Frankly, all during the height of GG, seeing otherwise rational folks give them the slightest benefit of the doubt?
This is the problem I have that made me post in this topic in the first place.
Who the hell is "them?" The swatters? The hurdur SJW people? The people who wanted to talk game's journalism? The ones trying to use the momentum of the hashtag to bring certain talking points to the front? People who just want to watch the world burn?
At the beginning there were lots of people using the hashtag as a positive thing and tried use it to guide an actual, legitimate discussion. It did happen. Really. There were also a ton of fucks who were using it to be obnoxious douches. Which was the problem and why I took the stance I did. Engaging with the douches and letting them run the conversation only really gave them more power. It drowned out the people who did want to actually talk and, perhaps worse, made people on the fringes more defensive.
You know why people reacted so badly to the gamers are dead articles? Because they felt attacked. Obviously we could ramble about the irony of feeling persecuted and alienated, but shock and amaze, it happens. Its a nerd thing. They have their own issues of being cultural misfits. What we're seeing now, unfortunately, feels like the logical endplace: the reasonable and rational people abandoned ship and left the crazies in charge.
Basically, I'm not sure (especially early on) exactly what attacking "GG" as an entity really did except maybe hasten the inevitable implosion. Perhaps it was totally impossible to co-opt from the get-go! Perhaps too much of the base was rooted in the "hurdur SJW" thing. But I feel attempting to guide positive discussion and shutting out the assholes certainly couldn't have done worse.
I dunno, this sort of thing puts me in mind of the recent protests in East Bay. When people loot and vandalize during the protests, should we blame the whole of the protest or do we shun the morons? And yes, there does obviously need to be a line drawn where the things are unsalvagable. We're certainly at that stage now.
But back a few months ago? I felt there was enough split in the base that, even if it was just a momentary glint, that it might be able to be directed in a useful direction. That you could get people to actaully shun the scum and talk. It didn't go that way, obviously, but I also didn't see particular harm in trying then either.
Edit: And just to be abundantly clear. This does not mean you should not call out and/or shun the assholes. Everyone should be doing that. They should not even be part of the discussion. This does not mean the history of what was happened should be whitewashed or ignored. Just that, back oh so long ago, that going "lolgamergater go kill yourself" and "Oh, you're part of gamergate? Fuck you you misogynist!" did nothing to help.
Gaming doesn't DESERVE to be taken as a serious medium yet.
See, this is what I mean. Why are you letting the morons dictate things? They do not even deserve to be part of the conversation. The fucks who are swatting probably also enjoy watching movies, listen to music, and I bet some have even read books, and they probably bitch about the "dur sjw infestation" there too. Should we declassify them as artistic mediums that deserve to be taken seriously? No. Things deserve to be taken seriously on their own merits.
Don't diminish people's hard work because there are assholes out there. It is insulting.
