Gay characters / Homophobia in games

[k1net1k]

So i read a post today about homophobia in gaming
http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/Feature/287 ... hurts.aspx

Below is a link to the discussion where I obviously got flamed for being a homophobe (although i think i was the only straight person in the conversation)
https://plus.google.com/u/0/11201782517 ... 64GcbSRKuJ

Would be keen to hear of your thoughts on the matter.

[superLED]

Sometimes, people get offended on purpose, just to get attention and sympathy.
It's not only with gay people, but with all sorts of people. It's the same with black people, emos, bimbos, wannabe gangsters and so on.
If they can twist a sentence into something harmful, they might do so, to get attention and sympathy.

I'm not saying all people do so, but it's common.

And yes, I may yell horrible and terrifying things in my anger when playing video games, but I do not mean any harm.

[dandymcgee]

Wow, get it over it. Nobody is calling anybody anything. Should I be offended every time someone buys a box of crackers at the grocery store? The world is a crude, unfair, and harsh place, the sooner you learn that the higher your chances of surviving it will be.

[TheBuzzSaw]

Frankly, it's stupid. These gay gamers act all butt hurt when people say something is "gay", but they have no problem inserting "Jesus Christ" and "God" into sentences that I, as a Christian, do not find appropriate. To each his own, I guess. I really don't have much sympathy for them. Gamers are just idiots/trolls.

[k1net1k]

Frankly, it's stupid. These gay gamers act all butt hurt when people say something is "gay", but they have no problem inserting "Jesus Christ" and "God" into sentences that I, as a Christian, do not find appropriate. To each his own, I guess. I really don't have much sympathy for them. Gamers are just idiots/trolls.

They probably argue that they are born like that, and you chose that.... I assume there are gay members on the forum, so im trying to be diplomatic

[Ginto8]

Idiots will be idiots; if you unwilling to deal with idiots, find a way to host a selective game, or don't play games popular with idiots.

It's a little sad that it has to be that way, but it is how it is. Not only is it a practical problem to prevent such things (it would be a tremendous waste of resources to investigate claims to this), but it simply wouldn't work; these assholes are actually a pretty significant chunk of at least the FPS market.

That said, individual cases of repetitive harassment (provided the victim actually tried to avoid them, and failed; not trying to avoid them just makes the victim stupid) or harassment that somehow manages to leak out of the game scenario (you can turn off a game for an hour to cool down, but you can't do the same with life) should be punished severely. There's a difference between an obnoxious idiot and a real bully, and it seems that a lot of people forget that. When someone is just obnoxious, they aren't actually hurting someone; they're annoying them. If someone is genuinely hurt by an obnoxious idiot, then they should do themselves a favor and find a way to avoid them. If the idiot goes out of his way to keep the hurt going, then and only then is it genuine harassment, and worthy of enforcement.

tl;dr butthurt != harassment

[LeonBlade]

[Removed]

[Van-B]

Jeez, gays need to man up.

When people use the term gay, especially when it's teenage kids, it tends not to target sexuality, because you are a voice and an avatar in a videogame at best. If your playing with kids, and they say that your gay, and you get offended, then switch the bloody game off and take a long hard look at yourself. What is the matter gay guys?, not getting enough attention?, your too widely accepted (ha!) so theres no point going on gay rights marches. You usually earn more money than straight men, have better nails, hair, teeth, homes... but some little git calls you a gay and all of a sudden it's victim time again.

None of the gay men I know act all hurt when someone uses the (ohh for the love of god) 'G' word - they seem to have a sense of humour about their sexuality. People take themselves too seriously, and gays and lesbians are in no position to play the victim these days.

[ismetteren]

‘Fuck off you gay AWP whore’

What about the whores?... or the bastards for that matter.

[k1net1k]

It makes me happy when I look at the bottom of the page and see "Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot]"

[TheBuzzSaw]

I've had plenty of friends who called people Jews or referred to failures as Jewish. It's all inherent trolling. It's disrespectful, but it's just trolling. It really does make a good case against gaming with strangers. I am no longer interested in games that advertise online play unless I know my actual friends will be playing it with me. Going beyond the mere usage of sex/race/orientation/etc. in a derogatory manner, people online simply expect to play by arbitrary rules. If I perform a Protoss Cannon rush in Starcraft 2, I am often met with severe cursings and comments revolving around "Who honestly plays the game like this?" Wellllll I just won the match, so I really don't care what you think. Go play custom maps if you want to goof around. In short, gaming with strangers is not some magical utopia of gaming. If anything, it is ASKING to be mocked as you are bound to run into that child who is severely neglected by his mother.

[Light-Dark]

All i have to say is, i don't give a fuck what people have to say, what it all boils down to is just incoherent trolling that starts when someone does something in-game that another person doesn't like, and they say disrespectful things and these people who get offended by it, #1 if they don't like it well then they can mute their damn headset or just leave,#2 shouldn't take it seriously, and i think ill agree with SuperLED that they just want attention this is nothing but a bunch of whiney people who can't take a damn joke or can't forgive and forget.

Simple Solution: ignore it, turn off your mic or turn off/down ingame chat volume.

[LeonBlade]

[Removed]

[k1net1k]

That whole G+ comment thread is full of idiots, it's so annoying trying to make any sort of point in there without words being skewed or what not. I can't look at it without raging.

Its pretty hard to say anything without a flock of gays descending down and picking your words apart.

[LeonBlade]

[Removed]