by RapthorneGuild Wars 2 Drama as developer turns a discussion in to a sexist rant on twitter
We don’t usually care about social media drama here, but this has gained so much traction in the Guild Wars 2 community in the past 24 hours, I felt it needed some coverage.
In a twitter thread originally discussing the flaws of the Player Character in Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet developer Jessica Price responded to an oposing viewpoint by engaging in a sexist attack against Guild Wars 2 content creator Deroir Gaming, who made the initial reply that “set things off”.
The spark that fuelled the flames
Really interesting thread to read! ?
However, allow me to disagree *slightly*. I dont believe the issue lies in the MMORPG genre itself (as your wording seemingly suggest). I believe the issue lies in the contraints of the Living Story’s narrative design; (1 of 3)— Deroir (@DeroirGaming) July 3, 2018
This simple disagreement and offer of an opinion is all that was said to cause the developer to shoot back with claims of sexism. The full extent of the drama is showcased in the video linked above.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first incident of this developer showing a nasty side. A mere day before this particular event, she attacked another prominent GW2 content creator, MMOINKS, for offering his opinion to her, as well.
This incident has become the focal point of every aspect of GW2 social media, including twitter, the Guild Wars 2 subreddit discord community, and has become one of the GW2 subreddit’s most upvoted posts of all time.
The developer defended her sexist remarks by stating that she was using her personal twitter account, but given the public nature of her statements and her clear and obvious ties to ArenaNet through her social media posts, I don’t think that carries much weight. Many employers now take personal social media in to account with regards to employee discipline, as they still represent the company by association.
Silence from ArenaNet
As of this article being published there has been no official response from ArenaNet, Guild Wars 2’s developer, regarding the incident. Should there be any official response, we will update this article
[[Update]] President of ArenaNet Mike O’Brien has given a response on the GW2 official forums
Wow, this is the first article that acknowledges her sexism, good on you