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gaming Nintendo Fired Alison Rapp Allegedly over "GamerGate"


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I don't which side to believe in this honestly...

If Nintendo really did give into that pressure and didn't have any other good reason then I wouldn't know what to believe anymore.

I do however feel very bad for her for all that she went through. Gamergate is just not cool.

 

I am now hearing reports that she apparently CLAIMED she had something to do with those games being censored... If this is true, she kind of made herself the target of such harassment by doing so. It doesn't make the harassment correct, but if she truly was stirring up the hornet's nest, I have less sympathy than I did...

 

That being said, still waiting on confirmation, though based upon the fact that everything else has been true thus far... I'm inclined to believe it.

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I don't which side to believe in this honestly...

If Nintendo really did give into that pressure and didn't have any other good reason then I wouldn't know what to believe anymore.

I do however feel very bad for her for all that she went through. Gamergate is just not cool.

Even I wasn't entirely sure who to believe at first and I am a huge supporter of Gamergate but the evidence that Key Sharkz has poted in this thread seems to point that though she is an SJW and proud of it that her second job as camgirl and suggestive Twitter posts were what actually got her fired and that she is just playing the victim to avoid responsibility for her own actions. I have no sympathy for her but am concerned about the precedent of finding things people they don't like say online to get them fired, that is not what happened in this case but is still something worth being concerned about which is why I talked about it in some previous posts and not because I felt any sympathy for this woman who clearly deserved to be fired.

 

 

 

I am now hearing reports that she apparently CLAIMED she had something to do with those games being censored... If this is true, she kind of made herself the target of such harassment by doing so. It doesn't make the harassment correct, but if she truly was stirring up the hornet's nest, I have less sympathy than I did...

I am not denying that some SJW's can go through harassment and though I hate them I don't condone it, but the definition many of them use for harassment is so broad that I often wonder how much of it is actual harassment and how much of it is simply calling them on their BS and disagreeing with them. The fact that she openly defended a pedophile does demonstrate that she is incredibly stupid so this wouldn't be the dumbest thing she has said or done and thus wouldn't surprise me.

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(edited)

I am now hearing reports that she apparently CLAIMED she had something to do with those games being censored...

Last time she posted a claim that she was not involved in the localization of Fire Emblem Fates, and even came out in support of the removed content:

https://twitter.com/alisonrapp/status/715287118851940353

 

To be fair, the butchering of Fire Emblem Fates never should've happened.

Edited by Limeblossom
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(edited)

I don't think her being let go by Nintendo has anything to do with the masses calling for her head. There will be some saying it is so they can claim it as another victory for this grand crusade that's going on, but I don't think it had anything to do with it.  A lot of this has to do with unfortunate timing on Nintendo's part, and their lack of statement released with the termination itself is a poor decision on their part. Sure they did it afterwards, but it would have benefited them much more to release it during it. An unfortunate pattern with game companies as of late.

 

I fully think that it has everything to do with how she handled herself as a person, her moonlighting and how much of a PR nightmare she must have been. Nintendo puts off a certain image as a company, and Miss Rapp did not fit in that image in the slightest. To be frank, I'm surprised they hired her in the first place all things considered; did she not have a Twitter back when she was hired, or a Facebook? I'm employed by the Catholic Church in my area as a substitute teacher and they went through all of my social media, including my articles. The same thing happened when my SO was employed by a grocery store of all things, they went through not only his, but mine as well since we're together. As big a corporation as Nintendo is, it's surprising that this didn't happen sooner. This isn't the case of a square peg going into a round hole; this is a case of a sledgehammer trying to lightly hammer down a 9 inch nail.

 

There was no way she could have lasted. Now, allow me to speak of her paper itself because after reading it I think this needs to be stated: academically speaking, it is sound and by that I mean she did her research, structured her paper well, and did an overall good job with the paper itself. You can quickly see why it was published upon reading it and it's very clear that she worked extremely hard on it.

 

It does beg the question on who approved the paper because typically advisers will steer you away from papers that might ruin your reputation as an academic, and that paper is definitely one of them due to the moral implications of it. No matter what, once you write and publish a paper, people will know you for that work and make assumptions about who you are as a person due to the work.

I disagree with her paper wholeheartedly particularly the subject matter, but I did give it a good read in order to respect her work.

 

Ethics-wise of course, I find her actions with her tweets about the subject of her paper to be rather deplorable. It does paint a rather troublesome picture of her character, one that I can see Nintendo not wanting to associate with their company in addition to her already history with moonlighting. She works in PR as well and she should know all about putting out a good image when you work at a company like Nintendo. I understand her wanting freedom of expression, but if Nintendo wants her to have a certain image about her, she should follow that when it comes to dress code and the like. Also as someone that's in PR, she shouldn't have the power to remove anything from the game since she was Public Relations, but even if she was in support of it, she had to be. PR has to make their company look good, that's their job. If you don't do that, you're not doing your job as a PR agent.

 

There was after all some fellow who just appeared on a Podcast and was fired by Nintendo. Nintendo is a company from what I can tell is very difficult to work for because they are very image based more so than almost any other developer or publisher out there.

 

I’m probably repeating things already said in the thread but I just wanted to give my ten cents on all of it.

Edited by Seraph
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It really sounds like she's covering her ass. Or trying to. Nintendo's policy strictly said they couldn't have a second job that conflicted with Nintendo. She did that and was found out.

 

The harassment probably had nothing to do with it and she's just using it as clickbait. I find it hard to believe Nintendo ever needed to do anything if it was public knowledge that she had no direct involvement in whatever bullshit people are harassing her about.

 

Either way, I didn't even know who this person was until all this started showing up on my news feeds. I could care less about her financial well-being and this all sounds like making a mountain out of a molehill.

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Last time she posted a claim that she was not involved in the localization of Fire Emblem Fates, and even came out in support of the removed content:

https://twitter.com/alisonrapp/status/715287118851940353

 

To be fair, the butchering of Fire Emblem Fates never should've happened.

 

Yes I also heard she later was claiming she had nothing to do with it. So really, I have no idea anymore. Possibly claimed she did then changed her mind after the backlash, who knows.

 

 

 

I am not denying that some SJW's can go through harassment and though I hate them I don't condone it, but the definition many of them use for harassment is so broad that I often wonder how much of it is actual harassment and how much of it is simply calling them on their BS and disagreeing with them.

 

I will agree that a lot of the time these people's definition of "harassment" is indeed very broad and we also almost never see the extent of it, so for all we know they are exaggerating.

 

 

 

I don't think her being let go by Nintendo has anything to do with the masses calling for her head. There will be some saying it is so they can claim it as another victory for this grand crusade that's going on, but I don't think it had anything to do with it.  A lot of this has to do with unfortunate timing on Nintendo's part, and their lack of statement released with the termination itself is a poor decision on their part. Sure they did it afterwards, but it would have benefited them much more to release it during it. An unfortunate pattern with game companies as of late.

 

I agree with the poor timing, however I disagree with the lack of a statement. People being terminated used to be a private matter between the person and their company. The public isn't required to know why someone was terminated to spare them humiliation. The only reason Nintendo HAD to release a statement was because Rapp turned around and tried to make them look bad and they had no choice but to humiliate her (because if she isn't humiliated now that all of this has come out, I would be surprised, that or it just proves how vain she truly is) or risk losing a chunk of their reputation. This is what annoys me: a company has to justify firing someone to the general public because people pull crap like this. Rapp CLEARLY was hoping Nintendo would follow their own non-disclosure policy and not release why she was fired so she could get some free stabs at them, but Nintendo made the exception to protect their own reputation.

 

Her story just doesn't add up. Nintendo has actually slowly been becoming more progressive, why would they randomly take a big step backwards? It doesn't make sense.

 

 

 

There was no way she could have lasted. Now, allow me to speak of her paper itself because after reading it I think this needs to be stated: academically speaking, it is sound and by that I mean she did her research, structured her paper well, and did an overall good job with the paper itself. You can quickly see why it was published upon reading it and it's very clear that she worked extremely hard on it.

 

I honestly don't think the paper has anything to do with why she was fired. I think it's why she is getting harassed though. If so, then she took the risk and she knew what it would cause. That being said if she really is afraid for her safety, I don't condone such threats.

 

 

 

There was after all some fellow who just appeared on a Podcast and was fired by Nintendo. Nintendo is a company from what I can tell is very difficult to work for because they are very image based more so than almost any other developer or publisher out there.

 

Well yeah. Their company is based upon PR and reputation, so I would imagine you need to be ready to accept that. I don't feel bad for anyone that gets fired because they knew what they were signing up for. Nintendo is not some mysterious unknown company, so if they don't know what they are getting into, it's their own faults.

 

Excellent post though!

 

 

 

Either way, I didn't even know who this person was until all this started showing up on my news feeds. I could care less about her financial well-being and this all sounds like making a mountain out of a molehill.

 

This could be a publicity stunt by her, get fired and make a spectacle for that moolah. 

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I agree with the poor timing, however I disagree with the lack of a statement. People being terminated used to be a private matter between the person and their company. The public isn't required to know why someone was terminated to spare them humiliation. The only reason Nintendo HAD to release a statement was because Rapp turned around and tried to make them look bad and they had no choice but to humiliate her (because if she isn't humiliated now that all of this has come out, I would be surprised, that or it just proves how vain she truly is) or risk losing a chunk of their reputation. This is what annoys me: a company has to justify firing someone to the general public because people pull crap like this. Rapp CLEARLY was hoping Nintendo would follow their own non-disclosure policy and not release why she was fired so she could get some free stabs at them, but Nintendo made the exception to protect their own reputation.   Her story just doesn't add up. Nintendo has actually slowly been becoming more progressive, why would they randomly take a big step backwards? It doesn't make sense.

 

 

Well, see if Nintendo knew of her actions in the past and knew that she’d probably say something, it would have been in their best interest to release a statement upon her termination. Miss Rapp has been in the public eye for quite some time now, and firing her without a word in light of the infamous #firealissonrapp thing that was trending on twitter was just poor planning on their part. Then there’s the #optorrentialdownpour which was a mixture of the censorship controversy as well as this incident. I wasn’t joking when I said some people consider her firing as some sort of victory for a crusade.

Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t say that they had to justify it, but in the light of controversy companies have to bite the bullet and make a statement as PR-friendly as possible.

 

Now, I don’t think that Rapp should have tried to “spin”(A PR tactic interestingly enough) the story in her favor, and she should have just said why from the very beginning. It would have at least improved her public image over all, unless she’s the type that doesn’t care for that like you mentioned. I’m unsure if it’s a matter of vanity however, rather a matter of self-preservation. Trying to keep herself sane while from her perspective, all sides bore down upon her like a pack of angry animals.

I honestly don't think the paper has anything to do with why she was fired. I think it's why she is getting harassed though. If so, then she took the risk and she knew what it would cause. That being said if she really is afraid for her safety, I don't condone such threats.

 

It was definitely a big part of why she was harassed. The fact that they went and dug it up from her college, using that as ammunition against her is I think part of the big reason why she feels so attacked. She took a risk with the paper, yes. Again, I question the adviser on this one, on what they were thinking by letting her do that paper in the first place, or what she was thinking for that matter.

 

I will say that a lot of her harassment originated not only from that but on an article on a neo-Nazi news site, The Daily Stormer, one of the first comments is about getting her fired. Also, there are various 4chan threads about this whole thing as well. Just look through the archives for five minutes.

 

Well yeah. Their company is based upon PR and reputation, so I would imagine you need to be ready to accept that. I don't feel bad for anyone that gets fired because they knew what they were signing up for. Nintendo is not some mysterious unknown company, so if they don't know what they are getting into, it's their own faults.   Excellent post though!

 

Well, in the case of young man from the Polygon article, his was less of a PR nightmare and more of him discussing how translation works and how Nintendo wouldn’t bring certain games over. From what I can tell, and his case being the vaguer of the two, Nintendo just didn’t like him speaking as if he knew what the company was planning on porting over, and that they didn’t authorize talking about that on a podcast.

Basically, his was more in business bureaucracy rather that “I am the worst possible person for PR ever.”

 

Also great post!

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Well, see if Nintendo knew of her actions in the past and knew that she’d probably say something, it would have been in their best interest to release a statement upon her termination.

 

Yes, but if they had done that, no doubt people would have gotten on them for "casting the first stone" so to speak. It was a lose-lose situation for them.

 

 

 

Now, I don’t think that Rapp should have tried to “spin”(A PR tactic interestingly enough) the story in her favor, and she should have just said why from the very beginning. It would have at least improved her public image over all, unless she’s the type that doesn’t care for that like you mentioned. I’m unsure if it’s a matter of vanity however, rather a matter of self-preservation. Trying to keep herself sane while from her perspective, all sides bore down upon her like a pack of angry animals.

 

If she ends up joining the ranks of Anita and Zoe, we'll know it was for the money all along. Because  these people generally get tons of blind followers who will donate large chunks of money to them and will believe everything they do is wonderful. The more outrageous they act, the more "empowering" it appears to these followers. They know how to exploit, so only time will tell if this was the plan all along.

 

 

 

It was definitely a big part of why she was harassed. The fact that they went and dug it up from her college, using that as ammunition against her is I think part of the big reason why she feels so attacked. She took a risk with the paper, yes. Again, I question the adviser on this one, on what they were thinking by letting her do that paper in the first place, or what she was thinking for that matter.

 

I think if it was the reason for her harassment, it wouldn't have been dug up, it would have been the first thing on the chopping block. Clearly the people harassing her just wanted anything they could find. However as I said: she wasn't very smart in publishing said paper.

 

 

 

I will say that a lot of her harassment originated not only from that but on an article on a neo-Nazi news site, The Daily Stormer, one of the first comments is about getting her fired. Also, there are various 4chan threads about this whole thing as well. Just look through the archives for five minutes.

 

Reading a couple of her tweets there, I think it's clear she has an agenda regarding feminism similar to our friends Anita and Zoe... So my theory that she will join their ranks is  more likely...

 

Annndddd yup, Anita already tweeted about it. Though she didn't name any names, it's pretty obvious who she's talking about:

 

 https://twitter.com/femfreq/status/715302638858833920

https://twitter.com/femfreq/status/715302697403084800

 

Once again, Anita assuming that Rapp's story is more than just utter bullshit. So I am about 90% sure, Rapp will turn this into her new "career". Don't be surprised.

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Once again, Anita assuming that Rapp's story is more than just utter bullshit. So I am about 90% sure, Rapp will turn this into her new "career". Don't be surprised.

Of course she is, it fits her victim hood politics narrative. I wouldn't be surprised if the two of them struck some kind of deal, when is this going to stop working? I know there are plenty of people that see through it but why do there have to be so many idiots?

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Yes I also heard she later was claiming she had nothing to do with it. So really, I have no idea anymore. Possibly claimed she did then changed her mind after the backlash, who knows.

It will be a clusterf*ck once again.

 

 

Reading a couple of her tweets there, I think it's clear she has an agenda regarding feminism similar to our friends Anita and Zoe... So my theory that she will join their ranks is  more likely...

 

Annndddd yup, Anita already tweeted about it. Though she didn't name any names, it's pretty obvious who she's talking about:

 

 https://twitter.com/femfreq/status/715302638858833920

https://twitter.com/femfreq/status/715302697403084800

 

Once again, Anita assuming that Rapp's story is more than just utter bullshit. So I am about 90% sure, Rapp will turn this into her new "career". Don't be surprised.

Of course she is, it fits her victim hood politics narrative. I wouldn't be surprised if the two of them struck some kind of deal, when is this going to stop working? I know there are plenty of people that see through it but why do there have to be so many idiots?

I thought she was out of gear. And obviously spinning again. So what's next, calling everyone who wants the original Fire Emblem Fates sexist?

 

Worst of all, many Japanese studios have become afraid to release their games to the west. Some "gamesites" even gave Japanese games low scores for having bikini wearing women.

 

And Japanese gamers think the west is too prudish. If they see Sarkeesian they will, probably hate her to the core.

 

P.S. I also heard a rumor stating she made some dump statements about Japan.

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I'm going to toss in my two cents, simply because I happen to know more about this topic than I'd care to:

Alison Rapp was working for Nintendo, a family friendly company. They have a clause stating that a second job, should you have one, follow certain criteria, to avoid backfiring on their image, in their employee documentation. (I had not actually seen the document previously, but this clause is standard with many employers.)
In addition to the fact that she was moonlighting, the job itself was something akin to "camgirl", which is to say, she was exposing herself online for profit. Additionally, she had Nintendo products and paraphernalia strewn about while doing so, though I do not know to what extent.

THESE are the reasons she was fired;

A job that they felt fit clause b.5 (thank you, @Nuke87654), involving activities considered adult, and advertisement of their company, intentional or otherwise, in a way that has the potential to negatively impact the image of the Nintendo brand.
 

Koutaku actually reported on this pretty solidly.

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I'm going to toss in my two cents, simply because I happen to know more about this topic than I'd care to:

 

Alison Rapp was working for Nintendo, a family friendly company. They have a clause stating that a second job, should you have one, follow certain criteria, to avoid backfiring on their image, in their employee documentation. (I had not actually seen the document previously, but this clause is standard with many employers.)

In addition to the fact that she was moonlighting, the job itself was something akin to "camgirl", which is to say, she was exposing herself online for profit. Additionally, she had Nintendo products and paraphernalia strewn about while doing so, though I do not know to what extent.

 

THESE are the reasons she was fired;

A job that they felt fit clause b.5 (thank you, @Nuke87654), involving activities considered adult, and advertisement of their company, intentional or otherwise, in a way that has the potential to negatively impact the image of the Nintendo brand.

 

Koutaku actually reported on this pretty solidly.

 

I always take Kotaku with a grain of salt, but yeah pretty much. The short of it is: she screwed herself and she wanted to get someone else to go down with her, it didn't work.

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I'm going to toss in my two cents, simply because I happen to know more about this topic than I'd care to:

 

Alison Rapp was working for Nintendo, a family friendly company. They have a clause stating that a second job, should you have one, follow certain criteria, to avoid backfiring on their image, in their employee documentation. (I had not actually seen the document previously, but this clause is standard with many employers.)

In addition to the fact that she was moonlighting, the job itself was something akin to "camgirl", which is to say, she was exposing herself online for profit. Additionally, she had Nintendo products and paraphernalia strewn about while doing so, though I do not know to what extent.

 

THESE are the reasons she was fired;

A job that they felt fit clause b.5 (thank you, @Nuke87654), involving activities considered adult, and advertisement of their company, intentional or otherwise, in a way that has the potential to negatively impact the image of the Nintendo brand.

 

Koutaku actually reported on this pretty solidly.

 

Thank you for steering this thread back on track and linking that article.  Kotaku did a good job this time.

 

Don't even think I'll give that site a click :unamused:. They already gambled all their credibility and even more since they where part of the "gamers are dead" bullshit.

Just view the link through a proxy that way you won't give them any hits. 

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(edited)

I use Imgur as a proxy most of the time. But I'm still not gonna read that Kotaku piece.

Once I found out they are affiliated with Gawker I have been reluctant to believe anything they say on anything, but they seem to actually be right in this case. Evidence from other sources clearly indicates that they are in fact correct.

Edited by Shanks
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