Women in the game industry

A civil exchange with a genuinely curious #GamerGate moderate who asks questions rather than flings accusations:

Vox Day ‏@voxday
As the game media grows, the probability of it being co-opted by women who want to make it all about their vaginas approaches 1. #GamerGate

René Dreadsteves ‏@robobeau 2h2 hours ago
I understand where you’re coming from, but that’s still a bit of a harsh generalization.

Vox Day ‏@voxday
Harsh or not, it is observably true. Most have zero interest in games, they just want to run the “insufficient vaginas” routine.

René Dreadsteves ‏@robobeau
A lot definitely do, but a lot simply want better representation, so I think it’s harsh to lump them all together.

Vox Day ‏@voxday
What is “better representation”? Precisely how would more vaginas being represented in Call of Duty or WOW improve them?

René Dreadsteves ‏@robobeau
More support for female developers, which is way harder than it sounds given the AAA game industry

Vox Day ‏@voxday
What “support” means is “someone to do the work for me”. Never happening. Game dev is too lean, especially at the entry points.

René Dreadsteves ‏@robobeau
Let me ask this: In your experience in game development, do you feel females have been treated equally in terms of opportunities?

Vox Day ‏@voxday
Yes. In fact, I’ve seen game companies bend over backward to recruit them. They seldom apply and usually can’t take the hours.

René Dreadsteves ‏@robobeau
Except female game designers are genuinely trying to stand as equals in the game industry.

Vox Day ‏@voxday
No, they’re not. They’re crying that no one wants to play their games. Roberta Williams just designed great games.

René Dreadsteves ‏@robobeau
Thanks for the reply. From an outsider’s perspective it’s really hard to tell one way or another.

I should add that when I was running a game development house, with multiple million+ development contracts with companies including Intel and Sega, the grand total of female responses to our various ads over a period of five years was one. That was an artist who responded to an ad for 2D/3D artists at MCAD and we did not even consider hiring her after interviewing her, viewing her portfolio, and learning that she was primarily interested in abstract art.

The reality is that the game industry is absolutely desperate for talent. But it requires real talent and an ability to deliver quickly and reliably, it is no place for anyone who is even slightly inclined to lean on others to help them do their job. There are women who can hack it. Roberta Williams was, and is, very well-respected as a game designer, for example. Scorpia was the single most respected RPG reviewer in the industry for years. Charlotte Panther was the News Editor at CGW; she was cute but she was also competent. Consider Scorpia’s opinion on the matter:

Question: Do you feel you have experienced significant discrimination as a female professional in the reviewing business?

Answer: None whatsoever. After considerable thought, I can’t come up with any incident of discrimination.

Sam Harris: genocidal maniac or suicidal logician?

Sam Harris is whining about the fact that people are still actively holding him accountable for the clear and obvious meaning of his written words, and he is still attempting to shade the truth while doing so.


“I know one thing to a moral certainty, however: Both Greenwald and Aslan know
that those words do not mean what they appear to mean. Given the amount
of correspondence we’ve had on these topics, and given that I have
repeatedly bored audiences by clarifying that statement (in response to
this kind of treatment), the chance that either writer thinks he is
exposing the truth about my views—or that I’m really a “genocidal
fascist maniac”—is zero. Aslan and Greenwald—a famous “scholar” and a
famous “journalist”—are engaged in a campaign of pure defamation. They
are consciously misleading their readers and increasing my security
concerns in the process.”

What a load of utter codswollop. Sam Harris clearly and openly and unmistakably wrote that it MAY be ethical to kill people for believing dangerous beliefs. Not for doing anything, not for harming anyone, but for simply BELIEVING CERTAIN BELIEFS. His repeated “clarifications” and obfuscations don’t change that established fact and he has never recanted his statement. Nor, I note, has he ever come right out and declared specifically WHAT beliefs are so dangerous that it is ethical to kill people for nothing more than holding them.

There is absolutely no reference to ACTION, only to BELIEF, in his statement. Don’t forget, his entire thesis in THE END OF FAITH is the intrinsic danger that  stems from the mere possession of faith.  Harris can’t complain about “selective quoting”, as the entire context actually makes it worse. He wrote: “Certain beliefs place their adherents beyond the reach of every peaceful
means of persuasion, while inspiring them to commit acts of
extraordinary violence against others. There is, in fact, no talking to
some people. If they cannot be captured, and they often cannot,
otherwise tolerant people may be justified in killing them in
self-defense.”

And then he compounds his justification of genocide with more deceit about his own behavior: “I have never knowingly distorted the positions I criticize, whether they
are the doctrines of a religion or the personal beliefs of Francis
Collins, Eben Alexander, Deepak Chopra, Reza Aslan, Glenn Greenwald, or
any other writer or public figure with whom I’ve collided.”

In other words, he’s pleading ignorance in the vast panoply of untruths he has told about Christianity, history, and other matters. In TIA, I showed what a sloppy and careless thinker Harris is; it is no surprise that his carelessness with words is still coming back to haunt him. I mean, look at his idiotic trainwreck of a defense here:

“Aslan and Greenwald know that nowhere in my work do I suggest that we kill harmless people for thought crimes.”

No, Sam, you expressly justify killing DANGEROUS people for thought crimes. And just who will decide who is dangerous and who is harmless? You? Roger Goodell? The Learned Elders of Zion? The Pope? Ironically enough, it is Harris’s own logic that would clearly justify killing Sam Harris. Look, I think Sam Harris is actually a likeable, well-meaning individual who isn’t quite a smart as his fans believe him to be. But Harris desperately needs to stop trying to defend the indefensible, admit that he fucked up on this as he did with both the “religion causes war” and “Red State” arguments, own up to his mistakes, and recant his lunatic justification for thought-based genocide.

He should simply say: “I was wrong. It is not ethical to kill people for their beliefs, no matter how dangerous those beliefs may be.” Or, if he can’t honestly do that, he should be forthright and say: “It is ethical to kill people for excessively dangerous beliefs, and those beliefs are: X, Y, and Z.” If he won’t do either, he will fully merit the criticism and contempt that will continue to flow his way.

ASP programmer wanted

A member of the Dread Ilk is looking for a project programmer:

I have need for a programmer familiar with ASP.NET.  The project is mostly
completed and I need someone to jump in an assist with finishing it.  It
could lead to additional work including a permanent position.

If you’re interested and qualified, send me an email with ASP in the subject and I will forward it. And if you’re someone with a job, particularly one that is location-independent, don’t hesitate to let me know so I can post it here. The Dread Ilk have a tremendous pool of talent and experience, and range everywhere from Finland to Australia, so don’t hesitate to draw upon that pool when you’re looking for people to hire for your organizations or projects.

Ebola spreads in the USA

First, they said it would never get to the USA. Then they said it wouldn’t spread to the health care workers:

A hospital worker here who helped treat the Liberian man who died last week of the Ebola virus has tested positive for the disease, even though the worker was wearing a gown, gloves, mask and other protective gear when coming into contact with the victim, officials said Sunday.

The hospital employee, a woman whom officials did not identify, worked at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, died last Wednesday. The health care worker reported a low-grade fever Friday night, went to the hospital at some point after that and was immediately admitted and put in isolation, officials said.

One wonders what will be the next statement from a government official on the subject to be exposed as false. Note that a nurse in Spain also caught the virus from a Spanish man who was brought back to Spain by his government for treatment.

VPFL Week 5

70 Mounds View Meerkats (4-1)
60 Texas Chili Eaters (4-1)

86 Greenfield Grizzlies (4-1)
80 Boot Hill Bogs (0-5)

55 RR Redbeards (4-1)
47 Clerical Errs (0-5)

68 Gilbert Gamma Rays (3-2)
66 Bane Cornshuckers (2-3)

66 King (2-3)
54 Favre Dollar Footlongs (2-3)

About six years

That’s how much time the American can-kicking in Iraq bought. Of course, it is readily apparent that this was rather like going buying time in order to go from the frying pan into the blast furnace.  Another prescient selection from William S. Lind’s forthcoming ON WAR:

A piece in the December 27, 2007 Cleveland Plain Dealer, “Vote on fate of Kirkuk postponed,” by Tina Susman and Asso Ahmed of the L.A. Times, reported that: “Kurdish lawmakers agreed Wednesday to a six-month delay in a referendum on whether the oil-rich city of Kirkuk should join the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan or remain under Iraqi central government control….Also Wednesday, the head of the Iraqi parliament’s constitutional review committee, Humam Hamoudi, said he would request a three-month delay in rewriting the national constitution. That would mark the fourth time the target date…has been put off.”

As the Iraqis kick the can down the road, so do the Americans. The American-funded Sunni militia, aka the Concerned Local Citizens or the Awakening, has grown to 72,000 volunteers in nearly 300 communities in Iraq. They have been credited with reducing violence in some of Iraq’s most violent areas. But many people, including some Sunnis, worry that the groups could destabilize Iraq.

The concern is a valid one. With our usual charming naiveté, we seem to think the Sunnis have become our friends. But they are merely using us to help them get ready for the next round with the Shiites and, in the case of Kirkuk, the Kurds.

They were indeed, as “destabilize” is a mild way of putting it. That American-funded Sunni militia, aka the Concerned Local Citizens aka the Awakening aka the Islamic State, is now engaged in successfully fighting that anticipated next round with both the Shiites and the Kurds. They’ve not only taken Kirkuk and are pressing the Kurds hard in the north, but are also threatening to besiege a Baghdad ruled by a crumbling Shiite US-puppet government.

As in the case of al Qaeda, the Islamic State was directly subsidized by the American government. If this sort of repetitive blowback does not suffice to convince you that expansionist imperialism abroad is a fool’s game, then one can only conclude that you are one of those Aristotle characterized as impervious to information. We don’t always have to do something, especially when that something has the predictable probability of making matters worse.

TSA battles Ebola

Or not, as it happens:

The World Health Organization is sending doctors to countries where the virus is most prevalent — Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Fusion’s Jorge Ramos spoke to one of the doctors, Dr. Aileen Marty, who recently returned home to Miami after spending 31 days in Nigeria. She says she was surprised what happened when she arrived at Miami International Airport.

“I get to the kiosk…mark the fact that I’ve been in Nigeria and nobody cares, nobody stopped me,” Marty said.

“Not a single test?” Ramos asked her, surprised.

“Nothing,” Marty answered.

Some say evil, some say incompetent. I fail to see why the Obola administration can’t be both. Let’s face it, our best hope is that the whole thing simply burns itself out without a great deal of help from the obviously overmatched medical community.

So much for that whole “science just works, bitches” meme. It’s unwise to arrogantly challenge Mother Nature.

A lethal attack

Frankly, I’m astonished @Spacekatgal hasn’t cried rape yet. But give her time, she’ll probably be babbling about her fear of alien abduction or the Yakuza by the end of next week.

Brianna Wu @Spacekatgal
I want to be crystal clear – I am scared of the death threats I’ve gotten. I am terrified of the #gamergate blame-the-victim witch hunt.

Brianna Wu @Spacekatgal
Getting attacked by @voxday is like having Jesus Christ come to your door and tell you you’re a great person.

Attacked? This should suffice to demonstrate why no one with any sense finds “the death threats” to be credible, here is my supposed attack on her.

“@Spacekatgal That’s cool. We’ll keep not playing them. And not listening to you.”

Feel the terror! Quiver before the rage! Call the police, clearly a madman is about! IT’S JUST LIKE HALLOWEEN AND THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE COMBINED!!!!!

Anyhow, just to make it clear that my position concerning @Spacekatgal is one of utter Olympian indifference, I was sure to clarify it.

Froonium Driven ‏@Froonium_Drive
All the crap happening to @Spacekatgal says he isn’t wrong this time. 

@Froonium_Drive @Spacekatgal
Hey, I don’t support this anti-transgender hate being directed at @Spacekatgal. I just ignore her.

@Spacekatgal If not playing your 1 game and not caring about your opinion is “getting attacked”, the entire game industry is attacking you.

I have no problem whatsoever with women making games for women. Hell, I designed a game for women; it’s called HOT DISH and THQ did pretty well with it a while back. But I have no interest in playing those games, just as all the “gamer grrrls” have zero interest in Advanced Squad Leader and games that I like to play.

As I used to tell the venture capitalists who hired me to look at various investment possibilities in the game sector, games for women already exist and the biggest one is called “Facebook”. Games are just interfaces, and women collect “likes” the same way men rack up “kills”.

This amused me. These SJW morons can’t even manage to avoid tripping over their own hypersensitivities.

Richard Stelling added you to list rjstelling/massive-cunts 

Yeah, Richard, that’s not exactly the way to go about white-knighting for your feministas.

They’re so gamer

This is amusing. McRapey and the SF pinkshirts belatedly discover #GamerGate:

    Jesus. Brianna Wu is someone I consider a friend. Fuck everyone who thinks GamerGate is anything other than haters shitting on women.
    — John Scalzi (@scalzi) October 11, 2014

    If you think threatening women is a legitimate tactic for anything, feel free to stop reading my work. I don’t need you or your money.
    — John Scalzi (@scalzi) October 11, 2014

    Astounding the number of dudes who think a woman game developer being harassed has nothing to do with a movement founded to harass women.
    — John Scalzi (@scalzi) October 11, 2014

    And yes, GamerGate was founded to harass women. We’ve all seen the IRC logs. Part of the plan: recruit others to be their useful idiots.
    — John Scalzi (@scalzi) October 11, 2014

    And there sure have been a lot of useful idiots letting offering up their services to those who want to harass women! Well done, you.
    — John Scalzi (@scalzi) October 11, 2014

    Face it, dudes: “GamerGate” is a toxic thing. You can’t say you support WITHOUT explicitly standing with those who hate and harass women.
    — John Scalzi (@scalzi) October 11, 2014

    Excellent post about GamerGate. “If you don’t step away… then you *are* part of a hate movement.” http://t.co/IOB0nSiFJE
    — N. K. Jemisin (@nkjemisin) October 11, 2014

    So stop standing with people who WANT you to be their useful idiots while they threaten women. You can’t pretend you don’t know anymore.
    — John Scalzi (@scalzi) October 11, 2014

    You know. We know you know. EVERYONE knows you know. No one else buys into your denial. Just stop. AND repudiate. Stop being used. Simple.
    — John Scalzi (@scalzi) October 11, 2014

    And if you refuse to stop being a useful idiot for those who harass and hate women, we’ll know that too. And remember.
    — John Scalzi (@scalzi) October 11, 2014

What should be remembered is this string of tweets the next time John Scalzi tries to pretend he’s a hardcore game nerd. After all, it only took him nearly two months to discover what the entire gaming community had been discussing. As for Ms Wu, she’s not even original enough to come up with a new form of crying wolf. Anita Sarkeesian already played the “ooh, I’m so scared I had to flee my home” card back in August.

At this rate, we can probably pencil in McRapey waxing indignant about Jennifer Lawrence sometime around Thanksgiving. And as often the case, he clearly has absolutely no idea that popular opinion is absolutely not on his side here.

It should also be amusing to see him start trying to walk back this claim – “GamerGate was founded to harass women” – when he discovers that the term was coined by one of the very Hollywood figures he is now trying to suck up to.

After bravely “fleeing from her home”, Spacekatgal pulls a post-flight Brave Sir Robin:

Announcement: I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE. I am going to keep making games. And I will keep speaking up for women in gamedev.

That’s cool. The rest of us will continue not playing them and not listening to her. Exactly like we’ve been doing for the last 25 years.

UPDATE: McRapey saying that he is “currently ACTUALLY making a video game” is like a Best Boy saying that he is starring in a movie.

A 4GW fiasco in realtime

You don’t have to be an expert in 4th Generation Warfare to know that the US decision to resort to air strikes against the Islamic State was going to backfire:

The U.S.-led air war in Syria has gotten off to a rocky start, with even the Syrian rebel groups closest to the United States turning against it, U.S. ally Turkey refusing to contribute and the plight of a beleaguered Kurdish town exposing the limitations of the strategy.

U.S. officials caution that the strikes are just the beginning of a broader strategy that could take years to carry out. But the anger that the attacks have stirred risks undermining the effort, analysts and rebels say.

The main beneficiary of the strikes so far appears to be President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces have taken advantage of the shift in the military balance to step up attacks against the moderate rebels designated by President Obama as partners of the United States in the war against extremists.

The U.S. targets have included oil facilities, a granary and an electricity plant under Islamic State control. The damage to those facilities has caused shortages and price hikes across the rebel-held north that are harming ordinary Syrians more than the well-funded militants, residents and activists say.

At the start of the air campaign, dozens of U.S. cruise missiles were fired into areas controlled by the moderate rebels, who are supposed to be fighting the Islamic State. Syrians who had in the past appealed for American intervention against Assad have been staging demonstrations denouncing the United States and burning the American flag.

If there is one person who desperately needs to read William S. Lind’s forthcoming ON WAR, it is Barack Obama. And it wouldn’t hurt if whoever is presently in charge of the US military response to the Islamic State would do so as well.