I’ve been feeling a bit distressed recently about my habits of passive engagement in the online culture war. For the last decade, I’ve kept an eye on the outrage in gaming culture, particularly from those who might be described as the “Skeptical Core Fanbase.”
I’ve often argued that my engagement is, at least in part, to understand the anger and to avoid getting too caught up in my own bubble. But I wonder if I’ve just gotten addicted to reading rage bait without really learning or understanding much.
Maybe out of desperation to try something different, I decided to catalog grievances on a hot topic to see if it could help me gain a deeper perspective. This week’s rage was all about the Intergalactic reveal trailer at The Game Awards 2024.
It can be hard to pull out the true grievances from the layers of memes, obsession over like/dislike ratios, and content creators with questionable motives who financially benefit from outrage.
The quotes below are gathered from users on Reddit, X, Youtube and Instagram. I ignored anything that seemed purely spiteful and focused on repeating patterns.
On the Main Character’s Appearance 🔗
- Conventionally unattractive
- Head too small
- Made ugly on purpose
- Masculine features
- Androgynous
- “Her aesthetic makes me cringe”
On the “Girlboss” Archetype 🔗
- Chip on her shoulder
- Has attitude, snarky
- Abrasive personality
- Unlikable
- Unrealistic that a woman can beat several men
- “Not normal. Men nor women will relate to this character.”
- Angry, independent woman
- Overabundance of these characters
- A self-inserted Mary Sue
On Larger Agenda Pushing & Politics 🔗
- Many series franchises with previous male leads are now female
- Trying to eradicate femininity
- Trying to change what beauty is
- “Looks like ND joined the 4B movement”
- Intentionally provoking
- “Trying to convert women into lesbians”
- “It’s just posturing”
- Out-of-touch developers
- Preaching and propaganda
- A DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) push
- “They are coming for your kids”
- “I don’t want to be told how I should think”
Historical Grievances 🔗
- Neil Druckmann
- The Last of Us Part II (TLOU2)
- Killing Joel
- Introducing Abby
- “Going woke”
- Trans activism
- Invited Anita Sarkeesian to visit the studio
- Pushed Amy Hennig out
While I’m no less distressed about my habits, I do think this exercise was better than trying to comprehend outrage through the feed. It felt more like excavation—pulling out the repeating patterns and piecing them together as a whole. This approach let me detach, and better yet, avoid personalities with financial stakes in the debate.