Questions from Patreon Part 64 - Comment Moderation, Vegas Software, Games as Art

Arguments against diversity because it's "forced" or "it's not even relevant to the plot" are super weird, like people need a reason to exist, or you're only somehow allowed to have minority people if the whole plot is *about* being the minority in question, that's so tiring.

I'm sorry, I'm confused. What's Anita got to do with anything in my previous comment? Maybe I should have been a bit more specific about the ways in which I see myself underrepresented? Yes, I mentioned a husband. That does not mean that I am a woman. Or a gay man. Or that he's the only person I'm in a committed, long-term relationship with. He's also my caretaker. I am currently not aware of any representations of chronically ill/disabled, polyamorous, genderqueer/non-binary/agender bisexuals in any media. But I do know several such people personally, so I know we do in fact exist. And I know from experience that the lives we live are just as rich and full of good potential story-telling material as anyone else's (I mean, if I had the energy or the focus for it (which I don't), I could write at least three very different autobiographies at this point, and I'm not even 40 yet). But the best I can hope for, currently, is media that depicts a diverse cast of characters who might represent one or two aspects of my identity. I'm grateful to Keith for ensuring that my fellow queers feel welcome in his YT comment section, and for providing thoughtful, nuanced commentary in his videos.

seyren

Anita really didn't, though. I'd recommend rewatching her videos. They're intentionally very dry and non-inflammatory because they're meant to be structured as class lectures. She repeatedly says that none of her criticisms make any of these games bad, and that you can still enjoy something while being critical of it. In fact, you're specifically critical of the things that you enjoy so that they can be better in the future. She said that. When she goes on about big lists of games the point isn't "all of these games are bad because they do the thing I'm talking about." The point is "this thing I'm talking about is all over the place. Each individual instance isn't necessarily inherently bad but we should question why women are being represented like this so consistently." They're calm, nuanced videos, but the nuance was lost on the people who were angry at her and largely not even watching her videos, but instead other people's maliciously edited responses to her.

Keith Ballard / SebastianSB

Me neither Seyren, partly because I activly avoid twitter and facebook unless it is specific people. As for the shitty comments and them being toxic I recall Keith actually deleted one of mine. Allthough considering how contaminated that subject is I don't blame him. Even trying to mention nyances tends to get you stuck in the march toxic fumes. Diversity and what some people love to throw around "forced diversity" comes to mind. I can agree with pushing female for females sake sometimes to the point to exclude others can be seen as damaging. But then again so can pushing male for males sake....both cases potentially exclude others as well as potentially affecting the end quality. Doesn't make the discussion around it easier though. Edit; should add that I don't mind what you play as as long as it is properly done. I mean in tetris you literarly control cubes. The second subject would be Anita and gamergate. Anita mispresented several belowed and sometimes classic series as sexist and misogynist which understandably riled a number of people up. The continous attack that followed though could almost be described as legal harassment ...which didn't help in the slightest. No clue how to reverse the tone of agression that have spread through forums and social media the last 5 years though. It being aimed at creators or other players in games with pvp is just another expression of the same problem.

Solus

I'm one of those people that don't receive a whole lot of media representation, so it was very good to hear your thoughts on how you deal with shitty comments, and your reasons for doing it the way you do. 'ppreciate it :) (unrelated aside: the moment you got ganked by the Tauren bot-trio was unexpectedly nostalgic. We've been decluttering our place, and in the process found a whole stack of WoW boxes from back when my husband used to solo 5 character party things with his bots. Because he could and because he never was big on the whole social aspect of social gaming, I think)

seyren