Poll: Come on in and vote. Show how you really feel about the THQ-Nordic AMA@8chan fiasco

[TyrantGuardian]

You can't google, either?
https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcampaigns/boycotts/history-successful-boycotts

Click to shrink...

History is hard + boring. I'd much random make up some random words that sound good and allow me to clutch my video game pearls for a bit longer. Remember, kids - never do anything that involves morality, effort, a sense of community or, well, anything really!

Sarcasm aside, if you were ever wondering "what's the downside to this huge push toward unrestricted individualism in society?", you're seeing it right here. Everyone is so convinced that it's every person for themselves that we're not even holding companies accountable any more. We hand-wave it as "oh that's just one individual" when said individual(s) is literally the highest ranked manager of the company. That, of course, has always been the entire point of capitalistic individualism. Convince people of this and suddenly deregulating everything and never holding exploiters accountable makes perfect sense.

You can't google, either?
https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcampaigns/boycotts/history-successful-boycotts
Also not sure how the "progressive" label applies. Denouncing pedophilia is "progressive" now?

Click to shrink...

I guess lots of conservatives (around the globe, not just the US) are knowingly rallying behind a likely sex abuser in 45 so perhaps that's the world we live in at this moment?

Well from my point of view you are expending effort on pointless boycotts that only serve to help the system which creates the evil you claim to be opposed to.

Click to shrink...

So what do you propose we do instead?

 

[Weltall Zero]

Threadmarks in the original thread should tell you all you need to know. Go read them if you haven't. If that along with specifically buying out Warhorse in order to support a pro-Gamergate dev studio doesn't convince you, I don't know what exactly you are looking for?

Click to shrink...

In case it's not obvious by now, he's looking for these:

The fact he's expecting for you to provide the information rather than bothering to look it up himself should have been a pretty big alarm light!

 

[RPGamer]

Yeah, they do have a pretty large library, it's just that, from what I've seen, they're not often mentioned in the same breath as like... the big three, EA, Ubi, SE, Activision, Capcom, etc. I can't speak for parts of Europe, but before all this, people generally seemed to have stronger opinions about those publishers (whether good or bad).

Click to shrink...

I knew Koch and Deep Silver but i tend to forget they are now part of THQ nordic that grows at an enormous rate. Koch alone had around 45 releases since december in europe, including:

Kingdom Hearts 3, Final Fantasy 14 Double Pack, the Persona 3 and 5 Dancing Games, Dead or Alive 6, Nier Automata Yorha Edition, Dirt Ralley 2, Metro, Steins Gate Elite, Just Cause 4, Etrian Odyssey, Sunset Overdrive (PC) ...

 

[How About No]

8 pages in and people are still talking about "punishing devs".

Click to shrink...

Yeah that is so bullshit lol

There's thousands of games you've never bought. Did you punish their devs by not buying them??

 

[P A Z]

"think of the developers"

1. The developers have already been paid for their work.

2. Even if the developers game sold well and helped THQ achieve record profits, THQ may still lay them all off because that's how fucked up this industry is these days.

3. If the developers are actually half decent people, which i assume the majority are, they'll respond to boycotts with something along the likes of "I get it, I'd probably do the same" because your average half decent person isn't ok with child porn, white supremacy or people that are ok with that.

There you go....now you can stop hiding behind "think of the developers".

 

[Thorn]

You can't google, either?
https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcampaigns/boycotts/history-successful-boycotts
Also not sure how the "progressive" label applies. Denouncing pedophilia is "progressive" now?

Click to shrink...

I didn't know of this list, thanks.

And considering the Alt Right is defending 8chan here, I guess so.

 

[rtv190]

Meh, fuck what Angry Youtuber Jackass says, he doesn't control where my cash goes.
PR fuckups happen all the time, (any internet oldtimer will tell you this.) as long as games aren't getting canned over stuff like this, then we should just be laughing at it instead of of getting outraged like a bunch of charlatans.

 

[fixurheartordie]

Please tell me about all these other possible reactions besides "I will buy one or more games from them" and "I will buy zero games from them". Mathematically it seems to cover the entire spectrum of possibilities?

Click to shrink...

The PR team could be fired or upper management could change, for example. Additionally since they're a publisher they could have an existing deal with a developer or developers someone is a fan of, perhaps this requires more personal evaluation than before but maybe someone lands on buying a game regardless.

I feel like I land in that last category personally. This whole thing is a gigantic weight on my negative side of the scale for me but they're a huge company that employs a lot of people, many of which I'm sure don't support what all this chan garbage states or emplies. I'm not going to draw a line in the sand and say I'll never in my life purchase or play anything from the company here, but until some changes are made they're starting at a deficit.

 

[RoninStrife]

Was looking foward to Elex 2, but then I realized..
I dont want to give money to a shady scummy company like them. Perfectly fine boycotting them.

 

[Rodney McKay]

I'm still waiting to see what the fallout is from this. It's only been a week, but hopefully the mainstream media coverage will force them to take more serious action than a clearly halfhearted "whoops".

None of the THQ Nordic stuff has been on my radar other than Darksiders, but even before this mess I didn't care enough about them to buy them at full price.

Honestly, even before this I'm not really seeing what THQ Nordic's long term prospects were as a company. They just buy up a ton of franchises that were OK, but never seemed to sell enough to keep their former companies afloat. And with stuff like Darksiders 3 being so-so and that Agents of Mayhem being mediocre I don't know how many more duds they can put out before they collapse themselves.

 

[Verelios]

I don't play their games regardless, but this just steers me away from being interested in even picking them up on sales in the first place.

 

[MrNelson]

Yes. I believe what came from the game was worth my purchase and was able to distinguish the idealogies of the studio lead to the whole of the developer team. I also weighed in on those discussions prior and believe his Gamergate beliefs are wrong and not right. I also believe the game itself was perfectly fine in its setting and historical choice as shown by large volumes of historical information. Both sides had great discussion points and I look forward to Warhorse working on further creating some great realistic historic pieces.

Click to shrink...

So you're ok with giving his toxic viewpoints a larger platform because his game is good?

Also, would you care to explain what you mean by this?

Both sides had great discussion points

Click to shrink...

 

[TyrantGuardian]

Meh, fuck what Angry Youtuber Jackass says, he doesn't control where my cash goes.
PR fuckups happen all the time, (any internet oldtimer will tell you this.) as long as games aren't getting canned over stuff like this, then we should just be laughing at it instead of of getting outraged like a bunch of charlatans.

Click to shrink...

Yes, as long as games aren't being canned we should all be laughing about child porn. What the..?

 

[Fruit]

I can't place blame on Devs of games I'm potentially interested in because of some upper management fuck up. What THQ Nordic did is a disgrace, and whilst I am now reluctant to purchase their titles going forward it seems unfair to punish hardworking teams of people for that mistake.

Click to shrink...

Then I hope they are able to put enough pressure on THQ-Nordic to do something to make things right. Don't want to give money to the publisher, no matter how good the developers are; the money is going to upper management and the publisher first, not the developers, the developers already got paid.

 

[rpm]

Meh, fuck what Angry Youtuber Jackass says, he doesn't control where my cash goes.
PR fuckups happen all the time, (any internet oldtimer will tell you this.) as long as games aren't getting canned over stuff like this, then we should just be laughing at it instead of of getting outraged like a bunch of charlatans.

Click to shrink...

Child porn is super funny, you're right, how did I not realize that before /s

 

[Nerokis]

Please tell me about all these other possible reactions besides "I will buy one or more games from them" and "I will buy zero games from them". Mathematically it seems to cover the entire spectrum of possibilities?

Click to shrink...

Yes, and you can't see how having two options that "mathematically seem to cover the entire spectrum of possibilities" might miss some potential nuances...?

For example, even assuming nothing changes (no one is fired, a better statement isn't put out, etc., etc.) from now until whenever, I can't be certain I won't ever again purchase a THQ game. I'm undoubtedly less likely to purchase a THQ game; for me to purchase one, things now have to especially align in terms of how invested I am in the franchise, how fond I am of the developers, how good the word of mouth surrounding the game is, what interesting or meaningful things the game seems to be doing, etc., etc.

The association with that particular publisher is now a massive negative, but not one that will necessarily outweigh other factors every single time.

The same was true with, say, a game like Red Dead Redemption 2. I wanted to engage with what it was doing, with the labor all these people did, with the doubtless passion of all these creators. Knowing about the poor work environment at Rockstar made that a conflicted decision, a conflicted experience, and necessitated that I never situated the game (in terms of how I interpreted its grandeur, in terms of how I discussed it, etc.) in a conflict-free place. But I made the call to check it out.

That's going to be the kind of process I go through when something like Shenmue 3 comes out. Just as was the case with Red Dead Redemption 2, I'm not even looking forward to Shenmue 3 as some active part of the fandom or whatever. But the game's arc isn't entirely defined by THQ's horrible (on multiple levels) recent decision-making.

So will I ever pick up a THQ game again? I don't know. Is there a chance I will? Yes. Will the 8chan thing be impactful to future purchasing decisions and to my relationship with THQ-associated games generally? Yes.

 

[Kilic95]

Meh, fuck what Angry Youtuber Jackass says, he doesn't control where my cash goes.
PR fuckups happen all the time, (any internet oldtimer will tell you this.) as long as games aren't getting canned over stuff like this, then we should just be laughing at it instead of of getting outraged like a bunch of charlatans.

Click to shrink...

Haha, they were being buddy-buddy with a site filled with doxxers, white supremacists and pedophiles.

What a fucking knee slapper.

 

[L Thammy]

I wonder how many people look at this poll and feel that they're the real victims in this situation because this question has been posed to them.

 

[rtv190]

Child porn is super funny, you're right, how did I not realize that before /s

Click to shrink...

Yes, as long as games aren't being canned we should all be laughing about child porn. What the..?

Click to shrink...

I like how you guys immediately jumped to the moral panic argument instead of finding something else to criticize me for. Because yes, We should totally harping on it as if we don't already know about it! I feel like people like you two don't even bother reading people's posts lmao, you just ctrl+f for everybody that disagrees with you, then type quarter assed remarks about how they're a nazi, or a pedo.

 

[Weltall Zero]

I didn't know of this list, thanks.

Click to shrink...

Neither did I until five minutes ago when I googled it. The point is why would you make a categorical statement that takes five seconds of googling to disprove.

And considering the Alt Right is defending 8chan here, I guess so.

Click to shrink...

In what universe is it a good idea to let the alt right decide what's political and what's not?!

The PR team could be fired or upper management could change, for example.

Click to shrink...

Yet again, why would the poll include options for things that aren't in the polled person's hands? Unless you work in THQ there's zero reason to poll you about what THQ might or might not do.

Additionally since they're a publisher they could have an existing deal with a developer or developers someone is a fan of, perhaps this requires more personal evaluation than before but maybe someone lands on buying a game regardless.
I feel like I land in that last category personally. This whole thing is a gigantic weight on my negative side of the scale for me but they're a huge company that employs a lot of people, many of which I'm sure don't support what all this chan garbage states or emplies. I'm not going to draw a line in the sand and say I'll never in my life purchase or play anything from the company here, but until some changes are made they're starting at a deficit.

Click to shrink...

Sure thing, vote for option 2 then. See? That wasn't so hard.

(I'm getting the growing suspicion you people complaining about the poll just want a "I do what I want with my money" option that doesn't also look like the "I'm somewhat selfish" option).

 

[ZeroDotFlow]

Does 'not buying any THQ-Nordic games' include subsidiaries and games published by said subsidiaries?

Because those subsidiaries do publish indie games by smaller teams. By not buying those games you are essentially burying an indie studio because their publisher decided to fuck everything up. This isn't to say that we shouldn't hold THQ's feet to the fire for creating the most incredibly shitty PR blunder in the past decade but rather that I'm curious how many degrees of separation does a game have to be in order for people to find it acceptable again.

 

[rpm]

I like how you guys immediately jumped to the moral panic argument instead of finding something else to criticize me for. Because yes, We should totally harping on it as if we don't already know about it! I feel like people like you two don't even bother reading people's posts lmao, you just ctrl+f for everybody that disagrees with you, then type quarter assed remarks about how they're a nazi, or a pedo.

Click to shrink...

What else do you want me talk about from your post? It says "anyone getting mad over this is an idiot, let me sweep this under the rug by calling it a mistake, I don't care about anything other than my precious video games getting released".

 

[cyrribrae]

Wow, this thread blew up. Here's why the poll is silly. A suburban man who is a police captain and a leader at a local religious institution is caught for murdering multiple people in their neighborhood. Should I never live in this neighborhood again? City? State? Country? Will I never attend that religious institution? that denomination? that entire religion? any religion? Mathematically, each of these questions covers the bases (what a strange argument) - simple yes or no. Oh wait, but there are a myriad of other questions that aren't answered?! Weird! It's almost like the options don't adequately represent the range of feelings on this matter!

Also, does it suck for devs? Sure. (I mean, they're already paid for their work whether you buy or not, of course.) Should that be an actual barrier to responding to the company? Sure. But not if any of you have ever criticized and refused to buy any product in your lives. You hurt the poor engineers who designed it! And the poor marketers who promoted it! And the poor transportation drivers who delivered it! HOW COULD YOU BE SO CRUEL!!!!

How do sanctions work? Do you think the elite actually personally care that you restricted the flow of goods? No, they're forced to act because it starts affecting the rich people's industry and everyone else's basic livelihoods. Support the devs, sure. But the *company* hasn't even apologized for the incident. Just pushed the blame and looked away. So, understand that you're rewarding a company that hasn't had the balls to stand up and take a basic decent stand. I don't even care about the AMA nearly as much as I think they really screwed up the aftermath.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Does 'not buying any THQ-Nordic games' include subsidiaries and games published by said subsidiaries?

Because those subsidiaries do publish indie games by smaller teams. By not buying those games you are essentially burying an indie studio because their publisher decided to fuck everything up. This isn't to say that we shouldn't hold THQ's feet to the fire for creating the most incredibly shitty PR blunder in the past decade but rather that I'm curious how many degrees of separation does a game have to be in order for people to find it acceptable again.

Click to shrink...

Is that THQ Nordic AB or THQ Nordic Gmbh? Gmbh is the one who did the AMA, AB is the parent company.

 

[guybrushfreeman]

Ridiculous thread. I see where knee deep in the 'stop talking it about it' 'you're the real villians for continuing to bring it up' part.

No consequences for anything in this industry unless you're a woman. Business as usual

 

[KillLaCam]

If they make a game im interested in I'll buy it. But I doubt that'll happen anyway.

I already assume that the game industry is full of people who dwell in websites like that so that changes nothing for me

 

[ckareset]

I dont personally think it's enough to boycott over. That said, I wast buying their games anyways

 

[Siresly]

Dirt Rally 2.0 is always online. Will you not buy it now? Stop punishing the hardworking devs for the fault of some person in management.
Metro Exodus is exclusively available in one store. Will you not buy it now? Stop punishing the devs.
The game opens a portal to hell. Stop punishing the devs.
This stupid argument could be used to excuse any wrongdoing. You're not allowed to boycott anything ever, I guess.

"think of the developers"

1. The developers have already been paid for their work.

2. Even if the developers game sold well and helped THQ achieve record profits, THQ may still lay them all off because that's how fucked up this industry is these days.

3. If the developers are actually half decent people, which i assume the majority are, they'll respond to boycotts with something along the likes of "I get it, I'd probably do the same" because your average half decent person isn't ok with child porn, white supremacy or people that are ok with that.

There you go....now you can stop hiding behind "think of the developers".

Click to shrink...

People concerned about the devs should focus on what the devs are concerned about.

"It feels horrible to be associated with this company in any capacity," said one developer currently working for a studio under THQ Nordic, who requested anonymity to protect their job.

"I definitely worry about the affect it'll have on our audience," they continued. "The mainstream game audience is arguably already leaning right, and this (implicit or explicit) approval of this awful group is only going to drive sales in their direction and away from the kind of progressive people that I would love to reach. The comment on 'continuing to avoid making games for SocJus audiences' fills me with the most dread."
https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/art...ebsite-banned-for-suspected-child-pornography

Click to shrink...

Over the past week, I have received a number of DMs and emails from developers who work for THQ Nordic or their parent company also named THQ Nordic. They range from embarrassed to shocked at the lack of a proper response.
https://www.gameinformer.com/opinio...d-itself-accountable-and-thq-nordic-proves-it

Click to shrink...

So far I've not seen a dev concerned about people boycotting THQ games.

 

[NHarmonic.]

The punishing devs argument is so bullshit lmao. I guess i punished capcom devs for not buying RE2 yet.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Is that THQ Nordic AB or THQ Nordic Gmbh? Gmbh is the one who did the AMA, AB is the parent company.

Click to shrink...

And apparently they own koch media and koch media bought deep silver. Its all so confusing

 

[The Adder]

I've boycotted better for doing less.

 

[Toadofsky]

I've only been interested in getting DeBlob 1 and 2 when they're on sale. Both of those games were pretty entertaining.

 

[RPGamer]

I wonder how many people look at this poll and feel that they're the real victims in this situation because this question has been posed to them.

Click to shrink...

I don't think many are, why would they. I voted yes because it's a possibility even if i'm not really interested in most of their stuff. Now that i recognized they publish about every 2nd japanese RPG in the west it's a yes. As a european i would have to boykott games from a few dozen of international developers, not just one. Not going to happen because of one AMA of 3 people on a really fucked up site.

 

[Velezcora]

I think the most frustrating part of these threads is how you have bad actors hiding behind smokescreens about nuance and "think about the devs" but then you have other people who actually are concerned about these things and are trying to be as fair as possible.
But because the former exists the latter gets instantly disregarded.
Not fair.

What THQN did was disgusting. I disagree with all their actions and I understand and appreciate peoples choices to boycott them.
However as we all know these things don't exist in a vacuum. When PR McIdiot decides to cosy up with literal shitbags I can't help but feel bad for the team that just recently got back together and got to work on their IP which they thought was lost forever. The Darksiders guy.
Am I saying we should excuse THQN so those guys can keep working on their IP? No.
But like... I feel bad for them. Don't you?
Doesn't a tiny bit of you have empathy for them? Do you never feel conflicted just a tiny bit even though you know boycotting them is the best move?
I'm just saying it's something to at least think about.

A lot of you are okay with still boycotting them and that's cool. I support you.
I just can't in good faith not support art I like. Even if it was paid for by people who think posting on 8chan is okay.
I'm not giving my money to THQN to support PR guy and Board guy. If I buy a THQN product it's because I want to play it and I pay the people who make things I like.
That's just me though.

 

[statham]

Is it okay to be a patriots fan after the owner used prositutes in sex trafficing? Thats a bump up by a huge margin but close to the THQ scenario. Can you still be a fan of Brady if the owner is a dipshit? If you buy a Brady Jersey, are you a bad person? I dont know. I dislike the patriots, but to kill the entire team over something the owner or other peeps did? I dont know if thats right either.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Yes, and you can't see how having two options that "mathematically seem to cover the entire spectrum of possibilities" might miss some potential nuances...?

For example, even assuming nothing changes (no one is fired, a better statement isn't put out, etc., etc.) from now until whenever, I can't be certain I won't ever again purchase a THQ game. I'm undoubtedly less likely to purchase a THQ game; for me to purchase one, things now have to especially align in terms of how invested I am in the franchise, how fond I am of the developers, how good the word of mouth surrounding the game is, what interesting or meaningful things the game seems to be doing, etc., etc.

The association with that particular publisher is now a massive negative, but not one that will necessarily outweigh other factors every single time.

The same was true with, say, a game like Red Dead Redemption 2. I wanted to engage with what it was doing, with the labor all these people did, with the doubtless passion of all these creators. Knowing about the poor work environment at Rockstar made that a conflicted decision, a conflicted experience, and necessitated that I never situated the game (in terms of how I interpreted its grandeur, in terms of how I discussed it, etc.) in a conflict-free place. But I made the call to check it out.

That's going to be the kind of process I go through when something like Shenmue 3 comes out. Just as was the case with Red Dead Redemption 2, I'm not even looking forward to Shenmue 3 as some active part of the fandom or whatever. But the game's arc isn't entirely defined by THQ's horrible (on multiple levels) recent decision-making.

So will I ever pick up a THQ game again? I don't know. Is there a chance I will? Yes. Will the 8chan thing be impactful to future purchasing decisions and to my relationship with THQ-associated games generally? Yes.

Click to shrink...

->

Sure thing, vote for option 2 then. See? That wasn't so hard.

(I'm getting the growing suspicion you people complaining about the poll just want a "I do what I want with my money" option that doesn't also look like the "I'm somewhat selfish" option).

Click to shrink...

Or put another way, you want the option that gives you points for caring about the problem, but doesn't prevent you from buying any games you want in the future.

The solution is simple: make your own poll, word the options in as noncommital terms as you want, and have everyone vote for the option that makes you look relatively good while not restricting your actions in the least. There, problem solved!

 

[Deleted member 12352]

I'll gladly give anything with their logo on it a hard pass in future.

That 8chan shit was the single most fucked up thing I've ever seen a games publisher pull. I've skipped stuff I was actually interested in in the past for less heinous shit than that... so this was an easy call to make.

Fuck THQ.

 

[ZeroDotFlow]

Is that THQ Nordic AB or THQ Nordic Gmbh? Gmbh is the one who did the AMA, AB is the parent company.

Click to shrink...

I was speaking of specifically Coffee Stain Studios, which is a subsidiary of THQ Nordic AB and which also publishes Deep Rock Galactic which is an indie game made by Ghost Ship Games.

So will people be boycotting Deep Rock Galactic as well? Which again goes back to my point of how many degrees of separation does a game have to be in order to be considered affected by what THQ Nordic Gmbh did. And if people did boycott Deep Rock Galactic that would in fact hurt the developers and potentially kneecap the studio. Well, that's if a boycott was actually successful which historically has not proven to be the case.

Ideally what should happen is that people turn up the heat on the PR team that decided to do all of this shit, because it's really the result of whomever decided to approve that fuckin' stupid AMA.

 

[fixurheartordie]

Sure thing, vote for option 2 then. See? That wasn't so hard.

(I'm getting the growing suspicion you people complaining about the poll just want a "I do what I want with my money" option that doesn't also look like the "I'm somewhat selfish" option).

Click to shrink...

Clearly I'm not going to change your opinion here but that's exactly what I'm getting at, option two doesn't cover where I land and I don't feel that making this a binary choice actually considers the many, many factors involved in what might or might not change in the future or how a company of this size functions in the first place.

 

[Deleted member 27751]

So you're ok with giving his toxic viewpoints a larger platform because his game is good?

Also, would you care to explain what you mean by this?

Click to shrink...

Are you okay with buying any car, banking with any bank, using a computer or a console because all of those are tainted by something corrupt or unlikable. To ignore those but claim morals on a publisher or developer is cherry picking to prove a point. I get your point, and no I am not okay with his viewpoints and never will. Gamergate has no purpose but to breed toxic hatred for the sake of a rise, and in doing so has hurt so many people. His views of other elements are just as bad, but like I said I don't believe they reflect the development team as a whole. Same with THQ, I don't believe their fucked up AMA reflects the developers they own.

The viewpoint of both sides was in regards to the historical accuracy of Kingdom Come. Not what you may have thought it was.

 

[anyprophet]

Meh, fuck what Angry Youtuber Jackass says, he doesn't control where my cash goes.
PR fuckups happen all the time, (any internet oldtimer will tell you this.) as long as games aren't getting canned over stuff like this, then we should just be laughing at it instead of of getting outraged like a bunch of charlatans.

Click to shrink...

a PR fuckup is accidentally doing a horny reply on the corporate account instead of your private account.

this was an intentional appeal to nazis.

 

[Opto]

I think people care more about devs than victims of child abuse in this thread.

 

[guybrushfreeman]

There's significantly more to this issue than 'will you buy the games or not'. It's a horrible way to frame the issue. Action can be taken outside of that setting and pressure can be put on them in other ways. Realistically the media are the ones in the best position to cause change here and they actually have direct contact with people involved.

Framing the issue this way is inherently dismissive and a bit insulting. It comes off as 'if you're still buying the games then the issue is not important.' Of course many people will still choose to buy the games, that doesn't make it an unimportant issue that needs to be followed up.

A tally of 'what percentage of people will boycott' will just serve to kill the issue even faster. Consider some historical examples from your own region. How would a 'will you boycott everyone involved in the issue forever' poll actually go at the time the issue was serious?'

That's not the only cause of action people can take and reducing the issue like that was foolish

Edit: indeed the only thing this thread can accomplish is to pit users against each other and that's the only thing it has accomplished

 

[Weltall Zero]

I was speaking of specifically Coffee Stain Studios, which is a subsidiary of THQ Nordic AB and which also publishes Deep Rock Galactic which is an indie game made by Ghost Ship Games.

So will people be boycotting Deep Rock Galactic as well? Which again goes back to my point of how many degrees of separation does a game have to be in order to be considered affected by what THQ Nordic Gmbh did. And if people did boycott Deep Rock Galactic that would in fact hurt the developers and potentially kneecap the studio. Well, that's if a boycott was actually successful which historically has not proven to be the case.

Ideally what should happen is that people turn up the heat on the PR team that decided to do all of this shit, because it's really the result of whomever decided to approve that fuckin' stupid AMA.

Click to shrink...

I don't think anyone (that knows about the distinction) was calling for the boycott of AB, just Gmbh; they are, after all, not directly involved with this.

Clearly I'm not going to change your opinion here but that's exactly what I'm getting at, option two doesn't cover where I land and I don't feel that making this a binary choice actually considers the many, many factors involved in what might or might not change in the future or how a company of this size functions in the first place.

Click to shrink...

Option 2 covers exactly where you land, it's just that it also covers other positions you find objectionable. Instead of complaining about an inconsequential internet poll, perhaps take the chance to reflect on whether this perceived difference between you and them is actually so categorical?

 

[Siresly]

Why does the "video not available" thing happen? It is stupid and I don't like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33grif58qO8
It is the worst song ever. Don't click. But then you'll be punishing the creator.

 

[Sean Mirrsen]

What I find most irksome about this is the sudden number of these extremely high, glittery-white horses that seem to have passed through the area, that a good lot of people have clambered up on to have their discussion, and as a result all I see from the ground level is dust, hooves, and falling horseshit.

Like, my hat is filling up, people. Stop it.

If the company had done something as illegal as promoting underage pornography, then we do have systems in place to investigate and act on such cases. Go report to those systems. Stop bringing the regular people into it, they can't help the matter. Either the company had an honest PR stunt fuckup - in which case there's nothing to get up in arms about unless you're personally offended (feel free to boycott if you are); or, there will be evidence of intentional criminal activity, in which case there will be firings, fines, share value losses, etc, none of which would have never happened to a games publisher before, and thus the ones responsible will be punished and the gaming industry will cope and keep on rolling as usual.

If you're really concerned about there being activity promoting a heinous crime, please report to the right channels - "voting with our wallets" by not buying games is going to be neither effective, nor helpful. If all this is, is you wanting to feel righteous about something so commonly accepted as Outright Evil, then please dismount and stop fertilizing our headwear. We - or I, at least - will be extremely thankful.

 

[Nerokis]

Does 'not buying any THQ-Nordic games' include subsidiaries and games published by said subsidiaries?

Because those subsidiaries do publish indie games by smaller teams. By not buying those games you are essentially burying an indie studio because their publisher decided to fuck everything up. This isn't to say that we shouldn't hold THQ's feet to the fire for creating the most incredibly shitty PR blunder in the past decade but rather that I'm curious how many degrees of separation does a game have to be in order for people to find it acceptable again.

Click to shrink...

These are legitimate questions, but it's worth examining your "essentially burying an indie studio" language. It simply doesn't work that way: people deciding to boycott a game aren't actually condemning a studio to oblivion. They aren't doing that because they weren't the ones who made the decisions worth boycotting, they aren't doing that because they aren't controlling what any other consumer decides to do, and they aren't doing that because purchasing decisions always cut across a number of different lines and the world in which a critical mass boycotts a game for ethical reasons is a world we don't live in.

Basically, no given individual deciding to boycott a game has that kind of power. At most, they're affecting a calculation.

->

Click to shrink...

I don't particularly care about the poll. I'm just explaining why I personally haven't voted. Like, yeah, mathematically it covers every possibility; it doesn't cover, for example, "I don't know which possibility will come to pass."

 

[Weltall Zero]

I think people care more about devs playing games than victims of child abuse in this thread.

Click to shrink...

FTFY, people have no trouble throwing devs to the wolves when it's about them not being able to play games (see game exclusives etc.).

 

[DaciaJC]

Well, if Kingdom Come 2 ever comes out, heck yes I'm going to buy it, this fiasco notwithstanding.

 

[Deleted member 43077]

Like every other company for me. If they release a game I care about sure ill buy it if not then whatever