Hardcore Gamer: Heartbeat is a new RPG with quite a bit of character. Players explore a realm filled with all sorts of creatures. They’ll be able to befriend many, as well as fight others. The game is heavily focused on telling stories with its many colorful characters.
Following the backlash and accusations of transphobia received by indie RPG Heartbeat due to comments made by the girlfriend of one of the development team members, the dev team has responded to their critics by offering the game and its soundtrack at a 41% discount which appears to be a reference to the rate of trans suicides in the United States.
Who cares about what some girlfriend of the dev said. People cry about the dumbest crap these days.
I'm pretty sure if I really tried, I could tie every number from 1-100 to a random, "Offensive" statistic meaning nothing could ever be sold at discount again without offending someone. Really hope this comment is a joke, otherwise you are legitimately, without question, a total moron.
"Has anyone you've known ever said something offensive? If they have I hope you get fired/shut down/harrased because you once associated with them!"
That's literally what you are advocating.
To be clear, I don't agree with the backlash the devs are getting just because she's associated with one of them. My point was that it's easy not to care about something when it doesn't effect you. I'm pretty sure if your existence was under attack, you wouldn't be happy about it either.
"I'm pretty sure if your existence was under attack, you wouldn't be happy about it either."
Oh no. Words from a stranger. Whatever shall I do? I wish I was capable of just ignoring them and moving on with my da-... Oh... Wow... I am!
Whether he does or not, why would people be upset with the dev because some person who worked on it has a girlfriend who said something about it? More so, why are they directing their angst at the game in the first place because someone has an opinion about something? Are they not capable of going directly for the person that made a statement and instead have to try and be upset at something more abstract?
@FPSFox
"Oh no. Words from a stranger. Whatever shall I do? I wish I was capable of just ignoring them and moving on with my da-... Oh... Wow... I am!"
And yet here you are, bothered by the words of a stranger. Didn't think that one through, did you?
@rainslacker
Apparently, the girlfriend isn't the only one who said some things that rubbed some people the wrong way. https://boundingintocomics....
Reading through all that it was kind of hard to keep up with who is who in all those various tweets and accusations. Perhaps you could give the short version?
What I managed to get through though, I saw a lot of people expressing opinions about some things that are currently, or have gone on, within the trans community.
The problem that I see though, is that because of those opinions, one group, who is offended by such opinions, is going on an active campaign to try and make something fail because of those opinions.
Why is that a problem? Because it is NOT transphobia, or any other kind of phobia, to be against what you see happening, if there is some reason you feel that way that isn't based on fear. Phobia is a fear of something. Phobia is not just you not agreeing with something which you feel immoral, unethical, or just plain wrong. If you feel something is any of those things based on fear, then it could be you express them, or potentially rationalize your fear in a way to not appear bigoted, so as not to appear like you have a phobia, but I will repeat again, completely trying to ruin someone because they have a different opinion of what you think, is just plain wrong, and shows more fear than these people with supposed phobias express. Feeling offended or attacked because someone has an opinion is natural.
Trying to completely remove it from your sphere of influence, and going to extra effort to remove it from any and all public knowledge or recognition, is what i'd call a sign of fear in more cases than not.
Keep in mind, I didn't read through that entire thing. Seemed like a lot of stretching to get to a pre-determined conclusion, coupled with some random accusations with no actual backing up. This may be OK, except nowadays, I've become more skeptical of accusations without proof, especially from those who seem to be overreacting from the outset.
The most relevant and mainstream instance I can think of that is similar to what's happening here, although didn't reach near this proportion of absurdity, was when the founder of Chick-Fil-A gave his opinions on abortion....at a time when the discussion was being had if companies had to extend planned parenthood into their medical plans. He gave his opinion based on his religious beliefs. He had a moral and ethical objection to abortion, and didn't want his company supporting such things, even if indirectly. He didn't prevent any of the franchises under his company from offering such services, and just expressed his opinion and reasons for his company, in an interview, on an actual well done news program that got comments from both sides of the issue.
That's perfectly acceptable. But the moral outrage that ensued called him sexist, bigoted, and there was an active campaign to try and defame him, despite the fact when it comes to food service, they are one of the better employers out there with exceptionally high employee satisfaction rates. Despite the fact that he expressed his opinion in a clear and respectful way. People wanted to discredtit him, and try to make his company suffer, which in turn would have made his employees suffer. In fact, there are several instances of his employees being harassed, despite them having not taken part in the discussion, and quite honestly, would have no real say in corporate policy.
This kind of moral outrage, and reactionary action towards anyone with differing opinions has gotten way out of hand nowadays, and instances like this aren't rare anymore. They're almost commonplace where some people being offended, means everyone has to be offended, when the vast majority don't care to begin with. So, in the end, I feel those getting upset are just projecting their need to be heard and respected, and the consequences of their actions don't matter to them, or even real intent to bring about positive change is secondary in nature...if important at all.
@rainslacker
I agree with you, for the most part. However, outrage culture isn't new. The internet and social media just made it more prominent. Everyone has a soapbox now. As for Dan Cathy, he's also anti-LGBTQ/same-sex marriage. It doesn't matter how respectful he is, he's straight up attacking people's livelihoods based on his religious beliefs. Using a 2000-year-old book to dictate what a woman can do with her body or who someone can marry is ridiculous. Furthermore, people are going to fight back if they feel threatened. That's just the way it is and always will be. Frankly, the world would be a better place if everyone learned how to mind their own business when it comes to certain subjects.
Look at the time that the Dan Cathy thing went down though. The internet was there, and it was getting to where we are now as far as soap boxing goes, but at the time, his full beliefs about such things were not as well known. The outrage was based on a single statement, and not his overall belief systems. The outrage came from an over reaction to a respectful expression of a single opinion about a topical matter at the time.
And sorry, it's not a phobia to not be for something because your belief system is against it. It may seem silly to those of us who aren't religious, or raised in a way where that is an important part of their life, but saying that they're bad people and have a phobia based on what is essentially a logical conclusion is still wrong.
it's no more right to call them bad because he has a code of ethics by which he lives, than it is for him to say that these other people are wrong, and he doesn't agree with them. If he believes the sanctity of marriage is somehow devalued because of same sex marriage, based on his religious beliefs, that is as valid of a belief as someone who thinks otherwise, because we're talking about an opinion on what is essentially an abstract concept trying to be made into something that is only defined as one thing.
In no way do I agree with the mans opinions on some matters, and it wasn't my intent to get into his beliefs overall, but rather point out the reactionary nature of this kind of stuff, and that assuming people are just afraid, or ignorant despite having logical reasons behind their opinion is something to consider before flying off the handle. Morally and ethically, yes, it's OK to discuss if those people are right or wrong for their opinions, but going on a tirade to ruin their lives is wrong in every way possible.
I feel there is a huge difference between hate speech, and expressing one's opinion, and sometimes the line isn't really clear. There are also those who will play the logical reason card to not appear bigoted, but assuming that is immediately the case, and using it to defame and ruin a person is still wrong.
There is no positive discourse, when any and all discourse that is counter to those demanding things is ignored. There should always be work to find a compromise, and from that compromise, change can come as future compromises keep dwindling down the negatives.
The problem though with that, is that people always want immediate results, and can't learn to be patient. Woman's suffrage for instance didn't happen overnight, and any and all changes to culture, society, or laws are going to take time. It's still going on today in fact, but the current "feminist" movement doesn't have any idea what women actually went through to get where they are today, because not being represented well in media, or some guy calling a woman ugly, is pretty damn trivial compared to actual discrimination, sexual harassment, inability to vote, so on and so forth.
I'll remember this criticism when devs remove a woman's cleavage from their design and there's "outrage"~
Not remotely the same thing. Nothing was removed from this game and the comments weren't made by anyone from the dev team.
Nothing was removed from the game, genius. A person not involved with the games development has a dumbass opinion. Who cares, move on, don't harass the actual devs.
@Porkchop
I'm aware the devs didn't make any such comment themselves and I certainly would have liked to see them not brought into the discussion if they've done nothing wrong~
Who cares though?~ They're outraged at transphobia, the OP was outraged over their outrage, and you're outraged people might take your tits away. It's an outrage party! Let the snow-flakes fall and we shall make angels at ground zero as Rome burns because people won't show compassion, understanding, or just communicate with each other. A toast to pathetic and violent senselessness.
I'm personally not triggered, but I can certainly understand why people get offended by destructive criticism.
I agree~ If your opinion is a group of people should be hated, discriminated against and aren't valid due to something beyond their control like gender or race--you're just a bad person. This person in the article voiced their opinion and those close to her now face the social consequences. I don't believe the devs themselves to be transphobic, and I don't feel smashing people on social media is the right course of action, but I understand the anxiety of those who feel it's their only recourse.
People apparently think I support the backlash the devs are getting based on my comments. I don't. I do, however, support the backlash this stupid ass chick is getting. Those who insist on being the shittiest version of themselves shouldn't be surprised when people react in kind.
Better opinions being opinions you agree with?
Problem is, who is really the one that gets to decide what is the better opinion? If my opinion is different than yours, why dont you just agree with my better opinion? Whose to say that I'm not right about something? Maybe your opinion is the worse one.
You agree that this person should get the backlash, but who is this person? Just some random person on the internet, who happens to have some transient link to something in the world. Funny thing though, if we go far enough, I'm sure we could find some terrible thing all these other people are connected to.
If this backlash had been aimed st the person who made an offensive statement, it wouldn't be news, because she is no one of import. But the backlash was misdirected, because those who were offended felt they had a more visible route to be heard, because they know that no one cares what they have to say about what this person said.
No one is right in this, and trying to defend those who are offended isnt going to work, because their actions have gone beyond the bounds of proper reactions to a situation.
@rainslacker
You put way too much thought into what I said. I didn't put it in the form of a question to be a smart ass. It was an observation. Whether I agree with an opinion or not is irrelevant. If you say a lot of negative bullshit and get backlash over it, maybe the problem is you and not the people who are offended by it. Again, I think it's wrong to accuse the devs based on association, but it's not difficult to understand their outrage if you took a minute out of your busy N4G schedule to put yourself in their shoes. But I guess it's easier for most of you to get offended by other people getting offended.
@Kombatologist
You can't change people's opinions, or mindsets. I know people like you sitting on your high horse believe that you can make people see things the way you see them, but the world doesn't work that way..
Sure you can, you just have to be tough enough to tell the people who get mad to fuck off.
"comments made by the girlfriend of one of the development team members"
If it was the girlfriend that has nothing to do with the devs. The devs shouldn't receive backlash for that, that's ridiculous.
Side note: Is anyone else having issues posting comments? Multiple times over the past few days I've posted comments, had seen the comment actually posted on the page, only to come back later and the comment is completely gone. This is my second comment on this article because the first disappeared. They don't show up in my comment history either. Are the mods just going around deleting comments without notice?
Smaller devs can't survive "cancel culture" like EA or Ubisoft. If bad press gets out it can kill the studio and any hype for the project. I'm not sure how the devs were brought into the discussion other than being linked to the person making the original comments in a non-professional capacity.
I'll go ahead and say "cancel culture" is a joke and changes nothing. Transphobia, however, is not a joke and shouldn't be taken lightly--but mob smashing people on social media, to me, isn't the answer.
Ars writes: "When you imagine a nondescript, hot, sticky, and oppressively crowded bar in downtown Toronto, the first thing that comes to mind probably isn't video games. But that's exactly the setting that indie studio Capybara Games chose to reveal two of its upcoming projects, at an event held by the Hand Eye Society-a local group of Toronto area developers, writers, and gaming enthusiasts. The 25-person strong studio had a big 2009 thanks to a pair of hits: Critter Crunch on the PlayStation Network and Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes on the Nintendo DS. Both are puzzle games, both are critical successes. But for its next projects, Capy is going in two distinctly different directions."
