Game dev here: it doesn't make sense that mysterious nazi symbols were showing up in game without people knowing who put them there. If they were using Perforce or another source control software you could easily look up file history. If not, you could likely look at file metadata to see which PC they had been authored by and when. Are they saying they knew it was him, or what?
"When they saw this version of the scene, a number of people pushed back, arguing that the scene would unintentionally trigger associations with date rape."
Villainous character does villainous things.... oh no? It's weird that they're ok with attempted murder but draw the line at something that might make someone think of rape.
“I’m sorry, but I’m at a loss on how to write a villain that doesn’t do villainous things.” - Lemony Snicket
With the total collapse of written entertainment journalism and most of the eyeballs moving to overly long video essays, twitch streams, podcasts, and reaction videos, this type of reporting is the last thing that traditional outlets like IGN have to draw eyeballs away from the competition. I'm not against this type of reporting. I used to read Kotaku a lot when Schrier and D'Asstasiano were basically the only people doing these deep dives into studios. But the demand for these juicy stories outstrips the supply, so any grievance is hyped up by underpaid reporters with big ambitions. You can feel the author trying to squeeze blood from the stone. It's sad and I wish there was more rigor. But if there was more rigor, there probably wouldn't be that much of a story. Unless she wants to write an article titled "autistic guy is awkward sometimes and is occasionally stubborn"
Wait, 18 is a Nazi thing now? I always knew it as the most fortunate number in Jewish numerology so uhhhh that’s news to me. Nobody owns numbers, dammit.
This IGN article is very timely in the Blocked and Reported lore, coming so soon after the gamergate and SBI episodes. IGN unintentionally just absolutely tells on itself, revealing how ridiculous and detrimental having these types of issues front and center for game studios is to the process of game development.
Hopefully Garriss's career sees no impact from this weird (and neurotic?) hit piece.
The article made me most sympathetic to Garriss because he comes across as passionate and reasonable, while the accusations of hidden nazism come across as reaching and buggernuts. He has a lot of good things to say about the team, sounds like an alright boss, and doesn't speak in vague social justice terms like "harm". The attempt to link him to these supposed white supremacist symbols is really shameful. A few years ago, this might have been enough to permanently tank his career (remember Chris Avellone?), but it sounds like his bosses have his back.
Throughout the '90s I closed all my emails with a "L&K"; finally one of my friends objected ("I don't want to have to think about your kisses"), but in the meantime I found in an old book on CB slang the CB abbreviation for love & kisses, which was 88. For years I closed my emails with an 88. Then eventually I sent out an email coordinating a friend's bachelor party, and someone I didn't know well thought I was seeding my invitation with Nazi symbols. A hilarious farce ensued.
"...but Life Is Strange shines because that type of content is chosen extremely deliberately and it’s given runway, it’s given space to breathe. This detail is irrelevant to the plot, it would have been traumatic for players, and there was no space to unpack it."
Wow, it's good these people weren't around when Sublime was popular. The idea that fictional scenes from games and movies can traumatize adults (I think it's possible with little kids, like when I watched Terminator 2 when I was way too young) is really odd. And what about people who have been betrayed and pushed into a mine shaft? No concern for their trauma?
I am very much looking forward to the day when the basic response to an article as dumb as this one is to shrug and let IGN collapse.
It might be time for that. Start treating this nonsense the same way we treated people playing records backwards and screaming about Satan in the 90s. Just - whatever. Enough.
"I'd like the villain in the story to do horrible, villainous things, but only things that I don't personally find *triggering*, and if you try to write something *triggering*, I and the other woke lunatics in this company will stonewall and bully you into giving us what we want."
So the first Life is Strange focused entirely on the drugging of women. Like how did this not get mentioned by IGN? Clearly the roofie idea was a callback to LiS.
I should note that LiS was originally developed by DONTNOD, not Deck9, so I am curious if that has anything to do with the hidden shame over the single most beloved game in the series.
Game dev here: it doesn't make sense that mysterious nazi symbols were showing up in game without people knowing who put them there. If they were using Perforce or another source control software you could easily look up file history. If not, you could likely look at file metadata to see which PC they had been authored by and when. Are they saying they knew it was him, or what?
"When they saw this version of the scene, a number of people pushed back, arguing that the scene would unintentionally trigger associations with date rape."
Villainous character does villainous things.... oh no? It's weird that they're ok with attempted murder but draw the line at something that might make someone think of rape.
“I’m sorry, but I’m at a loss on how to write a villain that doesn’t do villainous things.” - Lemony Snicket
Did they consider that the woods scene they went with might be triggering to those who had been brought out to the woods and killed?
Re: the Hagal rune - is it not possible that one of the developers is just a Dead Kennedys fan?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7f/Dead_Kennedys_%28logo%29.jpg
I feel like these people don’t know what Occam's razor means (and also need to start shaving with Hanlon's razor from time to time).
With the total collapse of written entertainment journalism and most of the eyeballs moving to overly long video essays, twitch streams, podcasts, and reaction videos, this type of reporting is the last thing that traditional outlets like IGN have to draw eyeballs away from the competition. I'm not against this type of reporting. I used to read Kotaku a lot when Schrier and D'Asstasiano were basically the only people doing these deep dives into studios. But the demand for these juicy stories outstrips the supply, so any grievance is hyped up by underpaid reporters with big ambitions. You can feel the author trying to squeeze blood from the stone. It's sad and I wish there was more rigor. But if there was more rigor, there probably wouldn't be that much of a story. Unless she wants to write an article titled "autistic guy is awkward sometimes and is occasionally stubborn"
Wait, 18 is a Nazi thing now? I always knew it as the most fortunate number in Jewish numerology so uhhhh that’s news to me. Nobody owns numbers, dammit.
Edit: Turns out 737 is a Nazi jail thing, and I thought it was just a crappy plane. https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/737 These guys aren’t very original.
You know what else has a hidden hagall rune? Bluetooth symbol. Nazis, nazis everywhere, man.
This IGN article is very timely in the Blocked and Reported lore, coming so soon after the gamergate and SBI episodes. IGN unintentionally just absolutely tells on itself, revealing how ridiculous and detrimental having these types of issues front and center for game studios is to the process of game development.
Hopefully Garriss's career sees no impact from this weird (and neurotic?) hit piece.
The article made me most sympathetic to Garriss because he comes across as passionate and reasonable, while the accusations of hidden nazism come across as reaching and buggernuts. He has a lot of good things to say about the team, sounds like an alright boss, and doesn't speak in vague social justice terms like "harm". The attempt to link him to these supposed white supremacist symbols is really shameful. A few years ago, this might have been enough to permanently tank his career (remember Chris Avellone?), but it sounds like his bosses have his back.
Throughout the '90s I closed all my emails with a "L&K"; finally one of my friends objected ("I don't want to have to think about your kisses"), but in the meantime I found in an old book on CB slang the CB abbreviation for love & kisses, which was 88. For years I closed my emails with an 88. Then eventually I sent out an email coordinating a friend's bachelor party, and someone I didn't know well thought I was seeding my invitation with Nazi symbols. A hilarious farce ensued.
When I saw that "Hagal rune," my immediate (and unnecessarily snarky) reaction was:
"Oh no! I have a Hagal rune on my keyboard. Oh god, and it's directly above the 8! Ipso facto: a secret Nazi clearly designed my keyboard!!"
"...but Life Is Strange shines because that type of content is chosen extremely deliberately and it’s given runway, it’s given space to breathe. This detail is irrelevant to the plot, it would have been traumatic for players, and there was no space to unpack it."
Wow, it's good these people weren't around when Sublime was popular. The idea that fictional scenes from games and movies can traumatize adults (I think it's possible with little kids, like when I watched Terminator 2 when I was way too young) is really odd. And what about people who have been betrayed and pushed into a mine shaft? No concern for their trauma?
And this is how the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper. Has any society ever fought so hard over so little?
I am very much looking forward to the day when the basic response to an article as dumb as this one is to shrug and let IGN collapse.
It might be time for that. Start treating this nonsense the same way we treated people playing records backwards and screaming about Satan in the 90s. Just - whatever. Enough.
Don’t read IGN. It’s sucked for a long time.
"I'd like the villain in the story to do horrible, villainous things, but only things that I don't personally find *triggering*, and if you try to write something *triggering*, I and the other woke lunatics in this company will stonewall and bully you into giving us what we want."
So the first Life is Strange focused entirely on the drugging of women. Like how did this not get mentioned by IGN? Clearly the roofie idea was a callback to LiS.
I should note that LiS was originally developed by DONTNOD, not Deck9, so I am curious if that has anything to do with the hidden shame over the single most beloved game in the series.