'It's OK when we do it' seems to be the case.
Parting Comments
Hopefully, throughout this book, I've managed to make the case to you that there was more to Gamergate than what was being presented. That it was a genuinely important battle in the ongoing culture war, even if it wasn't responsible for Donald Trump or the Alt-Right. Hopefully, I've convinced you, through this, that Gamergate had a point about the problems with the media and the assault on the freedom artists need to create compelling material.
These problems exist on a wider scale now and, if nothing else, Gamergate has helped engage a large number of otherwise politically apathetic people in the process of social and political change. I hope some of you will draw the courage to stand up for what you believe in, what you value, and will come to understand that you can't just wait it out. More motivated and zealous people are coming for the things you love, and if you don't get motivated, they will take them from you.
When I created the Gamergate the Card Game I, intent on making a joke, called Gamergate 'the defining culture war of this generation'. I wasn't serious at the time, but now, years later, three years from when it all started, I think I may have been right. Many a true word is spoken in jest, as they say.
For me, as a teenager, metalhead, goth and tabletop gamer in the 80s and 90s, the defining culture war for me was The Satanic Panic and the lesser 'Vampire Panic'. That defined the subcultures I was a part of for that generation in a way Gamergate has for this generation. The scars run deep, the lessons run deeper, which is why it has surprised me so much to see so many people – who should know better – being anti-Gamergate. It seems when you accuse something of being 'problematic' rather than 'Satanic' people lose the ability to detect that they're being played.
Gamers make unlikely and uncomfortable heroes. They're rude, crude, politically incorrect, steeped in memes, in-jokes and Internet culture, but they also spend a large part of their lives – virtually – righting wrongs and playing the hero. Gamers' indefatigable defence of their hobby, even when their press and many of the makers of their games betrayed them, is something hugely inspiring. Perhaps we shouldn't find it unlikely that people who will grind their way for years through World of Warcraft and who will best Dark Souls will put that same determination against other enemies.
They only ever wanted to play video games, but thank fuck they looked away from the screen.
References
Poe's Law: “Poe's law is an adage of Internet culture that states that, without a clear indicator of the author's intent, it is impossible to create a parody of extreme views so obviously exaggerated that it cannot be mistaken by some readers or viewers as a sincere expression of the parodied views.” (Wikipedia)
"Comments on any article about feminism justify feminism." https://twitter.com/helenlewis/status/233594800908169217
Mark Ronson on Online Shaming https://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_what_happens_when_online_shaming_spirals_out_of_control (TED Talk)
"A section of the left that has an inherent hesitation to challenge some of the bigotry that can occur within minority communities for the sake of political correctness. For the sake of tolerating what they believe are other cultures, and respecting different lifestyles." http://bigthink.com/videos/maajid-nawaz-on-islamic-reform
'Youtube is Facing a full-scale Advertising Boycott over Hate Speech' https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/24/15053990/google-youtube-advertising-boycott-hate-speech
Gail Dines, Growing up in a Pornified Culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YpHNImNsx8
Theresa May to Create new Internet that Would be Controlled and Regulated by Government: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/theresa-may-internet-conservatives-government-a7744176.html
A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace: https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence
John Gilmore, EFF. TIME magazine (6 December 1993).
Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene (1976).
Pepe the Frog at ADL: https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/pepe-the-frog
Dindu Nuffin: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dindu-nuffin
Octobriana: http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Octobriana
How the Comics Code Killed the Golden Age of Comics https://www.buzzfeed.com/saladinahmed/how-the-comics-code-killed-the-golden-age-of-comics?utm_term=.afywrWzxd#.rsdWm2Xgz
Introduction to Psychology, James W Kalat.
https://web.archive.org/web/20060719052541/http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060524&Category=OPINION0106&ArtNo=605250314&SectionCat=OPINION03&Template=printart
Operation Choke Point https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/02/documents-about-financial-censorship-under-operation-choke-point-concern-congress
Impact of Digital Economy Bill on UK Porn http://www.artefactmagazine.com/2017/02/06/the-death-of-kink/
WSJ on 'monetised hate speech' https://www.wsj.com/articles/googles-youtube-has-continued-showing-brands-ads-with-racist-and-other-objectionable-videos-1490380551
Youtube Blacklist: http://www.craveonline.com/design/1245231-youtube-advertiser-claims-sites-blacklisting-provocative-channels-destroying-revenue
LGBT & Restricted Mode: https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/19/youtube-lgbt-restricted-mode/
Pewdiepie Apologises: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/02/16/an-attack-by-the-media-pewdiepie-apologizes-for-nazi-jokes-but-says-the-press-is-out-to-get-him/?utm_term=.7d6c0d13251c
'How to be a Feminist' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzcs4ti_bdI – Some will claim this is a quote mine but, importantly, while she admits that this was 'obnoxious' it was and remains her view, she simply dismisses peoples inability to see this 'truth' as being down to the comfort of living within 'systems' rather than disagreement.
Dark Erotica Vs Corporate Censorship http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mara-white/nikki-sloane-dark-erotica_b_10197502.html
Colbert & Occupy Wall Street: http://ew.com/article/2011/11/02/colbert-occupy-wall-street/
Reproducibility Issues: http://www.nature.com/news/over-half-of-psychology-studies-fail-reproducibility-test-1.18248
The Conceptual Penis: http://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/conceptual-penis-social-contruct-sokal-style-hoax-on-gender-studies/
The Sokal Affair: http://www.physics.nyu.edu/sokal/weinberg.html
The Playful is Political: https://gitgud.io/gamergate/gamergateop/blob/master/Archive/DiGRA_Transcript
Sarkeesian & Mandossian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaPbgNVuaEI
Sarkeesian Debunked in Under a Minute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW-69xXD734
Stolen Artwork: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132778-Anita-Sarkeesian-Stole-my-Artwork-Claims-Blogger
Stolen Footage: https://vicsorsopinion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/anitas-sources.html
Sarkeesian & Hitman https://medium.com/@adrianchm/anita-sarkeesian-and-hitman-256cd0301463
What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I’m the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the United States Marine Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit
. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little “clever” comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, kiddo.
Devs Owe You Nothing: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-11-why-devs-owe-you-nothing
Colin Moriarty ME3 Opinion: http://uk.ign.com/videos/2012/03/12/mass-effect-3-opinion-video
Suey Park on Huffington Post Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNK-e6nnFGY
Wage Gap Debunked by Feminists: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-hoff-sommers/wage-gap_b_2073804.html
Gender Equality Paradox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5LRdW8xw70
Pew Survey of Online Harassment http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/10/22/online-harassment/
Demos – Men Harassed More: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cheep-shots-men-get-most-twitter-abuse-bxlk3x50dz5
Treating Women Equally Seen as Sexist: https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/handle/10012/6958/Yeung_Amy.pdf?sequence=1
You're a Liar, You Suck: https://www.polygon.com/2015/9/25/9399169/united-nations-women-cyber-violence-anita-sarkeesian-zoe-quinn
Criado-Perez Trolls Arrested: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/twitter-trolls-isabella-sorley-and-john-nimmo-jailed-for-abusing-feminist-campaigner-caroline-criado-9083829.html
Gregory Allen Elliot: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/22/canada-man-twitter-harassment-not-guilty-gregory-alan-elliot
Gerstmanngate: http://kotaku.com/5893785/yes-a-games-writer-was-fired-over-review-scores
Ironically this story about Youtube corruption issues is written by one of the initial foci of corrupt games journalism highlighted by Gamergate. http://kotaku.com/the-messy-story-behind-youtubers-taking-money-for-game-1644092214
Dys4ia http://flavorwire.com/443187/the-dys4ia-debate-how-queer-creators-are-challenging-conventional-ideas-about-what-makes-a-video-game
Arthur Gies is scared of breasts: https://www.polygon.com/2014/10/13/6957677/bayonetta-2-review-wii-u
A Walking Simulator https://fullbright.company/gonehome/
Critical Theory: https://www.thoughtco.com/critical-theory-3026623
DIGRA: http://www.digra.org/
Satanic Panic RPG: http://thirdact.pub/games/satanic-panic/
UK Draft Law Against Space Invaders: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1981/may/20/control-of-space-invaders-and-other
Video Game Income: https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/global-games-market-reaches-99-6-billion-2016-mobile-generating-37/
The Little Grey Book: https://postmortemstudios.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/gamergate-and-depression-quest-made-me-code/
https://postmortemstudios.wordpress.com/2014/08/25/in-like-quinn/
Quinn Mugged: http://www.gamepodunk.com/topic/8380-story-of-the-day-developer-zoe-quinn-gets-mugged-indie-community-rallies-to-her-aid/
Zoe Vs Wizardchan: http://imgur.com/a/4VOcx
Quinn & Helldump: http://archive.is/Qb96g
Quinn and TFYC http://gamergate.wikia.com/wiki/The_Fine_Young_Capitalists
Polaris Game Jam: http://www.oneangrygamer.net/2016/08/chat-logs-reveal-zoe-quinn-admitting-to-sabotaging-polaris-game-jam/10429/
The Zoe Post: https://thezoepost.wordpress.com/
Columbia Rape List: http://www.thedailybeast.com/someone-is-writing-lists-of-rapists-on-columbias-walls
Gjoni and the First Amendment: https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/4u9li2/what_a_long_strange_trip_its_been/
Grayson Covers Zoe 1: http://archive.is/WtK25
Grayson Covers Zoe 2: http://archive.is/QwJbc
Grayson Covers Zoe 3: http://archive.is/mrVxK
Nathan Grayson Journalist Profile: http://deepfreeze.it/journo.php?j=nathan_grayson
Site Censorship: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/quinnspiracy
Quinnspiracy Mirror: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz--i3M4PVk
'Gamers are Dead': http://thisisvideogames.com/gamergatewiki/index.php?title=Gamers_Are_Dead
Cultural Libertarians: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/24/rise-of-the-cultural-libertarians/
Maher and the 'N-Word' http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/03/opinions/bill-maher-n-word-not-funny-obeidallah/index.html
Icky Speech: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/12/why-defend-freedom-of-icky-speech.html
'Freeze Peach' and how SJWs justify their censorship: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/2013/05/free-speech-vs-freeze-peach/
Dorito Pope: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dorito-pope
Who here hasn't slept with... http://www.breitbart.com/london/2014/09/18/the-emails-that-prove-video-games-journalism-must-be-reformed/
Gamergate Political Compass http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/841842-gamergate
Jordan Peterson Testimony on Bill C16: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnIAAkSNtqo
Gamergate is not Right Wing: http://www.gameobjective.com/2016/11/21/no-gamergate-is-not-right-wing/
Blame Facebook: https://www.wired.com/2016/11/facebook-echo-chamber/
Like Minded People Become Extreme: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/04/20/discussing-politics-with-like-minded-people-leads-to-more-extrem/
http://www.businessinsider.com/study-watching-fox-news-makes-you-less-informed-than-watching-no-news-at-all-2012-5?IR=T
AtheismPlus Block Bot: http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/08/bbc-newsnights-trolling-fail-warning-commentary/
Good Game Autoblocker http://www.newsweek.com/one-womans-new-tool-stop-gamergate-harassment-twitter-288008
Randi Harper Expose: http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/06/29/harping-on-the-hypocrisy-and-lies-of-twitters-most-notorious-anti-abuse-activist-randi-harper-part-1/
Block Bot Legal Issues: http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/03/20/bbc-featured-block-bot-runs-into-legal-trouble/
Wheaton's Law: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/wheatons-law
The Red Pill: http://theredpillmovie.com/
Gawker's Seven figures: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/gawker-gamergate-seven-figures
Rules for Radicals (Summary): https://www.steelonsteel.com/saul-alinskys-12-rules-for-radicals/
XOXOFest Vs Fighting Game Tournament: http://i.imgur.com/PnMSSQs.png
NotYourShield: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYqBdCmDR0M
SPJ Ethics Standards: https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
Guardian Leaked Email: http://theralphretort.com/internal-email-shows-guardian-mind-made-gamergate/
Leigh Alexander Profile: http://deepfreeze.it/journo.php?j=leigh_alexander
Murray Gell-Mann Effect: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2011/08/the-murray-gell-mann-amnesia-effect/
Pepe is a Hate Symbol: https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/pepe-the-frog
Peter Coffin's Girlfriend: https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/03/24/internet-comedian-peter-coffins-fake-asian-girlfriend-outed-in-blogger-feud-with-xiaxue/
Black Lives Matter: http://time.com/4413786/splc-black-lives-matter/
BLM racism: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/james-di-fiore/black-lives-matter-toronto-yusra-khogali_b_14635896.html
Heterodox Academy: https://heterodoxacademy.org/problems/
Progressive Stack: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_stack
Boys at School: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/18/its-no-surprise-that-white-working-class-boys-do-badly-at-school
Working Class Racism: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/9/15592634/trump-clinton-racism-economy-prri-survey
Katherine Clark: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/09/katherine-clark-fight-against-internet-trolls-gamergate/
Zoe Quinn Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/zoe
Google Ideas: https://twitter.com/jigsawteam/status/646783722570682369
Twitter Trust & Safety: https://about.twitter.com/safety/council
UN Consultation:
https://www.polygon.com/2015/9/25/9399169/united-nations-women-cyber-violence-anita-sarkeesian-zoe-quinn
Types of Fake News https://medium.com/1st-draft/fake-news-its-complicated-d0f773766c79
Leigh Alexander's Article https://archive.is/l1kTW
JournoList: http://www.politico.com/story/2009/03/journolist-inside-the-echo-chamber-020086
Inside Gamergate Page 19