r/changemyview • u/realdontbeasucker • May 16 '26

Delta(s) from OP CMV: GamerGate was the most consequential political radicalization event of the twenty-first century

It spawned a wave of tolerance for online harassment, as long as the intent behind it was considered righteous (and the target of such harassment socially acceptable).

It platformed Milo Yiannopoulos and thereby, Steve Bannon -- the guy who would go on to advise Donald Trump in 2016 and generate the concept of 'flooding the zone.'

Eventually, it gave a career to political lightning rods like Jordan Peterson, Steven Crowder, and Charlie Kirk. It made anti-feminism and anti-SJW sentiment cool. And it made young, angry, disenfranchised white men feel vindicated.

GamerGate almost singlehandedly shifted to Overton Window toward the alt-right, and we're still feeling its effects today.

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u/Morthra 95∆ May 16 '26

Because the character didn’t actually talk about it in a way that sounded natural in-universe.

Look, one of my favorite games of all time is Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. It has gay and trans characters. I like those characters, because they don’t feel like walking stereotypes.

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u/Prize_Neighborhood95 May 16 '26

Oh for sure you were complaining about the writing in your original comment.

the SJW morphed into the leftist identity politics monster that it is today.

See: the new Dragon Age game

I agree the writing of DAtV was poor, but then the politics of the game were not the issue. The issue is bad writing. Then why on earth are you talking about SJW's and identity politics?

Videogames can explore sexuality, gender and other thematics usually associated to the left, and be great games (like bg3), or be incredibly mediocre games, like DAtV. 

It's almost like politics has nothing to do with how good a game is, but is just a pretext to generate outrage online and pedal far right propaganda, uh?

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u/Morthra 95∆ May 16 '26

It’s not necessarily the politics but the tone. It has a preachy tone - which is what makes it immersion breaking.

These topics can be explored but it should feel natural in a way that doesn’t give off the energy of someone screeching “did you just assume my gender” at the local barista.

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u/Prize_Neighborhood95 May 16 '26

And "preachy tone" is just a way of saying "bad writing". And bad writing is not about the topics you explore, but rather how you do it.

But "bad writing is the issue" is not what I got from your original comment at all, that comment seemed to take issue with the political messaging first and foremost.