Blips: Antagonist Gamer

Source: Fez II Cancelled, Phil Fish Confirms
Author: Megan Farokhmanesh
Site: Polygon

I'm not going to recap the whole Phil Fish / Marcus Beer debacle; it's an ugly mess that ultimately ended in the cancellation of Fish's recently-announced game, Fez II on his way to leaving the gaming industry entirely. People have been playing the blame game all day, but what are some easy things that could be changed to reduce the chances to such scathing social media brawls occurring again? I'd like to cite a previous Blips post, highlighting an article by Michael Abbott about positive communication. In short, always begin a conversation assuming positive intent, and avoid unnecessary antagonisms.

Marcus Beer goes by the moniker "Annoyed Gamer," and I can't think of a more repellant term to call oneself. I have enough problems using the word "gamer" to describe myself or anyone else I think well of, due to the label's negative connotations as a signifier of social and cultural ineptitude. Tacking the word "annoyed" on the front is almost redundant, since the first thing that comes to mind when I think of a "gamer" is a upper-middle class, white teenage boy gritting his teeth in impotent anger, inches away from a TV screen. Gamers are perpetually annoyed, no? I can think of no group of people more suited to the word "petulant" this side of fussy infants. Yet, Beer takes on this label and slings mud, going so far as to derisively label Fish under the catch-all term "hipster." Get it? He's annoyed.

I'm aware that Phil Fish has said his fair share of inflammatory remarks, but at least they feel like they're coming from Phil Fish, the opinionated individual who makes indie games, not someone who's job it is to talk about how things bother him, who happily embraces the antagonist role in a play that never calls for one. Phil Fish on the other hand, went off on a rant not too long ago because he didn't like that he had been labeled an "asshole" by Ben Kuchera on Penny Arcade Report. Mislabeled or not, that Fish did not want to be perceived as a trouble-starter shows a desire to be part of a non-combative atmosphere (though the way he ended up presenting his viewpoint may have overshadowed those intentions). Judgement is a matter of degrees here, but I'll take the creative loudmouth over the destructive one any day of the week. Unfortunately, in this case we're left with the opposite.

Blips: Give Empathy a Chance

Source: The Games We Deserve
Author: Michael Abbott
Site: Brainy Gamer

I'm often surprised by just how much my Communications studies in rhetoric and interpersonal communication as an undergrad have surfaced as resonant and useful beyond school. I was a double major, and always viewed my Communications track as secondary to my Fine Art studies, yet time and time again, I've leaned on those lessons as vital strategies for speaking with people in constructive and empathetic ways. Perhaps you've noticed that folks on the Internet aren't always the best at this, myself occasionally included.

In his Brainy Gamer blog, Michael Abbott lists some ideas to keep in mind as a type of checklist for speaking with people online in hope of generating a more considerate, less incendiary dialogue about video games. Think of this list as the digital age equivalent of the old "count to 30" strategy for anger management. It's easy to say "avoid mean-spirited language" and "don't be a jerk," but it's helpful on a practical level to have a more literal checklist of behavioral tendencies to look out for. Plus, as Abbott points out, if this stodgy, combative atmosphere is how the game community presents itself,  developers are more likely to create games that reinforce that behavior.

Through my work in teen education, I've also found it useful to "always begin by assuming positive intent." This is especially important when trying to cultivate communities that are inclusive and welcoming of people from diverse backgrounds. You don't lose anything by assuming positive intent, and it carries the potential benefit of broadening your understanding of a different side of in issue that you would have otherwise not been exposed.

Lastly, I wanted to point out Samantha Allen's "Open Letter to Games Media," with does a great job of laying out the responsibilities that providers of comments sections and forums have to ensure those spaces foster constructive dialogue. It's a nice companion to Michael Abbott's list that helps dissect the complexity of the issue at hand.

:image source: