Tuesday, October 24th 2017
NeoGAF Back Up After Sexual Assault Allegations Culminated in Offline Weekend
Users familiar with the gaming-related, mainstay forum NeoGAF have been put through a convoluted last days, to say the least. Over the weekend, users found themselves unable to access the popular forums, due to what was being called "scheduled maintenance". However, NeoGAF being a forum, details have surfaced regarding exactly why the popular web mainstay for gamers was down. Accusations sprung up against NeoGAF Tyler 'Evilore' Malka of having sexually assaulted Texas filmmaker Ima Leupp, which in turn led to an exodus of staff, at odds with what they legitimately see as inexcusable (even if as of yet unproven) conduct - and without staff, there's really no way to run a forum such as NeoGAF.Accompanying the site's sudden jump back to life was a statement from Malka, where the forum owner explains that "An allegation of sexual misconduct has been made against me by an ex. It's not true, the individual making the accusation isn't credible, the story doesn't reconcile logically with the facts, and there's plenty of evidence and witnesses to corroborate that. It'll be a process." Whether or not that is enough to stir the doubts that erupted within the NeoGAF community - both users and staff - is anybody's guess, but the fact that multiple users - including just approved accounts - have been banned - in some cases, preemptively so - doesn't bode well. Additionally, NeoGAF's "off-topic" section is being temporarily closed, but it has been announced that upon its return, all discussions about politics and social discourse will be banned. Some digital ink is still bound to be laid down in the sand before the full consequences of this event have made themselves known.In the as-of-yet developing aftermath of these event, though, former NeoGAF admins, moderators and members of the Official NeoGAF Discord account have coalesced around a new gaming platform, which they're calling ResetEra. site admins say they expect to bring the site online today, as they said yesterday: "Progress on the new forum is going well, we have secured hosting and are waiting for the server to come online. Assuming no unforeseen complications, we should be up and running by tomorrow."
Sources:
PC Games N, Techspot
46 Comments on NeoGAF Back Up After Sexual Assault Allegations Culminated in Offline Weekend
Needless to say, this will not bode well for the site's reputation (whatever's left of) nor its revenue.
I kind of liked it 10 years ago though. For all of their faults, they had worthwhile opinions on games (especially the console world). Same goes for RPGCodex...which is 100 times worse. NeoGAF isn't even in the same category. But they know good RPGs. :p
I guess this was the last drop that finally over-poured the glass, and boy what a "drop" it was.
While the allegations are serious and deplorable, im surprised so many bailed, so many 'close' to the owner. Social justice warrior sounds about right...until this is settled.
Don't use SJW as a put-down, unless you have all the facts...this is TPU, not Reddit!
Thought I did well there in saying that... I guess not! :p
(edited for spelling, and grammar...well,some of it, at least)
The term SJW is a pejorative/has negative connotations anyway. But I digress...
However, there is absolutely no reason for the insults. Wow. :wtf:
EDIT: I see you edited/had a typo on the insult at the end there (added NOT how I think of you, LOL! No worries. :)
Secondly, yes, the site was very significant in the gaming industry, but not in the sense of those other companies you're listing but more in the way that MANY high-placed figures (employees) were active members sharing feedback from major developing names, their releases, future games, and even inside updates.
I personally will not name anyone in particular because that's what made NeoGaf a great place in which you could hide behind a username/pseudonym yet hold a high chair at nintendo/MS/nvidia/sony while keeping your NDA intact (since most of them were not at liberty to share who they worked for but sometimes it was obvious)
All I'm saying is that the neogaf community did hold a serious influence in a few types of media and having it go down like this is definitely a hit close to home.
If you don't agree, that's fine, simply respect my opinion without becoming aggressive, and if you have minute or two to spare, feel free to google "neogaf in game reference"
Also, to everyone here- let's keep it civil.
A) I am a bartender, so I tend to keep it simple, short and loud...the way I have to communicate at work
B) I am a former Redskin (left-wing skinhead), and I have, literally, fought for social justice..guess that makes me easy to trigger :-)
No malice intended, just me being me.
EDIT; This seems to be a thing;
Kiss my ass if you don't like the label and want to control what people say. That's kind of my point.