Cancelling a pre-loaded pride event because you’re scared of right wing nutcases being mean to your playerbase is the very definition of letting the terrorists win.
'No gay, no pay': The RuneScape community is absolutely mauling Jagex's new CEO over his decision to cancel new Pride Month events
Submitted 1 day ago by tonytins@pawb.social to games@lemmy.world
Comments
Furbag@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
LucasWaffyWaf@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Anti-woke go broke.
InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Go fasch, lose cash
ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Not woke? Go broke.
DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 1 day ago
Throw rocks at fascists. Okay the rhyme needs some work
Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Go woke or go broke.
arifinhiding@feddit.org 11 hours ago
Pride month celebrations were my go-to events in secret. My family doesn’t really understand the niche appeal of the game, and state religious agents can’t really “disguise themselves” ingame. But if Jagex is veering right, they might (like twitter) sell my information to security agencies the same way the Sauds/Turks did to Twitter a few years ago.
At least I get to wear my pride cape 24/7 until my membership runs out. In hindsight, It was a bad idea to assume that shooting stars/maple forestry/w301 hate chats were “isolated incidents”. They’re clearly part of an ongoing trend that has the CEO’s approval. Oh well, there’s always a countdown to good things. I should enjoy it while it lasts.
redditor_chatter44@sh.itjust.works 5 hours ago
Hell yeah
andros_rex@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Please please please email support.
regulation@support.jagex.com
The mod team is not happy about this either, and was responsive to me. Enough voices can change things.
If you haven’t play RuneScape - this has been a popular event for years. It’s always high quality fun. There have been stupid Fally protests and chuds but the events have always been really delightful.
BiteSizedZeitGeist@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Nice use of “gormless” 👏
wastelandpilot@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Wow, the way he phrased his reasoning is so undoubtedly cowardly too. He didn’t even try to hide the fact that it’s performative as fuck lol.
Fizz@lemmy.nz 1 day ago
This is extra funny because the first time a pride event was added people were protesting and spamming “we pay no gay” seems the culture has shifted.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I think it’s that the world has changed into having fractured multiple cultures.
In the 80s/90s being gay was considered by general society to be an insult. If you’re under 25, the concept of something being negative being called “gay” as the standard insult just sounds made up.
But people who are 40 years old may remember being in school, and you got a D on a quiz. Your buddy might say “You got a D? That’s gay.”
Had nothing to do with actual homosexuality. It’s just that’s what society was. Being gay wasn’t accepted, and it was cool and trendy to hate on gays to the point that it wasn’t questioned if you called anything bad “gay”.
It’s impossible to place an exact date on when the culture changed, because it likely changed at different times for different regions. I assume California was the first to change.
I first noticed the shift in pop culture around 2003. There was a russian pop singer duo/band called tatu. Terrible music, but they kissed in their one hit wonder music video.
The reactions I saw on MTV were people saying they were brave for being openly gay. Whereas if it would have happened in the 80s, I’m sure they’d have gotten death threats.
And I STILL see people who don’t accept gay people.
So society is now fractured on what popular belief is. Now it’s more like several circles, who all have different views. As opposed to one giant unified viewpoint, with those not conforming left on the outside in the underground.
Because that’s just one topic. There’s other people who are ok with gay people, but not ok with trans. So thats another circle. Now imagine every single viewpoint which has a counter viewpoint.
Whereas in the 80s, something like 92% of the vote went towards reagan, and everybody conformed to the preapproved normal viewpoints. We don’t do that anymore. We each find our own meaning of normal.
Now me personally, I don’t find giving a nazi salute to be normal. But you’ll still find herds of people defending musk. You’ll also find people like me who say fuck musk, and fuck any self identifying nazi. So, another example of how different people are now in different circles.
Jiggle_Physics@sh.itjust.works 5 hours ago
Yeah, 43 here, went to school with a kid who’s parents must have been from the 19th century, and named him Gaylord. Holy shit, I left that school after middle school, but I would honestly not be surprised if he killed himself.
HelluvaKick@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
I will not accept All the Things She Said slander
sprite0@sh.itjust.works 14 hours ago
tatu was a masterclass in queerbaiting
DarkMetatron@feddit.org 13 hours ago
The meaning of the word Gay has shifted a lot in different directions over the decades. Way, way back “gay” had the meaning of joyful and fun, without any form of connotation to sexuality. Just as a addition to your text, please don’t read it in any kind of negative meaning.
Horsey@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
I assume California was the first to change
Nope, that designation goes to Massachusetts. First state to enact gay marriage and never had a prop 8 pass as late as 2008. California was a red state, redder than Florida is now, until very recently.
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
Society is always fractured in a shift of values. More extreme examples are women rights in most third-world countries and christ/islamic values vs. secularism.
boonhet@lemm.ee 9 hours ago
I first noticed the shift in pop culture around 2003. There was a russian pop singer duo/band called tatu. Terrible music, but they kissed in their one hit wonder music video.
Unrelated rant following:
Back in around 2002-2003 as I started becoming cognitive enough to appreciate different artists and styles, I didn’t have Internet at home (Eastern Europe yay), but we had a couple of non-local TV channels somehow. One being VIVA (the German channel, not the UK one), which at some time of day just played the week’s top 100 hits for Germany, many of which were one hit wonders. Tatu was one of them, though they were more of a 1.5 hit wonder (they’re not gonna get us was half a hit compared to the big one).
This was wonderful, because it got me hearing all kinds of music as a 7 year old that I normally wouldn’t have. Where the hell else was I going to hear The Rasmus - In The Shadows, a bunch of songs by Eminem, and then suddenly Las Ketchup Song? Or for something way less commonly known: Travel Time by Starsplash
echodot@feddit.uk 20 hours ago
Of course there’s always being Nazi apologists and equally there’s always been people who are just incapable of moving with the times. That’s not a new thing that’s always been the case.
SolidShake@lemmy.world 1 day ago
In my opinion companies shouldn’t do anything about any month of anything. They often use it as a marketing tactic
NIB@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I used to believe that too, because it was pointless. But it seems that i was wrong. The fact that it was pointless, means that the corporations felt comfortable with using and abusing that to maximize profit. And the fact that they are afraid to do that, indicates how fucked things are now.
So i am ok with corporations using movements for marketing reasons, because ultimately this is the canary in the mine. If the corporations consider it a brand risk, then society is moving towards the wrong direction.
Zorque@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I’m not comfortable with companies using any kind of marketing tactics. Because 99 times out of a 100 it’s speedy and underhanded.
But since they’re going to be doing it anyways, doing it with pride, or disenfranchised demographics, at least normalizes their humanity. Which, at the end of the day, is the point of pride month et al.
Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
If you mean this about any Christmas, seasonal, 4th of July, Halloween, Easter, etc events… sure. But taking out just the Pride event is targeted.
anyhow2503@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Probably why the comment you replied to didn’t say that at all.
InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Some what of a tangent on Christmas is that there is the “War on Christmas” narrative. I am always curious about what it is supposed to mean. The Christians that are into it often take capitalism to be good as an axiom the way they do their own faith. Which is at odds with their culture war as capitalist firms are what drive the secularization of Christmas. Would a commercial with Jesus on the cross saying he is thirsty and having a Roman Soldier pass him an ice cold Coca Cola be better?
andros_rex@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
RuneScape regularly does holiday events. Theyve done it for Christmas and Halloween - like, the Christmas hats are the iconic RuneScape thing. People have paid obscene amounts of real money for them. This was no different. You get fun little items for completing a silly little quest. It’s not even like mega gay, it’s just cute and inclusive.
SolidShake@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
First time I played RuneScape was this year. The Easter stuff was fun to do.
Squizzy@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Its a tradeoff, we know they only do things for the bottom line but having pridr celebrations did reinforce exactly what the pride movement wanted to push. My work isnt that bad tbh they have a committee that runs talks and discussions on equity and exclusion and the likes. The committee likely doesnt cost much, but they get to champion it and the people in that community feel welcomed and it does help breakdown barriers.
SolidShake@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
My work turns pride month/mens mental health month into (we want to sell 3500 cars this month and also donate a few dollars to make a wish)
Better than nothing I guess. But still kinda shitty.
kelpie_returns@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Half agree. Even if many of them are just money-hungry, there is still a ton of non-fiscal value in making it clear that queerness is not a shameful anomaly and can instead be a point of both strength and pride. Lots of kids out there are stuck in families that want them to believe the exact opposite, when they genuinely need to know that the world has more to offer than just that.
I don’t appreciate companies trying to capitalize on this, but as a friend and sibling to many queer folk (and as well as being a bit fruity myself, even if not fully this or that), I think this visibility is currently very necessary and possibly even life saving for some severely stuck folks. Even if the motivation is obviously crook, I can get behind giving those people the inspiration they need to accept and understand themselves in spite of those who would rather see them hating themselves or worse.
Crikeste@lemm.ee 1 day ago
Can something be good and also a marketing tactic?
SolidShake@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Not while racism and sexism exists unfortunately
kruhmaster@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
[deleted]BossDj@lemm.ee 1 day ago
Santa’s Red suit was a staple, at least in American advertising, for decades before coca cola did it
tonytins@pawb.social 1 day ago
It’s a bit of a catch-22. As much as companies would want to, they have to maintain customer loyalty, or they risk losing money.
KubrickFR@lemmy.world 1 day ago
ryven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
Canceled Pride? Well, I canceled my sub!
Tedesche@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
If I ran a business, I would t engage in any political events whatsoever. I don’t think businesses should, quite frankly. Be politically neutral. I don’t believe doing so “supports the status quo,” and thereby oppresses people “de facto,” that’s just pressure from activists to support them. You support gay people on your service by letting them play and putting down any instances of anti-gay rhetoric on your platform. Simple as that.
OneClappedCheek@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
Calling pride month a political event is one of the most wildly bigoted takes I’ve ever heard.
NostraDavid@programming.dev 11 hours ago
Pride is a political movement - or did they not fight for the rights of LGBT people? Flags are inherently political. Flying a flag signals allegiance and identity, which are political at their core.
This makes pride month political.
Being Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transgender isn’t political in and of itself, but movements are.
boonhet@lemm.ee 9 hours ago
No, it’s definitely political. So was the Civil Rights movement in the US. So was Womens’ suffrage.
Pushing for change is political, even if it’s nearly universally agreed that the particular change is necessary and good. I agree with LGBT rights and as far as I care, they can have a month long pride if they want, it doesn’t in any way chafe my willy. However, I agree with the person you replied to. As a business, ANY stance on ANY political cause risks alienation of some part of your customer base. Doing a 180 on your stance like Jagex did is of course the worst thing you can do, because then you alienate the people who agreed with you, but the others will still remember when you disagreed with them. Once they decided to do pride, they should’ve fucking stuck to it, at least for the year where they already had events scheduled!
If I ran a public-facing business at all, it would have literally no political allegiance or opinions. No stance on LGBT rights, no political donations (not really a huge thing in my country anyway), etc. Just do my thing, provide a great service, make sure my employees and customers are happy, and… The LGBT folks can do whatever they want, I’m just not voicing support for them as a business. Even if I as a person root for equal rights, I just don’t want to take a stance as a business owner. Donations to charities, including LGBT charities, are fine - I just don’t want it to be particularly public. But then I just prefer privacy in these kinds of matters.
jellygoose@lemmy.ca 9 hours ago
Pride is political now?
🤡
sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 hour ago
Always has been
LoreleiSankTheShip@lemmy.ml 12 hours ago
The fact that business engage in Christmas celebrations instead of, say, Ramadan, is itself a political decision - it places value on Christmas over the celebrations of other religions.
I’m not saying there shouldn’t be Christmas events in games - quite contrary, I think having as many events from as many cultures would be a smart business decision and it would make a larger number of players happy. But the fact is it would be a double standard to be fine with that and not with Pride.
NostraDavid@programming.dev 11 hours ago
Christmas celebrations
Christmas is more of a cultural celebration than a Christian one, and thus not political.
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
I think its easy and smart to make political decisions as a business, it simply has to come from a place of pure empathy for real people who actually exist.
WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
If I ran a business, I wouldn’t engage in any political events whatsoever.
So you won’t have holidays, period.
zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
Do you also support gay people on your service by letting them organize and run a gay pride event on your service? Or is having to witness people celebrating gay pride too much for your delicate sensibilities?
boonhet@lemm.ee 9 hours ago
Not the person you replied to, but agree with them to some degree, at least on the fact that any strong political stances are dangerous for a business.
If I ran a service and gay people are celebrating pride on it, that’s none of my business and they can keep on doing whatever they want. Similarly, if conservatives want to throw a straight party without outright saying gay people deserve fewer rights, it’s fucking weird, but it’s their business. The moment anyone advocates for harming someone else, THAT’s when it becomes a problem for me. Goal of a business, in my opinion, is to serve as many people as possible.
I just wouldn’t want to voice support for, or against, anyone’s rights, as a business. It’s horrible that LGBT rights are a politicized issue, sure. But if I ran a business, and there are 30% otherwise quite well-behaved customers who would drop my business because I changed my logo to a rainbow colored one… I just don’t see myself doing that. If I’m providing a service at the best price/quality ratio, it would just mean they drop me to go pay a homophobic business owner even more money for the same service. Does that actually benefit anyone, other than the hypothetical homophobic business owner?
But the worst, most cowardly thing, is supporting LGBT rights and then WITHDRAWING that support. If you’re political already, fucking stick to your beliefs. Don’t abandon them the second the political landscape starts changing.
MoreZombies@lemm.ee 1 day ago
Another instance of Jagex being fucked. The cycle continues.
SnowmenMelt@lemmy.world 1 day ago
There is a player run unofficial pride house party happening on the 21st
ManlickerM2001@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 hours ago
In the year of our Lord 2025 “news” is some goober cherry picking reddit and twitter posts to push his opinion.
jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 1 day ago
CEO seems like an idiot and/or coward.
NutWrench@lemmy.ml 16 hours ago
Game companies need to focus on making good games. Take “pride” in that.
Zwrt@lemmy.sdf.org 14 hours ago
For an mmo game that was released 2 decades ago and has a large established userbase, the main thing left to do to continue being a good game is organising events for continued engagement.
graff@lemm.ee 15 hours ago
This would not have taken anything from the other teams. The assets already exist.
funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 10 hours ago
those who play games, and those who are LGBTQIA+ are both people
Etterra@discuss.online 9 hours ago
I mean RuneScape sucks anyway, so…
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
Other MMOs wish they could have been RuneScape
Rancor_Tangerine@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
I’m not sure it’s really the same kind of thing. I’d argue anyone who is genuinely interested in an MMO would like a different game better. RuneScape has more in common with an AOL chatroom or text based game than a moden MMO even by the standards for an MMO way back when.
Other games wish they were WOW and WOW is a bad game imo.
Catpurple@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
Scumbag CEO.
Deflated0ne@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Get his ass.
abfarid@startrek.website 1 day ago
I’m pretty sure this happened because sooo many players complained about the event the last times. I remember boycotts and stuff.
I’m not saying Jagex isn’t bad, but this time it’s on players.
Fizz@lemmy.nz 1 day ago
Jagex never listens to the players when they should, so they dont get to hide behind the playerbase for this one.
abfarid@startrek.website 19 hours ago
I mean, they listen sometimes. But the point is, they, as any other company, were doing it to pretend that they are cool and progressive. As the result they got mostly negative reactions. So why bother with the effort if you’re only gonna reduce your already dwindling player base. IIRC, they were very small symbolic events anyway.
Luthor@pawb.social 1 day ago
And I was just about to resub after stopping in January to catch up on my game backlog.
Back to the backlog I go!
SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
Haha it rhymes!!!
Ledericas@lemm.ee 1 hour ago
rs has been declining quite a while, especially since they have significant periods of content droughts.