What exactly is the deal with this “Anti-SJW” bullshit in the gaming community?

[Trago]

This sort of pertains to the recent announcement of Bloodlines 2. Time and time again, when a major upcoming title starts releasing details before launch, the anti sjw types throw a shit-fit over something having to do with representation or sensitivity towards certain marginalized groups. I see it all over social media and youtube.

"Keep your politics out of my games!"

"This is total SJW nonsense!"

"Muh representation!"

What the hell do these people want exactly? For every game to feature straight white dudes exclusively? Because it seems like every time a new game is announced to veer away from that, it's written off as "SJW". Getting triggered over representation in games seems like a total waste of time to me, yet it's practically it's own YouTube genre. It feels like we're getting less hyped for games anymore because we're ready to point fingers all the time.

Do you think this will change in the future?

 

[NoKisum]

They're just trolls. Don't give them any attention and you'll have a good time.

 

[Imran]

What the hell do these people want exactly? For every game to feature straight white dudes exclusively?

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Yes.

 

[Richietto]

What the hell do these people want exactly? For every game to feature straight white dudes exclusively?

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That's exactly what they want. These white kids cant handle not being the target audience. It's privilege, trans/homophobia, sexism, and racism in its entirety.

I do think it will get better, though. We are seeing many more woman in the lead roles. Colored folk seem to be the next thing that'll take a while.

 

[Theorymon]

What the hell do these people want exactly? For every game to feature straight white dudes exclusively? B

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Unfortunately, I think this is probably the case. The video game community seems to have a serious problem with rampant racism and sexism.

 

[Kyrios]

What the hell do these people want exactly? For every game to feature straight white dudes exclusively?

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Yup

Do you think this will change in the future?

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Nope

 

[Bhonar]

You don't have to listen to them. You can ignore them

Unfortunately, I think this is probably the case. The video game community seems to have a serious problem with rampant racism and sexism.

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Do you recall around half of people voted for Trump? And they're certainly not all gamers, so what about all those people too

 

[JeffGubb]

Boys start playing games because it's something they can master and feel dominant in. That's enticing because people don't typically feel masterful or dominant in most things, especially in relationships with other people. So when those other people come along and say, "gaming is for us, too." Those boys feel threatened.

 

[Deleted member 8861]

Gamers are shits and probably have always been shits

 

[Thorn]

The idea is "This was our safe space and you're ruining it by demanding we cater to you now."

Believe it or not if you want, but thats typically the go to response I've seen.

 

[MysticGon]

Some of most popular games for adults (and kids) involve taking up arms and warfare. You are going to get a certain group of people interested in that lifestyle in real life.

 

[Deleted member 3897]

They can't handle that video games isn't just a big boys club only anymore, that the world is moving forward and representation and diversity is part of that.

There is no such thing as "forced diversity". Either the game has a diverse cast of characters or it doesn't. It's just part of game production. If wanting more people of another group of people to buy their game, it's just them expanding their market.

 

[Deleted member 46948]

Gaming has a higher percentage of entitled manchildren compared to most other hobbies.

 

[Cipherr]

What the hell do these people want exactly? For every game to feature straight white dudes exclusively?

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Yes, I mean it used to be that way. The rare and occasional POC or woman was... well rare. That's clearly changing, and yes, its going to rub some assholes the wrong way and they will cry about it. /shrug

 

[Stopdoor]

I'd like to believe it's vocal minority. Gaming is just comfortable for anti-social people unlike a lot of other hobbies or even entertainment, it's no surprise to me online comment threads would attract the worst of the worst.

 

[BlueOdin]

America invading another country is not politics for gamers.

Women and minorities existing counts a politics for gamers.

Lots of it has probably to do with the (white) male population group being catered to by the industry for so long that video games now acknowledging other demographics exist it feels like oppression to them.

 

[Grimminski]

"I just wanna play games/I don't wanna deal with politics/I use video games as an escape from real life"

"Now, excuse your SJW ass while I go finish my play through of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots"

 

[Lant_War]

They're dumb people. You can safely ignore them. It's quite easy to identify them, if they:

- talk about an LGBT agenda
- talk about how they're against forced LGBT romance
- mention Feminism as to why some game fails
- use SJW unironically
- or say "keep politics out of my games"

You can tune them out without nothing of value being lost.

 

[sinonobu]

I've been seeing people who say that irl as well and yeah it's really embarrassing.

And if you thought gaming side was bad, just look at the anime fandom.

 

[monmagman]

The people who say these sorts of things.....they aren't the most well rounded individuals.....just bare that in mind and it won't bother you as much,lol.

 

[Kilic95]

Entitled white manchildren.

 

[Deleted member 3294]

They're just trolls. Don't give them any attention and you'll have a good time.

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Nah, so much of the gaming community actively trying to make things uncomfortable for anyone who isn't a cis straight white guy isn't something that should be ignored

 

[Y2Kev]

Fragile white males upset that women and minorities want representation in gaming. Can't ignore. They have to be dealt with.

 

[ArmadilloGame]

My personal theory is this:

Games are escapism, more than most other hobbies thanks to the (physical) solitary nature of most gaming. Many of the people who most embrace gaming are the people who most want to escape from whatever is going wrong with their lives. So some (definitely not all, or even most) of the most hardcore gamers are also ones with some serious social issues, not because gaming made them that way but because it's their best refuge. Often, when one is trying to figure out what's wrong in their lives, it's easier to find a scapegoat than face one's own flaws (especially when one is immature, physically or emotionally). So once the snowball of "SJW's ruining gaming and society" got rolling, gaming culture became one of the places it stuck most, as a relatively large chunk of the community (compared to other hobbyist communities) was in a state where the arguments that a scapegoat is the real problem sounded convenient to their world view. Also once that cultural association was recognized by the far right/nazis, they began actively cultivating those gaming environments.

That's purely my hunch, probably getting stuff wrong. But that's my take.

 

[Deleted member 2474]

I like it, it's a very useful way to know who to block on Twitter

 

[Bhonar]

They can't handle that video games isn't just a big boys club only anymore, that the world is moving forward and representation and diversity is part of that.

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Is that the case though? I don't follow politics much at all so I don't even vote. But on ERA at least, I seem to notice a lot of sentiment from progressive liberal posters lamenting that the world (not just America) is becoming more right-wing in recent years.

Is that true or not?

 

[elenarie]

Racial, religious, gender based, and many other types of discrimination. That's why. Try making a world war game that puts equality between genders, you'll be in for some fun times. :)

It will change in the future. It will get better. But that requires education, cultural adaptation and time. Expect this to last for a few decades.

 

[Famassu]

Luckily sales numbers aren't really on their side, so most game devs/publishers are starting to put a bit more effort into more varied representation (indies faster than huge companies). Except Japanese devs. They are largely going the opposite direction with what feels like an increasing amount of loli pedobait and gross objectification of (too often underage) female characters and very little in the form of (decent) representation of minorities (gays are all pedophiles and people of colour are basically non-existent outside singular characters).

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

White nerds got used to internalizing themselves as the punching bags of society. When people who have had it worse than them made it clear that they were part of their hobby too they lost their minds. It's been happening in all kinds of nerd fandoms. Gaming, Sci-fi, comics, anime/cartoons, etc. The internet's utility to provide voices for everyone gave way to perspectives that some people really don't want to hear.

As an aside, people who are surprised Bloodlines 2 taking a political stance with its writing either didn't play the original or desperate to yell into the air.

 

[Hey Please]

Regarding bloodlines 2 announcement:

Go down to the comments and find the poster, Edward. Follow his string of responses to understand a bit of that culture.

 

[Mr. Capo]

Pretty much white male gamers going at it again.

 

[MrSaturn99]

"SJW" is, and always has been, a blatant dogwhistle for bigotry. (Not to mention a hilariously ineffective pejorative in itself; like, yeah, fighting for social justice is a bad thing? At least come up with something not insinuating I'm Superman.)

Regardless, no, I don't expect any changes in the foreseeable future. :/

I like it, it's a very useful way to know who to block on Twitter

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Eeeeeeyup.

 

[Thorn]

Is that the case though? I don't follow politics much at all so I don't even vote. But on ERA at least, I seem to notice a lot of sentiment from progressive liberal posters lamenting that the world (not just America) is becoming more right-wing in recent years.

Is that true or not?

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There is a rise of right wing populism int he world and thats why you are hearing so much of this stuff now.

Like, I dont wanna call ResetEra a echo chamber but most gamers just simply don't CARE about diversity or representation, I've seen it be like "If it happens its fine but don't make a big deal about it." Which is also a different crowd from the GG type of "WHITE GENOCIDE" of course.

 

[Wulfric]

Apparently having gay characters is considered "politics" and requires storyline reason to exist.

Pay them no mind. You will see jerks like them in any nerdy hobby these days. They don't even try to hide it.

 

[TemplaerDude]

"Keep your politics out mah gaaaamez!!!"

Alright, sure, we're also going to pull these violent, far-right games off of Steam.

"BLARGGHHGH MAH FREE SPEECH CENSORSHIP BBLARGGH"

Don't listen to them.

 

[Brotherhood93]

This isn't exclusive to gamers. It happens with almost everything. Anything that doesn't seem like it comes from the 1950s is pandering to "SJWs" to these people. I've mostly just tuned it out, they are ignorant and there's no reasoning with them. They'd probably tell you they "have nothing against *instert minority here* " but they will always find an excuse why their representation is wrong and because of SJWs. I do genuinely believe that most people are rational and above this nonsense though, even "gamers" (a dirty word for many on here), but nobody gets outraged and offended like bigots and they love to make themselves heard.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

I just avoid reading youtube comments. They are always full of bigots, for every topic, not just games. Most of these people would be too chickenshit to talk like that in real life.

 

[tmarg]

They're fucking everywhere right now, not just gaming, but since this is our hobby it's our responsibility to deal with them here.

 

[Deleted member 8561]

Because the "hardcore" people in gaming are often social outcasts who blame the majority of their issues (mainly issues getting their dick wet) on women. These same people have also fell into the alt-right due being nihilists who crave some type of greater meaning and purpose.

Now that gaming is mainstream and it's being populated by not straight white dudes, said straight white dudes are flipping their shit because all the people they blame their issues on are now infiltrating their only safe space in life.

Nobody likes them outside of other people who are just like themselves. Their only shelter from the outside world is now popular and mainstream, and they don't like that.

 

[Deleted member 4034]

This sort of pertains to the recent announcement of Bloodlines 2. Time and time again, when a major upcoming title starts releasing details before launch, the anti sjw types throw a shit-fit over something having to do with representation or sensitivity towards certain marginalized groups. I see it all over social media and youtube.

"Keep your politics out of my games!"

"This is total SJW nonsense!"

"Muh representation!"

What the hell do these people want exactly? For every game to feature straight white dudes exclusively? Because it seems like every time a new game is announced to veer away from that, it's written off as "SJW". Getting triggered over representation in games seems like a total waste of time to me, yet it's practically it's own YouTube genre. It feels like we're getting less hyped for games anymore because we're ready to point fingers all the time.

Do you think this will change in the future?

Click to shrink...

The diversity is only okay if it "makes sense". Otherwise, you're just "forcing it in".

 

[Nepenthe]

Gaming, and by and large the Internet, is not in a vacuum separate from reality. Many of the people who play these games and inundate themselves in these online cultures are the same people who sincerely engage in conservative, fascist-lite, and white social politics, where anything outside of these paradigms is unnatural, forced, and invasive. Following from that, gaming culture was also seen as a safe space for white male nerds bullied for their hobby, a place where they could be themselves, which included ironically making the space as unwelcoming as possible to minorities.

 

[Deleted member 35077]

For Japanese games, they want no region differences when it comes to content. Doesnt matter if it means keeping ill-suited material that would keep a sizable amount of the audience away from playing, they want it in and won't budge from their stance.

 

[Inuhanyou]

socially repressed people taken advantage of by far right ideologies have convinced themselves that diversity of representation and two girls kissing on screen is the "agenda" that will end human civilization. Its nothing special. Just garbage as usual.

 

[rochellepaws]

Boys start playing games because it's something they can master and feel dominant in. That's enticing because people don't typically feel masterful or dominant in most things, especially in relationships with other people. So when those other people come along and say, "gaming is for us, too." Those boys feel threatened.

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Well said. In addition to this we've seen events like gamergate embolden those people into militant opposition to anything which appears inclusive, which may be why we've seen such an increase in recent years.

 

[SowingShade]

Boys start playing games because it's something they can master and feel dominant in. That's enticing because people don't typically feel masterful or dominant in most things, especially in relationships with other people. So when those other people come along and say, "gaming is for us, too." Those boys feel threatened.

Click to shrink...

Well said. This kind of person feels as though games were (and should be) made for them, as opposed to being made for anyone/everyone.

 

[LewieP]

Incoherent impotent rage.

 

[HockeyBird]

Many gamers hates minorities and women. Not much more to it than that.

 

[Thorn]

Well said. This kind of person feels as though games were (and should be) made for them, as opposed to being made for anyone/everyone.

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Well, the response for that I see is "We built this industry when you called us nerds and virgins, why should we let you play in our sandbox now?"

 

[Trago]

The diversity is only okay if it "makes sense". Otherwise, you're just "forcing it in".

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That's another annoying as fuck term.

"Forced diversity."

 

[GranddadFreeman]

They're just trolls. Don't give them any attention and you'll have a good time.

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Pretty much this. Most of the time, the people whining don't even play the game they're whining about. The problem is developers/publishers haven't realized this so they try to save sales they will never get.

Take the Star Wars thing. You know how much people talked about "SJW" whatever. You also know how much it didn't matter. These people don't control anything. Just play what you want and have fun.