[Roberta Obrien]

Seem like a pretty extreme case of internet bullying. Bad thing that it is said it's done by gamers as that only reinforces the stereotype people have.

Still, nothing new. People on the internet harassing people on the internet As long as internet is anonymous it'll happen. Despite these unfortunate incidents, may it never end.

[lydia nekongo]

Making personal attacks against someone because they produced something that doesn't suit your tastes is ridiculously childish and self-absorbed. Sometimes the Internet makes me ashamed to be part of this species. Then it makes me laugh and I can't stay mad at it. Oh, Internet...

[matt]

Making personal attacks against someone because they produced something that doesn't suit your tastes is ridiculously childish and self-absorbed. Sometimes the Internet makes me ashamed to be part of this species. Then it makes me laugh and I can't stay mad at it. Oh, Internet...

It made really angry when I read about it, sad to see gamers acting as such, I think when you got issues of DRM, there is bigger things they could focus anger on.

[kirsty williams]

I can't say that I'm terribly surprised that someone in the videogame industry is having trouble with some of the more... "vocal" examples of our fellow hobbyists. And I also can't say that I can find much fault with her response, or Bioware's overall.

Just in my own experience - I don't think any of us moderators can say that we haven't let ourselves go a couple of times in response to some of the harsher diatribe leveled against us. It's something we quickly come to expect as a natural course of what we do here. And most of the time the sort of trolling that we see via PM is something we learn to laugh off. But we're only human, of course - every once in a while someone just really gets under your skin, and you can't always keep yourself to a higher standard.

And we're just moderators. I can only imagine the sort of feedback most people actually working in the industry receive, once they've become part of the public eye. Plus, I get to hide behind the veil of anonymity. If someone sends me a three-page, poorly-spelled essay on my parentage and my mother's choice of profession - they're just interacting with a string of text on a computer screen. Actually putting yourself out there, as yourself? Can't be all that much fun.

I think the idea that industry professionals are supposed to be above responding to internet-standard hate in a like manner might be a convenient myth; but I can't honestly say that I see much merit in the concept. Personally, I think it's the last defense of an internet troll to come up with that sort of thing.

If you make an overly hateful and rage-filled attack on somebody, and you're (rightly) called a "moron," because of it - I can't honestly say that I'm going to feel all that bad for you.

It's just a bad situation all around, I think. Also, kind of inevitable - and far from the last time we're going to be hearing of this sort of thing (and certainly not the first, either.)

[Carlos Vazquez]

I think the idea that industry professionals are supposed to be above responding to internet-standard hate in a like manner might be a convenient myth; but I can't honestly say that I see much merit in the concept. Personally, I think it's the last defense of an internet troll to come up with that sort of thing.

Not just professionals, I think people should just show more restraint in general to respond to such stupid personal attacks. It's not like you're being confronted by someone in person where you can't easily ignore them, it's text from some anonymous user that won't even remember you if you don't respond.

At least that's my reasoning when dealing with things like that.

[Milagros Osorio]

Yeah, ideally - but I don't think it's a very realistic expectation. You're going to respond to some of it every once in a while.

At least, I do. And I knew going into this, that I wouldn't always be dealing with the nicest people the internet has to offer. In the case of this article, I don't think the same could necessarily be said for Mrs. Hepler.

[Shianne Donato]

One word, people.

[Darren]

I tried reading through the articles, but I just had this overwhelming sense of meh.

[Adam Baumgartner]

I tried reading through the articles, but I just had this overwhelming sense of meh.

Funny, that's how I felt reading your short post.

Zing!

(see what I did there? )

Nu-Clear - that was a good post, my friend.

[Adam Porter]

Funny, that's how I felt reading your short post.

Zing!

(see what I did there? )

Ouch.

[Haley Merkley]

i have not heard about this until now. and still don't care.

people say horrible things about people all the time, just go to any school and you'll find that these things are a normalcy

[Claire Mclaughlin]

I don't know... Dragon Age II's combat was so mindless, an option to skip it might really have greatly improved the game.

As for how the internet treated Jennifer Hepler... it's the online inhibition effect. People on the internet act like pricks. This isn't the first time it has happened, and it won't be the last. This is human nature laid bare. It's not pretty, but it's what we are.

Erm... I mean, you. Because I'm a cat.

[WYatt REed]

I have never heard of her, and I am just hearing about this. Truth be told, I am not all that shocked about this. I have been around the internet long enough to notice that no matter who it is, someone is always evil in some manner.

Heck, have you seen Pete Hines Twitter account getting hate tweets and other trolls during Skyrim's development? Things like these will never change.

[GEo LIme]

I don't know... Dragon Age II's combat was so mindless, an option to skip it might really have greatly improved the game.

DA2's combat was indeed horrible and I'd have loved an alternative. I'm not sure I could've used a "skip combat" button though, I think I'd have been left with a nagging feeling that I wasn't playing properly and would just agonise over it, but it would've been nice if there were other means of avoiding combat or perhaps making it an opt-in choice in some circumstances. Though not making every single encounter a three-wave attack with daft animations and backstabbing oiks who could hide in plain sight would've mitigated it considerably.

As for how the internet treated Jennifer Hepler... it's the online inhibition effect. People on the internet act like pricks. This isn't the first time it has happened, and it won't be the last. This is human nature laid bare. It's not pretty, but it's what we are.

A lot of people on the internet behave like knob-ends when hiding behind the safety of a screen. I remember doing something irresponsible and thoughtless in my youth back when I was at college and the victim of my actions demanding that we meet up. I did so and quickly realised that it was a real human there, and would like to think I learnt something that day (even if I do still fail to remember at times.) One thing I'm curious about is why the Hepler situation has gained such a high profile: I'm sure it's hardly the first time this sort of thing has happened, unless I'm missing something (which is always likely, given my unobservational skills) though I guess the publicity gained by any given event tends to be a strange and random thing.

[Betsy Humpledink]

writing a book or a movie is not writing a video game. a book is not a good video game. a movie is not a good video game.

a writer for a video game needs to understand how video games work and how to write specifically around the fact that it's a video game. if they don't like video games, they're not going to be able to write a good video game story.

everyone on both sides is pretty stupid (Bioware's PR guy specifically, what the [censored] was he even thinking). i'm not defending /v/'s attacks at all and it's incredibly obvious that the only reason she got this level of "aggression" is because she's a woman - but people like her do hurt the industry.

[Stryke Force]

I know a lot of games I don't like but I know that I could not do a better job than they did, so if I don't like something I will try to keep it civil and remember that nothing is inherently bad.
As far as DA2 is concerned the aspect I disliked the most was the fake longevity coming from constant attacks by filler enemies. Had they done it in the style of Origins I could well have forgotten about the other lacks of the game.

But then again, I believe I am in the minority when I focus on seeing good things in everything, instead of being fixed on hating the bad sides.

[Channing]

I don't know... Dragon Age II's combat was so mindless, an option to skip it might really have greatly improved the game.

The occasional ridiculously difficult battle when playing on the nightmare setting was one of the only things that kept me playing, to be honest. The combat on the console versions was pretty mindless, but it could get pretty hard on the PC version. It's really hard to design controls for a party-based tactical combat RPG for a control pad, so I think they copped out and over-simplified the combat.

[mike]

The occasional ridiculously difficult battle when playing on the nightmare setting was one of the only things that kept me playing, to be honest. The combat on the console versions was pretty mindless, but it could get pretty hard on the PC version. It's really hard to design controls for a party-based tactical combat RPG for a control pad, so I think they copped out and over-simplified the combat.

Then maybe just an option to skip directly to the boss. That's what really caused the combat to wear on me. The boss battles were fun, but they were outnumbered by pointless trash mobs who died in one hit by about 50 to 1.

But I've taken the thread OT. Sorry.

[jess hughes]

One thing I'm curious about is why the Hepler situation has gained such a high profile: I'm sure it's hardly the first time this sort of thing has happened, unless I'm missing something (which is always likely, given my unobservational skills) though I guess the publicity gained by any given event tends to be a strange and random thing.

Haven't you heard? She has female genitalia. And she's in the video games industry!

David Gaider receives just as much hate, if not more.

It's the internet being patronising and sixist again: she's a woman, we have to protect her.

[Prue]

Oof you're sarcasm only addresses part of the issue, see yes it's because of her initial reaction, but it's also because many gamers are angry how this portrays them as a whole, and find such implication disgusting. True this happens a lot, but is that an excuse to ignore and let it go on? Or shouldn't it be addressed now and people consider how to avoid it in future?

[Tammie Flint]

I just read the whole thing and have to say: Welcome to the Internet
Stuff like that happens all the time.

[Micah Judaeah]

Who?

- She got Twitter, she got "abused" over a computer, she deleted the profile. Problem solved.
- Hopefully she realises this is just the internet and with the click of a button everything here could be lost forever so it's nothing to lose sleep over

[Hayley O'Gara]

I see I'm going to be misunderstood... Further down, he goes into why it's not a good idea to have non-gamers working for gaming companies, even if they're just writers. I mostly agree with him. (This does not mean I'm calling for Hepler's head on a plate.) I'm not talking about his DA2 comments, or his comments re: the harrassment. His later comments apply to the gaming industry generally (with Hepler used as an example, sometimes; whether you agree with the example or not, I think the general gist of his argument is valid).

I don't think it's valid at all. Take the broad RPG industry which derived countless ideas (much of which was taken directly) from Tolkien who, last I checked, did not play video games. I say this having worked for the gaming industry -- there's no sense in the notion of requiring experience in the game industry when writing things like a story. That's a highly unfounded bias.

As for the person in question in the OP, that's the internet effect, and it's going to be very interesting seeing how these people act when they start to lose their anonymity. For now, it's like watching 3rd grade boys tease and pick on a girl. Then later of course, wonder where all the gaming chicks are, and wind up the people writing those seemingly rhetorical "JAHO" topics. It is funny, I won't lie, but in a laughing at them way, rather than with them.

[Hope Greenhaw]

Third Eye, that's not a very good example. Video games didn't exist before Tolkien. We have no way of knowing what RPGs would be like without him.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/02/23/escape-escape-embracing-skippable-combat/#more-95811.

[April]

She's been getting hated on for a long time. This has nothing to do with her, and everything to do with the inherent problems with producing giant RPGs. People went into DA2 expecting 20+ hours of entertainment. Some of them weren't pleased. To those people, that's several days of their life made noticably worse by a total stranger. Of course they get irrationally pissed off. Of course they shouldn't.

Personally, I liked DA2, and I think Helper's idea has merit but needs some serious tweaking to prevent it from destroying the illusion that defeating hordes of darkspawn has value (the only value is in your enjoyment). If people can just skip the fight, they'll feel like there's no point in going through the fight, even though they enjoy RPG combats and of course were always free to skip the fight and get some fresh air. I have no idea how to make this idea workable, but I think it was worth throwing out there.