And so it came to pass. When the Newbie Blogger Initiative first crawled out of the fetid muck back in 2012 I wrote that this idea was rooted in “…the desire to partake in the imposition of new rules concerning bloggers in an attempt to “raise the bar” and “clean up their act”…”
In 2013 when it came around again I wrote that “…By doing this NBI thing they are slowly pulling in more like-minded people who might well suck as bloggers, (and hey, if you need special help to work out how the fuck to put up a blog and write words then I reckon the suck factor is going to be up there with my pal Linda L), but they will all be on the same team…”
In 2014 I ignored it because I had said my piece and that was that. But then something happened in the gaming community, something controversial … GamerGate.
This year my predictions have come to pass. The NBI has gone full George Orwell. You shall not go against the group think. You shall have the correct opinions. All those who do not have the correct opinions shall be cast out and shunned. For we have the numbers and all agree with us.
Don’t believe me? Of course you shouldn’t! Readers of this blog are encouraged to think for themselves, to challenge their view-points. So let me present you with the evidence and then you can go and make up your own minds.
The first NBI challenge that they must write about this year is … GamerGate. They didn’t even waste any time. While some bloggers were so outraged at this topic of conversation that all they could do was protest at the very thought of even having to consider writing about such a horrible topic, the subject matter makes perfect sense in the context of things. They are making sure that everybody has the correct opinions. Those that don’t will be educated to change, but if that is not successful then they will be expelled. The blogger at Dacheng Diaries participated correctly. They have demonstrated that they have the correct opinion by protesting at having such a topic in the first place. Job done. Let’s go to the rest who wrote about this and see what transpired.
Over at Me vs Myself and I, (Holy cow, narcissist much?), the writer is quite happy with it. “… I want everyone to just get along, and I want to play video games with members of any and all communities. I’ve curbed my language, I’ve changed my attitude, and being a part of the community that has sprung up around the NBI has done more to broaden my horizons than any group I’ve been a part of prior to it …”
Isn’t that nice? They had the wrong opinions but now they have changed so everyone can get along and they can all play their games and be nice to each other in a nice world where those bad people with other views don’t exist any more. The comments, (from other bloggers, how about that), all congratulate the writer on having the correct opinions now. Phew, close shave that.
Example number 2. Over at Game by Night there is a short post where the writer laments at the injustice of being a man whose opinions wouldn’t even be considered by Gamergaters, (hint, you have that the wrong way around). But even though he thinks this has put gaming back years, (?), it’s okay because “… I’d rather be a Social Justice Warrior than that kind of gamer…” Correct opinions? Tick.
Example number 3. At Starshadow, the writer says that she wanted to hide because she is female and she almost hid but then she didn’t but then she almost didn’t publish the post but then she did in the end thank god for that. Perhaps she should be given a ‘safe zone’ where she won’t feel threatened by all these horrible people. Correct opinions all good here.
Example Number 4. Murf Versus has written a whole lot of blather, (honestly, wading through these posts has made me understand why these people needed encouragement in order to blog), about how horrible it all is even though “… I most certainly have enjoyed a privilege in this whole GamerGate debacle because I have a penis, it is vaguely a shade of white corresponding with my race, and I enjoy using it on women …” Here, the writer is pointing out that he is of an unacceptable group but by pointing it out in a self-depreciating manner he is hoping that it won’t be held against him. Move along, no wrong opinions here at all.
Example Number 5. Contains Moderate Peril is shocked, shocked I tell you, shocked, that “… Some gamers have been shocked to find that many of the bloggers, internet personalities and friends that they thought they were on “the same hymn sheet” are actually not…” But even though the writer has been gaming for some time, “… GamerGate did make me pause and possibly take a step away from the term “gamer”. The reality of politics and moral crusades is that if you lie with dogs, you get fleas and GamerGate is far from a healthy pedigree. That’s one stink I don’t want on me…” All good here, nobody willing to hold on to a long held label in the face of group think.
Example Number 6. (If you guys think this is tough, spare a thought for me). I started reading scream monkey’s very long post and half way down I had the fleeting hope that finally, finally someone was going to buck the trend and stick their head above the parapet, (even though they had prefaced their post with “… I will be breaking a lot of my own rules about blogging, namely to not engage in issues in which I feel I have no real say and issues which are virtual landmines fields. I will likely offend people with this post and I do apologize for it …” Honestly, why these people blog I have no idea. Anyway, the blogger moved fairly quickly to a fence sitting position and then rounded out with “… I’m a privileged white boy who has no idea of what women really go through so instead I’ll share my passion about gaming and leave it at that…” Dear oh dear. If you have to apologise for your gender and your race then you ain’t privileged no more.
Example no 7. Mr Luvva came the closest to having the wrong opinion. He didn’t come out on the side of GamerGate, (are you mad?), but he did take a swipe at good old Anita Sarkeesian, so 5 points there. But, “… Videos were posted online, and if I’m being honest I took several measures to ensure that I wasn’t watching anything to do with that, nor did I read any posts/articles/ramblings either condemning or condoning it. I wasn’t a part of the problem, nor did it seem there was any real solution, I have made it my mission in life to take no active part in cyclical arguments, nor engage in any debate about it…” Stick your head in the sand, sing la-la-la-la, and hope the nasty forces on both sides will go away and let you play your games. Almost correct group think here but they’ll probably need to work on him a bit.
Example no 8. Hokage managed to express an opinion without actually having any opinion at all. But that’s okay, she’s female so she’ll get a pass.
Example no 9. Herding Cats used a bunch of memes to blather on about the fact that she no longer posts you tube videos and is suspicious of people who follow her on twitter with ‘gamer’ on their profile. So there you go.
Example no 10, and this is the last one I can find or stomach. Star Fired Beef refers to Gamergate as “The Terror” so we all know her opinions there. Then she says, “… Directly, I have been lucky enough to not be personally affected by this abomination. None of the hate has been aimed my way, despite me participating in some pretty heated discussions on various blogs. But I have realised, after reading a few of the other posts in this Talkback Challenge, that I have been affected, and that I continue to be affected, on a personal level…”
This is brilliant. So she didn’t get any hate alhtough she had some heated discussions, but then she’s just going to be effected anyway because … well, fuck knows. It’s emotional stuff, man!
So there you go. That was my Sunday morning. And that is the blogging community in the gaming world for you. Perfectly under control, and exactly where the group think wants them.
Thank god for Wolfshead who came out with this brilliant post this week. May the forces of light long rail against the forces of group think and darkness.
The Noisy Rogue 
May 10, 2015 at 4:00 am
“Example Number 4. Murf Versus has written a whole lot of blather, (honestly, wading through these posts has made me understand why these people needed encouragement in order to blog), about how horrible it all is even though “… I most certainly have enjoyed a privilege in this whole GamerGate debacle because I have a penis, it is vaguely a shade of white corresponding with my race, and I enjoy using it on women …” Here, the writer is pointing out that he is of an unacceptable group but by pointing it out in a self-depreciating manner he is hoping that it won’t be held against him. Move along, no wrong opinions here at all.”
Well, nice meeting you too, sir! A couple of initial thoughts:
I don’t think pointing out my privilege automatically means my group is unacceptable. All individuals, no matter race, gender, or whatever else, can add something useful to a dialogue. That’s the case even in times with they have enjoyed certain privileges, such as freedom from online harassment tied to sexism, racism, or a myriad of other -isms.
Also, I fail to see how what I said is self-deprecating. Well, unless your concern is over me not accepting the full whiteness of my penis, which I do. I mean, yeah, it is slightly pink and downright red at times, but I admit I am a white dude through and through.
Those aside, I am happy you bothered to read it and even link it, especially since you seem pretty against this whole NBI thing and pretty set on your opinion of GamerGate (which isn’t necessarily wrong, just an entirely different reading and different focus from my on, which happens with these sort of things).
We’re bound to be at odds anyway. I noticed in another post of your’s that you mentioned Ayn Rand in a positive light. I happen to think that she was a real cunt and her whole viewpoint complete bullshit. I still have friends that love her though!
It is probably against my better judgement, but I do enjoy genuinely thought out, intelligent counterpoints. This post wasn’t that in the slightest. It felt a bit personal, honestly, and it did nothing to explain to me any of your reasoned disagreements with the links you’ve shared. To mirror you, it seems like a bunch of blather.
I believe you are better than that and I am going to hit follow despite myself. Let’s see what you can bring to my blogroll!
May 10, 2015 at 7:42 am
Hi CT, thanks for playing.
As soon as you label someone based on their supposed ‘privilege’ then you are arguing the person’s background and not the discussion at hand. This is misdirection at best, but usually a debased form of ad hominem. So you speaking “all individuals no matter” makes no sense in the overall context of your paragraph.
I’m sorry for not writing a complete essay on all the links I have shared. The rest of my Sunday morning was too valuable. Regular readers of my blog, (numbering in the hundreds of thousands), know my well thought out and reasoned counterpoints well. Two of them have been linked in the first paragraph.
However, it is difficult to have the will to present a well reasoned counterpoint when the original opinions are so light weight and suffering from overall flim-flam. In case you missed it, that was the overall point. I do not intend to argue with SJBs. My purpose is to mock.
May 10, 2015 at 4:58 pm
My background WAS the discussion at hand. The question I was answering was, “How did GamerGate affect you?” I don’t see how I am misdirecting or debasing anyone by discussing how my gender, race, and sexuality limit me from a cultural event in which non-white, non-male, non-straight gamers felt directly or indirectly threatened or terrorized.
I think it is amazing that you know so much about me, my views, and can safely dismiss me using your labels. I am so thankful that your entire crusade for freedom of expression stops right at the point in which others, who may or may not disagree with you on many issues, express some very sincere feelings and perceptions about how an event made them FEEL. I am grateful that you are the arbiter of feelings in just the same way that your opposing side has many arbiters of racism, sexism, and the like.
I apologize for giving you a chance to be something other than another troll on the internet. Like you, I will apply a label and dismiss you entirely as being subhuman.
May 10, 2015 at 9:11 pm
I haven’t been called subhuman before. Thanks for surprising me just a little. Troll though, is sooooo 2009.
May 14, 2015 at 4:53 pm
“non-white, non-male, non-straight gamers felt directly or indirectly threatened or terrorized.”
Threatened and terrorized. By videogames.
Holy! Fucking! Shit!
These are the kind of spineless weaklings on the other side of this “discussion”. People who feel “threatened” by a goddamn videogame. “TERRORIZED!!!” by a fucking make-believe world.
Ready for some good ol’ white male evilness? Great! Here we go:
Anyone who ever felt threatened or terrorized by a videogame, please kill yourself. Yes, really. Please, i implore you, for the sake of the human race as a whole; your defective DNA could doom our entire species to destruction if allowed to spread. To be terrorized by the imaginary microaggressions of imaginary characters in imaginary universes until the end of time, shivering, lying on our fainting couches in a permanent state of “And I Must Scream” until the sweet release of death.
The future of our people is at stake, social justice cowards, and i beg you: for the greater good of humanity, please shuffle yourself off this mortal coil.
May 10, 2015 at 9:18 am
This was funny, made me laugh on several occasions! I also enjoyed the commentary on my post, burying the head in the sand is viable on the Internet. Always something new to be outraged about.
I took the title of the inspiration post as being more about after the issue, which is why my post focused very much on; not gamer gate, but my gaming life after.
Good satire was had on Sunday morning and I thank you!
May 10, 2015 at 11:52 am
i c wut u did their.
May 11, 2015 at 1:32 am
Wow. 8 ways of illogical thinking here. “Most people seem to be agreeing with how GG is a bunch of nonsense. THERE MUST BE A CONCENTRATED GROUP EFFORT CONSPIRACY!!!” Riiiiight. It’s not because most gamers in general think GG is a load of bull, and therefore bloggers are representative of gamers. Oh no, that makes sense. That can’t be it. It *must* be a conspiracy. Right.
Hope the tinfoil doesn’t mess up your hair too much, kid. Good luck with that.
May 14, 2015 at 5:21 pm
Actually, your use of the word conspiracy is the only one on this page.
In fact, let us consult the International Lord of Hate’s Internet Arguing Checklist.
1. Skim until offended. – Pretty obvious you did that, since you’re yelling about conspiracies. Check.
2. Disqualify that opinion. – Maybe. The implication that “most gamers” disagree with GG based on the incoherent ramblings of ten chucklefucks from your NBI may qualify.
3. Attack, attack, attack. – The use of “kid” to a dude in his 40s, the constant references to conspiracies and tinfoil. Double check.
4. Disregard Inconvenient facts. – As this is an opinion piece, no inconvenient facts were presented for you to disregard. You get a pass on this one.
5. Make Shit Up – Conspiracies, blah blah. Double check.
6. Resort to Moral Equivalency – nope.
7. Concern Trolling – nope.
8. When all else fails, Racism! – nope.
Three and a half out of eight. Some accusations of racism would have really spiced up your technique. Learn to troll, kid.
May 11, 2015 at 2:13 am
You mad?
May 11, 2015 at 7:14 am
I agree = brilliant. I disagree = brainwashed. Hooray for independent thought! Also, if you need help and encouragement, you SUCK! These are rules to live by. Go back to scratching in your diary, you non-blogger. Blogging has standards, you filthy brainwashed non-blogger. The internet is only so big. Stop wasting it with your bad blogging!
May 11, 2015 at 3:41 pm
LOL. Hundreds of THOUSANDS of readers? Really? I doubt that. You only fathomed 5 comments (4 of 5 are bloggers you mentioned in your original post) out of several hundred thousand readers? You sure you know how to tell the difference between actual traffic and not bot traffic ( a real issue facing bloggers lately!)? And you make the bold claim that Me, Myself and I is a narcissist? Fascinating.
Beyond that I actually agree with you. I found no value last year in participating in the NBI. Trying to encourage bloggers is great and all, but from a historical trend very few of them tend to stick with it. They are frequently only showing up for the attention and the need to attract regular sycophants.
I am quite happy sitting on the sidelines working on projects I actually care about then encouraging someone to write about topics I don’t care about.
May 11, 2015 at 9:07 pm
Not only are you a narcissist but it appears that you’re pretty dumb as well.
May 12, 2015 at 1:51 am
And yet none of your hundreds of thousands readers have yet to come to your defense.
I’d be surprised if your blog had more then 9 readers… because after you are done taking your shots at the NBI and its bloggers I doubt 8 of them are coming back.
May 12, 2015 at 8:42 am
oh gawd, the dumbness … it hurts so much.
May 14, 2015 at 5:05 pm
Holy shit, that must mean i’m your only non-NBI reader, Adam. Dude! Bestestest internet buddies forever?
Also, this dude may be dumb, but i don’t think he’s the me, myself, and the narcissist guy. He’s just some random troll come to yell at you for deviating from the groupthink.
May 14, 2015 at 10:37 pm
Sjonnar,
I thought we already were. Don’t cause me to doubt you, dude. Also, have you checked out life is feudal yet?
May 15, 2015 at 12:16 am
I have not. I was under the impression it was still in early access, and i don’t buy early access games on principle. Especially at forty bucks. It seems pretty interesting though, i’ll grant that.
May 15, 2015 at 11:04 am
I have to say, the NBI/anti-GG crowd all coming here in a squawking flock and berating you for doubleplusungood crimethink might not be the best way to demonstrate they’re not all about conformity of thought. For a group supposedly pushing tolerance and diversity, they show very little of it when it comes to people with different opinions. But then, that’s neither new or surprising by now.
May 15, 2015 at 10:37 pm
Yes, an excellent point. For a group that preaches loud and hard about tolerance they’re unsurprisingly thin on the ground about actually practicing it.
May 16, 2015 at 6:24 am
At this point, “liberals” are very like “People’s Democratic Republics”. Just as the latter is neither democratic, nor a republic, modern “liberals” are basically just the exact opposite of classically liberal.
May 22, 2015 at 1:35 am
I think I see where you’re confused. Maybe we should start by defining terms.
Broadly, a “conservative” is a person who wants to preserve existing social hierarchies and power systems, and a “liberal” is a person who thinks that these hierarchies should be flattened and that power should be distributed more evenly. (A “reactionary” is a person who wants to go back to social hierarchies that have already been torn down) Obviously the specific changes that these groups want have varied over time.
A “Classical Liberal” is someone who wants to take power away from the Nobility and the Priesthood and give that power to the Merchant Class. This was a radical idea around 1700-1800 but of course it seems awfully old-fashioned now. (To take one example: True Classical Liberals oppose child labor laws, on the basis that those laws “restrict individual freedom”. Classical Liberalism became conservative in the 1930’s and is ultra-reactionary today.
A “Social Liberal” (they became influential circa 1930) wants to take some power away from the Merchant Class and give it to Skilled Labor. (For example, by passing child labor laws.) A “Modern Liberal” (circa 1960), wants to broaden the Skilled Labor pool to include women and racial and religious minorities, with inclusion of sexual minorities becoming more popular over the past 20 years. They also have a certain amount of concern for Unskilled Labor; expressed in things like minimum wage laws.
With that background, we can talk about tolerance. “Tolerance” is meant to apply to individuals-as-individuals, and doesn’t imply tolerance of social hierarchies. Suppose it were 1900, and a nobleman said, “Why can’t I horsewhip my servant for breaking three dishes? My grandfather horsewhipped servants all the time; that’s the only way to keep Those People in their place!” Even a “Classical Liberal” wouldn’t tolerate that. She’d say, “That’s a horrid thing to say and you’re a horrid person for saying it!” If the nobleman persisted, then pretty soon he’d find himself no longer being invited to the better sort of party. If he persisted after that, then eventually Twitter would be invented and he’d be blocked on it.
TL;DR version: “Actually, it’s about Ethics in washing dishes.”
May 23, 2015 at 12:05 am
Howdy! Another NBI person here. Probably the silliest one! 😛
Since all of Gamergate flew over my head (I ignored it and now its become way too many things) I ended up posting a “I don’t really care” post, but that section on your other page which suggests supporting “game developers [to be] free to make the games they want and gamers free to play the games they want” is something I definitely support. Not sure I want the tainted tag that comes along with it though.
Anywho, good just to hear an opinion from a different perspective and I always like having new blogs to read. Adding you to my list. ^_^
May 23, 2015 at 2:57 am
Hi Joseph,
Thanks for your comment. I missed your NBI post, so sorry not to include you. I’m glad you support the right for people to play and develop the games they want free of intimidation from the PC crowd. Don’t be worried about the tainted tag. It’s tainted because the opposition is scared. Kudos for engaging and for seeking out a different perspective.
May 26, 2015 at 11:08 pm
I never would have pegged gamers as shills for Big Brother. It’s interesting that so many are buying into the SJW Orwellian thinking. That said, it’s also refreshing that there are many who simply aren’t putting up with it any more. That’s the aspect of GamerGate that I find most intriguing.
May 27, 2015 at 9:56 am
Hey Tesh, good to hear from you.
I think the biggest disappointment for me has been the near total failure of the MMO blogosphere on this issue. More on this subject to come.