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Oct 27, 2017
12,050

Big One

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,277
Could Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft deplatform all of their games if they wanted to or does THQ Nordic have a contract with them to where they can't do that? If not I'm surprised not one of them did anything about it.
 

Aeana

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,918
The speed at which people have just moved on from this is really just astounding to me.
 

Deleted member 6730

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
11,526
If associating yourself with a site that harbors pedophiles isn't where we draw the line, I honestly don't know what is.
 

Kill3r7

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,374
Could Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft deplatform all of their games if they wanted to or does THQ Nordic have a contract with them to where they can't do that? If not I'm surprised not one of them did anything about it.

They could but their shareholders might not approve. It is more telling that their partners such as Nickelodeon have not done anything so far. No one gives a shit besides the bottom line. The rest is just lip service.
 

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
49,943
I didn't listen and read the comments, I regret it.
I kind of like how the second comment, the one where they say that they're taking the subscription away from their son, is a perfectly fine response for the subject - except pointed at GameInformer instead of the company that promoted the child pornography website. It's practically a straight up admission that they know how wrong this is and why, but they're more interested in winning than making sense, so they're just taking the criticism and flipping the names.

I would also not be surprised if the person posting was, like, a single guy in this late mid-late teens.
 

Dracil

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,430
I would go against don't read the comments and go with read the comments, make a good comment if you want, upvote the good ones.

Leaving comments to the trash is what makes comments stay trash.
 

Kyle Cross

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,401
I can't believe a game being made exclusive to a specific PC storefront results in outrage and one of the biggest stories in the industry for weeks... but a fucking publisher hanging out with pedophiles, sexists, and racists is just a blip for a day or two.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,328
Very good article from Imran. Glad it also brought attention to Pollice, because I feel he keeps getting left out of these stories though he participated in the AMA as well.
 

SunBroDave

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,125
Fantastic article. When even Game Informer, a subsidiary of Game Stop who gets to visit developers around the world for #exclusive coverage, is willing to call out developers who've done wrong and do the actual work of investigating and finding out the whole story, it really makes you lose even more respect for outlets like IGN and Gamespot.
 
Oct 28, 2017
6,119
I haven't followed up with this story since it first broke. I assumed it was scheduled by a bunch of people who didn't know what they were doing. Did any news come out that showed there was a more sinister agenda going on?

Edit:

There's no definitive statement of evidence of their intentionality.

However, to make this AMA, they had to somehow learn about 8chan and find their way there despite the fact that googling 8chan brings you to other websites that mention that its relationship with child pornography instead of 8chan itself. They contacted /v/'s board owner to deal with the "nasty stuff", so they must have had some idea of what nasty stuff they would find. They had to scroll past a banned advertising another subforum dedicated to feminine little boys in order to even post their thread, or post in their thread. They received "heil hitler" as their first reply. They directly replied to posts with content such as a homophobic slur or asking about large breasted little girls.

How does one pull all of that off without understanding what they're dealing with?

And with this post, my innocence on the subject comes to an end. I hope they burn.
 
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ArkhamFantasy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,541
I haven't followed up with this story since it first broke. I assumed it was scheduled by a bunch of people who didn't know what they were doing. Did any news come out that showed there was a more sinister agenda going on?

There's no logical way that he didn't know what he was doing, you can't even find this site on a google search (outside of its wikipedia page warning people about why it doesn't come up in a google search), then he responded to questions about SJWs and loli's.

Now they won't respond to questions because there's literally no defense for this and their best hope is to just hope people forget about it.
 

Skittzo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,037
I can't believe a game being made exclusive to a specific PC storefront results in outrage and one of the biggest stories in the industry for weeks... but a fucking publisher hanging out with pedophiles, sexists, and racists is just a blip for a day or two.

Not just hanging out, but endorsing and legitimizing their platform. And continuing to do so for 15 hours even after everyone became outraged about it.
 

Kill3r7

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,374
Actually, if journalists want to put pressure on THQ they should reach out to their partners (such as Nickelodeon) for a comment on the matter.
 

jerf

Member
Nov 1, 2017
6,228
Fantastic article. When even Game Informer, a subsidiary of Game Stop who gets to visit developers around the world for #exclusive coverage, is willing to call out developers who've done wrong and do the actual work of investigating and finding out the whole story, it really makes you lose even more respect for outlets like IGN and Gamespot.
ding ding, and it's not like that have any to spare to begin with.
 

Pyro

God help us the mods are making weekend threads
Member
Jul 30, 2018
14,505
United States
Great article, as expected by Imran.

I think there's two reasons why it's so bad though: yes we generally accept the toxic elements of the gaming community/industry, but what exacerbates it is that everyone's attention span is so small nowadays and there's always something else happening.
 
Oct 28, 2017
6,119
There's no logical way that he didn't know what he was doing, you can't even find this site on a google search (outside of its wikipedia page warning people about why it doesn't come up in a google search), then he responded to questions about SJWs and loli's.

Now they won't respond to questions because there's literally no defense for this and their best hope is to just hope people forget about it.

Is there a link to a rundown of this? It does seem quite bad in that case.
 

Skittzo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,037
I haven't followed up with this story since it first broke. I assumed it was scheduled by a bunch of people who didn't know what they were doing. Did any news come out that showed there was a more sinister agenda going on?

The people who participated in the AMA made a bunch of posts that would not look out of place on that forum. And they continued to do so long after they were called out for it.

They absolutely knew what they were doing.
 

Nashira

Alt Account
Banned
Feb 21, 2019
207
The only thing I would say this article is lacking is going a level deeper and try to analyze *why* the industry refuses to hold itself accountable. Unfortunately Khan does not try to grasp the reasons why these major companies on a social, cultural, and economic level refuse to take a moral stand. The article mostly asks that why no one is doing anything, but if Khan talked with people who analyze and research the industry and its refusal to address its (bigoted) problems, then he (and a future article) would help explain why the industry refuses to address its seedy, immoral elements.
 

Deleted member 1849

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,986
I can't believe a game being made exclusive to a specific PC storefront results in outrage and one of the biggest stories in the industry for weeks... but a fucking publisher hanging out with pedophiles, sexists, and racists is just a blip for a day or two.
In a normal industry, the kind of shit Epic are doing is deserving of pretty decent sized outcry.

This is not a normal industry. This is one where a major publisher can ally itself with the worst kinds of scum in society and then move on like nothing happened. It's madness.

If the industry doesn't want to hold them accountable for that, consumers need to do it instead by not giving them money.
 

SOLDIER

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
11,339
Why is everyone so certain they won't suffer any repercussions? Wasn't there a WaPo article less than a day ago?
 

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
49,943
I haven't followed up with this story since it first broke. I assumed it was scheduled by a bunch of people who didn't know what they were doing. Did any news come out that showed there was a more sinister agenda going on?

There's no definitive statement of evidence of their intentionality.

However, to make this AMA, they had to somehow learn about 8chan and find their way there despite the fact that googling 8chan brings you to other websites that mention that its relationship with child pornography instead of 8chan itself. They contacted /v/'s board owner to deal with the "nasty stuff", so they must have had some idea of what nasty stuff they would find. They had to scroll past a banned advertising another subforum dedicated to feminine little boys in order to even post their thread, or post in their thread. They received "heil hitler" as their first reply. They directly replied to posts with content such as a homophobic slur or asking about large breasted little girls.

How does one pull all of that off without understanding what they're dealing with?
 

Nanashrew

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,328
Actually, if journalists want to put pressure on THQ they should reach out to their partners (such as Nickelodeon) for a comment on the matter.
Yep! If THQ won't talk, go to the partners and apply pressure to them as well. No way a company like Nickelodeon would ever want to be associated with CP the way THQ currently is.

I also believe that any and every article and reviews of upcoming THQ games should also contain a large disclaimer about THQ and associating itself with 8chan, neo-nazis and CP to apply further pressure.
 

Gay Bowser

Member
Oct 30, 2017
17,557
I kind of like how the second comment, the one where they say that they're taking the subscription away from their son, is a perfectly fine response for the subject - except pointed at GameInformer instead of the company that promoted the child pornography website. It's practically a straight up admission that they know how wrong this is and why, but they're more interested in winning than making sense, so they're just taking the criticism and flipping the names.

I would also not be surprised if the person posting was, like, a single guy in this late mid-late teens.

Yeah, I don't buy for a second that anyone who has a kid would be like "you're being too hard on this company for aligning with pedophiles!"

Thanks for the sticking with this story, Imran.
 
Oct 26, 2017
3,896
User warned: drive-by posting
Honestly, I just don't really care that much.

edit: This was a poorly thought out post, on a topic like this I should have spent some more time writing out my thoughts.
 
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Disclaimer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,417
Happy to see Imran keeping the heat on THQN. Someone needs to, and most news outlets, all those involved and affiliated, seem eager to put it behind them.

I haven't followed up with this story since it first broke. I assumed it was scheduled by a bunch of people who didn't know what they were doing. Did any news come out that showed there was a more sinister agenda going on?

They knew exactly what they were doing. In addition to chumming around during the AMA with people spewing slurs and other things, the twitter account was still liking tweets defending their AMA after issuing the "apology." (The apology which didn't apologize for any of their behavior in the AMA.)

Reinhard Pollice even lied saying he didn't really participate, when he's the one who said the "cease your f*******" meme could "appear in their next game."
 

Swiggins

was promised a tag
Member
Apr 10, 2018
11,442
This is a damn good article. Kudos for the author for holding THQNordic's feet to the fire. Somebody has to be held accountable for this fuck-up.
 
Oct 28, 2017
6,119
There's no definitive statement of evidence of their intentionality.

However, to make this AMA, they had to somehow learn about 8chan and find their way there despite the fact that googling 8chan brings you to other websites that mention that its relationship with child pornography instead of 8chan itself. They contacted /v/'s board owner to deal with the "nasty stuff", so they must have had some idea of what nasty stuff they would find. They had to scroll past a banned advertising another subforum dedicated to feminine little boys in order to even post their thread, or post in their thread. They received "heil hitler" as their first reply. They directly replied to posts with content such as a homophobic slur or asking about large breasted little girls.

How does one pull all of that off without understanding what they're dealing with?

And with this post, my innocence on the subject comes to an end. I hope they burn.
 

Lord Vatek

Avenger
Jan 18, 2018
21,493
I can't believe a game being made exclusive to a specific PC storefront results in outrage and one of the biggest stories in the industry for weeks... but a fucking publisher hanging out with pedophiles, sexists, and racists is just a blip for a day or two.
If it's not an obstacle to playing their pwecious games, they won't care.

The Catherine stuff a few weeks ago was proof enough of this.
 

Nerun

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,270
He is right, but at the same time I would feel sad if I wrote it and looked at the comments. Even though I didn't write it, I feel sad just by looking at those comments....

Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I'm fine if someone doesn't care or if people still want to buy products made by the developers, that are just part of THQ Nordic in some way. Still, I'm not fine with their excuse via Twitter, of it just being a mistake, not looking it up and be done with it. It's not that simple and it shouldn't be that simple. It was more than just one person and not a mistake, but an action they wanted to do. I'm not the first one to scream for rolling heads, I worked in the industry myself, I made mistakes live every person (not those kind though...if you want to call that a "mistake), but in the end there has to be some clear communication and follow-up and they need to make that public.

I can also understand people that do not want to buy or support a company, after this whole case. Which is again sad for the developers and all the people that have done nothing wrong at all and that's why there need to be more than just a "I'm sorry, didn't know what I was doing, k, thx, bye".
 
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Deleted member 1849

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,986
Why is everyone so certain they won't suffer any repercussions? Wasn't there a WaPo article less than a day ago?
Believe me, I would love to be proven wrong. As would the author of the article:

When the industry does bad things, the industry needs to call it out – this includes the powerful people who work in it, the media that covers it, and the community. We also need to not let it go. That's my challenge for all of us, following through however we can.


Despite multiple inquiries, THQ Nordic's PR has not responded to my questions this week. I expect they are waiting for this whole thing to blow over. I intend to keep following up.

The important thing is to not let that sense of "they will just get away with it" turn into complacence. If everyone shouts about it and spreads the message, maybe something will be done.
 

Skittles

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,251
I can't believe a game being made exclusive to a specific PC storefront results in outrage and one of the biggest stories in the industry for weeks... but a fucking publisher hanging out with pedophiles, sexists, and racists is just a blip for a day or two.
ngpwynu.jpg
 
Oct 26, 2017
6,570
They could but their shareholders might not approve. It is more telling that their partners such as Nickelodeon have not done anything so far. No one gives a shit besides the bottom line. The rest is just lip service.
Don't assume anything just because they haven't said anything publicly. We have no insight into the dealings going on behind closed doors. Nickelodeon could well be exploring how to proceed before making anything public.
 

NHarmonic.

▲ Legend ▲
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
10,290
Gaming industry showing class. What is it with this art medium that attracts this kind of shitty behavior?

Seriously.
 

Lunar15

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,647
I really don't think people realize what's going on here, or why we *should* press. THQ is claiming ignorance, but at some point this is essentially a dogwhistle. It's THQ saying that they don't care about the myriad of issues surrounding the toxicity of gaming. Like a lot of people have said, their excuses are bullshit, but even if you took their apology at face value, it means they don't *care* about this stuff. Honestly though? My opinion is that they fucking know what's up. We all too often discount the fact that a lot of people sympathetic to GG-type nonsense work and thrive in the industry. All of the bullshit with GOG is a good example of that.

The Industry isn't taking a stand against Toxicity at all. This article and the Game Revolution article are proof of it. It's totally weak-knees bullshit. They want to ignore it, hope it goes away. There's too many potential customers they might lose. But this just feeds into the nonsense. Or, worse, there's a lot of people in the industry who are complicit.

As a side note, it's a lost cause, but another group that should have some accountability here is Twitter. THQNordic had that link up for days, that should absolutely be against their TOS.
 

Wulfric

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,963
I would be shocked if somebody from Nintendo didn't say anything to them.

THQ has the Nickelodeon license too which is crazy.