This is a link to an example of the angry environment in
video games community. This is a disturbing trend that I began to notice to
occur in the past few years. Our class talks about conveying messages to
people. The article is about a Bioware writer, Jennifer Hepler, who help writer
the story of Dragon Age 2. She received death threats from internet forums and
twitter to her and her family life after leaving Bioware in 2013 to become a
freelancer. This situation and several others are great examples of
cyberbullying and creating a toxic environment for creators in the video games
company. The gamer audience is becoming a big nest of angry that misusing its
power and violently attack people. The gamer audience punishes creators for
making minor to insignificants changes in the game. This conveys a strong
message to any writer or creator who is interested in joining the business to
be prepared to receive harassments and death threats from self-entitlement
people if they step out of line.
Criticism is an important thing. It is needed in every type
of medium to point out problems and to help the creator to improve their future
work. The angry is the gamer audience is a good and powerful tool if used
properly. The many companies that support and produce game for the video game
indusial have a history of trying to take vantage the average gamer by release
incomplete game, Digital Right Management, and by using false advertising. I
believe there the angry in the gamer audience is reasonable and should be
calling out real problem, but they should be threaten people’s life
I think this is also a good example of the importance of mediating language. Death threats are definitely some the most extreme form of anger and aggression in speech. It is sad to see talented individuals such as the Bioware writer receiving these kind of messages when their business should not include this kind of hate. Constructive criticism would have definitely been the better approach by the gamers who were upset. In fact, that may be the best approach for any criticizer.
ReplyDeleteI remember a feminist activist wrote about how most gaming environments are sexist, and that certain video games were sexist. As a result there were death threats against her. Source:http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/10/15/3579863/utahs-concealed-carry-laws-force-feminist-speaker-to-cancel-event-after-death-threats
ReplyDeleteI think that this is another good example of cyber bulling in the gaming environment. The gaming community needs to learn to address these issues in different ways to make it a more welcoming and accepting community.
Do you think this example has more to do with the gaming community in general or the overall new trend in cyber bullying? Even though the example of the gaming community is strong, I think what is happening is even more beyond the gaming community.Since social media has become more and more prevalent, individuals hide behind computer screens attacking one another. Cyber attacks are more and more common because the Internet is where people can say hurtful words without direct contact and face the repercussions of their actions. I feel that there should be more of an initiative to control not only the anger in the gaming community, but the overall uprise in cyber bullying.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree with Michael that the gaming community needs to come up with a way to prevent cyber bulling, I also do not understand how the person being bullied allows it to continue for so long. You have the option to either block the person bullying you, or simply walk away from your computer, game, etc. This applies to any form of cyber bulling. Whether it is on twitter, instagram, facebook, or a game, I don't understand why it has become such a big issue.
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