Friday 3 April 2015

Brianna Wu continues to tilt at Windmills

You can be sure this panel is going to be riveting.

From this:
Brianna Wu continues to stand up to Gamergate
http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/article_1461ae21-ab26-59e4-8807-d6e5f481d2a1.html

>Wu, the head of development at Boston-based video game studio Giant Spacekat, has become one of the primary targets of a misogynistic movement known in social and popular media as Gamergate.

I'm still waiting to see some misogyny in #gamergate. I'm sure there's some negative people in any group; I just haven't seen it myself. And hey, sure, call out those individuals who do it, that's great. But don't go painting everyone with a broad brush.

>Because she stood up to that movement, Wu has received dozens of sexually explicit death threats over the last several months.

I'm now curious what a "sexually explicit death threat" is. (I keep thinking AIDS.)

>“I’m telling you guys,” a visibly drained Wu said, “I am damaged from this experience. I am barely holding on. This has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”


Wu's damaged by emails and tweets? What would this woman do up against a brisk wind?

>Wu was the keynote speaker on a Women’s History Month panel. She was joined by panelists Samantha Kalman, the designer of video games like "Sentris"; Patrick Klepek, a writer for popular video game blog Kotaku; and Maddy Myers, video game writer and assistant editor of Paste Magazine.

What in blue-blazes does Wu have to say about anything, enough to be a key speaker? (And who the heck would be those other speakers?) That she gets the most poo-poo emails? That she harasses herself with her own sock puppet account?
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/911071-gamergate

>“We’re going to talk about Gamergate,” Wu said, “in case some of you are lucky enough to not know this sad, tragic story.”

The history of #gamergate seems to be filled with victories in gaming journalism, giving to charities, and generally a good feel jovial vibe. I'm not seeing a tragic story anywhere.
http://wiki.gamergate.me/index.php?title=Timeline/Full

>Women like Wu see it as misogyny in certain quarters of video game culture.

And did the author of this article bother to confirm any of this?

>Gamergate, in Wu’s words, is “a force of hate” that began to whirl around women who challenged the male-dominated video game industry in the summer of 2014.

Again: how do you know this, Mike Anderson?

>“There were professionals in our field who made games where you could get Anita Sarkeesian’s face and beat her up,” Wu said. “It would get bloodier and bloodier.”

Really? You mean Ben Spurr, aka, Bendilin? A single, silly flash game that was posted for free on Newgrounds, then removed?

Who were these other professionals? How many games were made? If by game, you mean clicking a screen for a total of 10 seconds?

>Last fall, Sarkeesian was forced to cancel a speaking event at Utah State University because of an anonymous death threat at the school if she spoke.


And still made money from it. Even though the police at Utah State University determined there was no threat.
"Utah State University police is coordinating the threat information with other local, state and federal agencies, including the Utah Statewide Information and Analysis Center, the FBI Cyber Terrorism Task Force, and the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit. After a careful assessment of the threat it has been determined it is similar to other threats that Sarkeesian has received in the past, and all university business will be conducted as scheduled tomorrow."
http://www.usu.edu/ust/index.cfm?article=54178

>Within the last year or so, women like Wu and many others have become targets of similar death and rape threats over email and social media sites.

Which all have been innocuous.

>“This industry is so sexist,” Wu said, “and these men are so dreamily oblivious of what’s going on.”

How is the industry so sexist?

Which men?

>The experiences of Wu, Sarkeesian and Quinn were the subject of a recent "Law & Order: SVU" television show episode. The threats to them and their families have prompted them to retain security guards and, in Wu’s case, hire someone to monitor her Twitter feeds for Gamergate harassers.


Isn't it nice having money? Just gotta keep that patreon open. Oh, and being a privileged rich kid.

>Harassers “gave my address out,” Wu recalled. “They said my ‘dead mutilated corpse was going to be on the front page of Jezebel tomorrow.’ They said if I had children they were going to murder them too. ... That is one. One of the 50 death threats I’ve had in the last seven months.”

You'd think after the 2nd or 3rd she'd ever received, she'd have figured this out: They're not real.

>Wu and her fellow panelists agree women have been harassed in the video game world far longer than the term Gamergate has existed. Wu has decided not to let the harassment silence her.
>“I’m not going to let the worst gamers on earth bully me out of the industry I love and have worked so hard to succeed in,” she said.


How're those sales figures, +your kickstarter, +your $200k+ (who knows how much more) other money from your mom and dad been? Oh, and your game's a piece of crap. Love how those tall, alien like, hourglass figures on your "tough girl" characters are really blazing a trail for non-misogyny or female-friendly-games or some nonsense.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/ios/revolution-60/user-reviews?dist=negative
http://www.reddit.com/r/truegaming/comments/2busns/revolution_60_giant_spacekat_cant_be_serious/
http://armedgamer.com/2015/02/revolution-60-is-offensive/
http://powergamer.co/mobile/revolution-60/

>For Wu, things continue to improve for women in video games as Gamergate gains more and more attention.

...so...if things are getting better, what's the problem? Is it emails? I think it's the emails.

>“We are ushering in the industry they are scared to death of,” Wu said. “They’ve actually made it so we can’t ignore this anymore.”

Who's scared to death of...the gaming industry? What?

Who's doing what that you can't ignore? And why can't you ignore emails and tweets? Oh right, you wouldn't be able to get on nonsense panels like this, and whine about being harassed to pad your wallet with patreon bucks.

>Wu and the other panelists urged people to continue to speak up against misogyny in the video gaming industry.

I'd like to actually see some, please. I can talk about invented problems, too.

>“We really need you,” said Myers of Paste Magazine. “We need you desperately. I personally would love for you to try.”

To try and donate to her patreon?