Last night on Wednesday Night Fights (2/29/2012), remarks were said by community commentators that alluded to recent events involving the Fighting Game Community (FGC) and the sexual harassment controversy that surrounds it. From time to time, members of the community will come onto our broadcast to provide match analysis and commentary. These remarks do not reflect the views and opinions of Level | Up or our affiliates, partners, and/or sponsors. It is not Level | Up’s intention to make light of sexual harassment nor do we condone it. Level | Up and its staff feel harassment of any form is wrong and that everyone should be treated respectfully.
The community commentators involved express their sincerest apologies for anything they may have said including releasing a statement themselves about the matter:
“I just wanted to say, my views and personal opinions of do not reflect Level | Up, EVO, SRK or the fighting game community and any company in any way. A lot of people know me as the nice but joking guy who doesn’t have any bad intentions.
I love this community with all my heart, and I’ve poured a lot of what I could into this community. I understand now that is it a very heavy topic that should not be lightly talked about. I misjudged a lot of things yesterday and said things I definitely should not have. I have no excuses and I hope everyone looks past this and onto a bright future.” — Martin “Marn” Phan
“I want to personally apologize for any comments made during last night’s WNF session that may have offended anyone. These were not my intentions. Please understand that any and all things that I say are not at all the views of Level | Up, SRK, EVO, or any other Fighting Game organization. The FGC is the most professional, courteous, and open gaming organization I have ever been involved in, and I apologize if any of my comments have shown an outstanding community in any negative light. I am simply someone who offers my views and commentary on an occasional basis, and if anything I may have said was considered in bad taste, unprofessional, or offensive, I take full personal responsibility for what was said. Again, I sincerely apologize for anything that may have offended anyone; I was simply influenced by the moment, and it should not have happened.” — Christian “ETR” Cain
Marn and Christian will not be invited to speak on future Level | Up broadcasts, and are reviewing our selection process for guest commentators. Again, we sincerely apologize if anyone was offended by the remarks said on our recent broadcast. As a company founded by Fighting Game Community members, it is not our intention to paint the scene in this manner; instead we stand by our mission statement and will continue to focus on showcasing the scene in a positive manner — a scene that can be professional, inviting, and competitive.
– Level | Up
Thanks to Level|Up for not letting that stuff slide.
So thanks to kotaku publishing an article I can’t hear Marn again on a level up stream.
That’s bullshit we need to stand against the media, and not budge when they attack the community.
Instead of this apology I’d rather have a post inspiring the community to work together and sort this thing out because this kind of coverage is horseshit.
ETR is great on commentary. This is fucked up, don’t let dumbass tabloids force you into making stupid decisions.
While I can appreciate the concern shown by Level|Up and its managers/owners/staff, having watched Cross Assault (and having been more than disgusted by the display of sexual harassment) as well as having watched a good portion of Weds. Night Fights last night with Marn, ETR and the rest, I find myself completely and utterly confused by this release and this statement. On review of the commentary made by those on the stream last night (handily recapped in a recent youtube video [linked by Kotaku]) I cannot find anything personally offensive with the commentary made. Humour, particularly black humour, is often used as a healing method after a stressful event – To say that the fallout from Cross Assault has been ‘stressful’ for the fighting game community as a whole would be, to me, an understatement.
It’s entirely possible that I missed it but nowhere in the commentary did I hear anything disparaging the situation regarding Miranda Pakozdi or even directly referencing what had occurred – Making light of a situation does not mean or insinuate that the root cause of said situation is anything less than dire, and I believe that the majority of the fighting game community is appreciative of how serious these issues are. To understand and appreciate the gravity of a situation, however, does not mean that all perspective and humour need be lost in the situation.
We live in a world where late night talk show hosts still reference Bill Clinton’s infamous cigar, where parody “NEVER FORGET” images flood the internet, where Hitler has become little more than a running gag relegated to memes or used to elicit cries of “GODWIN!”. To say that we cannot find relief in humour regarding a situation seems, to me, to say that we cannot and will not allow ourselves to heal or move forward.
I have the greatest of respects for the Level|Up crew and the hard work they bring to the table in their efforts to stream some of the finest fighting game matches available, and have been a subscriber to their stream since the option became available. However, based on the commentary I myself heard both last night and in the summary video floating around the internet, I find myself less concerned at what was said on-air and more concerned by this statement, which seems to be extremely knee-jerk and reactionary. With that in mind, I will be pulling my financial support from the Level|Up stream – While I wish the team all the best in the future, I find that I disagree rather vehemently with the statement posted above, as well as the stated intent to begin blocking various commentators from the stream. I would ask that they reconsider their position, as well as looking to both themselves and to the larger community for direction regarding these topics.
Thank you again for all of your hard work. Though I disagree with this statement enough to pull my financial support, my respect for the effort and difficulties of maintaining such a dedicated, stable, well-received stream has not wavered. All of the best.
As a follow-up: Having read the article/statement from Shoryuken.com regarding this matter and their decision to remove both the EVO seeding points as well as general sponsorship from WNF, I will say that I believe Level|Up’s commentary on the matter to be driven by and in reaction to those factors. While I still disapprove of Level|Up’s actions in this case and continue to hope that they reconsider, the pressure and response displayed by Shoryuken.com is of a much, much larger concern at this point.
I additionally find it disturbing that rather than addressing and sanctioning the root sources of these issues, Shoryuken.com has decided to instead censor an unrelated organization; rather than taking Capcom to task for the repeated harassment on Cross Assault, or barring Aris Bakhtanians from future events*, they have decided to take fire where they can, choosing an ‘easy target’ as a method of attempting to display some form of stance on the issue – A target that, to me, has done little to nothing wrong, and is only perhaps guilty of not including a “too soon?” at the end of their comments.
With that said, similarly to removing my financial support from Level|Up (which I would gladly reinstate should they go back on this new policy regarding removal of commentators for relatively benign statements) I will also ensure that I do not, in the future, support Shoryuken.com in any fashion, either with traffic for advertisements or by supporting any organization that is sponsored by them, including events such as EVO.
While I realize my lone removal of financial support may not mean much in the longer run, and does indeed limit myself and bar my enjoyment of certain aspects of the community, I do not, nor can I feel comfortable supporting organizations which are over-reactionary in the face of strife, which I feel is the case in the light of the comments made on-stream last evening. Again, the best of luck in the future.
* I should note that I do not necessarily endorse this course of action, but I would find it much more appropriate and understandable than Shoryuken.com’s misguided attempts at weighing in on the situation by damaging the wrong parties.
Well said ThatK
I see where you’re coming from, but I disagree. Is it fair that, in an objective sense, it seems like Level Up, WNF, Marn, and ETR are being punished more directly than Capcom, Cross Assault’s producer(s), and Aris? No, But this isn’t about being fair. Fair went out the window when someone was *most* unfairly and *very* publicly humiliated for (from what I can tell) no reason. These actions – the editorials, the punishment, and public censure of the commentators and the people who allowed it to happen – are for one dire purpose: to put a stop to hateful and hurtful behavior that it is sadly clear too many people in the FGC think is acceptable.
It would be nice if all of this were easy to deal with – if there could be clear-cut rules to define what is funny and what is hurtful. But it’s not easy. To cite an example of yours, I admit that Hitler jokes can be funny. I’ve laughed at Hitler jokes, and I’ve made some, too. But if you think that Hitler has become nothing more than a joke or a “meme” (I have no idea what “godwin” is, for the record), you are out of touch with reality. There is a reason why Sacha Baron-Cohen was prohibited from attending the Oscars. There were many people at the Oscars who didn’t show up to think about Hitler, his actions, or what he stood for. Now I feel like I am being offensive by comparing the Holocaust to Cross Assault, which is of course not my intention. My point is that sometimes people enjoy joking about serious things, and sometimes it’s extremely inappropriate.
We are lucky that the Cross Assault stuff hasn’t been picked up by the New York Times or CNN. That would be an absolute disaster. Making light of a disastrous and sensitive situation just a couple of days after it occurred was not appropriate for a public forum that is supposed to represent our community. I applaud SRK and Level Up for taking responsibility for this. We all wish that it didn’t happen, but the only thing to do now is for the leaders of our community to make a total, unwavering commitment to do everything they can to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and that is what they did here.
Before going any further, “Godwin’s Law” is basically a statement saying that as any disagreement on the internet continues the likelihood of someone referencing Hitler as a comparison (“You know who else disliked DLC gems? THAT’S RIGHT.”) reaches zero. Since we’re actively *discussing* Godwin’s Law here I dunno if we’re *invoking* it as well, but it’s pretty close. XD I also wanna say that I would have/should have replied to this earlier, but honestly I’ve been sick and just kinda *forgot* about all of this until the recent business with LI Joe’s potential Brazzer’s sponsorship, so my apologies and hopefully you’ll actually see this reply at some point or another.
You are correct, and I was somewhat hyperbolic in stating that the holocaust et. all has been purely relegated to meme status; obviously that isn’t the case and I was overstating it for effect – My sincere and honest apologies if anyone was offended by this statement. People are still aware of the tragedies that occurred, and there will always be things that remind them of the sorrow that they caused. It’s the same as with any other hardship, really – Even though time passes and the direct pain from the memories fades, there will always exist sharp reminders of terrible moments in history, both on larger scales and with incidents more personal. Every Sept. 11th I still feel a little knot in my chest thinking about my memories of that morning; sometimes I’ll get a whiff of a specific aftershave and get a little wistful remembering my grandparents. For the most part these things don’t even cross my mind on a regular basis, and typically when they do I can smile and laugh and otherwise carry on through-out my day, and that was mostly the point I was attempting to make – That humour is an integral part in that healing process. But to say that such things have no lasting seriousness to them is a misstep on my part, and for that much I apologize. And that’s about as far as I feel comfortable comparing a fighting game to terrorists and nazis so I’ll try to make my point without going further into referencing mass murder/war/genocide. 😉
That said, though, my issue *with this* was not and remains not in the harassment displayed on Cross Assault – As I’ve said, I viewed what happened as horrific, and believe that there was an incredible lack of responsibility on display from those involved, both on stream and behind the scenes. Someone should have done *something*, and they *didn’t* – *That* is a problem and something that should have been addressed. But to me it has very little bearing or relevance on what occurred *here*. As I said, and as hasn’t been denied by any parties, the reaction *to the comments made on WNF* from Tom Cannon and Shoryuken was a byproduct of what occurred on Cross Assault and a misfired attack against a group that did not deserve it. Listening to the clip of commentary again, I cannot sit here and say I feel that removing the EVO seed points from WNF retroactively was the best response to the issue, particularly when no one from Shoryuken took Capcom to task for allowing the harassment on Cross Assault to continue. If Mr. Cannon wished to take a stand, he could have barred Aris from EVO, or made a public letter berating Capcom for their lack of oversight on their stream. Instead he lashed out against a target that, I personally feel, did not deserve it in an attempt to appear as though he was “making a stand”. If he really wanted to make a stand, then there were other, better venues to do it through – But, of course, calling Capcom to the carpet would have involved potentially biting the hand that feeds, and I am certain he would rather continue to receive their monetary support instead of actually speaking out against what they allowed to happen.
As I’ve said before, my main issue revolves not around wanting to decry rampant sexism in the fighting game community – I think anyone who rallies against trying to make the FGC more inclusive needs, for lack of a better phrase, to get with the 21st century. The world doesn’t allow for boy’s clubs these days (nor should it) and anyone still stuck in that mentality frankly needs to get the fuck over it. My problem is in *how this was handled* and *who* was sanctioned and for what. I still have my qualms with how the Level|Up crew took care of the situation (as someone else here has mentioned, where were the sanctions against AJ? Those NOS girls didn’t appear on stream due purely to magic pixie dust. And I noticed no one said anything about Floe’s comments either. I may not support the removal of ETR/Marn, but if you’re going to bring down the hammer you bring it down *equally*) but the larger issue is in how Mr. Cannon and Shoryuken decided to alter their arrangements with a tournament provider based on a policy which, as far as the general populace is aware, was not laid out in full prior to this incident. I feel removal of the EVO seed points from the ongoing and (at the time) nearly finished WNF season was disingenuous and, frankly, disrespectful to the players who had put in hard, dedicated work toward winning that season of WNF – Why should everyone who had been attending WNF over the last several months be punished because a commentator said something stupid? Had they even removed the points from the *next* season of WNF as a sanction I probably wouldn’t have been as bothered by the incident as I was – Instead, by immediately removing sponsorship from WNF and then retroactively demolishing the hard work and effort put into the WNF tournament series from countless players, Mr. Cannon and Shoryuken proved that they were not interested in making a meaningful statement. They made the decision to leap onto something that I personally viewed as harmless and turned their actions regarding the matter into a platform by which to say “Sexism is wrong and we don’t like it.” Anyone is free (and, to me, welcome) to make that statement. But make it in the right way, and bring the fury to the right targets – Not those who don’t deserve it.
Very well put. I had a bad feeling about inkblot when he first posted that drama article, then the next day he goes on a rampage.
Some people just like to show how powerful they are.
Thank you miranda, for ruining the fgc.
i don’t think you’re helping or that you get it. thank YOU for ruining the FGC.
ETR actually talked about the matches though :/
Ahahahahahahaha
So i assume this means Aris will never be on Level Up again either? Good.
Also, steve better not be on, i am thoroughly offended by him making fun of both Nemsis and people with mental disabilities.
Oh yeah, better not let yipes on either, ‘bukkake magus’ is sure to offend someone.
(KAPPA)(KAPPA)(KAPPA)(KAPPA)(KAPPA)
Because ‘bukkake magnus’ is a hilarious joke. Get it? Because his costume is white? Get it?
Thatsthejoke.jpg
This is pretty fucked up considering ETR is the single greatest commentator at WNF outside of Ultra David/James Chen
I can understand wanting to keep things clean, especially after all the recent drama, but letting Kotaku (a glorified internet tabloid for anime and video games) of all places dictate what you do and say is ridiculous. Only people looking to be offended would be offended by what they said last night. What has Kotaku ever done for the fighting game scene, anyway, other than publish poorly researched articles that have popped up during the whole Cross Assault fiasco?
I want to personally say this to Alex Valle. Thank you for nipping such nonsense in the bud. I know Marn personally and he says a lot of foolish stuff with a lot of profanity. However he doesn’t really mean it. He’s a man and will accept the consequences for his actions. It’s unfortunate what happened last night as I was left wondering what happened to the stream, now I know. Thank you once again Valle for setting and example immediately and showing your true leadership ability not only as a gamer but as a ambassador for the fighting game community and gaming in large. I hope others rally behind your stern position against nonsense like that to help preserve and protect gaming.
TriForce
Guess I’m going to turn ad-block on. This decision by Level|Up is fucking stupid.
Good on WNF for having some standards, creepy manbaby victim-blaming knuckledraggers aside.
Total bullshit. The Kotaku people don’t know Marn or ETR, Level|Up do, and they still can’t realize that they weren’t trying to offend anyone. To not let them commentate and expose them like this is pretty harsh in my opinion. Fuck Kotaku.
When did Level|Up turn into a Christian server? This is BS.
Will no longer support your streams thanks to this cold corporate response trying to appease people who don’t know or understand your community. Good luck.
SRK is letting that shitty website Kotaku run the show now. Awesome. Pulling the seeding points = bullshit. Pulling the sponsorship = bullshit. Is SRK going to do the same to every other stream?
I sure hope so! Preventing sexual harassment on a public level should be done everywhere. You’re not in grade school anymore.
what the hell is this? I was watching last night, and i was not offended in the slightest. they didn’t even cast the harassment situation in a negative light. wnf’s commentators and guest commentators have always made light of current gaming issues and news. remember the yellow card incident that happened with Justin Wong? WNF had a field day with yellow card jokes. and the fact is the jokes they stated, while not professional, didn’t allude to any feelings they personally had about aris’s/miranda’s positions the situation. the jokes only alluded to the insane press coverage. it’s messed up, but i don’t think this warrants ceasing Marn or ETR’s commentary, though apologies are warranted. this sucks and it totally detracts from the WNF experience i tune into and support every time it’s aired. I agree with easy mode’s comment above; kotaku’s made about one decent FGC editorial about the hype that happens at events. the press coverage of the recent scandal and then digging up small comedic segments on WNF is just harvesting naysayers that want cleansing without knowing what’s good and bad about the stream or the scene.
“Thank you miranda, for ruining the fgc.”
“Guess I’m going to turn ad-block on. This decision by Level|Up is fucking stupid.”
this whole thing is so fucking stupid. let’s hire lisa lampanelli and then bitch when she roasts people. it’s aris’ whole fucking persona, and EVERYONE, INCLUDING MIRANDA, knows he does it for laughs. there is ZERO actual, real, sexual meaning behind the things he says. he’s not actually interested in her anymore than he when he does it to james chen or kayo police. there is FAR less REAL malice in the FGC towards minorities than there is in other communities where it’s done under the breath or behind the curtains.
she had a problem with it because unlike tournaments or other community events, her parents and family were probably watching Xassault and it’s a hard thing to explain to those types of people.
she’s now empowered ambulance chasing journalists to sensor the code filled humor of everyone involved.
neither marn or etr said anything out of bounds for a small community event. sure you don’t pop off at evo, but you can’t speak your mind at a weekly?
Way to give into peer pressure.
Fuck all these faggots at kotaku and anyone else who agrees with them.
All the jokes made about the situation were justified and hilarious.
Props to Miranda for trying to kill the FGC.
if you use the word “faggot” you probably would get off on sexual harassment.
either grow up or kill yourself.
living on the east coast I dont often get to watch your streams live (I sometimes watch the archives)
But I appreciate you taking a stance on this. I have lost a lot of respect for many players these last few days but have gained so much more for Alex Valle and co.
You’re over reacting to a stupid situation. That is all.
Most of the responses in this thread are probably a source of huge embarrassment to levelup, poor guys try to provide for the FGC only to be sold out by some of it members, who apparently, have the intellect of a gnat and the principles of a rapist.
You probably shouldn’t call out other people’s intelligence when your own post is one long run-on sentence. L2use a comma correctly.
It’s unfortunate that SRK decided to remove the EVO seeding points and sponsorship from Level|Up. Hopefully, the business relationship Level|Up and SRK have can continue once this storm blows over.
Props to Aris, Marn and the other trolls for not understanding that dumb frat boy behavior should be kept in the frathouse and not out in public.
Miranda is a dumb bitch totally fucking up the FGC. Men > Women if they wanna cry about it and not play harder then they’ll keep getting harassed and bodied. Stay Free Women.
Yeah, way to make your point like a rational human being. People like you are what’s wrong with humanity.
This is the very reason situations like this are happening. Because of people like you. The fight will continue until the issue is solidly made apparent and people like you become the dinosaurs you NEED to become. Men > Women? Seriously? You’re barely a man if you can not understand how the world works, and fairness toward the opposite sex. You exist in the realm of a boy. When you become a man, you know better than to continue speaking like you’re a prepubescent child.
ha ha ha, you are definitely a virgin.
I am calling bullshit on these apologies. They’re just sorry that you got caught.
Like Ars, who put out releases on how he was completely and entirely in the right.
Then backtracks after he gets shit on and says sorry.
” I misjudged a lot of things yesterday and said things I definitely should not have. I have no excuses and I hope everyone looks past this and onto a bright future.” — Martin “Marn” Phan”
This is an apology worth accepting.
“Again, I sincerely apologize for anything that may have offended anyone; I was simply influenced by the moment, and it should not have happened.” — Christian “ETR” Cain”
Apologizing if people “may” have been offended is not an apology, that’s what you say when the only thing you’re sorry for is being caught.
You should read Christian’s blog post..seriously you should.
html fail Blogpost: http://easiertorun09.blogspot.com/2012/03/resignation.html?spref=tw
Yknow what, reading the whole thing, point taken. The wording leaves a bit to be desired but the sentiment is clear with the whole post showing.
It sucks that Marn and Christian have become the fall guys for this whole thing. Yes, what they were saying was inappropriate, but wasn’t there someone at the helm of the stream LETTING it happen?
Hell it was actually being encouraged. That NOS girl picture didn’t appear out of thin air.
The FGC is a bunch of fucking pussies
*shakes head in disappointment*
Anyone who agrees with Marn and ETR getting banned clearly never bothered to find out what they said. There was NOTHING about what they said that was offensive in the slightest. I’m sorry, but Level|Up is WAAAY too oversensitive if they thought that was bad.
Stay classy, guys.
This movie depicts your community very well, after watching it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB1zJU08IiA
Alex Valle, level up, and SRK are striaght up pussies for do this shit.
The FGC is getting soft as hell, from frauds like Mike Ross & Jago to the Cross Assault incident, this is killing the hype. If the FGC goes back to the dark ages it won’t be because people lost interest in Fighting games….It will be because pussies with no backbone turn on each other cause they don’t want the FGC to be protrayed like its always been protrayed.
Full of pop offs. blow ups and real talk. Not this cencored bullshit.
It’s funny how Ars, Marn and the rest of them didn’t realize they were working a job since the streams were live, were being funded by someone else and were publicized as an invite-all event. Working a job, you have to tone yourself down or you face the consequences. Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, UFC all have stipulations to their commentators that you will either get suspended or fired for saying racist/sexist shit; Hell, UFC and Boxing don’t even let their fighters get away with talking shit without paying a fine or getting suspended. To expect the situation to be different here is dense and idiotic.
To compare this stream to professional sporting events is even more stupid
Except in all those examples you posted, commentators are payed for their services. Aris was/is getting some compensation for Cross Assault, but i think its only prize money if a member of his team wins, and who knows whats up with that now. But commentators for FGC streams are currently not compensated at all. You cant beg for someone to be on the mic *especially marn* and then get pissed at the things they say. Marn is not a broadcaster, he is a loudmouth. ETR’s comments were relatively harmless, besides maybe the comment about the nos girls. He apologized and went into deep detail on his blog about the regrets he felt.
C’mon people, lets stop acting like sexism is a problem with the FGC, it isn’t its a problem with gaming in general, and more over the internet in general.
I fully agree with R Truth and several other posters sticking up for Marn and Christian. It was a total bitch move to throw them under the bus for this.
What happened to freedom of speech? If you don’t like their commentary, turn the volume down. Why do the rest of us have to suffer and lose out on their commentary because a couple of spineless pansies can’t handle a few jokes? If something bad happens, you can’t ever joke about it now? What kind of censorship bullshit is this?
I’m glad I didn’t donate to LevelUp yet, because I definitely won’t be now. Fuck LevelUp, fuck Shoryuken, fuck Kotaku, and thank you AdBlock. Thanks for bringing down the FCG.
Marn and ETR should definitely be banned from being on the mic. To remove them isn’t a “mistake”, its necessary. When someone blows you up on any wide read medium, you have to answer for it. Dont any of you guys have real jobs? This is serious stuff here. If someone even hears you talking about something that can be considered sexual harassment…you’re going to HR my friends. The punishment fits the crime in this situation. I wouldn’t want some loud mouth idiots ruining anything that i worked for, would you? The excuses that they are “nice in person”, or “that’s how they are”, are the most inane and immature responses i have ever heard to something like this.
Valle, keep those fools off the mic. If people want to hear them talk, they will have plenty of chances if they go to events or watch other streams.
As for Aris, he made his statements, Superyan made hers, lets put that behind us and move on. Im sure they would like for everyone to do the same. Lets try to grow up a little.
Thanks for doing this.
Great excuse “they/he didnt meant it”
So i could punch anyone in the face and saying “i didnt meant it in a bad way, it is just for the laughs” and its ok? Some peeps can be so stupid.
Great discussion on this thread.
For those of you who are pulling your support for Level | Up over this, you’re entitled to your opinion but I think you’re fucking nuts. Over the past 12 months Level | Up has done more than anyone (yes ANYONE) to push the FGC forward. They’ve resurrected a once-great LA scene that was on hard times, and gave us the template copied by local weeklies all over the country like Big Two, TNT, and the Southtown arcade tournaments.
If one disagreement over a split-issue is enough to drive you away, then how committed to this thing are you really?
Committed enough to not support something that I disagree with on a moral basis, much like your own decisions not to support players being sponsored by adult entertainment groups or to retroactively remove a per-determined tournament reward by altering the conditions of your sponsorship well after the fact.
You can’t stand on a soap box and throw your own weight around in support of your moral standpoint while calling others doing the same thing “fucking nuts”. I believe that level of disrespect towards individuals expressing their personal opinion says quite a bit about how you view people who have contrary ideals and beliefs to yourself, and is not only unwarranted given the overall tone of a lot of the conversation, but also detrimental to the overall level of discourse regarding these sorts of topics. More simply put, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen – If you can’t take a counter-opinion, don’t put yourself out there to receive it by expressing your own.
Additionally, I should say that this is an incredibly hypocritical statement seeing as how *you* pulled *your* support from Level | Up over this situation. That would then firmly place you in the category of “fucking nuts” right alongside myself. You’re right – L|U, Valle and crew are all, to my mind, fantastic people, and I view it as a shame that you decided to take the measures you did over what I, again, personally felt were relatively benign jokes and comments. With L|U having apparently backed down from the removal of at least ETR from commentary I will be returning my support to their group – Unfortunately, however, your own comments have not shown me that you or your organization are capable of keeping a cool, calm, professional demeanor, and with that in mind I will continue to keep my financial support as far removed from your endeavors as possible. All the best. =)
oh c’mon. Kotaku is not a respectable news organization. They are the TMZ of video game news. They are vultures.
People better get ready to say goodbye to Chris Hu, AquaSilk, Yipes, TastySteve…the list rolls on.
pathetic.
Just as a follow-up, I saw ETR doing commentary on last week’s Thursday night stream. My props to L|U and the associated crew for being willing to back down from what I felt was an incredibly harsh reaction and letting the man back on air. Still haven’t seen Marn (though some would argue that’s a good thing), but I view the return of ETR as a very encouraging sign. My thanks to you guys for proving that you have level heads and rational decision-making skills – With that in mind I will be returning my financial support to the L|U crew within the month. =)