
SXSW Cancels Gamer Panels After Threats - conover
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/sxsw-cancels-gamer-panels-after-threats/
======
Zikes
The Gamergate/Anti-Gamergate movement _has_ to be a Sociology PhD Candidate's
thesis topic. It's fascinating how utterly polarizing it is, I mean just look
at the sort of comments we're seeing right here on HN, and we tend to be the
levelheaded and civil ones!

Both "sides" are victims of their own success. In spite of whatever
potentially valid points they have, the moment someone figures out which
"side" you are on you are immediately lumped into one group or the other and
considered completely guilty by association. And the folks that do that are so
absolutely certain of how "vile" or "evil" you are, as certainly as if you'd
come out as a Nazi or somesuch.

But if you could somehow make your argument without getting either label
attached, someone might actually want to listen to you as though you were a
rational human being.

~~~
MBCook
> and we tend to be the levelheaded and civil ones!

I've seen a lot of things discussed on HN. I think that may be wishful
thinking. Just because HN isn't full of straight out cussing and insults
doesn't mean we're level headed or civil.

~~~
cbsmith
"levelheaded and civil ones" was clearly meant in relative terms. HN is not
level headed or civil, we're just _more_ level headed or civil.

------
striking
#SavePoint on why their panel was cancelled:
[http://www.theopengamingsociety.org/savepoint-dear-
community...](http://www.theopengamingsociety.org/savepoint-dear-community/)

LevelUp on why their panel was cancelled:
[https://twitter.com/randileeharper/status/658780409765994496](https://twitter.com/randileeharper/status/658780409765994496)

~~~
douche
Which side is which here? I'm not really clued into the whole GamerGate
thing...

I have seen Randi Lee Harper say some very unpleasant things, and some even
more unpleasant things said about her. I know nothing about the Open Gaming
Society, but reading their website it seems like a relatively sane
organization.

~~~
msabalau
SavePoint was to featured "several prominent GamerGate figureheads". The
sponsoring organization generally claims to take "a neutral stance" on
GamerGate. ([http://motherboard.vice.com/read/sxsw-cancels-gaming-
panels-...](http://motherboard.vice.com/read/sxsw-cancels-gaming-panels-due-
to-threats-of-violence))

Randi Lee Harper is noted for making tools to help victims of online
harassment. Level Up panel description was "A panel from experts on online
harassment in gaming and geek culture, how to combat it, how to design against
it, and how to create online communities that are moving away from
harassment."

The GamerGate crowd claim that they care about "ethics in game journalism" and
that the abuse that feminist gamers experience doesn't have anything to do
with them. So theoretically, there aren't opposing sides here.

------
Karunamon
I get the liability arguments here, I really do, but people need to understand
this is going to keep happening as long as people keep kowtowing to the
demands of terrorists.

And I do not see that as too strong a word, either. Making threats against an
event because it's against your ideology is the textbook definition of using
fear to shape thought and policy.

These threats are never credible. It's high time to stop treating them as
such.

------
oomkiller
SXSW had the chance to take a stand for diversity here, choosing instead to
show just how shallow they truly are.

edit: Added clarification of which "side" I'm on

~~~
onewaystreet
What's hilarious about this whole thing is that I have no idea which "side"
you are on by your comment. I've seen this exact sentiment expressed about
SXSW's decision on both /r/KiA _and_ /r/GamerGhazi.

~~~
chiaro
It's a mistake to think of it as "sides" rather than a small group of people
with a persecution complex, and everyone else wishing they'd broaden their
perspective a bit.

~~~
Zikes
What's hilarious about this whole thing is that I have no idea which "side"
you are on by your comment. I've seen this exact sentiment expressed about
SXSW's decision on both /r/KiA _and_ /r/GamerGhazi.

~~~
chiaro
Haha. But really, it's hard for that group to claim to be the silent,
persecuted majority when nearly every major figure in the industry who has
spoken about it and nearly every news outlet that has covered it has
completely condemned it. The "movement" has even been placeholder villains on
Law and Order SVU, and if that isn't the gold standard for general cultural
sentiment, I don't know what is.

------
tlrobinson
So why not hold the panels in an undisclosed location and webcast them?
Preferably for the public, not just conference attendees. Instead of giving
the terrorists (for lack of a better word) exactly what they want turn it
around and use their threats to garner extra publicity.

~~~
famousactress
There isn't a better word, and we don't need one.

------
manicdee
Why wouldn't they continue with the programming, and be ready to press charges
against anyone who behaves violently?

~~~
intopieces
Austin is located in the American state of Texas, which prides itself on gun
ownership. Also, the SXSW conference has already had an instance of violence:
a driver ran into a crowd of people and killed a few of them. While not
intentional, I'm sure the programmers of this conference are eager to separate
their brand from the idea of danger.

~~~
13thLetter
"Austin is located in the American state of Texas, which prides itself on gun
ownership."

That doesn't really follow from the facts as a reason to be concerned about
violence. Austin's crime rate is lower than that of most other major American
cities, including ones such as Chicago which have heavy gun control. (As per
Wikipedia, Chicago's murder rate for 2014 was 15.1, Austin's 3.5.)

~~~
intopieces
I'm not sure the crime rate statistic is relevant in the context of the flood
of threats being directed at the event. We're no longer talking about 'random
crime' at this point. Also, if there's going to be a threat of violence, I'd
prefer that threat not to happen in a state where people have easy access to
guns; I understand that many people have trust in crowd-sourced defense (ala a
well-armed populace) but I like to think the police and the event security are
better choice for that.

------
mfjordvald
What I find most interesting is how this thread is in position 89 with 38
points after only 2 hours.

There's some super heavy flagging going on to censor this whole thing.

------
nradov
The whole Gamergate drama reminds me of the old saying: “The reason why campus
politics are so dirty is that the stakes are so small.” I mean seriously what
kind of loser takes video games seriously? Or even worse, who actually cares
about video game reviews?

~~~
chasing
If you're interested in interactive media -- and you've had an account on
Hacker News for 8+ years, so let's assume so -- then you really should have at
least a passing understanding of how video games work. Both technically and
creatively. And as businesses. It's a fascinating topic -- and arguably we're
going through a bit of a golden age!

If you're just interested in making fun of nerds for liking video games...
Again, you've had a Hacker News account for 8+ years. Might want to watch you
you call "loser" for liking stuff related to technology.

(8+ years? Unless you first created your account when you were 10 years old,
you're literally an adult who wrote the comment above. Wow!)

~~~
nradov
Ha ha. I used to be a hard core gamer. Then I grew up, moved out of my
parents' house, and got a life. There's nothing wrong with playing games as a
hobby. The losers are the ones who actually care about games and take them
seriously.

~~~
chasing
Whelp, you're missing out on some interesting stuff, man. Happy to hear you
finally moved out of your parents' place!

------
nefitty
Wow, didn't see that coming. /sarcasm

------
fragsworth
What's frustrating about this whole situation is how deceptive the
"extremists" have been on both sides (GamerGate and Anti-GamerGate) by making
false-flag attacks. You just can't tell who is faking what now, and it's
making reasonable discussion between the two camps impossible, further
polarizing everyone.

------
erics32
Threatening violence to noplatform your ideological opponents is a pretty
standard tactic out of the SJW playbook.

See: [http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/3/8539733/gamergate-bomb-
threa...](http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/3/8539733/gamergate-bomb-threat-
washington-ggindc-milo-yiannopoulos-christina-hoff-summers)

[http://www.polygon.com/2015/8/16/9161311/bomb-threat-
shuts-d...](http://www.polygon.com/2015/8/16/9161311/bomb-threat-shuts-down-
spj-panel-discussing-gamergate)

