According to over a dozen current and former employees, Life Is Strange developer Deck Nine’s management has long let a toxic work culture fester at the studio, including protecting multiple abusive leaders, encouraging crunch, and allowing bullying of individuals advocating internally for more authentic representation.
Accidents happen. Your finger slips and suddenly your game is full of Nazi symbols. Happens all the time. Also, I get the gist of Garriss’s response, but mentioning that he had men and women at his house and his mother was always present just makes things sound weirder than a simple denial. Sounds like a horrible situation all around.
What a shit-show. As for the nazi bullshit, you should be able to look at your versioning system to find out exactly who inserted the assets. That someone hasn’t already lost their job is troubling.
Game asset development is one of the places where versioning systems are least used. Not only versionong “binaries” is taxing for the system, but even game code itself (¹) is often not version tracked, or controlled at all, with more of a “cowboy coder” approach.
It all stems from most non-online games (²) being sold “as is”, with no intent of supporting them long term; the moment a studio/producer gets the money, they stop caring about their user base, until it’s time to promote the next game. Even games with post-release DLCs, are regularly developed this way, and they end up as a giant clusterf… mess.
If Deck Nine was the “lowest bidder”, with 70-80 hours a week “crunch” months, chances are they cut corners on everything, starting with proper asset versioning.
(¹: engine code is a separate thing, which gets suported across multiple games, so tends to be properly developed
²: online games, and games with microtransactions, tend to be kept in better shape, since their income depends on them working for more than a single playthrough)
Are people in this article really suggesting that the 100% emoji is racist? You can never get a perfect score or agree with anything again because a small number of people have used that number to mean something else and now somebody will interpret it as a hate crime.
At first they were arguing that somebody writing “shit” in an exaggerated way, and the occurrence of two other numbers and an elongated asterisk were Nazi symbols, and they could be, but the only evidence is that somebody said they thought it was too many coincidences. I don’t know enough about the circumstances to say it is or isn’t intended that way. Management apparently thinks it isn’t. But saying multiple people reacting “100%” to a message they agree with means they’re all using the number 100 as a sign of white supremacist solidarity is ridiculous. What else are they going to do? React with the “OK” hand? No, the ADL also decided that one is racist. React with thumbs up? No, younger people have decided that one is rude.
I mean, no. There is a huge history of slavery in Europe. Who do you think was involved in the Atlantic slave trade?
And it is not about sensitivity. It is a hateful word to use. You clearly knew there was an issue using it based on context, but you decided to do it anyhow. We could have got the same context by just saying, " you won’t name your dog a racial slur ike your grandpa did etc."
I took the “100” part to be that someone was mocking the people who were happy the Nazi/racist symbolism was being addressed by management.
Obviously we only have the article to go off of, but the symbols/ numbers mentioned are definitely Nazi symbols, so if there were a bunch of those symbols (all on one single room I might add) that absolutely seems suspect
if there were a bunch of those symbols (all on one single room I might add) that absolutely seems suspect
Technically, I could understand that… IF the in-game character living in that room, were supposed to be a Nazi sympathizer. Otherwise, it’s a clear dog whistle.
Otherwise, rules have changed, and that symbology would no longer get the game insta-banned in Germany… as long as it was only used “in an artistic way”:
As someone who has played through that game 3.5 times (I’m in the middle of another playthrough right now) I can say with high degree of confidence that I have never noticed any nazi memes 😳
I’ll look for them specifically??? But I’m already pretty aware of that sort of thing because I’m in a group that nazis hate. I think I would have noticed and quiet literally would have been like “what the hell is this shit?” OR I would have attributed that kind of writing too an actual perhaps racist character in the town, but I haven’t felt that way either. I just don’t know what they’re talking about, again as somebody who’s played the game three times.
Hmm 😒 well if that’s so, it’s possible. But yeah, not in True Colors. I feel like I would have noticed. I will keep a watchful eye as I finish this next playthrough
But I wanted to point a tangent, from the article you linked:
outstretched middle, ring, and pinky fingers to represent a Roman numeral “3.”
Coincidentally, the Romans would count like 👍👉👌… instead of “thumb, index, middle” for the numeral “3”, because that resembled the letters “IV”, which were the first two letters of “IVPITER”, or “Jupiter”, formerly known as “Zeus”, the God of Gods, and making the “IV” sign in vain was considered a blasphemy… similar to how Jewish people wouldn’t “use the name of God in vain”, which lead to the expression “hallelujah” from “hallelu-Yah***”, meaning “praise Yah***”… in order to also not say the whole name of God. Curiously, Muslim people have no problem with saying “Allah” or writing “ﷲ”, just with depictions of their prophet, go figure.
These sign shenanigans have been going on for thousands of years, only difference is now a “meme” with 10 comments on 4chan, can become a hate sign used by thousands or millions in less than a decade.
PS: another curious one, is the ✋ “Hi!” vs. the Greek 🖐 “I smear 💩 on your face”… best not to confuse them 😉 (“oops, got something in my eye” /s)
The other numbers and Hagel rune are very explicit white supremacist symbols, so trying to downplay them is suspect. As Chloyster pointed out, it seemed like the person saying that the 100% is racist was trying to mock people saying bringing up the other symbols. Even the ADL says you need to look at the context for the 100%. Bringing up the OK is also suspect, since, again, even the ADL says the context matters.
Also, nobody is saying they are hate crimes, but hate symbols which you should absolutely be aware of and not include in your game, even if by accident.
The 100% emoji is the only thing I thought was weird. I can understand why they might think that way given that the developers went through weeks dealing with what seemed like internal sabotage. Given the context, it makes sense, but it might also be an overreaction.
I use the 100% emoji to show agreement sometimes. I certainly hope people don’t think I’m trying to use it as a dog whistle. Kinda sucks because we’re running out of agreement emojis at this point lol.
Not sure the ADL is really a reputable organisation worth looking to as and authority on what is and is not hate. They’re an explicitly zionist organisation with a history of defending genocide.
That said, this particular article seems completely fair. They don’t say the ok gesture is a symbol of hate, only that it is sometimes used that way. Which is accurate.
But also:
Since the early 1800s, the gesture increasingly became associated with the word “okay” and its abbreviation “ok.”
Whoops guys, got that one wrong. OK is the original form, and okay is a lengthened form of that.
Yeah, ADL used to be my go to for looking up hate symbols, but then I learned about the zionism. That being said, AFAIK, the info in their hate symbol database is pretty accurate. Something about a stopped clock…
I did find this database recently and it seems to be pretty good too, though not as well laid out:
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What the fuck is happening at Deck Nine
A nazi party.
Well shit.
Accidents happen. Your finger slips and suddenly your game is full of Nazi symbols. Happens all the time. Also, I get the gist of Garriss’s response, but mentioning that he had men and women at his house and his mother was always present just makes things sound weirder than a simple denial. Sounds like a horrible situation all around.
He honestly sounds more creepy not less creepy after that part.
What a shit-show. As for the nazi bullshit, you should be able to look at your versioning system to find out exactly who inserted the assets. That someone hasn’t already lost their job is troubling.
Game asset development is one of the places where versioning systems are least used. Not only versionong “binaries” is taxing for the system, but even game code itself (¹) is often not version tracked, or controlled at all, with more of a “cowboy coder” approach.
It all stems from most non-online games (²) being sold “as is”, with no intent of supporting them long term; the moment a studio/producer gets the money, they stop caring about their user base, until it’s time to promote the next game. Even games with post-release DLCs, are regularly developed this way, and they end up as a giant clusterf… mess.
If Deck Nine was the “lowest bidder”, with 70-80 hours a week “crunch” months, chances are they cut corners on everything, starting with proper asset versioning.
(¹: engine code is a separate thing, which gets suported across multiple games, so tends to be properly developed
²: online games, and games with microtransactions, tend to be kept in better shape, since their income depends on them working for more than a single playthrough)
Very informative. Thanks!
I’ll never understand why Square Enix gave Deck Nine LIS in the first place. Dontnod = GOAT
Absurd
Are people in this article really suggesting that the 100% emoji is racist? You can never get a perfect score or agree with anything again because a small number of people have used that number to mean something else and now somebody will interpret it as a hate crime.
At first they were arguing that somebody writing “shit” in an exaggerated way, and the occurrence of two other numbers and an elongated asterisk were Nazi symbols, and they could be, but the only evidence is that somebody said they thought it was too many coincidences. I don’t know enough about the circumstances to say it is or isn’t intended that way. Management apparently thinks it isn’t. But saying multiple people reacting “100%” to a message they agree with means they’re all using the number 100 as a sign of white supremacist solidarity is ridiculous. What else are they going to do? React with the “OK” hand? No, the ADL also decided that one is racist. React with thumbs up? No, younger people have decided that one is rude.
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Whoa, dropping the n bomb is not OK, even in this context
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I mean, no. There is a huge history of slavery in Europe. Who do you think was involved in the Atlantic slave trade?
And it is not about sensitivity. It is a hateful word to use. You clearly knew there was an issue using it based on context, but you decided to do it anyhow. We could have got the same context by just saying, " you won’t name your dog a racial slur ike your grandpa did etc."
In the future, just don’t use it
removed by mod
I took the “100” part to be that someone was mocking the people who were happy the Nazi/racist symbolism was being addressed by management.
Obviously we only have the article to go off of, but the symbols/ numbers mentioned are definitely Nazi symbols, so if there were a bunch of those symbols (all on one single room I might add) that absolutely seems suspect
Technically, I could understand that… IF the in-game character living in that room, were supposed to be a Nazi sympathizer. Otherwise, it’s a clear dog whistle.
Otherwise, rules have changed, and that symbology would no longer get the game insta-banned in Germany… as long as it was only used “in an artistic way”:
Germany lifts total ban on Nazi symbols in video games (10 August 2018)
As someone who has played through that game 3.5 times (I’m in the middle of another playthrough right now) I can say with high degree of confidence that I have never noticed any nazi memes 😳
I’ll look for them specifically??? But I’m already pretty aware of that sort of thing because I’m in a group that nazis hate. I think I would have noticed and quiet literally would have been like “what the hell is this shit?” OR I would have attributed that kind of writing too an actual perhaps racist character in the town, but I haven’t felt that way either. I just don’t know what they’re talking about, again as somebody who’s played the game three times.
I may be wrong, but I believe it is in an upcoming game, not True Colors
Hmm 😒 well if that’s so, it’s possible. But yeah, not in True Colors. I feel like I would have noticed. I will keep a watchful eye as I finish this next playthrough
Thought I read that, so I double checked. It is mentioned in the first paragraph that it is the next entry in the series, not an existing title.
That’s an awful lot to say over “one person suggested” which it seems most people including the authors took to mean agreement.
No they aren’t, as @chloyster@beehaw.org explained.
But I wanted to point a tangent, from the article you linked:
Coincidentally, the Romans would count like 👍👉👌… instead of “thumb, index, middle” for the numeral “3”, because that resembled the letters “IV”, which were the first two letters of “IVPITER”, or “Jupiter”, formerly known as “Zeus”, the God of Gods, and making the “IV” sign in vain was considered a blasphemy… similar to how Jewish people wouldn’t “use the name of God in vain”, which lead to the expression “hallelujah” from “hallelu-Yah***”, meaning “praise Yah***”… in order to also not say the whole name of God. Curiously, Muslim people have no problem with saying “Allah” or writing “ﷲ”, just with depictions of their prophet, go figure.
These sign shenanigans have been going on for thousands of years, only difference is now a “meme” with 10 comments on 4chan, can become a hate sign used by thousands or millions in less than a decade.
PS: another curious one, is the ✋ “Hi!” vs. the Greek 🖐 “I smear 💩 on your face”… best not to confuse them 😉 (“oops, got something in my eye” /s)
The other numbers and Hagel rune are very explicit white supremacist symbols, so trying to downplay them is suspect. As Chloyster pointed out, it seemed like the person saying that the 100% is racist was trying to mock people saying bringing up the other symbols. Even the ADL says you need to look at the context for the 100%. Bringing up the OK is also suspect, since, again, even the ADL says the context matters.
Also, nobody is saying they are hate crimes, but hate symbols which you should absolutely be aware of and not include in your game, even if by accident.
The 100% emoji is the only thing I thought was weird. I can understand why they might think that way given that the developers went through weeks dealing with what seemed like internal sabotage. Given the context, it makes sense, but it might also be an overreaction.
I use the 100% emoji to show agreement sometimes. I certainly hope people don’t think I’m trying to use it as a dog whistle. Kinda sucks because we’re running out of agreement emojis at this point lol.
Not sure the ADL is really a reputable organisation worth looking to as and authority on what is and is not hate. They’re an explicitly zionist organisation with a history of defending genocide.
That said, this particular article seems completely fair. They don’t say the ok gesture is a symbol of hate, only that it is sometimes used that way. Which is accurate.
But also:
Whoops guys, got that one wrong. OK is the original form, and okay is a lengthened form of that.
Yeah, ADL used to be my go to for looking up hate symbols, but then I learned about the zionism. That being said, AFAIK, the info in their hate symbol database is pretty accurate. Something about a stopped clock…
I did find this database recently and it seems to be pretty good too, though not as well laid out:
https://globalextremism.org/global-extremist-symbols-database/