had been associated with various political causes all his adult life, was celebrated and feted by both sides etc. Yes he was a registered Democrat, but he was good friends with for instance Rudy Giulianni and Sean Hannity, crusaded relentlessly against Obama, etc. He was the textbook definition of a bi-partisan figure.

He behaved that way too. Trump had political positions that made the pols inside the Overton Window uncomfortable, sure, but he had always clearly signaled that those positions were negotiable and that his primary goal in law- and policy-making was to reach a compromise that got him something he could claim as a win. News stories of the initial year or so of his 2016 regime painted him as fully expecting to integrate into the DC political and social scene. Trump's behavior throughout his first term on paper was a textbook example of a President who would be thought of in good terms by his base, probably liked by later generations, but seen by those with their eyes open as destructive and shepherding the Decline (something like Reagan).

But they wouldn't let him in.

Even now, 9 years later, it's still baffling to me. Trump could have been a win and another step on the path for them. Instead they turned him into a stumbling block and a wrecking ball. I must emphasize this: I don't believe it had to turn out this way. They (the establishment, the Deep State, the ruling elites, whatever you want to call that blob) made him into what he is today. Did I say baffling? It blows my ******* mind.

There are a lot of possible explanations for their behavior. The one that seems most materially correct to me is that they're suffering a massive competency crisis. Either they just don't have Kissingers and Donovans and their henchmen anymore (and make no mistake, the henchmen were men of competence and action just as much as the former), or the Kissingers and Donovans are both not in power and are incapable of significantly affecting the behavior of those who are. Contrariwise, a lot of competence has shifted Right(ish). The Paypal Mafia is the best example that comes to mind. Bukele (maybe Milei too? I can't remember) was bankrolled by the technocrats. But this explanation doesn't explain the Left's inability to learn. At some point, especially if they believed (incorrectly at first, possibly correctly as time goes on) that they faced an existential threat, they should have been selecting for those people and listening to them. Instead they doubled down. Then they tripled. Then they started spawning two-bit assassination attempts. It's unbelievable, but we're watching it happen.

The only explanation that fully satisfies me (because it accounts for their inability to learn) is from the Bible. God has taken a personal hand. He's struck them spiritually blind. He's taken the Mandate away from them. Not only are they stupid, He's made sure that they can't recover from it. They're out, whether there are still people capable of governing well or not. This explanation comes with its own caveats though. It seems to be local, for one thing. You don't see the extreme level of stupidity from the Left in, for instance, Canada and the UK (Starmer campaigning to the right of the Tories and "going hard" on trannydom, Carney wrapping himself in the flag, advocating for increased independence and repealing the carbon tax).

Of course my headcanon will get blown to smithereens if a significant turn back to competence materializes from the Left and they're able to course-correct (think of the whole idea of Putting the Woke Away from AA). But even though I'm seeing evidence they're trying to do that, what I'm not seeing is that they're succeeding, at least not in America. We'll see what happens I guess.

[rusty_shackleford]

List of things wrong that Kissinger did:

[Decline]

There are a lot of possible explanations for their behavior. The one that seems most materially correct to me is that they're suffering a massive competency crisis.

Not to disagree, but rather to add: I believe that Trump 2016 came too early and they wanted to continue on their (already back then) untenable path of enacting theater for the plebs and smooth deals (up to and including droning people) in the dark room.

Biden has shown them that their path really is as dysfunctional as it is and they decided to green light Trump with his cartel business man manners of dealing with things.

[psychic_dream]

Women weren't legally blocked from working in the game industry, and I knew many of my school classmates who used to play party and farm sim stuff with their female siblings. So where did this idea of men gatekeeping women from our hobby come from?

[Tangerine]

Women were (rightfully) teased by other women about playing videogames, but they're socially not allowed to blame women for their problems, so they blame men.

[J1M]

Women weren't legally blocked from working in the game industry, and I knew many of my school classmates who used to play party and farm sim stuff with their female siblings. So where did this idea of men gatekeeping women from our hobby come from?

I dated a girl once who identified as a gamer. She made a big deal about having been in a Burning Crusade raiding guild and wanted to play Magic the Gathering with me.

The social dynamics of her previous male interactions in the gaming space must have been highly stereotypical because she was flat out awful at everything except for Japanese horror games on console.

Literally bragging about being part of an elite 25-man raid group, but unable to function well enough to provide a noticeable difference whether alive or dead in a friendly 10-man raid group in the next expansion. I guess her old guild didn't show her any meters and it was easier to make up carrying 4% of the team than carrying 10% of the team.

We would play the pre constructed decks in that Magic Duels game on Steam and she would be blindsided by the most obvious things like a Wild Growth after blockers are declared or a Counterspell. Like genuinely mad that someone would use a card in that way. As if she had never considered it.

The women writing your games for the last two decades care a lot less about gaming than the woman I just described. And the rest of the company are their beta orbiters.

The consequences are obvious.

[maidenhaver]

Gatekeeping doesn't work unless everyone does it. Only a real men would die keeping the gate of his city, and they're just too few.

[Stack of Turtles]

Gatekeeping doesn't work unless everyone does it. Only a real men would die keeping the gate of his city, and they're just too few.

More importantly, gatekeeping doesn't work at all when there are no actual gates and, instead of fighting to the death to hold the imaginary gates, you have nothing to which to resort but weakly insulting the handful of people who happen to bother to listen to you on the internet.

By the way, @Kalarion, in your post from a few weeks ago, I think the key thing is that you underestimate how much immigrationism, in itself, was an existentially mandatory position for the entire Uniparty political sphere over the past two decades. This is the foremost real reason why Trump was poison to them from the start.

[DemoGraph]

I dated a girl once who identified as a gamer. She made a big deal about having been in a Burning Crusade raiding guild and wanted to play Magic the Gathering with me.

She wanted to participate in your life, man. She probably either hoped that you will lose to her (without admitting it), or fake your game into an epic struggle in which you conquer her with great difficulty, or maybe you would prolong the game while she lives in the moment of you two doing something together. She wasn't there to play competitively with you. You was supposed to play RPG.
At least, this is my take. Because my wife is the same. That's why the best games with her are co-ops. Or inheritance games.

[Fox1]

"Left-libertarians" is a Chomskyism

[fork]

Do you think we’re finally seeing the fruits of their labor? With massive layoffs, mediocre AAA games flopping, and companies scaling back on DEI stuff?

No.

[Stack of Turtles]

"Left-libertarians" is a Chomskyism

"left-libertarians" refers to the ones left behind when you become something else

[Bertram_Tung]

Gamer Gate? Ah, yes, Gamer Gate. I once knew a girl who lived on Gamer Gate.

Long time ago, when I was a young man. Not a day passes I don't think of of her and the promise that I made which I will always keep.

That one perfect day on Gamer Gate. That's uh, five blocks up, two over.

[J1M]

I dated a girl once who identified as a gamer. She made a big deal about having been in a Burning Crusade raiding guild and wanted to play Magic the Gathering with me.

She wanted to participate in your life, man. She probably either hoped that you will lose to her (without admitting it), or fake your game into an epic struggle in which you conquer her with great difficulty, or maybe you would prolong the game while she lives in the moment of you two doing something together. She wasn't there to play competitively with you. You was supposed to play RPG.
At least, this is my take. Because my wife is the same. That's why the best games with her are co-ops. Or inheritance games.

I know why you are saying this, but no, she was like that before and after we got together. And I didn't set out to humiliate her with the WoW thing. If I knew how that would go I would have prevented it.

What is the "inheritance game genre"?

[gerey]

Gamergate went to **** when it stopped focusing on letting everyone know Zoe Quinn is a ***** and turned into a bunch of redditors parroting "ethics in game journalism" like the cretins they are.

[Vergil]

Like ya got a leg in one hand, and a brerb in the other

[Irenaeus]

Gamer Gate? Ah, yes, Gamer Gate. I once knew a girl who lived on Gamer Gate.

Long time ago, when I was a young man. Not a day passes I don't think of of her and the promise that I made which I will always keep.

That one perfect day on Gamer Gate. That's uh, five blocks up, two over.

Beautiful.