The GDC Has Gone Full Feminist And Can't Be Taken Seriously

It's time, once again, for another one of "those" blogs. A blog in which I share how ideology, -ists, and -isms, are digging their way into the gaming industry the way a Ceti Eel burrowed into Chekov's ear in Star Trek the Movie 2: The Wrath of Khan, eventually wrapping itself around his cerebral cortex and making him completely vulnerable to outside suggestion all while causing immense pain.

It started with the Indie Game Developer's Award, and now it has moved on to the Game Developer's Choice Awards.

In case you hadn't heard; it was at last year's GDC that Neil Druckmann, the Creative Director at Naughty Dog, awarded Anita Sarkeesian the Ambassador Award for her Feminist Frequency videos and alleged help at getting the industry to advance to an arbitrary and completely subjective "better place", as well as crediting her as inspiration for the character development of The Last of Us' female protagonist Ellie.

Putting aside the fact that Anita has literally done absolutely nothing to "help" the industry, and has instead merely insulted countless numbers of developers as either being misogynist, or complicit in misogyny in the industry and in games themselves; the important part to note is that Anita Sarkeesian is a Feminist. Of all the individuals that could have been chosen to receive the Ambassador Award, a Feminist known for doing nothing but criticizing the industry was chosen.

When we look at past recipients of the award, we see people like Tommy Tallarico, the founders of Penny Arcade, Two lawyers that guaranteed First Amendment Rights for video game development, and a guy named Chris Melissinos who has done so much for gaming that the list of his accomplishments are 3 paragraphs long on the page of past recipients for the award. These are people that live and breathe gaming, or who care about freedom of expression and the actual art of games to the point that they built their lives, or staked their careers, on progressing gaming to becoming the powerhouse entertainment medium it is today. What I find particularly noteworthy is that when you read Anita's "accomplishments" and compare them to the accomplishments of the other recipients, you can clearly see she's done nothing but complain. Don't take my word for it, see for yourself.

http://www.gamechoiceawards...

That's really where it began. Then this year came along and a few more things of note occurred.

Firstly, Tim Schafer proving once and for all that the saying "Don't quit your day job" is most appropriately used for individuals that suck at comedy yet are so egotistical that they are completely lacking any self-awareness. I of course am talking about Tim's use of a sock puppet, and his butchery of basic math, to make fun of GamerGate. The video of this nonsense is here.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Watch the whole thing to see how his entire schtick was to make fun of GamerGate, but skip to 6:24 to see the part of his speech that everyone's been talking about.
============================= ============================== = ============================
Aside:
------
Funnily enough, at least to me, my response to Tim Schafer on Twitter (which didn't really go through as he's using Randi Harper's GamerGate block bot which she put me on not because of GamerGate but because I called her out on other B.S.) was to mock the fact that he calls himself TimOfLegend (implying he's legendary... which I suppose is true if you count his legendary propensity to consistently fail at basic math) by telling him about an actual "Tim of Legend" best known as Tim Burton, then linking a picture of Sesame Street's very own Count and saying he wanted to have a word with Schafer. That's a little side story for you, but it ends there.
============================= ============================== = =============================

So how does this equate to GDC going Full Feminist? Well first of all it's just one part, and second of all Tim Schafer appeared in a Feminist Frequency video done by Jonathan McIntosh that was about alleged invisible privileges of gaming while male (more specifically white male, but they didn't want to go full racist on that video). His alliance with Feminist Frequency, his lame jokes about GamerGate, and the fact that he was chosen to present these awards lend to GDC going Full Feminist.

But wait, there's more.

There was a poster at GDC made by ncase.me/polygons that stated the following.

Feminism Isn't A Destination

-You don't get to identify and then quit
-Eliminating Conscious Bias is step 1/∞ (author's note: infinity symbol)
-We are all 'ist'
-Conquering unconscious bias requires active work - express your anti-bias.

I couldn't find the image myself, but I'll link to a timestamp of a video I saw it on and you can see it for yourself. It looks to have been a picture taken on a cellphone camera and probably either uploaded to twitter or some other site that makes pinpointing it tricky.

http://youtu.be/DE3IWGjtYtw...

There are 2 things I find hilarious about that poster. First is the consistent use of "anti-bias" given how the SJWs have been acting towards gaming for the longest time and how anti-GG seems to appreciate ideological bias in game reviewing.

The second is how cult like that list sounds. "We are the 'ists', your ideological identity will be changed to our own, resistance is futile."

This poster has the GDC logo and website on it, it's pretty much an official poster. Now I ask you, what does that poster have to do with games, or game development at all? Is it discussing character design? Does it talk about ideas for stories or gameplay mechanics? Hell, is it a game related award? Of course not.

Finally, a bit of subjective anecdotal evidence I came across based on some pics I saw on Twitter. You seriously have to check this stuff out. I've done a search whose terms were any posts that have GDC and GamerGate. Look at the results here.

https://twitter.com/search?...

One of the things stuck out to me most was this.

https://twitter.com/GamerGa...

What the hell does this have to do with gaming or game development at all?

At this point there needs to be a big banner that says "This year's GDC sponsored by Tumblr."

Really, this blog has only touched on the smallest of examples. There are just so many more, including a game programmer who went to GDC and said that there were more people with aposemtic hair coloring representing all the colors of the rainbow than there were legitimate programmers, he even said that most of them didn't know programming language such as C, C++, C#, and that they were using free engines like Unity, and Game Maker to make their games and yet still calling themselves developers.

It's looking like the only awards we should pay any attention to, assuming we want relative objectivity and no ideology, are Geoff Keighley's VGAs. At least he knows to award people who've actually done something for gaming, like Roberta Williams.

You've got the IGDA and GDC going full feminist, PAX and E3 did away with booth babes for, let's be honest here, completely disingenuous reasons, SJWs using engines that do all the work for them to make a game and trying to call themselves developers so they can insert themselves and their ideology where it does no good nor is it wanted. It might be just me, but that Eel seems to be grasping hold of the cerebral cortex of gaming culture tighter and tighter by the day.

And that should worrisome. Why? Because its status symbols like Jonathan McIntosh have actively been pushing a "we need games that aren't fun" narrative. How much would you enjoy gaming if all it did were tell you you were evil if you are white and male, or oppressed if you're anything but?

So what do you all think? Is GDC Full Feminist, or have I just been exposed to convenient coincidences?

[TGG_overlord]

I watched the whole thing. I´m not a dev, but i´ve been a Gamer since 1988 (at the age of 4). And GDC ain´t about Gaming making or games any more.

It´s a damn hipster/SJW/feminist party. This part alone explains it all imo "This year's GDC sponsored by Tumblr."...

[Christopher]

GDC has latched onto a hot topic. Much how too much was about VR, another hot topic is the controversy around feminism and GamerGate. The problem? Only allowing one side to have a voice.

I think with an appropriate message sent from as many gamers as we can get, we can inform them that their direction to support all women as "victims" of some sort would help to get them back on track next year. Need to remind them that the industry is not about limiting one's voice, but giving it the power to reach millions and entertain at the same time.

[DragonKnight]

Agreed. The funny thing is, the Ambassador Award used to be awarded to people who did just as you suggested. One of the recipients was, funnily enough, part of the IGDA and he won it for bringing attention to things like developer work hours, trying to foster community, etc...

Maybe there have been staff changes recently that has led to these changes, I don't know, but the GDC for the second year now has lost its way and decided that adopting an ideological platform is more important than the primary function it was meant to have, that being a conference about game development and honoring those people within the industry who have done great things for gaming.

[annoyedgamer]

Then start a change.org petition or something, ranting on blogs is not helping and we are losing.

Soon every game will have to be screened by the official "equality" censorship boards. At that point we can safely say freedom of expression was successfully nullified.

[DragonKnight]

Believe it or not a petition was something I was thinking about, but their success rate leaves much to be desired.

[mixelon]

They did have a panel with a number of women speaking, including Amy Hennig who specifically said she'd had no problems and the industry has treated her great?

http://www.gamasutra.com/vi... - A lot of women obviously do have a hard time, but it was great to see someone saying that she doesn't. :)

I think different voices were heard - and they've done an ok job getting different messages out - people (and the media) choose to run with whatever they want though.

[Christopher]

Having women speaking doesn't mean they were there to oppose the voice of other women or oppose the same concept that is being talked about by Anita or the like. In fact, that article is even more focused on joining the industry regardless of the Internet, but does nothing to talk about how Internet harassment isn't just against women or how others have played the victim in certain situations or utilized certain moments to make a name for themselves without having to answer for anything they've said through level-headed debate.

[ginganinja]

Just like people using market forces to excuse sexist games, you can do the same to GDC. That there was so much focus on games being inclusive, especially towards women, is because people want to talk about it, and hear about it.
If someone had wanted to host a talk to give a 'voice' to the other side, I'm sure they could have. Though I'm not sure how many people would've turned up to a talk called 'Get these girls away from my toys' (or possibly something a little subtler).

[Christopher]

*** 'Get these girls away from my toys'***

That's not the other side. The other side is "The Industry and the people who play games aren't filled with sexists and sexism as anti-GamerGate and certain notable feminists make them out to be."

Your comment on that shows the exact slant that is being applied to all of GamerGate discussion. That's not what it is. And the promotion of what GDC did is supporting people who say just that thing as generalizing statements on a regular basis.

And this is from a person who supports Anita's right to her thoughts on gaming. I also think she gets a lot of things wrong and purposefully avoids debate so that she can not defend her position, just keep saying the same thing over and over and latch onto the actions of Internet Trolls as a sign of how people in general want to discuss her ideas.

[ginganinja]

Firstly, you're working off the supposition that the 'side' that GDC did represent is the belief the industry and those that play games are sexist. That is a wild leap from what the bulk of the rhetoric has been - which has been;
a, trying to promote womens' involvment in the industry.
b, getting devs to recognise that some of the tropes they use could be alienating a significant chunk of their potential market before they even start.
c, people using harassment and abuse to try and get what they want will not be tolerated.

Secondly, GDC is the 'Game Developers Conference'. I.e. a collection of talks, lectures, discussions on all sorts of topics game related.
There's ample opportunity for anyone who wants to represent the 'other side' to set up an event and do so. Maybe that they didn't (or if they did, it didn't attract much attention) is due to the overwhelming feeling that promoting women in tech is much more important than the paranoid ramblings of a few internet whiners.

Thirdly, I thought GG was about ethics in games journalism.

If people are putting a slant on Gamergate discussion, it's because it's been meandering around for over 6 months and acheived absolutely nothing of consequence other than to stir up vitriol.

[Christopher]

***Firstly, you're working off the supposition that the 'side' that GDC did represent is the belief the industry and those that play games are sexist.***

When you honor a person who has said just that, you support the idea.

If someone right now gave Bill Cosby an award for his lifetime efforts... they would be supporting his actions as an individual and saying that it is okay to award someone with such a sketchy background.

***There's ample opportunity for anyone who wants to represent the 'other side' to set up an event and do so. ***

No, there actually isn't. Why? Because they require some level of support that would show that the board who approves the various conferences and talks would see it as beneficial. Meaning, they would deem it worth taking up the space it needs.

***Thirdly, I thought GG was about ethics in games journalism. ***

It tried to be, but it isn't. It's about online harassment, it's about journalism, it's about how those who feel attacked will deny and attack back through ridicule, it's about many things.

***If people are putting a slant on Gamergate discussion, it's because it's been meandering around for over 6 months and acheived absolutely nothing of consequence other than to stir up vitriol.***

Nothing of consequence? The fact that journalists have not cited their relationships with people who work with publishers and developers and that said relationships should be denoted when writing anything about related works? About how people who claim harassment and attacks on their person (though some are true) also bleed money from individuals while not producing anything?

Looks, GamerGate is a pretty much forgone concept. It's been destroyed by Internet Trolls like so many things online. But to say that there is nothing of value from it is a blatant disregard for wanting to hear anything about it.

If all you know about GamerGate is that women have been harassed on Twitter and relate it to #GamerGate, then you are a part of the problem with regards to ignorance on what is happening. You are also easily mislead by people who say that GamerGate is solely a form of online harassment towards female developers.

The fact that I'm here, as a person who doesn't support GamerGate or "Feminists in Gaming or Gaming Journalism" should tell you something. That something being that taking a side based on what the media tells you, of which GDC is motivated by and becomes a part of, is the wrong way to go. Just like listening to what the media tells you in the fanboy wars, the goal in it is to fuel hits, not inform you.

Take some time to become informed. But, don't go and say "If they wanted to show the other side, they could." when the reality is that they couldn't. The gaming industry doesn't want to support anything that could be construed as anti-women-in-gaming. They would not allow that sort of image to persist, especially not at GDC or similar major events where the presence and backing of the big companies in gaming are required.

[ginganinja]

So, you're basically making up arguments now.
Please, do point out where Anita has said all games, those that make them and those that play them are sexist.

Actually, forget that, because if you're seriously going to try and make an analogy between a person criticising tropes in video games and someone accused of several counts of serious sexual assault, then I'm done here.

[Christopher]

***Please, do point out where Anita has said all games, those that make them and those that play them are sexist. ***

That's not what I said. That's what you said. I said that honoring a person for what they said means supporting their claims.

She says that there is sexism in gaming. Her arguments nit pick the concept of what is and isn't feminism and ignore situations where the exact same things happen to male counterparts. Examples include: killing men, sexualized male figures, treating men as beneath one person or another.

She also says that GamerGate is a form of online harassment and says that it is aimed at women. When, in reality, GamerGate is not a form of online harassment but a tag that was utilized by common online harassers. Furthermore, those elements of harassment were made towards more than just women and are more often made towards men.

***Actually, forget that, because if you're seriously going to try and make an analogy between a person criticising tropes in video games and someone accused of several counts of serious sexual assault, then I'm done here.***

Show me where I've done anything of the sort?

I've talked about having a talk about how the idea that there is sexism in the industry is not as rampant as others make it out to be. I at no time said that criticizing games is equivalent to sexual assault. And, where the hell did that come from? What sexual assault is there with Anita? She's been harassed, not sexually assaulted.

Furthermore, I've even said that online harassers are wrong.

I am not supporting Anita. I am not supporting GamerGate. What I am supporting is that there is an equal chance for both sides to share a point of view. There obviously is not here since developers like Destructive Creations, who are harshly criticized for their games, are not given the same voice.

And, the fact that GDC had SO MUCH focus on women in the Industry compared to other years shows the need for them to create an image that is in contrast to what many others have seen.

But, is it necessary? Is there really sexism in the industry or is it really just more media created controversy? To answer that last part, that's why I'd want to see the other side talk. Because, honestly, I've seen a ton of women in the Industry who have done a great job. I'd say breaking boundaries, but to be honest it's almost as if there were no boundaries other than the preconception that it was a male-focused environment. But, it really isn't. It's just that games were primarily bought by males and now are bought by a much wider audience. Exact same way football has evolved to include things they think women would like (just look at most of the commercials this Super Bowl that were definitely aimed at women, let alone half time shows over the last few years and sponsors).

[ginganinja]

Sorry, but you're the one who implied there should be an equivalance between Anita being honoured for her body of work, which is widely respected in the industry, and a hypothetical scenario involving someone who has had serious allegations made against him.

And yes, there is, and has been, ample oppurtunity for people to air the other side of the issue, because that's been the overwhelming side we've been hearing for years. There have been plenty of stories of women in the industry giving accounts of sexist behaviour against them being met with excuses along the lines of 'well, you've got to accept it' or, 'such and such doesn't have a problem so it must be you'. The difference now is there are a collection of women in the industry who aren't taking that s**t any more.
The point is, the industry has been a male dominated area and is just realising that there's no reason for it, and it doesn't have to continue that way. One way to change that is to get women talking about it, and be seen talking about it. A lot of what Anita criticises in her videos is actually irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. What she is actually doing is being a prominent women talking about games and allowing other women who may be on the fence about joining the industry or voicing their opionion and giving them the confidence and belief that they're valued members of the industry.

And what things like GDC and Intels investment demonstrate is that the industry is commited to improving the situation and if you've a problem with that, tough.

But, please, give me another essay of patronising rubbish about how uninformed I am.

[Roccetarius]

GDC seems like another lost bastion of the gaming industry. It's like a video i can't remember currently, where some comedian says that they're pretty much jealous of our fun and wants to ruin it.

[DragonKnight]

Bill Burr. I'd recognize that line anywhere. He was talking about women and football specifically, but women going into anything male dominated in general.

Here's the video.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

**EDIT**

I like this bit from him better though.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[SilentNegotiator]

Bill Burr is a great comedian. So on the ball with his commentary, too.

[-Foxtrot]

"Neil Druckmann, the Creative Director at Naughty Dog, awarded Anita Sarkeesian the Ambassador Award for her Feminist Frequency videos and alleged help at getting the industry to advance to an arbitrary and completely subjective "better place", as well as crediting her as inspiration for the character development of The Last of Us' female protagonist Ellie."

I lost a lot of respect for Neil that day. Why would you accept giving an award to a con artist who has done nothing for video games.

His friend and ex colleague Amy Hennig is female developer, a creative director aswell so she's quite high up and she's done more for gaming then Anita has ever done. Neil could of politely declined but no he had to give it out. Then on top of that bullshit by saying she was inspiration for the creation of Ellie, I mean LOL...Anita wasn't even big or making her mouth go during the Last of Us development.

I've also lost respect for Tim Schafer aswell because of the things he's been doing on the Anit GamerGate side of this. He struck me as a man who would of stood up for gamers and called Anita/McIntosh out for their bullshit.

[TransientDreamer]

"I lost a lot of respect for Neil that day. Why would you accept giving an award to a con artist who has done nothing for video games."

Because his career is worth more than making a spectacle of himself by protesting it. That's something anyone can understand.

[-Foxtrot]

So politely declining or pretending he has another thing to do would cripple his career somehow?

[TransientDreamer]

"So politely declining"

Would cause problems for him in this toxic industry.

"or pretending he has another thing to do would cripple his career somehow?"

People aren't stupid, and "cripple" is too strong a word, but it was far more advantageous for him to just present and it and go back to doing what he does best, unhindered.

[rainslacker]

I doubt his job would be in jeopardy to politely decline. I don't hold it against him or anything because I like his work, and have never known him to do anything offensive, and it's within his right to think she's done something good.

I was a bit disappointed that he would say Anita had an influence on Ellie. That's just insulting to the characters ND created. But without more reasons why she had influence it's hard to judge if he was just spewing BS or if there was some merit to it.

If his job would have been in jeopardy from protesting against Sarkeesian, then you have to question why people think that Sarkeesian is worth taking a person's livelihood away just because he doesn't happen to agree with them, or care to recognize their work as something important. That's not civil discourse, it's harassment and bullying...plain and simple.

It's no different than what happened to Adam Orth, and while I didn't like that whole situation, and didn't like the way it happened, I don't recall saying he should be fired for it. I did make the argument that as an executive, he probably would be due to the possibility of letting out trade secrets, but that's a different matter and had nothing to do with personal opinion.

[TransientDreamer]

He's simply "playing the game." No pun intended.

[WizzroSupreme]

How can you determine what a properly non-ideological games industry is when, if games are indeed art, communicate everyone's stories? Last I checked, games told stories too, and that included women's and minorities. That it should bother you is your right. That it should not exist is not.

If not at GDC, where then? I have yet to see anyone direct me to where feminism or social justice should be discussed, online or elsewhere. It's being discussed here, after all. I have yet to know why "social justice" is used as an indictment against people. Shouldn't an insincere stance on social justice describe the real culprits? And even then, how are we to gauge sincerity when we don't know the people in question?

If you like games, then play them and follow the more game-oritente game blogs you like. I'm sorry that incivility has come to this. I find Anita Sarkeesian's arguments to generalize and stereotype gamers in equally negative ways as the industry's done to women, but I'm dog-tired of gamers using her as some scapegoat for why feminism is stealing their fun.

[DragonKnight]

"How can you determine what a properly non-ideological games industry is when, if games are indeed art, communicate everyone's stories? Last I checked, games told stories too, and that included women's and minorities. That it should bother you is your right. That it should not exist is not."

How many gods of war do you know? When's the last time you broke bread with an Argonian? Can you tell me what making love to an elf is like? As you can see, just because a story CAN be told, doesn't mean it is told, or should be told, or is about personal experience most of the time. Games are art, yes, but they are also equally a consumer product. Part of "feminist art" is this... (NSFW but censored)

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

It's also describing entire genders and races as oppressive and evil. Note how many games don't have that in them. Why not? I mean, games are art right? Art is meant to provoke isn't it? Yet, ideology of this form is immensely contradictory. It demands specific representation, and at the same time condemns other aspects of the art. This is why ideology has no place in gaming.

"If not at GDC, where then? I have yet to see anyone direct me to where feminism or social justice should be discussed, online or elsewhere. It's being discussed here, after all. I have yet to know why "social justice" is used as an indictment against people. Shouldn't an insincere stance on social justice describe the real culprits? And even then, how are we to gauge sincerity when we don't know the people in question?"

Not at GDC because it stands for "Game DEVELOPERS Conference." The conference is about game development and game developers. A place where discussing the ins and outs of development is supposed to take place. It was not begun as an ideological echo chamber, it only recently changed to one and not out of demand, but out of complacency. Ideological discussion should take place in a proper space. You wouldn't want gynecology being discussed at an auto show, nor would you want cuisine being discussed at a lecture on brain surgery. Everything has its time and its place.

Social Justice Warriors are not concerned with social justice. They act insincere and it can be seen everywhere. And honestly, any function that goes out of its way to have a cult like poster, or use terms like "ableist" which were created on Tumblr, is more concerned with the appearance of social justice than actually doing anything, and are merely promoting the idea that any number of people of any identity they are focusing on are weak people needing, in this case, the GDC's help to represent themselves.

"If you like games, then play them and follow the more game-oritente game blogs you like. I'm sorry that incivility has come to this. I find Anita Sarkeesian's arguments to generalize and stereotype gamers in equally negative ways as the industry's done to women, but I'm dog-tired of gamers using her as some scapegoat for why feminism is stealing their fun."

Follow your own advice. Didn't you say games were art and so on? Guess what another form of art is? Writing, and discussion. I can both at the same time enjoy a game, and lament the insidious burrowing of identity politics in an entertainment medium. I can play a game for hours, and rally against the idea that the industry is misogynist and pro-white male. You don't like it? Ignore it, leave, I don't care. But don't be hypocritical about it.

[annoyedgamer]

Anita and other professional victims have degreed that all games must abide by their rules and that capitalism is bad. This is censorship. And their socialist liberal friends in the media are backing them up.

Lets not forget she makes huge money from her little rants. Even her friends in Intel are paying out.

This is why I pay foreign games now, freedom of creativity and realism still lives over there, for now.

[hazelamy]

the irony.
"these women are professional victims, and they won't stop picking on me, wah wah wah"

you make me laugh.

and i mean that literally, it's hilarious.

[SilentNegotiator]

@hazelamy

Do you anti-GG folk have anything other than "you guys are babies, so there!"?

[Godmars290]

"If not at GDC, where then?"

By every action since the beginning of GG what amounts to the feminist side has shown that they don't want to talk. That they have no respect for anyone who doesn't agree with in any way. As the rebuke of Wu for talking to someone somewhat GG has shown. They only want GG to admit that we were wrong and to kowtow to any arbitrary rule they want.

So, I've got no idea what you're talking about.

[Blues Cowboy]

Social justice isn't a tangible thing as far as I can make out. It's definitely not an army actively trying to corrupt or destroy gaming, it's not a movement, it's just individual people acting on their own conscience - sometimes stupidly and in an aggravating manner, but people are like that.

Framing it as some sort of battle with 'sides' seems to be missing the point to me. Though I'm not entirely sure what the point is beyond 'let's just play games and talk about games, no-one's stopping us, and if some people at a conference want to explore other aspects we don't care about then let 'em.'

[DragonKnight]

The attitude "let's ignore it and hope it goes away" has never helped anything, ever. PT Barnum is famous for saying "there's a sucker born every minute" and they outnumber us.

[Blues Cowboy]

Ah, but I'd argue there's a difference between ignoring something and seeing, obviously, that it isn't a threat or even a real thing. Then deciding not to care about it as it doesn't affect any of us in the slightest.

So a laughing stock did a vaguely amusing 'bit' with a sock puppet. Cool. Perhaps I'd give the slightest damn if Broken Age Part 2 was out.

Lame poster was lame. I've seen several dozen equally limp posters today and you don't see me buying a Big Mac.

And some clever people did some well-intentioned things. Great. All power to them. Seeing as Druckmann is actually a bit of a legend, perhaps it's actually worth paying attention to and there might be a point to it. One that I'm currently too busy playing Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines to explore right now.

All I know is that I and everyone I regularly play/socialise with played games and talked about games all last year without even bothering with all of this 'SJW/feminist are destroying gaming' nonsense.

Everything else seems like stirring up bad feeling just because... being part of a 'cause' or fighting against something makes people feel important? Dunno.

[WizzroSupreme]

I'd say the same thing about trolling and harassment of the minorities that have notoriously been outnumbered among the crowds that have marginalized them for years.

The last I checked, the industry's dominated by status quo shooters and apolitical action games if there can be such an apolitical game. If those are your interests, they're more than safe.

Commentary and debate, even if incorrect, never hurt anyone but the people vehemently opposed to them out of fear. Fear of diversity? Fear of diversity of opinions? That feminism is and or should be unwelcome anywhere in games is a far cry from an ethical counterargument if gaming should be everyone's pastime.

[DragonKnight]

@BluesCowboy: Congratulations on talking about games without worrying about SJW stuff. Pray you'll be able to keep doing that. See, the identity politics in games movement is still young, but if you've paid any attention to it at all you'd see its rapid growth. All young movements always begin with people having the idea that it's not something to worry about, it won't achieve anything of note, nothing will change. Then it happens, seemingly without you being aware of it, and many are in the background left saying, in their own facepalms, "we tried to tell you this was happening."

I've never played Broken Age, but imagine a scenario where what you love about that game has to be changed because identity politics calls for it to be changed. "Then I'll just move on to other games" And you think those will be safe? "Then I'll just quit gaming altogether." Should it have to come to that?

@WizzroSupreme: Most of what I just said applies to your comment too but I'm going to add something to it.

Absolutely no one is afraid of diversity. Diversity has existed in gaming since its inception, with mountains of proof to back that claim up for those willing to actually look for it. What we are against is the constant shaming tactics, the insults, the coercion in trying to force games to adhere to the tenets of identity politics. That's not diversity, that's not discussion, that's borderline militantism.

What "discussion" was had when the developer of Dragon's Crown was attacked for his design choices? How was diversity served in attacking Sony Santa Monica for the name of a trophy that SJWs took WAY out of context? How does labeling a $40 billion dollar industry filled with all kinds of games, developers, and consumers one that promotes violence against women, misogyny, and sexism move gaming in any kind of positive direction?

This is what you've been defending with your comments. This, despite the fact that veteran women in the industry consistently say that there is no inherent misogyny, that their success was earned through the same methods that any man needs to use to achieve success, that being hard work and dedication.

Progress isn't served by forcing it with threats and debasement.

[Blues Cowboy]

@DragonKnight: So... okay, the fact that I'm replying for a third time proves that I now care about this. Dammit! ;)

But here's the thing. You're acting like there's some basis, some precedent, for this happening before. It never has.

Rap lyrics are still explicit. Television can go to unbelievably dark places. Films can still shock. Books can explore every aspect of the human condition. Hell, Shakespeare plays are still full of gore, sex and murder and he's still taught in schools. All of these forms of media have factored social issues into their discussion and criticism for years (sometimes hundreds of years). And hey, Jack Thompson couldn't kill videogames and he was actually *trying* to!

EDIT: I suppose the Comics Code Authority might be a singular example, but these things are protected now.

People complain about everything. And perhaps there are some things about videogames that could improve. Perhaps some people are being over-sensitive or cynically playing an angle for a bit of fame/publicity. But what I'm not seeing, anywhere, is games actually changing or worsening due to some evil 'SJW/feminist conspiracy.'

What I am seeing is some angry gamers raging at an invisible 'enemy' while videogames are more profitable and successful than ever before.

Thanks for taking the time (and bubbles) to respond and I do appreciate it - it's clear we're both passionate about videogames. I respect that, but just can't see where you're coming from on this one.

[mixelon]

I'd reply to your later replies, as they clarify why I'm agreeing, but yeah. Total agreement.

The sky is not falling, if anything - the opposite appears to be happening (the sky is rising?) everything's going to be peachy.. Well, sort of. There are still a lot of big bad industry things to grapple with, but .. This take on this particular one isn't one I'd personally consider a huge deal. The other side might(?) not be a *huge* deal either though.. Everything gets bend out of shape on the Internet. We will (further) diversify*, flourish and provide more for the core and newcomers, and casuals, and everyone inbetween, create more for all tastes and that'll be that.

I don't consider that optimistic at all, we're on that road already.

*Diversity is not a binary yes/no thing.

[Rachel_Alucard]

The problem starts when more and more devs adhere to feminist ideals when making a game. When females get redesigned around feminist standards of showing no skin and dressing as safe as possible it really destroys all dignity around the industry. When you remove everything that could offend someone from a game your left with pretentious hipster garbage like Gone Home. I don't want to play a game where I walk 90% of the time and kill nobody while listening to some annoying side protag blabber while your main guy is silent the whole time.

[TransientDreamer]

There is literally zero chance of this happening.

[Blues Cowboy]

You're right, that would be a problem... if it was actually happening. But it isn't. There is literally no evidence of this taking place anywhere in the industry.

Like TransientDreamer says: "There is literally zero chance of this happening." Zero. Zilch. None.

Oh, and no-one is forcing you to play games you don't like. There are more varieties and types of game than ever before. Just because some indies are experimenting with interesting experimental concepts doesn't mean that our favourite (and much bigger/more profitable) games are magically going to disappear.

[rainslacker]

You're taking the term "social justice" too literally. It's just a colloquialism that encapsulates what the people are acting like, and then deriding it as a bad thing because they are going about it the wrong way.

There are good ways to enact positive change, and ignoring discussion, hijacking a movement which has nothing to do with social issue changes, and calling out the bulk of a community(whether they are complicit with GG or not) is not the way to garner respect among those that can actually enact that change. Right now, devs as a whole are being pretty quiet on both GG and SJW issues, because they know to take a side, even if they empathize with both sides, only brings them unwanted attention that they probably don't care to have to discuss with their boss when sh*t hits the fan on the interwebs.

Here's a good definition of what the term is supposed to mean.

http://www.urbandictionary....

Wikipedia has a decent difference between someone who is really interested in social justice and what the term means here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[mixelon]

I'm pretty sure TimOfLegend is because of Brutal Legend - which he was developing at the time? @_@ Can't judge people by their usernames, DragonKnight?

From the devs who actually went I only read/heard good things.. Both long standing old-guard and newer indies. I'm not seeing it really. They largely don't seem to have similar attitudes to women in the industry, feminism, etc.

Tim's shtick was.. Ill advised. XD

[DragonKnight]

You insist upon addressing me even while having me on ignore. I don't know whether to classify that as childish, futile, or confusing.

Anyway, your assumption about Tim Schafer's twitter handle would need a timeline to prove it, or an interview, but in any event my question to you about it is. Are you really choosing to focus on that aspect of my blog first and foremost? Really?

You're not seeing what? That GDC is more and more adopting an ideological standpoint? I guess evidence doesn't matter much. I mean yeah, all conferences have cultist posters, specifically promote gender pronouns on nametags and tell people to not be "ableist." Happens all the time.

Devs are definitely going to go online and say how much they hated feminism being central to the GDC, that always works out well because there isn't a rabid base of radical feminists just waiting for a reason to yell out "MISOGYNIST" at the first opportunity.

And you don't have to be nice, Tim's schtick was cringe worthy, and not because of how people are saying he was racist and sexist. I don't even see it that way. i just think he was terribly unfunny but he obviously seriously thought he was hilarious.

[mixelon]

Dude, you post articles they end up highlighted in the sidebar. They don't disappear. Are you saying im not supposed to read your stuff at all? I only have you on ignore to avoid endless arguments. Ergo I admit my predisposition towards getting involved is *my* problem, and thus I moderate it. :) it's not through malice or thinking I'm above you or any other negative, it just can snowball. You're here to stay and so am I so of course I read what's going on.

Want to know why I mainly read your stuff? When you talk *games* we agree about almost everything. It's only social stuff we butt heads over. From my perspective we have more in common than not. I still don't see myself as on "another side". So I'm not actually here to dissect everything and present some sort of counter argument, except when I feel I should for whatever reason. I mentioned the timoflegend thing because it's something I could contribute because that's how I remember it, and when I started following him. BL was awesome. He joined Twitter March '09 when BL was being hyped - BL came out later the same year.

There's really no point in engaging on social issues as we know we're not likely to see fully eye to eye on them. :)

Im not sure what Tim was thinking tbh, but I'm glad for people like him, CliffyB, Jaffe, Molineux, Fish, et al.. People who make the industry at least a bit more interesting and bizarre. Even when I/we/someone doesn't agree.

[thorstein]

Did you ever notice that these "feminists" are always fond of saying that women are "kept out" when what they really mean is "listen to the way I view the world."

They aren't interested in listening to or allowing other women to speak.

The reason feminist is in quotations is because Anita and her ilk are not feminists. Never were and are not currently. Anita has damaged her rep way to much too become one.

I can walk around all day and say I am African America, (based on my name, you can tell my heritage is nort European.), it doesn't make me African American.

Feminists stood up and fought for what is/was inequality in suffrage and the work place. Is there still a fight? In some places, yes.

[Godmars290]

No. Sarkeesian isn't a feminist. She's a con-woman. If this mess ever cleaned up, if anti-GG loses, she'll be salvaging what scraps she can by claiming neutrality at best. If not just dropping out of the public eye.

As for GDC, wouldn't wholly write it off until it starts blackballing devs who make up its direct audience. Whereas right now its only admonishing the consumer base that its been ignoring for some time.

Someone has something that;s getting a lot of attention elsewhere for being everything GDC is suppose to be about only to be ignored there, then its a problem.

One that will be too late to fix, but what the hell...

[LightDiego]

Exactly Dragon, now it's just a hipster/SJW festival like the first post said. These developers are praising Anita instead of gamers, you know, people who buy your games.
I lost a lot of respect for Schafer as well, a supporter of anti-gamers and con-artist like Anita.

[urwifeminder]

Nice you guys are up to purple belt in Whingejitsu keep working at it soon you will be masters.

[GortJester]

Terrific blog. Thanks for bringing this to the forefront. I love how socialist all this shit is getting too. The crazy left isn't happy until everything is destroyed.

[hazelamy]

thank you, made my day, haven't laughed like that in a while.

i can't even get angry any more.
it's just gotten too ludicrous.

"if you dare to say anything against them they call you a misogynist, those sjw/feminazi/white knight/liberal/feminists"

of course you use "liberal" and "feminist" as insults.
you realise some people would take those two as compliments, don't you?

and if i got called an SJW, i think my response would be "aww, thanks, i try."
though i would prefer social justice mage. ^_^

seriously though, how does somebody get to the point where they see justice as a bad thing?

[mkis007]

They don't know what feminism is. There is this warped view that feminism means women are trying to put themselves above men...it actually just means equality for women; social, political, economic.

I may not believe that women can do the same things as men, but i do believe they deserve the opportunities to try...

I dont disagree that anita has done nothing to deserve her award though.

[ShaunCameron]

They do know what feminism is. Its actions are telling them all they really need to know.

[ShaunCameron]

Too bad a social justice mage was always know to be the biggest supporter of a certain system responsible for the death of tens of millions of people worldwide in the 20th century in the name of fairness and equality.

[hazelamy]

you're going to have to enlighten me on that one.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

I love Tim Schafaer and i know for a fact that video game developers also love Tim Schafaer . I thought Tim at GDC 2015 was hilarous . I love gaming and love other people who game . I really do not understand why people are getting upset . If your a person who plays video games and think all humans should be treated with respect and do not steal , physically or verbally abuse other humans , then you should not be offended by Tim Schafaer or comedians like Louie C.K. or Sarah Silverman .

[Blacklash93]

These types of things are very self-serving, unfortunately. If the joke is at the expense of your opposition it's hilarious, but if it's at your expense then it's inconsiderate hate-speech and the person who said it is a worthless hack.

[Blacklash93]

I see the concern here and I agree with it, but antagonizing developers and industry participants who have become sympathizers of Anita and Company is just self-defeating. We want to convince others of our plight and perspective, and being toxic severely shoots us in the foot there. We play right into the "GamerGate is the enemy and not worth engaging with" narrative by doing that.

Tim Schafer's act there was quite disrespectful and inconsiderate, but calling him a hack, idiot, and feminazi because of what he did is just the same. Speaking practically and pragmatically, the most we've done is drive Schafer away from us. This isn't what we want. (Aside, I'm very confident that the tone of those deriding him right now would be positively glowing.)

Honestly, it's precisely this sort of thing that makes it hard for me to like or even sympathize with GamerGate, even though I agree with it more. GamerGate detests feminists and social critics for their tired and inflexible arguments, hostility, and sensitiveness over any sign that others disagree with them - but that's the most I see from GamerGate themselves. Both sides are similarly one-sided and immature, making the entire thing unworkable. I'm very disappointed that this entire debate is dominated by belligerent hypocrites.

[Blacklash93]

Fix: (Aside, I'm very confident that the tone of those deriding him right now would be positively glowing *if he targeted feminists and SJWs instead.)

[coolbeans]

The first thing that crossed my mind when reading this title was that stupid GDC rant on KotakuinAction. I'm not surprised to see that it's referenced here. The strangest thing about it was the stange discomfort of the good 'old dev days couple with the odd idea that some oppressive force is coming to steal the bygone joys of their youth. And that material kind of mirrors parts of this blog.

[rainslacker]

The fact that that one game programmer said there weren't that many programmers there is pretty telling how the major part of the industry feels about GDC. GDC has always had a lot of programmers moving around, as there are great seminars there on the subject.

It's a shame really. I went to GDC 4 years ago before any gamer had ever heard of Anita Sarkeesian, and I had a blast. So much information, and lots of mingling with lots of big and small people in the industry. Other devs who look at your work, listen to what you have to say, give good critique, and seminars that were truly informative on both techniques on how to make games, market them, getting a job in the industry, and industry topics that were actually important to the industry. I got my first paid job as a game developer from someone I met there, and it set me on the path I am today, and that is the kind of thing that GDC is meant for...to put people together with others and to put them in front of the technology that is shaping the industry.

I'm sure there were some of those this time, but the number of harassment and feminists topics being discussed is beyond belief. These are the kinds of topics that may have one seminar from someone worthy of speaking on the topic, and not people who come at it from a biased perspective.

I don't know what the hell is up with GDC. They're directive is for developers, not for driving agendas. They SHOULD NOT be taking sides on a volatile issue which alienates the bulk of the game consumers which these devs actually rely on to make money. This is why most devs stay dead quiet on the subject...because they don't want to alienate their customers regardless of where they stand on the issue.

Thanks for the blog dragon. I have to admit that I don't see much news about GG anymore due to time constraints not allowing me to go all over the net, and it's nice to be reminded that this is still going on from people who have more time.

[Blacklash93]

I'm looking at the event schedule and while "Advocacy" category; where nearly all of the feminist and social justice stuff is bunched up; is by no means overwhelming the overall schedule. It's one of the longer lists, but falls very short of event categories like Design, Production, and Programming. It's also worth noting that "Advocacy" includes events based on disability-friendly design and anti-censorship; not just talking about women and cultural minorities.

We should be careful to avoid exaggeration, is my point here. The focus is definitely still strongly on games and game development first, despite the growing number of these equality-minded events. There's a world of difference between a growing concern, and recklessly writing off the entire convention as worthless because we saw or heard about some things we didn't like at it.

[Morpheuzpr]

This is not just GDC. Feminism is rooted in academia, that means that anyone who goes to college seeking education in a profession is subject of the feminist thinking reprogramming. So I wouldn't say that people are exaggerating.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[ShaunCameron]

@ Morpheuzpr

Pretty much.

Actually, feminism is rooted in Marxism, the philosophy that gave birth to communism/socialism.

[coolbeans]

^

That's looks like revisionist history considering that some feminist works date back before Marx ever came on the scene.

[rainslacker]

Well, sure if you just look under advocacy then you won't see much.

But here, take a closer look. It's not all about sexism, but there is a lot of inclusion stuff as well, which is just an offshoot, and a strong theme of the SJW. They aren't all bad topics, and there are some decent speakers, but it does add up.

I wanted to comment on each one, but snipped most of them for space reasons.

-Making Kitty Powers Matchmaker-Adventures of a Video Game Drag Queen

Richard Franke.

Honestly, he's OK in my book, as he's actually doing the work to try and bring about more inclusion than trying to say others should do it. You know...what most GG people would say should be done. But why this game? Refer to the blog I guess

-Curiosity, Courage and Camoflage: Revealing the Gaming Habits of Teen Girls

Ashley Burch(a pretty adamant anti-GG'er and friend good friend of Quinn who is also a pretty adament SJW). If you're curious, go google her, she's quite the character.

-Black Characters in Games: Diversify Your Game

-Women in Game Audio.

-Increasing Gender Diversity in game development programs

-Socially Responsible Game Education

Jane Pinckard(USC), Gillian Smith

Focused on techniques for weaving in discussion of social justice, representation of margin. Can't speak to the credentials of the speakerrs, The topic itself is worthwhile, but seems rather disingenuous that it suddenly pops up now after how many years before Anita came around?

-Growing the Participation of women in E-Sports

-Critics or MetaCritic: Who influences Game Sales

Erica Holcomb

Not really a gender issue, but certainly part of GG, and lets accept the fact that social justice and womens rights have attached themselves to GG despite the actual topic of this blog.

-Managing Game Communities Within the Culture Wars

-#1 ReasonToBe Panel

Believe this is an ongoing one though.

-Turning the tide: Hiring and Retaining Women in the Gaming industry

-Game Developer Harassment: How to get through

Several Speakers, but Zoe Quinn stands out among them

-IGDA Anti-Censorship & Social Issues Committee Presents Advocacy training. The Spotlight is on.

-IGDA LGBT+SIG RoundTable

-Diversity Advocacy Workshop

-We suck at Inclusivity: How language Creates the largest Invisble Minority for Games

Now, I didn't mean to imply that the majority of the topics were about sexism, or any of that other stuff, just that there is more than there has ever been. Some of the speakers on the sessions are questionable for the topic at hand, which is rather disturbing that a unbiased person isn't actually hosting those sessions.

There are tons of things going on at GDC, and there is plenty of good stuff still to be had, but one has to wonder why the whole issue of SJW and everything that goes along with it is taking so much time in the conference.

[Blacklash93]

"Well, sure if you just look under advocacy then you won't see much."

Where else would I see the bulk of it, then? As far as I'm aware, the schedule on GDC's site is virtually the full list of panels, round-tables, presentations, etc. And looking at that, I see all but a few of the equality-focused events are under Advocacy. There are a couple minority-centered events outside of Advocacy (as I suggested before by saying "nearly all") like the E-sports and Audio ones, but they're just a small handful at best across far larger categories.

Be careful to consider context and your conjecture. Many of the events you mention are indeed under the Advocacy category, and some you mention don't hold up as social justice -minded events like the 'Metacritic' and 'Community Management' events. From what I've observed, it's a big stretch to say that the content of GDC has been dominated by feminists and culture critics. (coolbeans explained this nicely, below.)

We need to recognize concern about feminist and social agendas, but we shouldn't put ourselves into a panic over them either. Paranoia and exaggeration do our interests no merit. To put the importance of that consideration into perspective, I'd like to point out that panic (over patriarchy and discrimination, etc) is precisely the issue that plagues feminists and SJWs, and the resulting behavior continues to be a massive blow to their rationality and credibility. We don't want to fall into that same trap.

[coolbeans]

If you're talking about the KotakuInAction post, I believe he mentioned just meeting more less-skilled devs than before. Whether that's the specific one you're referencing or not, suggesting that one's anecdotal experience can suggest how a big part of the industry feels regarding the event is a great exaggeration.

Who's to say any of that mingling, critiquing, marketing, informing, etc. has now been hampered compared to the GDC of 4 years ago? Considering the news of more free tools, the plethora of panels dedicated to informative panels on certain tools (and many more topics), and a garden variety of talks regarding narrative, f2p, game design, etc., that doesn't sound like GDC's been morphed into some full-fledged SJW agenda camp or what have you.

[rainslacker]

Considering that I misread the comment, you make a very valid point. I had the oppurtunnity to go this year through my employer, but opted out because I was given the choice between that and a training thing next month which is more apt to my line of work.

I would have liked to have gone, because as I said, there was plenty of the traditional type material there to consume, and yes, taking one anecdotal comment as telling was exaggeration, although I have heard other similar comments first hand. My co-workers that went said it was alright, but felt empty(paraphrasing) compared to years prior. They didn't really talk about the uptake of activist seminars as being the reason.

It's also worth mentioning that with those tools and other new things you mention, they are presented in many different forms throughout the years to developers, sometimes right in the dev offices. They were really cool when I was a student, but not particularly needed once you have a job working with other tech...it becomes more of a gee whiz kind of thing.

Anyhow, I don't think that GDC has morphed into a full-fledged activist group, just that the focus this year is most definitely focused towards one particular issue facing the industry, whereas in the past, there was a plethora of different issues discussed, some of them involving inclusiveness in it's different forms.

[coolbeans]

"Anyhow, I don't think that GDC has morphed into a full-fledged activist group, just that the focus this year is most definitely focused towards one particular issue facing the industry, whereas in the past, there was a plethora of different issues discussed, some of them involving inclusiveness in it's different forms."

That's a more reasonable annoyance to have, and my "____ agenda camp" language portion was more influenced by the language of the blog+title (for the sake of clarification). But even with what you're saying, I still think your above list of extra examples is, in part, artificially bolstered.

'-Managing Game Communities Within the Culture Wars'

Judging by the topic+takeaway, this just seems like genuine community management that wants to keep player passion alive in the face of heated real-world topics. Doesn't come across as much else.

'-Critics or MetaCritic: Who influences Game Sales

Erica Holcomb

Not really a gender issue, but certainly part of GG, and lets accept the fact that social justice and womens rights have attached themselves to GG despite the actual topic of this blog. '

When the topic seems totally focused on unrelated statistical analysis, this seems like such a ridiculous stretch. Regardless of what bias Holcomb has, I don't see much standing of saying agenda when the entire topic is going to be based on unbiased number-crunching.

'-Socially Responsible Game Education

Jane Pinckard(USC), Gillian Smith

Focused on techniques for weaving in discussion of social justice, representation of margin. Can't speak to the credentials of the speakerrs, The topic itself is worthwhile, but seems rather disingenuous that it suddenly pops up now after how many years before Anita came around?'

That's not a sound assumption to make by my estimation. The whole idea of education, gaming, diversity, etc. had been slowly coming to a head anyways. The likes of EC and even certain educators have harped on gaming education for some time. For the topic of social justice to be tossed into that vat in today's world just seems expected.

Still, does the increase of THESE topics bring room for concern? 'Tis fair to at least bring up, by my estimation. But when I see the huge collection of panels covering such a wide variety of gaming-oriented topics, a lot of the controversy just strikes me as typical hoopla served to support a specific game culture worldview in comparison to what the average passerby would glean from it all. That is unless one finds craft-beer-drinking dyed-hairs hugging a lot to be...some kind of cause for concern.

[rainslacker]

As I said I did snip some discourse from all the different topics being presented because it made my comment much too long

I didn't actually have a real problem with any of the topics you mentioned, or quite a few of the others as well, it's just that most of the activism topics(whether specifically classified as such or not) seem to be firmly centered around discussions being had directly or indirectly within GG and SJW activism. Was I reaching with some? Yeah, probably, but as I said to some, just another one to add to the list.

I don't feel the increase in these topics is cause for concern as a whole, but the timing that these types of topics are chosen to have a focus at GDC sessions seems to paint the picture that there is too much focus on the issue at GDC, with many other industry discussions being left out. The current topics of GG and SJW talking points are worth discussing, particularly on their base level and free of the rhetoric and hyperbole. They were being discussed before GG and Anita came around. As vitriolic as those old discussions could get a couple years ago, it's certainly gotten worse now and any sort of positive discourse has become almost non-existent beyond a one to one level, kinda like we're doing now, or within echo chambers where opposing sides never hear the other side....again, not unlike here.

Any given topic on it's own isn't even that big of a deal, as obviously it is a current issue, it was just the plethora of topics that focus on it that makes me a bit skeptical on why this years schedule is like this, when past years were much more diverse in industry topics of such a controversial nature.

I will single out the Socially responsible Game's Education session though, as I feel I didn't explain it well enough.

The question of ethics(which includes social responsibility and representation) has been part of many game design curriculum's that I've seen. Some have a specific class on the very topic, others have it as a topic in another class. My doubt about the seminar was not that it was there, but it's focus in general.

The topic at hand was about how to discuss with students how to be more socially responsible when designing games, again a worthy topic of discussion. Given that the current theme of social responsibility is the narrative of the SJW side of inclusion of every representation, it makes me wonder why it comes up now, instead of years before when the topic was not so loaded with bias and propaganda, because it isn't something that recently came up.

Again, I'd like to clarify that I don't know the credentials of the speakers. A cursory look up of them seems like they are respected in their fields and not going overboard with the whole GG/SJW discussion. Given the nature of the debate today, it's very hard to broach this topic in a reasonable manner as it's become too volatile to approach rationally and expect any kind of actual outcome that would be acceptable to all parties.

On the plus side, when it comes to academic pursuit of topics, it does mean that a level headed unbiased teacher/moderator in such a discussion can help younger students actually broaden their minds, and come to realize that their perceived notions on a topic are not as black and white as they may believe. I've personally found that critical thinking is much easier when you realize that you may actually be wrong on a topic, and can accept the notion that it's quite all right to take things from all sides of a topic and use it to come to a proper middle ground which is likely more in line with reality, and it's quite liberating coming to the realization that it is perfectly OK to change one's stance on an issue when presented with new information....but now I'm just rambling.:)

[DefenderOfDoom2]

Response to Blacklash93 4th bubble , Well said ! I believe video games developers main focus is to make games that people enjoy . Which is very hard to do.

I believe at GDC Tim Schafaer did give a strong jab at video game publishers . The reason why i like Tim Schafaer is because he puts himself in front the camera and tries to reach out to his audience . Not many video game developers do that .

[plsburydoughboy]

Isn't this breaking N4G's new rules about Gamergate?

[coolbeans]

A key part of Christopher's comment from his second GG blog is this (to me):

"Essentially, there's a Venn Diagram of sorts here in which N4G overlaps with GG and similar topics. It is not a 100% type of thing. The goal of our policy is to do our best to include what people feel is in that overlap while preventing the site from going into areas that aren't about video games. "

When considering the title and the content here, I believe it's safe to say this would be one of the grey-area entries that's okay to pass by my estimation. While there's a lot of culture/GG discussion, the crux of the submission rests on GDC.

Edit: Plus, the only 100% GG social media stuff (Tim's sockpuppet) routine is only a portion to stuff listed compared to stuff that's reportedly at GDC.

[krazeecain]

"...he even said that most of them didn't know programming language such as C, C++, C#, and that they were using free engines like Unity, and Game Maker to make their games and yet still calling themselves developers."

Although I mostly agree with the content of this article, I take issue with this particular sentiment. I might grant you that Game Maker is a bit cheesy, but certainly Unity is a perfectly acceptable engine of choice for any game. (You can use C# or javascript in Unity as well, which are real languages)

There's also much more to game development than programming! That sentiment is an insult to those who specialize in art, modelling, level design and sound fx.