jdreyer wrote on Jul 24, 2014, 02:15:
Here's what I'm hearing:
"I worked in the game industry, and I never saw this."
Good for you. You got lucky. That hardly means this isn't an issue. I don't even go looking for stories like this, yet come across them on a monthly basis. It's an issue, it exists, and the gaming industry is poorer for it. Tired of CoD clones? More women in the industry can help fix that.
As I am the only one who posted with my relevant experience within the industry, I can only surmise that this was personally directed at me. However, at no point did I say "I never saw this". In point of fact, I stated that I
had seen it but in very small percentage of the population. You aren't "lucky" when the claimed rate of incidents doesn't match more than two decades worth of actual, direct experience. What I questioned was the veracity of the rate of incidents claimed. It stinks of hyperbole with the most vile of intent.
Let me reiterate this again, so it sticks out to you;
I did not say that such behavior does not exist. In fact, I said quite the opposite. Got that clear in your head?
Do you know why you come across articles like this on a "monthly basis"? Because it generates clicks, targets a demographic for advertising and makes for eye grabbing headlines within that demographic. Call me cynical if you wish, but the first priority of any business is to generate profit and websites like Polygon aren't run on good wishes and happy thoughts.
As for your comment about "CoD clones", I know how to fix it for myself and it has nothing to do with gender. I simply do not purchase the games that do not interest me. However, there is very clearly an incredibly significant portion of the gaming population who disagrees with me and purchases those games to the tune of billions of dollars annually. White knighting this issue isn't going to change their tastes.
Further, we
are seeing a more varied gaming ecosystem right now. With Kickstarter, Steam Greenlight and other platforms, plus easily available engines and assets like Unity and UDK, literally anyone can make any game they wish. Whether it is successful or not is another matter entirely but the option and availability are there. For good or ill, games like Elite, Star Citizen, Kerbal Space Program, Braid, and many others have proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. I bet EA and ActiBlizzard would have
loved to have their development costs offset so spectacularly as Star Citizen has.
"Just take a look around you, what do you see? Pain, suffering, and misery." -Black Sabbath, Killing Yourself to Live.
“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains” -Jean-Jacques Rousseau