What's the deal with GamerGate?

[Kaii]

[Disclaimer: I've been following (and trying to wrap my head around) Gamergate for a couple of months now. I'm neither pro-GG or anti-GG. I'm deeply committed to games journalism and I'm also a feminist, so I'm torn. I'm going to try to keep my biases to a minimum, at least in my initial presentation of the topic.]

What I understand about Gamergate:

According to their Reddit, Gamergate is "a consumer revolt triggered by overt politicization, ethical misconduct, and unprecedented amounts of censorship targeted at gamers." They specifically claim to target the censorship of fan opinion, collusion between games journalists and the companies they cover, and general corruption in video games journalism. They primarily use Reddit to coordinate email campaigns to pull advertising from publications they deem corrupt and to boycott certain companies and websites.

What I don't understand about Gamergate:

• Why people are being doxxed and otherwise harassed: A lot of people who speak out against Gamergate have had their personal information published online, even though many members of Gamergate have stated that they are against doxxing. Additionally, there have been claims of severe harassment (including doxxing) on both sides, though some of these claims are unsubstantiated.
• Why there is a strong opposition to what they call "Social Justice Warriors": So far, the GG argument I've outlined is specifically against corruption in games journalism that is a result of collusion between the media and video game companies. However, there seems to be a second argument targeted against SJWs: there is corruption in games journalism because certain games journalists are skewed by severe biases such that they support or condemn certain games because of political, racial, or gendered concerns. I don't see how this second argument arises from the initial tenets of Gamergate.
• What relation Gamergate has to "Culture Wars" in general: A lot of non-video game websites have made a big deal about Gamergate (probably due to the involvement of various celebrities, such as Adam Baldwin, Felicia Day, and Chris Kluwe). Most of these news outlets portray Gamergate as symptomatic of larger cultural problems. Some articles claim that the movement is primarily a single demographic warring against video game companies attempting to appeal to any other demographics. Some suggest that it is a war between two extremes of the political spectrum. Others argue that some of the problems attributed to Gamergate are simply endemic of larger cultural problems.

What I'd really love to hear people's opinions on:

• Are there fundamental problems with games journalism? Are they the problems outlined by the 3 C's of Gamergate, problems caused by SJWs, or completely different issues?
• What can we do to address these problems? Are the actions of Gamergate, such as boycotting or emailing advertisers, effective?
• Do these issues simply amount to tensions between political parties, races, or the sexes? Or are there specific issues related to gamer identity?

Thanks in advance to those who sat through this long post . I'm really, deeply interested in what people think!

 

[Chaos]

This is a pretty long read, but it will have a lot of the info you're looking for.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/gamergate

 

[Phoenix]

I haven't really followed much of the GG issue, and while I feel that it's fine to question the independence of the gaming journalist community, it's quite another thing to doxx and harass (mostly women) when they voice opinions contrary to the stated goals of the GamerGate "community". Sure, you could chalk that up to a few bad apples, but in doing so don't you invoke the "No true Scotsman" fallacy? While it's fine to promote independent gaming journalism, I feel that to ignore, and in some cases outright deny, the extant sexism in the community is an attempt to say "well, I don't agree with them but...."

Regarding your questions:

• Are there fundamental problems with games journalism? Are they the problems outlined by the 3 C's of Gamergate, problems caused by SJWs, or completely different issues? : As I said, I haven't followed gaming journalism much so I don't feel qualified to comment.
• What can we do to address these problems? Are the actions of Gamergate, such as boycotting or emailing advertisers, effective? : There is no doubt that they are effective in that the loss of advertising dollars can impact the direction a for-profit entity may take (especially if it is controlled by a larger, publicly-traded company). The question, in my mind, boils down to: Are these appropriate and effective measures to reduce the amount of sexism in the gaming community, while retaining the emphasis on an independent press core? This is a more difficult question to answer, and speaks to the model of revenue generation many (formerly print) outlets subscribe to.
• Do these issues simply amount to tensions between political parties, races, or the sexes? Or are there specific issues related to gamer identity?: I think, for the time being, you can say that the gamer community is less progressive than the culture at large. I find that communities which are typically male-oriented (including my career, engineering, specifically defense-oriented aerospace engineering the US which tends to be nearly exclusively white, male, and from middle to upper class socioeconomic backgrounds) are far more hostile to women joining the "in" group. It's sad, really, as I think gaming (and my career) would be enriched as a whole by the inclusion of more feminist-positive content; I often find that I don't enjoy games that aren't at least superficially inclusive, if not overtly so. And this only addresses the issue of sexism in gaming, and doesn't address LGTBQ issues which are no less prevalent. Obviously this isn't an issue which is exclusive to gaming (see my reference to my job), however it is one that appears to be endemic to gaming.

Ultimately, I find myself disappointed with the gaming community. I've mostly avoided online gaming in the last decade due to rampant discrimination against sex/sexual orientation/race when people are given a free, anonymous handle to speak through. If anything though, I see the GG and related issues (see the sexism controversies in the atheist community over the last few years, for example) as bringing awareness to the issue, which can only be a positive thing.

 

[Kaii]

Thank you, Phoenix, for your thoughtful response. I'll start from the end and sort of work my way up...

If anything though, I see the GG and related issues (see the sexism controversies in the atheist community over the last few years, for example) as bringing awareness to the issue, which can only be a positive thing.

Gamergate reads to me as being very similar to the issues in the atheist community, down to the sex scandals. I think you've been reading the same blogs I've been .. namely, this article, which lists gamers among skeptics, atheists, magicians, etc. as being especially homogenous. More interestingly, the article picks out a large number of "nerd" groups -- science clubs, D&D, chess players, coders, etc. that all have the same problems. I'm starting to think that this is something that's affecting nerd culture in general.

I find that communities which are typically male-oriented (including my career, engineering, specifically defense-oriented aerospace engineering the US which tends to be nearly exclusively white, male, and from middle to upper class socioeconomic backgrounds) are far more hostile to women joining the "in" group.

That's really interesting. It amazes me how many jobs, including yours and until recently, mine, are dominated by white, middle-to-upper class males. Academic philosophy (which is what I was doing) is the exact same way, actually worse than STEM fields. It amazes me that even in cases when these groups of people aren't even necessarily the majority, they still manage to dominate the culture of a particular group.

It's sad, really, as I think gaming (and my career) would be enriched as a whole by the inclusion of more feminist-positive content; I often find that I don't enjoy games that aren't at least superficially inclusive, if not overtly so. And this only addresses the issue of sexism in gaming, and doesn't address LGTBQ issues which are no less prevalent. Obviously this isn't an issue which is exclusive to gaming (see my reference to my job), however it is one that appears to be endemic to gaming.

I also find it really interesting that none of those issues have been addressed either. I guess what really puzzles me is the #NotYourShield movement. It's like, very clear that certain groups aren't being well represented by game devs, but I don't see why the GG side would be more supportive than the anti-GG side. The way pro-GG women are condemning Zoe Quinn sounds almost identical to the Skepchick backlash in the atheist movement. It's often women fighting other women and I'm not clear why.

I think, for the time being, you can say that the gamer community is less progressive than the culture at large.

Because this issue seems prevalent in similar communities, I wonder if maybe our culture is less progressive than we think it is. Isn't it troubling that the places we expect to be the most progressive -- academia, intellectual movements and nerd culture -- turning out to be as problematic as everywhere else?