Pinboard

I need to add a few of these, especially the bash history tweaks.

It's bad out there, but I'm glad it's getting mainstream coverage.

"I don’t care about being a “gamer,” but I sure do love video games." I can understand her identity conflict, because gamer culture has become so toxic. I still hold out hope of being able to hold on to it somehow, but maybe I do just need to be a person who loves video games.

Some great points on player agency and how NPCs with richer backstories are more interesting - but how that can be quickly tossed aside when it comes to the player winning.

I think a lot of people conflate censorship and criticism, as well as thinking that free speech means freedom from consequences.

Using Sarkeesian's video as a springboard, she talks about how to improve games to avoid the damsel trap by giving female characters more agency.

Cool trivia. My surprised they hadn't played the other game.

I know I need to teach Theo to be more in touch with his emotions.

Some great points about the future of game culture.

Sullivan confirms for me again why I stopped reading him. I think he's moderate on the wrong aspects of this, and it's only going to give ammo to GamerGate.

I think "empathy crisis" is an accurate term, and underlies some of the rage behind GamerGate and other campaigns.

This is how gamers sound to the outside world. It really comes off as ridiculous.

Great summary, and good points about the logical fallacies and the closed ranks of the GamerGate movement as reactionary force.

Some fascinating history here going back to wargames of the Victorian era.

Simulation is a neat path to discovery.

I can't wait for the Mac version from Aspyr.

It's good for her to be honest about her fear.

When you're immersed in a culture, it may be hard to realize how much it hurts those who are considered outsiders. Great lessons on maturity from Jason.

The Onion once again captures the meta aspects of reporting on things like GamerGate.

Not surprised that the push for bread purity had racial motivations.

Because goats.

The text adventure metaphor is apt, and a nice complement to Scalzi's old post on white male being easy mode.

I didn't realize Aaron's was a rent to own and popped in to browse appliances. Definitely seems predatory, but at the same time, hard to say a family who works doesn't deserve a basic home furnishing. It starts to argue for a guaranteed income.

I remain hopeful that, thanks largely to Brianna and Anita's media blitz, we're at a turning point where the hateful voices are appropriately marginalized.

I read his original Reddit post; this cleaned up version makes some clear "advice" points for proponents of GamerGate, in terms of getting their message out in some coherent fashion (and to stop lying about what they really want).

I appreciate the Trek explanation. I think he's right about "douchebag" being a stronger form of bro and specifically referring to privileged white males.

Obviously Roll20 selects for a certain kind of player who might care more about what system they're using, but I think it reflects why Wizards moved the way they did with 5e.

Great academic and gamer view on the general trends in video game culture that make up #GamerGate

Glad I don't have to have this conversation yet. It has to be better by the time Theo starts playing.

Once again, a donut hole where if you make a reasonable middle class income, you don't qualify for subsidies and are priced out of the market by growth only on the high end. Everyone is following their rational market incentives, so current policy is screwing over a lot of people (unless they happened to get in early enough as owners).