Girl Gamer, Esq. - Latest Comments

Re: Tim Schafer pitches “New Game Concept”

Brian Rowe — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:47:11 -0000

The video was removed from a takedown :( Now I am curious was it fair use?

Re: Tim Schafer pitches “New Game Concept”

Brian Rowe — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:46:34 -0000

:( the video is gone from a takedown / banned account.

Re: Parody Video – Slytherin

Dana Ritterbusch — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 19:46:38 -0000

Well in that case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

We're doing Hufflepuff now and Gryffindors next. Eventually we'll reboot Ravenclaws since Ginny did it alone on her webcam. :D

Thanks,
Dana

Re: Friday Parody: Ravenclaw

Dana R — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:46:34 -0000

Have you seen her new video? Slytherins this time. I know she'd love if you shared it. C: (I'm in it too and I know I'D love it!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Re: Friday Parody: Ravenclaw

Brian Rowe — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:12:14 -0000

The video is not appearing for me... I found it on youtube and it is great, not sure why the post appears empty.

Re: Divorce the MapleStory Way

Tarah — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 23:40:39 -0000

Puh-leez. Peeps don't want sanity.

On another note, I've been reading the Honor Harrington series, in which the "Peeps" are part of the People's Republic of Haven, an expansionist, revisionist imperialist power (lots of 'ist's in there), and I bet you would love it.

Re: Controversy in Seattle Nerdom

medivh — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:37:41 -0000

I reject your false dichotomy. There's a difference between the dudebros at PA saying "C'mon guys, cut it out now, it's getting out of control" and saying "Look, we screwed up. Big time. We've got idiots launching death threats, bullshit is flying around and it's because we weren't big enough to see that there are idiots in every crowd. So, for our part in starting this mess, we're sorry. Now, people thinking they're defending PA? We don't need you to. Knock it off."

So it's not "damned if you do, damned if you don't". It's "damned if you do it badly, damned if you don't do it at all." The third option, and there almost always is one, is "do it well".

Re: Controversy in Seattle Nerdom

"M" — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 01:51:44 -0000

What about

Re: Controversy in Seattle Nerdom

Joeski — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:34:58 -0000

Thanks for being a cool head: I agree with you whole-heartedly: you had the original situation, along with the original overreaction, then Mike poured gas on the fire, then...

Well, long story short: nobody wins.

I honestly wish someone would mediate between these parties and find a solution where PA could atone, and the Rape Culture awareness folks could stop the attacks, but between Mike and Jerry now 'turtling' and the Anti-DW folks engaging in petty name-calling, spiteful slander, and even the occasional outright lie, it seems that we have 'irreconcilable differences' going on here.

As an aside, I don't know what your area of expertise is, but as a lawyer, what is your take on the legality of the bastardized Penny Arcade strips at fucknopennyarcade.tumblr.com? I realize that the argument of satirical use might come into play, but I think that is a very shaky foundation.

Re: Controversy in Seattle Nerdom

Sfvklkjfdnfkdj — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 19:41:49 -0000

Maybe they don't think they have anything to be sorry about? It's not like they weren't even more dismissive and insulting to people arguing that violence in video games creates a culture where violence in general is more acceptable. This issue triggers people more and has a different block of society behind it (more left-leaning than right-leaning), but the basic argument on both sides is the same.

Re: Controversy in Seattle Nerdom

Jay — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 17:39:49 -0000

It's hard to see what harm a sincere apology would do at this point.

Actually, nevermind: I guess they might lose the support of @teamrape and @rapefatchicks.

Re: Controversy in Seattle Nerdom

Erronkelly — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:19:51 -0000

So it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation, then? The best PA could have done at this stage of the game was make an open plea for the hostilities to end. They did that. The other option was to *not* do that, and then what?

Their response for a call to end hostilities has been met with negativity anyway. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Re: Controversy in Seattle Nerdom

Nwells — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 14:42:10 -0000

I agree about the original comic, but Mike's response since has done a lot to make the situation worse, and I don't think any of his "ceasefire" posts have really done much to help.

Re: Controversy in Seattle Nerdom

Harbour Master — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 04:01:49 -0000

I've been watching this one from afar and was surprised that it was still going after so many months. It's not the kind of thing I'd write about simply because I don't think I can offer much in terms of remarkable insight. Plus, it's a hot potato.

But I'd say part of this is playing into the current discussion on the "gamer misogyny culture" problem. It's a real problem with all sorts of examples - The Brainy Gamer covered one - and I've got embroiled in one myself on a site I frequent.

As with any movement to right the sins of the past (and, well, not so past) there is potential and sometimes desire to imbalance things the other way rather than rebalance. I would argue that Affirmative Action and female quotas are institutionalised prejudice aimed at fixing things with brute force. Do two wrongs make a right? Is this the equivalent of hitting a child to stop it hitting others?

I'm sliding off-piste here. I think we're wading into a period of correction and over-correction, where we fall over ourselves not to upset others and stamp on things deemed offensive - a form of political correctness in the gamesphere. This always raises issues of chilling effects, where censorship is implicit, enforced through fear of the mob. I'm tired of RPGs being populated with scantily-clad near-nude women who apparently only need a bit of armour over the breast and groin region, but I'm not going to demand a boycott.

Rape jokes are extremely difficult ground to tread on; perhaps not so much ground, more like thin ice. Having said that, I didn't think the original PA strip made light of rape nor played into the general misogyny of gamer culture. But such an evaluation is subjective; it obviously offended others. The reaction feels like the sex vs violence thing. Jokes about murder and killing are okay, and no one bats an eyelid. Sex, however, lands you in hot water quicker than you can run a scalding bath and disrobe. For the record, I just realised I ended my last web post with a coarse joke about being screwed; although the word used isn't rape, you can see it if you look hard enough.

There are a number of people who I respect that endorse the anti-Penny Arcade position, but I reserve my right to disagree with them. =) I agree they handled the initial response badly - I believe they were refusing to bow down to an "offended minority" - a rejection of artistic censorship - and now the thing has grown into some monstrous conflict that increasingly appears to be characterised as "pro-rape" vs "anti-rape".

Sad times but perhaps necessary fire and chaos until gamers can feel more comfortable about themselves as a community.

Re: Controversy in Seattle Nerdom

Tarah — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 22:47:47 -0000

I've been thinking about posting on the same topic. I have followed the issue too, and I tend to fall on the side of any creator's right to do as they please with their creations so long as they are not endangering others.

Did Mike and Jerry endanger women by their humor? I doubt it. I, like 98% of the people who read the comic, saw the critique of the moral character of MMORPG players and simply interpreted the rest of the comic as an illustration of the horrors we casually dismiss in-game. Also, it was funny.

Re: Dueling Analogs: XBL Player Alignment Chart

Tarah — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:39:02 -0000

If you find out who disincluded the ladies, I could always find out whether they could have 'issues' logging in. It's a dumb idea to piss off the women who bring you Halo.

Which, one believes, proves your point on a meta level.

Re: Update on the “Marvel Brothel”

Harbour Master — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:11:12 -0000

Thanks for the link Anne-Marie! It's nice to have people take the game "seriously" because most of the coverage has been pointing and laughing at the concept or some of the broken English.

Keep up the blog, I've been following you since your post on the Marvel Brothel legal perspective last year.

Re: New Schedule for the New Year

Harbour Master — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 20:16:57 -0000

I was doing two a week last year and that was pretty tough. Dropped to one a week for 2011 and should be manageable for me. Quality Vs Quantity, blah blah etc.

Re: Abandonware-like: ADoM

Thomas Biskup — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 08:58:05 -0000

Actually currently there is no paid version of ADOM - all versions are free. The i* versions might be the first ones that include some paid aspects - details will be decided in 2011.

Thomas Biskup
ADOM Maintainer

Re: John Hodgman on the Violent Video Game Debate

Brian Rowe — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:58:22 -0000

Ira glass in green suit is just great!

Re: Breaking News: An App that turns your Video Game into a Comic

Brian Rowe — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:19:30 -0000

Very interesting patent, patent 20100203970, seems fun. I wounder if it will include the 750 times I failed to slay Sindragosa or just the 751st when I finally won.... The power of revisionist history in every gamers hands. I am sure the idea is marketable.

But I am not sure it is machine dependent or original. Custom life experience comics are already in commerce, her is one example from thisisyourlifestories.biz . Apple has automated the process and focused it to gaming.

Re: Copyright Office says users may jailbreak their iPhones

amarra — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:01:23 -0000

Exactly! However, I don't know that I made it clear enough that violating the terms of service would still violate the warranty of the phone, and subject users to the breach of contract provisions of the iPhone agreement. The ruling just means that jailbreaking the phone is not considered a "circumvention of technological protections" under the DMCA.

Re: Copyright Office says users may jailbreak their iPhones

Brian Rowe — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:55:24 -0000

Very important ruling from the copyright office. We may see new gaming optimized OS's from third parties now for the iPhone.

Re: Hello world!

Amber — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:02:42 -0000

Can't wait to learn things.