Like Having A Gun Pointed At Your Baby: Discussing the Fox News/Mass Effect Controversy With BioWare General Manager Ray Muzyka

re: Like Having A Gun Pointed At Your Baby: Discussing the Fox News/Mass Effect Controversy With BioWare General Manager Ray Muzyka

OneFreeMan — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:52:58 GMT

Well, I see why the silence from the directors of the attacked games would seem kind of weird, but this strategy (or whatever you may call it) to let its fanbase and other defenders take the case can be seen from a different point of view. You see, with this "attacks" they are not so attacking the game deelopers as they are adressed to the the end users for the game does the "most damage" on them and as we are often said that it will "destroy our minds" and "poison our children" (which is mostly the conservative and christian propaganda that also occured with music and other subjects). So when the very consumer population to which this damage is being done speaks up and reveals that this is all just a farse build on false claims, it takes greater impact than the words of the developers and the directors.

Also, that whole FOX news report is the testament to the ignorance of the people and "experts" that were covering the story and the majority of the people upon which has developed, and spread, the big myth surrounding game industry.

re: Like Having A Gun Pointed At Your Baby: Discussing the Fox News/Mass Effect Controversy With BioWare General Manager Ray Muzyka

jp182 — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:20:16 GMT

N'Gai I usually agree with some, if not all, of what you write but I think this time you have things a bit misconstued. True artists don't defend their art to naysayers as art is subjective and if people get offended by it, then that is their opinion. For example, photographers and artists that create nude portraits probably have the same things said about their art by fundamentalists. Not all artists choose to be outspoken with defending themselves and many times it isn't necessary unless the intended audience misinterprets it. I think that at this point in time, everyone knows that Fox News isn't filled with journalistic integrity; we don't need to look at the "Sex"Box controversy to see that. So why should Bioware come out swinging against them; that would seem like a fools erand to me. And a wise man once said don't argue with fools because people from a distance can't tell who is who.

Now if you want to think of Bioware as a business instead of an artist, then I TOTALLY agree that they should have defended their product with more fervor. However, how do we know that their statement to NY Times did not go beyond what was printed? It wouldn't be the first time so someone's statement was said in it's entirety due to the bias of the media/medium.

re: Like Having A Gun Pointed At Your Baby: Discussing the Fox News/Mass Effect Controversy With BioWare General Manager Ray Muzyka

the alsoran — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:55:28 GMT

I believe this simple fact of the matter, continuing your analogy with traditional art forms, is that painters, playwrights and novelists are more often independent creatives not under the pay of corporations that typically enforce blanket silence in response to controversy like this.

As such, even a figure with as much clout in the industry as Ray Muzyka is not free from some kind of higher chain of command determining what is said and when. Developers, in fact, LOVE to promote (and defend) their work, but all responses must be run through a publisher/owner PR filter.

As Gore Verbinski urged in his recent DICE keynote, we need to empower "auteurs" in the industry with a voice with which to respond to these types of allegations, and that must start with more investigative journalism like this on your end N'Gai.

re: Like Having A Gun Pointed At Your Baby: Discussing the Fox News/Mass Effect Controversy With BioWare General Manager Ray Muzyka

latinogamer — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:16:05 GMT

Bravo, Bravo!