About millennials and zoomers demonizing video games

[Vetusomaru]

Regarding the whole paranoia from troons that feel threatened over a Harry Potter video game:

How in the world did millennials and zoomers ended up worse than boomers when it comes to video games demonization? At least boomers are excused because they didn't grew up with video games. What's millennials and zoomers' excuse? Especially the ones that are supposed to be gamers?

 

[Orlando Smooth]

I'm not sure it's directly comparable, despite the outrage of both groups being directed at games in general. My understanding is that the recent hysteria about Harry Potter was more a backlash against JK Rowling and her personal views outside of the franchise itself, while 90's style Boomer video game paranoia was about "it's going to make our kids into violent killing machines!!!"

It's weird because on the one hand these two things are true: American society (and seemingly many others) is undeniably experiencing more acts of random violence now than it was 20 years ago, and Rowling is making huge amounts of money via royalties that are derived from the sale of games, merch, etc.. But at the same time, I don't think society is more violent because of video games and the separation of art and artist can exist. Just because you buy a game doesn't mean you support the (very rational) views of the person who created the franchise 20+ years ago.

Boomers are/were mad because they don't understand that even young children are capable of recognizing the difference between violence in a fictional interactive setting and violence in real life. Libtards motivated by identity politics are mad because they've moved so far to the left that even some of the popular artists and creators of society are "to the right" of them; a situation that has never existed in the post-WWII era.

I'm not even convinced the "outrage" about this new game exists outside of certain corners of the internet. I know a lot of people in real life who have been spending a lot of time playing it and enjoying it, and many (most?) of them are soft lefties who are normally very willing to speak their minds about perceived injustices.

 

[Vetusomaru]

I'm not even convinced the "outrage" about this new game exists outside of certain corners of the internet. I know a lot of people in real life who have been spending a lot of time playing it and enjoying it, and many (most?) of them are soft lefties who are normally very willing to speak their minds about perceived injustices.

Leftists. Speaking about injustices. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[Water Temple]

I might not have the best answers cause I'm not at the pulse of the gaming community like I use to be, thank God. I'm still replaying childhood games on my hacked Wii U, going to local smash bros meet ups, and playing FTL and Risk of Rain in 2023.

As a thirty year old troon with 30-something year old troon IRL friends, I honestly think most millennial gamers are exhausted rather than demonizing the industry. Sure, there's vocal minority of our generations that go online to complain about new games, whether they be real issues with the game itself, or just going after some low-hanging fruit, such as not supporting a game because someone involved in it is anti-trans. Regardless of what you believe, who cares if someone that made the game your playing has beliefs or ideas that contradict yours? Most professional artists are not neurotypical people. I'm not defending any artist, but people these days are out to cancel anyone for anything without allowing room to forgive and learn from their mistakes. For me, I only really grow as a person through learning from mistakes and solving problems. Why should we hold anyone else to a higher standard when we're all equally fallible?

But back to what I was saying, most people are exhausted because games and the features of such games are being continually narrowed and monetized to no end. It some cases, new games are less feature-rich than games over a decade ago, you can absolutely see this in a game series like Call of Duty; developers and higher ups just keep taking away from their audiences every year. The corporatization of the industry, along with the rise of a widening political bias is just pushing out creatives. This is why we're seeing a golden-era of indie games, along with growing speed running and modding communities. It's wild that a game like Elden Ring wins game of year mostly because it's a completed game with a vast amount of content and no monetized gimmicks. There's reasons why people swarm to such games like Old School Runescape and Classic WoW, those games capture an era where at the time gaming was more exploratory in terms of creativity and not focused on growth for the sake of growth. Cancer mentality.

Now that I write that, it does kind of sound like I'm demonizing the industry, doesn't it? I guess I'm exhausted from all the demonizing...

 

[Jessica3cho雪血⊜青意]

The only people I see complaining about the Harry Potter game are no life losers with nothing better to do who think their opinion matters because they never actually have discussions with real people.

 

[Vetusomaru]

The only people I see complaining about the Harry Potter game are no life losers with nothing better to do who think their opinion matters because they never actually have discussions with real people.

And most of these losers happen to be pedo trannies and "transgender allies" that cry all the time about J.K.Rowling being "transphobic" and encouraging people "murdering trans women".

 

[Water Temple]

And most of these losers happen to be pedo trannies and "transgender allies" that cry all the time about J.K.Rowling being "transphobic" and encouraging people "murdering trans women".

And don't forget, they're also muggles

 

[Still a Youth]

Regarding the whole paranoia from troons that feel threatened over a Harry Potter video game:

How in the world did millennials and zoomers ended up worse than boomers when it comes to video games demonization? At least boomers are excused because they didn't grew up with video games. What's millennials and zoomers' excuse? Especially the ones that are supposed to be gamers?

Honestly it's probably because it's all we've ever known. Boomers got plugged into the metaverse with TVs and eventually flat screens. We were raised in that context, plus the internet. So to say that video games don't have a substantive effect on the way people view the world is kinda a joke. Boomers hate video games because they're too retarded to use a GUI, let along the 3d environment, classic xenophobia. (Assuming that you're right about younger gens hating videogames) younger gens are afraid of videogames because we've experienced how it wires our mind, and if the anachronistic, transphobic politics of JK Rowling really is making it's way more prominently into the metaverse, then... What? Are people learning to hate the existence of trans people because Rawlings is having even more of an effect? This might be the concern they're having. That there will be an increase in violence and hatred towards them. Idk tho
(I should add I'm sympathetic to Rawlings. Plenty of people in the trans community are vicious and some of the insults she gets are rough. I read her statement about it and sympathized. But she had no real argument other than "troons bad because they don't like me". But for all these culture warriors like Rawling and Peterson, there are 0 people actually grappling with the arguments from trans/queer theorists. I don't even like the ideology, but I'm not gonna sit there and say "they're evil" because I don't understand what the kids are into these days. But idk I digress.)

 

[Water Temple]

(Assuming that you're right about younger gens hating videogames) younger gens are afraid of videogames because we've experienced how it wires our mind

And yet the social media development of rapid short form video (tiktok, instagram reels, etc.) is dominating these groups of people. I think that's more detrimental towards society than any video game ever created. It's also a major source that's fueling the culture wars we're seeing.

 

[Jessica3cho雪血⊜青意]

And yet the social media development of rapid short form video (tiktok, instagram reels, etc.) is dominating these groups of people. I think that's more detrimental towards society than any video game ever created. It's also a major source that's fueling the culture wars we're seeing.

I think this is all just a boomer level "tech-scare" assumption people make.

People said the same thing about Jazz, rock & roll, home televisions, D&D, video games, pop music, skateboarding, etc etc.

 

[Orlando Smooth]

I think this is all just a boomer level "tech-scare" assumption people make.

Let me ask you this, then: has there ever been, or could there ever be, a technological innovation that has a net negative impact on society?

Just because boomers were 95% wrong about the effect of video games doesn't mean that every criticism of [today's new thing] should be brushed off without consideration. Video games didn't turn children into mindless killing machines the way we were told they would in the 90's, but it's pretty hard to make the case that the huge segment of society that logs 40+ hours per week into gaming is a good thing.

Addendum: I guess the simplest way to put it is to say that the mere existence of moral panic does not negate legitimate criticisms of new things.

 

[Pink Fluffy Cat]

Let me ask you this, then: has there ever been, or could there ever be, a technological innovation that has a net negative impact on society?

Just because boomers were 95% wrong about the effect of video games doesn't mean that every criticism of [today's new thing] should be brushed off without consideration. Video games didn't turn children into mindless killing machines the way we were told they would in the 90's, but it's pretty hard to make the case that the huge segment of society that logs 40+ hours per week into gaming is a good thing.

Addendum: I guess the simplest way to put it is to say that the mere existence of moral panic does not negate legitimate criticisms of new things.

I second this, games have become more and more predatory considering the mobile gacha/mmo scene. They are also shifting toward your average joe audience introducing fixed schedule & daily activities, it's like they are trying to occupying the spare time a normie 9-5 worker left.

 

[Orlando Smooth]

it's like they are trying to occupying the spare time a normie 9-5 worker left

There's no "like" about it; that is EXACTLY what they are trying to do. People would literally rather shock themselves than sit alone with their thoughts for 15 fucking minutes. The origin of this weakness in the modern mind is debatable, but its existence is undeniable. Of course greedy devs are going to exploit this maximally with the fixed schedule and daily check in bonuses that you referenced plus A/B testing things to find maximal dopamine rushes, and the average person will throw their time, money, and effort at it to avoid thinking. Mobile games, social media, short form video, etc., it's all exploiting this same common weakness. By having fewer people that are able to sit and think about how to get themselves out of their shitty situations, fewer people will actually be able to do so, and all the while there will be some grifter there to convince them it's not their fault.

 

[Still a Youth]

And yet the social media development of rapid short form video (tiktok, instagram reels, etc.) is dominating these groups of people. I think that's more detrimental towards society than any video game ever created. It's also a major source that's fueling the culture wars we're seeing.

Yeah Im not making a value judgement really. But, like I said, given that we already grew up in the boomer/gen x TV land, it shouldn't be surprising that short form videos are so normal. What might differentiate a short term video from video games is 1) the culture, for example DoTA 2 got so toxic it was virtually impossible to have a good game without viciously despicable people ruining the fun. CoD often veers in a similar direction ( I remember growing up I would mute virtually everyone in the mw2/halo 3 lobbies because they were just shitty dudes spewing hate); and 2) the fact that video games give you more of an illusion of control than videos do -- Videos are entertaining for a minute but eventually become incredibly boring, eventually you gotta do something. Video games give you a false sense that you're in total control of perceived reality, as tho you are doing something (I mean you are but not in a very productive sense).

All I'm saying is that I get the criticism. Im not gonna stop playing games, been a gamer since the GameCube, but the criticism is not invalid. Games have an effect on people, and that effect can be very negative. Add on the compounding interest of trolls spewing hate and kids taking this to mean such vice is normal and acceptable, you get deranged cultural and societal breakdown such as we've had over the past half decade or so.

 

[Vetusomaru]

And yet the social media development of rapid short form video (tiktok, instagram reels, etc.) is dominating these groups of people. I think that's more detrimental towards society than any video game ever created. It's also a major source that's fueling the culture wars we're seeing.

I fucking hate TikTok. But what I hate more is when other big sites like YouTube try mimicking it with shit like YouTube shorts that have annoying format.

 

[Water Temple]

what I hate more is when other big sites like YouTube try mimicking it with shit like YouTube shorts

You know I recently deleted my instagram app cause both my gf and I had developed an issue going through instagram reels. I'm on youtube a good bit but I hadn't ever tried their youtube shorts before, so after I deleted instagram I figured I would check it out. And holy fuck it's just a pipeline of alt-right garbage probably 75% of the time you're on it. Sure, I would watch some JRE or Jordan Peterson clips on rare occasions, but this just amplifies everything alt right. I thought I couldn't be the only one experiencing this, but I come to find out that YouTube's algorithm is seemingly designed to funnel this kind of material.

 

[SolidStateSurvivor]

The whole thing with this Hogwarts game has been fun to watch because I literally don't give a shit either way. The self righteous people just waiting to pounce on anyone for merely playing this game are the absolute worst tho. They're acting like this game is lining up transgenders against a wall to be shot by way of giving JK Rowling royalties. And it's especially ironic because the most libtarded people I knew were super into Harry Potter. Fuck how times have changed.

But it puts streamers in a peculiar position. Perhaps someone can back me up here with some actual stats, but I have a hunch the biggest twitch gaming donors are transgender (typically shut-ins, autistic, but perhaps technically inclined and making decent cash doing work from home.) It's just business to not alienate your consumerbase by playing the game.

The vast majority of zoomers and millennials are not pissing themselves over games, it's just a vocal minority (as always.) It's the same crowd that supported Zoe Quinn during gamergate. To generally profile them, they're overly medicated propaganda loving "progressives" from the upper middle class who find hetero fictitious sexual expression "objectifying" yet insist on pushing degenerate shit irl. In the grand scheme of things these people don't mean shit and would go away overnight if corporate journalists weren't there to shill them/direct hate mobs. The vast majority of people just want to play games without propaganda and over monetization.

Boomers on the other hand are just alarmist idiots by virtue of being raised on television. Big tech social media is just the new version of television in that regard.

As a side note, stop using the term "TERF." There's nothing "radical" about women trying to preserve their spaces. I don't have anything against transgenders but we're at a point where common decency has been pushed to state mandated insanity.

but this just amplifies everything alt right. I thought I couldn't be the only one experiencing this, but I come to find out that YouTube's algorithm is seemingly designed to funnel this kind of material.

This article is trash (see quote below), but I do like the term they use of "intellectual dark web."

Libtards motivated by identity politics are mad because they've moved so far to the left that even some of the popular artists and creators of society are "to the right" of them; a situation that has never existed in the post-WWII era.

 

[Orlando Smooth]

And it's especially ironic because the most libtarded people I knew were super into Harry Potter. Fuck how times have changed.

Rowling is to millennials what George Lucas is to Gen X: they created the thing they loved the most, then 20 years later came to represent that which the generation's most outspoken detest.

But it puts streamers in a peculiar position. Perhaps someone can back me up here with some actual stats, but I have a hunch the biggest twitch gaming donors are transgender (typically shut-ins, autistic, but perhaps technically inclined and making decent cash doing work from home.) It's just business to not alienate your consumerbase by playing the game.

I can say with 100% certainty that those stats exist, though they'd probably be difficult/impossible to get your hands on. I say this because I've been paid to do analytics work using Google's under-the-hood stats that the client company had paid to access in regards to their own customer base. Someone, somewhere, is capable of knowing what percentage of any big streamer's audience are troons with roughly ±3% accuracy. None of the top streamers got there by mistake; they're all deeply aware of their analytics, even if they don't make a big deal of it publicly. If you were to pay attention to the top 100 streamers for the next few months and see how many (and which ones) played the game, you'd have the answer to which of them have a small enough (paying) audience of idpol idiots and troons to justify potentially kicking the hornets nest. A few additional metrics achievable through observation (especially a threshold number of hours played as % streamed in that period, and who abruptly stopped playing as opposed to phasing out) and you'd have a pretty bulletproof report.

 

[Jessica3cho雪血⊜青意]

Let me ask you this, then: has there ever been, or could there ever be, a technological innovation that has a net negative impact on society?

Just because boomers were 95% wrong about the effect of video games doesn't mean that every criticism of [today's new thing] should be brushed off without consideration. Video games didn't turn children into mindless killing machines the way we were told they would in the 90's, but it's pretty hard to make the case that the huge segment of society that logs 40+ hours per week into gaming is a good thing.

Addendum: I guess the simplest way to put it is to say that the mere existence of moral panic does not negate legitimate criticisms of new things.

I would agree whole heartedly with what you've said here. My statement certainly was very generalized, but I do recognize the nuance that entails anything. In general, I would say there is nothing that is purely a net-positive nor net-negative, yet a system of pros and cons that we must evaluate.

That being said, it took 50+ years to do studies that could give us a better insight into whether video games truly were a net-negative in the way that many older people viewed them to be. And while the concept of video games can be a net-positive when used appropriately, there still are some legitimate negatives to address in that space.

This is all to say that I think it is far to early to claim something like TikTok is a net-negative or, if it is, will stay that way. Its, comparatively, in its infancy, and for people like millenials to so unabashedly claim that TikTok is "ruining a generation" per say, is to both blindly ignore their own experience and repeat the mistakes of their parents.

As a millenial who grew up on the tail end, I was always privy to other millenials complaints about how boomers were just too old to get it, too scared of the new, set in their ways. So, I am highly disappointed that the millenial mindset seems to be taking the same route that they once admonished.

Anyways, that is why I seem to vehemently mock such ideas with very generalized statements. Its easier than writing this everytime and I think its the sort of push back it deserves.

 

[Hadrian Hardrada Cicero]

Regarding the whole paranoia from troons that feel threatened over a Harry Potter video game:

How in the world did millennials and zoomers ended up worse than boomers when it comes to video games demonization? At least boomers are excused because they didn't grew up with video games. What's millennials and zoomers' excuse? Especially the ones that are supposed to be gamers?

OP We're like 10 years in after the events of gamergate (jesus fucking christ) and nine years after the events of SJW movement. Internet users have long since lost their minds and fell into the same indulgences the OTHER two gens before Y and Z (Us) have fallen into.

We living in the age of Dionysus now circa 1968 - Present Day (Present Time).