How A Small Video Game Narrative Studio Wound Up At The Heart Of A Massive, Anti-Woke Conspiracy Theory

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

When I was still buying new games, I've had development studios I preferred, and others I avoided. Those were simpler times (and simpler games), when one small studio did everything.

Later, additional external companies got involved, and some tried to hide their presence. I remember when The Adventure Company started using a very customer unfriendly sort of copy protection, and I started using a list of affectted games, so that I could avoid them.

These days, multiple companies are involved with game design. As a consumer, it's only normal that I'd like to know who had their hands on developing a game I'd be interested in. I haven't played any games Sweet Baby was involved with, but if I did and had a strong opinion (negative or positive) about their work, I'd appreciate a list of games they worked on, to make a purchase choice that would suit me best.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'm not sure I understand what's happening here, but I'm looking forward to the five hour hbomberguy video explaining the whole thing in about 8 years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's gamergate 2.0: electric boogaloo

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

It definitely smells like that, except maybe just anti-"woke" or anti-minorities instead of just anti-women?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

Awesome writeup. I had heard that some very special individuals were trying to paint this company as "pro-woke", and therefore any game they touched should be avoided -- and that's obviously going to be nonsense, but it's good to see the full story.

[+] [email protected] -19 points 8 months ago (1 children)

shows how game journalism is shit and there as useless as sweet baby they deserve each other.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I guarantee your illiterate ass didn't read a word of this article.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Keep it civil, thank you.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Civility is for the case of people trying to have genuine conversations. There is no civility in people blatantly saying something untrue. There is no conversation. He has stood up on his soap box and declared a lie in the hopes that he could trick unsuspecting people. He deserves no civility because he has none of his own.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Then he deserves his downvotes, not your insults.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Por que no los dos? It's free

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

The rules are the rules.
They were collectively written to keep conversation as non-toxic as possible. If you wish to change them, feel free to create a topic on the matter.
In the meantime, my work is to upheld them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

that's why i play indie games, but mostly cuz im poor

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What was the saying? Don’t assume malice when it could be incompetence? Especially when malice requires a John Wick level of shadow organisation?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 8 months ago

I think it's

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Some ordinary gamers had a nice video about those racists.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Yeh I saw the same video. Right now there are tons of youtube videos made by different gamers (this past week) that have been expressing their dislike over how SBI have been terrorizing companies to hired them. Good this is coming back to the surface again so we are aware of these business practices.

[+] [email protected] -16 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Who actually cares? A niche group of people want to curate their games based on a personal preference. Nobody has the moral authority to tell them what they should or shouldn't spend their money on.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I think I'd have a problem with it if bad internet super sleuths came up with some nonsense reasons to try to destroy my reputation.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

That's no excuse to try to get a user's account banned. You might want to read up on some of their tweets. The ceo is also a sexist and a racist. The steam group had like 1000 people now it has almost 200,000 after the whole debacle. Reputation is earned not given. SomeOrdinaryGamer made a good video highlighting stupidity from both sides.

If they are proud of their work, why try to hide it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

That’s no excuse to try to get a user’s account banned.

I'd say it is. They highlight the part of Steam's rules against harassment, and while that's always subject to interpretation, they feel that this counts, and I'm inclined to agree.

The steam group had like 1000 people now it has almost 200,000 after the whole debacle.

Before this group blew up, YouTube channels with hundreds of thousands of subscribers were already making their bullshit conspiracy theories. People try to paint this as Streisand, but that's ridiculous. The Streisand effect is trying to hide something, which you still seem convinced they're trying to do despite highlighting their clients on their web page and getting listings in the credits of the games they work on. What it looks like to me instead is that:

sensationalist YouTubers paint this company as the devil
this curator is made in response
it gets a natural, human reaction from the people targeted by this group
the YouTubers from step 1 use that reaction to mean whatever they want it to mean

In no way did I foresee a way that this group didn't continue on the same trajectory with or without Sweet Baby responding to its existence.

SomeOrdinaryGamer made a good video highlighting stupidity from both sides.

I've seen one video from SomeOrdinaryGamers, and it was too many, but he's cited in this article as perpetuating the bullshit conspiracy theories, so I'm good.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

In an ideal world, yes.
But unfortunately these days people prefer to follow blindly their bias and people validating said bias instead of investing the time required to investigate by their own mean, with least biased sources.
I'd blame social medias that make everything quasi instantaneous, but it is just a component of a whole, not the only cause.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Except they're not just saying "we don't like this" and moving on. They're using dogwhistles ("woke" is only the first one) and 4-chan level type of slurs in their cries of conspiracy. It's a thinly disguised hate club, games are only an excuse.

They tried to progressively hide it from their group's front page, editing its language several times, but it was still there in the discussions in and around the group.

[+] [email protected] -6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

why are you just totally ignoring how this whole thing started in the first place with a sweet baby employ trying to take the group down and the account of the creator. yes editing it for people exactly like you that cant handle words on the internet and that needs to call everything hate so that you can get your way but that's not going to work anymore now like how it always should have been you are just very very funny.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Oh, bless your heart.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

I don't really know much about the sweat baby controversy, but whenever I see "bless your heart" it just comes of as weak tea as it avoids engaging with premises or arguments and condescends and I think it generally loses the argument from a third party perspective. At least I've never read it and thought, wow they really got them.

It might be trite but I always preferred agree to disagree as a disengage tactic. That's just my two cents on internet discourse though.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Small, weak people need an excuse for why they feel so small. One that deflects the blame from where it truly belongs--on them, for lacking the strength and courage to be better than they are. For lacking the spine to take a more difficult, more noble road.

So just believe it's not your fault, it's some mighty shadowy conspiracy thing of great darkness. Not just you being a coward and weakling. Much more preferable.

Games

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