Videogames 2023: Dreams of the Sandbox Kings

[Gorn]

Most of Rowling's income actually gets donated to things like women's shelters, orphanages, and supporting single parents. People are complicated, and shades of grey exist.

Yes, her views on trans people are wrong, but the Twitter-fueled need to declare someone an unperson over having crappy views should be resisted. 90+% of people on this planet who live outside of big cities in the West have far more abhorrent views than Rowling does. Should we boycott all of them? Since I see a lot of logistical hurdles if we should.

[Heartofice]

I know people who are extreme HP fans and others who play HL and generally they have zero interest in the personal views of Rowling. They don’t sit on Twitter all day talking about it or even thinking about any of it.

You’d be amazed how people outside of your echo chamber even live! 

They just want to enjoy the stuff they enjoy. 

[Derfel Cadarn]

7 hours ago, Gorn said:

Most of Rowling's income actually gets donated to things like women's shelters, orphanages, and supporting single parents. People are complicated, and shades of grey exist.

Yes, her views on trans people are wrong, but the Twitter-fueled need to declare someone an unperson over having crappy views should be resisted. 90+% of people on this planet who live outside of big cities in the West have far more abhorrent views than Rowling does. Should we boycott all of them? Since I see a lot of logistical hurdles if we should.

I wonder how many people boycotting Hogwarts buy Harper Collins books (like ASoI&F) which is owned by NewsCorp. Rupert Murdoch and his media empire have done more harm to the trans community than Rowling could ever manage.

Or buy games made by companies that make their staff ‘crunch’ to finish the game on time?

Or buy anything from Amazon, which treats creators badly (overly generous refund policies for audiobooks etc), and treat their staff appallingly?

That’s before we get to our clothes, food and drink, many of which are made by child labour and literal slaves.  Same with the conponents in our tech, the lithium in our batteries.

So I find it hard to get mad at people for buying a game whose IP creator has views I vehemently disagree with.

[IlyaP]

10 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

I wonder how many people boycotting Hogwarts buy Harper Collins books (like ASoI&F) which is owned by NewsCorp. Rupert Murdoch and his media empire have done more harm to the trans community than Rowling could ever manage.

I haven't crunched the numbers myself - as I said, I'm quite indifferent to all of it since 'magical school for wizards' was never my thing from day one¹ , but after asking some friends for someone who might be able to provide some figures, numbers, context, etc., a rather large number of people kept referring me to Jimquisition's Hogwarts Legacy². 

1. I was working at Dragon Books in Weston, MA, and was busy reading the Wheel of Time series when the Potter books exploded in popularity with the fourth book, which led to some impressively long lines out the door at the store where I worked)

2. Why can't people just write essays instead? I'd much rather read this as long-form piece than watch it as a video. *comical grumble*

 

[psynetik123]

Looks like MS's acquisition of ActiBlizz is a done deal at this point, with UK's CMA essentially approving the deal:

https://stevivor.com/news/cma-says-microsofts-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard-wont-lessen-competition/

Interesting times we live in. I wonder how Sony is going to respond.

[Kalbear]

1 hour ago, psynetik123 said:

Looks like MS's acquisition of ActiBlizz is a done deal at this point, with UK's CMA essentially approving the deal:

https://stevivor.com/news/cma-says-microsofts-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard-wont-lessen-competition/

Interesting times we live in. I wonder how Sony is going to respond.

The US still hasn't dropped their suit. I think its more likely but it is by no means a given.

[IlyaP]

Something I did not expect to discover today: Frostlands, from the WoW: Dragonflight score, has a very clear tip of the hat to the 1996 film The Rock: 

The Rock - Jade: https://tinyurl.com/228whb35

WoW Dragonflight - Frostlands: https://tinyurl.com/ycyx589e

There I was assembling a bookshelf, when this caught my ear and completely derailed my afternoon's activities!

[Poobah]

23 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

I wonder how many people boycotting Hogwarts buy Harper Collins books (like ASoI&F) which is owned by NewsCorp. Rupert Murdoch and his media empire have done more harm to the trans community than Rowling could ever manage.

Or buy games made by companies that make their staff ‘crunch’ to finish the game on time?

Or buy anything from Amazon, which treats creators badly (overly generous refund policies for audiobooks etc), and treat their staff appallingly?

That’s before we get to our clothes, food and drink, many of which are made by child labour and literal slaves.  Same with the conponents in our tech, the lithium in our batteries.

So I find it hard to get mad at people for buying a game whose IP creator has views I vehemently disagree with.

This is a very "and yet you participate in society" kind of response. 

We're are allowed to pick our battles, make our preferences known, and exercise what little power we have in our fucked up world as and when we are able. Just because we can't change all the things and simply existing forces us to make compromises with our principles it doesn't make our efforts any less meaningful when we are able to make them, some might argue more so, given that it requires swimming against the current of shit instead of just letting ourselves be carried along with it. 

Also I'm not mad at the person playing the game, but I'm equally entitled to not play it, and when the thread starts going in the "omg you should play this game" direction offer my own counterpoint as to why I disagree. Plus when they specifically ask what it is exactly that JRK did it's entirety reasonable to reply. 

[Derfel Cadarn]

4 hours ago, Poobah said:

This is a very "and yet you participate in society" kind of response. 

We're are allowed to pick our battles, make our preferences known, and exercise what little power we have in our fucked up world as and when we are able. Just because we can't change all the things and simply existing forces us to make compromises with our principles it doesn't make our efforts any less meaningful when we are able to make them, some might argue more so, given that it requires swimming against the current of shit instead of just letting ourselves be carried along with it. 

Also I'm not mad at the person playing the game, but I'm equally entitled to not play it, and when the thread starts going in the "omg you should play this game" direction offer my own counterpoint as to why I disagree. Plus when they specifically ask what it is exactly that JRK did it's entirety reasonable to reply. 

That’s kind of my point. Where the line between being able to separate art from artist is a personal thing.

But what I was mainly referring to was people declaring anyone who bought Hogwarts as being no ally of Trans folk is being hypocritical if they buy products made by companies that equally - or moreso - hurt the Trans community. Or indeed any community.

Don’t want to buy Hogwarts because of Rowling? That’s your choice. Denouncing anyone who has as an enemy of the Trans community? While giving money to Rupert Murdoch? Amazon? Nestle?

That’s hypocrisy imho. 

[IlyaP]

On 3/26/2023 at 11:17 AM, Werthead said:

Very interesting to see how the media responds to this. Multiple venues repeated the allegations against Avellone instantly, but, despite the news breaking hours ago, none of them apart from Forbes seem to have updated the news that the allegations have been retracted.

PCGamer have finally covered it: https://www.pcgamer.com/chris-avellone-accepts-seven-figure-payment-to-settle-libel-suit-with-those-who-accused-him-of-sexual-misconduct/

[Jace, Extat]

Never let nobody make you do something you don't want- least of all me

I only ever was excited to have a game that was playable and engaging from the second I bought it. It's the first time in a long, long, while that I didn't have to wait for the game to be made playable via patch or completed through extra payments. 

And I take issue with certain made-up words that, by their very use, imply that I ain't supposed to like something. 

I don't want you to feel compelled to play the game. I just wanted to share that I am enjoying it and others might also. My niece was absolutely taken in by it yesterday. 

[IlyaP]

9 minutes ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

But what I was mainly referring to was people declaring anyone who bought Hogwarts as being no ally of Trans folk is being hypocritical if they buy products made by companies that equally - or moreso - hurt the Trans community. Or indeed any community.

It's entertainment, not a necessary must-have-to-survive item. It's not vital to our daily existence, so some personal ethical choices are available to us.

That said, this is one ethical quandry we face on a daily basis in a capitalist society - as Chidi Anigonye displayed with his assorted moral dilemmas in The Good Place. 

But as information is made available about who, what, how, etc., a given Thing abuses, exploits, harms, etc, a group at any end in the production process, we can choose our actions accordingly and seek alternative options, depending on the severity of the transgression(s).

In the case of this non-essential piece of entertainment that by all accounts legitimises a writer with a set of views some may find disagreeable, it's not particularly challenging to not financially validate said person and associates by abstaining from simply buying this non-essential entertainment.

Above early-morning musings brought to you by my philosophy degrees. 

[Derfel Cadarn]

9 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

It's entertainment, not a necessary must-have-to-survive item. It's not vital to our daily existence, so some personal ethical choices are available to us.

That said, this is one ethical quandry we face on a daily basis in a capitalist society - as Chidi Anigonye displayed with his assorted moral dilemmas in The Good Place. 

But as information is made available about who, what, how, etc., a given Thing abuses, exploits, harms, etc, a group at any end in the production process, we can choose our actions accordingly and seek alternative options, depending on the severity of the transgression(s).

In the case of this non-essential piece of entertainment that by all accounts legitimises a writer with a set of views some may find disagreeable, it's not particularly challenging to not financially validate said person and associates by abstaining from simply buying this non-essential entertainment.

Above early-morning musings brought to you by my philosophy degrees. 

So you’re resigned to not buying the last two AsoI&F novels (if they’re ever finished) since they’re luxury items and Rupert Murdoch will be publishing them (assuming he lives that long)?

Or Robin Hobb or any Tolkien books since they’re also published by Murdoch?

[Kalbear]

10 minutes ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

So you’re resigned to not buying the last two AsoI&F novels (if they’re ever finished) since they’re luxury items and Rupert Murdoch will be publishing them (assuming he lives that long)?

Or Robin Hobb or any Tolkien books since they’re also published by Murdoch?

I don't think this is an equivalence; depends a lot on how horrible you view Murdoch's views and how directly affecting Murdoch this would be. IMO, the tie between Murdoch and the publishing is much more tenuous than the tie between JK Rowling and a direct adaptation of her work. 

But ultimately this will always be subjective - the level of immorality and unethical behavior you are willing to support compared to the value you receive is going to be different for each person. Just don't be surprised if that value is higher or lower than yours.

[IlyaP]

25 minutes ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

Or Robin Hobb or any Tolkien books since they’re also published by Murdoch?

I wasn't aware Tolkien was writing new novels. What the hell do you know that I don't?!

[Derfel Cadarn]

7 minutes ago, Kalnestk Oblast said:

I don't think this is an equivalence; depends a lot on how horrible you view Murdoch's views and how directly affecting Murdoch this would be. IMO, the tie between Murdoch and the publishing is much more tenuous than the tie between JK Rowling and a direct adaptation of her work. 

But ultimately this will always be subjective - the level of immorality and unethical behavior you are willing to support compared to the value you receive is going to be different for each person. Just don't be surprised if that value is higher or lower than yours.

Murdoch owns Harper Collins. Rowling’s involvement with the Hogwarts game is limited to allowing the game company to make it in exchange for (I assume) a big sum of money. I suspect she would not be happy at the character creation which allows trans female characters to (I assume) bunk with cis-female characters. 
 

Regardless, my point is people should be free to buy or not buy whatever product they want to. People don’t want to buy anything related to Rowling? I respect their decision. People hate Rowling but really really want to fly around an open world Hogwarts, separating the IP creator from the art? I respect their decison.

What makes me uncomfortable is denounciations I’ve seen (not on this forum) that people buying the game are betraying the trans community. People giving money hand over foot to organisations doing far worse to the trans community than Rowling ever could.

And that’s ignoring other stuff such as giving money to Amazon, or Disney (who as reported on this forum have fought to avoid paying royalties to authors).

Its a capitalist society and someone’s getting screwed somewhere down the chain. So boycott who you want, but don’t judge people who don’t.

[Werthead]

1 minute ago, IlyaP said:

I wasn't aware Tolkien was writing new novels. What the hell do you know that I don't?!

Tolkien has released four new(ish) books in the last six years, fifty years after he died. He's on a roll.

[IlyaP]

@Kalnestk Oblast summarised my thoughts eloquently before I could. Basically: "what he said". 

 

[Derfel Cadarn]

1 minute ago, IlyaP said:

I wasn't aware Tolkien was writing new novels. What the hell do you know that I don't?!

His estate released The Fall of Numenor last year, edited from material he wrote. Bought it. Some of that money’s going to Rupert Murdoch. Perhaps some will be invested in his hatemongering news organisations.

I did get rid of my Lewis DVDs because I can’t stand to see Lawrence Fox anymore. But if you want to buy them or stream them, then by all means.

[Kalbear]

Just now, Derfel Cadarn said:

Murdoch owns Harper Collins. Rowling’s involvement with the Hogwarts game is limited to allowing the game company to make it in exchange for (I assume) a big sum of money. I suspect she would not be happy at the character creation which allows trans female characters to (I assume) bunk with cis-female characters. 

Regardless, my point is people should be free to buy or not buy whatever product they want to. People don’t want to buy anything related to Rowling? I respect their decision. People hate Rowling but really really want to fly around an open world Hogwarts, separating the IP creator from the art? I respect their decison.

What makes me uncomfortable is denounciations I’ve seen (not on this forum) that people buying the game are betraying the trans community. People giving money hand over foot to organisations doing far worse to the trans community than Rowling ever could.

I think that in a capitalist society you also have to respect organizations that say otherwise and are picking specific battles. Calling them hypocritical for choosing that specific high profile one while saying no one should be mocked for doing nothing is not a reasonable or ethical decision; if you don't mind people not boycotting you should also not mind people boycotting for similar reasons. Even if it is not the most utilitarian choice to make a difference. 

And like it or not, Rowling is one of the most high-profile anti-trans activists out there. 

Just now, Derfel Cadarn said:

And that’s ignoring other stuff such as giving money to Amazon, or Disney (who as reported on this forum have fought to avoid paying royalties to authors).

Its a capitalist society and someone’s getting screwed somewhere down the chain. So boycott who you want, but don’t judge people who don’t.

It's a capitalist society; feel free to judge too.