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I've never read Penny Arcade or been to PAX either, but reading this story, it seems to me as if a bunch of outraged people want the benefit from attending this

I've never read Penny Arcade or been to PAX either, but reading this story, it seems to me as if a bunch of outraged people want the benefit from attending this guy's conference, but also want him to stop making art that doesn't agree exactly with their sensibilities. To me, this seems like unnecessary policing of the worst sort. Yes, his art seems to be in poor taste and he sounds like an asshole -- please stop attending his convention and urge other people to do so. I don't see any direct link between this and "rampant sexism in the geek community", unless I guess you expand 'geek' to include 'anyone who has ever drawn a comic'. It is a case of a particular artist drawing something that some people think is horrible, but dunno if it calls for "unqualified outrage".

tptacek 13y ago
That's all anyone is doing: not attending PAX, and urging others not to offend PAX. I don't understand what your argument is here.
- parennoob 13y ago
  I was referring to the parent comment demanding "unqualified outrage", and relating this to "sexism in the geek community", which I felt was a little excessive considering it was one asshole artist who had drawn some offensive comic strips consisting exclusively of male characters.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    So, what you really mean is, people should not attend PAX if they have a problem with PAX, and they should urge people not to attend PAX if they feel the need, but they should make sure that their urging conforms to a set of standards you have about what is and isn't a valid argument.
    - parennoob 13y ago
      > but they should make sure that their urging conforms to a set of standards you have Not at all. I'm not saying they should do anything. I'm merely commenting that expecting an artist to stop drawing something you don't like because you go to his convention to sell something is a little ridiculous. But hey, if that's your thing, feel free to erupt in unqualified outrage :)
craigyk 13y ago
Most humor is in "poor-taste" to someone. IMO, when certain topics are taboo that just a bigger indicator of a cultural problem: "move along, nothing to see here".
anigbrowl 13y ago
The geek connection is explained in the article. Penny Arcade is massively popular within the gaming community (because it's a comic strip about computer gamers), and the decisions to showcase your indie game (or not) at one of their conferences has a direct impact on sales. I've never read Penny Arcade Informing yourself before jumping to conclusions is more effective than arguing from ignorance. As with your question rape threats, you could perfectly easily use resources like Google and Wikipedia to get a handle on the issue.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  I find it sort of amusing people pick and choose the social standing of gaming depending on circumstance. Some days "gaming is mainstream now! This isn't the 80s anymore people, everyone games!", while other days there is "gaming culture" which is distinctly "geek". I suppose the truth is probably somewhere in the middle (somewhere pretty damn close to "geek" I think). I just find the juxtaposition amusing.
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    The grandparent post implied the geek connection was drawing comic strips.
- parennoob 13y ago
  FYI, the parent commenter had never read Penny Arcade either, hence we were interacting from a position of presumably equal information regarding it. > Penny Arcade is massively popular within the gaming community (because it's a comic strip about computer gamers), and the decisions to showcase your indie game (or not) at one of their conferences has a direct impact on sales. Exactly. What his critics are essentially saying is, "We want him to stop making certain kinds of comic strips, but we also want to use his platform to sell our games." For an artist, that is ridiculous.
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    No they're not. The article is titled 'why I'm never going back to PAX'; the author's position is that she's given up on it. She quotes and links to two other developers who already don't go or won't go there again for the same reason, and quotes a 4th person who says that not going is difficult because since PAX is the biggest end-user game conference, staying away impacts sales. Generalizing from that observation as you did is inaccurate and misleading. Just because the other person is also uninformed on the subject doesn't mean you should skip reading the source article.
jmcqk6 13y ago
>please stop attending his convention and urge other people to do so. Isn't that exactly what the article is doing? Your comment makes no sense.
- parennoob 13y ago
  I was referring to the parent comment demanding "unqualified outrage", and relating this to "sexism in the geek community", which I felt was a little excessive considering it was one asshole artist who had drawn some offensive comic strips consisting exclusively of male characters.

tptacek 13y ago

That's all anyone is doing: not attending PAX, and urging others not to offend PAX. I don't understand what your argument is here.

parennoob 13y ago
I was referring to the parent comment demanding "unqualified outrage", and relating this to "sexism in the geek community", which I felt was a little excessive considering it was one asshole artist who had drawn some offensive comic strips consisting exclusively of male characters.
- tptacek 13y ago
  So, what you really mean is, people should not attend PAX if they have a problem with PAX, and they should urge people not to attend PAX if they feel the need, but they should make sure that their urging conforms to a set of standards you have about what is and isn't a valid argument.
  - parennoob 13y ago
    > but they should make sure that their urging conforms to a set of standards you have Not at all. I'm not saying they should do anything. I'm merely commenting that expecting an artist to stop drawing something you don't like because you go to his convention to sell something is a little ridiculous. But hey, if that's your thing, feel free to erupt in unqualified outrage :)

craigyk 13y ago

Most humor is in "poor-taste" to someone. IMO, when certain topics are taboo that just a bigger indicator of a cultural problem: "move along, nothing to see here".

anigbrowl 13y ago

The geek connection is explained in the article. Penny Arcade is massively popular within the gaming community (because it's a comic strip about computer gamers), and the decisions to showcase your indie game (or not) at one of their conferences has a direct impact on sales. I've never read Penny Arcade Informing yourself before jumping to conclusions is more effective than arguing from ignorance. As with your question rape threats, you could perfectly easily use resources like Google and Wikipedia to get a handle on the issue.

jlgreco 13y ago
I find it sort of amusing people pick and choose the social standing of gaming depending on circumstance. Some days "gaming is mainstream now! This isn't the 80s anymore people, everyone games!", while other days there is "gaming culture" which is distinctly "geek". I suppose the truth is probably somewhere in the middle (somewhere pretty damn close to "geek" I think). I just find the juxtaposition amusing.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  The grandparent post implied the geek connection was drawing comic strips.
parennoob 13y ago
FYI, the parent commenter had never read Penny Arcade either, hence we were interacting from a position of presumably equal information regarding it. > Penny Arcade is massively popular within the gaming community (because it's a comic strip about computer gamers), and the decisions to showcase your indie game (or not) at one of their conferences has a direct impact on sales. Exactly. What his critics are essentially saying is, "We want him to stop making certain kinds of comic strips, but we also want to use his platform to sell our games." For an artist, that is ridiculous.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  No they're not. The article is titled 'why I'm never going back to PAX'; the author's position is that she's given up on it. She quotes and links to two other developers who already don't go or won't go there again for the same reason, and quotes a 4th person who says that not going is difficult because since PAX is the biggest end-user game conference, staying away impacts sales. Generalizing from that observation as you did is inaccurate and misleading. Just because the other person is also uninformed on the subject doesn't mean you should skip reading the source article.

jmcqk6 13y ago

>please stop attending his convention and urge other people to do so. Isn't that exactly what the article is doing? Your comment makes no sense.

parennoob 13y ago
I was referring to the parent comment demanding "unqualified outrage", and relating this to "sexism in the geek community", which I felt was a little excessive considering it was one asshole artist who had drawn some offensive comic strips consisting exclusively of male characters.