Some more thoughts on Ion Fury, the FPS from Voidpoint and 3D Realms

Quoting: GuestYou can cut that "sexism" bullshit out of the article. The devs were set up and 3DR went fully bonkers about it!
More informations about this topic can be found here: https://twitter.com/SophNar0747/status/1164306204102995969

That said: Ion Fury is the perfect retro shooter! Love it to death and can't wait for workshop/mod support <3

Technically, if the claims in what you link are true, that doesn't make it a "set up". Nasty behaviour to be sure, but straight up what that describes is:
--A dev or devs from Ion Fury said some fucked up things in public
--Someone who wanted to mess with them went and dug up those things and publicized them
--People reacted to what they saw in the publicity, which was not particularly inaccurate
--A corporation reacted to the publicity in ways that reflect corporate priorities around reducing bad publicity and liability; these ways are on the heavy-handed side and probably counterproductive with respect to a certain segment of the US market.

A set up is where you arrange a situation; so like for something like this a set up would be if someone led the conversation around to prompt someone to say something that would look bad out of context, and then publicized the result. But nobody did, they just found and pushed the things somebody said all by themselves that looked bad because they were bad. And, well, that was malicious and brings us to the general problem of "Just how much should someone be vulnerable to the stupid shit they put on their Facebook or whatever?"
But for the moment, that's life in the big city. Don't say stupid obnoxious shit in public or it will be held against you.

The ironic part here is that, again, if your link is true this is a story of anti-SJW types screwing over other anti-SJW types (the developer/s) by exposing them, and still other anti-SJW types screwing over the anti-SJW developers by boycotting them for, um, doing the bidding of their corporate bosses like any sane person in this society would. And they're all blaming people who aren't transphobic for it. Hey, looks like y'all did this to yourselves.

Quoting: Samsai

Quoting: TheSHEEEP

Quoting: SamsaiNo, those two things are not necessarily anti-trans ("fagbag" probably still isn't nice though), but the whole anti-trans stuff happened on the Discord chat, not in in-game textures.

So what?
If people don't like what a developer has to say in their free time or don't agree with their opinion, they are free to not support this developer. I sure don't buy games from developers who I do not want to support.

But what happened here was the typical Twitter hatemob forming, demanding blood. And - even worse - the publisher/developer actually listened to that mob instead of listening to the people who bought their game and supported them.
It's quite a miracle no dev got fired over this as a pawn sacrifice - yet.

I mean, yeah, people can decide they don't want to support a developer because of their views. That's what happened, people decided they didn't want to support the game because of the comments some of the developers made, they just also happened to share with other people why they decided not to support the developers. All the things you've said here can easily be applied to the hatemob that formed when VoidPoint decided to apologize.

Also, you seem to be operating under the assumption that the people who expressed disappointment in the devs were some kind of outsiders who should be totally ignored when it comes to any complaints they might have. I was disappointed in how they handled things and I've owned a copy of Ion Fury pretty much since they released a Linux version in Early Access. Plenty of the people participating in the so-called hatemob had bought copies or at least had been considering buying it.

Indeed, a lot of the people criticizing the dev also bought the game the day it became available in Early Access, and have been streaming and promoting it the same way you have. That actually played a role in many of the posts I saw on the subject prior to the statements from the dev and publisher -- regret that they had been so excited about the game and then found a turd in the punchbowl again *heavy sigh* and comemnts about not having nice things.

These are gamers just as much as the (misguided in my opinion) defenders of the game's honour are gamers. There aren't two groups in that sense, most of the people involved have either been fans of the game for a while, or people who had been eagerly awaiting the full release. To claim this is some non-gaming "SJW" group versus "true" gamers is misprepresenting the situation quite badly.


Last edited by Nezchan on 24 August 2019 at 1:19 am UTC

Quoting: Samsai

Quoting: TheSHEEEP

Quoting: SamsaiNo, those two things are not necessarily anti-trans ("fagbag" probably still isn't nice though), but the whole anti-trans stuff happened on the Discord chat, not in in-game textures.

So what?
If people don't like what a developer has to say in their free time or don't agree with their opinion, they are free to not support this developer. I sure don't buy games from developers who I do not want to support.

But what happened here was the typical Twitter hatemob forming, demanding blood. And - even worse - the publisher/developer actually listened to that mob instead of listening to the people who bought their game and supported them.
It's quite a miracle no dev got fired over this as a pawn sacrifice - yet.

I mean, yeah, people can decide they don't want to support a developer because of their views. That's what happened, people decided they didn't want to support the game because of the comments some of the developers made, they just also happened to share with other people why they decided not to support the developers. All the things you've said here can easily be applied to the hatemob that formed when VoidPoint decided to apologize.

That is a completely twisted recap of what really happened.
Go to the forums on ResetEra, see how many people there (maybe somewhat less so on Twitter?) want people to be fired over disagreeing with their political views (and humor, obviously).
That's way more than just not buying something. And that's something that happens every single time something like this happens - and more than just a few people have lost their jobs because they dared to have an opinion.

Quoting: SamsaiAlso, you seem to be operating under the assumption that the people who expressed disappointment in the devs were some kind of outsiders who should be totally ignored when it comes to any complaints they might have.

Because that is the case.
The perpetually offended are offended by absolutely everything, always.
Nothing they say should be taken serious. Ever. They are the very embodiment of the boy that cried wolf.
I mean, sure, even a broken clock is right twice a day, but that can usually be seen by more than just the typical outlets of the "I-am-offended" culture (Polygon, Kotaku, ResetEra, etc.) making a fuss.
They are about as creditable as an article from OneAngryGamer claiming some dev tries to make people gay or some other homophobic nonsense.

Which, as I stated, was not the case - the game sat at a comfortable 94%+ (and very high even on metacritic) after the "controvery" appeared and nobody outside the usual suspects even mentioned this, because most people knew it was nothing to be upset about.

Quoting: SamsaiI was disappointed in how they handled things and I've owned a copy of Ion Fury pretty much since they released a Linux version in Early Access. Plenty of the people participating in the so-called hatemob had bought copies or at least had been considering buying it.

Definitely a false statement, see above. Yeah, you could see a handful of reviews saying they won't support the developer any more as they are homophobes or other similar nonsense. But those were so few as to be irrelevant, most people who were "offended" never planned to buy the game or never heard of it.
And I do not believe a single "I was thinking about buying this" statement when put in connection with "but now that I know these people are X", from either side. It is an easily told lie.

And, besides, just because you offended someone - even if legitimately so -, doesn't mean you have to take anything back or apologize. Someone being offended doesn't mean you did anything wrong. People need to learn to deal with things they do not agree with in ways that are not calling for censorship or firing squads (as in "getting fired", not literal death squads, though if you look at places like ResetEra or OneAngryGamer, we are not far away from that, either...).
Standing by your own work, opinions and team members is a virtue, giving in to a handful of people complaining (especially when it's the boy crying wolf) just a show of no backbone.


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 24 August 2019 at 7:14 am UTC

Quoting: Purple Library GuyThe ironic part here is that, again, if your link is true this is a story of anti-SJW types screwing over other anti-SJW types (the developer/s) by exposing them, and still other anti-SJW types screwing over the anti-SJW developers by boycotting them for, um, doing the bidding of their corporate bosses like any sane person in this society would. And they're all blaming people who aren't transphobic for it. Hey, looks like y'all did this to yourselves.

No. Just no.
This is a - often repeated - story of SJWs causing a tempest in a teapot (stirred by a troll in this case, but that just puts even more blame on them, as they let themselves be trolled, blindly, easily and willingly), and a publisher and a developer caving in to them without any good reason whatsoever* and actual fans and supporters reacting to that with the only at least somewhat effective method available to them.
What "anti-SJWs" did was not screwing someone over after getting trolled, but screwing a publisher and developer over who caved in to the demands of a few people who aren't even their core fanbase. Quite justified.

I am not convinced the developer is innocent in this.
Did they really have to do everything the publisher told them, including mandatory brainwashings sensitivity trainings? I do hope some more light will be shed on what really happened behind the scenes there.
At the moment, them happily censoring themselves is just as likely as being forced to - which still begs the question wtf kind of contract they signed to force them to this level of obedience.

If anything good came from this whole debacle, it is that some charity received money. Can't see any downside in that.

*The situation here isn't new. These constantly offended people and their little media circle is factually irrelevant - again, as seen by review scores whenever something like this happens. They don't make a dent in sales or ratings (or a minimal one, at best). There are endless examples of this.
There's a reason these magazines die like flies (just very recently, GameInformer, a very "outspoken" and politically driven site), ad revenues and reader numbers dropping like crazy.
More and more gamers have moved on from these outlets in favor of YouTubers with less of an obviously driven agenda and more specialized outlets (like this one) that do not annoy their audience with a never-ending barrage of political propaganda and offended culture.

However, the people in power, often PR people that are closely connected to that circle, have not realized or do not care about this. Which is why we continue to see cases like this happening.
I do hope that publishers and developers at some point realize this and stop caving in to demands that don't even come from their core audience.


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 24 August 2019 at 7:16 am UTC

Quoting: GuestYou can cut that "sexism" bullshit out of the article.

That is a quote from Voidpoint's statement.

Quoting: TheSHEEEPThe perpetually offended are offended by absolutely everything, always.

You seem pretty perpetually offended. So I guess you'd know.

It's mostly privileged white people that live in expensive cities offended on the the behalf of the "pour unfortunate souls" that they worship.

Those people need to grow the fuck up. In the Discord I go to, it's full of gays and they say F****t all the time and I heard my sister call a guy a P***y. The review bombs is the free market speaking.

Quoting: rustybroomhandle

Quoting: ageres

Quoting: Comandante ÑoñardoI played the DEMO and I didn't see anything controversial in the game...

SJWs can find controversy in a brick wall.

People who use "SJW" as a pejorative are the worst types of people. We need less of these in the world.

I understand "SJW" means different things to different people. Some of the worst kind of people will throw the term at anyone. Some think of "SJWs" as dishonest ideologues. And yet others will self-identify as "SJWs" and the term will presumably mean something noble to them.

But I'd wager most people, Ageres included, define "SJW" the same way as Know Your Meme defines it...
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/social-justice-warrior
i.e someone obsessed with a particular identitarian ideology and who will think nothing of throwing the worst kind of smears (racist, homophobic, sexist, misogynist, uncle tom, gender traitor etc) at people innocent of such things in a bid to promote their world view.
For those people it's not so much an insult as a description. It's a way of communicating information about a person. For example, if a celebrity was accused of being racist, a person's typical reaction would be one of disgust. Unless they were informed that the person doing the accusing was an "SJW", in which case that person would typically breathe a sigh of relief and look no further into the accusation. If someone dislikes "SJWs" it's not necessarily because they are the worst type of person. It's probably because they define what an "SJW" is, differently to you. Unfortunately the use of the term to describe people has become so overused and defined in so many different ways that the term is in danger of becoming useless.

Quoting: TheSHEEEP

Quoting: Purple Library GuyThe ironic part here is that, again, if your link is true this is a story of anti-SJW types screwing over other anti-SJW types (the developer/s) by exposing them, and still other anti-SJW types screwing over the anti-SJW developers by boycotting them for, um, doing the bidding of their corporate bosses like any sane person in this society would. And they're all blaming people who aren't transphobic for it. Hey, looks like y'all did this to yourselves.

No. Just no.

Five. Paragraphs. Later.
. . . guess not just no.

QuoteThis is a - often repeated - story of SJWs causing a tempest in a teapot (stirred by a troll in this case, but that just puts even more blame on them, as they let themselves be trolled, blindly, easily and willingly)

Nonsense. There are people who are offended by certain kinds of talk. I am among them--less strongly than some, but then I'm not gay or trans or such.
That makes them predictable in the sense that if you show them that someone has been talking that way, you know they'll be offended. But that isn't deception, and their reaction isn't blindness. For the people getting offended, they were offended by a real thing that they would get offended by no matter how they happened to stumble on it. If they got the information by rednecks falling out and backstabbing each other, well, whatever, that's not their problem.

I mean, say what had been said was something you do consider important. Say the guy had said he keeps a slave in his basement. If the mob found out and lynched him, it wouldn't matter if he'd been exposed by someone who doesn't care about that stuff and just wanted to get him lynched. It would only matter if he's actually keeping that slave in that basement. You wouldn't consider the lynchers to have blindly fallen for a troll, as long as that's really what he said.

Same here: The troll didn't misrepresent what was said, he presented screencaps of what was actually said. You can argue about whether it was okay to react, or how strongly, to someone saying those things. But how the information arrived isn't really relevant to the people reacting, as long as it's true information.

It is true that the reactions are strong. This is a lot like what happened decades ago with racist jokes. Nobody anywhere civilized tells racist jokes any more. But it used to be mainstream. Antiracists doing strong hostile reactions gradually made it beyond the pale. For a while racists tried to shrug it off. "Where's your sense of humour? You're being unreasonable" etc., but in the end it became clear that racist jokes were just an expression of being racist, and racism is evil, and so. Gradually it stopped being an issue most places; nobody complains about not being allowed to tell racist jokes any more because it doesn't occur to them that that's a thing you would want to do (well, except maybe in some parts of the US or at Stormfront or whatever--like I say, nowhere civilized). It seems like we're in that kind of shift with respect to gays and trans and talking smack about them as a group. So we're going to have this kind of hissy fit, and this kind of counter-hissy-fit, until the racist-equivalent side finally admits it's not a thing you do and then everyone forgets about it.

Something I don't often have to do: as of now I'm closing the comments on this one before it descends any further into hell. Take issues with me doing so? The forum is open if you wish to discuss how I and other contributors handle such things.

As the owner, I pride myself on our community most of the time being very respectful but there's times like this where I feel leaving it open will begin to attract more trolls and abusive comments. I hope people understand my reasoning behind doing so.

End note: I really do wish everyone could just get along no matter your gender, race, religion or anything.