On the Culture War, Gaming, and that Minor GamerGate Thing.

On the Culture War, Gaming, and that Minor GamerGate Thing.

Waynedale Gamer

            I know what you are all thinking right at this moment.  I do, you are thinking “Holy shit, Waynedale Gamer speaks after a long silence, I must, at all cost, hear what this god amongst us lowly mortals is going to say.”  It is okay; you can think like that, I am comfortable with my mantle of divinity.

            Without getting into everything, and regardless if we wanted it to happen or not, the modern culture war has spread into the gaming world and it is not a good thing.  Well, let me tell you who to blame, and how to fix it.

            You see, unlike real life, there is actually a meaning to the existence of the gaming world, and that is to provide us all the entertainment we want and need so we can forget about our meaningless existences in the real world.  The gaming world is not the place for a culture war, the gaming world is a place to play games….albeit I guess someone could make a game about a culture war, but that would be different from fighting the actual culture war…I think.

        
    Now that I think about it, yeah, we do have to get into everything here.  Think back to the good old days of gaming, say, 6 months ago if you can remember that far back.  The gaming world was one giant apple pie.  Everyone got a slice regardless if you wanted to shoot moon wizards (Destiny), shoot space Nazis (Killzone), shoot zombies (Left 4 Dead) or shoot Nazi Zombies while on the moon as some sort of wizard (Call of Duty).  The point is, we all had our thing, and we all had fun in an apolitical world of digital goodness that allowed us to zone out the political narratives of the day and just play like the man-children we truly are.

            Today though, a giant clump of shit has been mixed into the apple pie, making it shit-apple pie, or would that be apple-shit pie?  No, shit-apple pie is right, apple-shit pie would indicate that pie was made from the shit of apples, and apples, last time I checked, did not shit.  Either way, we got an apple pie with a distinct taste of shit in it, not unlike a McDonalds apple pie.

            “But from whence cometh the fecal flavor, ohh mighty lord WayneDale Gamer?”  It comes from this little incident called GamerGate, which actually started with an earlier source, a YouTube channel called “Feminist Frequency.”  Yes dudes, the shit fell out of the butt of Anita Sarkeesian and landed smack dab in the middle of the pie.

            Now I am not writing this to tell you everything happened.  Look up Sarkeesian and the GamerGate and all that stuff and formulate your own opinions on the topic, but I will tell you one undeniable fact, we as a gaming community, never had to deal with these issues before she came along.  As I said, I am not here to condemn or condone her opinions; I am here to condone her for opening Pandora’s box (or pie in this case) and taking a dump in it, and tell you how to fix it.  The last one truly free place we could run around and rejoice and be left alone in (unless we were in PvP mode) has now been permanently corrupted.  All of that political commentary that you and I have to put up with in daily life is now front and center in both the gaming media, and the actual mainstream media.  So I guess in a way, we apple-pied in the shit that is the normal media…just imagine a clever cross contamination reference, okay, can you do that for me?  Thank you.

            Anyways, at this juncture I think it would be best to look up a few fairly neutral sources about the whole issue.  I recommend the following places for an objective look at it.  These two Know Your Meme pages: GamerGate and Quinnspiracy, as well as this article by Forbes.

            Alright I am going to give you all credit you certainly don’t deserve and assume you read and understood those articles like responsible adults.  Now you get it.  It is all done for, our pie has poop in it, and there is no getting it out.  The pure magic of having an entire industry producing thousands of different entertainment products for people to play without any damn responsibility is gone, and the gate keepers of said industry, the gaming media, stabbed us in the back to boot (once again, read the damn links).

            “But wait, you promised you would tell us how to fix it!  Have you lied to us like both the gaming media and the mainstream media?  Are you one of those Social Justice Warriors, or a GamerGate Truther?”  Just hold on, I am the Waynedale Gamer, I keep my word, just keep calm and keep reading.  The answer to our dilemma is simple; we just toss the old pie out, and bake a new one.  Hell, let me share my recipe for a better apple pie.

            Step 1:  Scrubbing the dish.   Regardless of your thoughts on the whole feminist thing (as I said, I assume you read those articles), honest, non-harassing criticism was censored.  Fight any and all forms of censorship via any possible means you have.  That’s also handy advice for life outside of your gaming existence as well.

            Step 2:  Kneading the dough.  Vote with your money (and take in mind, internet traffic = money).  Don’t visit, read, like, follow, tweet, snap, pin, or whatever you kids call it these days, the mainstream media and gaming media outlets that are giving you political commentary.  Stick with strictly unbiased sources of information that talk about games and gaming in a fair manner.  Find web spots and people who do their best to review the game and the industry without turning their content into an episode of CNN’s Crossfire.

            Step 3:  Mixing the filling.  If you are not able to find a source of gaming media you like and trust, start your own gaming media outlet.  Write your own opinions and make your own blogs.  There is plenty of room on the internet for everyone, and frankly, if you ask me, it would be nice to see some very small time common gamers rise to the top of the gaming journalism industry and take it back to a honest format.

            Step 4:  Bake the pie.  Buy and play the games you like, regardless of what people tell you.  If you think GTA treats women like shit, don’t buy it.  There are literally millions of gaming worlds out there for you, stick to your slice of the pie, and you will have no reason to be offended.  Counter wise, don’t let people shame you for liking what you like.  If you like beating up hookers in GTA, then beat up hookers in GTA.  Just remember that gaming is about fun and entertainment, and both of those concepts are subjective to personal opinion, and not everyone will have the same one as you, but it does not matter so long you are having fun with your slice.

            I can almost smell that fresh new apple pie, but it is up to each and every person who considers himself or herself a gamer to follow my 4 step recipe.  Time to preheat the oven people.

Currently Playing: Destiny, Diablo 3

Currently Listening to: My fucking hillbilly neighbors attempting to install a metal roof on their garage and failing at it.

Currently Reading:  Letters to Penthouse Volume XXXXIX: Sinful Sexxxploits