I was reading my Twitter feed this morning, and came across the following exchange between James Chen and Ultra David:
To be fair, I understand what Ultra David is saying: that the FGC's fundraising efforts should be about the cause we're supporting, or the games we love, and not the recognition we receive for it. All other things being equal, I agree with him.
But all other things are not equal. The media, politicians and other public figures and institutions are quick to trash games, either generally (and there are dozens more examples), or specifically targeting the FGC. Everyone had something to say about the Cross Assault incident last year; all those results came in the first page of the Google search "Sexual harassment FGC." A Google search for "Evo breast cancer fundraiser" yields depressing, if predictable, silence from those same media outlets.
We've accomplished something truly amazing in the last month. Game enthusiasts from all over the world raised over $200,000 to aid research aimed at saving lives. $200,000! To put that in perspective, the National Football League, the multi-billion dollar American football league, with all their infrastructure and media presence, has raised $3 million in four years. We raised $200K in ONE MONTH with nothing more than message boards and Twitter, "Spirit Bombs" and sniping.
This achievement is worthy of celebration and recognition. We should flood Kotaku, Destructiod, IGN and every other gaming media outlet with emails and tips about our incredible results. We should call in to local news stations and newspapers, write to the Huffington Post, Fox News, CNN, everything we can think of. This is something that should be trumpeted and acknowledged, and it's up to us to see that it is. It's been demonstrated that the media is more than willing to trash us, but we have to be proactive and make sure that they also shine a light on what we do right. We've done something far beyond right here.
To be fair, I understand what Ultra David is saying: that the FGC's fundraising efforts should be about the cause we're supporting, or the games we love, and not the recognition we receive for it. All other things being equal, I agree with him.
But all other things are not equal. The media, politicians and other public figures and institutions are quick to trash games, either generally (and there are dozens more examples), or specifically targeting the FGC. Everyone had something to say about the Cross Assault incident last year; all those results came in the first page of the Google search "Sexual harassment FGC." A Google search for "Evo breast cancer fundraiser" yields depressing, if predictable, silence from those same media outlets.
We've accomplished something truly amazing in the last month. Game enthusiasts from all over the world raised over $200,000 to aid research aimed at saving lives. $200,000! To put that in perspective, the National Football League, the multi-billion dollar American football league, with all their infrastructure and media presence, has raised $3 million in four years. We raised $200K in ONE MONTH with nothing more than message boards and Twitter, "Spirit Bombs" and sniping.
This achievement is worthy of celebration and recognition. We should flood Kotaku, Destructiod, IGN and every other gaming media outlet with emails and tips about our incredible results. We should call in to local news stations and newspapers, write to the Huffington Post, Fox News, CNN, everything we can think of. This is something that should be trumpeted and acknowledged, and it's up to us to see that it is. It's been demonstrated that the media is more than willing to trash us, but we have to be proactive and make sure that they also shine a light on what we do right. We've done something far beyond right here.
