It is a followup transcript I emailed him after our skype chat. The skype chat included a lot of “yes buts” on his part, so I sent him a consolidated version of his questions in which the “yes buts” were in one answer. I told him I would strongly prefer he works off of the consolidated version.

He decided to make the disjointed nature of the skype chat the theme I think. But the skype chat says all of the same things.

Here’s that in full. 

[10/14/14 1:02:48 PM] joseph_bernstein: Eron?
[10/14/14 1:10:49 PM] Eron Gjoni: Eron Gjoni has shared contact details with joseph_bernstein.
[10/14/14 1:10:58 PM] Eron Gjoni: Morning
[10/14/14 1:11:04 PM] Eron Gjoni: Sort of
[10/14/14 1:11:06 PM] joseph_bernstein: Hey there!
[10/14/14 1:11:11 PM] joseph_bernstein: Where are you writing from?
[10/14/14 1:11:30 PM] Eron Gjoni: Massachusetts
[10/14/14 1:11:58 PM] joseph_bernstein: And what is your occupation right now? Or barring that, what are you doing with your days right now?
[10/14/14 1:13:59 PM] Eron Gjoni: Well, I resigned from my job as of a few days ago. There I did computer vision, ai, and robotics. Currently I’m working on an artificially intelligent 2d animation program
[10/14/14 1:14:13 PM] joseph_bernstein: What was the reason for your resignation?
[10/14/14 1:14:39 PM] joseph_bernstein: And can you give me a way to refer to your company? An engineering firm? A software company?
[10/14/14 1:14:50 PM] Eron Gjoni: Internet warfare takes a surprising amount of dedication
[10/14/14 1:15:01 PM] Eron Gjoni: A research lab.
[10/14/14 1:15:09 PM] joseph_bernstein: Boston?
[10/14/14 1:15:14 PM] Eron Gjoni: Yep
[10/14/14 1:15:14 PM] joseph_bernstein: I just have to give slightly more specifics
[10/14/14 1:15:18 PM] joseph_bernstein: okay thanks
[10/14/14 1:15:39 PM] joseph_bernstein: So is it fair to say you resigned to spend more time participating in the greater debate around games?
[10/14/14 1:15:47 PM] joseph_bernstein: Based on what you just said?
[10/14/14 1:16:00 PM] Eron Gjoni: Not quite
[10/14/14 1:16:10 PM] joseph_bernstein: Okay, so, help me understand
[10/14/14 1:17:19 PM] Eron Gjoni: I was asked to resign, as I was getting like next to no work done.
[10/14/14 1:17:41 PM] joseph_bernstein: And were the people who asked you to resign aware of the reason why you were getting no work done?
[10/14/14 1:17:50 PM] Eron Gjoni: No
[10/14/14 1:18:01 PM] Eron Gjoni: I should rephrase
[10/14/14 1:18:12 PM] Eron Gjoni: I was asked if I felt I needed to resign
[10/14/14 1:18:22 PM] Eron Gjoni: As I looked burned out
[10/14/14 1:18:35 PM] joseph_bernstein: Okay.
[10/14/14 1:18:44 PM] Eron Gjoni: And I figured I ought to.
[10/14/14 1:19:19 PM] joseph_bernstein: Is the reason you felt burned out and were not getting a lot of work done because of the conversation around gaming that began two months ago with your post?
[10/14/14 1:19:39 PM] Eron Gjoni: Sort of.
[10/14/14 1:19:45 PM] Eron Gjoni: Two months ago
[10/14/14 1:20:15 PM] joseph_bernstein: Yes?
[10/14/14 1:20:17 PM] Eron Gjoni: It wasn’t much the conversation about gaming
[10/14/14 1:20:26 PM] joseph_bernstein: Right, and I want to get to that
[10/14/14 1:20:31 PM] joseph_bernstein: Maybe the best thing to do
[10/14/14 1:20:32 PM] joseph_bernstein: is
[10/14/14 1:20:35 PM] joseph_bernstein: I want to get some background.
[10/14/14 1:20:37 PM] joseph_bernstein: So can you start off by giving me some personal background? Where are you from? What do your parents do? What and where did you study? How did you get into game development?
[10/14/14 1:20:37 PM] Eron Gjoni: It was the harassment, doxxing, hack attempts
[10/14/14 1:21:06 PM] Eron Gjoni: All of that stuff happening and absolutely killing the conversation about gaming
[10/14/14 1:21:24 PM] joseph_bernstein: Sure
[10/14/14 1:21:54 PM] joseph_bernstein: Just restating: — personal background? Where are you from? What do your parents do? What and where did you study? How did you get into game development?
[10/14/14 1:21:57 PM] Eron Gjoni: People were willing to listen to me, so I had to spend a lot of time steering people away from destroying everything
[10/14/14 1:22:21 PM] Eron Gjoni: I’m from Albania originally
[10/14/14 1:22:31 PM] Eron Gjoni: I moved here when I was 6
[10/14/14 1:22:46 PM] joseph_bernstein: Yes
[10/14/14 1:23:16 PM] Eron Gjoni: Back there, my dad was legal advisor to the deputy prime minister or something
[10/14/14 1:23:25 PM] Eron Gjoni: And my mother was an architect
[10/14/14 1:23:30 PM] joseph_bernstein: Okay
[10/14/14 1:23:51 PM] Eron Gjoni: Immigration is generally a reset button
[10/14/14 1:24:14 PM] joseph_bernstein: Your family was successful, it sounds like. Why did they immigrate?
[10/14/14 1:24:55 PM] Eron Gjoni: My dad is now a supervisor at a circuit board manufacturing plant, and my mother is a regional HR head or something.
[10/14/14 1:25:09 PM] Eron Gjoni: A mixture of reasons
[10/14/14 1:25:11 PM] joseph_bernstein: Gotcha. And where did you grow up in America?
[10/14/14 1:25:32 PM] Eron Gjoni: War was breaking out, political climate was unfavorable

[10/14/14 1:26:03 PM] Eron Gjoni: I grew up in Worcester MA
[10/14/14 1:26:07 PM] joseph_bernstein: gotcha
[10/14/14 1:26:12 PM] joseph_bernstein: So - where and what did you study?
[10/14/14 1:26:16 PM] joseph_bernstein: College? Grad school?
[10/14/14 1:27:57 PM] Eron Gjoni: Didn’t finish college. When you get scooped up by the computer science lab at the top ************** in the country, you put college aside.
[10/14/14 1:28:44 PM] Eron Gjoni: It’s a better thing to brag with than a degree :-P
[10/14/14 1:28:53 PM] joseph_bernstein: ************?
[10/14/14 1:28:56 PM] Eron Gjoni: Yup
[10/14/14 1:28:58 PM] joseph_bernstein: And where were you
[10/14/14 1:28:59 PM] joseph_bernstein: before that
[10/14/14 1:29:01 PM] joseph_bernstein: what college
[10/14/14 1:29:14 PM] Eron Gjoni: ********************
[10/14/14 1:29:25 PM] joseph_bernstein: whoops
[10/14/14 1:29:29 PM] joseph_bernstein: what was your course of study in
[10/14/14 1:29:31 PM] joseph_bernstein: in college
[10/14/14 1:29:38 PM] Eron Gjoni: Computer Science
[10/14/14 1:29:39 PM] joseph_bernstein: k
[10/14/14 1:29:52 PM] joseph_bernstein: How did you get into game development?
[10/14/14 1:29:54 PM] Eron Gjoni: Whoops?
[10/14/14 1:30:06 PM] joseph_bernstein: I typed a command by accident
[10/14/14 1:30:10 PM] Eron Gjoni: Ah
[10/14/14 1:30:44 PM] joseph_bernstein: And when I ask how you got into Game Dev, go into as much detail as you want - did you grow up playing games? What did they mean to you
[10/14/14 1:31:06 PM] joseph_bernstein: How aware of the sort of indie games scene were you before you started dating Zoe Quinn
[10/14/14 1:31:32 PM] Eron Gjoni: I got into it in 8th grade for fun. But I didn’t start doing it seriously in any capacity until after Zoe asked me to co-driver op her project with her
[10/14/14 1:31:56 PM] Eron Gjoni: Co-develop*
[10/14/14 1:32:01 PM] joseph_bernstein: Yes
[10/14/14 1:32:03 PM] Eron Gjoni: Auto complete
[10/14/14 1:32:46 PM] Eron Gjoni: I don’t like, have a passion for games or anything
[10/14/14 1:32:51 PM] joseph_bernstein: Okay
[10/14/14 1:33:12 PM] joseph_bernstein: How aware of the sort of indie games / twine scene were you before you started dating Zoe Quinn
[10/14/14 1:33:15 PM] Eron Gjoni: They’re cool, I enjoy them as a combination of art forms
[10/14/14 1:33:33 PM] Eron Gjoni: I had played depression quest prior to meeting Zoe
[10/14/14 1:33:49 PM] joseph_bernstein: And what did you think of it?
[10/14/14 1:34:21 PM] Eron Gjoni: I thought it was an interesting thing. It worked well with its theme
[10/14/14 1:34:59 PM] joseph_bernstein: Have you, or should I say, HAD you, ever been depressed?
[10/14/14 1:35:09 PM] Eron Gjoni: So when I met Zoe on okcupid, and she started flirting with me, it was kind of a “small world” thing
[10/14/14 1:35:47 PM] Eron Gjoni: Yeah, I have.
[10/14/14 1:35:59 PM] joseph_bernstein: And so did you identify with the game and as a result with Zoe on that basis?
[10/14/14 1:36:30 PM] Eron Gjoni: No. That was just kind of an icebreaker
[10/14/14 1:36:39 PM] joseph_bernstein: Okay.
[10/14/14 1:36:50 PM] joseph_bernstein: Can you take me through, really clearly and in as much detail you want, why and how you made your decision to write down and make public your acrimonious breakup with Zoe Quinn?
[10/14/14 1:37:04 PM] joseph_bernstein: Think of this as an official explanation
[10/14/14 1:37:09 PM] joseph_bernstein: We have 100 million readers
[10/14/14 1:37:15 PM] joseph_bernstein: How would you explain it to them
[10/14/14 1:37:46 PM] Eron Gjoni: Should I be going in with the expectation that you’ll quote it verbatim, or that you’ll communicate the gist?
[10/14/14 1:38:04 PM] joseph_bernstein: To be honest with you
[10/14/14 1:38:18 PM] joseph_bernstein: I haven’t decided whether to publish this as a Q+A or a profile
[10/14/14 1:38:26 PM] joseph_bernstein: So
[10/14/14 1:38:36 PM] Eron Gjoni: I have an idea.
[10/14/14 1:38:38 PM] joseph_bernstein: I would accommodate both possibilities, with the assurance that
[10/14/14 1:38:44 PM] Eron Gjoni: reverse Q+A for this section
[10/14/14 1:39:06 PM] joseph_bernstein: My overriding concern for the article is that it communicate your views accurately
[10/14/14 1:39:19 PM] Eron Gjoni: got it
[10/14/14 1:39:38 PM] joseph_bernstein: I’m a journalist, not a polemicist, and I take that seriously
[10/14/14 1:39:57 PM] joseph_bernstein: Anyways, I just want to restate the question, so you can answer it specifically. Can you take me through, really clearly and in as much detail you want, why and how you made your decision to write down and make public your acrimonious breakup with Zoe Quinn?
[10/14/14 1:40:18 PM] Eron Gjoni: This will be a very long reply.
[10/14/14 1:40:25 PM] joseph_bernstein: be as long as you want
[10/14/14 1:40:26 PM] joseph_bernstein: but be honest
[10/14/14 1:40:29 PM] Eron Gjoni: It was a decision that took a long time to make
[10/14/14 1:40:46 PM] Eron Gjoni: It took me literally a month after breaking up with her.
[10/14/14 1:41:04 PM] Eron Gjoni: And I didn’t even let myself make it.
[10/14/14 1:42:03 PM] joseph_bernstein: Yes, go on?
[10/14/14 1:42:55 PM] Eron Gjoni: It would have been irresponsible to, in that situation. I felt like I was calm and reasoning fairly, but I couldn’t be sure. Because, I just found out my girlfriend had been cheating on me with at least five — most likely eight — people. And that’s bound to introduce some bias.
[10/14/14 1:43:04 PM] Eron Gjoni: so I asked a bunch of other people
[10/14/14 1:43:09 PM] Eron Gjoni: at least a dozen.
[10/14/14 1:43:53 PM] Eron Gjoni: mostly women, some in tech, some in gaming. friends, acquaintances, etc.
[10/14/14 1:44:12 PM] Eron Gjoni: to really get a sense of whether or not this was the right thing to do.
[10/14/14 1:44:41 PM] joseph_bernstein: Okay
[10/14/14 1:44:59 PM] Eron Gjoni: and we had consensus. It was a warning that needed to be given.
[10/14/14 1:45:15 PM] joseph_bernstein: Okay
[10/14/14 1:45:24 PM] Eron Gjoni: Are you familiar with what Zoe was known for before this debacle?
[10/14/14 1:45:34 PM] joseph_bernstein: I’ve done a lot of research
[10/14/14 1:45:36 PM] Eron Gjoni: aside from depression quest?
[10/14/14 1:45:40 PM] joseph_bernstein: but I’m more interested in your thought process
[10/14/14 1:46:11 PM] Eron Gjoni: my thought process was a consequence of what she was known for.
[10/14/14 1:46:20 PM] joseph_bernstein: So let me ask you this Eron
[10/14/14 1:46:44 PM] joseph_bernstein: A lot of people get cheated on, and many of those people have been cheated on by serial cheaters. Why did you think it was your personal responsibility to warn people about Zoe Quinn/tell the truth about her?
[10/14/14 1:47:51 PM] joseph_bernstein: And why did you need to do so publicly?
[10/14/14 1:47:52 PM] Eron Gjoni: Almost everyone who asks that is unfamiliar with her reasons for fame outside of depression quest.
[10/14/14 1:48:17 PM] joseph_bernstein: Are those the reasons you enumerate in the Zoe Post?
[10/14/14 1:48:30 PM] Eron Gjoni: I don’t care that much about the cheating, to be honest. I prefer polyamory.
[10/14/14 1:49:05 PM] joseph_bernstein: Go on?
[10/14/14 1:49:18 PM] Eron Gjoni: thezoepost is written such that none of the moral judgements made within it are mine. They all hold Zoe against her own moral standards.
[10/14/14 1:49:55 PM] Eron Gjoni: and she fails them spectacularly. and this is the problem. this is why a lot of the movement that latched on to the post is seething with this anti-SJ attitude
[10/14/14 1:50:08 PM] Eron Gjoni: because Zoe marketed herself as a “Social Justice Warrior”
[10/14/14 1:50:19 PM] Eron Gjoni: people looked up to her for the virtues she espoused.
[10/14/14 1:51:15 PM] Eron Gjoni: supporting / destigmatizing the mentally ill, enthusiastic consent, integrity / honesty etc …
[10/14/14 1:51:27 PM] Eron Gjoni: fans looked up to her for those things
[10/14/14 1:51:45 PM] Eron Gjoni: business associates trusted her based on her principled commitment to her ethical stances
[10/14/14 1:52:00 PM] Eron Gjoni: and then I find myself in a position where she tells me she is a compulsive liar
[10/14/14 1:52:08 PM] Eron Gjoni: where she has broken every one of those stances
[10/14/14 1:52:30 PM] joseph_bernstein: But I’m still curious, why did you think it was your personal responsibility to warn people about Zoe Quinn? I’m also interested in why you think her personal failures—given how common such failures are—have a bearing on her standing as a “Social Justice Warrior”.
[10/14/14 1:52:32 PM] Eron Gjoni: and even more. Ones I didn’t mention in thezoepost because they were tricky subjects, and I didn’t have enough evidence to.
[10/14/14 1:52:53 PM] Eron Gjoni: but, check out Mallorie Nasrallah’s post about her experience as Zoe’s pornographer if you want an idea.
[10/14/14 1:52:59 PM] joseph_bernstein: I’ve read it
[10/14/14 1:53:16 PM] Eron Gjoni: define personal responsibility?
[10/14/14 1:53:38 PM] Eron Gjoni: As far as I was aware at the time, I was the only one who knew. So, there was no one else who could give the warning.
[10/14/14 1:53:46 PM] Eron Gjoni: or are you asking why I thought the warning should be given?
[10/14/14 1:53:56 PM] joseph_bernstein: Yes
[10/14/14 1:54:16 PM] Eron Gjoni: she’s ruined people’s careers on at least four occasions.
[10/14/14 1:54:28 PM] joseph_bernstein: And why did that warning take the form of a very, very long blog post about your relationship?
[10/14/14 1:54:40 PM] Eron Gjoni: what other form could it have taken?
[10/14/14 1:54:47 PM] Eron Gjoni: I didn’t have access to her friends
[10/14/14 1:55:01 PM] Eron Gjoni: and she moves around a lot.
[10/14/14 1:55:07 PM] Eron Gjoni: when she exhausts one group of friends
[10/14/14 1:55:10 PM] Eron Gjoni: she moves on to the next
[10/14/14 1:55:19 PM] Eron Gjoni: so, she would have just moved on to the next group
[10/14/14 1:55:25 PM] Eron Gjoni: the warning needed to reach all groups.
[10/14/14 1:55:43 PM] Eron Gjoni: and, it needed to let her fans know.
[10/14/14 1:56:17 PM] joseph_bernstein: I guess what I’m still trying to wrap my head around is
[10/14/14 1:57:23 PM] joseph_bernstein: Lots of people date other people whose personal behavior doesn’t match their professed ethics. That’s not uncommon. And many of those people have public lives, and are artists, say.
[10/14/14 1:57:24 PM] Eron Gjoni: though, to be clear, the blog post was an emergency stop-gap. It was in fact, originally a post in a thread entitled “cringe-worthy breakup stories”
[10/14/14 1:57:51 PM] Eron Gjoni: professed ethics, and espoused ethics are two different things.
[10/14/14 1:58:11 PM] Eron Gjoni: when you preach, you gain status for what you preach
[10/14/14 1:58:16 PM] Eron Gjoni: people look up to you for those things
[10/14/14 1:58:31 PM] Eron Gjoni: I guess, consider the lead singer of the mountain goats
[10/14/14 1:58:37 PM] Eron Gjoni: who preaches a lot about abuse
[10/14/14 1:58:48 PM] Eron Gjoni: and his fans look up to him and adore him for it
[10/14/14 1:59:08 PM] joseph_bernstein: Yes?
[10/14/14 1:59:08 PM] Eron Gjoni: shouldn’t his fans know if it turns out he is actually himself very abusive?
[10/14/14 1:59:28 PM] Eron Gjoni: should they know whether or not this is the person they want to support?
[10/14/14 1:59:56 PM] Eron Gjoni: most abuse survivors would be deeply uncomfortable supporting an abuser.
[10/14/14 2:00:13 PM] Eron Gjoni: and in this case, that parallel is basically one-to-one
[10/14/14 2:00:54 PM] Eron Gjoni: it turns out Zoe was being psychologically abusive. I had no clue what the dynamics of that were at the time. So it took a bunch of abuse survivors to explain it to me.
[10/14/14 2:01:15 PM] joseph_bernstein: That’s a complex question. But what I am wondering is why you felt it was YOUR responsibility to expose this pattern of behavior.
[10/14/14 2:01:36 PM] joseph_bernstein: Did you think that if you did not do it no one else would?
[10/14/14 2:01:43 PM] joseph_bernstein: Did you think that other people were in immediate danger?
[10/14/14 2:01:58 PM] Eron Gjoni: I thought that if I didn’t, someone else would way farther down the line
[10/14/14 2:02:04 PM] Eron Gjoni: after she was much bigger
[10/14/14 2:02:07 PM] Eron Gjoni: and had much further to fall
[10/14/14 2:02:10 PM] Eron Gjoni: and more people to disappoint
[10/14/14 2:02:18 PM] joseph_bernstein: For example: You said that you conferred with a lot of other people in your decision to write it up.
[10/14/14 2:02:43 PM] joseph_bernstein: If your goal was simply, as you’ve stated, to warn other people about a pattern of behavior, why didn’t one of the other people write about it? Someone with a less obvious conflict of interest?
[10/14/14 2:03:55 PM] Eron Gjoni: Because I trusted myself to do a better job of it, I guess? But, the only people who would have been sufficiently motivated to write it would have been the people close to or in the game’s sphere. And the sphere is quite nepotistic, which meant they would have had to do it at great personal risk.
[10/14/14 2:04:19 PM] Eron Gjoni: I was out of the scene already. Zoe made sure I couldn’t contact any of her friends as soon as I dumped her.
[10/14/14 2:04:26 PM] joseph_bernstein: And also, again, if your goal was to save other people from this pattern of behavior, why did you initially post your writing in a thread called “cringe-worthy breakup stories”? That would seem to diminish its importance?
[10/14/14 2:04:27 PM] Eron Gjoni: So, I had nothing to lose, personally
[10/14/14 2:04:58 PM] Eron Gjoni: The post was long
[10/14/14 2:05:01 PM] Eron Gjoni: really really long
[10/14/14 2:05:05 PM] Eron Gjoni: and it was boring
[10/14/14 2:05:13 PM] Eron Gjoni: it read like a long depressing legal document
[10/14/14 2:05:55 PM] Eron Gjoni: That would have meant that once Zoe waved it away as the ramblings of an ex to which no one should pay any mind
[10/14/14 2:06:14 PM] Eron Gjoni: no one would bother to pay any mind if they tried
[10/14/14 2:06:24 PM] Eron Gjoni: so, I made it entertaining
[10/14/14 2:06:40 PM] Eron Gjoni: and marketed it to people who would be in the mood to be entertained by depressing things
[10/14/14 2:07:00 PM] Eron Gjoni: If I could get a large enough audience to recommend it to people before Zoe could dismiss it
[10/14/14 2:07:05 PM] Eron Gjoni: then it would proliferate
[10/14/14 2:07:15 PM] Eron Gjoni: if I couldn’t, it would be dead in the water
[10/14/14 2:07:46 PM] joseph_bernstein: One more thing on this point
[10/14/14 2:09:23 PM] joseph_bernstein: You say that Zoe’s professed ethics contradict her ethical stances as a “Social Justice Warrior”. It seems to me that in the zoepost the ethical standards the Zoe character (and I call her that because it is your account), fails to meet are personal, and having to do with you. As an advocate for social change, as a personal concerned with talking about mental health, I’m not sure that any of her behavior is contradictory at all? Or maybe I’ve missed it.
[10/14/14 2:09:58 PM] Eron Gjoni: http://negat0ry.tumblr.com/post/99983191372/i-am-still-really-confused-by-the-storyline-zoe
[10/14/14 2:10:38 PM] Eron Gjoni: http://antinegationism.tumblr.com/post/98271948916/i-know-negat0ry-is-a-friend-but-please-please-look-up
[10/14/14 2:11:07 PM] joseph_bernstein: I’m not sure that makes me any less convinced that she cares about mental health?
[10/14/14 2:11:18 PM] joseph_bernstein: Or the discussion related to it?
[10/14/14 2:11:54 PM] Eron Gjoni: When she said she was a compulsive liar, do you think she was telling the truth?
[10/14/14 2:13:28 PM] Eron Gjoni: if she was lying about being a compulsive liar, then she is purposely co-opting a diagnosis she doesn’t have in order to excuse her behavior. Which is very much stigmatizing mental illness.
[10/14/14 2:13:37 PM] Eron Gjoni: if she wasn’t lying about being a compulsive liar
[10/14/14 2:13:51 PM] Eron Gjoni: then — well you should always warn people if someone in a position of power is a compulsive liar
[10/14/14 2:14:12 PM] Eron Gjoni: PTSD and sex related trauma are also huge things
[10/14/14 2:14:18 PM] Eron Gjoni: for Zoe as well
[10/14/14 2:14:32 PM] Eron Gjoni: just accusing someone of lying about those things
[10/14/14 2:14:37 PM] joseph_bernstein: I wonder Eron if Zoe’s position of power in your life is not commensurate with the position of power she occupies in the real world.
[10/14/14 2:14:46 PM] Eron Gjoni: is directly antithetical to her views that no one would ever lie about those things
[10/14/14 2:14:48 PM] joseph_bernstein: Do you think that’s possible?
[10/14/14 2:14:58 PM] Eron Gjoni: clarify?
[10/14/14 2:15:50 PM] joseph_bernstein: Zoe Quinn obviously has by your own admission had an enormous influence in your life.
[10/14/14 2:15:56 PM] Eron Gjoni: not really
[10/14/14 2:16:08 PM] joseph_bernstein: Yet in the grand scheme of things, she made a twine game that some thousands of people played.
[10/14/14 2:16:13 PM] Eron Gjoni: millions
[10/14/14 2:16:19 PM] joseph_bernstein: She’s not in a position of power except in a very limited way.
[10/14/14 2:16:23 PM] Eron Gjoni: incorrect
[10/14/14 2:16:40 PM] joseph_bernstein: I’m interested to hear how you think Zoe Quinn is in a position of real power.
[10/14/14 2:18:59 PM] Eron Gjoni: She has destroyed a half million dollar production, and sunk an entire company that was about to be bought about by disney for like a hundred mil. She’s ruined careers of people she doesn’t like. She makes rape claims about people in the industry behind their back.
[10/14/14 2:19:06 PM] Eron Gjoni: these are very dangerous things
[10/14/14 2:19:12 PM] Eron Gjoni: and people trust her
[10/14/14 2:19:23 PM] Eron Gjoni: so when she does it, they don’t second guess her
[10/14/14 2:20:15 PM] Eron Gjoni: The problem is
[10/14/14 2:20:22 PM] joseph_bernstein: And yet, and this is the last time I want to ask this, where in your zoepost do you detail these misdeeds?
[10/14/14 2:21:40 PM] Eron Gjoni: most of her misdeeds aren’t listed in thezoepost, because I wanted to be very careful not to say anything I didn’t have proof of. And wanted to keep it down to a character analysis, hoping the people in the industry could draw their own conclusions, and the fans outside of the industry would be limited to things they personally might wish to be supportive or unsupportive of.
[10/14/14 2:21:50 PM] Eron Gjoni: If I might take a minute
[10/14/14 2:21:53 PM] joseph_bernstein: Sure.
[10/14/14 2:21:56 PM] joseph_bernstein: And we’ll move on.
[10/14/14 2:22:03 PM] Eron Gjoni: I worry that you’re succumbing to a cognitive bias
[10/14/14 2:22:12 PM] Eron Gjoni: where you’re looking at the fallout from thezoepost
[10/14/14 2:22:29 PM] Eron Gjoni: and wondering what she could possibly have done that was worth THIS
[10/14/14 2:22:40 PM] Eron Gjoni: and the answer to that, is nothing.
[10/14/14 2:22:50 PM] Eron Gjoni: she didn’t do anything so bad as to deserve all of this.
[10/14/14 2:23:02 PM] Eron Gjoni: not before writing thezoepost, anyway.
[10/14/14 2:23:17 PM] joseph_bernstein: Well, I’d say we’re all constantly succumbing to cognitive biases! But in this case, I really am trying to understand your motivation in depth. I’m not—to be honest—taking the fallout into account at this point yet at all.
[10/14/14 2:23:44 PM] joseph_bernstein: What fascinates me about this is it is something personal that became cultural. And I’m trying very hard to understand the personal dimensions before I ask cultural questions.
[10/14/14 2:24:01 PM] Eron Gjoni: Ah, okay, so, pretending the fallout doesn’t exist, really quick
[10/14/14 2:24:09 PM] Eron Gjoni: brad wardell, max temkin, josh mattingly
[10/14/14 2:24:15 PM] Eron Gjoni: do these names ring any bells?
[10/14/14 2:24:38 PM] joseph_bernstein: yes, of course
[10/14/14 2:25:30 PM] Eron Gjoni: what do you think motivated the women who spoke out against them?
[10/14/14 2:26:12 PM] joseph_bernstein: What I think isn’t really interesting to a public audience.
[10/14/14 2:26:13 PM] joseph_bernstein: What you think is.
[10/14/14 2:26:24 PM] joseph_bernstein: So I wonder what your answer to that question is.
[10/14/14 2:27:44 PM] joseph_bernstein: And then I’d like to move on.
[10/14/14 2:27:46 PM] Eron Gjoni: I don’t know the answer. What interests me, is that no one gives them a hard time for doing it.
[10/14/14 2:27:56 PM] Eron Gjoni: but, here is my appraisal
[10/14/14 2:27:56 PM] joseph_bernstein: Ok, new tack.
[10/14/14 2:28:01 PM] joseph_bernstein: When you were writing the Zoe Post, did you have any inkling that what you wrote would cause anything near the kind of reaction that it has?
[10/14/14 2:28:45 PM] Eron Gjoni: I spent the better part of a month planning all contingencies. I gave this outcome an exceedingly low probability.
[10/14/14 2:29:03 PM] Eron Gjoni: Just a sec. I want to send an appraisal of why this personal thing became so cultural
[10/14/14 2:29:11 PM] Eron Gjoni: while the other personal things made only small blips
[10/14/14 2:29:11 PM] joseph_bernstein: okay
[10/14/14 2:29:22 PM] Eron Gjoni: I haven’t published it anywhere yet, so do with it as you wish
[10/14/14 2:29:32 PM] Eron Gjoni: Game Dev: ”Josh Mattingly was being a total fucking creeper on Facebook last night.”

Games Journalists: “HOLY SHIT LET’S PUBLISH THE CHATLOGS THIS IS TOTALLY INDUSTRY RELATED.”

Josh Mattingly: ”My bad, I was drunk. I’m gonna quit.”

———-

Someone Pseudonymously Known as Magz: “Max Temkin had not-entirely-consensual sex with me one time way back in college. Well, it was more like, a crime of opportunity, but yeah.”

Games Journalists: “HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK LET’S SIGNAL BOOST THIS IT IS TOTALLY INDUSTRY RELATED.”

Max Temkin: “I have no idea what’s going on but I’m sorry.”

———-

Former Employee of Stardock Entertainment: ”Brad Wardell sort of maybe sexually harassed me.”

Games Journalists: ”HOLY SHIT LET’S PUBLISH THE COURT DOCUMENTS AND EVERY ALLEGATION YOUR LAWYER MADE UP TO HOPE SOMETHING STICKS! THIS IS VERY INDUSTRY RELATED.”

Former Employee of Stardock Entertainment: “Oh oops, no I made it up, deleted a bunch of his files. Sorry for that.”

———

Me: “So uhhh, Zoe Quinn fired me to work for someone she was having an affair with. Also she doesn’t abide by like any of the virtues she has marketed herself as an activist for. Also, by her own definition, she violated my sexual consent. Also she claims to be a compulsive liar. Also (again quite contrary to her activist stances) she purposely stigmatizes mental illness whenever it suits her interests. Basically be careful around her?”

Games Journalists: “This isn’t industry related you’re such a shithead for airing dirty laundry these are all private matters grow up you angry jilted ex.”

Me: ” Wouldn’t ‘Jilted’ would require that she broke up with me? It was the other way around. Also, I don’t really get angry because I kind of depersonalize in stressful sit—”

Games Journalists: “Angry. Jilted. Ex.”

Wolf Wozniak: “Oh shit. Zoe? She sexually harassed me at a wedding.”

Games Journalists: “Sorry what? We couldn’t hear you over the sound of how private these matters are.”

Chloe Van Keenan: “Wait — she said infidelity is a violation of consent? Doesn’t that mean she was complicit in violating my consent when she was sleeping with my boyfriend?”

Games Journalists: “Are you guys seeing all of this harassment Zoe is getting? This is totally uncalled for. I can’t believe how misogynistic this community is.”

Abuse Survivors: “Uhh, guys? Has anyone read these chatlogs? She’s being like textbook psychologically abusive here. Like, this is pages and pages of triggering.”

Games Journalists: “RELATIONSHIP ABUSE IS A PRIVATE MATTER. THIS IS NOT INDUSTRY RELATED.”

“Games Enthusiasts”: “Uhh, but we want to know these things because we don’t want to support people who do these horrible sorts of things—”

Games Journalists: “JESUS CHRIST HOW MISOGYNISTIC CAN YOU GET??”

Zoe Quinn: “I’m still trying to come to terms with everything because I thought that false abuse / rape claims literally never happened up until now. Also, uhhh, 4chan is spreading nudes of me on the internet”

Games Journalists: “HOLY FUCK THEY’RE SPREADING NUDES OF YOU?? THIS IS OBSCENE WHY WOULD THEY BE SO MAD AS TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AFTER WE’VE COMPLETELY IGNORED EVERY SINGLE THING YOU’VE DONE WRONG TO PROTECT YOU?? ARE YOU OKAY?? WE’RE COMING OVER TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE OKAY.”

Mallorie Nasrallah: “Uh, hi. Those nudes were from a porn pay site. They were back from when Zoe was doing porn. They’re not private or anything. I was her photographer at one point. Within an hour of meeting me she claimed she murdered someone who tried to rape her. These sorts of claims were not out of the ordinary for her… like I’ve met her and her ex is really right to have warned you. You guys should really be careful.”

Games Journalists: “EXCUSE ME WE’RE TRYING TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT MISOGYNY HERE.”
[10/14/14 2:29:57 PM] joseph_bernstein: Okay
[10/14/14 2:29:59 PM] joseph_bernstein: So
[10/14/14 2:30:01 PM] joseph_bernstein: I will read that.
[10/14/14 2:30:05 PM] joseph_bernstein: But while I have you here.
[10/14/14 2:30:10 PM] joseph_bernstein: Let me ask you a few more questions.
[10/14/14 2:30:19 PM] joseph_bernstein: If you had known at the time you were writing it that the Zoe Post would lead to a movement that has been characterized, in part, by the large scale harassment and abuse of people, particularly women, would you still have done it?
[10/14/14 2:31:35 PM] Eron Gjoni: If I knew that was the guaranteed outcome?
[10/14/14 2:31:45 PM] joseph_bernstein: Yes
[10/14/14 2:31:49 PM] Eron Gjoni: like one hundred percent no question that would be the thing that would have to happen
[10/14/14 2:31:54 PM] Eron Gjoni: then no, I wouldn’t have done it.
[10/14/14 2:31:55 PM] joseph_bernstein: Yes
[10/14/14 2:32:06 PM] joseph_bernstein: So, I assume you feel some regret about the outcome?
[10/14/14 2:32:08 PM] joseph_bernstein: Can you talk about that?
[10/14/14 2:32:25 PM] Eron Gjoni: No. Your question left out the other part of the things that happened.
[10/14/14 2:32:38 PM] Eron Gjoni: I mean, yes I regret the large scale harassment of women.
[10/14/14 2:32:45 PM] Eron Gjoni: but, it’s not like the story magically ends there
[10/14/14 2:32:52 PM] Eron Gjoni: or like that’s all there is to the story
[10/14/14 2:33:16 PM] joseph_bernstein: Maybe a better way of asking this is
[10/14/14 2:33:18 PM] Eron Gjoni: there are legitimate problems in games journalism. The reason this escalated is because the response by games journalists basically proved that.
[10/14/14 2:33:42 PM] Eron Gjoni: But yeah, I mean, I regret the harassment enough
[10/14/14 2:33:49 PM] joseph_bernstein: Do you think the legitimate problems that have been raised—in your words—are worth the large scale harassment of women?
[10/14/14 2:33:56 PM] Eron Gjoni: that I am making active plans to help the movement distance its self from it
[10/14/14 2:34:19 PM] Eron Gjoni: I think the large scale harassment of women is one of the legitimate problems that has been raised.
[10/14/14 2:34:34 PM] Eron Gjoni: you keep hearing about only that aspect of it because its the aspect the industry most wants to address.
[10/14/14 2:34:58 PM] Eron Gjoni: but yeah
[10/14/14 2:35:07 PM] Eron Gjoni: one of the women in the scene I consulted with before writing thezoepost
[10/14/14 2:35:13 PM] Eron Gjoni: and who suggested I should publish
[10/14/14 2:35:25 PM] Eron Gjoni: actually contacted me after the brianna wu thing
[10/14/14 2:35:47 PM] joseph_bernstein: Ok?
[10/14/14 2:36:15 PM] Eron Gjoni: and we were thinking about putting out a joint statement or something. But the climate changed and now I’m trying something else.
[10/14/14 2:36:30 PM] Eron Gjoni: she contacted me because of the harassment, I mean.
[10/14/14 2:36:34 PM] joseph_bernstein: I see
[10/14/14 2:36:44 PM] joseph_bernstein: You mean, a joint statement against the harassment?
[10/14/14 2:37:12 PM] Eron Gjoni: in essence, yes. though, you have to be a bit more nuanced when talking to a mob.
[10/14/14 2:37:29 PM] joseph_bernstein: Eron, help me understand this.
[10/14/14 2:38:54 PM] Eron Gjoni: Are you typing something or?
[10/14/14 2:39:13 PM] joseph_bernstein: yes typing
[10/14/14 2:41:04 PM] joseph_bernstein: You say you have no real passion for games and that you only really became involved in the scene because of your relationship with Zoe Quinn. And yet, you’re now telling me that the important fallout of the Zoepost is that it raised issues in game journalism, a niche industry that covers a subject about which you have no particular passion, and about which you don’t really object in the actual Zoepost. And that fallout is worth mentioning in the same breath—per what you wrote above—as the large scale harassment as women. You tweet things like this https://twitter.com/eron_gj/status/521367813081268224. Help me understand that disconnect.
[10/14/14 2:41:49 PM] Eron Gjoni: That I don’t care, doesn’t mean that other people don’t care.
[10/14/14 2:42:32 PM] Eron Gjoni: and in general, I don’t like it when people make shitty excuses for their behavior.
[10/14/14 2:43:21 PM] Eron Gjoni: also, that particular post, was spurred by Zoe’s tweet saying “she doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with journalists supporting devs through patron because there’s no quid pro quo”
[10/14/14 2:43:31 PM] Eron Gjoni: patreon-
[10/14/14 2:44:07 PM] Eron Gjoni: also, I’ve had to start caring by two months of exposure
[10/14/14 2:44:20 PM] Eron Gjoni: but, fully intend to stop caring as much as possible when this dies down :-P
[10/14/14 2:44:30 PM] joseph_bernstein: If you could directly address the people who are ranting about and making death threats against women in gaming, what would you tell them?
[10/14/14 2:45:11 PM] Eron Gjoni: Stop trolling.
[10/14/14 2:45:45 PM] Eron Gjoni: I have a lot of thoughts on this
[10/14/14 2:45:56 PM] joseph_bernstein: Okay.
[10/14/14 2:46:11 PM] Eron Gjoni: basically, no one will speak to GamerGate because there are people within it who harass others
[10/14/14 2:46:22 PM] Eron Gjoni: GamerGate is trying every freaking thing it can to get those people out
[10/14/14 2:46:35 PM] Eron Gjoni: but they don’t stop. Because people jump in to the noise just to keep things dramatic
[10/14/14 2:46:49 PM] Eron Gjoni: they’re really just actively stirring shit up for fun
[10/14/14 2:46:51 PM] joseph_bernstein: Well what does that tell you about the group in general?
[10/14/14 2:47:09 PM] Eron Gjoni: nothing
[10/14/14 2:47:16 PM] Eron Gjoni: how could that tell you anything about a group in general?
[10/14/14 2:47:34 PM] joseph_bernstein: I’d really like you to answer that original question.
[10/14/14 2:47:41 PM] joseph_bernstein: If you could address those people, what would you say?
[10/14/14 2:49:41 PM] Eron Gjoni: I would say stop ruining everything. You’ve had your fun, go away, there are actual issues to address, and you’re ruining them for everyone. And you know you’re ruining them for everyone, that’s exactly why you’re doing it. But please, just go do something else for a while.
[10/14/14 2:50:51 PM] Eron Gjoni: or, in other words, stop trolling
[10/14/14 2:51:30 PM] joseph_bernstein: Okay. I’m wondering what you would say, if you could to the women who have been harassed and terrified by elements of a movement that exists largely because of something that you wrote.
[10/14/14 2:52:49 PM] Eron Gjoni: ~rolls eyes~
[10/14/14 2:53:09 PM] joseph_bernstein: I’m wondering why you think that’s something to roll your eyes at?
[10/14/14 2:53:28 PM] Eron Gjoni: because you’ve decided this happened because of what I wrote
[10/14/14 2:53:59 PM] Eron Gjoni: There were a long sequence of events both before and after this outcome
[10/14/14 2:54:09 PM] Eron Gjoni: err, both before and after thezoepost
[10/14/14 2:54:11 PM] joseph_bernstein: I know you didn’t intend for this to happen.
[10/14/14 2:54:31 PM] joseph_bernstein: But given that it has, and that your letter was the spark, which you cannot deny, what would you say to these women?
[10/14/14 2:54:39 PM] Eron Gjoni: thezoepost wasn’t the one that made harassment of women most probable
[10/14/14 2:54:55 PM] Eron Gjoni: but, I can’t deny my letter was the spark
[10/14/14 2:55:18 PM] joseph_bernstein: Right.
[10/14/14 2:55:34 PM] Eron Gjoni: and in which case, I guess I feel compelled to offer an apology to them. But also don’t know how to do that without taking the responsibility away from people who are actually doing the harassment.
[10/14/14 2:55:41 PM] Eron Gjoni: So uh
[10/14/14 2:55:55 PM] Eron Gjoni: But, I guess, let me know how I can make it up to you?
[10/14/14 2:56:13 PM] joseph_bernstein: Gotcha.
[10/14/14 2:56:15 PM] joseph_bernstein: Ok, lastly
[10/14/14 2:56:46 PM] joseph_bernstein: I’d like to know what steps you are taking to help #GamerGate move away from people doing harassment.
[10/14/14 2:57:23 PM] Eron Gjoni: I feel like you’ve already decided the article you’re going to write
[10/14/14 2:57:46 PM] joseph_bernstein: Eron, I’m not sure what kind of article I’m going to write.
[10/14/14 2:58:06 PM] joseph_bernstein: I need to look at and think about your answers!
[10/14/14 2:58:59 PM] Eron Gjoni: Alright, I guess to make it clear though. If I could go back in time and tell myself not to do this. I wouldn’t.
[10/14/14 2:59:09 PM] Eron Gjoni: That is, I wouldn’t tell myself not to.
[10/14/14 2:59:14 PM] joseph_bernstein: Why?
[10/14/14 2:59:53 PM] Eron Gjoni: Because it’s for the best. Regardless of how the outcome is actually getting painted. As this giant harassment campaign against women filled with all sorts of death threats
[10/14/14 3:00:02 PM] Eron Gjoni: on the ground the movement isn’t barely like that
[10/14/14 3:00:22 PM] joseph_bernstein: How do you mean?
[10/14/14 3:00:23 PM] Eron Gjoni: it happens every now and then when someone attacks the movement. And the movement hates that it happens
[10/14/14 3:00:39 PM] Eron Gjoni: but like, most of the comments on twitter are polite and well reasoned
[10/14/14 3:00:52 PM] Eron Gjoni: there are podcast debates trying to reach out to people from other sides
[10/14/14 3:01:10 PM] Eron Gjoni: there are strategic discussions internally on how to try to improve the movement’s image
[10/14/14 3:01:24 PM] joseph_bernstein: I still don’t understand why you identify so closely with this movement, about a medium which you claim not to care about, when your original stated purpose in writing the article was to warn people about one specific person, your ex-girlfriend.
[10/14/14 3:01:37 PM] Eron Gjoni: it’s not the angry mob it’s been made out to be. And it’s been made out to be an angry mob because all of the articles on it are based on the articles that came from back when it was an angry mob.
[10/14/14 3:01:48 PM] Eron Gjoni: I don’t identify with the movement
[10/14/14 3:01:58 PM] Eron Gjoni: I’ve just had to do damage control for the past two months
[10/14/14 3:02:07 PM] Eron Gjoni: it has views which are directly antithetical to my own
[10/14/14 3:02:13 PM] Eron Gjoni: but, I understand the movement in and out
[10/14/14 3:02:22 PM] joseph_bernstein: Why do you think it’s your responsibility to do damage control about the movement? Why don’t you simply distance yourself from it?
[10/14/14 3:02:28 PM] Eron Gjoni: because I’ve had to just to keep it from spliting the earth in two
[10/14/14 3:02:43 PM] Eron Gjoni: because last time I distanced myself from it, poltroon got hacked.
[10/14/14 3:02:49 PM] Eron Gjoni: polytron-
[10/14/14 3:03:03 PM] joseph_bernstein: Why do you think that’s your responsibility?
[10/14/14 3:04:14 PM] Eron Gjoni: spiderman quote
[10/14/14 3:04:32 PM] joseph_bernstein: Is the reason that you’re afraid to publicly distance yourself from the gamergate movement because you’re afraid of it?
[10/14/14 3:04:48 PM] joseph_bernstein: Sorry, reason that you won’t*
[10/14/14 3:05:04 PM] Eron Gjoni: People in the movement listen to what I have to say, because I have information it wants. So, I have a responsibility to say things that help fix the situation.
[10/14/14 3:05:28 PM] Eron Gjoni: I’m not afraid of it. It’s not a scary movement.
[10/14/14 3:05:34 PM] joseph_bernstein: What information do you still have that #GamerGate wants?
[10/14/14 3:05:49 PM] Eron Gjoni: Don’t trash talk or belittle it, and it won’t trash talk or belittle you
[10/14/14 3:06:13 PM] Eron Gjoni: just knowledge of the landscape.
[10/14/14 3:06:21 PM] Eron Gjoni: my opinions are better informed
[10/14/14 3:06:30 PM] joseph_bernstein: Okay.
[10/14/14 3:06:44 PM] Eron Gjoni: this isn’t to say it was never a scary movement
[10/14/14 3:06:48 PM] Eron Gjoni: it certainly used to be
[10/14/14 3:06:58 PM] Eron Gjoni: again, that’s why you got the initial horrid articles
[10/14/14 3:07:02 PM] joseph_bernstein: Look, i just want to clarify one final point
[10/14/14 3:07:08 PM] joseph_bernstein: That I asked and I think you answered
[10/14/14 3:07:10 PM] joseph_bernstein: but I want to be sure
[10/14/14 3:07:18 PM] Eron Gjoni: but now you have this problem where people actually make fun of the movement for being too polite
[10/14/14 3:07:21 PM] Eron Gjoni: which — what?
[10/14/14 3:07:24 PM] joseph_bernstein: Do you think the legitimate problems that have been raised—in your words—are worth the large scale harassment of women?
[10/14/14 3:08:37 PM] Eron Gjoni: I think the “large scale harassment of women” is not as large scale as you think. It is just over-reported. And I think the large scale harassment of women is in its self one of the legitimate problems that has been raised. Which is why it’s over-reported. It’s the thing people in the scene want to talk about the most
[10/14/14 3:08:52 PM] Eron Gjoni: and there is large scale harassment of men as well
[10/14/14 3:09:17 PM] joseph_bernstein: Let me rephrase
[10/14/14 3:09:22 PM] joseph_bernstein: Do you think the legitimate problems that have been raised—in your words—are worth the harassment of women?
[10/14/14 3:09:45 PM] joseph_bernstein: Any women?
[10/14/14 3:10:44 PM] Eron Gjoni: why women, specifically?
[10/14/14 3:11:15 PM] Eron Gjoni: do you think any issues are worth the harassment of anyone?
[10/14/14 3:11:27 PM] joseph_bernstein: Because women are more vulnerable and less protected than men, in countless ways.
[10/14/14 3:11:27 PM] Eron Gjoni: mind you, harassment often amounts to “mean things are being said on the internet”
[10/14/14 3:11:55 PM] Eron Gjoni: Are those ways actually relevant to the sorts of harassment they’re receiving?
[10/14/14 3:12:17 PM] joseph_bernstein: Do you think they are?
[10/14/14 3:12:29 PM] Eron Gjoni: I think a death threat is a death threat, regardless of your gender.
[10/14/14 3:12:46 PM] Eron Gjoni: everyone finds death equally threatening
[10/14/14 3:12:47 PM] joseph_bernstein: Do you think the legitimate problems that have been raised—in your words—are worth the sending of death threats?
[10/14/14 3:13:00 PM] Eron Gjoni: certainly not
[10/14/14 3:13:11 PM] joseph_bernstein: And yet you’d do it again?
[10/14/14 3:13:19 PM] joseph_bernstein: Write the zoepost again?
[10/14/14 3:14:20 PM] Eron Gjoni: If it could guarantee that no one in the world would ever write a death threat ever, I might choose not to have written thezoepost.
[10/14/14 3:14:41 PM] joseph_bernstein: Gotcha
[10/14/14 3:14:44 PM] joseph_bernstein: okay man, thanks for your time
[10/14/14 3:14:50 PM] joseph_bernstein: i really do appreciate it
[10/14/14 3:14:57 PM] joseph_bernstein: and i’ll be in touch if i need follow ups
[10/14/14 3:15:02 PM] Eron Gjoni: cool
[10/14/14 3:15:08 PM] Eron Gjoni: let me know
[10/14/14 3:15:11 PM] joseph_bernstein: Will do.
[10/14/14 3:15:18 PM] joseph_bernstein: Take care and thanks again.
[10/14/14 3:16:40 PM] Eron Gjoni: np
[10/14/14 3:27:26 PM] Eron Gjoni: hmm
[10/14/14 3:27:28 PM] Eron Gjoni: actually
[10/14/14 3:27:59 PM] Eron Gjoni: do you mind if I do a followup email clarifying particular questions where I feel like I failed to come across? Or unifying some questions that all get to the same point?
[10/14/14 3:37:32 PM] joseph_bernstein: totally fine.
[10/14/14 3:37:40 PM] Eron Gjoni: cool
[10/14/14 3:57:54 PM] joseph_bernstein: eron, what was your job title at mass general
[10/14/14 3:57:56 PM] joseph_bernstein: also, are you 24
[10/14/14 4:28:00 PM] Eron Gjoni: I’d appreciate it if you don’t mention mass general
[10/14/14 4:28:08 PM] Eron Gjoni: but, yes, twenty four
[10/14/14 4:28:29 PM] joseph_bernstein: why do you not want me to mention mass general
[10/14/14 4:28:34 PM] joseph_bernstein: also, how can i describe you
[10/14/14 4:28:36 PM] joseph_bernstein: a computer scientist?
[10/14/14 4:28:43 PM] joseph_bernstein: an robotics engineer?
[10/14/14 4:28:44 PM] Eron Gjoni: computer scientist
[10/14/14 4:29:12 PM] Eron Gjoni: given that there is an especially negative view of me, I would like that view to not tarnish mass general
[10/14/14 4:29:20 PM] joseph_bernstein: gotcha
[10/14/14 4:30:13 PM] Eron Gjoni: have you settled between writeup or QandA?
[10/14/14 4:30:35 PM] joseph_bernstein: gonna be a writeup
[10/14/14 4:30:44 PM] Eron Gjoni: ah, okay
[10/14/14 4:30:56 PM] Eron Gjoni: figured a QandA might work well after the follow up email
[10/14/14 4:31:00 PM] Eron Gjoni: but that is, of course, up to you
[10/14/14 4:31:07 PM] joseph_bernstein: yep, send it when you’ve got it
[10/14/14 4:31:46 PM] Eron Gjoni: yep
[10/14/14 4:33:03 PM] Eron Gjoni: do you have a deadline?
[10/14/14 4:33:10 PM] Eron Gjoni: you didn’t even ask about the court battle :-P
[10/14/14 4:33:32 PM] joseph_bernstein: it will go up at some point tomorrow
[10/14/14 4:33:37 PM] joseph_bernstein: court battle?
[10/14/14 4:34:30 PM] Eron Gjoni: How dare you ask about the court battle. I am not allowed to tell you anything about the court battle.
[10/14/14 4:34:49 PM] joseph_bernstein: i read that someone was suing you for a restraining order?
[10/14/14 4:35:01 PM] Eron Gjoni: http://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/2i50xp/i_went_to_erons_hearing_on_tuesday/
[10/14/14 4:35:59 PM] Eron Gjoni: Basically, I have a bunch of first amendment lawyers [one who is quite a big name] very concerned about the first amendment implications of the ruling
[10/14/14 4:36:29 PM] Eron Gjoni: organizing legal things / representing me pro-bono over it
[10/14/14 4:37:49 PM] Eron Gjoni: so uh, off the bucket list these few months is: make a meme, get banned from the internet until the internet gives up, reform games journalism, make case law
[10/14/14 4:37:59 PM] Eron Gjoni: next up -> reform actual journalism
[10/14/14 4:38:14 PM] Eron Gjoni: well, that last one is a pipe dream
[10/14/14 4:38:30 PM] Eron Gjoni: but, man how do you guys justify a million op-eds with the same opinion?
[10/14/14 4:38:54 PM] Eron Gjoni: like, the public is used to news being news, and not just op-eds, so they trust that what they read is based on research
[10/14/14 4:39:06 PM] Eron Gjoni: but more often than not it’s just based on other op-eds.
[10/14/14 4:39:08 PM] joseph_bernstein: huh?
[10/14/14 4:39:12 PM] Eron Gjoni: save for like, international conflicts
[10/14/14 4:39:27 PM] Eron Gjoni: I shouldn’t say “you guys”
[10/14/14 4:40:06 PM] Eron Gjoni: basically, here’s the issue. The only way to actually understand gamergate at this point
[10/14/14 4:40:12 PM] Eron Gjoni: is to spend at least a week as a part of it
[10/14/14 4:41:07 PM] Eron Gjoni: you can’t go to media outlets to get what it’s about, because they notice the harassment, and think it’s about harassment. But that puts GamerGate in an impossible position. Where it can’t speak at all because there is harassment around it.
[10/14/14 4:41:27 PM] Eron Gjoni: And it can’t distance its self from harassment, because the people likely to harass chase it around.
[10/14/14 4:41:38 PM] Eron Gjoni: Which is kind of the impetus for OperationDoxxYourself
[10/14/14 4:41:54 PM] Eron Gjoni: get as many people in GamerGate to use their real names as possible
[10/14/14 4:42:22 PM] Eron Gjoni: and it can start distancing harassers, because harassers prefer to stay anonymous
[10/14/14 4:42:48 PM] Eron Gjoni: which means GamerGate can say “it’s an anon, he’s not ours, he’s just an ass”
[10/14/14 4:43:38 PM] Eron Gjoni: From the view of the games journos, and many of the debs, GamerGate just looks like the longest fourchan raid in history. A bunch of anions being assholes. Or, being overly polite but uninvited
[10/14/14 4:44:01 PM] Eron Gjoni: so, OperationDoxxYourself is intended to get people to show they care enough about what they’re saying to put their real names behind it
[10/14/14 4:44:15 PM] joseph_bernstein: hmm
[10/14/14 4:44:24 PM] Eron Gjoni: and they are not an anonymous mob, they are actually real people with concerns
[10/14/14 4:45:02 PM] Eron Gjoni: devs- stupid autocorrect
[10/14/14 4:45:41 PM] Eron Gjoni: curious as to your thoughts?
[10/14/14 4:47:41 PM] Eron Gjoni: And, you know, at the least it will mean that people who are generally well meaning but might lose their temper when, let’s say, someone makes a meme comparing them to toddlers, will be more considerate in their response, as it is tied to their identity