"Plague of game dev harassment" (Polygon article)

So I just ran across this article on Polygon today while I was browsing another forum I habitually follow. To quote the opening paragraph:

To summarize briefly: It seems that a lot of game developers are being forced out of development because their respective Fan Dumbs go absolutely rabid over the smallest of development choices.

This may tie in to our "Are we in a Dark Age of Gaming" thread that we're having spirited discussions about.

This Jimquisition is pertinent, incidentally.

The internet makes communications, be it positive or negative, MUCH easier than it was previously.

Is it really getting that bad? Yikes.

Some people get ridiculous with these things. I don't understand it.

I don't know....

If we're talking about the impact of Fan Dumb on young aged studios, I'm gonna give you 'not much' as an answer.

If we're talking about the impact on creeps like EA, then I'll acknowledge its credency, but not the appropriateness.

EA isn't a developer.

People aren't good about most things, from what I can tell. No wonder politics are an enormous mess, we're not great with the less serious things either.

edited 22nd Aug '13 3:55:49 PM by VutherA

Egh... not pretty.

This isn't anything new. Hideo Kojima was getting death threats simply for not directing MGS4. Which would be about seven years ago now, or so (five years since the game came out, plus the time to develop it, at an estimate).

I'm certain Kojima must've been laughing at the dumb fucks too. I don't think he gives a damn one way or the other. I like that about him.

I don't think it can be denied that it's been getting progressively more intense. We're more connected than we where seven years ago with our youtube comments and our facebook. More people play together online than ever before. And those that disagree with the loudest mouths are often forced into silence. We've made a series of giant echo chambers.

Except he did get roped back into the director's position.

edited 22nd Aug '13 4:20:07 PM by ShirowShirow

Not only did he go back, but his hatred at being forced to do it is stamped all over MGS4 (which makes it no less a brilliant game; the guy is good).

Likely Ninjad. I apologize if others have already covered what I have typed.

I saw this article off of the Starbound forums when folks were discussing how touchy some of the fanbase there appears to be. The forum is fairly well moderated so it isn't bad on the forums but of course the forums are not twitter, email, or other forms of communication. The devs have reported occasionally getting nasty grams that range from harassment, comparison to varous dictators, to even death threats.

The difference from now and back in the day is exposure and level of interaction. The devs and companies are more exposed to all the seedy underbellies of their fandoms that have always existed but are much more visible thanks to nature of connectivity of the internet.

Game devs didn't used to have so much exposure or interaction with the fan populations. Add in more game companies are adding in forums for their companies where the fans coalesce and they know the devs quite possibly read and sooner rather then later you are going run into the bad side of the fan base. Then there are more and more devs putting their names our emails out there where they can be easily accessed by the population at large.

Even if they are only small portion of the fan base the nastiest elements stick out more and are more willing to behave in a manner that is more disruptive and normal.

Think about this for a moment. Say you have a fan base of 50,000 people. Say 1 in 100 of that fan base are the obvious and overt trouble makers. That is roughly 500 people causing problems. That is a lot of trouble makers. Bump that up to 3 in 100 the number of estimated trouble makers and numbers jump up to just over 1,500.

There are other problems too such as unmonitored points of interaction that can lead to fan bases becoming toxic. A inmates running the asylum issue if you will.

This frequently has a habit of making a community so nasty and toxic that it runs off the non-crazy fans. The cesspites frequently just attract more of the same.

Fans easily become addicted to the games or obsessed with them. You mess with someones addiction and obsession they are going to react with hostility.

This issue is not limited to videogames.

Options: None of these are intended to be a definitive answer or silver bullet. The scope and scale of the issue is a bit too broad for anyone solution to work alone.

• The fans who are not rabid can do what they can to try and shut out the more rabid elements but they often have minimal control of the community.

• Have all points of interaction monitored and well moderated. Facebook, forums, twitter accounts etc.

• Limit the areas of interaction to areas where the devs can more easily control or moderate the general population. Well moderated forums tend to give trouble makers the boot rather quickly or force them to moderate their messages to avoid being kicked.

• Limit the exposure of the devs to the fan base. Hate to say it but less interaction with the fan base would mean less encounters with the unsavoury elements that exist in any fanbase.

• Develop a way to deal with the hostile fan base in the long term.

edited 22nd Aug '13 5:54:27 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Honestly, I feel like it's the opposite of what everyone is saying. The big difference is not that fans have a means to communicate to developers. They've always had ways to do that (at least indirectly). The big change between now and then is that game developers are more able to communicate back.

It took more effort before the internet was big to contact a dev. Devs are are more directly in contact with the fan bases then they were before.

The devs being able to talk back has nothing to do with the heinous behaviour that has always been around. Even saying nothing can get you blasted and harassed.

This is nothing compared to what actors and musicians sometimes face.

Its just a sad fact of being famous. Nothing exclusive to gaming.

I didn't say directly contact them. In fact, I very specifically said the means of communication was indirect.

What I meant is that this is nothing new, but those of us who are sane and don't send people death threats are hearing more about it because game developers have a channel back to us now.

Or it could just be that the bad parts are doing their harassment in a public place (like Twitter) rather than private emails, so the general audience or journalists can see it more and inform people about it, without the devs now being able to tell us about it.

It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with being famous either. The devs of these games are receiving a lot of the same negative treatment as celebrities without being even remotely as famous.

The methods they are using now are still indirect. Direct contact would be face to face. Channels back have existed in the past as well. The direct channels back is not curbing the behaviour in the slightest. Devs especially indie devs have a much higher level of exposure and contact with the fan base.

edited 22nd Aug '13 6:20:29 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Probably because celebrities don't Nerf things

The difference, of course, being that actors and musicians tend to make lots and lots of money. Your average developer, probably not so much.

There's a point where "I'm not getting paid enough to put up with this" is the only response some people can give, and it's a lot higher for people who make millions of dollars.

edited 22nd Aug '13 6:20:02 PM by CorrTerek

I wouldn't say they're "not remotely as famous". Fame is dependent on the audience. They're famous to gamers, and that's the important part.

edited 22nd Aug '13 6:21:07 PM by BadWolf21

They are nowhere as famous as a well known actor. How many people know who Hideo Kojima is vs Arnold Swartzinager. It is not a good comparison.

Non gamers are not likely to know who Hideo is but even a non gamer is far more like to know Arnie.

edited 22nd Aug '13 6:24:48 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Don't worry, it took me a while to get his last name Schwarzenegger down too. I had to Google to be sure.

edited 22nd Aug '13 6:25:23 PM by VutherA