Board 8 > Hogwarts Legacy: Wired 1/10

(+) Yeah! (+)

Doesn't this belong in the review zone topic?

EDIT: jeez, that topic's almost at 500, never mind. Guess we do need a second.

The story, besides being rooted in anti-Semitism (a global cabal is trying to end slavery but that's bad because the slaves like being slaves)

Sorry what

Just read the last topic. We went over it

It's just a general trend I've noticed on how people would rather fight culture wars than protest actual legislation. And I wish people would start putting at least equal effort into both.

folks won't not play a video game for us, think they're gonna somehow affect laws? in our favor?

Anecdotal but I care a lot more about trans people having rights than I do people playing a silly wizard game.

The people you most need to convince about changing laws to protect trans people are like 80 years old and don't play video games. You don't need to sell this boycott to them.

A lot of people in their teens, 20s, and 30s already think the laws should protect trans people. This game is getting attention because trans people are seeing their friends and family (and content creators) that they thought were supportive directly give money to The Big TERF.

Yes the former is obviously more important (and effective) but that sorta misses why the latter has blown up.

Anecdotal but I care a lot more about trans people having rights than I do people playing a silly wizard game.

Why it would have been a cool idea to do fundraisers tbh

• If you are already buying the video game, the ask is for you to abstain from your purchase you were looking forward to because JK Rowling will make a couple bucks from it.
• If you weren't already buying the video game because you didn't like Harry Potter the ask is to do absolutely nothing.

I think the issue here is that a generation has grown pretty numb to supporting bad people who profit from their purchase decisions. Because it feels like a lot of those choices happen lately.

I think the mistake here is the litmus test was sprung on people who have grown very used to ignoring that willfully because reality is painful.

Absolutely. Though I think there's much, much less numbness regarding media that profits bad people vs. food or technology or clothing that profits bad people. I'm not sure if that's fair but it makes sense, since the latter are practically necessary and fewer good alternatives exist. Like, lots of people intuitively understand the litmus test that exists with media strongly associated with Donald Trump or Ben Shapiro or whoever, but still seem baffled that JKR gets put in the same category even though she's exactly the same kind of person.

Protesting laws absolutely has better success than protesting a video game.

Some streamers were trying to do it by donating their Hogwarts Legacy to pro-trans organizations.

Anecdotal but I care a lot more about trans people having rights than I do people playing a silly wizard game.

Ain't seen much of either be successful so far. I would like your and Chris' optimism but it was gone many laws ago. It's hard enough to effect change even when people are on the same page, much less when half the country's against it and a further 40% care at a lip service level at most. Y'all are seeing us pick a weird hill to die on and I'm seeing us as already dead. Y'all are seeing a weird purity test and I'm seeing "please at least just try not actively hurting us" which is met with a lot of crying and backlash

why do you have to stream HL to do that, though? Like I'm aware this is a bit of a hot take but I think I might rather somebody not bother, feels kinda just like we re-invented indulgences (and are also leaving the Jewish side of things out in the cold). And there are a bunch of (mostly non-HP) trans fundraisers out there actually, lot of trans vtubers have been running them.

sadly these are related concepts and the silly wizard game will do more to hurt than most of us can do to help

Anecdotal but I care a lot more about trans people having rights than I do people playing a silly wizard game.

why do you have to stream HL to do that, though? Like I'm aware this is a bit of a hot take but I think I might rather somebody not bother, feels kinda just like we re-invented indulgences (and are also leaving the Jewish side of things out in the cold). And there are a bunch of (mostly non-HP) trans fundraisers out there actually, lot of trans vtubers have been running them.

It'd be a big middle finger to Rowling. "Hey look, your IP is earning money to help trans people. Your fans don't agree with you."

she seems pretty broken up about it

alrighty but then I don't understand why you're presenting "it'd be a big middle finger" as a selling point

alrighty but then I don't understand why you're presenting "it'd be a big middle finger" as a selling point

I personally still think she's gonna cry herself to the bank over it but I don't mind letting you have that point

Anecdotal but I don't know how anyone can spend money on silly video games when they could be helping starving children

Im actually curious if the series still has a transgender presence, its probably way less than it has been in the past obviously but it wouldnt surprise me if there were still some existence of it

one of the largest media franchises' first hit video game

Then again, IDK with English people. Is the middle finger even a thing there? I've been and I can't remember.

I think when things were a bit milder there was still some "I'm gonna make harry a TRANS GIRL in MY fanfic take THAT" kinda energy but I think even those types have pretty much all thrown in the towel by now

actually, hold up, I feel like this raises an interesting question, and I feel like people here will be better qualified and less biased than me to answer it. Why is this the first hit? I know it had a lot of duds but I remember at least Quidditch World Cup being fairly well received, and I think there was a Lego and everybody loves those, and those were significantly closer to the peak of the property than we are now. Pottermore got a lot of hype behind it and seemed to be a giant airball. I'll admit to a biased outsider perspective but this one....doesn't seem any better than those? Heck I'm not even sure I can chalk it up to transphobia, Fantastic Beasts seems to have belly flopped under the backlash.

it's honestly adorable to watch cis folks engage with trans issues when they clearly never have bothered before because they're so painfully lacking in knowledge and experience that they can't even notice what's happened

pointing out laws without even the slightest hint of catching the irony that nobody's ever given a damn about any of that until it hit your licensed nostalgia game and now conversations are for once actually reaching people

If you want to point ahead to the dumb spiteful types go ahead but they have never once given a shit about us in the first place, and meanwhile I've been seeing plenty of honest care and learning from folks who've been entirely ignorant until now. That's whether they ultimately play the game themselves or not but y'all can't even notice because you can't take your eyes off yourselves and your own desires. The Rowling conversation used to be that she doesn't really hate trans people but now that facade is gone, the conversation has now become about entirely disassociating and making up for her even so much as inserting a trans character in the game because it's now entirely accepted what kind of person she is. Even while you try to look down at us you can't see your very own actions attempting to appease with new ideas that you never bothered with before.

Yeah there's a bunch of assholes - but it's so very clear that you've never had to engage in trans discourse before because that isn't the slightest bit new for us, it's the kind of shit trans people put up with on the daily but you were never just there for that.

I'm sorry if I'm a bit aggressive to a wave of cis dudes patting themselves on the back about the crazy trans people "ruining" a movement we've been left on our own with for years

but to go on about how we "failed" is a complete fucking disrespect to the actual conversation that protests have actually raised that have been entirely ignored until it came for the wizards, and to the actual people I've personally seen learn better from it - which I can even include people like plum into this despite my heavily disagreements with his takes, but I have absolutely nonetheless seen his own growth in listening even in disagreement, let alone other folks who sincerely weren't aware of any problems or to the depths of it regarding Rowling and her starlight franchise whether they go on to buy the game or not or already had.

This incident does seem like a net negative to me. Many people probably still think Rowling did nothing worse than express some milquetoast conservative views online.

I'm sorry if I'm a bit aggressive to a wave of cis dudes patting themselves on the back about the crazy trans people "ruining" a movement we've been left on our own with for years

but to go on about how we "failed" is a complete fucking disrespect to the actual conversation that protests have actually raised that have been entirely ignored until it came for the wizards, and to the actual people I've personally seen learn better from it - which I can even include people like plum into this despite my heavily disagreements with his takes, but I have absolutely nonetheless seen his own growth in listening even in disagreement, let alone other folks who sincerely weren't aware of any problems or to the depths of it regarding Rowling and her starlight franchise whether they go on to buy the game or not or already had.

Same energy as 'a bernie supporter was mean to me on twitter so I don't think people should have healthcare' tbh

"many people" kinda suck

I'm saying "many people" are being misled. It's very easy to construct that sort of narrative on social media by cherry-picking and playing to anger.

When I think of the failure benchmark for a 'boycott' I think of only the product's success, not the ripple effects from bringing up something that is important.

There are many - not you - who I have seen with a lot of sway on the internet saying that if someone buys the game they are transphobic and don't ever talk to them again. I think perhaps as a trans person you don't realize - or don't care to comment on - that you appear to be rather moderate on this issue compared to many within the trans space.

A failure of a boycott does not equal a failure of outreach and certainly does not equal a failure on the heads of a minority group. I think on balance at the worst all of this talk annoyed some 'neutral' people (anyone more than mildly annoyed was probably never going to be an ally so fuck 'em) and as you say probably swayed many more to at least be more empathetic, which is always good for discourse. That is, however, not the aim for MANY very loud voices in trans spaces if their postings are anything to go by.

Trans people sending death threats to streamers who play HL and donate all the revenue to pro trans charities is 100% a failure on their part.