• Hey everyone, staff have documented a list of banned content and subject matter that we feel are not consistent with site values, and don't make sense to host discussion of on Famiboards. This list (and the relevant reasoning per item) is viewable here.

Moderator Post Community Discussion Regarding A Certain Game

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aus89 said:
Fuck JK Rowling.
And not to promote the game or anything, but just because its so incredulous... this certain game has also been announced for Switch? somehow?
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Yeah, and confirmed not a cloud version. Who knows how it's going to work, I'd imagine not that well.
 
YoboD said:
Did you miss their post earlier in the topic saying we shouldn’t discuss it at all?

This is another example why allowing discussion could be a minefield, because of the subject matter it’s hard for me to not view this as an intentional misreading of what a user is saying and whataboutism.
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I did, my bad. I was tired when I wrote my post and didn't read the entire thread.

I don't think it's good to always assume malevolence or the worse in someone when you disagree with them, so long as they're expressing stuff respectfully. Not to single you out, but I saw this mentality all the time on the old forums and it just leads to bad polarization and toxic discussion environments. Especially when it was done by members of the mod team who banned people. I really don't want this place to fall into the same issues.
 
TheDok said:
I did, my bad. I was tired when I wrote my post and didn't read the entire thread.

I don't think it's good to always assume malevolence or the worse in someone when you disagree with them, so long as they're expressing stuff respectfully. Not to single you out, but I saw this mentality all the time on the old forums and it just leads to bad polarization and toxic discussion environments. Especially when it was done by members of the mod team who banned people. I really don't want this place to fall into the same issues.
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I also would hate for this forum to fall into the same issues as ResetEra, where the concerns of the trans community were constantly disregarded and handwaved, where bad faith "Just asking questions!" style posts were allowed to go unquestioned, and where the staff held an often hostile attitude towards the forum's transgender posters.

To avoid this, the forum could start by listening to the trans community first and foremost concerning transgender issues.
 
feel weird saying this... I've shifted to a stance where I want to now actively avoid talking about it anywhere on Famiboards. But I feel like since this is the first time the community is tackling sensitive behaviors that'll carry into the future:

we gotta try to stop talking about resetera, at least in threads like these.

I ain't calling out the posters here in this thread. ya'll posts are valid. It's 100% understandable given past and current context, It's gonna continue to happen- and I share the sentiment by large.

But it's gotta be said at least once out loud that that type of talk is ultimately not conductive to the long-term health of a community discussion meant to tackle delicate issues like these.

I think as a community we are more than capable coming to our own conclusions on how to handle civil discussion and capable of learning from examples without lingering on past issues that are just deadass cursed to bring up.
 
Seems more sensible to just outright ban the game from the forum TBH. Nobody really wants to talk about the game itself, and any conversation regarding the game would inevitably buried by rabid discorse regarding JK Rowling (TERF Cunt) herself; and would-be trolls taking potshots at trans people.

The game, and the IP in general, doesn't deserve to have any public discorse. Just treat it like any other banned game on this forum. No sense in kicking a hornet's nest IMO.
 
The myth that ResetERA moderation is problematic because it's too sensitive to the needs of minority communities is a bad faith argument that is absolutely not the case if one looks at the actual history of moderation on the site. I have absolutely no interest in this forum attempting to appeal to reactionary sentiment out of a desire to seek "balance." All that is to say, I think the trans community should definitely be prioritized on this subject.
 
I think its really important that the trans community of Famiboards has a voice in how this is treated, the facebook page of a gaming site was an absolute trashfire of disingenuous "people are allowed to have opinions" garbage (and of course they made no effort to moderate or tell off the commenters who posted the rhetoric). I don't get the feeling that it would devolve like that here but there are always drive by posters and people who will take advantage of a situation so... best course of action is probably to just ban it and as others have said make sure Trans community on Famiboards are prioritized and listened to on this matter (and create a best practice moving forward to deal with issues like this where this dialog is open early rather than having this discussion as the PR onslaught begins)
 
Era is instructive on how not to handle these kinds of situations or just marginalised communities in general.

Lest we forget that they allowed a neo-nazi to hype up Cyberpunk, gave him the OT despite complaints from trans people that he was dismissing transphobia, and only when he was outed in a way that couldn't be ignored did they actually do anything.

And by anything I mean they scrambled to protect themselves and gaslight the trans community for like the 10th time, including 'talks' that amounted to 'we don't know why you're angry also we're not doing anything, so fuck off' and banning anyone who complained.

This place is different - the long-held enmity between staff and the trans community isn't a thing here as it was on Era, and importantly the mods here seem receptive to feedback, unlike the god complex the Era staff have. But I think it's worth reflecting on how Era got it so incredibly wrong, to avoid falling into the same trap here.
 
Anyone else feeling suspicious with the choice to give lots of screen time to a black female character? It gave me "we know there will be controversy so we want to be seen as progressive" vibes rather than a genuine desire to have their black character front and centre. As if when criticism is levelled they can point to her and say "but we're good, really!"

I would like it to be a sincere thing but idk... maybe I'm being too cynical? Thoughts?
 
Two week ban for tone policing. -Harina, BozPaggs, Rika
Zellia said:
But I think it's worth reflecting on how Era got it so incredibly wrong, to avoid falling into the same trap here.
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Hey, please believe me when I say I mean this with utmost sincerity, but your post is extremely charged and I'm not sure where the line is between reflecting and just outright brooding.

I want to stress that in my point of view these opinions are completely valid and deserve to be voiced at one point or another- I have to go on the record about where my stance is as well and say at the very least I believe resetera has outright failed it's communities- but I feel like any lessons to be learned has already been thoroughly and critically thought of by staff since day one, and concise feedback towards the topic at hand can be far more productive.
 
TheDok said:
I did, my bad. I was tired when I wrote my post and didn't read the entire thread.

I don't think it's good to always assume malevolence or the worse in someone when you disagree with them, so long as they're expressing stuff respectfully. Not to single you out, but I saw this mentality all the time on the old forums and it just leads to bad polarization and toxic discussion environments. Especially when it was done by members of the mod team who banned people. I really don't want this place to fall into the same issues.
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You might be right, but personally I find it hard to give benefit of the doubt in conversations online about this particular topic. Especially on the internet it’s hard to tell when someone genuinely doesn’t know and needs to be educated and when some are just bad faith actors ‘just asking questions’, especially when they engage in whataboutism to justify dismissal of any concerns. I don’t think that will be as much of a concern here due to the community but it’s still a risk you run.

But really at the end of the day I’m not trans, so what I think about this topic doesn’t matter as much as what the trans community of this site thinks. I agree with the other posters saying that whatever decision the staff come to that the trans community should be prioritised.
 
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The fact that the devs went for this awful anti-semitic plot when they could have done anything else...some people on the internet like to point out that JKR is not involved but even without her the devs managed to use the worst things of this hell franchise for the game's plot.
I'm not sure if discussions about this game should be banned completely but we surely don't need it, especially when JKR's awful views are being used to justify attacks on trans rights in places like Texas
 
The way situations like this were handled on Era have shown two things:
1) Moderation teams, regardless of their intentions, are not properly equipped to deal with bad-faith actors. Someone will always slip through the cracks.
2) Treating the opinions of people who aren't personally affected by certain media and/or its creators as equal to the ones by affected/targeted groups will only serve to further marginalize the latter group

Generally, I don't think it would be a huge loss if there was a blanket ban on any discussion surrounding the game on Famiboards. There's no legal or moral obligation to provide a place to discuss the game here. Threads where only the OP has to engage with the problematic aspects of media/creators aren't very worthwhile if it isn't also reflected in the discussion. There can be room for some edge cases, for example threads about writing that takes on JRK's transphobia (and other forms of bigotry) and how it might or might not be reflected in the game. Experience has sadly shown that even those threads can be exploited to further (thinly-veiled or overt) bigoted rhetoric so it's completely understandable that someone might not want to even allow for that opportunity.

Ultimately, the chief concern should be the well-being of the trans members of this community. It far outweighs the need to provide a space for Hogwarts Legacy discussion. In short, if they feel that Famiboards shouldn't allow for any discussion of this game, they have my full support.
 
Dardan Sandiego said:
The way situations like this were handled on Era have shown two things:
1) Moderation teams, regardless of their intentions, are not properly equipped to deal with bad-faith actors. Someone will always slip through the cracks.
2) Treating the opinions of people who aren't personally affected by certain media and/or its creators as equal to the ones by affected/targeted groups will only serve to further marginalize the latter group

Generally, I don't think it would be a huge loss if there was a blanket ban on any discussion surrounding the game on Famiboards. There's no legal or moral obligation to provide a place to discuss the game here. Threads where only the OP has to engage with the problematic aspects of media/creators aren't very worthwhile if it isn't also reflected in the discussion. There can be room for some edge cases, for example threads about writing that takes on JRK's transphobia (and other forms of bigotry) and how it might or might not be reflected in the game. Experience has sadly shown that even those threads can be exploited to further (thinly-veiled or overt) bigoted rhetoric so it's completely understandable that someone might not want to even allow for that opportunity.

Ultimately, the chief concern should be the well-being of the trans members of this community. It far outweighs the need to provide a space for Hogwarts Legacy discussion. In short, if they feel that Famiboards shouldn't allow for any discussion of this game, they have my full support.
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Agreed,. especially with the bolded. A Hogwarts Legacy thread (in any form) just feels like a Trans person bashing/trolling opportunity just waiting to happen. It's better to just not open that door to begin with.

If people want to discuss the game, let them go elsewhere. They will find other communities that will be more welcoming to discussion (and probably Trans abuse too unfortunately). That place doesn't have to be, and shouldn't be, here on Famiboards. The wellbeing of the Trans community (and indeed, all other marginalised communities present within this forum), should be the priority.
 
Fuck JK Rowling and this entire franchise. That woman is evil and is using everything in her power and reach to promote genocide against a vulnerable minority. I could say "it could have been me", but in fact it was me not that long ago, when evil people like her promoted genocide against gay people using the same arguments she's using now. Fuck her all the all off, these people don't deserve our respect much less our money. The idea that I would fund her in her murderous crusade against trans people is ridiculous.

I won't be touching that game with a ten inch pole and I'm happy the community is taking a stance on it.
 
Dardan Sandiego said:
The way situations like this were handled on Era have shown two things:
1) Moderation teams, regardless of their intentions, are not properly equipped to deal with bad-faith actors. Someone will always slip through the cracks.
2) Treating the opinions of people who aren't personally affected by certain media and/or its creators as equal to the ones by affected/targeted groups will only serve to further marginalize the latter group

Generally, I don't think it would be a huge loss if there was a blanket ban on any discussion surrounding the game on Famiboards. There's no legal or moral obligation to provide a place to discuss the game here. Threads where only the OP has to engage with the problematic aspects of media/creators aren't very worthwhile if it isn't also reflected in the discussion. There can be room for some edge cases, for example threads about writing that takes on JRK's transphobia (and other forms of bigotry) and how it might or might not be reflected in the game. Experience has sadly shown that even those threads can be exploited to further (thinly-veiled or overt) bigoted rhetoric so it's completely understandable that someone might not want to even allow for that opportunity.

Ultimately, the chief concern should be the well-being of the trans members of this community. It far outweighs the need to provide a space for Hogwarts Legacy discussion. In short, if they feel that Famiboards shouldn't allow for any discussion of this game, they have my full support.
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well said.
 
I'd be completely fine with a blanket ban. It's not like most non-Nintendo games get an ST here anyway, so not having one with heavy ties to a TERF and many fucked-up elements within (e.g. the 'Goblin Rebellion' and 'Owning a House Elf' stuff) is not a loss in any way. If people want to discuss the game then there's always Reddit, Twitter, Youtube, dedicated HP forums and so on to do that - it's not like this is the only place to talk about HP, after all.

It's also just so much simpler for everyone to know that there's no room for "just asking questions," or any of that bullshit. Of course it's up to those in the communities JK has hurt to have the final say. If it means anything, though, as someone who's asexuality is consistently erased and laughed at by the "LGB Groups" and TERFs, I'd definitely welcome a ban.
 
Plum said:
Of course it's up to those in the communities JK has hurt to have the final say. If it means anything, though, as someone who's asexuality is consistently erased and laughed at by the "LGB Groups" and TERFs, I'd definitely welcome a ban.
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I'm ace too and I think it does mean something. Trans people definitely bear the brunt of Rowling's hatred currently, but her writing, her tweets, and her associations definitely make clear that trans people are far from the only group Rowling hates or looks down upon. It's valid to feel affected by her less high-profile bigotries.
 
Zellia said:
I'm ace too and I think it does mean something. Trans people definitely bear the brunt of Rowling's hatred currently, but her writing, her tweets, and her associations definitely make clear that trans people are far from the only group Rowling hates or looks down upon. It's valid to feel affected by her less high-profile bigotries.
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That reminds me of how women and fat people are written in her books. 90% of the fat characters are horrible and slobs/abusive and every woman that is feminine or girly is seen as stupid and annoying. Bit ironic from a women's rights supporter
 
I think Era has always been a mess about tip-toeing around these kinds of controversies (like Cyberpunk) and created more headaches for the community than its worth.

Just do a blanket ban on the game. Makes it very easy to know what the expectations and standards are for members and letting mods know what they need to look for. For a small Nintendo centric community like this I doubt there would be much pushback anyways since it mostly falls outside this audience.
 
Harina said:
To further the stance of no advertising, we're also floating the idea of a different name for the game that won't affect SEO. "The Game that Shall not be Named" , "Terfwartz", you get the idea.
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Giving the game a nickname which references the franchise ("The Game that Shall not be Named") is not effective. Please be mindful of the developers who have obviously spent a ton of effort and passion on the game. I would consider "Avalanche's New Game" an effective alternative that draws and pulls attention in the right direction.
 
I'm really torn on a blanket ban: yes, the community doesn't really want to discuss this game and Rowling is a monster who deserves to be deplatformed but she will likely deplatform people instead because of how powerful and influential she is. EDIT: Obviously a community should be able to determine that we just don't want to talk about this.

A blanket ban also has a big potential problem: It opens up banning any topic that any part of the Famiboards community wants banned. This will have unforseen consequences.
 
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Awesomegames23 said:
Giving the game a nickname which references the franchise ("The Game that Shall not be Named") is not effective. Please be mindful of the developers who have obviously spent a ton of effort and passion on the game. I would consider "Avalanche's New Game" an effective alternative that draws and pulls attention in the right direction.
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"Avalanche's new game...built upon a franchise which was created by the face of a hate movement currently harming many people...ultimately helping spread her influence and rhetoric...while also still engaging with the grosser elements of said franchise."

Whether or not this a post in good faith, it just goes to show enough people really don't "get it" why this particular media franchise is a huge problem right now. I get wanting to allow it to be discussed to help talk about certain things, but there's no way there is going to be fruitful talk about it on a gaming board like this.
 
Abzeronow said:
A blanket ban also has a big potential problem: It opens up banning any topic that any part of the Famiboards community wants banned. This will have unforseen consequences.
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I don't think it will. Unless you think that the admins and mods can't distinguish between banning discussion of Hogwarts Legacy to protect trans members and just any random topic.
 
BotenAnna said:
"Avalanche's new game...built upon a franchise which was created by the face of a hate movement currently harming many people...ultimately helping spread her influence and rhetoric...while also still engaging with the grosser elements of said franchise."

Whether or not this a post in good faith, it just goes to show enough people really don't "get it" why this particular media franchise is a huge problem right now. I get wanting to allow it to be discussed to help talk about certain things, but there's no way there is going to be fruitful talk about it on a gaming board like this.
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I'm in favor of banning discussion of the game, because I agree that discussion won't be fruitful on these forums, but since Fami won't be banning discussion of the game for now (written in the first post) I suggested an alternative name, completely in good faith, for anyone referring to the game.
 
I feel like some here are getting a bit lost in the sauce of metacommentary ("what about banning [other thing]"), when the topic at hand is in fact about a very specific, very concrete thing. This is the kind of behavior that ends up alienating minority members, as dragging unrelated issues into the conversation can end up transforming the topic into something different than what it is, drowning out their voices. Please, be mindful of what we're talking about.

And, apropos of nothing, a cool video for the fence-sitters and the bored:

 
Dardan Sandiego said:
I don't think it will. Unless you think that the admins and mods can't distinguish between banning discussion of Hogwarts Legacy to protect trans members and just any random topic.
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I guess I can trust the mods on this, they have a good record on this so far. And despite my reservations which admittedly come from my own personal trust issues, I do want to protect our trans members who already have states actively trying to erase them. This does feel like the Famiboards community organically deciding this so that does put my mind somewhat at ease.
 
Awesomegames23 said:
I'm in favor of banning discussion of the game, because I agree that discussion won't be fruitful on these forums, but since Fami won't be banning discussion of the game for now (written in the first post) I suggested an alternative name, completely in good faith, for anyone referring to the game.
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And look, I'm gonna believe you, but trying to put a positive spin on something that is wrapped up in this level of nastiness is doing a lot more harm than good. Fami wanting to pet name this game in the first place does more harm than good imo, SEO be damned. It's a way of trolling and trying to hide intent that's been around for years, and all it does is put the problem content into the discussion pool with people who are hurt by it. It works too, because good meaning people who don't really get the level of the problem end up falling in line with it.

JK Rowling and her works are vile, and she's using the influence of this franchise to harm millions of people today. Playing tip toe around it by trying to decouple that level of harm from the real world situation is the kind of thing that tanks message boards for the affected constantly. Avalanche are still making a game in the HP universe and bringing in all the baggage that entails, and it is what it is. I get not everybody at that studio can tank their career over this cause capitalism is a bitch, but you can't just erase the massive harm of what they're currently attached to in an attempt to be nice.
 
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Personally i think, the way i would handle it, is to open a thread where people can talk freely and only about the game.

However. In the first post of the thread, make a big fat notice about the problematic with j.k rowling and her misanthropy. Include a link to this thread, where her discrimination of LGBQT can be discussed. On this way, people can be sensitized about the subject.

Generally. Two Topics are connected here. The game and oprression. In my opinion, it should be possible to talk about both. The game and how to liberate from oppression like rowlings LGBQT hate ( for example, by boycott the game).
 
Staff Communication
  • Index
    • Thank you to everyone engaging with this in an honest way, how we handle these issues is super critical to this community's success. Please continue to report posts as needed, don't engage and derail the thread for the offender's sake.

    Speaking personally, I wanted to have this thread, because I think I was the only mod willing to let a potential thread slide. And that's because, as a trans black woman, it's become second nature to not want to be a hassle/downer. I don't want people to not do something on my account, being the focus of attention has rarely been a good thing. And also because I can just ignore it.

    The last couple days I've come to recognize my privilege. I now live in California, and while transitioning was hard, the state is by and large one of the most affirming places on the planet, especially when I'm a half hour trip from San Francisco. So while I can ignore JKR and the franchise as a whole, most others can't, because it's no longer just the government, and/or family and friends, now it's the very media you retreated to when you needed to escape that bullshit. Now friends are weighing the quality of a product over your mental well being.

    I think some forget that trans people like video games. The "offended" aren't looking to be upset about things, but for many reasons, we can't ignore it.

    It's been very inspiring reading everyone's responses. Your continued strength in all this is extraordinary.

    Maronic03 said:
    Should this thread be used for any potential future games that would also fall in this problematic situation?

    If yes it could be convinient.
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    The mod staff is seriously considering this. Any new subjects should be PM to a mod before starting or it could be misread as derailing the thread and/or whataboutism.
    Staff Communication

    As of now, there's no plan to allow discussion of the game outside this thread. This does not mean you can post marketing material or articles about the game, they must also pertain to this discussion. From now on, please use initials when you must refer to the author or the game in question, ie JKR and HL.
    As long as the conversation is healthy, the thread can continue, but we will not hesitate to lock the thread.
     
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  • Index
    • Harina said:
    From now on, please use initials when you must refer to the author or the game in question, ie JKR and HL.
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    If a firm set of guidelines are being established, would it be a good time for a threadmarked post, or the above bolded? It seems like the community is united on how to go forward so putting a fine point on it wouldn't be a bad idea.
     
    I don’t have anything to contribute to this thread that hasn’t already been said but I support whatever action the community thinks will keep this place welcoming and warm to the people who are already here and anyone who wants to join.
     
    I feel for the devs, but I dont think I want to engage or talk about a game that is indirectly/directly causing harm to friends and communities. Fuck terfs!
     
    Harina said:
    The mod staff is seriously considering this. Any new subjects should be PM to a mod before starting or it could be misread as derailing the thread and/or whataboutism.
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    Thank you. I asked because I think it's unfortunately inevitable that something like this happens again at some point.
     
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    English is not my native language, so I'm sorry for the stupid question.
    Is blanket ban a total ban of the topic?

    if so, I 100% agree.
     
    TheDok said:
    Agreed completely. I really don't think discussion on this game should be banned or have specific rules around it at all. It's going to be a popular game, one made by seperate people that's entirely disconnected from the original author's contentious political views.

    If people want to discuss the game, they should be able to. If people want to debate JK Rowling's political views, they should be able to as well. One discussion shouldn't preclude and drown out the other, they should just be in seperate threads.

    Resetera became incredibly overzealous and toxic with these political issues, and I don't want this place falling into the same trappings. I understand a lot of people here are young and these issues are important to them, but at the end of the day it's a game made by completely seperate people that's clearly not spouting hate.

    Like Mazi and others are said, banning discussion entirely just feels sanctimonious. Nintendo and other game companies rely on manufacturing from Chinese labor camps, which is more important than a single person's political views. If you banned/coached discussion on everything unethical or perceived as bad connected to the games industry, it would never end; it's multiplicative. Have seperate threads discussing these issues, but don't ban the topics themselves or coach everything connected to them with a million warnings.
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    The lives and rights of trans people aren’t a “political” debate, thanks.

    Fuck Rowling, fuck her IP. If anyone here really wants to hype up this game and talk about how much they’re looking forward to the source material-accurate anti-semitism and pro-slavery messages, i’m sure they can find other sites to do it on. Try 4chan!
     
    Abzeronow said:
    A blanket ban also has a big potential problem: It opens up banning any topic that any part of the Famiboards community wants banned. This will have unforseen consequences.
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    If a topic has the potential to harm people I'm sharing a community with, i don't mind just not talking about it, really. Out of respect more than anything.
     
    My stance on this is based on seeing how ResetEra's experiment to run critical discussion alongside regular discourse didn't work out and the reasons it cannot.

    Conversations about the issue happened in a seperate thread, where it wouldn't get drowned out by posters posting like normal. A disclaimer at the top of every page tells me what the mods value. 618 pages of the usual video game banter tells me what the community values. Famiboards wouldn't have the problem of volume, but even if the ratio were less lopsided? With human psychology being the way it is, I know reading one bad comment sticks to a person's mind more than reading ten compliments. The two-track approach can't cope with these dynamics. Banning is a cleaner solution.

    Whataboutism and just-asking-questions-but-not-asking-just-questions may make it look like the messier option. It's not. Taking a stand now does not prevent one from taking a stand on a different subject in the future, while not taking a stand now but taking a stand on a related issue later will inevitably prompt charges of "But you didn't say anything back then!" Hypocrisy is always at the ready to be weaponized. Whataboutism works in all directions. Fears of opening oneself up to just or injust questions shouldn't prevent one from taking a step forward, because slippery slopes are seldom as slippery as genuine worriers and bad faith trolls would have us believe.
     
    I think the best thing Avalance should do is these (in no particular order).

    1. Character creator, have a respectful character creator that lets you make a Trans character
    2. Percentage of the sales goes towards Trans charity/LGBTQ+ charity
    3. Figure out a way that J.K Rowling doesn't get any money from this game
    4. If there is relationships in the game, make sure LGBTQ+ relations happen and are not sidelined by Heterosexual relationships.
     
    I echo the many sentiments in the thread that we really shouldn't discuss the game at all, nor do we have to offer a platform for any game like it. Fundamentally, Rowling is not only a transphobe and all around bigot, but she actively campaigns for anti-trans causes, and is arguably a figurehead for the TERF movement. Her horrible views and her works are heavily intertwined. She has creative influence over the game, some of the profits from this game will go to her, and will be used to trample the rights of vulnerable individuals and amplify her hateful rhetoric. We shouldn't push "open discussion" to promote what will inevitably be a hateful piece of media over the views and feelings of the trans community here, like what happened on Era with Cyberpunk.
     
    Meelow said:
    I think the best thing Avalance should do is these (in no particular order).

    1. Character creator, have a respectful character creator that lets you make a Trans character
    2. Percentage of the sales goes towards Trans charity/LGBTQ+ charity
    3. Figure out a way that J.K Rowling doesn't get any money from this game
    4. If there is relationships in the game, make sure LGBTQ+ relations happen and are not sidelined by Heterosexual relationships.
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    I know you mean well with this, so I hope this doesn't feel like I'm singling you out too much. But I think one of the issues that a lot of people aren't really realizing is that while the part where JKR directly gets money from this (and will inevitably put some of it towards anti-trans causes) is obviously a real problem, even past that is the issue that just letting her IPs exist at all keeps her relevant and influential.

    Even if the developer were to somehow do everything on this list (which, unfortunately, we know they can't and/or won't, it doesn't really matter which), you would still be left with the issue that keeping the IP relevant keeps her relevant, and keeping her relevant means she keeps having more reach and influence with which to harm trans people. And I don't just mean saying horrible things on the internet, I'm talking about her contributions to anti-trans legislature in at least two countries now and how her actions have fairly directly gotten trans kids killed.

    And even after all that, if somehow none of these things were a problem, we're still already at the stage where one of the only things we know about the game is that the plot has to do with how it's bad when the antisemitic caricature species wants equal rights, so even if you somehow solve all the transphobia problems there's really not much positive to salvage there because you're left with the rest of the offensive mess that is this IP anyway.
     
    I just want to leave my fuck JK and to hell with TERFs here.
    The only thing that matters to me about this game will be the DF tech review of the Switch port anyways. And even that has left me uncomfortable. I saw a notification of the Switch version being announced and I felt like "hell, we didn't need this at all".
    Just seeing some people I follow posting stories about how they are excited for this game, PlayStation centric pages I surely just hyping this thing up, and just thinking about nobody talking about any other thing the week this shit launches makes me sick, really.
    While her influence is more prominent and harmful in UK and USA, you can see her cult following through TERFs, conservative and LGBcis exclusionary groups even in Brazil and it makes me want to puke. Imagining this game getting her franchise back to the spotlight and more people knowing what she thinks and agreeing with it is scary.
    I'm happy for the moderation and the forum staff listening to trans people and leaving us a safe space to breath.
     
    To add another trans person's perspective to the discussion, seeing JKR trend on Twitter today made me sick to the stomach. I can barely handle hearing anyone saying anything surrounding JKR or HP anymore, my mind instantly generates some sort of auto-association function that always ends with [insert list of hateful bigotry she platforms and promotes]. And I find it extremely distressing.

    In a world where we all need our spaces, I find Famiboards has become one of few places on the net where I can set my mind free from everything else I experience, both virtually and physically. I spend a lot of time on social media for many personal reasons, and once you sort of open that mental ventilation shaft, all kinds of shit starts to come in, and most of it festers in there, so to speak. It's not only online as well, one of my friends has a 9 year old daughter that I've met twice who is obsessed with HP and has no clue what JKR has been doing, and I've found myself in the agonising position of "Should I tell her?".

    And this is only after the first State of Play showcase.

    I think logging in on Famiboards and finding threads about the game would be like being at a loud party, searching for some quiet time, coming in at the host's spare bedroom and go "aw, here TOO?".

    (I hope people understand the nature of that analogy and that it is just an analogy - naturally, hateful, anti-trans propaganda is obviously not at all actually comparable to being loud at a party.)
     
    Tatsu said:
    I am torn i love avalanches games but i don't want to support such an awful human. The game does look good though.
    Click to expand...
    This is Avalanche Software, not Avalanche Studios.

    Unless you're a Cars 3: Driven to Win/Rugrats: Royal Ransom superfan, in which case I apologise for assuming and encourage you to keep doing you.
     
    maebe said:
    This is Avalanche Software, not Avalanche Studios.

    Unless you're a Cars 3: Driven to Win/Rugrats: Royal Ransom superfan, in which case I apologise for assuming and encourage you to keep doing you.
    Click to expand...
    Oh its not? I thought it was lol
     
    The humble and very professional way Harina handles this topic on that certain game on this forum is an inspiration. Really makes me feel proud to be a part of this community. This is the perfect way sensitive subjects should be handled I feel.
     
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