It worried me that some larger outlet might pick it up and start piling on.
...which wouldn't affect Penny Arcade in the least. They exist in many ways apart from the standard major media, and have enough clout and momentum to continue unaffected.
The few people who claim to be "boycotting" presenting at PAX are, from my quick research, low-level panelists on the generi-industry events like the "Women in Games" panels. Some of them I can't even verify as having ever actually been confirmed panelists in the first place: they appear to have simply not submitted applications to be considered in the first place. Considering that Bitch PAX received more than triple the submissions they could handle (even with additional rooms this year), it's hardly a loss.
I mean, am I "boycotting" the Academy Awards because I declined to ask them to let me perform there?
I think the biggest mistake PA has made is to give these complainers a voice by acknolwedging them.
Truth.
While I agree, I also agree that the response strip was pretty funny.
Un-selling the shirt was probably a mistake: better would have been to say that they simply wouldn't print any more. The fact of the matter is that PAX will now be flooded with people wearing them, almost like an immune response against censorship and butthurt.
I find it sad that the people who were offended by the strip, in which rape isn't the main/real joke or point are wasting their time losing their shit on PA instead of actually concentrating that energy on the GOP redefining the word rape in Congress.
I found the comic funny because I can relate to the Worgen character and actually got the joke. I really wish I got a Dickwolves shirt.
As I said previously, I do no look forward to someone bringing this shit up to Gabe & Tycho in a Q&A at PAX. I'm sure they'll handle it properly, but why bring it up?
General question: I am taking the train into Boston and would like to know the average time the event ends. I would like to be there to catch the ending since I heard nothing but great things about it and was wondering if anyone knew the approximate end time? Thanks in advance.
General question: I am taking the train into Boston and would like to know the average time the event ends. I would like to be there to catch the ending since I heard nothing but great things about it and was wondering if anyone knew the approximate end time? Thanks in advance.
A vocal minority has sand in various orifices, and no one would even notice them unless they went out looking.
This is the feeling I'm getting. I see 10 to 12 angry bloggers bitching about PA. Gabe is right to be a dismissive prick; their accusations are not worthy of consideration.
This is the Internet. Righteous indignation and a sense of entitlement are pretty much par for the course.
Yeah, I know, but what about my entitlement to have a good time and not have it ruined by a fucktwat? I will probably pay no mind if there are people like this at PAX. I'm not going to let them ruin my mini-vacation!
This whole dickwolves controversy got brought up in a chatroom that I frequent, and one of my friends there brought up this article and said that even though Mike and Jerry definitely didn't intend it, by making a one-off rape joke they were supporting rape culture.
I can't see what strip you're referring to since imgur is blocked at work, butthis guy's blog postruns down a few past strips that seem much "worse".
I completely agree with this guy. I still have a lot of respect for Mike and Jerry because of everything they've done, but I'm disappointed in them for acting like the people who were offended are to blame.
This whole dickwolves controversy got brought up in a chatroom that I frequent, and one of my friends there brought upthis articleand said that even though Mike and Jerry definitely didn't intend it, by making a one-off rape joke they were supporting rape culture.
I can't see what strip you're referring to since imgur is blocked at work, butthis guy's blog postruns down a few past strips that seem much "worse".
I completely agree with this guy. I still have a lot of respect for Mike and Jerry because of everything they've done, but I'm disappointed in them for acting like the people who were offended are to blame.I don't see where an issue of blame comes into this. Person A can say offensive words and Person B can be offended by them, and neither person has done anything wrong.
I think the reaction you saw out of Mike & Jerry was they themselves being offended by accusations coming back that their strip was supporting this rape culture you speak of. If there were to be a real act of rape and someone tried to connect it back to the moment the rapist visited penny-arcade.com they should be laughed at with the same jest as when someone tries to demonstrate links between violence and video games or says that you'll have no morals if you play role playing games.
My god, rape wasn't even the joke of the comic we're talking about, it was WOW quests for god's sake.
Anyone who doesn't realize that doesn't actually read Penny Arcade. The thing is that the one-off remark about the horrible things the sixth slave who isn't rescued has to go through could have been about many, many other things, but they went with the rape.
Though actually, now that I think about it-- on the abstract, it's a comic about someone who is being raped and needs help, only to be turned down by the person they come to for help. Not the point of the comic, I know, and I'm definitely over-analyzing it here, but when you approach it from that perspective it makes a bit more sense why people would be upset over it.
I think the reaction you saw out of Mike & Jerry was they themselves being offended by accusations coming back that their strip was supporting this rape culture you speak of. If there were to be a real act of rape and someone tried to connect it back to the moment the rapist visited penny-arcade.com they should be laughed at with the same jest as when someone tries to demonstrate links between violence and video games or says that you'll have no morals if you play role playing games.
It'd be absolutely ridiculous if someone tried to blame a rape on Penny Arcade. But that's not what I mean. I'm bothered because, if Mike and Jerry absolutely had to address the complaints they were receiving, they should have just made a news post along the lines of: "We read your complaints about the previous strip and we apologize if it personally offended you." That's it. The complainers would have been satisfied, and Mike and Jerry could've gone back to making comics as usual. Instead, they made a big comic making fun of the complainers, and Mike made a news post about how he doesn't get why people would be offended by this one strip and not others (easy explanation: there's so many PA strips that many new readers would just not bother reading through the archives). The blame issue I'm talking about is the way Mike said "if you don't like it why are you reading it?" Then the T-shirt came and things just kind of went downhill from there.
As a side note, while I really don't want this story to get picked up by any mainstream media, I do think it would be funny to hear news correspondents talking about the dangers that dickwolves present to our children.
Why did this become an issue now? Wasn't this comic months ago?
Sorry yeah I brought it up today because it started getting a lot of attention again. Yes the comic was back in AUGUST, which makes the situation seem even sillier. I agree it's time to let it all go. I got swept up in the drama because I have a youtube video of Mike drawing the Dickwolf at PAX Prime, and just in the past 2 days it's got several thousand hits and comment notifications are bombarding my phone, then I woke up to a mountain of hipster PA-bashing on the NerdNYC forum.
I didn't know about the dickwolves till, well, now. I found the dickwolves strip pretty hilarious and gave me something to yell at Jed as I kick his ass at yet another vidjyagame. With that said I am also a rape survivor. To say the least, it's damn horrible and painful. Yet, I think the overreaction is understandable if it was a fresh experience. Other times, not as much. I guess my thoughts come down to the fact that I separate the fictional and reality and it's a fucking comic.
then I woke up to a mountain of hipster PA-bashing on the NerdNYC forum.
While I like playing games with NerdNYC, I find that I generally disagree with many of them on most aspects of gaming and game/con culture.
I grew up in the same scene as most of them, going to local things like DexCon and Dreamation in my junior high years, but then detached from gaming for a long while. I didn't fall back in love with tabletop gaming until I graduated college, and didn't start going back to cons until I finally manned up and went to a PAX. That being said, I've seen both sides of the equation and like the PAX culture a hell of a lot more.
Author and video game designer Jane McGonigal talks about her new book, "Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World."
This whole dickwolves controversy got brought up in a chatroom that I frequent, and one of my friends there brought upthis articleand said that even though Mike and Jerry definitely didn't intend it, by making a one-off rape joke they were supporting rape culture.
Anyone who doesn't realize that doesn't actually read Penny Arcade. The thing is that the one-off remark about the horrible things the sixth slave who isn't rescued has to go through could have been about many, many other things, but they went with the rape.
The comic is not excusing rape in any way. It quite clearly presents rape in a very negative light, in order to depict the amorality of, in Jerry's words, "electronic heroism". The fact that rape in particular was chosen merely highlights that, indeed, it was one of the worst things they could imagine, especially when perpetrated by dickwolves.
Though actually, now that I think about it-- on the abstract, it's a comic about someone who is being raped and needs help, only to be turned down by the person they come to for help. Not the point of the comic, I know, and I'm definitely over-analyzing it here, but when you approach it from that perspective it makes a bit more sense why people would be upset over it.
Actually, that is the whole point of the comic! That narrative is used to point out that the person they came to for help was a vile bastard.
It'd be absolutely ridiculous if someone tried to blame a rape on Penny Arcade. But that's not what I mean. I'm bothered because, if Mike and Jerry absolutely had to address the complaints they were receiving, they should have just made a news post along the lines of: "We read your complaints about the previous strip and we apologize if it personally offended you." That's it. The complainers would have been satisfied, and Mike and Jerry could've gone back to making comics as usual.
An honest apology would imply that they regret putting up the comic. They clearly do not, so such an apology would be dishonest, and furthermore, some complainers could say "If you're sorry, then why haven't you taken the comic down?"
What Lack of Cheese said, exactly. The whole point of the strip is that the PC left the NPC to a horrible, horrible fate. This is not presented as a good thing, they thought of something abominable and ran with it. While I think that the perception of rape in our culture is still terrible, why they would focus on this, rather than eye gouging and all the various horrific acts that regularly befall characters in P.A. is somewhat beyond me. To be honest, I found the "dickwolves" strip to be tame by penny-arcade standards, and was even mildly amused.
I think most of the outrage is directed towards their passive aggressive attitude in regards to address other people's concerns. Come on, the dickwolves t-shirt didn't really do anything to mellow the dialog...
Also: The joke is raised to the ridiculous by the invention of a raping wolf monster. If they said "our jailers" instead, it would not be funny, just kind of ick. The imagination is left to conjure up an image of what this peculiar beast must look like, and the fact that this monster exists solely for the purpose of having non-consensual sex with everyone.
Comments
Just figured I'd complain about something that matters.
The few people who claim to be "boycotting" presenting at PAX are, from my quick research, low-level panelists on the generi-industry events like the "Women in Games" panels. Some of them I can't even verify as having ever actually been confirmed panelists in the first place: they appear to have simply not submitted applications to be considered in the first place. Considering that Bitch PAX received more than triple the submissions they could handle (even with additional rooms this year), it's hardly a loss.
I mean, am I "boycotting" the Academy Awards because I declined to ask them to let me perform there?
Un-selling the shirt was probably a mistake: better would have been to say that they simply wouldn't print any more. The fact of the matter is that PAX will now be flooded with people wearing them, almost like an immune response against censorship and butthurt.
I found the comic funny because I can relate to the Worgen character and actually got the joke. I really wish I got a Dickwolves shirt.
As I said previously, I do no look forward to someone bringing this shit up to Gabe & Tycho in a Q&A at PAX. I'm sure they'll handle it properly, but why bring it up?
Sometimes, I really think punching people is the only viable solution.
I think the reaction you saw out of Mike & Jerry was they themselves being offended by accusations coming back that their strip was supporting this rape culture you speak of. If there were to be a real act of rape and someone tried to connect it back to the moment the rapist visited penny-arcade.com they should be laughed at with the same jest as when someone tries to demonstrate links between violence and video games or says that you'll have no morals if you play role playing games.
Though actually, now that I think about it-- on the abstract, it's a comic about someone who is being raped and needs help, only to be turned down by the person they come to for help. Not the point of the comic, I know, and I'm definitely over-analyzing it here, but when you approach it from that perspective it makes a bit more sense why people would be upset over it. It'd be absolutely ridiculous if someone tried to blame a rape on Penny Arcade. But that's not what I mean. I'm bothered because, if Mike and Jerry absolutely had to address the complaints they were receiving, they should have just made a news post along the lines of: "We read your complaints about the previous strip and we apologize if it personally offended you." That's it. The complainers would have been satisfied, and Mike and Jerry could've gone back to making comics as usual. Instead, they made a big comic making fun of the complainers, and Mike made a news post about how he doesn't get why people would be offended by this one strip and not others (easy explanation: there's so many PA strips that many new readers would just not bother reading through the archives). The blame issue I'm talking about is the way Mike said "if you don't like it why are you reading it?" Then the T-shirt came and things just kind of went downhill from there.
As a side note, while I really don't want this story to get picked up by any mainstream media, I do think it would be funny to hear news correspondents talking about the dangers that dickwolves present to our children.
Only 29 days till (Bitch)PAX!
Edit: Daylight savings is during the weekend of PAX. We lose an hour. That's a bitch of an hour of rest that will truly be missed.
George is a meany.
PAX East is going to be great! Back on to topic!
Author and video game designer Jane McGonigal talks about her new book, "Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World."