Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Plok

Game dev harassment: the other side of the story

Recommended Posts

The greatest threat to the video game industry may be some of its most impassioned fans. Increasingly, game developers are finding themselves under attack by some of the very people they devote their lives to entertaining. And this growing form of gamer-on-game-developer cyber harassment is starting to take its toll.

 

Developers, both named and those who wish to remain anonymous, tell Polygon that harassment by gamers is becoming an alarmingly regular expected element of game development. Some developers say the problem was among the reasons they left the industry, others tell Polygon that the problem is so ubiquitous that it distracts them from making games or that they're considering leaving the industry.

 

(...)

 

"I think fans harass developers for a range of reasons, but again, it is always about power and position," said [Nathan] Fisk, who was featured in Bullying in the Age of Social Media. "Fans are invested in the stories and worlds that developers create, and certain design decisions can be seen by fans to threaten those stories and worlds. Harassment silences and repositions content creators in ways that protect the interests of certain fan groups, which again is no justification for the kinds of abusive behavior and language seen online today."

 

The internet and the anonymity it grants has made harassment easier. According to several studies, Fisk said, the lack of social cues and perceived lack of consequences afforded online communication also changes the way people treat one another.

 

"This is particularly true in the case of harassment in gaming communities, as most of the abusive behavior is not grounded in local, offline relationships and social networks," Fisk said. "There are groups of fans harassing developers and representatives, and it can be assumed that very few (if any) of those fans have actually met those developers in person. Further, game developers are in many ways becoming public figures as they openly interact with gaming communities, and social networking technologies have made making contact a simple process."

 

(...)

 

Late last month, Treyarch studio design director David Vonderhaar took to Twitter to announce a patch to popular first-person shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. The seemingly innocuous changes included reducing the damage of one weapon and rate of fire on two others. The changes, which were fractions of a second, spurred threats of violence online and an editorial by Activision social media manager Dan Amrich.

 

In the piece, Amrich cautioned calmer heads and noted that a vocal minority were giving gamers everywhere a bad name.

 

"If you enjoy your games," he wrote, "have a little respect for the people who make them and stop threatening them with bodily harm every time they do their job."

 

Four days later, game developer Phil Fish got into an online argument with writer Marcus Beer, tweeting "I ****ing hate this industry" (for the negativity and criticism it's brought.) The back and forth ended with Fish tweeting, "I'm done. Fez 2 is canceled. Goodbye."

 

(...)

 

"I have approximately 70 messages on Xbox Live right now and half of them are, 'I'm going to kill you' and 'I'm going to find you and destroy you' and I haven't worked (at Microsoft) in two years. Even to this day people who don't know I left Microsoft still come after me."

And it goes on and on like that...

 

http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/15/4622252/plague-of-game-dev-harassment-erodes-industry-spurs-support-groups

Share this post


Link to post

Not a big deal... just bunch of teenagers sends messages in free time, because they have no other hobbies. If i would be so sensitive i wouldn't teach at school...

 

P.S. In Poland we have adage: "It is NOT a harassement, just simple **** around".

Share this post


Link to post

 

P.S. In Poland we have adage: "It is NOT a harassement, just simple **** around".

You can't call death threats "just a simple **** around" unless you're joking with a friend you've known for some time. And you dose your tone.

Share this post


Link to post

Welcome to the Internet Hate Machine X_x

Share this post


Link to post

You can't call death threats "just a simple **** around" unless you're joking with a friend you've known for some time. And you dose your tone.

 

Death threats... there is a difference between total psycho, and teenager who have too much free time with sense of total anonymity. As i remember in South Korea there was an incident: TV star commited suicide right after she have read mass of death threats and hate under her adress. Goverment passed a special act which validates every user of internet in Korea (it's obvious it's south) by special ID number. From now on noone threatens anyone on korean web. Maybe this is a way... but what would say anonymous?

 

You have to remember that most of users of Internet are kids - it is visible in such games as League of Legends or other popular multiplayer games. They threatens all the time everyone who is better, cheats or whatever, whether there is a reason or not. If i would take those sentences totaly seriously, i wouldn't leave the house at all and also relinquish my teaching practice.

 

P.S.Just enter 4chan and message that you prefer dogs... you will be eaten immediately.

Share this post


Link to post

Maybe this is a way... but what would say anonymous?

If this has a valid reason such as preventing such vile acts and doesn't lead to actual real-time spying, then they might leave it alone.

 

You have to remember that most of users of Internet are kids - it is visible in such games as League of Legends or other popular multiplayer games.

Not necessarily kids by the encyclopaedic meaning, but definitely people with a child's mental age. Take a peek at the official C&C Facebook profile, for example >.>

 

They threatens all the time everyone who is better, cheats or whatever, whether there is a reason or not.

The players are not the case here. The devs are. There was this one case back in 1999. At a gaming convention, maybe E3 (but don't take me for my word), 3DO announced the expansion for Heroes of Might And Magic III called "Armageddon's Blade". They involved a ninth, high-tech town (The Forge) filled with naga tanks, cyber-zombies etc. in a world of, well, might and magic. Not only did 3DO get legitimate criticism on this (not without a reason), but they also got death threats, which is by now a well-known fact. Hence, they removed the town completely and brought a new one (Conflux). How does this fill your description? It's a threat caused by dissatisfaction.

 

and also relinquish my teaching practice.

Teaching takes extra guts by default anyway ;)

 

P.S.Just enter 4chan and message that you prefer dogs... you will be eaten immediately.

They're a special level of idiots.

Share this post


Link to post

Developers need to develop a tougher skin. :P

 

Seriously though, its the way of the internet you can't change that.

Share this post


Link to post

No. It needs to stop. This bull**** about "it's the Internet" is just a lame cop out. Gaming, as an emerging mass media, will never grow beyond a stereotype if this is what pervades the public consciousness. I can understand dissatisfaction, and it is entirely appropriate to express that in a level-headed, mature manner. Death threats over creative differences is a little much and should basically not be tolerated. Toxicity is bad for the community and bad for everyone really.

Share this post


Link to post

Well, I think that if you're a game dev and you want to put out a version for a game or a genre because the other options are unsatisfying, you'll make it spending more time developing it rather than paying attention to forums and of course, you will probably sell less. In the other hand, if it's just another M2 product you'll have to rely on forums and low quality level of customers.

 

In my "experience" being 1 year and a half modding, I'm thinking of selecting a bunch of people and send them my MOD version when it becomes ready and give up on hundreds of downloads. But I don't depend on modding to survive, so it's a very limited opinion. Likewise, I joined the Shipbreakers "VIP" first wave in a hope to avoid this kind of customers in forums. Let's see what's gonna happen.

Edited by Solo

Share this post


Link to post

@Plokite_Wolf

 

If this has a valid reason such as preventing such vile acts and doesn't lead to actual real-time spying, then they might leave it alone.

 

I highly doubt it.

Such decentralised organisation will always have hardliners who will play in semantic meaning of such words as "spying" etc.

Those "hardliners" can be called LulzSec and other subgroups of Anonymous which will always fight for "freedom of internet" - no matter what.

 

Not necessarily kids by the encyclopaedic meaning, but definitely people with a child's mental age. Take a peek at the official C&C Facebook profile, for example >.>

 

Maybe i was too literal, but that is what i was thinking of.

 

What concerns the "missatisfaction" clause...

I ain't too much involved into gaming industry and i didn't knew the "3DO case", but i think, that if community wants to participate in game-building process, they should be involved in it, like does it Kickstarter or Gambitious. Only then gamers "(..)will think much more, and talk less" (paraphrasing the Chaplin's "Dictator"). Dev's only want to earn money, and if money goes in hand with satisfaction the "wolf is well fed and sheep save".

But this requires a complete change of thinking on both sides, because without gamers, developers would lost their jobs or would work on next MS Office and other office applications.

 

@Doctor Destiny

But hate speech is common!

Not only in gaming industry - in economy, politics (this especially) and mass-media.

 

Share this post


Link to post

but i think, that if community wants to participate in game-building process, they should be involved in it, like does it Kickstarter or Gambitious. Only then gamers "(..)will think much more, and talk less" (paraphrasing the Chaplin's "Dictator").

You're saying that if the players are to start thinking more, they need to invest their own money in the development and share their "ideas"? We already have that and I don't think it's been very fruitful thus far.

 

But hate speech is common!

Not only in gaming industry - in economy, politics (this especially) and mass-media.

You consider this a virtue?

Share this post


Link to post

@Doctor Destiny

But hate speech is common!

Not only in gaming industry - in economy, politics (this especially) and mass-media.

Does that make it acceptable? It's not acceptable and everyone knows it. There is free speech, but there is such a thing as propriety and tact. There's a place for slinging insults and that's on the playground in fifth grade. It's not for adults who know better and especially not for people to send death threats over things we call entertainment. Just because something is common doesn't mean it's okay.

Share this post


Link to post

After reading the article(s), I wonder what happen if this applies to all future EA/Activision/Blizzard gaming.

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

×