I withdraw my support for RPS and eat a large slice of humble pie

[Nefaro]

Brad Wardell has a good post here:

http://www.littletinyfrogs.com/article/457868/Gamergate_Escalates

I'm not going to do a moral equivalence here. In my mind, the balance of wrongdoing is heavily weighted on the opponents of #gamergate.  Mainly, because its opponents have had a long head start of character assassination and harassment. I know some of my friends in the media will be appalled by that but that's mainly because they haven't seen the shit storm directed at anyone who dares not support the "social justice" narrative for the past few years.

"Social Justice Warriors".   ;D

I'll remember to use SJW in the future.  It will save some typing when complaining about them constantly attempting to invent boogeymen.

[Bletchley_Geek]

Brad shouldn't really talk too much. People jumped on those sexual harassment allegations - which he sort of admitted on the Qt3 forums, let's remember - in droves in the wake of the World of Magic disaster, especially after failure to comply with his Gamer's Bill of Rights

Gamers shall have the right to return games that don't work with their computers for a full refund.
More

That was Point 1, FWIW.

[Huw the Poo]

which he sort of admitted on the Qt3 forums, let's remember

Unless I missed something, he did nothing of the sort; he admitted having a certain attitude in the office, meaning he didn't pander to the "I take offense at everything" crowd, and he offered no apology for it.

Gamers shall have the right to return games that don't work with their computers for a full refund.
More

That was Point 1, FWIW.

They did offer refunds.  Not only that, but those of us who preordered WoM got FE and LH free.

[Bletchley_Geek]

which he sort of admitted on the Qt3 forums, let's remember

Unless I missed something, he did nothing of the sort; he admitted having a certain attitude in the office, meaning he didn't pander to the "I take offense at everything" crowd, and he offered no apology for it.

Gamers shall have the right to return games that don't work with their computers for a full refund.
More

That was Point 1, FWIW.

They did offer refunds.  Not only that, but those of us who preordered WoM got FE and LH free.

In some countries,  that would have been a confession of sorts. But indeed standards can be quite different across the globe, or between states in the Union.

And the refunds weren't for everyone, you needed to have bought the game before a certain date. I got a 20% discount for instance.

[Huw the Poo]

In some countries,  that would have been a confession of sorts.

I'm glad I don't live in one!  He didn't admit to any wrongdoing.

And the refunds weren't for everyone, you needed to have bought the game before a certain date. I got a 20% discount for instance.

Are you sure about that?  I'm pretty sure that if you actually followed their support, tried all their suggestions, and could still show it wouldn't run, you got the refund.

[Bletchley_Geek]

I'm glad I don't live in one!  He didn't admit to any wrongdoing.

The facts are that both lawsuits - employee vs. Wardell, and Stardock vs. employee - were thrown out with prejudice by Federal courts. My law-fu isn't great, but the "with prejudice" bit I reckon means that both cases were found to be entirely devoid of merit for being considered any further by the Court. This usually happens when both parties fail to produce any evidence before the court. Such concerted action by both parties in both lawsuits is rational when there has been some sort of dealing going behind the scenes. And a weirdly worded apology letter surface signed by the employee, which to me, totally looked like having written by Wardell's lawyer.  Probably the only "public" bit of the deal.

My personal opinion - note here personal - is that a drunken night out got out of hand, escalating quickly into a situation which seriously damaged Wardell's reputation. This would probably have received little - or any - attention, if World of Magic would have been the product it had been advertised and/or Wardell's hadn't been so vocal in supporting "Gamer's rights" on the Internet. Let's say it was a perfect PR SNAFU.

This #Gamergate thing got started with much little less 'facts' than Wardell's vilification on the Internet. And Wardell's "character assassination" and vilification was nothing compared with the tsunami of drivel which the Internet tubes are struggling to drain.

And the refunds weren't for everyone, you needed to have bought the game before a certain date. I got a 20% discount for instance.

Are you sure about that?  I'm pretty sure that if you actually followed their support, tried all their suggestions, and could still show it wouldn't run, you got the refund.

It's been four years now, and I can't find the thread, but I remember only people who pre-ordered WoM were able to get refunds with no questions made. I didn't pre-order, and then what is described in the thread below applied

http://forums.elementalgame.com/392846

Which is a bit like turning around on the grandiose Gamers' Bill Of Rights. A bit. I took a leap of faith in Indiana Jones style, and hoped for the best rather than pressing the issue as that Danish person in the link above did. I also wanted to support Stardock, which didn't quite struck me as sporting an EA-like attitude. This seemed as a wise course of action when Wardell's himself stepped down into the development trenches to try to make World of Magic less of a disaster. He deserves credit for that, even if quickly became apparent that was a bit like one of Hercules' Tasks.

The next thing I ever heard from Stardock on this particular topic was this link

http://www.stardock.com/media/Mailers/fallen_enchantress/elemental_fe_release_upgrade/index.html

appearing on my e-mail.

[Moreb]

Can anyone recommend a Steam Curator that is thorough, unbiased and avoids the SJW crud that RPS has been peddling? Given that criteria, who would you recommend I stay away from?

TIA

[undercovergeek]

and then this happened:-

http://battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=116804&highlight=women

'why are there no females represented in Red Thunder, we know women fought for Russia in WW2'

this could be the tiny snowball start of a massive avalanche of mindless c**ts that now go around established non-female representing games trying to cause trouble

[Huw the Poo]

Aye, Geek.  It's pitiful, it really is.

Can anyone recommend a Steam Curator that is thorough, unbiased and avoids the SJW crud that RPS has been peddling? Given that criteria, who would you recommend I stay away from?

TIA

I don't know whether Totalbiscuit is a curator (I suspect he is) but he is taking an extremely reasonable stance in the whole thing and has earned loads of respect from me.  I'll see what else I can find later.

[bayonetbrant]

I haven't read all 11 pages, so forgive me if this has already been pointed out.

The scandal has expanded to an insider list of writers and editors as to what they should cover:

A second tranche of leaked emails from the secret GameJournoPros mailing list, dated September 2014 and published today by Breitbart London, reveals video game journalists insulting popular YouTubers and laughing off the prospect of readers challenging them about ethical violations.

This new leak follows an earlier release of emails dated August, which showed games journalists joking about having sex with public relations executives and game developers.

I know it's a little TMZ of me, but I'd love to see that archive...

[Huw the Poo]

Brant, the whole archive hasn't been released (yet) but the reporting began here on Breitbart.  They've done a few more stories since.

[Bletchley_Geek]

Aye, Geek.  It's pitiful, it really is.

Can anyone recommend a Steam Curator that is thorough, unbiased and avoids the SJW crud that RPS has been peddling? Given that criteria, who would you recommend I stay away from?

TIA

I don't know whether Totalbiscuit is a curator (I suspect he is) but he is taking an extremely reasonable stance in the whole thing and has earned loads of respect from me.  I'll see what else I can find later.

Totalbiscuit is a curator.

[Huw the Poo]

Turns out he's the top-rated curator!

[Nefaro]

and then this happened:-

http://battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=116804&highlight=women

'why are there no females represented in Red Thunder, we know women fought for Russia in WW2'

this could be the tiny snowball start of a massive avalanche of mindless c**ts that now go around established non-female representing games trying to cause trouble

It's true that the Imagined Victimhood Coalition goes to ridiculous levels on a regular basis.

But this is one historical example where I'd support a suggestion.  For some specific unit types in small doses, perhaps.  Not for any social warrior standpoint, as implied, but for a little extra historical detail.

I did turn my nose up at the female pilots on Sid Meier's Ace Patrol.  (Female scout pilots in WW1?!  WTF is this?!  Candyland?!) There's no problem making that some kind of fantasy option that can be disabled, as they did with the sequel.  But forcefully imposing modern social standards, culture, and other niceties on humanity's largely difficult and brutish history is an injustice to the study and understanding of such history.  I feel like it's an attempt at re-writing history which just ruins the reason for knowing history in the first place.   Even if that medium is just a video game based on it.  Much more so with broadcast media such as news, documentaries, etc which increasingly get this treatment.





Like you, I think the overzealous drama queens (Brad's "Social Justice Warriors") are the annoying factor in the whole situation.


Ron Swansons unite!

[Moreb]

Thank you Huw and Bletchely. Ive joined their ranks.

I have been dissatisfied with RPS for some time.