woke.

[Keith Houchen]

6 minutes ago, Nick James said:

Ok, bit of a dick reply, but then again, that's the standard these days isn't it.

It was meant as a joke, hence the exclamation mark. Apologies for the offence caused. 

[RedRooster]

2 hours ago, Nick James said:

If anything, this boycott has brought more eyes to the game, as before seeing people talking about how people shouldn't play it, I hadn't even heard of it. 

Yeah, it seems to be selling pretty well regardless. I do understand the strength of feeling. For loads of kids Harry Potter represented escapism - the ability to disappear into the pages of an imaginary world and forget about the shit in your life. If you were trans and felt unable to be open about it; I’d imagine that if Potter was how you escaped life, having it tainted for you in this way must sting pretty hard. 

It’s easy for me to say of course but, I don’t think it’s morally reprehensible for anyone to play the game, much as I don’t think it’s morally reprehensible to still enjoy Father Ted. But I do understand the strength of feeling surrounding Potter, given what the books meant to so many. 

[Merzbow]

It doesn't help that they added a trans character that feels more like a subtle jab then representation.

[Mr_Danger]

I was never really that comfortable with the hatred that JK Rowling was getting. As a straight white male it didn’t really seem appropriate for me to judge a woman on how she feels about issues that don’t affect me but she really leaned in to it didn’t she? Not quite full Glinner yet but she’s getting there. The gaming industry is rife with sexism, crunch culture, racism and whacky loony incels. Some stupid shit that turned in to hateful shit that an author said is pretty far down my list of outrage. I don’t judge anyone who still involves themselves with that whole universe despite what it’s creator thinks now.
 

 

[westlondonmist]

Was this game ever going to do badly? A Fantastic Beasts film took 400m last year at the box office. The stage show is one of the most popular shows on the West End. She has her fans, many of whom agreed with her views and probably more who just couldn't give a shit. 

I've watched wrasslin for years knowing what a bunch of shit bags are in the industry and handed them money for years too, so I'm not going to criticise anybody who buys this. 

Wasn't Rowling's main problem that she wouldn't back down. She had fears as an abused wife. 90 odd percent of women have either been beaten or had some form of sexual abuse. She pointed out fears many I know have too. She probably just went to head strong. 

Edited February 11, 2023 by westlondonmist

[Nexus]

I think it's also the fact that when she saw someone post about a boycott on Twitter, she immediately went in on them laughing about how she would be rolling around on her piles of money. 

 

Also there are lots of little icks with the game/books - there's some anti-Semitism, there's the casual racism (Cho Chang the most egregious example, but you could also include Seamus Finnegan the Irish boy who only blows thing up), and the general fact that she spends her life punching down on Trans people. 

 

I'm pretty tired of the discourse - play the game, or don't play the game, but when Trans people are telling you that playing the game makes you a shit ally, don't then try and turn it on them. 

 

Here's an article that explains some people's feelings on it: https://www.escapistmagazine.com/explaining-the-j-k-rowling-controversy-surrounding-hogwarts-legacy/

Edited February 11, 2023 by Nexus

[Keith Houchen]

3 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

 

I was never really that comfortable with the hatred that JK Rowling was getting. As a straight white male it didn’t really seem appropriate for me to judge a woman on how she feels about issues that don’t affect me

 

My dislike of her is from the racism and lazy stereotypes. But having said that, it says more about me given how I’ve never read anything she’s written and am basing that on second hand information and other people’s opinions.  So really, I’m jumping on a bandwagon too. Her politics can piss off though, incredibly wealthy centrists who campaigned against actual change for the poorest are wankers. 
 

Some of the reaches to highlight her moral bankruptcy are hilarious though. I saw one yesterday that said the game mentions a goblin war in a year in the 1600s. Someone pointed out how in that year there was a pogrom in Europe against Jewish people (like there was in many years) so the writers, of which Rowling isn’t one, of the game deliberately chose it to piss off the Jews. I mean, I get the whole money hoarding goblins trope goes back centuries and rightly gets called out, but come on!

[Devon Malcolm]

22 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

I was never really that comfortable with the hatred that JK Rowling was getting. As a straight white male it didn’t really seem appropriate for me to judge a woman on how she feels about issues that don’t affect me but she really leaned in to it didn’t she?

As a straight white male it's *entirely* appropriate to criticise someone who has used her platform repeatedly to marginalise a particular group of women.

[SuperBacon]

I think she is a hateful piece of shit, but this is still one of the most unintentionally funniest things ever.

I don't judge anyone that buys or plays the game, thats their right. I still watch Woody Allen films, I have a Network subscription, supporting baby killers every time I buy a Nestle chocolate etc but everyone has their line in the sand I guess.

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by SuperBacon

[Keith Houchen]

9 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

 

I think she is a hateful piece of shit, but this is still one of the most unintentionally funniest things ever.

 

Not sure if this is one of her retcons that she’s fond of, but the Goldstein family featured significantly in the Fantastic Beasts films, which is set before Potter. Not quite having a black guy called Shacklebolt though!

[Mr_Danger]

44 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

As a straight white male it's *entirely* appropriate to criticise someone who has used her platform repeatedly to marginalise a particular group of women.

Well now she’s fair game for all the shite that comes her way but initially she was just spouting the same ignorant shite most the women of a certain age I knew personally were saying. The straight white male thing is obviously a cop out and undoubtedly comes across as “doesn’t involve me so I don’t care” but when she first made her comment I felt there was enough nuance and grey area for at least a little benefit of doubt. Then as I say, she doubled down, didn’t take it as a learning experience and became worse. 

[SuperBacon]

17 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

Not sure if this is one of her retcons that she’s fond of, but the Goldstein family featured significantly in the Fantastic Beasts films, which is set before Potter. Not quite having a black guy called Shacklebolt though!

Possibly, but it's just the thought of her thinking "Right, what is ths most obviously Jewish name I can think of"? and then replying with that which makes it so funny. 

Of course it's entirely appropriate that a Jewish wizard should be called Goldstein and this was in 2014, so not sure she was spouting hateful shit then, and it leans into the humour of her saying stupid shit, but my god I find it funny.

"Jo, any plans for an Italian wizard?"

"Anthony Gabagool, Hufflepuff with a hint of Slytherin" 

Edited February 11, 2023 by SuperBacon

[Keith Houchen]

1 minute ago, SuperBacon said:

Possibly, but it's just the thought of her thinking "Right, what is ths most obviously Jewish name I can think of"? and then replying with that which makes it so funny. 

I did a quick search and he’s in the books as well apparently. 

[The Gaffer]

I think the fact that gamer culture is almost always right in the mix with some of the best and worst online discourse is probably part of the reason Hogwarts Legacy has become such a big talking point in comparison to the movies. The Fantastic Beats films have done well but it's probably fair to say they've not really run away with anyone's imagination, whereas this is a game people have been waiting years and years for. It's asking the kind of people who often loudly take sides to loudly take a side.

I played it for about ten hours this week. It's a great time. There's obvious attention to detail and love poured into it by a massive team of talented artists who I'm sure are mostly lovely people who just wanted to make a game and have people enjoy it. JK Rowling makes money from it, but she's a billionaire anyway. Some will still find a point to boycott in that, and I think that's cool too. With this kind of degree of separation, I personally don't. As an IP it'll likely continue to move further and further away from her other than the effectively negligible way it's adding to her bank account. 

Of all the support the art, not the artist instances out there it's just not a huge one for me. Just an insanely amplified one. 

I bet she doesn't even play the PlayStation. 

 

[Keith Houchen]

2 hours ago, Mr_Danger said:

Well now she’s fair game for all the shite that comes her way

Well, maybe not the death threats and rape threats. 
 

 

2 hours ago, Mr_Danger said:

I felt there was enough nuance and grey area for at least a little benefit of doubt. Then as I say

Yeah this is key for me, there are way too many one offs or isolated incidents that are too dodgy. Punkstep getting Sam Smiths pronouns wrong a couple of times is an honest mistake. But Rowling has a multitude of ‘mistakes’ to warrant not having the benefit of the doubt in my opinion. Plus there is no contrition or admission of a mistake. 
 

 

29 minutes ago, Gay as FOOK said:

JK Rowling makes money from it, but she's a billionaire anyway

Some reports indicate she’s one of those who would be a billionaire had she not donated millions and millions to charitable causes and foundations. Doesn’t make her a nice person though, she’s hardly Dolly Parton!