There Is a Cancer within #GamerGate

For the short time that I have been in #GameGate, I have tried to have a policy of trying to get along with everyone. I tried to be the friendly and laid back stoner, especially when the so called “Weekend drama” came around, I always tried to be a neutral and only took sides if I really thought I had to, like the boycott issue.

However, on this all changed on Wednesday, January 13th. Lily Feng, a supporter of #GamerGate /#NotYourShied and whose artwork was featured in #Solution6months tragically died on Sunday. After the news came out, many people tweeted and posted their condolence/memorial tweets. This is a perfectly normal and healthy reaction when someone that you considered a friend passes away. I myself never knew Lily or interacted with her, but since she was a friend of many people that I consider friends, I did some tweets and RT’s myself.

There was one individual that considers himself Pro-#GamerGate did something that I would think he would never do. Ethan Ralph, of the TheRalphRetort.com posted something on his website. The author, notorious troll WildGoose posted a “Guest Editorial” on Ralph’s website. It criticized Twitter user @CultofVivian for posting tweets that he called “gravestanding”. When I read this “article”, one should know right away it was what the internet culture calls “RIP Trolling”, in which trolls post distasteful and disgusting material when people are grieving by gloating that their loved one just died. Now, one should not be that upset with WildGoose. He is with a group of trolls that do these type of things. However, allowing this post on his website lost all respect that I had for Ralph. This shows that he is willing to use someone’s death just for a petty Twitter feud. Ralph’s defenders said that CultofVivan and others should not have posted those memorial tweets because Lily’s boyfriend asked for privacy in a tweet that was a response to a question of sending flowers. Two days latter, Ralph put another post by WildGoose. This time it was a so called “apology” for the previous post about CultofVivian’s so called “gravestanding”. In this post, WildGoose attacks even more people for their so called “gravestanding” and evening going after a legitimate attempt to raise money for suicide prevention.

A couple of days pass by, and Lily’s boyfriend post this response to resolve all of the confusion on the KotakuInAction subreddit. In the post on the subreddit, it is reveled that there was no invasion of privacy and that Ashton, Lily’s boyfriend, gave full permission for CultofVivan and others to break the very tragic news. While a decent number of people that were in the wrong on this “debate” over “gravestanding” did own up and apologized, a smaller number of people still refuse to admit that they were in the wrong. One of those people was Ethan Ralph. But that is not all. Once again, Ralph let WildGoose post again on his site, this time attacking Lily’s boyfriend, Ashton.

When Ralph was confronted on his actions, he started tweeting like he was the victim, as seen below.

This shows that Ralph behavior extremely similar the Social Justice Warriors (SJWS) he says he a disdain for. Just like how SJWs mocked when Thunderf00t father passed away, Ralph finds the need to use the death of someone for a online feud. When he is called out on his disgusting behavior, he doubles down and refuses to man up. One should find this type of behavior disgusting no matter who it comes from, even if it’s from “one of our own.”

Just like how there are Muslims that condemn the actions of terrorists and radicals, supporters of #GamerGate/#NotYourShield should condemn the practices of people within that behave like Ralph. That is not censorship. Ralph is free to post whatever legal content he wishes. That does not mean that this author nor anyone else has to approve of it. Complaining on people criticizing what you allow on your site shows that one has a serious lack of emotional maturity. Posting such material on one’s site also shows that one lacks a moral compass.

So, I’m just like Fareed Zakaria has said that there is a cancer within Islam, there is a cancer within GamerGate/#NotYourShield, and that cancer is Ethan Ralph and people that behave like him. If anyone wants to be taken seriously and make positive impacts within Gaming, if one sees the actions of SJWs and are disgusted by those actions, then one should see people like Ralph who he truly is. He is a cancer within #GamerGate/#NotYourShield. One should and must remain consistent in their condemnation of such behaviors.

Because disclosure and right of reply is the ethical thing to do, I contacted CultofVivian and she read this article, checked it for accuracy and confirmed it for details. I tried to reach Ethan Ralph via a third party but Ralph has chosen not to comment on the situation. As for Wild Goose, I believe his posts speak for themselves and therefore no right of reply is needed.

Finally, I want to say this. I want to apologize on behalf of humanity to Ashton, Lily’s boyfriend. I’m sorry for all the bullshit that you have had to deal with in your time of bereavement. Nobody should have to go through what you are going through right now. The behavior of these individuals in no way represent #GamerGate/#NotYourShield. I also want to apologize to giving certain individuals that are defending and participating in the current harassment of Ashton a platform on my YouTube channel.

And finally, I want to apologize to the late Lily Feng and the Feng family on behalf of #GamerGate/#NotYourShield, I’m sorry that some individuals are disrespecting the memory of Lily and I want to reiterate once again, that these individuals do not represent #GamerGate/#NotYourShield as a whole. You contributed more to #GamerGate/#NotYourShied than Ralph and certainly more than myself.