Your JoeDog hasn’t weighed in on Gamergate largely because he’s not a gamer. Unfortunately, it’s become too big to ignore. If you write about technology you’re almost required to have an opinion. So here’s an opinion: some guys are a bag of dicks.

Whoa, hold on.  First of all, what is Gamergate?

As far as I can tell, it began with an accusation. Well, first it began with a game, then an accusation.

Zoe Quinn released Depression Quest, an unusual game that caused a stir in the community. It’s a saga in which you follow the tribulations of a person going through depression. What makes it particularly unusual is this: nobody goes postal with an AR-15. Some liked it while others thought it wasn’t a game at all. To them it was some sort of interactive story. So Gamergate began as an esoteric argument about the nature of gaming. It might have stayed that way if not for that accusation.

In August Zoe Quinn’s boyfriend posted a lengthy indictment in which he claimed she cheated on him with several guys inside the gaming industry. She did this, Angry Ex-boyfriend said, in order to get ahead in the industry. He named a writer from Kotaku, which is part of the Gawker network. What makes this writer especially loathsome to Angry Ex-boyfriend is a penchant for red pants. (Full disclosure: Your JoeDog has a pair of red pants). Well if Zoe slept with Red Pants to get ahead,  then she failed in that regard. It doesn’t appear that Depression Quest was ever mentioned on that site.

It didn’t matter. After the charge was made, social media lit up in a shit storm. Under the guise of a debate on journalistic ethics, things turned nasty. Quinn’s personal information was published online. So were nude photos. She became the target of personal attacks. But it didn’t stop there. The war expanded and more women inside the industry were threatened. The FBI is taking the matter seriously. Gamergate became another front in the Culture War.

On one side we have traditional gamers who love blowing shit up while getting virtually blown. On the other we have newcomers who like the challenge of gaming but don’t care for the industry’s violence and misogynism. Breitbart added its voice in the beginning of September. Feminists, in their eyes, were wrecking the gaming industry. The nature of gaming had morphed into rightards vs. libtards on another front.

Your JoeDog is basically sick of this shit. Disagreements are one thing but threats are another. We can no longer face challenges because half the world is convinced the other half is evil. The women who’ve become the focus of gamer scorn have been forced into hiding due to personal threats. That’s not dialog, that’s terrorism. And if that’s your preferred tactic, then you’re pretty much a bag of dicks.