Conflating Criticism with Harassment in the Modern Day

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Lost in Space

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Anyone keeping up-to-date in gaming news knows about the No Man’s Sky debacle, which was likely the biggest uproar of 2016. Studio Hello Games, lead by Sean Murray, had released one of the most anticipated games of this generation that included unprecedented features including generative worlds, legitimate space exploration, and more features than could be captured onto a game trailer. But, as most of us know, it was a massive flop that incited the gaming community in a way even EA Games could barely muster with loot boxes and googley eyes.

There was an endless list of things that the game simply failed at - countless bugs and glitches, a God-awful ending that demeaned the entire emotional investment into the game, and lack of interactivity such as voiced speak or customizable components. To some degree, it’s possible to forgive the failings of a new gaming studio that tried to bite off more than it could chew. But that wasn’t the ultimate issue. Murray spent very visible hours promoting the game at major conferences and through interviews, confidently pointing at features that were ultimately never implemented and constantly alluded to a gaming experience that was never delivered. No Man’s Sky likely marks the most notorious game where the hype (one that was put out from the horse’s own mouth) that led to high levels of pre-sales was completely incongruous to the actual result.

• The master of false hype. Source

And so two years passed and the initial angry flood eventually receded. No one heard much from Murray or the studio and the gaming community moved on, remembering No Man’s Sky as the bar set for potential outcomes when you give out more promises than you can deliver. The devs continued to pump out patches and improvements, but the scars didn’t heal well.

I pretty much thought that would be the end of Hello Games and Sean Murray for the time being, and then this article surfaces from The Guardian just a few weeks back.

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2018/jul/20/no-mans-sky-next-hello-games-sean-murray-harassment-interview

Ah. So what happened was some harassment campaign and little to do with your personal debacle? I was taken aback by the audacity of these claims. 2 years is not that long a time, and no one made a peep regarding “harassment” during that period. Murray screwed up royally and he slunk back in his cave to brave the storm. Instead of admitting all of his mistakes, the blame is now being placed on the crazies of the mob. Who knows, maybe this is the tinting of The Guardian and less so the stance of the game studio, but this nonetheless perfectly highlights the strange phenomenon of blaming everything on Twitter mobs and less so on personal failings. Everyone would agree that Murray f-ed up, likely even his teammates. To wait around, come back, and try to weave a narrative that he is in some way a “victim” is simply pathetic.

• I'm playing the world's smallest violin for you

This is an issue in a similar vein as the hypocrisy and cop-out surrounding Sarah Jeong which I discussed last week. The “it wasn’t me, I was only doing it to defend myself” is a piss poor argument to make when all evidence points to another reality. For some reason, we expect individuals to take accountability less and less these days and everyone has somehow been ‘victimized’.

• This is the definition of a "bad game." So you weren't a proponent of that 'hype'?

Let’s lay things out very simply. Sean Murray, you were criticized. You weren’t “attacked.” Tweets do not count as violence and you shouldn’t scapegoat your own (hopefully) momentary failings to others. Take responsibility and learn from those past mistakes instead of attributing them to another’s actions. The mob didn’t exist before your scandal, and they’ll likely return when they realize you’re pinning the poor reception of your failed game on them.

Cheers mate.