What Gamergate Needs to Do, But It's Probably Too Late

Shit, I accidentally deleted the first post of this and it was before the Wayback Machine had a chance to archive it.  So Here it is again from memory.

First off, a confession.  I'm not a gamer.  I have yet to master Openttd.  I have a Wii, but I only use to to watch Netflix.  But I think I have something to offer as an atheist/skeptic. We've survived an attempt at co-opting.  The SJWs have been relegated to a few small farm league cons and blogs of dwindling readership, but not without some cost.

Nevertheless, what I think you need to be doing now is simple.  You need a list of specific demands that people can point to and say "This is what you need to do to gain my trust and patronage.".  The biggest reason the Occupoo movement failed was a failure to do just that.

Not being a gamer I am only offering broad suggestions.

• A provision regarding personal conflicts of interest.
• A provision regarding financial conflicts of interest.
• A provision regarding collusion on stories.
• A provision regarding abusive behavior towards dissenters.
• A provision regarding openness of debate.
• A provision regarding any ideological agenda
• Standards of honesty.

These provisions need to be specified precisely.  You don't need another editor saying "Hey, we fixed it, our staff can no longer make Patreon contributions to the people they write about.  We're the good guys.".  This leaves Indiegogo and any number of other means for them to invest in a project that they later promote through their reviews.  Don't give them the wiggle room.

Don't demand heads, or not more than one or tow to serve as examples.

Be ready to forgive.  The only thing the post-Apartheid government of South Africa got right was the Truth and Reconciliation commissions.  It probably prevented a bloodbath.

Go to the grownups.  The editors of these sites are mostly trust fund babes.  The parent companies are more concerned with the bottom line.  They are more likely to listen to you.

As fascinating as I find the whole DIGRA entanglement in the affair, it is tangential.  The so-called journalists in this affair come from the comm. and foo studies departments in their universities.  These are pretend disciplines whose only purpose is to give an academic veneer to political activism.  There's probably a lit, major or two in the mix.  If DIGRA didn't exist, they'd have the same attitude.

It's probably too late but worth a try anyway.