THQ Nordic holding an AMA on... 8chan (UP: website linked to multiple mass shootings) READ THREADMARKS

[Deleted member 5596]

To all of the staff who looked it over, thanks for doing so!

Now we can all go back to being depressed that THQN will not be held accountable for this by the industry at all.

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Is really sad all around, the whole industry looked away when GG happened and now we have one of the biggest publishers endorsing the same group of people that made some people lives miserable.

All these clamors for diversity on gaming from big publishers feels asinine and fake when situations like these arises and they stay silent.

 

[funky]

Maybe they should bring back the Toy Headquarters name to appeal to their new target demographic

 

[Weltall Zero]

I think the majority will forget it by next week.

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Unfortunately, the 8chan shitheads won't, which is what makes this so terrifying; if companies can now get permanent customers from that audience, with the only downside being temporarily pissing off other customers, why wouldn't they?

I really hope this picks up steam in major news outlets so that the general public is made aware of it. Hopefully Kotaku are just waiting for all the facts to be brought to light and will write an appropriately comprehensive and scathing article, at least.

 

[hammurabi]

Publishers have all sites by the balls, meaning they can get blacklisted easily. Not saying it's OK, but if you're paid to bring coverage and you don't get the games ahead of time/invited to events, it sucks. It's always been like that. So the silence is partly due to the intimate relationship between publishers and writers.

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To that I would say it is worth risking that relationship. Especially with a situation like this.

Edit: Heck, I'd probably refuse to review/promote any of their content until a more satisfactory action is taken.

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

Sorry, thread moved too fast but has the link to 8chan been removed yet?

 

[Lunar15]

Why is it not against TOS on twitter to link to a site that is known to host child pornography?

 

[Deleted member 1849]

Morrigan BronsonLee

If what Patrick Klepek says ends up being true and no action is taken, that is a sign of continued company wide support for pedophillia and nazism. Not like this wasn't the case anyway, since we know multiple people in the company were in on it from the start and they knew what they were doing.

The rest of the industry might not care, but this is my outreach to the mods here to request that all discussion of THQ Nordic games be banned on Era until the people responsible are fired from the company.

 

[stan423321]

Sorry, thread moved too fast but has the link to 8chan been removed yet?

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The Tweet with initial "announcement" got deleted.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Why is it not against TOS on twitter to link to a site that is known to host child pornography?

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Twitter doesnt have anything resembling a competent and well enforced TOS.

 

[Deleted member 1849]

Why is it not against TOS on twitter to link to a site that is known to host child pornography?

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It is, I reported it.

Unfortunately, Twitter moderation is really awful. Nothing gets properly enforced.

 

[nillansan]

Dude, did someone fuck your cat? Get off your high horse and learn how to exchange opinions and engage in conversation. Try it.

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What the fuck is wrong with you? Also read the fucking OP if you actually have any genuine interest in the topic.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Publishers have all sites by the balls, meaning they can get blacklisted easily. Not saying it's OK, but if you're paid to bring coverage and you don't get the games ahead of time/invited to events, it sucks. It's always been like that. So the silence is partly due to the intimate relationship between publishers and writers.

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On the other hand, the perceived neutrality of a news site is pretty paramount for them and visitors. I guess every site will have to weight the pros and cons, but it's not like THQ is such a huge publisher that they can't possibly live without being invited to previews of the handful of games they release.

Morrigan BronsonLee

If what Patrick Klepek says ends up being true and no action is taken, that is a sign of continued company wide support for pedophillia and nazism. Not like this wasn't the case anyway, since we know multiple people in the company were in on it from the start and they knew what they were doing.

The rest of the industry might not care, but this is my outreach to the mods here to request that all discussion of THQ Nordic games be banned on Era until the people responsible are fired from the company.

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This is an excellent point, and a crucial part of that pushback that needs to happen against actions like this.

 

[Deleted member 9317]

The silence is so nasty, I don't want to touch it with a -80db tuning fork.

I'm done with this thread. Y'all stay safe and civil and continue the conversation with due diligence and accountability. ❤️

 

[Daniel Westlake]

Why is it not against TOS on twitter to link to a site that is known to host child pornography?

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It is but Twitter stay not giving a fuck.
--
Nordic is going to slide by because most game sites are trash at even regurgitating decent reporting and either ignored the story or put no effort into updating. Slow fucking clap.

 

[Rodjer]

Morrigan BronsonLee

If what Patrick Klepek says ends up being true and no action is taken, that is a sign of continued company wide support for pedophillia and nazism. Not like this wasn't the case anyway, since we know multiple people in the company were in on it from the start and they knew what they were doing.

The rest of the industry might not care, but this is my outreach to the mods here to request that all discussion of THQ Nordic games be banned on Era until the people responsible are fired from the company.

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I don't think a lot of people will agree with this.
THQ Nordic and Deep Silver are publishing a lot of games that ERA loves and a lot of people are looking for, banning Shenmue III threads or Bloodstained or Wasteland 3 is a lot without counting all the 50+ games and the community, as a whole, won't like this.

 

[Reckheim]

Morrigan BronsonLee

If what Patrick Klepek says ends up being true and no action is taken, that is a sign of continued company wide support for pedophillia and nazism. Not like this wasn't the case anyway, since we know multiple people in the company were in on it from the start and they knew what they were doing.

The rest of the industry might not care, but this is my outreach to the mods here to request that all discussion of THQ Nordic games be banned on Era until the people responsible are fired from the company.

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THQ nordic is involved in a lot of things game's wise, you'd have to ban conversation on something like 30+ games.

its not as easy as banning discussions on a single developer.

 

[nillansan]

Looking at the discussion, it appears that while AOPM *may* initially be coming into the thread to start something, it's not always the case, like the other instances have been prior in this thread. Unless something is particularly egregious, we'll take a moment to assess the situation and decide whether or not to take action. However sometimes people are asking questions without JAQing. AOPM had several posts responding to other users that seemed to be fine. It was only Weltall that was going for the throat.

Based on previous bans in this thread with people coming in to cause trouble, and the situation as a whole, we understand that people can be on edge and unwilling to be forgiving if someone makes a statement that hasn't completely caught up. We've taken action on a few drive-by posts of that nature in this thread. However this doesn't appear to be a drive-by.

In this case, we're inclined to remove both infractions and leave the modpost with the understanding that going forward, hostility is still against our rules. If you feel someone is coming in to cause trouble, report it. We'll take a look at it like we have so many other posts in the thread.

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How about you look a bit closer?

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

The Tweet with initial "announcement" got deleted.

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Well at least there's that.

 

[Jessie]

I mean, the PR disaster will eventually blow off, but I don't know if THQN can wash themselves of the stench. I know that I personally will always associate them with amplifying child abuse.

 

[Deleted member 1849]

THQ nordic is involved in a lot of things game's wise, you'd have to ban conversation on something like 30+ games.

its not as easy as banning discussions on a single developer.

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Oh boy don't I know it. It would be a huge task.

For KCD, I think discussion wasn't banned, but every thread had to start with a massive disclaimer. Maybe something like that would work. A permenant note on every THQ thread that anyone who buys these games is helping fund signal boosters of child abuse.

 

[Danthrax]

[edit] wrong thread, sorry!

 

[TheMrPliskin]

Morrigan BronsonLee

If what Patrick Klepek says ends up being true and no action is taken, that is a sign of continued company wide support for pedophillia and nazism. Not like this wasn't the case anyway, since we know multiple people in the company were in on it from the start and they knew what they were doing.

The rest of the industry might not care, but this is my outreach to the mods here to request that all discussion of THQ Nordic games be banned on Era until the people responsible are fired from the company.

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While I 100% understand the urge I feel like it's better to not ban them. We've already seen the tone in here shift towards frustration that this is going to get buried as most sites won't bother to keep on top of it, if we ban THQ Nordic threads then that's one less place that might actually call out their bullshit.

 

[Take5GiantSteps]

So, to be clear, is implying an aggressive posters attitude due to that certain user's cat (or substitute any animal really) getting fucked off the table now? Will it result in a warning or will it be a harsher ban if someone else does it now?

To be crystal clear, I'm not advocating or saying that we should accuse such things of other users, just genuinely curious so as to not step on any toes.

Thanks! :-)

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Pathetic how nobody can answer this. It's almost like they really fucked up and don't want to own it. Again, apparently beastiality jokes are a-okay here now.

Morrigan BronsonLee

If what Patrick Klepek says ends up being true and no action is taken, that is a sign of continued company wide support for pedophillia and nazism. Not like this wasn't the case anyway, since we know multiple people in the company were in on it from the start and they knew what they were doing.

The rest of the industry might not care, but this is my outreach to the mods here to request that all discussion of THQ Nordic games be banned on Era until the people responsible are fired from the company.

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The mods can't even read the thread properly, let alone implement this.

 

[Weltall Zero]

THQ nordic is involved in a lot of things game's wise, you'd have to ban conversation on something like 30+ games.

its not as easy as banning discussions on a single developer.

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If not even Era is willing to enforce some actual consequences for something like this because it's not "easy", then there's no hope that companies will ever stop doing stuff like this. You don't boycott stuff because it's easy, you do it because it's hard.

While I 100% understand the urge I feel like it's better to not ban them. We've already seen the tone in here shift towards frustration that this is going to get buried as most sites won't bother to keep on top of it, if we ban THQ Nordic threads then that's one less place that might actually call out their bullshit.

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The point is to ban discussion about their games (to decrease their products' visibility and sales), not stop denouncing stuff like this. You can ban discussion of a companies' games and still allow them to be called out when appropriate.

 

[Morrigan]

User concerns were addressed in this thread in good faith, and a moderation action was reversed. This is not an invitation to derail the thread further and attack the staff. Get back on topic.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Let's please move on from my spat with Annoying Party Old Man. I feel bad enough that we've derailed and kind of killed the crucial discussion going on here, I don't want anyone's bans on my conscience as well.

The mod team is human, like all of us. They're doing the best they can, and I understand the way they've ultimately resolved this situation. Please extend them some empathy as well.

 

[Deleted member 42472]

I mean, the PR disaster will eventually blow off, but I don't know if THQN can wash themselves of the stench. I know that I personally will always associate them with amplifying child abuse.

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And once the PR disaster blows off (so a few hours from now...) it doesn't matter

Konami was associated with organized crime and prostitution. Nobody cared until it was time to find reasons to dog pile on them for firing Kojima

Remember that guy who made death threats against Gabe? I don't but there is always that one person who brings it up

While on a much lesser level, KCD

Which is the point a lot of people are realizing. This was probably a masterstroke by THQ Nordic. "The Usual Suspects" get angry but there are already hordes of people with canned responses ready the moment Patrick or any other "filthy SJW" is brought up. Normal folk just assume it is the usual "bickering" and ignore it. And the people who this AMA was meant to target now love THQ Nordic because they are "one of the good companies"

 

[Icemonk191]

If not even Era is willing to enforce some actual consequences for something like this because it's not "easy", then there's no hope that companies will ever stop doing stuff like this. You don't boycott stuff because it's easy, you do it because it's hard.



The point is to ban discussion about their games (to decrease their products' visibility and sales), not stop denouncing stuff like this. You can ban discussion of a companies' games and still allow them to be called out when appropriate.

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It's so odd that have proof that banning people does work (I.E deplatforming assholes) yet when it comes to video games suddenly there's a whole lot of "well i don't know..." That goes around.

( I agree that we should take a stand and deplatform THQ Nordic from here.)

 

[Castform]

Have we seen any word from the other companies that they work with? I'd have expected Nickelodeon and Disney to not want their brand associated with pedophilia.

 

[Rodjer]

It's so odd that have proof that banning people does work (I.E deplatforming assholes) yet when it comes to video games suddenly there's a whole lot of "well i don't know..." That goes around.

( I agree that we should take a stand and deplatform THQ Nordic from here.)

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Do you think it's fair to ban Shenmue III or Wasteland 3 discussions because Deep Silver, a THQ Nordic AB subsidiary, is publishing both games?

 

[Spence]

Maybe people need to calm down a bit, they are a company with owners and investors, not some wild west rogue operation. Like any other company they are most likely trying to handle this internally right now trying to understand the implications and what to do about it. If owners and investors aren't aware yet they will be soon and that will cause a lot of pressure. A lot of their investors are banks who surely don't want to be associated with these sort of things.

 

[Weltall Zero]

It's so odd that have proof that banning people does work (I.E deplatforming assholes) yet when it comes to video games suddenly there's a whole lot of "well i don't know..." That goes around.

( I agree that we should take a stand and deplatform THQ Nordic from here.)

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If I were a cynical asshole, I would think it's because for many people, it's far easier to post their indignation at this stuff than it is to actually have to give up hanging out on the OT of a game they're looking forward to, like Darksiders 3 (let alone actually skipping the game).

Wait, who am I kidding, I am a cynical asshole.

Do you think it's fair to ban Shenmue III or Wasteland 3 discussions because Deep Silver, a THQ Nordic AB subsidiary, is publishing both games?

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If I was a dev working on Shenmue III or Wasteland 3, I would probably be far more appalled that my publisher did something like this, than worried that my game may not have an OT on Resetera.

 

[Icemonk191]

Do you think it's fair to ban Shenmue III or Wasteland 3 discussions because Deep Silver, a THQ Nordic AB subsidiary, is publishing both games?

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Do you think It's fair that a company that associates with a known child pornography website is is allowed to be able to sweep this under the rug and face no consequences whatsoever?

I care more about sending a message to THQ for aligning themselves with the dredges of humanity than some stupid games.

 

[unknownspectator]

I do whole heartedly believe we should de-platform THQNordic here. Their willingness to host an AMA on 8chan plus the responses they gave during it is a sign about what they are all about. If we continue to give them a platform here then we are no better than them.

 

[Rodjer]

If I was a dev working on Shenmue III or Wasteland 3, I would probably be far more appalled that my publisher did something like this, than worried that my game may not have an OT on Resetera.

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Of course they are and even cutting ties is not possible at this stage.
I'm pretty sure everyone working in the company or partnering with THQ Nordic or Deep Silver is not endorsing this shitshow.

Do you think It's fair that a company that associates with a known child pornography website is is allowed to be able to sweep this under the rug and face no consequences whatsoever?

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Who said there are no consequences? We still don't know if THQ Nordic AB is going to act, we know nothing, even when the GOG/CDP shit happened we did now nothing about the fired CM until months later. We need to wait, this is not like the US when you can fire someone randomly, there are laws and obligations, THQ Nordic is probably doing an internal investigation before going public.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

From today: Is there Inherent Value in These Shares?: THQ Nordic AB (publ) (OM:THQN B)

 

[Deleted member 4367]

Deciding what other people should boycott will always be nonsense.

 

[Deleted member 9317]

From today: Is there Inherent Value in These Shares?: THQ Nordic AB (publ) (OM:THQN B)

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Don't read too much on these. These articles are auto-generated daily.

 

[Icemonk191]

If I were a cynical asshole, I would think it's because for many people, it's far easier to post their indignation at this stuff than it is to actually have to give up hanging out on the OT of a game they're looking forward to, like Darksiders 3 (let alone actually skipping the game).

Wait, who am I kidding, I am a cynical asshole.



If I was a dev working on Shenmue III or Wasteland 3, I would probably be far more appalled that my publisher did something like this, than worried that my game may not have an OT on Resetera.

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It really does say a lot that some people will put aside basic things like decency and human empathy just because they wouldn't be able to talk/play some games.

 

[molnizzle]

I know I would be upset if discussion of my game was banned because of actions by my garbage publisher that were out of my control. Especially if I was stuck in a publishing contract with them and was completely helpless.

We're talking what, 30+ games here? A couple thousand likely innocent humans with jobs that rely on the sales of a game being put out by a shitty publisher. This situation is... difficult, no matter what you do.

 

[Deleted member 6235]

If I was a dev working on Shenmue III or Wasteland 3, I would probably be far more appalled that my publisher did something like this, than worried that my game may not have an OT on Resetera.

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I am also pretty sure that Wasteland 3 is not being publisher by Deep Silver (maybe the physical version), as InXile is owned by Microsoft and there was not any deal announced prior to the acquisition.

Shenmue III, though :(

I don't think anyone is evil for wanting to support Yu Suzuki and it's studio, though, as they are not owned by Deep Silver and probably need those sales to survive. But yeah, i agree with you. Imagine being under THQ Nordic right now.

 

[Qwark]

For those asking for an Era ban on THQ, what do they have to do to be acceptable again in your opinion? Or are they irredeemable and should be banned for eternity?

Please don't attack me, I'm asking for your opinion, not making a statement.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Of course they are and even cutting ties is not possible at this stage.
I'm pretty sure everyone working in the company or partnering with THQ Nordic or Deep Silver is not endorsing this shitshow.

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I know (on both accounts). My statement was at face value; I put myself in the shoes of someone working on a THQ-published game and my immediate reaction was "this fucking sucks and I can't do anything about it". It would be a nightmare scenario, frankly. Having my game not discussed on Era on the other hand would be like "whatever".

 

[Deleted member 4367]

Judging others about what they do or do not boycott is one of the few ways to open yourself up to being legitimately whataboutismed.

You cannot judge someone else for not boycotting some specific thing without being judged yourself for not boycotting some other specific thing.

 

[Deleted member 6235]

For those asking for an Era ban on THQ, what do they have to do to be acceptable again in your opinion? Or are they irredeemable and should be banned for eternity?

Please don't attack me, I'm asking for your opinion, not making a statement.

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Firing everyone related to this situation would help a lot (personally)

 

[Rodjer]

I am also pretty sure that Wasteland 3 is not being publisher by Deep Silver (maybe the physical version),

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They are indeed publishing and distributing the physical version, MS has nothing to do with Wasteland 3.

 

[unknownspectator]

Firing everyone related to this situation would help a lot (personally)

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This and that includes the CEO who appears to be alright with the whole thing.

 

[Deleted member 8561]

This and that includes the CEO who appears to be alright with the whole thing.

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Yea, that's the problem.

CEO did this because he knows he now has a loyal cohort of alt-right gamers who will now defend and purchase THQ games while the majority of gaming will forget this ever happened.

It was a calculated move that will pay off unless major publishers and developers openly reject and cancel and contracts or plans to work with THQ

 

[Crossing Eden]

what do they have to do to be acceptable again in your opinion?

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At the very least firing the people involved because it took a full day for the tweet in question to be deleted even after the shit storm and apology. People get fired for WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY less than this.

 

[Eumi]

Do you think it's fair to ban Shenmue III or Wasteland 3 discussions because Deep Silver, a THQ Nordic AB subsidiary, is publishing both games?

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It is 100% completely fair for a forum to ban discussion on whatever they want so long as there is no double standards or anything like that.

In this case, the people being unfair were THQ for doing this and hurting the devs under them. The line of reasoning that the public needs to protect big companies in order to protect the people working under them is just silly. It's not the job of us to protect those developers, it was supposed to be the job of the company. And if you're going to argue that there should be zero repurcussions, then there is zero incentive for the companies to protect the people working for them.

THQ fucked up here. Not the people reacting to their fuck up. I doubt a banning is going to happen, hell I'm not even sure if I'd support it personally, but THQ could easily avoid that if they actually responded to this properly. Which they haven't.

They are in a position to make things right. They currently aren't doing that. And it's not on us to pick up their slack.