TKO Creations

Here I go again, walking into a minefield.  And this time post-surgery so my leg feels great.  So I dunno what my excuse is this time.

So.  #GamerGate.

Hunh.

I buy, play, and enjoy video games, to be sure (my bank account hates me for it every Steam Summer and Winter Sale), but I really don’t consider myself a “gamer”, mostly because I feel nigh entirely detached from the issues that gamers tend to have.  I really don’t care how many “p”s a game is rendered in.  I find the console wars a silly arms race often won not by the company that has the best product, but by which one of the three fucks up the least.  I find “physical vs digital” sales and game ownership to be largely a non-starter.

But one topic that has caught my ear is because journalism WAS an intended field of mine, and the flimsy ethics of journalism and the portions of society they cover extends far beyond video games.  That sort of corruption is a sad, despicable fact no matter where you go; be it sports, politics, food (yes… there is corruption within FOOD reviews.  And apparently there’s some pretty big money in it).

Yet as I read into the entire #GamerGate fiasco, I find myself tripping over some issues that honestly confuse me.  I don’t want to lump anyone into “sides” of this “debate” (because I find that does nothing but stir further ire).  So I offer these questions openly to anyone who wants to answer them.

1) Why is Zoe Quinn the flash point here?

Total honesty; I barely played Depression Quest.  I honestly felt it was a fairly insipid over-dramatized version of depression from what little I was able to get into it.  I don’t get what makes it so important.  Yet, a sentiment I’ve seen is that her antics (presuming the entire “Five Guys” thing is even true) were the “flash point” that lit the entire powder keg.

Why?

Why was some marginal indie developer the thing that finally caused all the frustration to explode, and not (for example) Microsoft paying $750,000 to the online publication Polygon?  What about Bioware brazenly offering a speaking role in Mass Effect 3 to a TV host at IGN?  But it’s the unverified rants from an ex-boyfriend of a mediocre indie developer that sets this all off?

I don’t mean this as an attack.  I honestly don’t get it.  Am I missing something here?  What makes this the straw that broke the camel’s back?

It’s very easy for someone “outside” the fiasco to reach the conclusion that the “gamer” crowd is using “journalistic ethics” as a flimsy cover to attack a woman who is perceived to threaten their “boys club.”  I’ll be honest, it’s very easy for me to reach that conclusion, knowing second hand just how hostile the gaming industry and fans can be in general.  On top of that, what tends to bubble to the top of the social ocean when women are involved has not historically been pretty.

But at the same time, I know first hand how dirty and insidious journalism can get, and I don’t doubt for one second that gaming journalism is any better.  So I don’t think its fair to dismiss that, even as the spark that lit the wick doesn’t make any sense to me considering there were open bonfires burning all around it.

Help me out here.

2) Why are efforts to bridge the gap mostly ignored or rebuffed?

As far as I can tell, The Fine Young Capitalists are a group that is genuinely trying to open avenues for women in gaming and encourage female gamers.  When they reached across the aisle to 4chan to try and show that it’s not all about sexism and misogyny, and that you can even find redeeming characters on /v/ of all places, that group nigh instantly came under attack for accepting funding and feedback from gamers who wanted to support their efforts.

Are we running out of enemies so quickly we have to manufacture them now?

What was so frightening about the idea of trying to brush away the battle lines?  Why did that scare feminist groups?

I understand that women in gaming have had a rough time.  Believe me, I’m very aware of that.  And I’m also keenly aware that 4chan is such a wretched hive of scum and villany that it makes the Mos Eisley cantina look like a Young Republicans convention at Dartmouth.  But is such a broad brush really necessary?  Do we have to assume that any support from an unusual source must inherently be somehow malicious in nature?  Is it imperative to assume anyone who doesn’t immediately prescribe to the proper talking point must be an enemy?

3) What is the real fear feeding the fire on both sides?

Because I do believe that at the heart of this conflagration on both sides is fear, and it’s real easy to get one side to say what the other is afraid of.

“They’re afraid that their sexist, bigoted games will be ruined,” is the claim from feminist camps.

“Sexism’s dying, and they’re afraid they’re losing influence,” claim gamers.

But I don’t really think that’s it.  That’s the excuses being given to rationalize ever increasing aggression.  That’s the equivalent of propaganda; exaggerations thrown through the magnifying class so that one side can dismiss the concerns of the other without actually having to think about it.

That’s the fear talking, but that’s not the fear itself.  And of course, getting people to say what they are afraid of isn’t easy, if damn near impossible.

So, I suppose this question isn’t one I expect an answer to.  This is something that people should be asking themselves.

What do you fear, and why do you think it will happen if your side “loses” the fight?

Barring any catastrophic delays, The Tower of Kartage will be ready for release and publication next week.  I’m gunning for the 25th of September, but Amazon isn’t always entirely consistent when they’ve cleared something.

In the meantime, here’s a short little teaser, just to wet the palette.  Hope you enjoy it!

Tower of Kartage Teaser

Though this one is not dark or forboding.  It’s actually a very nice tower, in a city with pleasant (if wary) people.

Still on schedule for a release in late September/early October… so it’s coming up quick.  Be ready!

As of this moment, I am writing a changed man… missing a little bit of bone and cartilage… and sporting a nice new slash across my lower back.

This is a good thing.

The surgery to fix the herniated L5-S1 disc was so successful that the doctors didn’t even feel the need to keep me overnight for observation.  I can already feel an immense difference (the pain in my leg is nigh entirely gone), but at the moment, I’ve just traded one pain for another (shocking development folks, having surgery leaves you really sore).

But the difference is, finally, the pain is only going to get better, as opposed to worse.  Sleeping will start being easier, rather than harder.  It’s not going to be a short road to a full recovery, but I can finally say I’m on that road to recovery.

It’s a good feeling.

In actual writing news, I’ve been able to push through the first manuscript of The Tower of Kartage, and the goal remains to have that ready for sale at the end of the month.  And barring a horrible turn for the worse, I should be well enough to attend Youmacon 2014 in Detroit.

Keep your fingers crossed on both counts.  I’m eager to get back in the swing of things.

Thank you to those who extended their support, and fortunately, my doctors and specialists working on my case aren’t wasting any time, as I will have the surgery to correct my herniated disc Friday, September 5th.  Hopefully, this will finally allow me to resume something resembling a normal life.

Thank you all again.

I’ve been placed in the urgent queue for a partial removal surgery of my S1 disc that has herniated and begun pinching my right sciatic nerve. The date is still TBD, but if I disappear from the Internet for a week, that’s the reason why.

I’ll be in good hands, Spectrum Health is one of the best hospitals in the Midwest if not the country, and boasts a 95% success rate with my particular procedure. I should be perfectly fine and make a full recovery.

But it doesn’t hurt to keep my few followers updated.

If there is one thing that raises my ire and blood pressure more than anything, it’s listening to armchair developers or writers grumbling that content creators are “lazy”, usually because it takes a year or more for the audience to enjoy in a matter of hours.

I used to think it was just a matter of ignorance, of people not really understanding just how much effort it takes to create and refine something to the quality that the creator deems is acceptable.  Sure, some fanfiction.net writer can slap together a 1,000 word chapter every day.  So could I.  But the time spent would reflect the quality.

It would be trash, just like 99% of everything created.

Could it be that creators tend to have too high of expectations for our work, and that the little quibbling errors we fuss over would be largely overlooked by our audience?  Maybe (but then I’d point you to the legions of video game message boards filled with vile little brats screaming bloody murder over any bug no matter how small).

There’s no method of content development that’s quick AND quality.  And lord knows content creators have any number of neuroses that slow the process of creation down.

But come on guys.  We’re not lazy.

We’re just messed up.  At least get the criticism right.

Some concept art for the cover of The Tower of Kartage!

Thanks, Fred!  It’s looking great.

Well, I supposedly AM supposed to provide more content to the blog.

Quick update for the few who don’t know, I’ve been in observation since Thursday morning due to lingering sciatica that I started having in late May.  There had been some minor procedures to try and combat the inflammation until this most recent visit, but nothing concrete.

Finally, after poor sleep and eating over four days, and needing to be taken by ambulance for severe chills, my condition was stabilized and I at long last have a conclusive answer now that earlier X-rays found no degenerative effects and an MRI confirmed just what was out of place.

My Physical Therapist was REAL close (she suspected an L5 herniation), it turned out to be an S1 protrusion pinching the sciatic nerve (just one disc down), and likely the root cause of the inflammation in the tendons along my inner leg as well.  In theory, at some point today, I’ll have a nerve root block performed that will finally reduce the swelling of the nerve, and allow me to continue the physical exercises and allow the disc to heal normally.

It’s a fairly routine procedure that should not require surgery, and I should make a full recovery as long as I don’t anything stupid with myself.  Cross your fingers folks, because fortunately I don’t think I need any prayers.