Ready Gamer One
I feel like Ready Player One: The Movie is going to slam the refresh button on Gamergate.
It is totally the interaction-crippled gamer's dream. LOOK! You can hide in your sad dwelling no one ever sees AND be the person everyone wants to talk to AND attract the Manic Pixie Dream Girl AND kill the corporate villain AND save the world!
If I pitched a game with this as the story, no one would back it. It's a parody of self-absorbed gamer culture.
Which is Gamergate. In a nutshell. There are young men who will see this and think YEAH! and then find the KotakuInAction reddit. This is not a non-zero number of people. YOU KNOW THIS. I KNOW THIS.
How do we fight the worst of free speech's demons while still preserving the holy benefit to our society that free speech gives us?
How?
HOW?
Every community manager - everyone contracted to watch a message board or comment thread - everyone wants to know how this ends.
Not how we fix this. I do not think we can, any more.
How it ends.
(Oh, wait. I'm sorry if I spoiled the ending of Ready Player One DESPITE IT BEING THE ULTIMATE FAN FANTASY FOR JUST THAT REASON IF NOTHING ELSE AND YOU KNOW THE BEST PART OF ME TYPING IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS? APPARENTLY ONE OF THE PUNCTUATION MARKS TRIGGERS CORTANA ON MY MACHINE AND WHILE I'M TYPING THIS MY PC IS VOCALIZING "Scott. Scott Jennings. Scott." LIKE IT'S TRYIN' TO STOP ME SOMEHOW WAIT NO STOP TYPING REALLY I HAVE YOUR NAME PLEASE?
OK, I feel better now. How about you?)