Cyberpunk 2077 Twitter account makes transphobic joke

Labor said:

I could have sworn something gamergate related happened with this game and/or the devs a while back.

Was surprised to see this pop up on my TL in 2018 but I guess the ongoing Riot shit shows there's still a lot of rot in the industry

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CDProjekt/GOG, during GG's initial rise, was fairly dogwhistle enthusiastic, as I recall?

Besides that, they've always been rather noncommittal (read: actively refusing to take a stance) about social issues despite making games that attempt to tackle them. Including, of course, Cyberpunk 2077, a game in a genre explicitly about that shit like goddamn you clowns get your shit together.

Ahem.

That 'joke' is neither funny but fucking lazy. Yet I would highly recommend not to equate a faceless Twitter handler of a large company with the whole entity. It's not fair.

mutombo said:

the joke's not transphobic. It's a 'social justice warrior-phobic' joke. Making fun of the outrage that exists. This quote could have been said by a SJW. Come on. I say this regardless of taste though. Then again, they probably let you select, or not select, any kind of gender in the game because it's set in the future. But again, they, as well as many others, might get a little tired with all the trans-people-social-justice-warrior-outrage-everywhere-all-the-time.

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peace out

Frump said:

Would you people saying it's just a joke be saying the same if he used words like "gay" or "faggot" in a pejorative way? Cuz that tweet's the same thing.

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How can you possibly know their intent?

Waddle Dee said:

Goddamn, this thread is a mess... Hopefully the mods actually give out good punishments for once instead of a little slap on the wrist. Era has been letting a lot of garbage slip by.

Don't forget to use the Report function on any people in this thread or others if you feel they are being dishonest or are defending transphobic "jokes"!

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Agreed. Report is the only option because of policies.

fierrotlepou said:

People just love to get offended.

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I'm offended whenever anyone is put in a position to feel dehumanized, yes.

ITT: A bunch of people decrying the entire ResetEra forum and Mod team over a few people not informed or up to date on transphobic jokes.

Gross.

Labor said:

I could have sworn something gamergate related happened with this game and/or the devs a while back.

Was surprised to see this pop up on my TL in 2018 but I guess the ongoing Riot shit shows there's still a lot of rot in the industry

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They own GoG which posted an advertisment of Postal 2 with a screenshot of Postal dude pissing on a grave about the death of journalism. The date of death on the grave is the day gamergate became a thing.

Salty Rice said:

Its a really dumb joke but im not surprised Austin Walker is overreacting like always.

What the fuck has this to do with the game.

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Maybe the kind of stuff they put on their social media reflects the kind of stuff they're willing to put in their game? Maybe Austin Walker isn't overreacting and is actually listening to trans people, instead of instantly dismissing us like most others would?

When most trans people say "hey, this is really hurtful and reinforces shitty prejudices", it isn't an overreaction, it's genuine concern.

mutombo said:

the joke's not transphobic. It's a 'social justice warrior-phobic' joke. Making fun of the outrage that exists. This quote could have been said by a SJW. Come on. I say this regardless of taste though. Then again, they probably let you select, or not select, any kind of gender in the game because it's set in the future. But again, they, as well as many others, might get a little tired with all the trans-people-social-justice-warrior-outrage-everywhere-all-the-time.

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It's hard to take a post like this seriously when you're using the them "SJW" unironically.

mutombo said:

the joke's not transphobic. It's a 'social justice warrior-phobic' joke. Making fun of the outrage that exists. This quote could have been said by a SJW. Come on. I say this regardless of taste though. Then again, they probably let you select, or not select, any kind of gender in the game because it's set in the future. But again, they, as well as many others, might get a little tired with all the trans-people-social-justice-warrior-outrage-everywhere-all-the-time.

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The "outrage" it's mocking is a trans person being upset over being misgendered. How is that somehow not transphobic?

not that you'll be unbanned long enough to answer

Frump said:

Would you people saying it's just a joke be saying the same if he used words like "gay" or "faggot" in a pejorative way? Cuz that tweet's the same thing.

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Pejoratives immediately leap out as attacks. The joke in the OP is worse in a way because it casually trashes valid identities while appearing innocuous enough that even people who would object to obvious slurs might give the joke a pass, since they might think it doesn't look especially hurtful. But that's deceptive because such jokes normalize transphobia.

Any joke or statement that paves the way to indifference about trans issues is in fact transphobic.

Lowrys said:

Surely doing transphobic things is what transphobes do?

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What I meant by that is you don't have to actively be hating someone to say things that are hurtful. See also: I don't think I am a racist, but I definitely have racist thoughts sometimes (which I of course always try to get better at identifying and training myself NOT to have, etc etc).

Of course, some people draw the line differently. I didn't really mean to draw a line at all, just attack the argument that guy made. :P

fierrotlepou said:

People just love to get offended.

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Yeah that's all it is...not.

CurseoftheGods said:

dumb joke

I am sure they didn't mean to be malicious

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Of course they didn't mean it, but it's still insensitive, and show you don't realize and don't care about the struggles of the people you joke about. That's the issue.

Jesus, they swerved right into that pothole didn't they? What was the goal of that reply? Just to be edgy?

The joke is factually transphobic.

And I am absolutely disgusted at like half of the replies in this thread. This is the kind of nonsense that appears over at the old board.

Funyarinpa said:

This thread proves that whoever wrote that ERA isn't progressive thread was right

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Era isn't progressive and it sure as hell isn't welcoming to women either. This thread and others like that "females" thread, etc. Heck, the backlash at the fact some people don't label themselves "gamers" is more offensive to some people on here.

The majority of responses here are honestly stuff you would expect on reddit and 4chan "lul must be tiring being offended all the time!" "aww don't like this game you don't know fun!!"

lol at the ppl that never heard this. if you've been on the internet or played games online much at all the past 2 years you'll have heard this. its literally all over the place in ffxiv

GUNDAM STARDUST said:

How can you possibly know their intent?

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It's easy. The words we select have meanings. From those meanings, we garner intent.

It sounds like I'm making fun of you, but I'm dead serious. It's just that simple.

Everyone here saying 'it's just a dumb joke' should try to explain the funny part to the trans people in your life that you you probably don't even know about.

How do you feel about 'jokes' like 'women should stay in the kitchen' and 'make me a sandwich'? Having someone tell you your identity is also a cheap punchline is a pretty wretched thing to be idle about.

mutombo said:

But again, they, as well as many others, might get a little tired with all the trans-people-social-justice-warrior-outrage-everywhere-all-the-time.

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you know, i was wondering how long it would take for the thread to move from defending transphobia to actually just openly shitting on trans people

It's not that this thread is exposing trolls, it's exposing how little moderates care of the world outside of their bubble

They draw a line and that line doesn't extend very far from themselves.

tulpa said:

the facade is really slipping from ResetEra with these threads

apparently a lot of people think this type of thing is cool or acceptable and think the appropriate reaction is to attack the people making reasonable criticisms of it

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Seems like even the hivemind idea has found its way to the new place.

Genuinely surprised that so many people are having a hard time comprehending what's offensive.

This thread is gross.

Bunch of people tripping over each other to say "just a joke guys, why so offended LOL"

It's a shitty joke that's rooted in a hateful place. It shouldn't be made and someone being upset about that isn't the problem. That's a bullshit deflection that only serves to antagonize anyone who would call this stuff out in the future.

How they were ever compelled to make such a joke is beyond me. You just come off as stupid.

Dussck said:

This is a clear case of 'someone behind the PR account is thinking he makes a snappy joke response, will find out that a whole lot of people feel offended and is probably typing up an apology tweet allready'

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It's been 24 hours since that tweet, so I doubt they will do anything at this point. Probably don't care enough to make an apology about it, I wouldn't doubt. Especially with so many people willing to die on a hill for them.

TheIlliterati said:

ITT: A bunch of people decrying the entire ResetEra forum and Mod team over a few people not informed or up to date on transphobic jokes.

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What if the people not informed or up to date could shut the fuck up instead of posting about how it's not actually bad, and how everyone bothered by it's ruining comedy or some inane shit like that?

William Gibson was right. Cyberpunk 2077 isn't Cyberpunk, it's retrofuture GTA.

boris_feinbrand said:

Seems like even the hivemind idea has found its way to the new place.

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sorry, what is that supposed to mean?

PhazonBlonde said:

lol at the ppl that never heard this. if you've been on the internet or played games online much at all the past 2 years you'll have heard this. its literally all over the place in ffxiv

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No, I haven't heard of this, honest.

I know people joke about trans people and their identification etc, but never seen the wordning framed like this (might be that english isn't my first language).

MetroidPrimeRib said:

Yeah that maybe when your milquetoast take that has been repeated 200,000 times is indistinguishable from right wing reactionary idiots you should reconsider.

Like if this shitty joke is comedy then thank fuck its dying.

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I was basically commenting on the idea that outrage has killed comedy. Another poster had commented on outrage. I honestly did not comment on this twitter thing as I had not read it yet. I did edit the post before you apparently read the last few lines. Honestly, I have no idea what this whole thing is about. I see the quote, but have no idea about this supposed meme, nor do I have any clue here what is going on.

I see a picture of a person, and a quote that says, "I want more guys." I literally don't know what is going on. I guess the person's gender is being assumed and that is the problem? I would not really assume their gender to be honest as I can't make it out, but a tweet doesn't really do anything. It's not funny, and to me it just seems random.

I can assure you I am of no wing. I have worked with transgender associates at my work and have no problems. But making jokes about everything once opened comedy wide to a lot of new things, and it is indeed being killed by censorship and outrage IMO.

As a trans woman I don't know if the comments of this thread are just FUCKING stupid or you don't have any empathy for us. I don't know whats worse.

Fallout 4 Master said:

This topic has an extra response tweet and it's even more non-issue.

People seeking outrage like they might one day get paid for it.

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juliamcardinals said:

Chill out it was dumb joke (it has been done so many times and to the point it isn't funny anymore) don't make it a bigger deal than it is

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formatnone said:

....how is this a transphobic thing??

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Heyrule said:

Must be exhausting constantly being offended.

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Denman said:

I don't get what's offensive.

I just took it as a dumb joke that slightly related to their upcoming game and ability to change gender/change parts.

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https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/did-you-just-assume-my-gender

"Did You Just Assume My Gender?" is a punchline used to mock the sensitivity of feminists, Social Justice Warriors, and the discussions going on in the LGBTQ community, particularly the Trans and Queer communities, involving gender identification.

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PhazonBlonde said:

lol at the ppl that never heard this. if you've been on the internet or played games online much at all the past 2 years you'll have heard this. its literally all over the place in ffxiv

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I've played Overwatch almost every day for 2 years online and I've never heard this "joke". I didn't get the implication at first because it's not as prevalent as you seem to think.

GUNDAM STARDUST said:

How can you possibly know their intent?

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Using a "joke" that's historically based on trasphobia is all the intent I need. I don't think every kid who calls something he or she dislikes "gay" necessarily hates gay people but it's homophobic language, just like the tweet is transphobic.

What is the problem here?

Poltergust said:

It's hard to take a post like this seriously when you're using the them "SJW" unironically.

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I get that. But still, they're a thing in the minds of people disagreeing. These days we're preaching tolerance but everyone's so intolerant when you have a dissenting opinion. You're either a SJW or alt-right and the in-between is lost. For the twitter quote, I interpret it as it being more a 'SJW-shit-post' than an actual joke about trans people.

CDPR is 0 for 2 on respecting bodily autonomy which is pretty damning when you're making a cyberpunk game...


https://www.polygon.com/e3/2018/6/15/17468232/cyberpunk-2077-nudity-transhumanism

People in here asking why this is offensive need to ask themselves why they think an already marginalized group deserves having their struggle mocked and this type of humor normalized. Have a little empathy for others please.

mutombo said:

the joke's not transphobic. It's a 'social justice warrior-phobic' joke. Making fun of the outrage that exists. This quote could have been said by a SJW. Come on. I say this regardless of taste though. Then again, they probably let you select, or not select, any kind of gender in the game because it's set in the future. But again, they, as well as many others, might get a little tired with all the trans-people-social-justice-warrior-outrage-everywhere-all-the-time.

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I can't take you seriously not just because you are wrong but because you are using SJW unironically.

potentialtodisplease said:

I was basically commenting on the idea that outrage has killed comedy. Another poster had commented on outrage. I honestly did not comment on this twitter thing as I had not read it yet. I did edit the post before you apparently read the last few lines. Honestly, I have no idea what this whole thing is about. I see the quote, but have no idea about this supposed meme, nor do I have any clue here what is going on.

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Here's a thought: why don't you get educated about it before posting

Like, you say within your paragraph that you hadn't read it yet, but you just had to get your opinion in on the thing you didn't read!!

So, once again Era shows how it couldn't give fewer shits about trans people. Thanks, guys. Thanks a whole lot.

Teddified said:

these sum up my feelings

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^This

Sexy Fish said:

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/did-you-just-assume-my-gender

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MadLaughter maybe add this to the OP

bunch of disgusting answers ITT jesus

It's a joke you can make around friends, trans friends at that and people know it's a joke.

But this feels more like teasing than a joke. A company as big as CDPR can't be seen to be teasing, especially because of how pro-consumer they claim to be.

potentialtodisplease said:

Outrage is just crazy these days man. It has basically killed comedy. It's so sad. That being said I don't really make jokes about trans people because I really don't know exactly how they feel nor can I imagine it really. There is a time for empathy and decent jokes. I assume Twitter is not the place for most people.

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Agreed 100 percent here. People are wayyyyy too sensitive on Twitter I mean holy shit.

My take on this is that this whole thing is incredibly silly and there's plenty more upsetting things to be focusing on like the treatment of LGBT people in countries where we're literally persecuted rather than a joke where people are getting armchair "offended".

Move on and stop getting triggered over nothing.

Serene said:

This thread is gross.

Bunch of people tripping over each other to say "just a joke guys, why so offended LOL"

It's a shitty joke that's rooted in a hateful place. It shouldn't be made and someone being upset about that isn't the problem. That's a bullshit deflection that only serves to antagonize anyone who would call this stuff out in the future.

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"It's just a prank bro" has always and will always be the stupidest way to try and explain why a shitty hateful joke isn't "actually" shitty and hateful

deepFlaw said:

What if the people not informed or up to date could shut the fuck up instead of posting about how it's not actually bad, and how everyone bothered by it's ruining comedy or some inane shit like that?

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What about people that actually learned something? I was uninformed and didn't know how this affected transgendered people. I learned, and hopefully some others do too.