Current Events > Few thoughts on Alec Holowka

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The main topic descended into shit pretty quickly, and to be honest I also went a bit feral. There was no room to talk about this as a wider topic, just "Zoe Quinn is implicit in his suicide!" versus "Zoe Quinn had every right to speak about her experiences!", with the latter always getting twisted back towards the former. At least that's how I saw it - I was hungover and sick yesterday, and I could barely stomach the horseshit that was going on.

So I wanted to make my own comment on this situation, free of that sort of thing.

First of all - I played Night in the Woods this past June and July. I really enjoyed it, and I would call it one-of-a-kind for its atmosphere, its well-polished and varied gameplay, and for the autumny mood it portrays. I liked Life is Strange for its mood, but I think Night in the Woods is a better game overall.

A large part of this project was Alec Holowka. I heard that the development project he was a part of was planning to create more Night in the Woods content, and I was hype as fuck. I looked up his Twitter in late July, a month before he died. So the initial news was a huge shock. I had only just gotten on board the Night in the Woods train - and one of the people behind it is dead a month later.

I didn't know about any of the drama until an hour or two after I learned about his death. And I knew it was going to get shitty as soon as I read that Zoe Quinn was involved.

So, what do I think about Zoe Quinn?

I think she had every right to speak about what happened. You've got all of these people yelling about her lying, about her intentionally driving him to suicide because she's just an evil bitch like that, and I don't think she intended for anything this bad to happen. I think she wanted to discuss a fucked up relationship she had with a person, without intending for something awful like this to happen. But this entire situation feels like it's dedicated to implicating a known controversial figure in an awful tragedy as an excuse to yell about her again. If she'd just kept her mouth shut, Alec Holowka would surely still be alive - so say the critics.

I don't think Zoe Quinn intended for any of this to end in suicide, and I don't think she was wrong to talk about an abusive situation she was caught in. And I hate having to say this, because ultimately I want to talk about Alec Holowka. His death instantly became a platform for people to go after Zoe Quinn again, and while she's involved in this, I feel like there are people rushing to stumble over the body of a dead man to have another go at a name they've grown to hate over the years.

I feel like Alec had a lot of input into how Night in the Woods was created and presented. The music, some scenarios present in the game, the characters and mood - I'm not going to say that he was some director or overseer of the game who touched every aspect of the thing, but I can't help but think that a big part of Night in the Woods' charm comes from Alex. The people at Infinite Fall made something super special and at the core of it was Alec and his sister.

And these abuse allegations taint that legacy. It's an absolute fucking shame, because I love Night in the Woods. I love Mae, Bea and Selmers. I love Angus. I love the music, and the minigames. I love the story, even if it has a bit of a weak final act. Knowing that the person who made this story, who contributed heavily to a game with a heavy subplot of abuse, had shades of abusive entitlement - it's a real fucking bummer. But I'm extremely bummed out over his death. That he saw no way to make amends in this scenario, that suicide was his go-to option here - it's sad and I hate it.
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But even saying that, I don't think Zoe Quinn posted with malicious intent and I think she had every right to speak out about a negative relationship she was in. It's a bad precedent to tell women not to discuss instances of abuse, to chase them down and say that they're directly responsible for their abuser's death. I don't think it's reasonable to assume that she was aware of his current mental situation before she said what she said. Some people are phrasing it as murder, like she smelt blood in the water and decided to capitalise on something. I think it's poor timing. And I'm not a fan of people going out of their way to reignite this witch hunt because bad gamer woman make man die.

I'm keeping the allegations in mind, but ultimately I'm mourning the loss of something special. Night in the Woods, regardless of the talent behind it, is a phenomenal game - and I'd recommend anyone discussing Alec Holowka's death to buy a copy and pay it for yourself. A part of that world died with Alec.

Don't necessarily forgive or forget the transgressions attached to his name, but if anything he made can help you do something more constructive with your life, then that's at least something.
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I learned that Alec didn't have a whole lot to do with the story - he did compose, and his coding is a big reason why the game works at all. He was also a co-designer. But the NITW IP belongs to someone else at Infinite Fall, and he and his wife wrote the story.

But they did have to cancel the epilogue game due to this.
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I'll bring this up one more time, then let it rest.
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"she's a murderer and a whore and I don't know which is worse!"
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I can't stand her but....

blaming someone for a suicide?

DespondentDeity posted...

"she's a murderer and a whore and I don't know which is worse!"

lol
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