N.G. Geist · @ng_geist
23rd Oct 2014 from TwitLonger
A message to @feliciaday regarding #gamergate:
Dear Felicia:
I read your tumblr post, and you're mostly right. We of #gamergate operate under a current of fear.
What we're not afraid of is what these people say that women will take our video games from us. That has never been what we are fighting for.
We are afraid that video games - the hobby that has kept us company for so long, brought many of us together, hell, sometimes even gave the diversion for us long enough to not do something stupid in the midst of exclusion and discrimination - will be co-opted by people who only wish power and influence for themselves, and to hell with what gamers think, what lives they wreck, what lies they say.
You've already ran into some of them before.
And they've written multiple articles decrying the "death of gamers", simply because we wanted to know how deep the rabbit hole of conflict of interest went during one isolated incident. Sure, there were personal attacks, BUT THIS IS THE INTERNET. Who here hasn't thrown controllers, gone into a flurry of profanity at multiplayer, lost their temper, even rage quit at times?
Sure enough, these ideologues and preachers of moral panic overstated these attacks, immediately cried victim, all to cover their tracks from gamers trying to see the depth of this conflict of interest.
And thus, #GamerGate was born.
It is at its heart a desire for video game journalists to actually conform to the standards of journalists.
#GamerGate is a movement of inclusion. #NotYourShield came about as a result of us trying to prove that we - women and minorities - exist and support this hashtag. And recently, #NotYourScapeGoat was a response to the typical deflections and hasty generalizations these glorified ideologues made.
We also know that our quest is an uphill battle, simply because video game journalists have gleefully embraced the ideology of moral panic spewed by these "cultural critics" - modern-day Pharisees who keep pointing out faults but DO NOTHING TO HELP. The fact that these ideologues preach the commandment that "there is no such thing as objectivity" does not help when that is one of the things we KNOW is a standard of a good journalist, video game or otherwise.
We also know that hard times have come, simply because these hipsters in power have wielded it gratuitously and with impunity, slandering and libeling all who dare oppose them, conjuring up false flags for them to control their victim-driven narrative; conflating the attacks of a few agent provocateurs to paint everyone looking for journalistic ethics and accountability with the scarlet letters of their moral panic: MISOGYNY; even resorting to out-and-out bullying and character assassination to the most vocal of their opponents, all in the name of blocking, hiding, and escaping proper criticism and scrutiny of their words and actions.
So, all in all, you're right. We do operate on fear.
But... consider for a moment that courage is not the absence of fear. It is the will to do what must be done in spite of it.
That is why we soldier on: posting screenshots of these ideologues, hipsters, and cultural critics at their hypocritical worst; sending e-mails to companies advertising to the sites that perpetuate their distorted narrative that they may see the truth; and spreading information about #GamerGate to everyone with an open ear and willing to hear both sides of the story - because we are fighting for every gamer.
#GamerGate exists so that gamers may enjoy an unbiased, objective appraisal of video games.
#GamerGate exists so that gamers can enjoy video games without ideologues, hipsters, and cultural critics and their buzzwords of privilege and moral panic echoing in our ears.
#GamerGate exists so that video gaming culture can continue to grow naturally, and not forced by the words of a cowardly cultural critic who cannot answer criticism and their legion of well-meaning but ultimately destructive followers.
Finally, #GamerGate exists because we are a big family brought together by the love of this hobby. Family may argue, trash talk, and quarrel, but at the end of the day, this hobby binds us.
Please take the time to get informed about us. We will be glad to bring you up to speed on what's going on.
Sincerely yours,
A #GamerGate supporter and a fellow gamer
P.S. We are sorry to hear of your doxxing. Please see that every time there is harassment (of the horrible kind, not the kind our opponents do when their arguments are refuted) we have exerted every effort to find and flush out these trolls and agent provocateurs, even against our opponents.