Posts made by Lithium

@Thenomain said:

@wanderer said:

Here's a question to think about: why are male gamers like that?

I don't know, why am I like that?

I thought I had more to support this point, but my mind is fractured and I am sticking to my point about labels.

This is why I take issue with that whole idea. Because not all male gamers are like that. In fact, /most/ aren't. We tend to notice outliers more than the norm, but sometimes the norm gets so negative, we leave because we are just unwilling to put up with it anymore. That's human nature, it transcends gender.

As to MMO's, I don't use voice chat unless it's a raid. I will /gladly/ tell people I am a guy playing a girl (you know what they say about white lies after all), because A) I will be accused of it eventually. B) On /some/ MMO's (WoW, and EVE especially) there is enough of a toxic population that I just don't want to make myself a target, and C) I get judged on my skill rather than my gender.

WoW is so full of toxic vitriol that I rarely play it anymore. I stopped playing EVE when I joined an incursion group that was doing nothing but talking about porn, linking porn pictures and video's constantly, and being swarmed with cruder and cruder suggestions, innuendo's, and pictures they wanted my 'opinion' on.

Anymore, I won't even talk on voice chat in a raid. My microphone will be 'broken', so I'll type what I have to say and just listen.

@Arkandel That guy being sleazy is pretty common, we know (Well I know, usually, I can't claim 100 percent accuracy as it's possible I've missed stuff) when someone is being disingenuous towards us, or treating us like an object to be captured or claimed. Some of the time it's funny, some of the times it's annoying, and some of the time it can go waaaaaayyyy to far. MMO's aren't dating simulators to me, I just want to play, beat up the raid bosses, and get my loot like everyone else.

Also: I hate the idea that women are only fit for healer rolls, I tank, a lot. I DPS some too, the only game I am comfortable healing in is FFXIV.

@wanderer I don't need to know their story. I know that Gamers are from every social strata they are handsome, they are ugly, they are plain, they are homely, they are beautiful, they are horrific.

There are rich gamers.

There are poor gamers.

There are middle class gamers.

Unless someone did not go to school, does not exist as a part of our society, then they should /know/ the difference between right and wrong as our society sees it. They are making a /choice/ to assault people for whatever reason.

The one thing /any/ of us have control of, is how we react to any given situation. We are thinking beings that do not act only upon instinct and there is no excuse for anyone to do these things.

There is nothing to feel 'sad' about because they /chose/ to behave in such a fashion.

This whole thing, like the villains are somehow the victim, makes me feel sick to my stomach.

It's offensive because it paints these individuals who assault us as somehow victims who have no choice, lost any agency or control of themselves.

That is so very... very outrageous...

PS. Take a drink

EDIT: Not even going to /touch/ the idea that the 'hobby' is somehow a place where women shouldn't be safe, shouldn't be able to act normally, or should beware every male we don't know (And some we do). I just have no words for how wrong that whole idea is.

@Misadventure I was tired of defending myself from the 'proofers' and I know it is the wrong thing to do but I'd missed a couple of days and I got the sense that anyone I'd try to convince would simply disbelieve me and that the story I would tell wouldn't matter. The people who are going to see this as a problem, would see it as a problem already and those who wouldn't, wouldn't be convinced by me or anything I said. They maybe would only be convinced when it happened to someone they knew personally. They hide behind the shield of the internet, or maybe they are simply... assholes, jerks, trolls, or whatever.

My sister was raped when she was 14 by her boyfriend and two of his friends. It was a party. She wasn't drunk. She was't under the influence of any drugs but the police did not press charges, they wouldn't even sign off on presuming to open a case file on it because my sister had gotten in trouble for shop lifting alcohol in the past an so she was just a 'Problem Child' and it was her testimony against theirs. We were let without recourse, not even having money for a civil suit because we were poor and no lawyer would take he case pro-bono.

Where is the evidence for my sister to 'prove' that she was raped? Where is the evidence to prove that they gave her STD's that lead to cervical cancer? There isn't any, because it is her word against theirs and the cops in that situation were absolutely worthless, worse than worthless. They shamed her and worse we were threatened with possible defamation suits if we did try to press things.

Is that always going to happen? No it's not, but it does sort of make it impossible to provide this 'proof' that is so necessary to some in order to believe us.

Obviously, when a few years later I was assaulted... the cops did nothing then, there was no police report about sexual assault, just as there was no police report about my Sister's attack.

This is the problem with a burden of 'proof' to even /believe/ that these things happen. It's the same kind of thing that happened to other 'minorities' (Of which I am one of, which didn't help I am sure) during the Civil Rights movement and afterwards, even continuing today.

That these things happen shouldn't need to be proved, just as we are not expecting everyone or anyone to white knight for us but to simply realize that this /shit/ happens /every god damned day/ and that in order to combat it is going to require a change in the social zeitgeist is only the first step.

This is why people who demand proof, or are 'rationally skeptic' are part of the problem. It is the unwillingness to believe another human being that makes it even hard to stand up anymore. It's why so many of us keep our fucking heads down, and just deal because all to often to do otherwise isn't going to help us, it's going to make it worse and that is only reinforced by the 'proofers'.

It isn't us vs them. It's about a conscious shift in human nature.

If you've never seen it happen to someone around you, then so be it, that you would act if it did, that's good on you. Nobody (at least not myself) is saying that you are a horrible individual.

It's when that idea that just because you've never seen it means that it doesn't happen... that's when it's a problem, and makes me so very angry.

So maybe my saying someone is being 'part of the problem' is inflamatory, maybe I'm not the most eloquent speaker, or writer, or whatnot. This isn't a story from one of my books, I'm not editing myself for prose or to attempt to be a literary giant right now, but it doesn't change that to me... deniers, proofers, are all part of the problem that faces us every day. They are the people that /allow/ stuff like this to continue happening by shaming those who stand up, by demanding something that cannot be provided at times instead of just having basic empathy.

I am also part of the problem, because I put my head down to much, rather than dealing with people like @Tyche because my day is rough enough sometimes, and my confronting them... isn't going to change them. It takes more than me.

That's why this is such a huge issue. It's bigger than any one person, it's an everyone problem but first people have to be willing to admit there's a problem.

I'm done with this topic here because I'm done revisiting horrible trauma from my past because of internet fucktards.

I wish there were more people willing to stand up for what's right like that. The world would be a better place.

@Misadventure I agree. Even as he tries to deflect, he still belittles the issue at hand by the ever present call for evidence.

Now I am not saying that the company is doing the things she's saying they're doing.

Honestly that would surprise me because it'd be REALLY EASY to offer e-mails as proof of such a thing.

My problem is with the way people like @Tyche are responding in general, that because one person feels victimized it is somehow /weakening/ the case for /everyone else who has suffered these abuses/.

It doesn't /hurt/ anything. There is no 'evidence' that she is lying, there is no evidence that she isn't other than the /lack of evidence/.

@tyche said: I don't find the argument that if you don't accept the position of the poster then you are part of the problem.
Just maybe the typical response is rationally skeptical.

How are you not part of the problem? Nobody is saying that you need to attack this company, it's a call to bring to light the injustices that are being perpetrated every single day.

The fact that you think it is 'rational' to be skeptical when literally /hundreds/ (if not /thousands/) of women across the internet/world have said the /same thing/ points to how much a part of the problem you are.

On a side note: Why is SJW (Social Justice Warrior) even a derogatory thing? How did fighting for equal rights ever become a fucking /negative/?

@Tyche Not going to quote all that but:

You're part of the problem.

You're 'reaction' to it is exactly part of the problem. You immediately think bullshit, and like so many others, somehow try to apply what are story elements that occurred most likely to different people, as applying all to one person.

In a way it /does/ happen to one person. Everytime my friends face something like this, it's happening to me, because similar stuff /has/ happened to me. It's happened in front of me. I've seen it. I've lived it.

Not /all/ of that, but enough of it that I know it to not all be bullshit.

Nobody is saying that the person is being attacked by a gaming company, but /that/ does /not/ justify the idea that it is /all/ bullshit.

That none of it has value.

That none of it happens.

That stuff like that doesn't happen /because you've never seen it/.

I (and others) have said that it's not written very well, nor have we said it's an issue /just/ part of the 'gaming' culture (Though it does pervade it at some level), it affects all cultures, all people, in a variety of different ways (except possibly Aboriginal people who still follow traditional ways without influence of the modern world, of which, I think there is /one/ tribe that we know about, on an island off of Africa that hasn't been influenced by modern culture because they /kill/ everyone who lands or comes close to their island).

Certainly, some cultures are worse than others when it comes to the treatment of women, but it does exist.

Or I guess every woman who has ever been harassed or assaulted must all be liars and full of bullshit according to you.

I have been playing the survival mode beta, and, it's pretty damned brutal. I've died more times playing the survival mode beta... unfortunately they're pretty heavy handed on when you can save, and sometimes there's not a lot of opportunities to save, which is a pity because you can run into a molotov cocktail to the face and suddenly lose a pretty significant chunk of time.

That said... it's also a lot more fun than regular mode for me. It's difficult, challenging, I can't just kill everything I run into, I have to run away, hide, make smart choices of what I can and cannot attack, building a character in my standard fashion has been /rough/ but that's ok, I find companions stealthing when I do which is helpful, and they also provide very good distractions.

I'm not to terribly keen on them shortening the sleep day to 14 hours instead of 24 but, needing to sleep, eat, and drink is a great touch from an RP perspective and adds to immersion.

It can detract from the 'urgency' of the main storyline though, as you can't just blitz from one place to another. Even mole rats are a threat if you try to just stand in the middle of the pack and gun them all down.

Movement is a much bigger issue, as is cover, getting out of the line of fire, making the enemy move in ways you want them to to try and control the field of battle and where you engage them.

It's rough, and dungeons are... pretty damned scary. Even trying to do Corvega can be rough and I am dreading the synth dungeons, but... it is definitely more fun to me than easy mode normal play. I haven't found many fusion cores yet, and due to the weight changes I can't carry all that much to sell so my caps are lower than they were too.

Overall, greatly more entertaining for me though there are some moments of serious frustration when you eat a Molotov or someone throws a frag grenade while you are trying to stealth and you can't get away in time

Yeah I am enjoying the DLC but I also bought the season pass before it went up in price.

I like how you can take certain robot parts and turn them into weapons and whatnot, there's a lot of fun to be had with the DLC beyond the somewhat brief story part.

May the Mead Be With You!

@Sogan I actually think this would be pretty cool, I would definitely play that.

@Coin Absolutely. I said as much earlier Just you know, trying to discuss stuff and have discourse but... I will refrain.

@Arkandel There's a number of reasons why it could be bad.

1. He realized he was just not being accepting of people who wanted to play together, and he possibly impacted their fun for little or no reason.
2. He realized that in a strange environment we often are hyper aware of situations where we can be singled out and split off from our support and we don't do that because it can go very bad, very quickly. That's why they both left.
3. They left the whole /room/. They stopped trying to play /any/ game at Gen Con, for at least a while because he refused to let them play together in the demo he was running.

I think it was probably the third that he noticed more than the other two because the first doesn't seem related to the story, and the second... men just don't seem to notice.

We see it in pop culture all the time, men asking 'Why do girls have to run in packs?' I'll tell you why, because it's /safer/.

Most of the time we can't count on the people around us, they choose what they see, they choose what they respond to, they choose to justify or marginalize what they're seeing. They say things like: Maybe she likes/wanted that sort of attention or she wouldn't be dressed that way. Maybe that's how their relationship is. Maybe she's having a good time. She wouldn't be here if she didn't know this was going to happen.

We try and look good, feel good about ourselves, and we get 'Slut Shamed' or told /we/ are the problem. /We/ are why we're being raped and worse, as if it's somehow our fault.

The worst part of it is most guys don't do anything.

We're in a catch 22 situation, if we confront the people who are the problem, then somehow we're the problem for not understanding it's a compliment, or we're just being 'catty' or a 'bitch' or 'not accepting of a compliment. For guys they are Social Justice Warriors or Pussy Whipped. If we do nothing, if we try and ignore it and move on (Which is undoubtedly safer) putting distance between them and us then we are in essence /enabling/ it because we are allowing it to happen unchallenged.

As to whether it happens on games, for me, most of what I've seen is if a woman tries to play a /strong/ female character then they are often thought of as a guy playing a girl, and will be treated accordingly. If a woman tries to play a female character who uses her sex as a weapon, she's considered to be a guy playing a girl. Actually, it just happens a lot, that whole adage of: 'There is no girls on the internet' is still going strong.

As for forums and blogs and social media... yeah you don't need me to tell you how bad people can be.

@Misadventure In any given year there are around 90,000 missing people just in the US alone. There are also means and methods to disguise your feeding and your nature.

The World of Darkness is I would assume, even worse when it comes to missing people.

Then you have the willing blood dolls, the slaves, mental powers, blood bonds, etc.

I'm still of the opinion that it's not /that/ hard to hide feedings, if you're in a large enough population center.

@Misadventure Maybe, but I have played way to many MU*'s to just not be concerned where holes for exploitation exist and aren't addressed one way or the other. People are often competitive and that means they will use every little bit of power they can in order to make themselves 'better' than the rest. I also do not play on the game, just stating what I've seen on the few times I've visited there.

It's worth a vote down by the guy running it though so.. yeah.

You're right that there does need to be more direction, especially in a super hero game, and that is something that Aberrant did rather well: This is the world, now go crazy! Some people like tighter themes though where the 'bad guys' are clearly laid out and that ain't Aberrant. Everyone there is Shades of Gray depending on how you look at it. Except for the guys who go completely cray but that's a given.

To me though M&M is a system where you need a lot of GM oversight in order to make a conducive environment for play, and mass amounts of PC's with 1 staffer who works and has RL etc is... not a good fit for it.

Just my opinion.

Though I am not gonna back down on the fact that there are PL 12 people on the grid, when most people are PL 10 by the rules of CharGen which is sketchy.

I love the idea of a new d6 SW game, but I am curious as to why you would set it in a timeline when the Canon will clearly diverge from whatever the next movie will be like? You still have the problem with FC's being special snowflakes and the perception that often comes along with FC's (That the FC's are the only ones that count/matter).

Why not set it even further in the future, where the battle of yavin, the empire, the republic, and all of that are now history lessons? Or even Myth, maybe even forgotten. Then you have complete and utter creative freedom.

Admittedly it takes a bit more work, but, a game like that... that would be something imho. We could all have the same chance to make our own legends without standing in the shadows of Yoda, Palpatine, etc...

I don't know if this has been said, I am at work atm and can't be sure if I've read everything due to customers but I would vote against having so many settlements.

Having that many clusters for RP will diffuse the RP, spread it out, make it so that there's very little actual RP on the grid because your player base is all scattered.

The other thing is it will invite a pvp scenario, and pvp only really works if there is a large player base on /every/ side, or things just get out of wack really fast.

I love the idea of a Zombie Apocalypse game, I would be all for it, and I might even help with code (I can't do everything, but I can do a fair bit), but I'd need to see it toned down in scope a bit or else it's just doomed to failure (in my opinion) and would take time from my other projects which seems counter intuitive to do so for something I don't think would succeed.

Now I could very well be wrong, but, I think you'd get a lot more play out of having one major established settlement or safe zone, and then having that place fall under seige, would it survive, would it fall, the survivors would have to go on the road, in the zombie apocalypse to try and find some place new.

There's a real opportunity here to see some good horror based roleplay, but you have to be careful that the zombies don't just turn into a wussy threat that will become not much of a threat if pc's get to much power or whatnot.

It's a delicate balancing act.

@ShelBeast I don't think all those things happened to /one/ person, I think they are bits and pieces of stories that happened to a lot of people that they have spoken to.

In that way it is poorly written and as I said, I don't like the way it is written because it is written in a way that is intended to shock, but it fails and oversaturates(sp) the message to the point where it almost makes one want to discount on general principle.

The other thing is that sometimes things happen, and we react to them in ways that didn't really happen that way.

Maybe some guy thought it was funny or was crude or was insulting, or was a legitimate pedobear. Maybe a couple people laughed, but the whole tone of the memory was set by that /one/ thing happening, that one guy said that and everything else was just /wrong/ from that point on and it /felt/ like everyone was being like that so that's what she remembers.

It's hard to explain to someone who has never experienced that kind of thing in ways that make sense in some ways.

It's like when we get that one piece of bad horrifying news while we were at some place cool, or having a good time, or just a normal time and that bad thing makes it so /everything/ associated with that moment becomes bad, even if it actually wasn't.

However, these things /do/ happen. Most probably not all to the same person, but to multiple women, multiple people, more often than one might think.

It is easy to think it's all bullshit, until it happens to you or someone close to you.

@Jennkryst I think you might need to re-read or get a refresher on what the actual theme is like when it comes to space travel...

@Apollonius said:

(adventures! murder! politics! ** ripping my eyes out of my eye sockets as we steer our ship into a black hole to hell! ** )

Bold Mine.

+1 for Event Horizon reference.

Apparently, the Bold tag doesn't want to work for whatever reason. No idea.

@Tyche I dislike the way it's written, but I've seen and experienced some of what she writes about myself and fortunately I had a good group who took a stand and kicked out assholes who do that crap so it's not all bullshit.

She's also right about the way cops treat the victims in a lot of cases. My own history is proof that cops can, and will, refuse to file a report about rape without some physical evidence.

Maybe that's changed in the past twenty years, but I doubt it, if anything my faith in police is at an all time low in this day and age.