Why PAX now lives up to the name of their greatest controversy.

The Penny Arcade Expo! That’s really all you have to know in order to get at what I’m probably going to talk about in this piece, and sadly, it is a piece that I really do not want to have to talk about, because this is something that we, as gamers, should be above by now. We should be above these childish acts, and respect each other for who we are. To understand and respect that when someone is deeply offended by something you did, you should not just troll the person offended, but see where you did wrong, and why the person was offended, and when it gets too bad, to find out how to kill it, let it die, and bury it six feet under with the biggest shovel you can find.

Of course, by now we’ve all heard it, and we’ve all had formed opinions defending them and eviscerating them. This is, of course, the reemerging of the now infamous “Dickwolves”. One could wonder how anyone with a spine could possibly not need to take a long, hot shower after the mere mention of the word, or how those very people don’t need to gargle mouthwash for an hour. We all know how it started: a mere comic strip episode that mocks the way many MMORPGs structure quests for you to do. The main character references a very common way to describe getting ganged up on by a pack of monsters that kill you within seconds, forcing you to take death penalties. The characters in the strip likened it to being raped by a pack of wolves. What followed was an image of a bunch of wolves in the next panel, with their legs signifying the specific part of the male genital region that the first half of the term now represents. On its own, it was an act of being tone deaf. Many who have played MMO’s, like myself – first with Final Fantasy XI before moving to WoW – will get the joke. We’ve heard about a pack of mobs “ass-raping” others for years, but it is also in closed circles. At no time does it ever reach a public stage in which we know people will be generally offended. If someone is, then we just understand the sensitivities and move on. In an environment like that, especially a closed environment on Ventrilo with your guild, you sometimes get tone deaf, as well. But you always know your core values, even when you’re making such jokes. The circle of friends always are aware that the others are not really sexist, or really racist, or really insensitive to anyone. It’s just friendly banter.

So that being put on a public stage like that was incredibly stupid in of itself because to those that didn’t get the joke, or those that actually have an issue with that term that would speak up in those circles if someone mentioned getting ass-raped, it is a trigger. Something that reminds them of the horrors they might’ve actually faced in real life, or someone they know might have suffered that cruel twist of fate. It contributed to what has been billed at “rape culture”. It was tone deaf, and was something that, in an age of gaming where we have seen more female core gamers than ever, very idiotic.

But what does happen when, in those very circles, you get a person who would have an issue with the terms? What would you actually do? Those people that make those jokes within the circles suddenly backpedal, and those that have the issue do understand that no one is trying to be insensitive, or trying to make light or a joke out of a horrible situation. A line is always drawn, and sensitivities actually matter. I remember when one of our guildies’ kids were on Vent with us, we refrained from some of the more mature language and dialogue that we would say any other time. We were not insensitive in any way, and we understood that the kid did not need to hear things like that. And we respected those wishes.

And thus, here’s where the real problem lied with the two clowns that run the many expos that Penny Arcade runs, Robert Khoo and Mike Krahulik, lies. It’s not necessarily the comic itself. That, as I said, was just plain tone deaf. But when people criticized the episode, they instead of understanding the firm nature of the issue, and just apologizing for said insensitivity, they went into full troll mode, drawing up pictures of a “Dickwolf” for an audience that applauded after, and putting on sale merchandise that featured the damned creature on the front side. Of course, several blogs complained about the whole nature of the comic itself. But after the sheer amount of trolling they did in response to the criticism, you had not just feminist blogs, but also core gamer blogs that were telling the PA people “enough already”. Now, I would tell you every single detail that ever happened, but doing that would take me all day. Someone on Tumblr did a very awesome timeline of every single thing that happened during this controversy, and I implore you to go read everything that occurred. It’s long, yes, but it’s length also tells you just how much of a controversy this is, and how mishandled it got.

The timeline even gets into why we’re talking about this now, nearly three years after the fact. During PAX Prime last week, the two aforementioned clowns once more brought up the controversy, seemly in a vacuum. I want people who read what follows to keep that in mind. No one asked them anything about the Dickwolves! At all! Period! They had no reason to even mention the comic that started the whole mess, or even the term! But on the last day of PAX, Krahulik told the Seattle, Washigton panel, he thought “that pulling the dickwolves merchandise was a mistake”. Seemly to concur with what was one ring shy of a three ring circus, Khoo then stated that it was a “way of engaging", which they now try not to do "in these type of things.”

Like clockwork, the ball was rolling again, and who can blame those that criticized them even bringing it up again. They try not to do things the way they did back in 2010? Then here’s a simple solution: don’t bring what you did in 2010 up to begin with. Your sorry excuse for a gamer partner said it was a mistake to pull a highly controversial product line from production. That alone should’ve been enough to just not say anything. Krahulik seems to be in the driver’s seat, but you’re clearly giving him the directions from the passenger’s seat. By bringing it up again, you’re essentially guaranteeing that you will get the attention from those that hated you back in 2010, and have not had those wounds healed by how you handled the controversy.

But wait, Khoo “apologized” about it later on to the people at Kotaku – God knows they are just as bankrupt at being true gamers over there as Penny Arcade are, so they deserve each other – by saying that they didn’t intend to rub salt on old wounds, and then a post on the official PA site made a longer explanation as to their reasons, and if they knew then what they knew now. They still do not see the point. The simplest way to not rub the salt on the wounds is to not bring the damn salt in the first place. There was no reason to even say it. It was brought up, again, in a vacuum. Who asked you about the controversy? Who at PAX was clamoring for a Dickwolf shirt? Oh, wait, I’ll get to that later. Perhaps someone actually was!

Keep in mind that it’s not just the comic that’s the issue. Hell, if it was only that, the entire issue would’ve been over already. Penny Arcade runs several strips per year, and there is no doubt that some of the things they discuss in it have raised the ire of people before. Part of making controversy is getting people to talk about certain things by stroking the nerves of those sensitive about issues by making them ask “am I being oversensitive” and by making people challenge their beliefs. Hell, how do you think South Park got so popular and has gotten as many seasons as it has? It’s not just because of the profanity.

No, it’s because they refused to shut up about it. They didn’t stroke the nerves to prove a point. They trolled the people that had genuine, legitimate criticisms that no one with a brain would blame them for having, because they wanted to see how far they could take it, because they knew behind the controversy was money. Dollar signs! That’s all it was about to them! Make no mistake about it: they saw that they could make a ton of money, and they had no interest in teaching any valuable lessons about anything to anybody. It was all about how much they could exploit a serious issue that they already exploited. And those that thought there might’ve been a point with that original strip just had their intelligence insulted.

But that’s not the worst part about this. There are a few more points, one of which will make your skin crawl, and one that might put a possibility into perspective. The one that should make your hair on your neck stand up is that when the picture was drawn, and then when the two clowns stated that they thought it was a mistake to try to clear up the blackest eye in their history as if they wanted to have another shiner on the right to match the one on the left to make some fashion statement, the audience they were talking to cheered. No wonder they brought it up. The apology that Khoo made to Kotaku was not only akin to the apology a kid would make when he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar – old metaphor, I know, just work with me here – but he’s also apologizing to groups of people who essentially wanted them to do more of it because they wanted to give their money to these jokers! They are not the ones you have to explain these things too, Khoo, because those that cheered you for dragging out a controversy and making the bed you seem to be sleeping like a baby on are just as tone deaf and as morally bankrupt as your highest ups are. You must explain it to those that criticized you. Try to apologize to an owner of a feminist blog. Invite TotalBiscuit or Jessie Cox to interview you about it. Hell, explain yourself to Anita Sarkeesian, because if we can agree with a clown of a feminist like her about you -- she posted a Facebook post about how someone will no longer be attending PAX after this latest round of sheer arrogance, just as the developers of Gone Home has said they can no longer do after you refused to let this die – then you know you totally effed up.

But there’s something very ironic about all of this to go along with the disgusting arrogance these two clowns have. It’s the fact that they have made the Dickwolves bed while still claiming that they have a “family friendly” expo. Anyone remember PAX East last year? I mean, really remember it. As in, remember what you might say is an unrelated incident. During that expo, the game Lollipop Chainsaw was being shown, and at the booth, an attractive cosplayer named Jessica Nigri was showcased sporting the attire that the main character, Juliet, wore during the game. First day, no problem, but on the second day, she sported the pink, leather jumpsuit, the way Juliet wore it within the promotional art for the game. Like clockwork, the very workers at PAX suddenly wanted to pretend they were moral police and tell her to change to something more appropriate: the “no booth babe” rule, which restricts companies from using scantily clad females who have no knowledge of the game they promote to drive people to their booths, suddenly applied to Nigri. When she changed into the attire she had on the day before, she was once more ordered to change, with her being suggested that she put on a sweatshirt (all while they probably had on authentic Dickwolves merchandise, mind you). But she was allowed to continue on promoting the game to its third and final day, which was a completely different outfit that didn’t have anything to do with the game, but didn’t confirm to those that thought that we were suddenly taken over by Saudi Arabia!

So, you might think that they were in the right. After all, the jumpsuit the Juliet wore was very risqué in the manner she wore it, so you might think it could’ve been justified. But keep a few things in mind. For one, there were male cosplayers that had less on than she did at that very event that never got even a slap on the wrist, or even a word about it towards them. Secondly, Jessica Nigri is not only a very talented cosplayer (I’ve yet to see a costume she’s done to be anything but completely accurate), but also a very well rounded core gamer (no kidding; just check out a lot of the interviews she’s done; there’s substantial proof that she plays a lot of what she cosplays in those interviews), and considers herself an avid “nerd”. Basically put, she’s more of a core gamer than the two clowns that run the damn place ever will be, because it should take a gamer to know a gamer.

Finally, back to the link I said some people might think didn’t exist between Nigri and the Dickwolves controversy. Think for a minute who those two issues might’ve angered. Nigri is the same gender that might’ve had the most issue with both the Dickwolf comic as well as their subsequent handling of the outcry. It’s simple: it may have something to do with money, yes, but money on the back of something much worse. The inconsistency with their beliefs, rules, and policies, them taunting those concerned with a comic about getting raped, them bringing that same controversy up a few years later when there was no need, trying to remove a female GAMER (not just a cosplayer) for something they fail to get any male for (And let's not even get started over their Kickstarters; we'll be here all day if we have to discuss them). These people are the reason we now have to deal with people like Anita Sarkeesian and Patricia Hernandez. They are not only misogynistic, but they do their best to get cheap applause points out of those that think the same thing they do about what gender has the real gamers.

You want the reason why Anita thinks there’s an “unquestioned boys club” in the gaming community? Who can blame her when we have sorry excuses for human beings, much less gamers, like Robert Khoo and Mike Krahulik. Let’s hope that Fullbright won’t be the last company that punishes them for such incompetence. Khoo and Krahulik have now become dick...wolves!

[SilentNegotiator]

Dickwolves is the stupidest controversy to curse the gaming industry in years.

"Dickwolves" doesn't encourage rape culture any more than "I'm coming, Elizabeth" encourages people to write off heart disease, and it shouldn't be any more offensive as a joke "about" rape than a Tom and Jerry short is "about" animal abuse.

I'm glad the joke is back. People are completely in their right to dispute the idiocy of the controversy and create a pillar to stopping backwards PC crap in the future.

And the combination of those two events does not make for a confirmation of a "boy's club"; you can't compare a token of free speech to rejecting half-naked persons at an event.

And really? Anita? She once cut out a male character from the video of a cancelled game (both playable characters with equal billing) to attempt to make the point that games with female leads don't get published. I hope you don't really let her $150,000 lies poison your mind.