[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Cole436

I hear what you’re saying. I want to be very clear that I am not saying that criticism of the game has anything to with being transphobic, bigoted, or anti-Semitic.

OK, but you kind of are. Case in point:

Originally Posted by Cole436

These people are likely the reason most gamers even know his name.

…

I think it’s important to acknowledge that so much of the negative discourse around Neil stems from these groups, and that people posting in a similar manner (while having no intentions of being anti-Semitic) are unintentionally posting in the same flavour of those groups.

First, you’re suggesting people only know Druckmann because of incel anti-semites, which is just… blatantly not true? It’s not even likely. Especially now, where he’s hosted a podcast/after show for the HBO series. It no longer makes any sense to suggest that group is the likely root of awareness of Druckmann.

Second, you’re literally saying that because so much criticism came from anti-semites, that people posting similar criticisms devoid of anti-semitism still have “the flavour” of anti-semitism (unintentionally). That effectively disables making any criticism without it being suggested that you’ve said something similar to someone ####ty.

I’ll use the adidas example again. Plenty of people wear adidas. Does that mean their fashion choice has “the flavour” of nazism?

If a homophobe says my jacket looks bad, does that mean everyone who says my jacket looks bad is bringing “the flavour” of homophobia? (Maybe it’s just an ugly jacket, or maybe none of them understand style!)

Pretty obviously no, right?

There are obviously some words that can certainly have a very negative “flavour” depending on how and by whom they’re used, words like “queer” or “trans”… but generic game criticism or generic criticism of a creator is not one of those things.

Originally Posted by Cole436

I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with stating we should be aware and mindful of the way we post and talk about people, especially in situations like this as it can easily be misinterpreted due to everything posted above.

Sure, there isn’t. But there is literally nothing in H&L’s post that indicated even subtle anti-semitism, nor has there been a hint of homophobia or incel behaviour in criticism in this thread or the other one. You essentially have to misinterpret it on purpose, in which case we go back to your fact that we should be aware and mindful of the way we post and talk about people, because unearned allusions to stuff like anti-semitism ain’t it.

Call it out when you actually see it. 100%. But there is no reason to call it out here.

If it was hard to imagine someone criticising something or someone without having an ulterior motive, I would even understand that, but it’s just a video game. And it has plenty of reasons for someone to have disliked their experiences with it, which then impacts their opinion about the people who made it.

The only reason to go to that well as often as you’re going to it is to either discredit any criticism as bigotry-adjacent or discourage people from sharing valid criticisms. And I’m not sure why you would want to do either.