The Internet is not generally a nice place; while it’s the communication method that managed to kick-start the Egyptian Revolution, plan the Occupy movement, and wildly improve the accessibility of porn, it’s not without its issues. The primary issue, of course, is the audacity and self-confidence which perceived anonymity provides; the Michael Tresca thesis “The Impact of Anonymity on Disinhibitive Behavior Through Computer-Mediated Communication” gives good reasoning as to why, while the more eloquent “Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory (GIFT)” from Penny Arcade artist Mike Krahulik says much the same thing in a simpler format.
That is, give a person anonymity and an audience, and he will turn into a “total fuckwad”. It’s to this concept that many are attributing the verbal assault that besieged BioWare writer Jennifer Hepler’s Twitter account not long after she had opened it. The accusations ranged from the the ridiculous (“you are the cancer that is killing BioWare”) to the homophobic (“stop trying to force your homolust fantasies into every game you touch”), but in general the tone was simply that Hepler needed to get “her vagina” out of the industry.
BioWare GM Aaryn Flynn’s intervention, in which he tweeted “Whatever, fucking moron” towards one particular complainant drew further criticism – with recipient Nate Kaschak sarcastically praising his “top notch PR” before making a one-tweet apology to Hepler, followed by a further two tweets of criticism. Flynn tweeted in defence of Hepler a couple more times before Hepler left Twitter altogether.
It’s one of the saddest things to have happened in the gaming community of late; driving a writer off Twitter because you’re not a fan of her work is not okay. It’s another example of the baseless self-entitlement in which many gamers like to indulge, a slightly more extreme manifestation of the weight-based assaults which Valve’s Gabe Newell inevitably receives whenever Half-Life 2: Episode Three comes up.
BioWare make the games they want to, and gamers can then choose either to buy it or not; if they find that they’re not happy with the quality of the title, the appropriate reaction is to leave the game alone, not personally attack one member of the responsible writing team. This should really be common sense, not special instructions, but as Krahulik has pointed out, social etiquette does not extend to the darkest parts of the ‘net.
hahahaha what a moron, look Hamburger helper i a bad writer and if she cant deal with some criticism she should resign.
and the so called assaults on Gaben are false, everyone joke about gaben’s weight but nobody hates him, he’s one of the most beloved guy in the industry
22nd February 2012, 4:39 PM - reply - report
If my local pizza place receives a hundred calls each day telling the pizza chef that they’re a horrible person and should quit their job because theyre terrible at it…
Its probably not because the chef has a vagina.
Congratulations, you couldnt have missed the point more if it was in another country and you were aiming the wrong way.
22nd February 2012, 4:55 PM - reply - report
Both of the above comments are clearly missing the majority of the message. The kinds of things people were saying to Hepler were *specifically* reducing her to nothing more than her genitalia and some outright calling for her to kill herself. THAT is the sort of self-entitled nonsense that is stagnating the video game industry with thousands of tactical war sims (Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, etc.) that bring nothing new to the games beyond improved graphics and more weapons and vehicles. These people were not attacking her writing or her work, they were making personal, vitriolic, hate-filled statements that were dehumanizing to someone who is simply doing her job to the best of her ability. A job which she is doing rather well, given the sales of the games on which she has worked.
22nd February 2012, 7:36 PM - reply - report
“The kinds of things people were saying to Hepler were *specifically* reducing her to nothing more than her genitalia”
She reduced herself to her genitalia. She decided to respond to accusations of a lack of talent with “I have a vagina”. Are you kidding me with this shit?
23rd February 2012, 1:03 AM - reply - report
Wait, wait.
Why the fuck are these monolithic shit-garglers trying to excuse harrassing a person. Please I need to know. How the fuck is this juvenile fuckwittery defendable?
I get if you don’t like the person, but the moment you fuckers try and defend people telling her to go kill herself you can all eat a giant bowl of dicks. A giant fucking bowl of fucking dicks, you assfaces.
Also, robotnuts, capitalization on the internet you useless fucking self depreciating dimwit. Hahah, oh you love hearing people disparage your intelligence, hahah, so funny. Oh, I’m sorry, what was that about ‘criticism’?
23rd February 2012, 1:32 AM - reply - report