Post 1

There is a mess on the internet over the problem with gaming culture. Social justice warriors claim that gaming culture grooms boys into misogynist men with continual depictions of women as background decoration, disposable characters, or plot advancers. This statement is made in a manner that eludes to this being the only case in gaming. It has since evolved into having a brand of heroine known as the "Fighting Fuck-Toy", in which she is the center of the story, the playable character, and is strikingly beautiful or sexy. Is there any truth to this? Are there no other games out there that have female characters who aren't "fighting fuck toys"?

Ideally, these thoughts will come into a more formed, laid out argument. Really.

In a vacuum, Quinn's Depression Quest might be an important, education game for people who have someone close to them suffering from depression. In a vacuum, Depression Quest would be played by people who are curious about the struggle that a depressed person undergoes on a daily basis. Again, all of this in a vacuum. The problem is two-fold with this not being in a vacuum: first, it's a game about depression. That miserable psychological state whereby one might lack motivation, be easy irritable, unable to sleep the correct amount (too much or too little), and be ahedonic (unable to find enjoyment in activities or things). People with depression do not want to be depressed but lack the choice to escape it so flippantly; why would someone who isn't depressed want to play a game where they are viewing the world from a depressed person's eyes? That does not sound enjoyable in any medium, be it games, movies, comics, or books. Second, and tying into the first, Depression Quest isn't a model that can make money. That's right, it is a bust. Greenlight isn't enough to get the game off the ground. The only way to make the game worth investing in is to make it free. Let's be honest, people would need to be paid to have to live as a depressed person for 20 minutes, not have to pay for such an experience.

That's the problem with Depression Quest. It isn't that it is made by Quinn. Where Quinn comes into this comes directly back to an attempt to resolve the two problems with Depression Quest outside of a vacuum. Games must be marketable, not just passive artistic works that people may stumble upon. Efforts must be made to put a game out onto platforms that have a significant user base (e.g., PlayStation, Steam). That's where Steam's Greenlight comes in: support an indie game enough and Steam will put it on sale on their store, possibley put the game into a featured highlight, give it deals during the correct season, and other little perks. Here's a snippet right from Steam's Greenlight about page:

"There's a game on Steam Greenlight that I really want to see succeed. What can I do?

Go tell your friends; just don't be annoying about it."

I guess sleeping with journalists in what appears to be an exchange of physical intimacy for positive review articles on high traffic gaming review sites is the fastest way to build support behind getting a piece of work moved from obscurity to the bright lights of Steam's Greenlight. But is that wrong of Quinn to do? Should Quinn be willing to exchange her body for such a review? Feminists claim it is the natural misogyny of the gaming culture that requires someone like Quinn to give up her body to get ahead in a male-dominated scene. Humanists, like myself, don't give a shit if she does that--it's her body! She can do whatever she wants with it, including use it to convince others to agree with her. If she made a conscious, non-coerced choice to do so, then why judge her for doing it? Feminists cannot claim she was coerced into this choice because of some vague theory about the misogyny in the world without stripping her of her agency--which, in turn, is the same agency that feminists are using to create this claim!

The cruel light of this is not to be centered on Quinn. She's merely one of many actors in this mess. It's the same mess that we see in politics. Don't know what I mean? Go watch Netflix's House of Cards and see the relationship between Spacey's and Mara's characters. The difference is that the journalists are not the ones engaging in the sex for the story. It's completely opposite. But a trade is being made in both instances. Quinn gets her story a thousand-fold. She gets the articles and she gets the attention from the backlash. Grand guerrilla marketing. Something someone with a communications degree might make up! No, the focus is on the gaming journalists. Gaming journalists who are attempting to deflect the story onto Quinn so they may claim misogyny and avoid the scrutiny for their actions in this. No, we must look at how journalists are corrupted by the industry itself, how SJWs are able to manipulate journalists and the industry--which the industry then goes on to pressure developers and journalists.

It's not about Quinn. Do not be distracted. It's about the journalists and the infection that is the social justice movement. It comes across as a big sleeper cell which is activated as soon as someone uses the word "misogynist!".

This is an unedited rant. @nrokchi