Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 2)

[NekoFever]

Can we ban this game from the forum like the wizard game? Shift Up doesn't gaf about outrage, no amount of criticism will get them to not be pedophiles. Only accountability will come in ignoring them and letting their shitty game flop without relying on news media to prop it up.

As we all know, Hogwarts Legacy's sales were decimated by the lack of ResetERA.com support.

Hey, they kept it out of the top 10 bestselling games of all time. Imagine the humiliation of barely cracking the top 20.

[HaughtyFrank]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/idris-elba-james-bond-doesnt-need-to-be-woke-markets-wont-all-go-for-a-black-bond-thats-not-what-they-like-in-their-culture.1544653/

[Uncle]

The Crazy Taxi game director responded to the whole genAI hysteria by explaining they used them for placeholder assets but it's not enough.   
 

I'm sorry, have we as a society just forgotten what reference photos are? Has Google image search gotten so bad that you have to AI generate what a San Francisco restaurant looks like?

 

you mean...searching up images to use without permission, attribution, or compensation? the thing you accuse AI of doing?

it's hilarious how often the alternative to AI is just good old fashioned infringement 

"you generated a character portrait for D&D?! but AI steals from artists! just google for an elf ranger and use whatever you can find!"

[Vertigo]

That thread just had this this hilarious back and forth 

I think we're placing way too much importance on visual representation and participation of minorities in media without meaningfully tackling the material causes for why minority representation has been so lacking across the history of modern media to begin with, to say nothing of how this focus nonetheless puts white media on a pedestal by presenting assimilation within these properties as the goal without regards to uplifting and engaging in the native work by Africans and the diasporas (Black folks make shit for ourselves; do you, reader, engage in any of it?)

At the end of the day, a Black Bond ain't gonna fix niggas the world over getting fucked over by cops or stop the slavery in the DRC or stop the Sauds from facilitating the genocide in Sudan; similarly, it is weird to act like Elba playing Bond is a political responsibility he owes anyone or would be some major moment of healing or victory for Black people. It'd be interesting, sure, and I'd probably watch it. But at the same time, Bond is and always has been a white-ass franchise about white people shit. I don't need my people to be part of that. It's also, at the end of the day, just a movie franchise. To that extent does it matter on the road to liberation? Like MLK was a fucking Trekkie, and this is probably the first time some of y'all are hearing that because he is more known for more important shit.

Ultimately, it's 2026. Why have some of y'all's politics not updated from culture war shit from like 2012?

Can you just directly @ people who are doing this or nah? Most people I see talking about this even on here are just saying they think he would cool in the role but they get his point.

Like what's with the fucking "talking to my child" ass tone, you're not giving anyone on Resetera.com a political education lmao.

I'm sorry that you waste your time knowing what you know just to finger-wag liberals on a clintonite dead ender video game website.

Why do you think I'm not organized in real life with actual leftists? Why do you also think people on this Clintonite forum haven't come back to me publicly or privately and said they've learned something from my posts?

Maybe go the fuck away nigga instead of reacting to the fact that I got a brain and you don't.

[Besticus Maximus]

#35
Malleymal said:
The way woke was flipped needs to be studied

I hate it so much, it's worse than the N-word to me in its insidious co-option by the worst people imaginable.

 

[HaughtyFrank]

I hate it so much, it's worse than the N-word to me in its insidious co-option by the worst people imaginable.

 

"Its worse than the word i don't dare to even type"

[simiansmarts]

 
 
the comments on this are hilarious

[Jansen]

I will have to hear these horrific opinions regardless, I just don't want to listen to it in a community that is supposed to be inclusive. We aren't changing the dev's minds here, so I don't see why we have to platform stuff like this. We ban hate speech and bigotry on this forum for a reason. "Just ignore it" doesn't work.

Completely different because when people are banned for hate speech and bigotry, it's well deserved because that person is doing hate speech and being a bigot themselves.



While fans of Stellar Blade ARE NOT being pedos. Hell even the game itself isn't a pedo game because it has a lot to offer and the majority of people reacting to that showcase gave off the impression of being wow but still thought she seemed young. There is even another big percent of folks who don't even notice it because they were too focused on the rest of the game like gameplay, setting, animation etc.



So there is no reason why fans of the game or merely people who are interested in it should punished from talking about the game.



As mentioned before there are games with way more extreme stuff like Persona 5 that actually have pedo elements, there's also games like mihoyo games and others that are more extreme than Stellar Blade 2. And it's still not right to ban those games nor label people as pedos because there are way more other things to those games just like there are way more things in Stellar blade 2 .



This isn't anywhere close to actual disgusting porn stuff in Steam.

[Besticus Maximus]

Not only content with letting white people appropriate woke and turn it into a pejorative but their ashy asses don't even know basic ass AAVE. I can't anymore.

[Shecky Fragbaum]

Scratch a completely normal person and Literal Hitler hemorrhages , granting countless nazi demons both flesh and license to spread ZIONISM

[Jansen]

How is that a good defense?Stellar Blade can be the second coming of action games, people are still 100% justified in calling out how disgusting the devs are for the main character design.

I'm agree that name calling users as pedos is too far but i completely understand people frustrations on the uncritical hype. It will remain absurd that the Stellar Blade 2 reveal happened on a major showcase, Evie looks like a 15 year old and the devs took major care in oogling every inch of her body.That's a fact.

Seeing tons of comments just saying "game looks good" about SB2 is super frustrating.



At minimum there should be a banner on Stellar Blade threads like the Microsoft ones

RedBullCola gave the same suggestion

Absolutely I 100% agree that people can still call it out nobody have said otherwise. I have been saying people should have the right to criticize the game just like any game. And I'll even agree with some of their points too. Been saying that.



I just don't think the game should be banned here nor is it right for others to be hostile to fans of the game or simply people that are interested in it. which was what started this whole thing in the first place. Especially when there's more extreme games.

If anything, other aspects of Stellar Blade are often brought up to push back against criticisms in the first place as what "really" matters is whether or not the game is actually good, as if that stops the validity of criticism aimed at the rampant objectification that is a part of the experience the game offers.

Yeah, the sexualization and underage character aren't a small element of the game, they are front and center, Shift Up literally put her ass as the twitter banner.

And people should never ignore or avoid threads of games they hate, especially when what they hate is sexualized female character designs that look like minors

"Seeing tons of comments just saying "game looks good" about SB2 is super frustrating."



Okay this is such a non issue and is nobody's fault besides your own since you already have the tools to not see this.



Theres plenty of games that I really dislike but I never once got frustrated from seeing people like a game. Even for Persona 5 which I have no interest in because that game has actual pedo elements in it so already more extreme than what Stellar Blade 2 has. I still won't get frustrated seeing someone liking the game because I simply c
ould understand people playing it aren't pedos.

Alright which one of y'all is sammi curr. they seem rather emboldened 

[Nintex]

ResetEra having a debate of who is the pedo 



Let's hope the Nintendo Direct "Finishes the job"

[Boredfrom]

It's genuinely exhausting. I'm personally glad to see SB2 getting deserved criticism here, but I'm getting beyond sick and tired of how comfortable some people seem to have gotten with calling people pedos, or in some cases, being racist/orientalist. I'm grateful to the mods being on top of actioning instances of these, but once again, people feel comfortable saying them to begin with, which is the issue.



And it feels like the waters are being increasingly muddied when people rightfully feel like minorities are being told to "shut up" or keep criticism to select threads, which I believe IS certainly the implication I'm feeling from some users. But there's a world of difference between criticising a game and its devs, and straight up accusing people of being pedos. To be frank, as someone who has experienced abuse in childhood, it feels like it trivialises its severity, and redirects focus away from the actual issue (the fact the playable character of SB2 looks like an overtly sexualised 12 year old), to taking swipes at complete randos. That's not to say I want to see people being openly gross about the game either, but generalised "if you play this, you're a pedo" is absolutely not okay, regardless of how you feel about the game.



Honestly though, I don't think this is something that can be "fixed", because some people are going to continue to feel comfortable accusing people of horrible shit, but then calling that out also sometimes makes the actual bigots and those using "civility" as a guise feel emboldened, so... Like, I want a community that feels comfortable to criticise things like SB2, and push back on those handwaving those criticisms away, but I also draw my line in the sand when people start flinging insults and accusatio
ns wildly, though that line seems to just been completely blurred here a lot of the time now.

Maybe a lot of those “Chuds” aren’t Chuds but people that got burned out of these discussions because how abrasive the “right side” is? 

Maybe you need to accept that people will have a different opinion than you if you want the discourse not devolve in calling everyone pedophiles?

[Vertigo]

 
 
the comments on this are hilarious

The hilarity of people like Grubb is the Reee types watch him so he has to toe the line. Lest he be 'cancelled'

But he wont push too much or he wont be invited to these industry shindigs.

[Vertigo]

ResetEra having a debate of who is the pedo 



Let's hope the Nintendo Direct "Finishes the job"

Even better when you see their profile picture. I was in that SB2 thread. How are people with anime profile pics of very young looking girls calling other people pedo and creeps 

Make it make sense 

Oh are these the fabled 1000 yr old demon/dragon/ witch versions?

[Boredfrom]

 

I'm sorry, have we as a society just forgotten what reference photos are? Has Google image search gotten so bad that you have to AI generate what a San Francisco restaurant looks like?

"you generated a character portrait for D&D?! but AI steals from artists! just google for an elf ranger and use whatever you can find!"

Casual D&D game =/= comercial product.

Btw, video game companies DO GET SUED if they use certain copyright images, including for textures. You can use that information for both pro and anti Ai arguments.

[Jansen]

Heres how Stellar Blade and other threads about games like that goes.



User1: This game is sexualizing women to an absurd degree, the character barely looks 18 and the devs know this

Then the very next replies

User2: Game looks great, very hyped





I'm not even mentioning the ones that praise said character design, while it is not against the rules to be excited for the game you could at least understand people's frustration.

Heres how Stellar Blade and other threads about games like that goes.
User1: This game is sexualizing women to an absurd degree, the character barely looks 18 and the devs know this
Then the very next replies
User2: Game looks great, very hyped
I'm not even mentioning the ones that praise said character design, while it is not against the rules to be excited for the game you could at least understand people's frustration.

Again how is that in any shape or way wrong because you don't like the game so you get to say what you want while the folks who like the game would want to take about the story and other elements which was what I was doing.



The people coming in to say the game looks good isn't doing anything wrong either as they are just giving their thoughts after the trailer.

Heres how Stellar Blade and other threads about games like that goes.
User1: This game is sexualizing women to an absurd degree, the character barely looks 18 and the devs know this
Then the very next replies
User2: Game looks great, very hyped
I'm not even mentioning the ones that praise said character design, while it is not against the rules to be excited for the game you could at least understand people's frustration.

Sometimes it goes all the way to:



User1: This game is sexualizing women to an absurd degree, the character barely looks 18 and the devs know this



User2: It's genuinely upsetting.

{You must reply to this thread to see this message.}

Sorry, don't want to over share. But this hurts to see.



User3: Don't feel sorry, User2. That's completely valid to feel that way. 



User4: LOOKS HYPE, DA
Y 1



User5: posting to see the hidden text

[Jansen]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-women-criticise-sexualised-character-designs-ot3-make-her-look-more-corpulent-more-stuffed-where-the-eyes-cant-escape.275780/page-537#post-156127993

this is exactly how i read the situation too



incredibly absurd clicky got a two week ban for making that thread



i'm as anti gen ai as any sane person, but we all know that's not the fucking problem here

wait WHAT

If it's down to preferred series then I cannot relate to these people. It is unhealthy to identify oneself with a piece of fiction to that extent. That is an even greater case for banning discussion of such games.



People can mealy mouth good intentions all they like. It's the same discomfort with conflict that informs those damn geek social fallacies. It also makes it difficult for me to avoid thinking non gamers may have a point in how childish, and specifically man-childish, they view a lot of this subculture as. Willing to go to bat for the discussion of obvious pedo garbage that is just there to make a buck--this all feels very immature. Speaking as a cis het man.



Fuck me, I saw the lock but a two week ban? I've gotten less than that for (unjustifiably and very wrongfully) getting overly heated with someone! Like waaay too heated.



So, it really was to avoid uncomfortable discussion.



...Now I know how it feels to be taken for granted as hardcore fan of something, in that Era is the most progressive sizeable gaming forum out there. So I have nowhere further to go if I want a decent progressive board and Era pulls shit like this.

I used to be less cynical about the moderation here given so many good people working on the moderating, but there are some curious priorities showing themselves where someone cops a two week ban with AI as a sticking point given how much leeway and free running AI gets.

It was a 1 week ban, reasoning was that they had a history of dishonest framing on sensitive threads and because they used an AI article, i don't know that user's history so i can't say the mods were too harsh but it is frustrating to see a thread critical of the game shot down

Seriously?

FREE CLICKY.













Seconding the hope that you both stay so long as it doesn't become a unhealthy burden. It'd be a loss for the community otherwise and we've had so many good posters driven away.

They're losing their shit over clicky getting banned

[Boredfrom]

Ultimately, it's 2026. Why have some of y'all's politics not updated from culture war shit from like 2012?

Gee, I wonder why.

[simiansmarts]

The Stellar Blade outrage has gotten so absurd the usual suspects are just openly admitting they can't fucking stand it that other users won't engage with their psychotic rants about sexualization. Nothing drives them more insane than a passerby just going "cool game, i like the punching". 
 


They legit sound like QAnoners/Pizzagate people who think everything is a secret code for democrat officials eating babies in a satanic ritual

[Jansen]

the way the discussion in the community feedback thread is going about SB2 is genuinely making me think about deleting my account and leaving this website.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-women-criticise-sexualised-character-designs-ot3-make-her-look-more-corpulent-more-stuffed-where-the-eyes-cant-escape.275780/page-536#post-156122320

Oh my God please don't do it

[NekoFever]

I love how the rule against avatar shaming exists solely because people with anime avatars are always exposing themselves as creeps and they don’t like anyone pointing this out.

[Besticus Maximus]

Anti bedtimeism strikes again!

I can totally see Bdubs just buckling and banning stellar blade for no reason

[Alpacx]

The Stellar Blade outrage has gotten so absurd the usual suspects are just openly admitting they can't fucking stand it that other users won't engage with their psychotic rants about sexualization. Nothing drives them more insane than a passerby just going "cool game, i like the punching". 

How much of that is passive-aggressive deliberately not engaging versus normies who haven't been permabanned yet have your annoying ass on Ignore.

That thread just had this this hilarious back and forth 

Why do you think I'm not organized in real life with actual leftists? Why do you also think people on this Clintonite forum haven't come back to me publicly or privately and said they've learned something from my posts?

Maybe go the fuck away nigga instead of reacting to the fact that I got a brain and you don't.

Hostility towards fellow users in a sensitive thread?

NepNep and the three mods reviewing bans would permaban anybody talking to her like that.

[HaughtyFrank]

The Stellar Blade outrage has gotten so absurd the usual suspects are just openly admitting they can't fucking stand it that other users won't engage with their psychotic rants about sexualization. Nothing drives them more insane than a passerby just going "cool game, i like the punching". 
 


They legit sound like QAnoners/Pizzagate people who think everything is a secret code for democrat officials eating babies in a satanic ritual

Yeah this happened already back in the day during Cyberpunk but now they've really made it their main argument that people are maliciously not responding to their posts 

[Besticus Maximus]

Like why doe she think she's so amazing? What has she literally ever done, in her life, ever, that was notable or successful? Absolutely fuck all is the answer. It's incredible really.

[HaughtyFrank]

Maybe go the fuck away nigga instead of reacting to the fact that I got a brain and you don't.

Hostility towards fellow users in a sensitive thread?

NepNep and the three mods reviewing bans would permaban anybody talking to her like that.

If smoothbrain counts as ableism then this does too

Anencephaly is the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp that occurs during embryonic development

[Jansen]

I was trying to figure out how actual minorities fit into this particular conversation but then I 👀 the avatar

[jooseloose]

Kyuuji is uncharacteristically quiet.

[Propagandhim]

 
 
the comments on this are hilarious

"Why do we need AI?  There's books.  There's researchers.  Pay them!"




Fellas, I'd like to announce the grand opening of my Research and Consulting business for Video Games that Are Designed Good and Want to Play Good Too.  This ain't your daddy's consulting company.  Think big: Anita Sarkisian big.  We are trained vidya researchers here to do the vidya research.


This is what our talented research team—the one you pay so you don’t have to use AI yourself—came up with, definitely without using AI.   It's not just consulting—it's research.





I'd like to be paid for my time.  I don't emotionally and physically labor for free.  And I'd appreciate if you didn't treat workers like they're expendable cogs in the capitalist machine, so please click thru to my Venmo and Amazon Gift links.   This concludes my presentation—not just a presentation—but a bold—transformative—journey into the limitless possibilities—of—what comes next.