Feminist video-games talk pulled after massacre threat • Hacker News Board

Re: Feminist video-games talk pulled after massacre threat

#191

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:00 PM UTC

mason240 wrote: post #100

archagon wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give the Isometric podcast #18 a listen ( http://5by5.tv/isometric/18 ). It might change your mind. Also this: http://seriouspony.com/trouble-at-the-koolaid-point Zoe Quinn tweeted today: "couldn't you just fucking not play my games . Fucking boycott me, don't work with me, just leave my dad alone". She got a dead squirrel in her mailbox a few days ago. Remember: she made a free indie game about depression and had a…

No, that is not all she did. She traded sexual favors for favorable game reviews for with multiple people. I don't want my daughter to grow up have to compete with people who use their bodies as something trade business favors for. Frankly is is disgusting that anyone would be supporting this kind of behavior.

[deleted]

Re: Feminist video-games talk pulled after massacre threat

#192

Post by ben0x539 » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:02 PM UTC

Rubix117 wrote: post #169

mturmon wrote: post #13

Her video series, which you can see on YouTube, is actually quite good and well-researched. You might disagree with her conclusions (I agree with them) but even if you disagree, you have to admit she's done a lot of legwork.

I disagree. Her videos have been shown to cherry pick. She is also a liar and has no interest in video gaming. This has been shown in older videos of herself. Its a money making scam.

How is it a scam? People gave her money to post videos about video games, she is posting videos about video games. Are you saying she's not enthusiastic enough about the video games she's calling out to deserve the money people decided to pay her?

Re: Feminist video-games talk pulled after massacre threat

#193

Post by archagon » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:04 PM UTC

marknutter wrote: post #118

These days isn't receiving death threats on the internet kind of par for the course? How many internet death threats have actually resulted in deaths? I think the answer is zero. Why even pay them any attention?

Not only do these women receive orders of magnitude more death threats than your typical online celebrity, but people do in fact come to their homes, contact their relatives, harass them at work, mail them stuff, etc. Consider also that some studies have shown that more than a third of all women have been sexually harassed or assaulted at some point in their lives, which is mostly invisible to guys like me[1].

That must be a pretty terrifying place to be. If that was me in Anita's shoes, I doubt I'd be able to just wave off these death threats, especially if friends and family were being targeted as well.

[1]: You can start reading at this comment — http://www.metafilter.com/85667/Hi-Whatcha-reading#2777344 — and keep going for a good long while. This thread changed my outlook a few years ago.

Re: Feminist video-games talk pulled after massacre threat

#194

Post by sb057 » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:04 PM UTC

anon3d3c928 wrote: post #114

using a throwaway account because ppl could easily find my twitter, my company, and harass me all day about this (and probably would). GamerGate is very probably a hate group, with no other legitimate purpose. they're known to send people into forums like this to argue politely and coherently that the "movement" is 100% legitimate. typically the person who comes onto a site like this, to argue in that manner, also ma…

I think it should be noted that the article you linked to is published by Gawker Media, one of the companies at the center of this.

Re: Feminist video-games talk pulled after massacre threat

#195

Post by hotgoldminer » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:05 PM UTC

comrh wrote: post #146

scarmig wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither a gun nut or gun grabber, but do you have a cite for that?

You're going to be hard pressed to get a real citation for the safety thing. The issue is just so complex you can't have a 1 to 1 relationship between concealed carry and crime rates. Some states release CCP numbers though and they're plenty of people doing it.

Any documented instance of concealed carry preventing a crime? Strictly using my imagination, I see far more opportunity for escalation of and accidental violence than for prevention.

Re: Feminist video-games talk pulled after massacre threat

#196

Post by UnoriginalGuy » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:05 PM UTC

hga wrote: post #183

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer the model where nobody has guns, including the police. Maybe specialist armed units, but your average street cop shouldn't have a firearm: they aren't well trained enough. It is a proven model. It works. Plus even if you argue "people can just use knives instead," it still stops mass shootings.

Great. Then the relatively physically weak, the infirm, the elderly, the women , will be at the mercy of the strong. A short look at mass shootings in Western Europe in the lat few decades, which are both more numerous and more deadly, suggests that intermediate restrictions won't do any good at best. History prior to that tells what government can easily do to disarmed untermensch . I'll take an occasional mass shoo…

> Then the relatively physically weak, the infirm, the elderly, the women, will be at the mercy of the strong.

Fortunately guns aren't the only weapons. Guns are more contentious than most because it gives a single individual the power to kill many others.

> A short look at mass shootings in Western Europe, which are both more numerous and more deadly, suggests that intermediate restrictions at best won't do any good.

More numerous and more deadly than, what? The UK hasn't had a mass shooting in several years. It certainly wasn't more deadly than the handful the US has had between then and now.

> For that matter, echoing the others who have commented prior to my starting this comment, such an attempt would instantly spark a nasty civil war killing orders of magnitude more people.

This just further proves that the very people who have guns are dangerous individuals who cannot be trusted with guns.

Re: Feminist video-games talk pulled after massacre threat

#197

Post by byerley » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:05 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #92

byerley wrote: post #78

Boy am I gonna regret this, I know these are polarizing issues, but please take a moment to consider the credibility of the individuals involved and their respective economic incentives. I think that, given objective consideration of the facts, it's clear that Anita Sarkeesian is intentionally fueling controversy for financial gain. Her claims of life-threatening danger have been repeatedly refuted by law enforcement…

intentionally fueling controversy for financial gain There are people that do this - rightwing talk radio and the goldbugs are the usual examples - but whipping up a hate campaign against yourself ? That carries a risk of people believing it and murdering you? This is not a plausible thing. People can spend what they want on kickstarter. Star Citizen has raised $55m and so far not delivered anything.

Are you suggesting "rightwing talk radio and the goldbugs" don't get similar death threats? As far as I can tell they do.

Re: Feminist video-games talk pulled after massacre threat

#198

Post by bentcorner » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:05 PM UTC

hnha wrote: post #121

mturmon wrote: post #13

Her video series, which you can see on YouTube, is actually quite good and well-researched. You might disagree with her conclusions (I agree with them) but even if you disagree, you have to admit she's done a lot of legwork.

no, they are not. She is cherry picking examples, sometimes twisting the truth so it fits her agenda. See the Hitman example where she portrays violence against women as integral part of the game while you are in fact punished by the game for doing so. She also never properly cites research (please point me that is not true). If her videos were well researched and fair, maybe there would have never such a shitstorm.

You're not wrong - her message could be delivered with better impact if she omitted these examples (most of the "you get rewarded for killing women" examples are specific instances of "you get rewarded for killing npcs").

Still, she does have a point. Objectification of women in video games still runs rampant and does everyone a disservice. Just because there are some bad examples here doesn't invalidate the rest of her message.

Re: Feminist video-games talk pulled after massacre threat

#199

Post by ben0x539 » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:06 PM UTC

hnha wrote: post #131

cognivore wrote: post #95

"But on Tuesday, the director of the centre and others received an email threatening a "massacre style attack" if the talk proceeded." There is an inherit sexism even in the response to this. If this was an email threat targeting say, a kindergarden, or a presidential visit, there would be federal law inforcement coming down hard looking for the source of the email. The specter of "terrorism" would be most certainly…

Aren't most kindergarden workers female? Would there be no law enforcement if the president was female? I do not see any hint of the sexism you describe here.

Kindergardens tend to host male children and the children of male people. That there has so far not been a female president of the US also demonstrates the sexism you're denying.

Re: Feminist video-games talk pulled after massacre threat

#200

Post by jessaustin » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:06 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #135

hga wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what happens when you extinguish a region's gun culture, as NY/NYC has done starting in 1911. You have "leaders" who both hate and don't understand guns and their use, outfit their men with poor tools (the infamous New York Trigger), and and those men's only experience with guns is very very limited training. Turns out citizens legally carrying concealed have a much better record. Given how anti-gun the MSM i…

I'm sorry, but that's total nonsense. A much better record of what? Citizens legally carrying concealed weapons are rarely called upon to fire weapons in stressful situations with dozens of bystanders, so they only have a "better record" of doing so by virtue of having no record at all. "Gun culture" has absolutely nothing to do with trained police officers. New NYPD recruits go through 13 days of firearm training, a…

New NYPD recruits go through 13 days of firearm training...

Is that impressive? The cops in flyover country come to the job with quite a bit more experience than that. 10-15 years of hunting, target shooting, safety training in school at multiple grade levels, and the supervision of experienced adults probably doesn't completely transfer to open carry as a peace officer. However, this "13 days" figure will make me a little nervous the next time I'm around a young cop in NYC.