I feel like I’m in a really weird place after reading Gray’s piece on methods of resistance and protest in online gaming spaces. I think there is a significant challenge in making one’s voice heard in these games and the forums that surround them—especially so if yours is a marginal perspective or identity. With that in mind, I was really excited to hear about how two groups would approach this really unique problem in a way that could potentially affect change. Instead, what I saw was a group of gamers who just liked being assholes. Maybe I’m misunderstanding how these “protests” worked, but from what I gathered from Gray’s description is that the Puerto Reekan Killaz would go into a new game and, apropos of nothing, start team killing of glitching. I guess maybe I could see the value in doing this stuff as retaliation for someone making a racist/sexist/homophobic comment in chat—in that case, there’s a clear connection between stimulus (dudebro gamers being pricks) and response (retaliatory teamkilling of that particular member). But when you go into a game and disrupt it when no one in that game has slighted you, what does it actually do to promote your cause? If I’m playing a game fairly and quietly, and someone starts griefing and talking about how I apparently hate women gamers, is that going to help my opinion of women gamers or harm it? It seems like those tactics would end up doing more harm than good. Honestly, it just kinda feels like finding a convenient and self-righteous excuse for being a dick. Again, this all changes when it’s retaliatory—at least then the offending person can draw a connection between “Oh hey. I was a dick to these women, and they absolutely slaughtered me. Maybe I shouldn’t be a dick.”

I feel really…weird, criticizing someone’s unique form of resistance. Because, I mean, what other ways can they fight back when their reporting of racist/sexist/homophobic behavior goes unheeded? I like the tactic of sharing stories of harassment on the forums, but if those get deleted, it feels like a truly Sisyphean task to keep at it every day. Boycotting games that are massively popular like GTA also doesn’t feel like it would make a huge impact. So, I can see the allure of these disruptive tactics because one can see immediate impact through the gamers’ reactions. But while it’s effective in getting a rise and causing frustration, I have to wonder how much good it’s doing. How much positive change can really be affected in this way?