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[Alo0oy]

You're just guessing looking for a reason to be mad.

You dont know what Nintendo would do in that case. Firing her is enough, they dont have to send her to jail.

Or maybe, it was a job that was counter to the culture of her main job. You seem pretty adamant that Nintendo wouldn't fire the person if it was a man. Do you have any specific idea what it could be, then?

This isn't just about Nintendo, what happened is just highlighting how the entire industry is very hostile towards women, the actual existence of GG is evidence of that.

 

[Yoshi]

What's all this about her vocal views on child pornograpy? Is it true?

Depends on what you're hearing. She was saying that possession of child pornography should not be treated so harshly.

 

[sflufan]

Once the social media harassment campaign began, Nintendo should immediately have put out a statement to the effect that "Nintendo strongly condemns in no uncertain terms the use of social media to conduct a campaign against any individual associated with company in the court of public opinion. The company takes its responsibilities to its employees and other stakeholders seriously and will address these matters internally in a manner consistent with its core values." That statement means that the company wrests control of the message and all further actions away from the external pressure campaign and places it squarely within Nintendo's own internal corporate context. The company can then conduct its own review of the employee and his/her conduct, and then make its decisions accordingly.

By failing to do this -- or really anything at all -- from the outset, Nintendo allowed the narrative to take on a life of its own and created its own lose/lose situation no matter what decision the company eventually decided to undertake. By sticking its head in the sand and ignoring the problem, the company effectively guaranteed that it would appear at best "reactive" and at worst effectively surrendering to an external pressure group, and therefore deservedly reap whatever shitstorm is being flung its way right about now.

The incompetence with which Nintendo of America has handled this situation has been nothing short of galling. Note, that I am not even suggesting that they should NOT have terminated the employee. I'm pointing out that there was another way that this could have been handled that would have resulted in far less damage to both the company and the now former employee, but the stupidity of NoA's decision makers guaranteed that such an outcome would not happen.

Heads should roll at NoA because of this.

 

[navy]

hee second job didn't matter untul they needed an excuse to fire her.

They could have fired her when the entire thing started.

 

[DrROBschiz]

Depends on what you're hearing. She was saying that possession of child pornography should not be treated so harshly.

Thats uhhh..... quite the stance

I mean we definitely need justice reform in this country to have sensible measures in place to match the crime

Gets tricky with crimes involving children and I am very biased on such issues

Once the social media harassment campaign began, Nintendo should immediately have put out a statement to the effect that "Nintendo strongly condemns in no uncertain terms the use of social media to conduct a campaign against any individual associated with company in the court of public opinion. The company takes its responsibilities to its employees and other stakeholders seriously and will address these matters internally in a manner consistent with its core values." That statement means that the company wrests control of the message and all further actions away from the external pressure campaign and places it squarely within Nintendo's own internal corporate context. The company can then conduct its own review of the employee and his/her conduct, and then make its decisions accordingly.

By failing to do this -- or really anything at all -- from the outset, Nintendo allowed the narrative to take on a life of its own and created its own lose/lose situation no matter what decision the company eventually decided to undertake. By sticking its head in the sand and ignoring the problem, the company effectively guaranteed that it would appear at best "reactive" and at worst effectively surrendering to an external pressure group, and therefore deservedly reap whatever shitstorm is being flung its way right about now.

The incompetence with which Nintendo of America has handled this situation has been nothing short of galling. Note, that I am not even suggesting that they should NOT have terminated the employee. I'm pointing out that there was another way that this could have been handled that would have resulted in far less damage to both the company and the now former employee, but the stupidity of NoA's decision makers guaranteed that such an outcome would not happen.

Heads should roll at NoA because of this.

Fucking excellent post

 

[Wereroku]

hee second job didn't matter untul they needed an excuse to fire her.

Well to be fair they didn't know about the job until it was turned in by some anonymous source. If it was an approved second job she wouldn't have been fired for it.

I would like to know who the source was because they seem to be separate from the main harassment campaign otherwise we would know what the second job was because it's not like these GG assholes hold information back.

 

[Apathy]

She's claiming that moonlighting was fine for Nintendo but Nintendo us claiming employees are not allowed to moonlight a second job?

So clearly someone is not telling us the truth. Wouldn't it be grounds for wrongful termination?

 

[Lime]

I'll echo some tweets that highlight why Nintendo is the problem, not GG and also that some people are buying into the whole Rapp conversation:

the whole purpose of these campaigns is to paint a target as deserving of abuse & life ruination. stop. buying. it.

One tactic they have is to create false identity equivalents: GamerGate vs. SJW. No. It's marginalized people vs. ppl who would silence them

This is what marginalized people in tech live with. If they come for you, those with power over you will side with them and against you

Feminist Frequency ‏@femfreq 15h15 hours ago
When companies cave in to vile harassment tactics aimed at women, they send a message that those tactics of gendered abuse are acceptable.

Feminist Frequency ‏@femfreq 15h15 hours ago
Companies should support their female employees in the face of such attacks. To stay silent is to be complicit. To give in is unconscionable

 

[I Stalk Alone]

I bet she was moonlighting as writer for kaz hirai's twitter page.

 

[navy]

Once the social media harassment campaign began, Nintendo should immediately have put out a statement to the effect that "Nintendo strongly condemns in no uncertain terms the use of social media to conduct a campaign against any individual associated with company in the court of public opinion. The company takes its responsibilities to its employees and other stakeholders seriously and will address these matters internally in a manner consistent with its core values." That statement means that the company wrests control of the message and all further actions away from the external pressure campaign and places it squarely within Nintendo's own internal corporate context. The company can then conduct its own review of the employee and his/her conduct, and then make its decisions accordingly.

By failing to do this -- or really anything at all -- from the outset, Nintendo allowed the narrative to take on a life of its own and created its own lose/lose situation no matter what decision the company eventually decided to undertake. By sticking its head in the sand and ignoring the problem, the company effectively guaranteed that it would appear at best "reactive" and at worst effectively surrendering to an external pressure group, and therefore deservedly reap whatever shitstorm is being flung its way right about now.

The incompetence with which Nintendo of America has handled this situation has been nothing short of galling. Note, that I am not even suggesting that they should NOT have terminated the employee. I'm pointing out that there was another way that this could have been handled that would have resulted in far less damage to both the company and the now former employee, but the stupidity of NoA's decision makers guaranteed that such an outcome would not happen.

Heads should roll at NoA because of this.

People would have complained regardless because the end result would have been the same. Her being fired supposedly over GamerGate

 

[entremet]

Once the social media harassment campaign began, Nintendo should immediately have put out a statement to the effect that "Nintendo strongly condemns in no uncertain terms the use of social media to conduct a campaign against any individual associated with company in the court of public opinion. The company takes its responsibilities to its employees and other stakeholders seriously and will address these matters internally in a manner consistent with its core values." That statement means that the company wrests control of the message and all further actions away from the external pressure campaign and places it squarely within Nintendo's own internal corporate context. The company can then conduct its own review of the employee and his/her conduct, and then make its decisions accordingly.

By failing to do this -- or really anything at all -- from the outset, Nintendo allowed the narrative to take on a life of its own and created its own lose/lose situation no matter what decision the company eventually decided to undertake. By sticking its head in the sand and ignoring the problem, the company effectively guaranteed that it would appear at best "reactive" and at worst effectively surrendering to an external pressure group, and therefore deservedly reap whatever shitstorm is being flung its way right about now.

The incompetence with which Nintendo of America has handled this situation has been nothing short of galling. Note, that I am not even suggesting that they should NOT have terminated the employee. I'm pointing out that there was another way that this could have been handled that would have resulted in far less damage to both the company and the now former employee, but the stupidity of NoA's decision makers guaranteed that such an outcome would not happen.

Heads should roll at NoA because of this.

I wonder if they were hamstrung by NCL.

NCL is incredibly conservative. Remember NOA is just the marketing and promotion arm of NCL.

 

[UCBooties]

Once the social media harassment campaign began, Nintendo should immediately have put out a statement to the effect that "Nintendo strongly condemns in no uncertain terms the use of social media to conduct a campaign against any individual associated with company in the court of public opinion. The company takes its responsibilities to its employees and other stakeholders seriously and will address these matters internally in a manner consistent with its core values." That statement means that the company wrests control of the message and all further actions away from the external pressure campaign and places it squarely within Nintendo's own internal corporate context. The company can then conduct its own review of the employee and his/her conduct, and then make its decisions accordingly.

By failing to do this -- or really anything at all -- from the outset, Nintendo allowed the narrative to take on a life of its own and created its own lose/lose situation no matter what decision the company eventually decided to undertake. By sticking its head in the sand and ignoring the problem, the company effectively guaranteed that it would appear at best "reactive" and at worst effectively surrendering to an external pressure group, and therefore deservedly reap whatever shitstorm is being flung its way right about now.

The incompetence with which Nintendo of America has handled this situation has been nothing short of galling. Note, that I am not even suggesting that they should NOT have terminated the employee. I'm pointing out that there was another way that this could have been handled that would have resulted in far less damage to both the company and the now former employee, but the stupidity of NoA's decision makers guaranteed that such an outcome would not happen.

Heads should roll at NoA because of this.

Patrick Klepeck tweeted last night that he was actually surprised that NOA released a statement about this. Apparently they never comment on these kinds of stories. This just adds to the impression that these kinds of blowups just put them on the back foot, unsure of how to respond. They need to have an internal plan of action for how to deal with the next witch hunt so that they're not caught off guard.

 

[smisk]

The whole situation sucks, especially since it seems like a victory for gators, but I can understand Nintendo's side too. Allison is supposed to be a representative of the Nintendo brand, which needs to be family friendly and somewhat conservative to appeal to their core market. When someone who is literally supposed to be one of the faces of the company doesn't match up to that, I guess they have a reason to get rid of her.

 

[Yoshi]

Thats uhhh..... quite the stance

I mean we definitely need justice reform in this country to have sensible measures in place to match the crime

Gets tricky with crimes involving children and I am very biased on such issues

Well, comic porn featuring fictional children (possession illegal, at least here in Germany) does not involve children, but still qualifies as child porn. But independent of that: You don't need to agree with her, considering previous discussions on the matter I guess the overwhelming majority of GAF absolutely does not agree with her. The thing is just: This opinion has nothing to do with her job.

 

[UCBooties]

Thats uhhh..... quite the stance

I mean we definitely need justice reform in this country to have sensible measures in place to match the crime

Gets tricky with crimes involving children and I am very biased on such issues

See my post above for a bit more about what she actually argued and a link to the thread where you can read the thesis in question. These kinds of simplifications are not useful and honestly come off as pretty dishonest.

 

[d9b]

She wrote a thesis is college that examined the fairly thin research about the link between countries that have harsh CP laws and their rates of child exploitation vs countries that have lax CP laws. She argued that countries that are more permissive (her example was Japan) actually have lower rates of exploitation in the form of sex abuse and abduction than countries such as the US with harsher laws.

She argued that because of this we could infer that the US pressuring Japan to have harsher CP laws has less to do with actual concern for the well-being of children and more to do with pushing American sexual mores onto a different culture. She also argued that depictions of child or teen sexuality that do not involve harm to an actual child (read: drawn, animated, cg, or written) should not carry the same penalties as actual child exploitation.

As for her being vocal about these views, when the thesis was dug up by GG she defended the stance on twitter. There was a thread with a lot more details. and I'll edit this post when I find the link.

Edit: Link to thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1192693&highlight=alison+rapp

Update at the bottom of the OP has a lot of the info so you don't have to wade through that graveyard of a thread.

Ok, thanks. As a parent myself, not sure I agree with her views. As a matter a fact I strongly disagree with her views and find them appalling.

Anyway, nobody think this could be potentially a problem for Nintendo, a company that encourages parents to buy their consoles and games for their children? I would say Nintendo was looking for any legal reason to show her the door and they were happy when they found one.

 

[navy]

The whole situation sucks, especially since it seems like a victory for gators, but I can understand Nintendo's side too. Allison is supposed to be a representative of the Nintendo brand, which needs to be family friendly and somewhat conservative to appeal to their core market. When someone who is literally supposed to be one of the faces of the company doesn't match up to that, I guess they have a reason to get rid of her.

Kinda ironic that Nintendo is conservative while Japanese culture is sexually liberal (when it comes to animated works)

 

[navy]

Ok, thanks. As a parent myself, not sure I agree with her views. As a matter a fact I strongly disagree with her views and find them appalling.

Anyway, nobody think this could be potentially a problem for Nintendo, a company that encourages parents to buy their consoles and games for their children? I would say Nintendo was looking for any legal reason to show her the door and we're happy when they found one.

Heres the thing. They didnt need to look for a reason. They had one and kept her around.

 

[Saoshyant]

Sure, some dudes might get that too, but women get that type of harassment far more, if she was a dude she wouldn't have been stalked and "investigated" in the first place.

Yeah, no. You are ignoring previous cases of harassment that targeted men, and if you partake in ignoring those to pass off your theory then you are being disingenous. Not to mention disrespectful to other victims.

The harassers are picking easy targets, regardless if they are man or woman. This time it was a "she", but next time (and there will be a next time, they have drawn blood, they won't stop now) it may be a "he". Don't make this a gender issue, because it's clearly a much worse problem than that.

 

[piratepwnsninja]

Once the social media harassment campaign began, Nintendo should immediately have put out a statement to the effect that "Nintendo strongly condemns in no uncertain terms the use of social media to conduct a campaign against any individual associated with company in the court of public opinion. The company takes its responsibilities to its employees and other stakeholders seriously and will address these matters internally in a manner consistent with its core values." That statement means that the company wrests control of the message and all further actions away from the external pressure campaign and places it squarely within Nintendo's own internal corporate context. The company can then conduct its own review of the employee and his/her conduct, and then make its decisions accordingly.

By failing to do this -- or really anything at all -- from the outset, Nintendo allowed the narrative to take on a life of its own and created its own lose/lose situation no matter what decision the company eventually decided to undertake. By sticking its head in the sand and ignoring the problem, the company effectively guaranteed that it would appear at best "reactive" and at worst effectively surrendering to an external pressure group, and therefore deservedly reap whatever shitstorm is being flung its way right about now.

The incompetence with which Nintendo of America has handled this situation has been nothing short of galling. Note, that I am not even suggesting that they should NOT have terminated the employee. I'm pointing out that there was another way that this could have been handled that would have resulted in far less damage to both the company and the now former employee, but the stupidity of NoA's decision makers guaranteed that such an outcome would not happen.

Heads should roll at NoA because of this.

SFLUFAN with truth bombs. For days. Excellently put.

 

[joedick]

I wonder if they were hamstrung by NCL.

NCL is incredibly conservative. Remember NOA is just the marketing and promotion arm of NCL.

NoA's job is to represent NCL in a different culture. That is why games get localized, to match up with the culture of where it is being released. If we don't want a company to be this conservative, NOA needs to react. If people don't voice their opinion, NOA has nothing to react to and everything will blow over in a few days as they expect.

Let's not be quiet. Let Nintendo know they need to stand up to bullies. I'm a Nintendo fan and I let them know this is not acceptable to me.

 

[Mr. X]

I'm not sure what she did wrong to be fired that was related to the actual job?

Everything reads like because she was a female in a game company, Nintendo wanted her to not do certain things. I 100% understand appearance concerns with a public figure but I feel the "don't comment on the current state of women in gaming" is an unreal level of cowardice from Nintendo/any employer to enforce onto any employee if my understanding of the OP/situation is correct.

 

[Disaster Nebraska]

Haha, you guys. Victim blaming and ethics in Gomsjornolnsnfl, really?


I hate how there's absolutely no way to ever find out what shitheads do start these things. Gamergate will keep ruining this hobby as best as they can.

Alison did do absolutely nothing, except for being a woman and daring to step into important problems that don't match with the views of some stupid-ass neckbeards who blame their complete incompetence in life on everyone else but themselves, and she got fired for it. She lost her job.

Admittedly, it seems it wasn't that great of a job for her, which is where I can find at least some remnants of a silver lining, but dudes, what the hell.

This is happening in freaking 2016. Damn.


Edit: Oh, Nebraska is already talking about "Anti-GG". This will end well.

edit edit: Top of the page, really? This is just my day

This militant attitude and strawmanning helps no one.

Sorry if you think I'm your "enemy" because I said certain words.

You are forming an opinion based off one person's side of the story. That's your prerogative. Don't get mad at people who ask more questions and want to dig deeper than what was posted on Twitter. And don't label them as "victim blaming". That's rude and ignorant.

 

[CryptiK]

So from what I understand it, moonlighting is generally fine for Nintendo, but because Alison's second job is something they "disagree" with, she was fired?

Anybody that says the same thing would have happened if it was a dude is being dishonest. The only reason Gamergate started stalking her was because she's a woman.

I hope another company steps in and hires her.

Within the context of her other job which I will not mention, and the fact that it included Nintendo products its almost a guarantee that regardless of gender the person would have been let go.

hee second job didn't matter untul they needed an excuse to fire her.

They didn't know what it was until this happened.

 

[TheBaldEmperor]

hee second job didn't matter untul they needed an excuse to fire her.

Or they found out what it was. Which seems to be what happened by her own admission.

 

[DrROBschiz]

See my post above for a bit more about what she actually argued and a link to the thread where you can read the thesis in question. These kinds of simplifications are not useful and honestly come off as pretty dishonest.

Yeah but if your views and stances require detail and understanding of its nuances then you probably shouldnt be using twitter as a platform to discuss it

 

[sturgboski]

That's not the job. Why would she use a pseudonym and then put that on her Twitter?

Why would one believe Twitter evidence from a guy with the handle Rapebert? But yeah, what you said is the main retort to that evidence.

 

[pringles]

She's claiming that moonlighting was fine for Nintendo but Nintendo us claiming employees are not allowed to moonlight a second job?

So clearly someone is not telling us the truth. Wouldn't it be grounds for wrongful termination?

Nobody is lying, moonlighting is fine if the second job does not go against Nintendo's corporate culture/policy. Which it obviously did, or else as you say it would be grounds for wrongful termination.

Or they found out what it was. Which seems to be what happened by her own admission.

Exactly. People don't seem to aware of the simple realities of what working for a big company is like. Expecting Nintendo to keep constant check of all employees social media, read their thesis they wrote years before being employed, constantly try to monitor if any employees are ANONYMOUSLY working second jobs that are not in line with company values. That's not how it works. You can get away with a lot until someone catches wind of it. GG obviously are scum, but Alison would likely still have her job if she wasn't moonlighting doing something she knew Nintendo wasn't fine with. In this whole mess, Nintendo is the only party that doesn't look bad imo. But of course people still want to make them look like the bad guy because they didn't make a huge public defense of an employee who was harassed on social media. I know 100% that the president of my company wouldn't issue public statements if I was receiving harassment on social media. But apparently Nintendo needs to take care of issues that are for the police to deal with?

 

[TBiddy]

I'd buy that narrative if not for the fact that only 6% of the Wii U audience is under the age of 18.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=884312

You can be 30 and live in a family, though. But to be fair, I know that's not what you mean.

As to this case. Are there any proof of any wrongdoing by either Rapp or Nintendo? I mean, all we have is her side of the story. I'm not saying she's lying, but anyone who has just been fired for (what they feel are) the wrong reasons will have a very biased view of the situation in hand.

 

[DrROBschiz]

Outside of obeying current laws Nintendo doesnt really need to justify the termination

They are free to hire and fire who they please for whatever reason they deem fit within the confines of the law right?

 

[Lime]

Chris Kluwe sent this message to @NintendoAmerica, which people can use as inspiration if they don't know what to write to Nintendo CSR:

 

[Funky Papa]

DETECTIVE WORK IS FORBIDDEN BY THE RULES LISTED AT THE OP.

Please don't contribute to spread misinformation or doxxing people by carelessly posting unsubstained allegations and please, refrain from quoting said content as well.

 

[RichiRamjag]

In the previous thread I said I didn't have much interest in laying blame and I still don't, but this:



...I am absolutely sick of and I'm not the only one. This secret GamerGater witch-hunt shit needs to stop. Sometimes people just disagree with you. Have the maturity to accept that without ascribing clandestine motivations to total strangers on the Internet.

Yeah, it's trash. I feel for the woman and I think witch hunts are pretty shit on either side, but I still think if you are a public voice in a corporation, then you have to be extremely careful what you say. That doesn't make me a gamergate member, I don't even know anyone in my personal life who would even know what that is. It just makes me someone who is familiar with corporate restrictions in regards to social media.

While its horrid that someone would go through all that effort to put someone's job in jeopardy, you have to be careful. I've got online gaming communities I've played with for years that still have no idea of what I do for a living and I prefer it that way for this reason.

 

[Mr. X]

So there was a conflict of interest, which I'm sure every company has rules against but mine tries to use it to get rid of "problematic" employees (retail is scum).

I'm not saying Nintendo did the same thing but they could.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Once the social media harassment campaign began, Nintendo should immediately have put out a statement to the effect that "Nintendo strongly condemns in no uncertain terms the use of social media to conduct a campaign against any individual associated with company in the court of public opinion. The company takes its responsibilities to its employees and other stakeholders seriously and will address these matters internally in a manner consistent with its core values." That statement means that the company wrests control of the message and all further actions away from the external pressure campaign and places it squarely within Nintendo's own internal corporate context. The company can then conduct its own review of the employee and his/her conduct, and then make its decisions accordingly.

By failing to do this -- or really anything at all -- from the outset, Nintendo allowed the narrative to take on a life of its own and created its own lose/lose situation no matter what decision the company eventually decided to undertake. By sticking its head in the sand and ignoring the problem, the company effectively guaranteed that it would appear at best "reactive" and at worst effectively surrendering to an external pressure group, and therefore deservedly reap whatever shitstorm is being flung its way right about now.

The incompetence with which Nintendo of America has handled this situation has been nothing short of galling. Note, that I am not even suggesting that they should NOT have terminated the employee. I'm pointing out that there was another way that this could have been handled that would have resulted in far less damage to both the company and the now former employee, but the stupidity of NoA's decision makers guaranteed that such an outcome would not happen.

Heads should roll at NoA because of this.

I think Nintendo making a statement would only have made them look good without helping her. I hope Nintendo worked with the police on this.

 

[JP_]

Reminder that Nintendo partnered with Playboy to promote Bayonetta 2 and even Splatoon. I don't think the 'conservative, family friendly' persona that some of you are applying to Nintendo is that rock solid.

 

[jonno394]

Chris Kluwe sent this message to @NintendoAmerica, which people can use if they want to write Nintendo CSR:

I think i'll send them one too saying "Dear Nintendo, sorry you got stuck between a rock and a hard place with regards to what has happened. I honestly think you were damned if you do, damned if you don't. Don't worry, i'll still buy your products even though loads of people seem pissed off at you at the moment. Hang in there little buddy"

 

[Angel_DvA]

Nintendo failing to properly address issues with harassment does not insulate her from consequences of intentionally breaching parameters of her contract.

Her being terminated for breach of contract doesn't justify Nintendo's silence on the harassment of its employees.

It's simple, really.

We're done here...

 

[AlimNassor]

If it makes you guys feel any better. A majority of the GGers didn't actually support it no, they just sat by idly and watched it happen. They rarely are attempting to go through loopholes to justify it. It seems even GGers knew this was fucked but, are too stubborn to admit they fucked up.

 

[Spman2099]

Outside of obeying current laws Nintendo doesnt really need to justify the termination

They are free to hire and fire who they please for whatever reason they deem fit within the confines of the law right?

Okay?

And people are free to criticize them for their decisions. That is what is happening here.

I never get posts like this...

This is coming from one of the people that believes Nintendo was in the right if she breached her contract, by the way.

 

[DrROBschiz]

Reminder that Nintendo partnered with Playboy to promote Bayonetta 2 and even Splatoon. I don't think the 'conservative, family friendly' persona that some of you are applying to Nintendo is that rock solid.

Honestly Nintendo doesnt owe the public a satisfying explanation for firing someone

To be far social media issues is enough. People have been fired for far less controversial things on Facebook

Shouldnt this social media vs professionalism issue be common knowledge by now?

 

[80s Bad Guy]

Chris Kluwe sent this message to @NintendoAmerica, which people can use if they want to write Nintendo CSR:

Yes she was harassed, but a five minute search will reveal all you need to know about why she was a reeeeaaalllly bad fit for a family-friendly company. I don't think people should be rushing to defend the latest gg target when in this case the firing might actually be justified.

 

[Mr. X]

Outside of obeying current laws Nintendo doesnt really need to justify the termination

They are free to hire and fire who they please for whatever reason they deem fit within the confines of the law right?

If the negative attention is because gamergate types harassed a visible woman working in a company because they can, it's cowardice and might not be a valid reason.

 

[TBiddy]

Chris Kluwe sent this message to @NintendoAmerica, which people can use as inspiration if they don't know what to write to Nintendo CSR:

I think he's on thin ice, unless he has any proof that the harrasment is what got Rapp fired.

 

[Crosseyes]

In the previous thread I said I didn't have much interest in laying blame and I still don't, but this:



...I am absolutely sick of and I'm not the only one. This secret GamerGater witch-hunt shit needs to stop. Sometimes people just disagree with you. Have the maturity to accept that without ascribing clandestine motivations to total strangers on the Internet.

Finding and ousting people from the gaming community that would entertain gamer gates style of ideals should never stop. Every last person who would think that way absolutely deserves to be rooted out and thrown out and ostricized from the gaming community. We owe it to the women who have been abused for decades to not allow their filth to feel comfortable playing games.

 

[Sylas]

Reminder that Nintendo partnered with Playboy to promote Bayonetta 2 and even Splatoon. I don't think the 'conservative, family friendly' persona that some of you are applying to Nintendo is that rock solid.

There's a big difference between partnering with a company that isn't family-friendly in such a way that you can still control their output and an employee not projecting the 'persona' that the company wants their employees to embody.

It's a strange difference, to be certain, but it lies very strictly in being able to control the messaging.

It's a shame that this happened, and their timing was pretty miserable. No matter what comes out of it, it has the appearance (and possible reality) that it has to do with the GG smear campaign that happened. I'm not really saying anything that hasn't been said since there's not much more to be said, I don't think.

I will say, however, that if your second job made you feel like you needed to operate under a pseudonym--chances are you knew that your primary employer wouldn't agree with it. Sooner or later this would have happened, whether it be an accidental "find" by someone higher-up in Nintendo or because someone got really, really creepy on the internet.

 

[speedpop]

Nintendo of America has notoriously shown through the decades how behind they are. They routinely self-manage themselves in order to maintain the "all ages" appeal. This is no disrespect to them, but this is an era where age ratings and parenting protectionism are becoming meaningless dinosaurs; where a 10 year old kid can look forward to watching Deadpool in a few months time with no restrictions and nothing will affect their personality or tendencies because they are surrounded by it day-by-day whether through normal media consumption or via their peers.

It's slightly disheartening to see an employee get affected by an outdated company policy but that is what an individual needs to accept when a company makes its bread & butter in the general appeal of the populace stuck in a timewarp from 1980.


If anything the road Nintendo trods upon reminds me of Disney in the 90's. We've had the Wii success (i.e. 90s animation renaissance) but what comes next...?

It would be folly to demand a replication of the Marvel & Star Wars IP buyouts and a continued relationship with Pixar (in this case - can be assumed to be Rare?), but surely Nintendo need to realize that today's generation is far different compared to the 80's and 90's based purely on the infiltration of the internet and the huge generational change that it caused.

You'd be hard pressed to find a kid under 10 who hasn't played the latest GTA. That speaks volumes when we consider the history of DMA Design Ltd.

 

[DrROBschiz]

If the negative attention is because gamergate types harassed a visible woman working in a company because they can, it's cowardice and might not be a valid reason.

This is a tricky one

Im gonna have to think harder on this

Ideally she should be able to express herself on social media but in the current environment the consequences are a public reaction (in this case the worst kind from GG)

and a professional one

 

[Lime]

I think i'll send them one too saying "Dear Nintendo, sorry you got stuck between a rock and a hard place with regards to what has happened. I honestly think you were damned if you do, damned if you don't. Don't worry, i'll still buy your products even though loads of people seem pissed off at you at the moment. Hang in there little buddy"

Yes she was harassed, but a five minute search will reveal all you need to know about why she was a reeeeaaalllly bad fit for a family-friendly company. I don't think people should be rushing to defend the latest gg target when in this case the firing might actually be justified.

I think he's on thin ice, unless he has any proof that the harrasment is what got Rapp fired.

Everyone is buying into the GG tactic. It's the same bullshit strategy they did with Quinn, with Sarkeesian, with Wu, and now Rapp. They dirt a person to the extent that the conversation focuses on her rather than the company not standing up to the harassment.

"The whole purpose of these campaigns is to paint a target as deserving of abuse & life ruination. stop. buying. it."

Also, jonno394, you're cold-hearted person if you think Nintendo hasn't done anything wrong in this bullshit. Like sflufan posted on the other page:

Once the social media harassment campaign began, Nintendo should immediately have put out a statement to the effect that "Nintendo strongly condemns in no uncertain terms the use of social media to conduct a campaign against any individual associated with company in the court of public opinion. The company takes its responsibilities to its employees and other stakeholders seriously and will address these matters internally in a manner consistent with its core values." That statement means that the company wrests control of the message and all further actions away from the external pressure campaign and places it squarely within Nintendo's own internal corporate context. The company can then conduct its own review of the employee and his/her conduct, and then make its decisions accordingly.

By failing to do this -- or really anything at all -- from the outset, Nintendo allowed the narrative to take on a life of its own and created its own lose/lose situation no matter what decision the company eventually decided to undertake. By sticking its head in the sand and ignoring the problem, the company effectively guaranteed that it would appear at best "reactive" and at worst effectively surrendering to an external pressure group, and therefore deservedly reap whatever shitstorm is being flung its way right about now.

The incompetence with which Nintendo of America has handled this situation has been nothing short of galling. Note, that I am not even suggesting that they should NOT have terminated the employee. I'm pointing out that there was another way that this could have been handled that would have resulted in far less damage to both the company and the now former employee, but the stupidity of NoA's decision makers guaranteed that such an outcome would not happen.

Heads should roll at NoA because of this.

 

[Bots are better than you]

And what would a statement from Nintendo have done? There still would have been the issue of that foundation director attached to the situation ...

Chris Kluwe sent this message to @NintendoAmerica, which people can use as inspiration if they don't know what to write to Nintendo CSR:

Your crusade against Nintendo is this case is starting to look like simple and plain old console warrior bullshit, how about stopping this?

In the end, they did fire her for some other reasons, and because one party lying about this in open public would lead to a million high lawsuit, i'm inclined to believe that these reasons, a vague as they are, are legit.