Okay, I won't lie, I got really annoyed and upset over this whole ordeal. I didn't even know about it at the time that it was occurring, so I'm a little late to the party, but still.
I do think this is a problem with the gaming community, and I only say that because I exist in both world. I'm a gamer, but I'm a casual enough gamer so that I stand on the outside a lot of the time, especially during class. Look, I understand, people didn't like her comments, but that's no reason for personal insults. Hell, criticize her writing for the game, or go after the company as a whole, but make the comments weighty, make them count. Calling someone any number of names is cruel. There's nothing mature about it, there's nothing intelligent to be taken away from it, and you're doing a disservice to yourself and the community that you're representing.
I wasn't a fan of the side by side comparisons of the Jennifer and Ree. It was biased and it's not even a relevant analysis. They're both writers for Bioware. That's where the bus stops. Whether you like one's writing over the other is important, but it's not pertinent to the personal attacks made.
Jennifer was a writer for Bioware games. Let that sink in, mainly her profession. Got it? Okay, now let's look at her comments, about how she doesn't play games and how she wishes games had fast forward options. Those are her opinions. She's allowed to do whatever she wants in her spare time. If you work as a pest control employee all day, does that mean you have to go home and want to kill every bug there too? And so what if she wishes games had a fast forward option. She's not a CEO or creative director, so really, she's just throwing out a desire there. That does not mean it's going to happen.
I understand. Maybe some people didn't like her opinions, that's fair. This is America Goddamn it, have an opinion on whatever you want. But if your opinion is in direct odds with someone else, have an intelligent dialogue about it, rather than seeing how many curse words can be strung together. I wasn't a fan of the Youtube video either. I felt like I would enjoy it at first, just because it seemed like it was going to take a level headed approach from the side opposing Helper. I was wrong. It was still an attack, just more eloquent. The speaker tried to justify the whole situation by saying that players were mad at the game flaws and lackluster writing. Well, that's bullshit. Helper's an "obese cunt" because Mass Effect 3's ending was a letdown? Yes, very logical. To say that the way Bioware employees countered was immature is fair. They shouldn't have stooped down, especially with the high road just a few feet over. But to say they took down her Twitter to censor criticisms of Bioware games is ridiculous. They were attacks on Helper as a person. She is not a faceless company, and she is not an object. She is a person. I feel like that's what gets lost in these types of discussions. Just as in class. Yes, that Wall Street Journal reviewer had no idea what he was talking about. That's fair. But to call him an idiot, stupid, or any other insult is childish and really doesn't get anything done.
Focus on the games, not the people. If gamers have a problem with dialogue or character development, point criticisms at the company and the writing department. Do it intelligently, with research, specific examples, and other scholarly tactics. Don't name call. Don't insult. Don't degrade yourself. Then the gaming community becomes the same type of beast as the politicians and activist groups that attacks games and gamers. They call us names, but let's be the bigger people. That's all I'm asking. The gaming community, and games as a medium, will receive much more credibility and respect if we open dialogues with each other and developers, hell, even politicians. Words are powerful, so use them tastefully and carefully.
And also, on a side note, I'm not a fan of Tolkein's writing either. He's too descriptive and verbose when it comes to environment and backdrop for me, which left me feeling that the characters were somewhat flat. That's an opinion. Not something that you should encourage other "nerds" to jump upon for a point of critique. I respect that you think it's ridiculous, and I respect what Tolkein did for fantasy as a whole. Just not a fan. That's all.
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