Easy Allies |OT| The New Era

trinity said:

i appreciate your points. but if you set the bar so low that anybody on the spectrum is labelled as a 'racist' you are accomplishing nothing imo. is someone making a white supremacy argument a racist? is someone making a model minority argument a racist? like, what are fucking doing here? are we just going to stop listening and talking to people we disagree with?

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I mean what am I supposed to accomplish? Why is it the responsibility of the people that live through that shit day in day out to accomplish anything?
It's not that I live under the illusion that I can change people that don't want to show empathy for their others so I can either remain silent and just let it happen over and over and over to me and others or I can call it out in hopes people grow uncomfortable pulling shit like that.

But hey open for suggestions on how to deal with that stuff?
Is it the "grow a ticker skin?" is it "brush it away?" is it "don't make a big deal out of nothing?" is it "take it as a joke?" is it "stop being a whiney sjw?"(Not saying that any of these would be your suggestion but these are things I hear and that you can constantly see as arguments used). People are putting all the burden on dealing with this shit on the people getting marginalized cause it's very important that they can just say whatever they want and everything else isn't their problem while I just have to assume non of them have to live a life where they experience that shit constantly. Death by a thousand cuts or something.

trinity said:

if you set the bar so low

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Your bar isn't the same as those of others, and you shouldn't expect otherwise, as doing so would disregard their perspectives, which are built upon a different foundation than your own.

The problem that I have with the person in question is that, when it became clear that he had offended many people with his comments, he not only did not apologize, he doubled down. Then it happened again, then it happened again, etc. Even as someone that wasn't targeted by the comments in question, it's clear to me as an observer that he could have easily done better, he should have done better, and he actively refuses to do better. To your question, no, someone with such an attitude does not deserve to be promoted in other communities.

SinCItyAssassin said:

My only opinion is that most of the things happening right now from this ain't worth it.

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Agreed. Between this thread and the folks that have been coming after me on Twitter for replying to Brandon earlier, I'm regretting my own role in inviting so much discussion about this. Anyone who wants to continue this discussion, feel free to PM me.

Mikey Jr. said:

I actually like Colin's opinions on games. I must be a monster.

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I do too... sometimes. But his opinions are always weird and contrarian, I never know what to expect except he seems to base his stance on whether there's a consensus stating the opposite first.
I'm yankin' your chain, Colin, you're great and I like your stubborn views (Saying this like he'd ever go to Resetera after pissing publically on the grave of the former site)

Colin came off as exceptionally bored and sick of games at the end of his Kinda Funny time. It didn't help that he complained about echo chambers but only really responded to kind messages, and when offered suggestions and timestamps of his issues, he simply ignored them. That, to me, doesn't come off as a constructive person, and a fair number of his tweets have been gross, to say the least. I don't know. I was cool with him being gone and doing his own thing. Returning and dragging Jones in, even for a simple "fireside chat", doesn't sit well with me, personally. But it's definitely Brandon's choice, and if he feels it's the right thing to do, then that is fine, in the end. I just wouldn't do it.

Colin is toxic. You can pour poison into a wine bottle, doesn't change what it is.
What more needs to be said.

Just got done listening to the podcast, in particular the middle segments on Battlefront 2 and Belgium story. I feel like Jones and Brad maybe didn't have a grasp on the entire situation, but Ben seemed to know the root of what people were trying to get at. He himself has succumbed to this kind of behavior.

I was thinking about tweeting a screenshot of this to the allies, wanted to know what the community thought:

"Whales" has been a common industry term for awhile now and there's good reason for it. They see humans as prey. What the folks in Belgium, Hawaii and Austrailia seem to be advocating is not necessarily banning blind box purchases outright, but regulating them. The same way casino gambling is regulated, the same way tobacco is regulated. Obviously this would be a massive problem for the video game industry.

Blind box purchases may not meet the legal criteria for what certain countries consider gambling, but it certainly meets the literal definition of it:
to play at any game of chance for money or other stakes.
to stake or risk money, or anything of value, on the outcome of something involving chance
You're paying money for a desired outcome on a game of chance that was designed to have the same visual and psychological effect as a slot machine. I honestly can't see how any person that stops to think about that for a moment could not at bare minimum see this as developers/publishers engaging in predatory behavior. Even if a person is not buying loot boxes with money, simply engaging with that type of system, even if done for free can be damaging. Operant conditioning and gambling rewards is a well researched subject put forth by behaviorist B F Skinner. Without the proper context and maturity children and young adults should probably not be engaging with these types of systems.


What do you guys think about this?

Nijhazer said:

Yeah, some of his followers are engaging with people that have responded to Brandon's tweet. I haven't seen much bullying coming out of that so far; just make sure you're not interpreting any such engagement as bullying and you should be OK. Emotions can run high on Twitter, as it's historically been a prominent venue for bullying, and it's therefore easy to read any new mentions in that light.

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It ended with me calling his gf a wanker (for coming up with framing that tweet) and him making fun of the website I write for.

Holundrian said:

I mean what am I supposed to accomplish? Why is it the responsibility of the people that live through that shit day in day out to accomplish anything?
It's not that I live under the illusion that I can change people that don't want to show empathy for their others so I can either remain silent and just let it happen over and over and over to me and others or I can call it out in hopes people grow uncomfortable pulling shit like that.

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it might feel like it, but i'm absolutely not saying its just your responsibility. its as much mine too. its everyones. thats why i feel like i have to try and make sure everyone is still talking to each other. not just shutting down and sitting in their own camps.

by accomplish i mean, ok, you said colin was a racist. then what is going to happen? the people youre trying to reach are going to look at what he did and try and rationalise it against their own behaviour. and inevitably, because the bar is so low, a bunch of them will feel that by your standards they themselves are racist, and theyre going to get defensive about it. then they're going to externalise it and look at your actions. and because the bar is so low, you better be 100% speaky clean or theyre gonna brand you a hypocrite. and then theyre going to want to talk about it, because, well, the internet. but if youre not listening who are they going to talk to? they'll end up talking to other people who feel like they're not racist too. and now you've got this weird fucking echo chamber.

i just personally, dont think its helpful. i mean, i might be wrong here. but i look at the world right now and political discourse and i cant help but feel its exactly whats happening. everyones branding each other as a racist or a sjw - putting everyone into a box. is shit getting better because of it? i dont think so. so why do it?

Umibozu said:

Colin is toxic. You can pour poison into a wine bottle, doesn't change what it is.
What more needs to be said.

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I mean, Jones had to have known this right? .... why would he put his hand in that wasp's nest? especially after seeing the kinda funny meltdown after that mans departure.

diablogg said:

Just got done listening to the podcast, in particular the middle segments on Battlefront 2 and Belgium story. I feel like Jones and Brad maybe didn't have a grasp on the entire situation, but Ben seemed to know the root of what people were trying to get at. He himself has succumbed to this kind of behavior.

I was thinking about tweeting a screenshot of this to the allies, wanted to know what the community thought:

"Whales" has been a common industry term for awhile now and there's good reason for it. They see humans as prey. What the folks in Belgium, Hawaii and Austrailia seem to be advocating is not necessarily banning blind box purchases outright, but regulating them. The same way casino gambling is regulated, the same way tobacco is regulated. Obviously this would be a massive problem for the video game industry.

Blind box purchases may not meet the legal criteria for what certain countries consider gambling, but it certainly meets the literal definition of it:
to play at any game of chance for money or other stakes.
to stake or risk money, or anything of value, on the outcome of something involving chance
You're paying money for a desired outcome on a game of chance that was designed to have the same visual and psychological effect as a slot machine. I honestly can't see how any person that stops to think about that for a moment could not at bare minimum see this as developers/publishers engaging in predatory behavior. Even if a person is not buying loot boxes with money, simply engaging with that type of system, even if done for free can be damaging. Operant conditioning and gambling rewards is a well researched subject put forth by behaviorist B F Skinner. Without the proper context and maturity children and young adults should probably not be engaging with these types of systems.


What do you guys think about this?

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I haven't listened to the podcast yet, but that all seems reasonable to me. But in some sense I'm the choir and you're the preacher here. I think loot boxes are clearly predatory behavior, and just the latest example of fiduciary duty overriding moral duty. Just because it makes shareholders the most money doesn't mean it is actually the right thing to do or should be legal. Taking a hard line "fiduciary duty wins" stance is how you get to child labor.

I remember some people arguing that it was 'setting the bar low' to call someone a racist for using a racial slur as an insult in a certain thread on the other forum. No, let's call a spade a spade. If you do racist or sexist things and revel in it, don't be shocked when you're labeled a racist or sexist. That's on you and no one else.

I'm a lurker of this thread but felt like I had to say something regarding this:

Colin is objectively a sexist and racist man. He may not believe so, but his comments and position on issues comes across as extremely naive and he has a skewed perception of reality. Supporting a platform where these people's voices can be heard is a huge mistake. Colin has proven time and time again that he is not actually interested in learning and changing his opinion on his worldview. There are so many wonderful people in the industry and I just don't see what there is to gain by talking to and supporting a bigoted and closed minded person like Colin.

Was wondering what everyone was getting heated over, and see its Colin...ugh. Quit watching KF quite a bit ago because of him and started watching EZA instead. Wish he would leave games completely so I can quit seeing him brought up. Remember after Bannon was said to be a part of Trumps admin Colin kept goin on bout how he didn't know whether to believe if Bannon was a horrible person or not bc you can't trust mainstream media. The other members of KF pointed out Breitbart headlines and he just said ya but you cant really know if he believes the awful stuff on the site he runs. I then left and never looked back.

Few months ago on the other site there was a thread on where he said white supremecy/racism doesn't exist bc of asians. Not even a joke.

He is not about L & R.

Edit - Just read the previous page and the mentioned tweet was posted and just as horrible as I remember.

I don't give a rat ass if Colin and EZA collaborate, but this topic is being so toxic I don't want this to affect the Patreons of EZA.

Man, gamers are so toxic and divisive it sometimes makes me sad I am even interested in the hobby. I mean, we can have conversations but in the end it's about shooting darts and calling "the other side" an idiot.

PSA: I think Colin M. is a racist pos. However, he does have a valid point from time to time and a dissident voice is always welcome

Mikey Jr. said:

I actually like Colin's opinions on games. I must be a monster.

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So do I.

Elshoelace said:

Few months ago on the other site there was a thread on where he said white supremecy/racism doesn't exist bc of asians. Not even a joke.

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its a dumb argument. but so is the article he was responding to.

trinity said:

its a dumb argument. but so is the article he was responding to.

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Fail to see the point here. The context of why he stated his arguement doesn't make it any better.

Well interested in how this turns out, glad Jones posted he is listening to the feedback. Though some of those reply tweets are ugh. I swear diehard Colin fans just parrot back the stupid stuff he says, "Bet they don't even know what facism means" without any reason to say so, just they heard Colin say it.

Says racist things.

Believes in racist beliefs.

Unapologetic about saying and believing racist things.

...not a racist?






Colin is toxic. I feel like not only would it divide the EZA community, but the Allies themselves.

Yeah, I say at this point, don't do anything with Colin. Honestly, I think EZA has more to lose than gain at this point.

Elfforkusu said:

I haven't listened to the podcast yet, but that all seems reasonable to me. But in some sense I'm the choir and you're the preacher here. I think loot boxes are clearly predatory behavior, and just the latest example of fiduciary duty overriding moral duty. Just because it makes shareholders the most money doesn't mean it is actually the right thing to do or should be legal. Taking a hard line "fiduciary duty wins" stance is how you get to child labor.

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I guess when Kyle was asking them about the predatory nature of loot boxes. Jones didn't even seem ready to call them predatory and gambling was something that took place only when you bet money to win money. Brad called out parents and Jones was talking about the difference between something with a single player campaign and actual casino gambling but I think that's actually what makes these video game microtransactions worse, you used to buy a video game with the expectation that it's like a fun.. entertainment product. A good parent who doesn't know anything about video games will probably research if the game is violent, has sexual content or drug use or whatever, but if they're not truly "in the know" won't even understand these types of insidious systems can even be in a video games.

That's why I wanted to type out my original post. I was curious if people thought what I wrote was even correct or if I should add anything I guess.

edit: Also I didn't think of this initially but I could try modifying my original post and asking the question to Jones on Cup of Jones

Elshoelace said:

Fail to see the point here. The context of why he stated his arguement doesn't make it any better.

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so context doesnt matter any more? that scares me.

it also scares me that you seemingly dont have any issues with people saying asian people shouldnt hang out with white people.

Someone has made me aware that Colin has become a patron, those of you engaging in the patreon be careful. Don't need him sicking his toxic community after you (seems like this is already in process on twitter with all the people going after the community members who tweeted at the allies).
Frankly the allies failure to get ahead of this situation has been a bit embarrassing.

trinity said:

so context doesnt matter any more? that scares me.

it also scares me that you seemingly dont have any issues with people saying asian people shouldnt hang out with white people.

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I'm sure you're really scared

I thought we are not allowed to discuss that person on this forum.

Damiani, the recent Friend Code inspired me to go back and watch Zelda Talk for the first time. Some really great stuff there. Got me really hyped for the DLC.

Walks into Resetera EZA...

Nice drive by

MXAGhost said:

Walks into Resetera EZA...

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Why is your gif backwards :|

JayC3 said:

That is absolutely not what Elshoelace said, and neither the article nor Elshoelace said anything about Asian people hanging out with white people.

He said that a dumb article doesn't give Colin the justification to parrot white supremacist talking points (see my earlier post for an article on it). I don't see anything wrong with that conclusion.

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he didnt say it was dumb. he just said context doesnt matter. i was calling the article dumb. he specifically didnt cast any aspersions on the article.

trinity said:

so context doesnt matter any more? that scares me.

it also scares me that you seemingly dont have any issues with people saying asian people shouldnt hang out with white people.

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Oh please, him stating the model minority myth is bad, period. The context of his BS doesn't matter because it will be the same bad arguement either way. I didn't read the article he responded to so I didn't comment on it, cause I didn't feel the need to see what caused him to spew crap again.

Outside of this Colin debacle, did they say when they'll do the Betting Special for the PSX thing?

Considering they aren't including Game Awards in the betting, I suspect it's gonna be more lowkey bets.

diablogg said:

I guess when Kyle was asking them about the predatory nature of loot boxes. Jones didn't even seem ready to call them predatory and gambling was something that took place only when you bet money to win money. Brad called out parents and Jones was talking about the difference between something with a single player campaign and actual casino gambling but I think that's actually what makes these video game microtransactions worse, you used to buy a video game with the expectation that it's like a fun.. entertainment product. A good parent who doesn't know anything about video games will probably research if the game is violent, has sexual content or drug use or whatever, but if they're not truly "in the know" won't even understand these types of insidious systems can even be in a video games.

That's why I wanted to type out my original post. I was curious if people thought what I wrote was even correct or if I should add anything I guess.

edit: Also I didn't think of this initially but I could try modifying my original post and asking the question to Jones on Cup of Jones

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Might want to edit that link out as it isn't Friday, yet. ;)

Umibozu said:

Someone has made me aware that Colin has become a patron, those of you engaging in the patreon be careful. Don't need him sicking his toxic community after you (seems like this is already in process on twitter with all the people going after the community members who tweeted at the allies).
Frankly the allies failure to get ahead of this situation has been a bit embarrassing.

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Yeah it looks like Colin has made this a "thing" which is the last thing EZA needs. Fuck. I mean, I get that Brandon is a nice dude who tends to stay out of internet drama but what the hell was he thinking here? He definitely could have done better to see that this would cause an unnecessary controversy.

OutOfBounds said:

Might want to edit that link out as it isn't Friday, yet. ;)

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Crap didn't even think.

diablogg said:

Crap didn't even think.

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Too late, baby. Everyone's watching now YA DONE GOOFED.

Naythan said:

Yeah it looks like Colin has made this a "thing" which is the last thing EZA needs. Fuck. I mean, I get that Brandon is a nice dude who tends to stay out of internet drama but what the hell was he thinking here? He definitely could have done better to see that this would cause an unnecessary controversy.

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What does this mean exactly, him making it a thing?

Dmax3901 said:

What does this mean exactly, him making it a thing?

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Making a public tweet about becoming a patron to make up for any patrons lost by EZA associating with him, getting into arguments with people on twitter about it, etc.

Naythan said:

Yeah it looks like Colin has made this a "thing" which is the last thing EZA needs. Fuck. I mean, I get that Brandon is a nice dude who tends to stay out of internet drama but what the hell was he thinking here? He definitely could have done better to see that this would cause an unnecessary controversy.

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Agreed.
They've failed to stand up for Ian for his comments on last week's podcast and the following attacks he got for it.
They failed to stand up for Damiani when he spoke against GG around when first joined them in LA.
Now they're putting parts of their community in the line of fire to let Brandon know their hesitation of the allies working with Colin.
It's the lack of discourse/action from the allies that's personally disappointing. They want to meet in the middle with Colin and his ilk. That's fine, but just say so allowing those that have an issue to move on.

Umibozu said:

They've failed to stand up for Ian for his comments on last week's podcast and the following attacks he got for it.

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What did Ian say in the last weeks podcast?

CannonFodder52 said:

What did Ian say in the last weeks podcast?

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Believe victims of sexual harrassment. Terrible I know.

CannonFodder52 said:

What did Ian say in the last weeks podcast?

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When women speak out on allegations of sexual misconduct it's okay to believe them.
This got the MRA/edgelords of the internet in a tizzy.

Oh...
I heard him say that and I know people are shit heads, but I didn't expect that to blow up.

JayC3 said:

Ian has been continually harassed for forever, even for just appearing on videos, and I can't think of a time when I've ever heard the Allies acknowledge the harassment on video and tell the audience that it is unacceptable. It's something that's bothered me for a long time.

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Agree with this.

JayC3 said:

Ian has been continually harassed for forever, even for just appearing on videos, and I can't think of a time when I've ever heard the Allies acknowledge the harassment on video and tell the audience that it is unacceptable. It's something that's bothered me for a long time.

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Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup

Yeah, exactly.

SinCItyAssassin said:

Too late, baby. Everyone's watching now YA DONE GOOFED.

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JayC3 said:

Ian has been continually harassed for forever, even for just appearing on videos, and I can't think of a time when I've ever heard the Allies acknowledge the harassment on video and tell the audience that it is unacceptable. It's something that's bothered me for a long time.

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Yeah me too. The amount of comments and the likes they get are not insignificant and the more it's allowed to continue the more GGers and their ilk will feel welcome in the EZA community.

Roubjon said:

I'm a lurker of this thread but felt like I had to say something regarding this:

Colin is objectively a sexist and racist man. He may not believe so, but his comments and position on issues comes across as extremely naive and he has a skewed perception of reality. Supporting a platform where these people's voices can be heard is a huge mistake. Colin has proven time and time again that he is not actually interested in learning and changing his opinion on his worldview. There are so many wonderful people in the industry and I just don't see what there is to gain by talking to and supporting a bigoted and closed minded person like Colin.

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Umibozu said:

Agreed.
They've failed to stand up for Ian for his comments on last week's podcast and the following attacks he got for it.
They failed to stand up for Damiani when he spoke against GG around when first joined them in LA.
Now they're putting parts of their community in the line of fire to let Brandon know their hesitation of the allies working with Colin.
It's the lack of discourse/action from the allies that's personally disappointing. They want to meet in the middle with Colin and his ilk. That's fine, but just say so allowing those that have an issue to move on.

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JayC3 said:

Ian has been continually harassed for forever, even for just appearing on videos, and I can't think of a time when I've ever heard the Allies acknowledge the harassment on video and tell the audience that it is unacceptable. It's something that's bothered me for a long time.

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I'm a big EZA fan, though I mainly just lurk this thread, but I just feel like I need to say that I completely agree with all of these posts. I don't have much more to say, other than that this all just makes me really sad.

It's possible Ian has specifically requested for no big deal to be made about it.

Dmax3901 said:

It's possible Ian has specifically requested for no big deal to be made about it.

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That would be my guess.