re: D:BH

artsyneurotic:

callmearcturus:

I am a big genuine believer that you should be able to consume media without people fucking guilting you over how it makes you a bad person. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism, we all should endeavor to survive best we can, etc etc. I deeply, genuinely believe that.

So I am not going to say “if you bought Detroit: Become Human you’re a Bad Person.”

But I do want to make sure people are fully aware of the controversy around Quantic Dream and Cage. And I don’t mean old stuff like the Ellen page nude model thing or his shitty portrayal of women or whatever.

I mean that just a few months before D:BH was released, three French outlets of apparently some renown and respect, joint-published reports about the studio behind D:BC, alleging that QD was an extremely hostile work environment.

Quoting Kotaku: “According to Le Monde’s report, by way of Eurogamer, five former employees filed a complaint in spring of 2017 against the company and one of its employees for circulating degrading images. In February of 2017, a trove of 600 photoshops of various employees that were homophobic or sexist in nature, and some which even included Nazi symbols, was discovered by an IT manager who had been the subject of one of them. These files dated back to 2013 with some even displayed in the open spaces, although studio heads David Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumière claimed they weren’t aware of the offensive ones.”

and

“Two people told the paper that once, after reviewing surveillance footage of a burglary at the company, Cage asked an employee of Tunisian descent if one of the perpetrators in the video was their cousin.”

Which is uh. Pretty bad. There’s also report of the Usual Shit at QD, crunch culture and sexual misonduct, etc.

Now, the correct and decent response to these kinds of reports is to express disgust at the idea your studio could do such a thing, and to humbly request time to launch a full investigation into this serious matter.

BOY THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED.

“QD categorically denies the allegations. As for myself, I’m furious and outraged by these accusations, which I take very seriously. And I will take all possible legal actions to defend my honor.” – co-CEO of QD, Guillaume de Fondaumière, mere HOURS after the reports were published.

aaaand

“You want to talk about homophobia? I work with Ellen Page, who fights for LGBT rights. You want to talk about racism? I work with Jesse Williams, who fights for civil rights in the USA… Judge me by my work.”  – David Cage, shoving his entire fucking foot down his esophagus.

OH AND CHERRY ON TOP. During the press tour for D:BH obviously Sony was trying to keep Cage on the tiiiightest fucking leash they could to curtail any more shit hitting the fan a mere month before game launch.

And yet Cage shook free juuuust long enough to inform us that they are suing the journalists who made these reports.

This, to me, is impetus enough to never give QD another dime. But for people who really want to play D:BH, that is fine. We all consume media that has massive fucking issues. My purpose here is to just ensure everyone is aware of the full situation.

Also if you want some good good discussion of Cage, QD, the allegations, and their context with Cage’s history, I highly suggest checking out this episode of Waypoint Radio.

Yeah, all this ^^^^  
Despite enjoying many portions of D:BH, I sort of feel like this game succeeded in spite of him.  From what I’ve gathered from Bryan Dechart’s stream convos, a lot of the really good stuff from the Connor scenario, often involving Hank, is more due to the two actors’ chemistry and quality of performance, and that they ad-libbed a bunch of the stuff people liked most about them.  I definitely had some issues with the other two main characters’ scenarios, and most likely it’s because Cage’s shit is the most heavy-handed there (also including the eyeroll-inducing lesbian porn bot bit from Connor’s story because that is so ridiculously David Cage).

But it IS frustrating being on some sites like tumblr, where people expect you to throw the baby out with the bathwater… it’s a pretty immature viewpoint.  Like OP says, it’s totally normal to be able to feel more than just one way about something. You can enjoy some of the game and still understand that other shit about it is problematic.  But yeah, it’s critical to have all the information at hand, so the stuff above from OP is important to know about.