No, it's a derailing argument used to try to deflect any criticism, however valid, of an artistic work. It is an argument that can be directed at literally any criticism of a piece of media.

"This game was released with too many bugs. This is ridiculous."
"Oh yeah? Well, why don't you make a game and see if YOU can do…

That is a bullshit argument.

If you are an artist and you put your work out for public consumption, you are tacitly accepting that people will comment on your work. Some of them won't like it. Some of them won't like certain aspects of it. You deal with it. That is the system working as intended (and as it has worked…

Well, let me lay my cards on the table: I am, by default, super skeptical of any claims that someone "faked" their own doxxing or harassment, particularly since it happens every single time a woman (or minority) involved in the game industry gets crap for daring to open their mouths or, y'know, exist. As such, I tend…

I'm just going to repost what I just said:

"If we exclude the bit about TFYC (which may or may not turn out to be a worthwhile story), what story were these other outlets failing to print?"

Also:

"Sex is not even 95% of the story. You only want it to be 95% of the story because you want to exclude any evidence that is…

"People will love to point out that this is not comparable or that it's not the same, but it really is."

It's really not.

Outside of horror games, how many male characters that die are victims? How many of them aren't soldiers, or cops, or space marines, or Spartan warriors, or some other character possessed of agency…

That's not entirely a 1:1 comparison, though.

The type of violence directed at female characters in games is fundamentally different than the type of violence usually directed at male characters.

When male characters are the victims of violence, they usually have agency. They're soldiers, or cops, or...well, whatever…

The problem with that is that the idea of a "blackout" presupposes there was a story to tell in the first place.

If we agree that the sex thing is a non-story, that removes like...95% of what they'd be writing about. I agree that the whole TFYC thing might merit a story based on what they turn up, but I'm honestly…

Those Twitter responses are pretty telling, huh?

"Stop complaining about misogyny in video games! It's not a problem! By way of proof, here, have a whole bunch of misogynistic comments!"

And even hate-bombing people like Tim Schafer for daring to express his approval of her work? That's pretty pathetic.

Okay, yeah, the TFYC thing might (depending on the details) be worthy of a story. In fact, I believe (based on comments elsewhere in this comments section) that they're in the middle of possibly working on a story about it right now.

What I don't think is newsworthy is all of gossip-rag stuff about Zoe Quinn's personal…

"Zoe Quinn brings up similar discussions, such as how much should we trust a single source of information before writing an article."

Except all of that still largely hinges on hearsay and imgur "evidence" that wouldn't meet the standard of proof for a particularly silly episode of CSI, much less anything resembling…

That's not even anywhere close to libel. For it to be libel, he would have to be knowingly lying about the person in a damaging way that the public is likely to believe.

The problem with that argument, though, is that I still have yet to see a compelling argument for why the story is newsworthy. When you look at the actual facts (as opposed to baseless speculation and people making things up, which is at least 50% of the story), what's the actual story?

So far, when I ask that…

It would be a conflict of interest if Grayson were writing about her (or the subject in general).

He is not.

If you feel that Kotaku has an issue with tabloid bullshit, it seems to me like the solution is less tabloid bullshit, not more. Additionally, I'd argue that Mattingly's comments are substantially more relevant, particularly insofar as they relate to a larger culture in the gaming industry RE: female developers. (And…

You mean you didn't read my invaluable pearls of wisdom? Now I'm offended.

...or more seriously, nah, it's just nice to see a voice of reason and moderation in this whole stupid tabloid trainwreck.

Thank you.

Yes, that's exactly what I said.

Oh, no, it's not. It's actually a pretty blatant misrepresentation and ignores the context of the entire rest of my post.

Are you similarly enraged by the state of music journalism, Hollywood reporting, etc.?

Except by printing a story about it, they're dignifying the whole thing. They're elevating it to the status of "news" when what it actually is is tabloid bullshit.

Point 1: Maybe, though I don't think this is really the best story to use as a springboard for that discussion, for various reasons.

What "articles"? The one where he mentions her offhand in one sentence? The one where Depression Quest is mentioned, in passing, alongside several other games?

Because really, that's the best I've seen anyone come up with, and that's pretty fucking weak. If that's seriously what people think of when they think…