I was trying to write an opinion piece to go along with this strip, but honestly, after a full two days of researching this Hogwarts Legacy controversy/boycott from all of the different angles I could find, reading articles and reddit subs and comment sections… I am simply worn out. I thought my argument would end up being a case of ‘separate the artist from the art,’ but I wasn’t aware the extent of the damage JK Rowling’s comments cause.
And because of her hateful views, like it or not, Hogwarts Legacy, and the act of buying it (or not buying it), is likely to be viewed by someone as a stand for something. Your decision becomes a statement. I now understand the reason behind the boycott of the game, and support it in principle… though I do remain (perhaps cynically so) unconvinced that that simply not buying the game will have any tangible impact- the lady already has more money than some countries, and she’s not going to just have a sudden change of heart. I do recognize the boycott’s value as an act of solidarity, if not one of actual change.
As such, I hope to at the very least alert some people to what is attached to this game. People who, like me, might be aware of Harry Potter, but not intimately attached to the franchise enough that we’ve followed what’s going on with Rowling. People who though it just looked like a fun game maybe their kids would enjoy.
Not a conclusion I expected to reach about a video game featuring a dorky wizard school, but here we are.
Sad we’ve come to this point. :/
to the point where ppl cant spread hate online without consequences? I’m pretty ok with that.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s
sir, this is a post literally about that
It’s about acting smugly superior over not taking the time to learn about a topic just declare “both sides” as unreasonable but equal.
The only hate being spread here, is by you. Mine was just a neutral comment about the overall state of things, pointing at neither side.
For good or ill, the Internet, and particularly social platforms, along with the polarization of news outlets, has contributed to a population that now looks mostly at the information that suits their particular wishes as to how the world should be in their eyes, more than how it really is (because once you limit the facts you are willing to recognize because doing so might invalidate other notions you’ve chosen to die on, then you are leaving something out). That’s a sad state of affairs. My first clue we were heading this was was when our parliament brought in TV.… Read more »
No, this isn’t about polarisation or intolerance of different opinions.
Rowling is using the money from sales of her work to fund the anti-trans movement.
LGBTQ rights are being destroyed in the UK. The NHS are proposing the use of conversion therapy on trans kids, and the gov are pushing to repeal legal protections for trans people.
If this were any other minority, no one would be pulling this ‘both sides’ nonsense.
^ Literally none of this is happening. Rowling funds women’s shelters, the NHS are expanding the trans care capacity and integrating it with other departments for better service outcomes, and legal protection comes under anti-discrimination which is Human Rights law and ain’t no one touching that.
Can we honestly just enjoy media any more? These things exist to escape the real world for a small window every day, and activists can’t even give us that.
Seems like Sunak doesn’t agree with you, but hey, lie for gamer points caus “gamer’s rights” are more important than trans people’s rights
While you (and everyone else) are of course free to make your own balance between art and the artist, denying that the artist is doing any harm isn’t that. Rowling has become a notable activist against trans rights over recent years; that’s undeniable if you pay even cursory attention. She’s quite open about this, indeed proud of it. Whether you think that’s a good or a bad thing will depend on your own view of human rights.
this post is litterally about JKR spreading her transphobic bullshit online, but you do you
Ah, so you’re part of that problem.
I actually read the original post, ans it just amounted to, “Please don’t try to invalidate people.” It was perfectly wholesome.
Harry Potter games are done by people who are NOT JKR. You wanna hate on her, that’s fine (I do too). But all that’s to her credit is she wrote the books. The games are innocent. It’s like damning a kid for being a murderer just because their mother was, even though the kid didn’t do anything.
If none of the money from the games when to JKR you’d have a point…. but seeing as she’ll use that money to continue/expand her hateful yelling you’re wrong.
I work for a company on projects I didn’t sign up for, who’s leadership I’m STRONGLY opposed to, and pay taxes to a country who’s leadership and policies I find absolutely repulsive.
I could just switch jobs and move to a different country, but then things don’t change. Maybe they won’t change anyways. But there’s a hope a dev will sneak in transgender options into character creation.
By definition I thought all games came with what amounted to transgender options. I played FemShep in Mass Effect, for example, but I am a guy. My wife always plays male characters in video games. I’m not saying it shouldn’t be done….I’m just wondering how distinctively different from what is currently available a specific “transgender” setting would be. I’d think something less represented currently in character choices like non-binary settings might make more sense, because it’s easy to make a male looking or female looking character, but someone who does not identify as either has an uphill road to climb… Read more »
While the games are not hers, the intellectual property is and due to the overreach of our current copyright laws, she’ll stand to benefit financially for this IP for decades.
That said, I disagree with cancelling the product (that is fairly neutral) because one person somewhere said something someone might object with. If we were intellectually honest, we couldn’t consume any product ever, because someone in the product chain isn’t going to line up 100% with everyone’s political positioning for all time.
As someone who is jewish I find the game being about subjugating the very obvious and offensive jewish stereotype JKR put in her books to be highly offensive….
The part I find offensive is that people see a group of short people who run banks and are pegged as the generic evil and automatically assume “Jew.” :/ If someone is that tied to stereotypes that that is their first thought then I suspect that person is the one with problems with Jews.
… the goblins are literally the offensive caricatures of Jews. are you blind? look it up on google, these drawings exist and were put in papers! I am not ok with recognizing when someone is using an offensive stereotype and then those same people claim I am the one who is being racist!
When trying to convince someone, that something objectively is something else and not just the perception of the viewer, “are you blind?” is a pretty poor argument. Just saying.
While there certainly is a group that tries to spread hate over buying this game, I believe it is not the group you think of.
we’re at the point where ONE side can’t spread hate. The other side can be as villific as they desire and they still get cheered on.
I mean if something is actually bad, calling it bad isn’t some sort of unfair standard.
JK Rowlings endless terfism is actually bad. That’s clear and easy.
The game??? Like Tim said it’s a huge argument.
Yeah sure that’s what happens! poor transphobic ppl who cant spread their hate online… where exactly? Oh yeah they still can and do it everywhere. JKR isnt the only one, chappelle, gervais, rogan, etc. still do it on an almost daily basis. Stop lying.
The irony here is so thick you can cut it with a knife.
What, the thing that’s existed at least since Justinian the First?
Sports Team related Nika riots led to half of Constantinople being burned down.
J.K. Rowling made a profoundly correct statement about women. Suddenly she gets branded as a bigot. She struggled and found amazing success but apparently that isn’t good enough for the alphabet soup community.
You misspelled incorrect. It starts with “in”.
Look I don’t care wether people identify as man or woman or both or neither. Nobody should care about how other people feel: it’s not you so it’s not your concern. But the statement “men can also have their period” can only be true if they are originally born as what is defined as “female”. No matter what gender you FEEL like you should be/have been/are. Physically you need to have the insides of a woman. If you’re born a redhead but dye it black it doesn’t take away the fact that you’re originally a redhead.You can keep changing it… Read more »
Gender and sex aren’t the same.
Tell this to trans rights activists as they clearly forgot about this already.
another transphobic comment, keep digging and being wrong and hatefull. You seems to care a lot for someone saying “I dont care”.
Nothing about VibrantEvolutions post was transphobic or hateful. And from a genetic perspective, what they wrote was also correct: The sex chromosomes of human beings and other mammals are designated by scientists as X and Y. In humans the sex chromosomes consist of one pair of the total of 23 pairs of chromosomes. The other 22 pairs of chromosomes are called autosomes. Individuals having two X chromosomes (XX) are called female; individuals having one X chromosome and one Y chromosome (XY) are called male. The effects of genes carried only on the Y chromosome are, by nature, only able to expressed in males.… Read more »
Why are you limiting “females” to “must biologically give birth”? Looks up XY Gonadal dysgenesis. Or any other disorder that doesnt allow people to give birth. But cool you only think “women” are there to give birth to babies sicko
Swyer syndrome (XY Gonadel Dysgenesis) is caused by an abnormal XY pairing, which would make it fall into the ‘third possibility’ that I referenced in my post.
I am not transphobic for agreeing with sex assignment at birth due to your physical build.
I’d be transphobic when I would not accept people having a gender identity that differs from their assigned sex assignment.
Why is having a uterus a uniquely female characteristic or a penis a uniquely male characteristic? There’s a vast amount of research that demonstrates that that is not a reality. The fact that during fetal development all fetal genitalia are the same and are phenotypically female shows the failure in your logic. Having a uterus or not is an anomaly of biology and nothing more. You seem unable to get beyond the concept that a persons gender is not tied to their physical traits. If I have surgery to give myself breasts am I a male or a female? Is… Read more »
Female is not a gender.
Wether you like it or not there is something known as “sex assignment” And when they shout out “it’s a boy” or “it’s a girl” (wether at birth or even before at an ultrasound: how do they make that call? Because of your penis or your vagina. Does that mean that later in life you will be happy with that? No. Should you be able to change that? Certainly. Does that mean that biologically you’re suddenly not male/female anymore? It doesn’t. You cannot blame people for tying your gender to your physical traits as people are used to that. People… Read more »
External genitalia is not used to identify whether a human individual (or other mammal) is male or female though, it’s a fast visual identifier which is sufficient for the majority of instances, but isn’t 100% accurate. Which is why the differentiation comes down to chromosomes. Assuming a properly formed and paired set of chromosomes (because there can be abnormalities, and indeed several disorders are known to be associated with these occurrences): Individuals having two X chromosomes (XX) are female; and individuals having one X chromosome and one Y chromosome (XY) are male. An individual who has had their uterus removed… Read more »
that is true but this isn’t something you can check while walking on the street or meeting up with someone 🙂 as said it’s the visual cues that will make us – maybe out of force of habit – make a decision or think in a certain way or make connections that may not be accurate. But that goes for a variety of things like seeing a dude with tattoos and piercings and a mohawk and then hearing him sing opera. Or seeing a nerdy kindergarten teacher who goes cagefighting after work. People aren’t always what they seem to be.… Read more »
Absolutely agree, 100%
You are showing your lack of understanding of the difference between Sex and Gender. Look that up.
There’s societies out there with multiple genders (I think 7 is the limit) and they don’t have the issue we do here. I think Samoa is one of them.
No, she’s definitely a bigot, it’s not just one statement she’s made. That said, I think the people who demand that you boycott all things Harry Potter are pretty nutty. I’m sorry but I can be both pro-trans rights AND able to enjoy Harry Potter. Bill Gates has blood on his hands with his role in keeping covid vaccines private and yet I still use Windows and other Microsoft products.
I only support the boycott cause the games plot is about the continued subjugation of the very obvious and offensive jewish stereotype JKR put into the book >_> as a Jew this greatly upsets me. I feel like I am justified in being upset about this given my peoples history of being subjugated (re: Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome)
If your people were viewed as evil and kicked out of every ancient civilization in history, then they are the common denominator and one should stop to think who the real problem was then
really? not even going to hide your bigotry?
Can you though? How “pro-trans” is it to financially reward someone who is encouraging people to invalidate their very existence? I mean it’s not even like she was publicly wrong once and now at least keeps her opinion to herself; she’s chosen her hill on which to die. If suppressing trans people is more important to her than profit, who am I to argue? This is an easy boycott for me because I already refuse to reward so many other anti-consumer practices like rootkits/trojan software, DRM, 3rd party accounts, spyware, etc. What are the chances that someone willing to work… Read more »
nope she made a damn transphobic statement and ppl are allowed to say she’s a pos for that and to boycott products linked to her.
They’re not, however, allowed to shit on someone for not sharing their ideals. If I wanna buy the game I’m gonna buy the game, and I don’t give a rat’s ass what you or anyone else thinks about it.
Anyone is allowed to judge you based on your actions. It’s remarkable how often people like you talk about snowflakes when the idea of being criticised for your own actions upsets you so much.
Reason and logic have no place here Travis.
For me, Unless you’re my wife, kids or parents, I don’t care what you think about what I buy.
And that’s your right. But I dont care about what you dont care bout.
This is beyond stupidity.
It’s a videogame, a work made by thousand people, programmers, graphic and story designer, e.g.
J.R.R. is one person with her stupid beliefs.
We have thousand and thousand of books, movies, classic litelature, music. e.g. made by questionabile people, for history periods or simple faulty ideas.
Boycott a fiction world is just stupid.
I wasn’t gonna comment, but… JK, not JRR. TOTALLY different leagues of author.
I mean on one hand Lovecraft was a racist, but on the other hand… he’s deader than a deadite! With no Reanimator to bring him back.
In many cases I agree with austindorf, but this is kind of an important point; in cases where the author is still very much alive, very much in the public eye, using the continuing fame of their work to strengthen the ‘voice’ that they’re using to say things, and perhaps most importantly, still in a position to influence the work, then it starts to look more concerning. Contrast to Mojang and Notch; he no longer has any control, the current owners of the property have repudiated him and indeed, I’ve heard they make sure to use the game to specifically… Read more »
Thank you for that well written comment. I might copy/paste it. It is well articulated and explains better than I could a view on this situation.
Maybe, but my concern is that if we boycott JK Rowling, why aren’t we boycotting Star Trek? As silly as that sounds, let’s not forget that Gene Roddenberry was a pretty disgusting guy when it came to his sexualization fantasies. Also, let’s never forget that incredibly racist first season episode of TNG that even Jonathan Frakes legitimately swore at when describing the episode in a later interview. We may idolize Star Trek and his creator, but the creator was not a good person. It became the show it did not because of him, but despite him. The same could be… Read more »
Did you actually read and understand the post?
An important point was specifically that it is a lot more easy to separate art and artist when said artist is not so much alive.
Roddenberry is very much unalive.
That being said, Star Trek has long since turned into something I no longer support due to a lack of quality.
Because JKR maintains complete creative and financial control over the entire HP franchise. Gene Roddenberry is dead and while he definitely had a lot of toxic views, he also had a lot of positive views, and the people currently running Star Trek are attempting to spread positive messages with their work. So it IS a very different situation.
It’s also difficult to judge long dead individuals by the environment of their time. I’m trans, I loved Harry Potter growing up, I started reading when I was about 7 and I think it was the second or third book had just came out and read every book since. Now? I boycott anything Harry Potter. I even own a buisness now for nerd culture and won’t be stocking any HP products. Honestly while I don’t like JK, I’m not going to judge two harshly if you decide to get the game, your money, you do you if you want to… Read more »
I do see that position, yet I see the counter-position: If someone you find spouting ideas that you think are repugnant, why would you not want to choose to not buy products that would drive revenue to them? To me, that’s a perfectly ethical choice. And even trying to convince others of that argument is not unreasonable, even though some may not want to hear it. It might be important enough to you to want others to at least know what you are doing and why. I think in the long run, if we remove every statue, every reference to… Read more »
Today it’s boycotts.
Yesterday it was crusades.
We’ve actually made some progress. It’s up to us to appreciate that so we can be receptive to more.
Her “stupid beliefs” are that she wants the genocide of transgender people. And she will use all royalties she makes from the sale of this game to continue pushing for that goal. And most importantly, she’s still alive, so your attempt at arguing “death of the author” completely fails. And the Harry Potter franchise itself is full of gross messages like “slavery is good, can’t free the slaves because the slaves like being slaves” and “fat shaming is okay” and “maintain the status quo, don’t do anything to change or improve things for anyone” and also a lot of anti-Semitism… Read more »
What do you know, NTN is spreading lies and hate.
True. I hear Rowling say “I only wish that we all could band together to round up all of those ‘trans’ wierdos and open up on them with every weapon we can find so as to to wipe them off the face of the earth” all of the time – can’t shut her up about it.
careful with this kind of ironic comment, someone somewhere will pick it up as a verbatim quote and before you know it, will be trending on twitter
Oh yeah, totally, the only thing she’s missing is the royalties from this game specifically, she definitely wouldn’t have the funding otherwise.
Clearly, your choice in whether or not to purchase a video game is the deciding factor in determining whether or not you are supporting in human rights.
“…whether or not you are supporting in human rights.”
Oh, I thought you were headed to a hyberbolic statement, not just basic fact.
I’m sick of people patting themselves over the back over incredibly easy, worthless actions like “not buying a video game” and confusing it for actual activism. Worse still is when those same people are pointing fingers they’ve broken from patting themselves on the back at other people over buying a video game, as if that has any bearing on anything. It’s so inconceivable to them that someone could oppose their worthless self-aggrandizing, that they have to insist they must be the final line in the sand against all these monstrous bigots to justify how ridiculously they’re acting, and the opposition… Read more »
You’re right, a boycott is not activisim. It’s actually just the absence of counter-activism.
It’s still important and necessary, and in many cases literally the only legal, non-violent influence we have.
But I love how offended you’re getting over someone potentially over-inflating their self-worth. It really highlights your priorities.
If your “priorities” are to make meaningful change, boycotting a video game to keep money out of the hands of a near-billionaire is as impactful as damming a river with your hands. At best you can hurt the income of the devs or publishing company in some minor way, but it will do nothing to the author whatsoever. Well, perhaps the obvious weakness of the argument will entrench them further in their beliefs and flood the rest of the internet with clickbait and nonsense to the extent this comic was made over the phenomenon, if that outcome counts as “important”… Read more »
Ooh, every fallacious deflection in the book. Must have hit a nerve. Devs are paid by the hour or salary, regardless of a project’s commercial success. Hurting entities that work with JKR deters them from working with JKR. No, it isn’t much, but I’ll take that over participating in her success. Equating what I actually said to calling buyers “against basic human rights” is beyond hyperbole. So I can’t help wondering how you can be so enflamed by perceived “moral superiority” without a root of shame over making choices you know are selfish at the unjust expense of others. I… Read more »
That’s what is known in the rational world as an absolute lie.
She has expressed no such desire in regard to transgender folk..
Boy, you are walking and breathing NPC meme at this point.
You apparently only read the first part of his post, and only up to the introduction of the house elves in the HP series. JKR is a racist twunt, agreed, but the things that you are using for points were noted in the post/story you referenced.
Wow. Great job making a bait post. You hit all the highlights, while ignoring any shred of actual context or background for your sweeping statements. I feel like I have to start a slow clap for this.
*clap clap clap clap*
i stopped reading at “she wants the genocide of” because you are either a moron or a liar and anything you have to say doesn’t bear thinking about
I mean, it’s not boycotting a world – it’s boycotting an author. And you’re right, even Tolkein had some questionable opinions that would see him called out now – but he’s long dead. He doesn’t directly benefit from buying his work, and that money doesn’t go into spreading more hate.
Let’s also be fair, JKR is not waiting for the funding to come through from this game so she can afford to spread more hate. Net worth of around $1.1 billion.
See the problem isn’t that this is a video game made by a multitude of people. It’s the fact that J.K. has an iron grip on her IP and as such receives royalties from any product sold using it. Therefore, for every dollar that is spent on this game a portion of it will make its way to her, where she will inevitably use that money to support anti-Trans groups and policies. You can’t separate the art from the artist if the artist gets paid when you consume their art.
I am also not a fan of the antisemitic parts of the game vis a vis the entire subjugation of the goblin rebellion when from the start the goblins were based on a very offensive jewish stereotype… dunno if this is as bad as the anti-trans thing but it hurts me personally being a jew.
I think people have a point that she doesn’t need more of our money to do what she wants.
What they’re missing however, is how validating and encouraging that continued financial support is to her.
Kind of like the opposite of what she’s doing for trans people.
everyone who worked on the game has already been paid
but JK will get royalties for how well it sells
so people buying the game are not supporting the team that made it, they are supporting a hateful biggot and lining her pockets even more
I don’t care, I am buying and playing a game about wizards whatever lefties/righties like it or not. People on the internet have always made such claims abut your choice of games (like how everyone who played Kingdom Come Deliverance was a racist), the Harry Potter label does nothing but make it more mainstream and thus those comments more noticeable. In the end, it all actually just boils down to clickbait (people making ad money from you checking their youtube videos and crappy articles). It’s better to just ignore them, else you’re just helping them. Like how this comic will… Read more »
As for me I’m interested, but WB does not have enough trust from me to deliver great game …aka I wait at least after release to see how those who jump early see it (and depending of how it be, remove Wishlist, wait good discount or get asap)
JK Rowling is very much alive and very much using her wealth and power, including royalties from the sale of this game about subjugating the Jews (sorry, I mean goblins, but they’re absoutely Jews) to try and prevent all transgender people from existing.
If you don’t care, then in my eyes you’re simply a terrible excuse for a human being. Enjoy your mediocre wizard franchise I guess.
If when you see goblins you think of Jews, there’s definitely some racism involved, but it’s not coming from where you think it is.
Being able to recognise century-old racial stereotypes and parody isn’t racism.
But immediately thinking of [race X] when seeing [negative trait Y] is somewhat racist in itself. That’s pretty much the same association as immediately thinking of [negative trait Y] when seeing [race X].
It is racist to depict [race X] as [negative trait Y], but that doesn’t mean that every character with [negative character trait Y] has to be depicting [race X].
And it feels rather racist to pretend any [negative trait Y] can’t possibly exist outside of (representations of) [race X].
Except it’s not [negative trait Y], it’s [Stereotypes A, B, C, D, E, F] which have all been used by antisemites for several decades.
If it was one trait I could agree with you. But it’s not. It’s every single thing they are described as within the books and movies. Every single one.
well if you cant see the parrallel between jewish ppl and the goblins you’re fucking blind. this is literally the typical racial stereotypes about jews. But I guess you care as much about antisemitism than you care about transphobia.
well,it tells a lot about you if you instant see parallel between jews and goblins 🙂 (little hint, the is one antisemitist here, that is you)
I am literally a jew and i see the parallels that were intentionally put into the books between jews and goblins. Does that make me an antisemite?
Yes.
Are you saying that as a jew myself, i recognize the harmful jewish stereotype and parodies that were used the create the goblins, but that some how makes me racist against my own people?
Hey man. Just want to point out. Eragon was a reskinning os star wars. Harry Potter is a a reskin of ww2. Sh3 has never been okay with hurting minorities. She has never made any statements about teanspeople being harmed. The only thing she has done is stand for women.
Only if she gets to gatekeep what it means to be a woman. Which, no she does not. Excluding trans women does nothing to improve life for cis women and it actively harms everyone else.
as apposed to you and yours gatekeeping what it means? please enlighten me since you are so well informed what makes a person a woman?
They’re not the one claiming they have a concrete definition and trying to exclude people from it.
…. the goblins are subjugated by the wizards… the entire game is about keeping them as slaves… do you really not see how wrong what you just said is?
You appear to be fabricating nonsense.
Either that, or the sources you rely on are fabricating nonsense.
You missed the parts of the story where Harry, Ron and Hemione work to get Goblins their rights? Did you think Blazing Saddles was pro-racism?
When the fuck did that happen? All i remember was them trying to help house-elves who were an entirely different race than the goblins.
Go see a doctor, the ones who deal with mental issues.
I couldn’t agree more.
looks like to me SJWs just took this one as their next target and spewed BS to make it fail
I dream of a world where normal people will, en masse, tell anyone stepping out of line to STFU, because acceptance is starting to make us rot from the inside lol
acceptance is making us rot? wtf? And what bullshit exactly? Rowling is an hatefull moron. you can give her your money if you want, but freedom of speech allow also ppl to think it’s not a good thing.
It’s “hateful” to want to stand up for the rights of women?
Why do you hate freedom and puppies RblDiver?
No, but it is hateful if you decide to reject all of science in order to claim gender is somehow genetic and not mostly a performative behavior.
Any Bio 101 textbook will tell you sex and gender are different things.
TERF’s are anti-empiricist, they make up their own definition of gender that is not in line with scientific consensus, then they use it to declare some people degenerate.
Textbooks have changed, and this belief is from the author, not the community as a whole. Biology is not psychology or sociology.
I believe an appropriate term here is: bellyfeel or duckspeak.
Get the hint?
I’d like to point out that she’s “standing up for the rights of women” by allying anti-abortion advocates, because they’re also transphobes.
Just because you agree with someone on a particular issue doesn’t mean you ally with them, or that you agree with them on anything else.
It should be fairly obvious, but apparently you people lack any kind of nuance, and like to make a strawman of everything.
Because there is no nuance to be had here. She gives money and promotion to anti-abortion groups. The anti-abortion groups use the money and promotion (new members and even more money) to continue campaigning for women to not have the right to choose what they do with their own body. Therefore JK Rowling is anti-abortion, and helps to destroy women’s rights.
It should be fairly obvious, but apparently you people lack any kind of common sense.
“she gives money and promotion to anti abortion groups”. Now you are being nothing but a dishonest liar. No nuance here either, you are being so comically vile to the point of making me think you are probably just a troll, but sadly there are people who are really like that out there. If you really are for real, you are doing more damage than good to your side than good by going round the Internet posting such obvious lies. If you are a troll then it’s just sad. Either way, the one being a horrible human being is you,… Read more »
How so evil of her to prevent the murder of babies.
You know babies and fetuses arent the same thing, or do you stopped school at 10?
JKR loudly criticised Trump’s anti abortion stance.
Try reading facts, rather than whatever fiction it is where you find these claims.
What you say is just a lie.
From a tweet, May 6th, 2022:
“This thread is heartbreaking and terrifying. Stories like these are a huge part of the reason I believe women all over the world should have access to safe, legal abortion.”
JK Rowling doesn’t sound anti-abortion to me.
She’s not anti-abortion directly, but she gives a lot of money to anti-abortion groups specifically because they ALSO are anti-Trans. She can say she’s pro-abortion all she likes, but she actively harms the cause because she’s so blinded by her hate.
Put up or shut up. What anti-abortion groups are she supporting simply because she’s also “anti-trans?” Because I call bullshit.
It’s the all or nothing regressive knee jerk reaction. It’s a Pavlovian response. Fingers in ears and unwilling to debate or discuss.
Is it not possible for a human to have more than two aspects to their views? If so, it is possible she could both be anti-trans and pro-women (insofar as she construes the definition thereof). Humans are complex, but if Ted Bundy was all about protecting the striped marmot, would that still somehow wash away the fact he was a serial killer? (I’m not saying JKR is a serial killer, but my point is that it is possible for a person to have multiple facets and some could be quite horrific while others might be acceptable.) Your question seems to… Read more »
JK Rowling does not want to stand up for the rights of women.
And your only stake in “trans rights” is that they mutilate themselves, as long as we’re flinging wild accusations around.
She has been doing just that for many years.
Claiming otherwise only serves to highlight the untrustworthiness of any & all claims you make.
she does not tho. She stand against the rights of trans people, and do nothing about women. Keep your terf propaganda for ppl dumb enough to buy it.
Honestly, This may be a controversial take, but all of the people concerned that Harry Potter keeps giving Rowling a platform are the actual problem. I haven’t paid attention to that crazy lady in years, long before whatever started coming out. People reposting her stuff and going “see? see?” they’re the problem. She has no platform except the outrage she generates. Without the outrage, she’d fade into oblivion like most authors. We don’t know about George Lucas’s controversial politics, but Star Wars was as generation-defining as Harry Potter. People need to learn to live with that fact. Stop giving her… Read more »
Well she get money from games and movies, and she keeps being transphobic as fuck. Ppl saying facts arent the problem. She has 13.9millions followers on twitter where she spreads her bullshit, I wouldnt call that “no platform”. She has an influence on ppl, especially on young ppl. To bury his head in the sand wont help even a little.
Harry Potter may have been the source of that following initially, but it’s not what keeps her relevant. Sure, she has millions of followers. She’s not the first or last person who is transphobic to have a large following. She does get some money, that’s true, and a percentage of that will continue to go to anti-trans organizations quite likely (although mostly it goes to trans-exclusionary women’s shelters, so a mixed bag there). Her real platform comes from all of the people reacting. Most of those 13 million followers either haven’t been on Twitter in years (such as myself) or… Read more »
As far as I’m aware, she still owns the property and has a significant degree of control over it. It’s not just the ‘it gives her a platform’ thing that’s an issue in my opinion, it’s that she still controls it.
She has less control over it than you would think.
Typically authors manage to keep close control over original adaptations, but rarely have much over extended adaptations.
Also, Warner Brothers is trying to distance itself from her, so they’re not likely to give her more control than legally required.
She still gets royalties from Harry Potter-related products. No matter what, she benefits from the sales of Hogwarts Legacy, regardless of how much control she has or how much distance WB is keeping from her. And like it or not, buying the game in and of itself is a statement of how much you agree with her hateful views.
Yet the Harry Potter universe probably has one of the most active fan fiction fan bases there is, including lots of trans stuff I think. So in the end she has probably done more harm to her own causes than good.
Which is so karmically delicious.
She’s literally been quoted by politicians trying to get anti trans bills passed. Every time she speaks the media report what she says, mostly right wing media who love to parrot her anti trans views. Don’t tell me she doesn’t have a platform
I never claimed she doesn’t have a platform.
I simply said that her platform is no longer tied to Harry Potter.
Now her platform is the fact that people respond to her.
Very true. In fact, I’d say the outrage created by JK Rowling’s comments helps strengthen the opposition to her ideals. On the other hand, people being a jerk about JK Rowling being a jerk will empower JK Rowling too…
But JK Rowling stopped needing anyone’s money a long time ago.
Rowling has extremely little to do with this game. It’s not like the studio making it are espousing her beliefs.
Now, I will go and say that she’s an extremely abhorrent person that should just fade in obscurity instead of spewing her hate in the light of day.
Based on what exactly – the lies & fabrications about her, spewed all over the www by people who make death threats to her?
Bro she has said that trans people should be treated by the legal system as being guilty of sexual assault even if there is no evidence to support it. She’s unhinged.
The issue is that she has said that she views continued support of the franchise as support of her views. Playing and talking about this game gives her continuing relevance
If people weren’t so outraged by her rants, I wouldn’t have thought of her once in the past 10 years. That being said, you aren’t going to convince anyone by buying or not buying the game.
Over the years the Harry Potter series has been targeted by two moral panics, from opposing ends of the political spectrum.
Says something about the validity of the horseshoe theory.
I dunno, maybe there’s some difference between “Harry Potter supports witchcraft, a real thing which is evil” and “Harry Potter’s creator uses the popularity of the franchise to defend her anti-trans crusade”.
Nope, there isn’t.
Objectively, there is. You might argue it’s not a relevant difference, but this is definitely a difference. In fact I argue that this difference it enough to make this clearly not a case of horseshoe theory, which is mostly bullshit.
It’s not a relevant difference, because they are both strawmen, panics about imaginary issues that exist only in the mind of those thinking the books are about real witchcraft or that JKR is on some sort of crusade (your words) to eradicate trans people. Of course an extremist would claim the jorseshoe theory is bullshit, but, in the recent years, the far left taking the place that once belonged to fundamentalist Christians in all kinds of moral panics is validating it more and more. If you wish to know how the average person feels about these issues, just have a… Read more »
That’s not a very reliable barometer. I agree that both sides (or N sides since many aspects have more than two extremities) can be overboard and that’s part of the current climate. Everyone is mad and nobody is really interesting in sorting out what people actually think or to have a nuanced conversation. Now, there’s no moral obligation to do that, but most people have values and beliefs that derive from life experiences. And our focus on having major discussions in 140 character format (along with likes and dislikes) is not helpful to discussions and understanding. In my view, anyone… Read more »
“In my view, anyone who trots out SJW, Nazis, or any number of other epithets, they are immediately reducing complex humans to a tag and that immediately is an inherently flawed categorization.”
maybe we should just stop putting people in groups and categories.
people are complex, a hundred things that make up an individual. no one is just gay, or just black or just Asian or any other label you you want to put on them.
I’ve never seen anyone who proposes this as way to stop talking about these issues actually advocate for taking it to its logical conclusion. Whether someone is a Nazi is important information. Whether someone is at risk of being victimized by bigots is important information. Do you really want to live in a world where that is disregarded? Even if all right thinking people were capable of ignoring someone’s identity, their “labels,” it’s not like racists, homophobes, transphobes, etc. are going to act in kind. It’s not enough to call people complex. I even agree that people are complex! But… Read more »
So, when one group says “a fiction book is morally bad because it promotes satanism,” it is equivalent in your brain to “the author has a proven record of using the money they get from the franchise to spread hate towards and directly harass minorities.”
Regardless of how you feel, seems an awful lot like those are orders of magnitude different in scale. As in, they are different. And thus, their difference promotes different levels of justifiable concerns.
Well, one is based on bullshit and the other is based of facts, so yeah big difference.
I think the first controversy was “I always thought of Dumbledore as gay”.
I’ve seen the Right wanting people in drag removed from games to “protect the children” and I’ve seen the Left wanting people in drag removed from games because it’s an “offensive depiction of transgender people”.
So yeah, you’re absolutely right.
Also, you’ve gotta feel sorry for the drag queens who are being ostracized by both sides of the political spectrum. They just can’t catch a break.
I’m a far leftist and I 100% hate that motherf***ing TERF Rowling. But I dont give a fuck, I’ll play that game day one. If I find crappy content in it I totally will say it immediately. I just dont know if I’ll pay for it or not. But I will play it for sure.
Capitalism wins again 🙂
Capitalism, winning when people pirate games!
Yes, even if he pirates it (stealing money mostly from the likely underpaid working class developers, not from JKR who already got her royalty checks and is a billionaire anyway) he’s still engaging with the franchise and talking about it online, which keeps it relevant, generates buzz and drives more clicks and eyeballs to Harry Potter games/books/movies/whatever. Besides, we all know that in the majority of cases, far leftists (which he admitted he is) never back with actual money and purchases the franchises and IPs they claim to support, and the opposite is also true, their boycotts do little to… Read more »
you have 0 clue what “stealing” means, right? you dont steal any money by pirating. Because You dont take anything from someone. Exemple: if you steal 10€ from me, I would be 10€ poorer. If I pirate a game, no one is poorer. You REALLY need to educate yourself about basic facts (and also basic politic) I would also love to see your statistics about “far leftists”. I’m sure you know literally 0 of them. Maybe you want a screenshot of my steam account? Do you think every far leftist is poor? Lmao too much 4chan and 9gag brainwashed you… Read more »
weeeelll… while software piracy is not *exactly* stealing in a sense that it makes you 10Eur poorer, it still makes you poorer. Let’s imagine, you’ve spent a year creating some digital content – a game, for example. You’ve invested your money (for assets, additional dev help, marketing) and time. You expect it will sell and you estimate that you will get X Eur times Y copies, which should cover your expenses and your time (which you also invested, and you had to eat and pay mortgages and stuff during that period). Now, if someone pirates Z copies of your game,… Read more »
Piracy is theft.
If it wasn’t theft, it wouldn’t be named after the pillaging of boats, right?
…but seriously… yeah, it’s theft, stop trying to make yourself feel better about it.
“Piracy” isn’t theft. The name is designed to confuse and companies have incorrectly called it theft for decades. Theft requires an unlawful taking of goods, money, etc.
Software, music, images, and video are infinitely copyable. So you are never taking property from its owner. “Piracy” is copyright infringement and clearly classified as such under the law. Dowling v. United States is one of several cases where the United States Supreme Court clarified such things.
Companies have called “piracy” theft for decades to confuse people.
If you make doors and I steal your door. That is theft.
If you make doors and I make a copy of your door. That is copyright infringement. They are different things and the courts have clarified that many times.
It always has won, for a certain small percentage owning the enterprises.
And also for the majority of people living in capitalist coutries, who, whether they own enterprises or not, enjoy standards of living far superior than those you can/could find in places like the Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, etc etc etc.
But not for the 100slaves every ppl living in capitalist countries have, not for the african who are paying the price of our pollutions, etc. “hey look we have good lives thanks capitalism”, says the guy who ignore on purpose all the consequences he doesnt have to face. So cute. But also so typical. Ps: soviet union was typicall state capitalism, I dont think venezuela abolished private properties of the means of production, and after reading das kapital, I saw nothing about what’s happening in north korea.
I think I will stop answering to that dude, every single comment he post is full of lies and prejudices. The typical privilegied internet dude.
I forogt how playing a videogames was a victory for capitalism. Dont speak as if you know anything about how to fight against it kiddo.
It always does.
I don’t know how much J.K is involved in the making of the game, I think very little. Which is for the best.
What is extra fun I think, is that the developers have added many options in their character creation.
They have practically seem to have added options for Trans characters.
hehehe ironic.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/03/02/harry-potter-hogwarts-legacy-will-have-transgender-character-creation-options/
actually nowadays game designers or moviemakers think “how can we make this enjoyable” but “how can we not get canceled”
You sound like the dweebs who used to whine in the 2000s when devs added the option to play the game as a woman instead of a man.
Oh I’m a woman so I was all pro for that but that doesn’t mean I need to have the option in every game that comes out.
And also, not every game has to have a male option.
Just the woman as a protagonist. 😉
(looking at the last Assassin creed games, that have canon protagonist women, but they HAD to add a male for just the option… *eyeroll* Valhalla, sligltly explains it, but it didn’t even need it)
I love a good female baddie tho 😉
and “how can we not get canceled” is easy: dont be racist, transphobic, antisemitic, homophobic, sexist, etc. See? That’s easy AND that’s good.
“dont be racist, transphobic, antisemitic, homophobic, sexist”
This should be the norm but nowadays that appears to be quite hard. If you don’t include enough people of color, women in leading roles,LGBTQ, all sexual preferences and then toss in a moneygrabbing goblin with a hooked nose (like Blizzard did too) you will probably get accused of being all the things on your list.
The game lets you play as a transgender wizard. That’s a big middle finger to Rowling, and honestly I think is enough of a statement to make it worth buying the game in spite of whatever she’s doing.
That was pretty funny and I seem to recall someone saying the devs did that deliberately just to spite Rowling. No idea, if it’s actually true as the Internet is chock full of unsubstantiated claims, but it’d sure be nice, if it was.
More realistically, they did it to try and deflect the outrage that they knew was coming.
The fact it didn’t work proves how trying to appease that particular crowd is futile anyway.
Right, because it being present in a game makes it real. I assume you think a Wizard as presented in the game is real?
Man, 10 years ago I would’ve loved to play this game, but the Harry Potter franchise, controversy or not, has become so meh to me.
Im buying the game and no one can stop me.
Isn’t this the game where the primary antagonists are a race of hook-nosed, beady-eyed bankers who kidnap children? I can’t really imagine why some people would be bothered by it.
Oh i’m definitely buying if the game is good. I don’t give a rat’s behind about the whole non controversy that surrounds this title.
I don’t know if I like this strip, even if I get the meaning behind the message. There are people who aren’t going to want to buy the game for Reasons. Totally fair. There are people who are going to want to buy the game just because it makes them happy. Also totally fair. But it does feel like this strip is saying the people in the first category are wrong. They can be wrong for other reasons (like harassing the people in the second category), but I don’t think them not wanting to buy the game because of JKR… Read more »
To me it feels like the strip is saying that people buying or not buying the game are not the problem: people judging are the problem.
Whats the pitchfork mob upset about now? Did they remember JKR exists again? I remember them screaming about her being a TERF a while back, is it that again? More of the more extreme wacky side of the left eating their own again while trying to get attention.
Personally I’m not boycotting but also not planning on buying the game. Barely aware of its existence, what I’ve seen didn’t really interest me, and my backlog is far to long for my limited game time as it is.
Yeah, its the same stuff as always. Basically anything that gives her money is bad and must be boycotted, which is everything Harry Potter related since she will be getting royalties from it until the end of time.
Meh, I wasn’t going to buy it because I wasn’t interested in a Harry Potter video game. Politics has nothing to do with it for me.
Nice analogy Tim, but I feel like these issues are more like an expanding minefield than a boobytrap. Eventually anything you say will end in one side demonizing you. Even staying silent will get you the same treatment when one sides needs a scapegoat. Just like any crusade, eventually people will use their cause to justify any action they take (this in before people bomb this comment about why their cause is most just).
I am one of those seemingly rather few people who have always separated creators from their creations, like e.g. I typically feel no qualms about watching a movie or a TV-show, even if the story came from some horrible jackass or an actor/actress did something bad. The same goes for paintings, statues and so on. I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing per se and I am very definitely not telling anyone else to adopt or not adopt my style of thinking, but I just can’t bring myself to equate a creation with the creator. There… Read more »
I have had the same thought, but… … if the individual is still making money from sales of the product, and they are odious enough to my values, I’ll not buy it and I may even suggest to others why I’m not (in case they don’t know what I do). They can make up their own choice, but they might benefit from being informed or at least notified that maybe there is a thing or two they ought to consider looking at before proceeding. I have no trouble appreciating some great music, but I have no trouble saying I won’t… Read more »
Eh, even if someone did make money out of my purchases/subscribes, it’s so little that it just simply doesn’t matter. It’s a drop in the ocean and they literally would not notice the difference. If they cannot tell the difference, who are you really harming with your choices: them, or yourself?
Disclaimer: don’t take this as me trying to preach to you. I’m not. I just wanna draw some attention to the fact that there just isn’t one, single correct choice in these kinds of matters.
I don’t get it. What is this about? Can someone explain please?
Okay, so JK Rowling, the creator of HP, spends a LOT of time and money campaigning against transgender rights. When called on this, she tends to mock the idea of trans people in general, and has sent her fans after individuals online (recent examples that come to mind include Graham Norton and Jessie Gender). This upset a lot of LGBT people, understandably, as HP was a major influence on many people growing up. A book about a kid who is forced to hide who is he and shamed by society getting to go to a magical world where he can… Read more »
Okay, so JK Rowling, the creator of HP, is a women’s rights activist. Some people don’t like her for this, and send her death threats etc. A demand that everyone boycott the latest Harry Potter game is just the latest part of this campaign of hate against her.
Would you feel differently if the racist caricatures were WB cartoon African Americans as opposed to goblin Jews? Or if JKR goose stepped in a Gestapo uniform with a swastika armband as opposed to only openly hating transgender people?
I feel like if the groups were changed, your opinion of the game would too.
Let me start by saying I am a Transwoman, a gamer, a potter fan. I love JK Rowling and have never been offended by her views and find all the faux rage to be irritating.
The “You must agree with our views or you are evil” crap, from anyone, is demented thinking. People need to grow up.
Hey there. I am cis myself, so pls take everything with a pint of salt, since I am not in your actual shoes or anything. Hasn’t JK actually said very harmful things? Most of the trans creators online, and I am talking of the polite and civilized ones (like ContraPoints), have made threads and videos about all the problematic things she has said and why her speech is hateful towards the community. I don’t believe she is evil. She has done many things of goodness in the past, things I don’t find to just have been an act. But I… Read more »
No, actually she hasn’t. She’s said things that go against their world view, and instead of having honest conversations about it, the cancel culture and “this is hateful” label is thrown around. Just another form of the Race Card to end debate and demonize people that don’t share ones world view.
PS You claim she’s said problematic things, but… examples?
I mean… just her Manifesto was quoted as being “misinformation, fear mongering, misgendering, othering, ignorance, far right language/dog whistles, and pure hate.” from Trans civil activists.
Personally, I am constanly seeing in her talk the same exact bullet points bigots have used against gay people, but she uses them herself against Trans. (But what about the children!!!!)
Can’t you quote the parts of her manifesto that you disagree with yourself? Why do you have to quote what other people think about it?
You don’t find it offensive that she says you’re trans only so you get to perv on women in public restrooms and maybe even sexually assault them? I, at least, would find it offensive, if someone was saying such things of me, but maybe that’s just me.
People are allowed to have different views, and the bathroom thing, I get that being concerned about overly permissive “gender fluid” rules can lead to abuse that could allow bad actors to do bad things. I don’t agree with her take, but I can understand the concern, even if I don’t share it per say.
She’s said no such thing.
“You don’t find it offensive that she says some people are trans only so you get to perv on women in public restrooms and maybe even sexually assault them?”
There, fixed that for you.
I’m no big fan of JK, but at least get what she’s said right.
There was a time, when I hoped that some day video games (especially RPGs) would become mainstream, as in, just another entertainment venue. Since back then, playing them would get you ridiculed quite a bit.
When they became more mainstream, roughly (very roughly!) 20 years ago, I was glad.
Nowadays I wish video games would never have become mainstream at all, because then at least we would be spared such public BS discussions and screaming of people at each other over video games.
Old quarrels like Duke Nukem vs. Doom Guy seem so quaint in comparison now …
So, according to the internet, if you read Mein Kampf your a Nazi or if you read Karl Marx your a communist.I have a feeling that playing this game will not change your woke status one iota. So play it if you want and leave the politics to the Fox and CNN crowd. I for one do not care what anyone thinks about my playing habits.
if the people going “thats communist!” actually knew what communism was they would be shocked how much things they want are actually communist and things they hate arent. no country in history has practiced true communism and human greed wont let it come to be either.
Tangentially related, I often see Muricans loudly claiming that e.g. Finland, where I come from, is a socialist country. It’s not, not even close, but people clearly have no idea what communism or socialism actually is and just jump to conclusions based one, single random thing, like e.g. how we have very respectable public healthcare — doesn’t make us socialist, but it’s not like arguing about it is going convince any of these people.
Most Americans have no idea what Finland is like, or pretty much any other country. They think it is pretty much the same as Sweden and Denmark, both of which have heavy socialist leanings in the past, but Denmark at least backed away from it when they lost a generation of workers to the apathy it created. Not so sure about Sweden though. But yeah, I admire Finland for their tough stand against Russian aggression. Keep up the good fight.
Not sure why you are getting downvoted for this. This is an absolutely true comment. True communism would be a paradise, but human psychology could never allow it. True communism, where everybody gets what they need and strives at what they do best is unobtainable. Greed, laziness, apathy, etc. just does not work in such a society, and humans are just full of those things. Oh and let’s not forget corruption. Without incorruptible leaders true communism will never succeed, and there are no such leaders in the world.
ya the idea of a society where all you have to do is play your part and you get whatever you want is a great idea, but theres gonna be someone who wants to be the “ruler” and fucks it all up.
That is the problem: For true communism, everyone would do what is best for the group. There would be a total consensus on the best thing for the group. The problem is “there’s nowt so queer as folk” or if there are two people, they will have 3 opinions.
Probably down voted because the argument of “real com/soc has never been tried” is the typical automatic responce from people trying to push for the use of them in place of what we have. *This* argument by Pulse however, actually considers that they really only work in theory *because* humans are corruptible, and thus those systems inevitably (and often, quickly) turn bad. Greed is the downfall all forms of economy. Some forms just take longer to start falling apart.
If you read both, does that make you a Commie Nazi?
(Who, amusingly, were once one of McBain’s enemies on the Simpsons)
I don’t care about Rowling statements regarding this game as she has zero involment except creating the universe back in 1997. Do i like the Potterverse, yes i do, and all that matter in this regard. So by all means, enjoy the game and universe, and dont forget, some of the biggest brands also had ties to the nazi party back in the 30’s and 40’s. Yet we buy Porche, Audi, Opel, Mercedes, VW, Hugo Boss, BMW, Fanta and so on.
The inability to seperate artist from their work astounds me greatly.
The controversy here, is that, arguably, the artist is not one who anyone should be funding.
I don’t think anyone is saying that Harry Potter (the universe/franchise/the game) is transphobic or problematic. The issue is, that you can’t buy it without directly financially supporting a horrible person.
Transphobic or not, the books and all material spawned from in has never reflected JR Rowlings politics. If it had, its massive influence during many a childhoods would have been greatly influenced.
What your fighting is a demon that isnt only one persons veiws. Youre aiming a sword at a book when you should be facing the problem with your votes.
No, what I’m saying is “don’t put money in the pockets of bad people”. And, buying what might be a good game, will do just that. And finally, that the bad of putting money into the pockets of bad people far outweighs the positive that playing a good game might be. I’m not saying the game is inherently bad, or problematic. I’m saying, you shouldn’t buy it, because as a direct consequence of buying it, you’ll be supporting someone who IS inherently bad or problematic. It’s the same reason you shouldn’t be buying meat from endangered animals. Sure, THAT animal… Read more »
See, here’s the problem, if she has those ideas, they are hers and hers alone. No there’s no transgender characters in any of the movies, because they aren’t that common. In my 63 years of life I’ve met one, just one. I’m sure in major cities there are many more but is the movies or books locations in major cities? No. Everyone has a right to their own beliefs and ideas. If they share them openly yes they are willing to accept the results of that act. That doesn’t make them evil, just keeping their own opinions. Sharing and FORCING… Read more »
And that is a thing she is doing, and spending her money on. Which is why we should not buy any Harry Potter product, as that will give her more money to spend on being evil.
I agree with you.
I don’t know what you’re agreeing with me on, you missed the point I’m making completely, the books aren’t real, the games aren’t real, basing your opinions on what someone else is saying IS wrong, just wrong.
Take the time and using an open mind to do your own research, don’t jump on someone else’s tirade bandwagon. Decide based on facts not half truths that some triggered SJW is screaming, because for all you know it’s just to get attention and build an SJW army against the color pink! Just sayin’
Simple solution for anyone wanting to buy the game, but not support JKR
Buy second hand.
That way you can enjoy the work, but not directly support whoever is profiting.
As for the thousands of people who worked on it, it’s not like they are benefiting from every sale generated.
And if the game doesn’t make enough profit (like that’s going to happen), there will be another game in the works that they can work on.
?
I’m confused. Do second-hand games still exist? With everything going all digital, I just assumed that market was shriveling up. Isn’t that why Gamestop is having trouble?
I don’t care either way. I am looking forward to the game. There was quite the swirl about Avatar 2 as well. Guess who won out?
Either way – you’re guilty.
It’s really not that complicated. If you’re ok giving money to a TERF who is causing literal death in minority groups, then feel free to buy it.
Rarely do we find a “tolerant” group to be so intolerant as these.
I refuse to buy it in protest of the fact that I’m a broke-ass adult who works all the time and thus doesn’t have time to play it.
(I’m sure it will show up in a few years on a bundle deal or something so I can add it to the thousands of Steam games I own but also don’t play in protest of my lack of free time)
Honestly, the garbage that is this whole “controversy” is all coming from J.K. Rowling saying that women are women. Even IF that were the huge deal that the very vocal minority say it is there is a even bigger point here. SHE DID NOT MAKE THE GAME!!!!
Sure, its built in the universe she started but this is like saying that if you didn’t like George Lucas you couldn’t like Disney Star Wars which he isn’t having a real hand in until later this year. So its a whole lot of nothin’.
..Yeah, no. That’s not even close to the litany of what she has said. She wrote an essay essentially painting trans women as being rapists (classic tactic), has repeatedly portrayed trans people with hateful stereotyping in her more recent work and has said that trans people should be considered guilty until proven innocent in court which is some serious fascist shit.
Judged by who? You had to spend two days researching the topic – is not it an indication that hysteria is a usual “event” started by a small vocal twitter mob for themselves? Why even care about them? The game looks very promising – this is all to know about it.
personally in this instance, i feel that its a moot point. when you consider how much is made in china, or how much money from food waste gets thrown away. if someone wants to “support” someone/something/cause/ whatever, they WILL. regardless of who says what about it. same for (if not especially for) gamers, if they wanna play a game, REALLY play it. they will. politics aside from the artwork that all the producers and development team put into it. just my opinion, feel free to agree or not, thats kinda how those things work.
It’s pretty sad how many MAGAts are here arguing about how it’s stupid to boycott his game over the views of the author. Meanwhile, how many times have they launched failed boycott “get woke go broke” campaigns over companies, creators, authors, etc saying something they deem “leftist” like “don’t sexually harass women” or “don’t be racist” Hypocrites, as usual. It’s always stupid to boycott something over the author, until it’s an author challenging their own views, then boycotts are fine. If JK Rowling changed her mind and said “trans rights” tomorrow, y’all would be screaming “GET WOKE GO BROKE” louder… Read more »
Because absolutely everybody that doesn’t agree with absolutely all of the same left talking points us automatically “maga”. O_o How many times has “GWGB” happened? Nearly every time. Comics in general are failing because of forced ideologies. Movie franchises are failing because of forced ideologies. Sure, they still make *some* profit, but they’ve been getting substantially less than previous years. And “don’t be racist”/”don’t harass women” aren’t what people on the other side get upset at. Those aren’t solely talking points if the left. They’re common sense! But it’s funny you bring this up and call the other side the… Read more »
I am old enough to remember when the Moral Right were trying to ban D&D, and when you’d listen to some priest or member of some parent’s group try and denounce it you could tell that they knew absolutely nothing about the game. They feared it out of assumptions they were just making. It is a game, and just like a tool neither “good” nor “evil”, but it allowed you to make your own choices on how to act in the game, and that is what the “Moral Right” fears the most – Freedom of thought.
Funny thing, now it the Moral Left attacking D&D
I’m going with my honest opinion of “If you have any particular problem with it, take it up with JK Rowling. Nobody minded her being a woman’s rights activist, it was when she double and tripled down on punching down at issues she didn’t have any personal interest about, exposure to or investment in that it got ugly” My spicier take is “She was always pandered to whatever she thought would bring her the most attention and money, I still haven’t forgotten the ‘Dumbledore is Actually Gay’ thing that she’s had decades now to realize and it’s just..apparently not something… Read more »
But is the game good?
Is the game good? That should be the question.
You want to argue about politics? Maybe shut up or I bring the hard science in.
I get wanting to boycott certain people’s stuff if you really disagree with what they do/did or say/said. But this “everything this person has even a remote connection to immediately puts you into one of two political leanings” bullshit needs to stop. I can dislike someone, but still like a movie they just happen to appear in. I can hate someone’s woke/anti-woke statements and still like a video game that just happens to be based on a universe that person made. Not everything has to be entirely black or white. In fact, VERY few things in life actually are. But… Read more »
Hiring Troy Leavitt (google him) as the lead developer did not help. Neither did the fact that WB decided to make the goblins even more of an antisemitic euphimism than they were before. Neither does the fact that JK Rowling likes to keep stirring the pot and dragging her fans into a fight they don’t want.
I judge no one for buying Hogwarts Legacy.
But there’s so little time and so many amazing games out there that aren’t affiliated with a celebrity bigot using her status to spread hate speech.
As much as I love Harry Potter, I’d rather play those games instead.
It’s tricky, because the more people buy products like this, the more money is funnelled to Rowling and the longer she continues to have a platform. So she can do things with her money like open a sexual assault center that explicitly denies service to transwomen victims. Which is the difference between her and say, Dahl or Lovecraft, because they’re long dead and not spending their money on hostile activism. They’re no longer profiting from their fame. Sales of this won’t go to her. The license had been purchased before. Not buying it is only hurting the studio and the… Read more »
The developers have been paid already, regardless of how much this game sells. The sales of the game will benefit the publisher, and royalties will definitely be sent to JK herself. Where are you getting the nonsense about her not benefitting?
I’m a fan of the content, regardless of politics. I’ve not preordered but plan to have this game at launch and will sink all the hours into it! Now you’ll excuse me while I sit at home playing a videogame about wizards, dragons, griffins, a whole menagerie of mystical things. There’s plenty out there that can be butthurt in my stead.
Its just a game. play it if you want to. If you buy into the boycotting of a thing because of some hateful thing someone said how far down that rabbit hole are you going to go? The author, the designer, the programmers, the distributor ( also every one who works at any and all of these companies)? where’s the point were you actually draw the line? if some low level flunkies at the distribution company believe the same thing JKR does dont you have to boycott every other game or whatever they are involved in as well? if you… Read more »
I learned a long time ago that if I was going to be able to enjoy just about anything, I was going to have to separate the art from the artist.
Artists will occasionally do stupid stuff. They will occasionally have beliefs or opinions you don’t agree with. They are, after all, human.
If the art is in contrast to your values, then by all means, don’t consume it. But if it supports it, or is relatively neutral, then go nuts.
they don’t even have to still be alive to to get this treatment.
they have been trying to ban Tom Sawyer for decades even though Samuel Clemens has been head for 100 years.
Standing up for something will get you judged. Standing against something will get you judged. Claiming “both sides” or “I don’t care” will get you judged. Judging other people according to the values we hold dear to ourselves is kind of an intrinsic part of human nature and society, for good or ill. We do it every day, for our jobs, for choosing our friends, for deciding what to buy. I know which part of this particular divide I stand on, and I’m going to act accordingly. Others can do the same. That might get you judged. Gotta live with… Read more »
I’ve never even heard of this game. Is it at least good?
It’s still more than a month from release, so the worst-case scenario is it’s in the same launch condition as Cyberpunk 2077 or No Man’s Sky.
I get where you are coming from. I’m not 100% on either side of this. Writing about how I get where either side is coming from is hard because in doing so, I will seemingly offend the other. It shouldn’t be this way. So I will offer “nothing of value” to this conversation. The land mines set by both sides are just too dangerous for me to try.