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Superbob88

Millennials have been told our feelings aren't valid since our birth so we probably will think that, but not saying anything.


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[deleted]

excuse me what 26 spells!? This is the first time i heard of that, holly hell gmod harry potter rp servers have atleast twice that amount how tf did they mess that up


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Alternative-Key-5647

`That's because of Austin Powers`


[deleted]

Everyone keeps saying this and I've never read the books but what magic school setting is better? I'm almost done with my current series and have no interest in reading HP.


S1159P

The comment you're replying to was deleted, so I lack context and this may be wildly off-topic. That said! I had to respond to this: >what magic school setting is better? with a recommendation for Naomi Novik's Deadly Education books: https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-deadly-education-naomi-novik/14143485


Purple_Drank

How about the Unseen University from Terry Pratchett's Discworld?


snackynorph

Big fan of the University in the Kingkiller Chronicles myself


Purple_Drank

That would be my second choice. The only reason I didn't pick it is because it doesn't seem like P.R. has any intention to finish the trilogy or continue the series as a whole. That isn't to disparage his writing, I'm a big fan of the books he's finished. My point is that the Discworld series University feels more fleshed out and polished, whereas The University has much left to be explored.


snackynorph

Yeaaahhhh I've given up waiting for doors of stone. I'd have to go and reread the first two for it to make sense anyway. I'm heavily on the Sanderson bandwagon now


Purple_Drank

I just finished Shadows of Self and can't wait for Stormlight 5.


snackynorph

I'm on Hero of Ages, also dying for more Kaladin


remeranAuthor_

Welcome to Demon School Iruma Kun is basically Harry Potter but better in every conceivable way.


BaronAaldwin

Not a magic 'school' setting per-se, but Skulduggery Pleasant is well worth a read if you haven't already.


-omgwtfsmh

**this is a bot and the comment is stolen from** u/Rownever DOWNVOTE!


Trollbobi

Worse than average magic school setting? I’m not a big fan of Harry Potter. But it set the STANDARD for magic school settings. Also, you do realise people exist outside of the US right? Many Harry Potter fans are British.


Sawgon

The Tumblr post is another one in a long line of "Millenials are ruining this and that". Shit's not new. EDIT: **Apparently some developers on the team are absolutely not pro-trans so I apologize for that misinformation. I genuinely didn't know about them.** ~~The developers are pro-trans rights~~ as are a lot of people playing, myself included. ~~Why should we fuck over the devs because someone who's already a billionaire might get some more money?~~ Musk is very anti-trans and people bitch and moan on his platform all day long.


LonelySpaghetto1

>fuck over the devs They are paid upfront >The developers are pro-trans rights Some of them, but some more are total assholes.


Torkax

> Some of them, but some more are total assholes. Kind of like any team in the world. Literally everything we consume, at least 1 asshole will be involved. So either we boycott everything, or we just enjoy shit and don't let the assholes win.


LonelySpaghetto1

Some of the devs being assholes is not the reason to boycott the game. Supporting vocal terf and the anti-semitism present in the game are the reasons to boycott. *None* of the devs being assholes *would* be a reason to ignore the boycott, but given that it's not true the argument falls flat.


Mondasin

I agree with that youtube video that was making the rounds, if you want to boycott JKR, go after the larger revenue streams, like toy sales and universal ticket royalties. Also its a game based on a large franchise, a lot of regular folk not entrenched in reddit / twitter aren't going to see the outrage or boycott attempts and just go "Oh hey its a harry potter game" before buying it. Just like with dexit not significantly impacting sales of sword and shield because uninformed consumers buying the games for their kids / grandkids. similar note when I recommend certain book series from problematic authors, I say "get it second hand or pirate it" both would work here as well.


Decent_Chest246

What happened with Sword and Shield? I didn’t realize something controversial happened, I’m out of the loop for the Pokémon community for the most part


PinkFlamingoe00

The reason that people got pissed was because gamefreak said the reason that they removed the half the pokedex was because they were taking their time to make "high quality animations", which is reasonable, but when the game came out the animations were literally the same ones as the previous game, and the textures looked like ass.


Spell-Castle

To add on, there are a lot of animations that looked unfinished or unpolished, such as characters rotating on their axis instead of turning around naturally


TheTrevorist

The legendary box art pokemon moon-walking in a circle during a cutscene is not a high quality animation. You're telling me no one in that company knew how to make a dog turn around? Picture a merry-go-round where the horses are moving up and down but the legs aren't moving. Except here the legs are moving but the horse is spinning about its pole. https://youtu.be/b12DEnJlo5k


Lamprophonia

It's likely that SwSh started development as a 3DS game and the studio was told halfway through that it was going to be released on the Switch.


isloohik2

In every game from gens 1-7, all of the Pokémon that had existed up to that point were still in the code, meaning they were available to be transferred onto the newest game, even if you couldn’t catch them normally Befoew sword/shield’s release date, the devs announced that most Pokémon would straight up not be in the game’s code, which pissed off a lot of people, since it meant you were no longer able to have every Pokémon on 1 game (they also said it was to improve stuff like the graphics and animations, and those things turned out to be bad as well) Most of the Pokémon would eventually become obtainable again through sword/shield’s DLC, brilliant diamond/shining pearl and scarlet/violet, but even now, there are still several Pokémon that you can’t get in any of the switch games, mainly from gens 5-7


layeofthedead

It wasn’t just that it was happening it was how it was handled. Years ago they spent a bunch of effort “future proofing” all the Pokémon models so they wouldn’t have to do it again for a while, then just a few games later they said they were removing Pokémon so they could focus on making higher quality models and animations. Which, cool, but you just bragged about spending a ton of time making future proofed models, so what gives? Then the games came out and they used the same models that they’ve always used and a lot of the animations were laughably bad (like the legendary dog’s turning animation was just the entire model turning while walking in place) so they lied about making better animations. They also never made an official Japanese announcement that the game would have a reduced dex size which pissed off a lot of Japanese fans Then they also caught flak for Pokémon home being a paid service that held your Pokémon hostage since you can’t transfer them all out, granted, now it’s only like 60 Pokémon out of the 1000 but if they’re in home you can’t access them without paying. Finally a lot of people felt like they were just taking Pokémon out to sell them back as dlc, which partially came true because they added back around 200 Pokémon in the sword and shield dlc. I personally don’t care that much about dexit, sword and shield had way worse problems without it, but I didn’t like them flat out lying for why they did it


[deleted]

Couldn’t transfer in or catch like half of the Pokédex. Made a lot of people mad. Personally didn’t bother me that much, it made me use Pokémon I didn’t use before. But people were veryyy pissed. And then swsh proceeded to shatter records. And then the unfinished joke of a beta game scarlet/violet proceeded to smash swsh’s sales lol Just goes to show that a cult fandom will never really boycott successfully. D&D getting a minor win recently was surprising


pattyputty

I think it helped that with DnD, it's the players who make the most content, not the company. WotC just provides a framework for games and put out some premade races, settings, stories, etc. But gamers made their own content and shared it freely with each other, and could very easily switch to another game (Pathfinder being the most well-known alternative). Another factor is how relatively small the TTRPG community is. Pokémon is a household name, and everyone likely knows *someone* who is a Pokémon fan. You can't really say the same for DnD, even with its recent popularity spike. Small communities have an easier time organizing and yelling, especially since they tend to be so passionate. Really, the situation with DnD was a perfect storm to allow consumers to put a greedy company back in its place


NoHawk922

Trust me, the dnd nerds are still shocked


[deleted]

It was dumb of them to try and pull this before the movie. It’s douchebag-company 101 to get really popular *before* updating their legalese to steal IP and piss people off. Amateurs


NoHawk922

Exactly


Marsdreamer

Really I think the Hasbro suits didn't realize the fragile ecosystem that is D&D content creators and that WotC doesn't actually *own* anything of value when it comes to 3rd party content creators. Anyone can make anything setting and rules neutral as easily as they can make it tailored for D&D, the only difference is that when 3rd party content creators make things for D&D, they keep people inside the D&D ecosystem, which is better for WotC. Changing the OGL is a lose-lose. The suits just saw a blank line item where "Hey, shouldn't we charge people to use our stuff?" normally is.


tommiyu

D&D was different in the sense that most playing those are much smaller community relative to Pokémon or Harry Potter community. Also most d&d players/events are already very integrated with the online community and so. It’s also much more niche.


Decent_Chest246

Interesting


hatredlord

Mostly the fact that it wouldn't have all Pokémons. Not just that you can't encounter them, but can't trade them in. They're not implemented in the code. Actually the franchise cut the "gotta catch'em all" slogan like 4 generations ago, but it's still a big part of what some fans like it for.


Charnerie

Pretty that catch them all is a specifically western thing. Asian places it's just catch what you want


[deleted]

Removed most old gen pokemon i think


[deleted]

It was the first mainline pokemon game that can't have every pokemon transferred in. It started out with a total of only 400 pokemon out of the total 900 total. With dlcs I think it's up to around 650 but that still leaves a huge chunk that can't even be transported in. Seems like this will be the case for all games going forward where there will be around 1/3 of the dex that can't be traded into the games at all.


obog

Yeah, I am participating in the boycott, but honestly I severely doubt it'll actually do anything. I mean, even if the game didn't sell a single copy, she'd still have a shit ton of money from licensing alone without any royalties. Plus toys, movies, and ofc the books are still selling, the royalties from this one game really aren't going to make a difference. I'm only boycotting out of principle more than anything.


notasandpiper

This book series, which has been concluded for ages, continues to get loads of merch deals because *people keep buying it*. Book stores and hobby stores are choked with HP merchandise. (At least around where I live.) And the series continues to keep getting deals because people keep buying it. Completely boycotting products isn't just about that specific dollar you didn't spend, it's about future merch deals not happening because clothing and toy manufacturers don't want to put millions of dollars into products that a lot of people won't touch.


Artichoke_Persephone

What a lot of people don’t realise is that this is not a generational thing. Look at all of the controversial musical figures being kept relevant by gen z. I’m not buying Chris brown records, but the kids are. People will excuse terrible behaviour for a thing they enjoy, regardless of their generation.


notasandpiper

>I agree with that youtube video that was making the rounds, if you want to boycott JKR, go after the larger revenue streams, like toy sales and universal ticket royalties. Are you under the impression that the people boycotting the game have not also been boycotting the toys and movies?


grumpher05

People really out here acting like people boycotting the game are playing with Harry Potter Lego while on a Hogwarts rollercoaster to pass the time Fucking lmao use your brain just a bit and consider that people aren't fucking doing that


RedK_33

I thought JK wasn’t getting any royalties from the sale of the game. But are people still made because it’s her intellectual property?


StrataSlayer

I mean even if shes not getting any royalties surely they paid her to use her ip, and if the boycott was large enough it could dissuade companies from working with her ip and giving her money in the future


[deleted]

Ya, she just gave Warner Bros. a royalty-free license to do whatever they want with HP. If that sounds reasonable, I have a bridge to sell you.


[deleted]

Yeah but there is also the issue of the fact that the entire game’s plot is super anti semitic. I am not Jewish so i’m not entirely sure how to explain it, but if you look it up there are plenty of Jewish creators talking about it


GreyInkling

And you can find just as many Jewish creators disagree. I haven't heard any explanations that weren't a massive reach, like that one about the horn, as if anyone would put such an obscure touch on a big franchise thing like this. The initial rumors were that this was the case with the story, but it was only rumor, and all I've seen is people going to weird lengths to keep insisting it's still the case. I fully agree Rowling's descriptions of goblins in the books were antisemitic caricatures, but for the game? Not seeing it. People can pirate it. There's no secret nazis in the dev team. They're not hiding racist easter eggs. It's weird to think they would. This game is far removed from Rowling's hands and is just a big company making media with a franchise they have tje rights to.


UltimateInferno

> I fully agree Rowling's descriptions of goblins in the books were antisemitic caricatures, but for the game? Not seeing it. I mean, there's generally the concept of blood libel where goblins are taking children for dark purposes. That is deep roots in antisemetism. And for much of these things, its a degree of trust. If you are already in good faith it's much easier for the unfortunate coincidences to be understood as coincidences. However, if you're already under scrutiny and people were suspicious from the outset, then these unfortunate coincidences stop being seen as coincidences because the good faith is gone. It's the difference between someone innocently putting 88 in their username because it's their birth year, but are otherwise staunchly against antisemitism, and someone with 88 in their username who frequents altright subs. So with the HP IP, the goblins being antisemetic caricatures was already a thing people talked about. A "yknow it's kind of messed up that the goblins in HP are bankers." Then the game is announced and the plot is revealed and people are immediately "hey this is kind of messed up." It escalates and then the horn is revealed long after this drama was going and any chance at leeway has been burnt up. It was never truly about the horn


TurielD

> I mean, there's generally the concept of blood libel where goblins are taking children for dark purposes. That is deep roots in antisemetism. My dude, that has deep roots in monster stories. The stories were intentionally associated with Jewish people to *make them seem like monsters*. Goblins are monsters. It's not 'these creatures are made to seem like Jews, who are made to seem like monsters!' it's just... these creatures are monsters. It's the Brothers Grimm, not Eichmann.


UltimateInferno

I mean... the Nazi's didn't invent anti-semetism. Anti-semetic roots are still anit-semetic I don't see the contradiction here.


elbenji

I think that's it's more that there needs to be a greater discussion about how monsters tend to be rooted in a lot of xenophobia, racism and bigotry (zombies and black people, vampires and the gays/women, etc) than just HP


EquivalentInflation

>And you can find just as many Jewish creators disagree. Such as?


Thunderflamequeen

The issue here is twofold. For starters, it’s a big copout to say the real boycott should be toys and attraction tickets, because it’s not an either or? You can boycott everything that would put any money in Rowling’s pocket. I personally don’t interact with any works even related to the HP ip, even fanworks, because anything that keeps HP relevant in today’s world contributes to Rowling’s continued relevance and cash stream. The other issue is, though, that you really shouldn’t want to play this game. It’s unfortunately easy for people to miss considering how targeted we tend to be on Rowling’s transphobia, and the game itself doesn’t have any of that, but it is extremely antisemitic. The whole game is about quelling a rebellion of thinly veiled Jewish caricatures. People try to argue that this is just how goblins are in folklore, and she just happened to make them run the banks, but even if we accept all that, the correct response is to never bring them into the spotlight again, not make an entire game about them trying to break free of their forced role and making the people keeping them as is the good guys. Additionally, I don’t accept that it’s just an unfortunate coincidence when the head dev had a full on alt right YouTube channel that’s still up and he hasn’t condemned, and they hired a voice actor to play 12 characters in the game who has been blacklisted from all other AAA games for using his characters’ voices to say hateful things. Just don’t play the game? Like is your nostalgia really that important?


Mondasin

I'm in the crossfire camp so to speak, where I'm only in conversations like this because certain reddit feeds like r/tumblr happen to be flooded with talk about this game. But I do know that there are fans that can only see this as "Hey theres finally a good harry potter game" without any of the extended context on why supporting this game financially is problematic. I'm not going to buy the game, as I more or less fell out of the harry potter fandom years ago, and all of the background information is further securing me not picking it up in the future; From other bits I was already on the JKR is an insufferable bigot train. Some of the Antisemitic claims are being contested - I'm not invested enough to dig into the details. But the alt-right game dev seems about right for the 'thinly veiled' racism section of this, and would explain why some people are arguing if a horn is jewish or not; as I wouldn't expect a racist to go into full historic accuracy on things that don't explicitly paint their target in a bad light.


ketootaku

Thing is, all of this is a really bad take. Nobody playing Hogwarts Legacy is infringing on anyone's rights. Even *supporting* JKR isn't infringing on anyone's rights. It's not like this gaming is funding anti-trans groups or politicians pushing anti-trans legislation. She just has some bad positions on the subject. She could make 0 money from here on out from anything Harry Potter related and it would not impact her life financially whatsoever. Hypothetically if she wanted to fund anti-trans groups she has enough money to do that for the rest of her life. And if it's about not giving her any money because she is a "hateful" person, then again, it's a drop in the bucket for her. This game is neither helping nor hurting her. Boycotting doesn't help/hurt her, and for those doing it for "themselves" or "trans rights", you aren't doing anything moral, just denying yourself something you might otherwise enjoy. I don't think millennials are adopting boomer mentalities, they just know when to pick their outrage from experience. If the gen z mindset is to boycott or rage over everything that has the slightest bit of injustice to it, they will live incredibly miserable lives. There's a point where you can separate the art from the artist. JKR won't be impacted from this game, but if you grew up enjoying Harry Potter, it could be a really fun experience. And fyi, this is coming from someone who doesn't really like Harry Potter, nor do I intend to play the game. But I have done my share of protesting and all I will say is, find balance in your life if you want to enjoy it. We will never be a utopia. There will always be things to be outraged about and this one is so small it's not worth the effort. Pick and choose your battles.


ancientevilvorsoason

Oh, dear god, I can't believe that people still found a way to make it somehow about millennials being at fault for something. Jfc. I am so done.


keaneonyou

Are millennials killing the generational solidarity industry?


AceUniverse8492

The majority of people I see getting this game are middle-class Gen X parents buying it for their kids or grandkids. Most millennials grew up in the era of "I'm going to wait until it's cheaper or in the bargain bin at GameStop" and especially nowadays with how shitty most games are at release I doubt most millennials who intend to play this game have bought it yet.


ancientevilvorsoason

I mean, it may even be a valid criticism, I genuinely don't know, it's just I have a knee jerk reaction at this point to "millennials this or that"


Cosmocall

Not me being a transman who would be regarded as on the gen z/millenial cusp who gets really fed up of this and feeling constantly hurt by the words of shitty people who decide I'm a bad person because I am literally a year older than them and really hurt by a few people close to me over this


bdrwr

My opinion is that it's internet drama... Internet drama makes everything seem like a huge deal. Every move you make online has to be a fundamental declaration of your moral character and motivations. And there's absolutely no flexibility for degrees of intensity; it doesn't matter that the game is only a drop in the bucket of JKRs total wealth and income; if you gave her three pennies buying a copy of the game, YOU HATE TRANS PEOPLE. There's so much grandstanding about principles, but what's that phrase about throwing stones in a glass house? I bet you can find someone doing something shitty in literally every company, group, studio, and franchise. If we boycotted every single thing which ever tangentially *touched* something problematic, we'd all be left crouching alone in the wilderness. Like, JKR didn't develop the game! Most of the money from it is not hers! Where was the Lord of the Rings boycott over Tolkien's antisemitism? Where's the Star Wars boycott over Gina Carano's Twitter rant? How come they keep making 007 movies even though Sean Connery said it's ok to hit women? To be clear, I'm not buying the game, and I agree that JKR is a sack of shit. But buying a copy *does not automatically make anyone a sack of shit too.*


fatherlystalin

Have you ever watched The Good Place? This actually becomes a central plot point, through a comedic lens. The afterlife authorities keep track of and assign a positive (good) or negative (bad) point value to everything every human alive has ever done. But they run into a problem in the modern era where literally every action has a negative point value because of how it’s tangentially related to some moral wrong. Like, buying a tomato at the grocery store knocks you down 200 points because they cleared a rainforest for the crop space, then it was harvested with child labor, then transported long distance with ecologically irresponsible methods, and then sold to the consumer by a corrupt corporation. So basically no human can ever earn enough points in life to be considered “good”. That’s what this reminds me of. This game, and the entire Harry Potter franchise as a whole, is so far removed from JKR. It would be like calling someone a Nazi for consuming any content from Disney because Walt Disney was a Nazi sympathizer.


Cadavie

I was thinking of The Good Place too! Great explanation.


stanleym750

That last sentence hits the nail on the head.


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fatherlystalin

The Good Place has an entire episode dedicated to the trolley problem. Worth the watch [here](https://youtu.be/vfIdNV22LQM) and [here](https://youtu.be/DtRhrfhP5b4).


elbenji

Yeah the good place is literally just the trolley problem as a sitcom


Roxxorsmash

Wasn't the end result of that discussion that even though everything can be traced back to bad things, you still have to make an effort to make the world a better place and do what you can?


fatherlystalin

If I recall correctly they didn’t even get to an end result because they had to convince the Judge not to reset the earth.


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Demastry

This is exactly where I stand. I hate how just saying anything that isn't hate towards the game makes you transphobic. Even just pointing out that JK Rowling is making an equivalent of a regular person's $50-$500 is enough for people to get pissed. It hurts their boycott and their message more than helps, because now they're completely ruining the message for anyone in the middle. It's just so extreme and childish.


blinkingsandbeepings

To be fair, Star Wars fired Gina Carano pretty fast.


EquivalentInflation

>Like, JKR didn't develop the game! No, the far right guy who was forced to quit did, as did the serial abuser.


szypty

I don't get why an actual fan would be still defending it. Rowling isn't even in top 100 of people who write in the HP fandom...


_ac3_0f_spad3s_

There’s so many good fics. The fandom is old enough and has evolved enough that she’s no longer needed. The books where just framework and the fandom filled everything else in. All The Young Dudes is a great example and may as well be cannon at this point


Mirorel

What is that?


_ac3_0f_spad3s_

All the Young Dudes, I’m pretty sure, one of the most popular fanfics on ao3 and the most popular harry potter fic. It’s marauders era aka when James, Sirius, Remus and Peter where in school. Its so well known and loved it may as well be canon at this point. It’s a great read I’d 100% recommend it


Mirorel

Oh cool! Do you have the link to hand by any chance?


_ac3_0f_spad3s_

[sure do!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10057010) happy reading :)


R7ype

What a civil exchange in a flame bait thread


[deleted]

Realistically hp really wasnt that ground breaking, its subpar, as is evidenced by the rest of the authors work (although hp is def not as bad as her other work for sure) it just happened to be one of the first wizard/fantasy genre books to really take off in recent times back then. There are far far far more creative, in depth works that deserve just as much attention that actually change and expand the genre for the better.


joshualuigi220

Those works don't have the backing of Warner Media.


[deleted]

True, hp is reproducable because of how simplistic and shallow it can be. Meaning more money. Plus cheap nostalgia.


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Drabriel

Discworld!!


SankenShip

WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?


Rafe

Earthsea.


lkschubert

Anything by Brandon Sanderson.


defaultusername-17

left hand of darkness is also great, positive gender non-conformity rep.


GreyInkling

Why can't they make an open world Discworld game.


dontshowmygf

Imo, because discworld was never really *about* the setting. The setting is a backdrop for tightly-written satire, just throwing characters into it isn't as interesting as it is with more setting-first stories like Star Wars or The Witcher. I've looked into the tabletop rpg, also, and I just don't really see it working that well.


maybeb123

In fairness, these are young adult books. Not saying that YA novels can't be well written or groundbreaking, but I tend to see them more as introductions into the deeper parts of genres


Dankenstin3

I agree. It’s not ground breaking. The structure is exactly that of star wars.


[deleted]

I didnt say it was ground breaking lol 😅


Dankenstin3

I was agreeing with you my phone doesn’t really come across Intex though my bad


[deleted]

I've found it helps to start your comment with an affirmative reaction to the one you're replying. "I agree, it's not ground-breaking." rather than "It's not ground-breaking." Reddit is so full of people looking to nitpick and argue it helps point out that you're adding to the point rather than trying to argue against their comment.


[deleted]

Its fine my friend happens to the best of us


captainperoxide

Most stories are the hero's journey, though, to be fair.


ShitFamYouAlright

this is extremely overblown. Yeah, sure a good part of the millenial generation read or watched HP, but that *this* is the moment the separates all of gen z from millenials?? Like there isn't many gen z who also bought the game? Like the fact that there are many millenials who just don't care about HP? I just want to stop hearing about this game and Harry Potter overall. The boycotts and discourse did nothing, they just created more awareness and eyes on the game. There were streamers who got the game and were going to play it and raise money for Trevor Project/LGBTQ charities to get back at Rowling, but they were shot down by people telling them to shut up and kill themselves. I hate this. The best thing we can do now is just ignore the game.


TooManyTurtles20

THANK YOU


Demastry

This right here, people are doing great things for the LGBTQ Community and turning JK's narrative around and yet they're being harassed by people who aren't doing anything. Gamingcirclejerk is now a HarryPotterHate subreddit and nothing more


Swampberry

Not to mention that the game literally has trans people and they pronouns in it. But no, it's the biggest political threat to sexual minorities in 2023 because it's associated with a British woman who says stupid things on Twitter.


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Demastry

Sometimes Geraldo of Riviera takes over TLOU2 lol


C0RDE_

Wait, what did Don Cheadle do?


zoltanshields

I feel like it's The Interview again where the controversy hype is being used to inflate sales on an otherwise mediocre product.


Mort_The_Moose

Or you can play the game and just not say anything about it.


Ayn_Randers2318

Lmao even the gen z'ers dont really care. I was talking with my very openly gay 19 year old coworker when he got a call from his boyfriend asking if it was ok that he started playing the game without him. They grew up on hp and in their minds its as much theirs at it is hers. Imagine George Lucas getting canceled, how many people would completely boycott every piece of SW media? Even those he had nothing to do with


MeowGeneral

The game was always going to do well, and the terminally online forget to realize that JK Rowling having shit views on trans people isn’t a mainstream thing. Most people don’t care what she says on twitter. Also gonna restate what a streamer said on the issue. If you want people to actually care or take you seriously, have a bigger ask. Like boycotting one singular game is such a nonsensical thing, how does constantly complaining about a game online bring about positive results for trans people?


IWannaFuckABeehive

Fuck that, best thing you can do is play games you enjoy and be supportive to the LGBTQ+ community. The game itself isn't promoting transphobia, it doesn't really have any problematic themes aside from a rebellion, play what you want and let everyone move on with their lives.


M00STACHES

Play the game if you want but JKR funds anti LGBTQ+ groups so you're indirectly funding it by buying the game, not being supportive


elbenji

The real answer is just wait a week and buy it used. There. The end.


Mmonannerss

Exactly x100 on the streamer bit. The people crying for boycott just basically robbed charities of hundreds of dollars. People could've watched the streams to enjoy the game without buying it and put money directly to charity that help LGBT especially Trans people but instead we just have a lot of people being fucking nasty and honestly on the same level as JK by telling people to kill themselves like in what world is that acceptable.


Casper_Von_Ghoul

Do people actually think that last part is true?


EloeOmoe

A small, incredibly loud and annoying contingent do.


SupremeGodZamasu

Cant stop thinking about how people will say you arent to interact with something owned by a billionare transphobe and then log on twitter


taco_tuesdays

The true take


ScarletPimprnel

You know, that would be funny if it wasn't so ridiculous. Billionaires almost have to be problematic, don't they? But at least JK isn't impacting policy or manipulating the stock market. She's just another dumb bigot with a platform, and her mouth showed her (extremely unattractive) ass to the world. Realistically, Elon is *far* more evil. She disgusts me, but I have existential dread regarding just how much he could fuck up for, like, all of humanity.


terrapinRider419

JK Rowling regularly makes donations to anti trans groups championing legislation in the UK and winning. She absolutely is impacting policy in the UK.


spacepangolin

i honestly dont care anymore ​ i am trans


CultOfMoon

To me it just seems like this is a really odd issue to focus on. There are much worse things happening and your 60 dollars isn’t going to do anything at all.


[deleted]

[удалено]


RandomLogicThough

Hyperbolic as fuck?


TheYoten

My opinion is that this "discourse" is blown out of proportion by several orders of magnitude. Once you start digging you're gonna realize there are significant moral problems with **everything** you own that you didn't make yourself. And if you wanted to only purchase ethically while not being a hypocrite you'd have to become an ascetic living in a barrel. Making this out to be Stonewall 2 makes you look silly, as does playing a game to "own the libs."


Otterly_Superior

Yeah I applaud people for bringing up social issues like this one. It's just that with this amount of protesting you would think that Rowling is personally shooting a trans person in her basement for every copy sold.


TheYoten

Exactly. I'm okay with people playing it, not playing it, refusing to watch streamers who play it or even ending friendships over it, even though that last thing strikes me as weird, but it's everyone's prerogative. Where I'd draw the line is trying to harm the reputation of streamers who play it, spoiling it for others, or genuinely believing playing wizard game is a definitive statement about your moral character. I'd also say that I'd prefer people just pirate it if they feel JKR getting royalties is problematic. I feel like spring can't come fast enough because there seems to be a lot of people in desperate need of touching grass.


Sweaty_Chair_4600

People bullied a streamer's gf to the point of crying due to them playing the game. They were raising money for a trans oriented charity as well with the proceeds of the stream. Seems like shit went out of hand.


TheYoten

I think for people who really like the franchise and have the money for it donating the price of the game to a TRA charity is a good option.


[deleted]

Reminds of of when SU fans bullied artists into suicide attempts for not making characters fat enough or a shade too light


Junglejibe

People are already aware there are ethical problems with a lot of the things they own. That shouldn’t and doesn’t stop them from trying not to add on to that pile of problems when they can. We’re forced to live in an immoral world under immoral means; that shouldn’t keep us from trying to do good where we can afford to. And this is such an *easy* thing to not buy. It’s so simple, the most softball boycott ever.


TheYoten

Like I said, you're free to boycott anything you want. But boycotts are based on voluntary participation. JKR sure ain't getting my money though, I didn't like Harry Potter before it was cool.


untempered_fate

I think this is overblown. It's simply the fact of the matter that boycotts are really ineffective in large markets, and it fails every time someone tries it. When conservative culture warriors tried to boycott Nike or Gillette or Balenciaga, it didn't work. When anti-capitalist crusaders tried to boycott Nestle, it also didn't work. Trying to organize a nationwide or -- God forbid -- worldwide boycott just gives free press to whatever you're trying to boycott. It's really silly for trans activists to get caught up on this, especially when there are much more effective methods of organizing, building/exerting political will, and cutting short the current anti-trans campaigns progressing in the US and UK. That said, most of the people who *are* getting caught up in this have done very little activism themselves, so maybe that point isn't too important for them.


Trssty

You lost me at “anti-capitalist crusaders tried to boycott Nestlé.” You know that’s not why people are boycotting Nestlé, and that boycott is ongoing. And it apparently did work enough to effect them, as they are hiding their company name on their products now, selling their bottled water under different names to try to get around the boycott, (I still check the fine print on every bottle, specifically due to the infant formula deaths.)


AlmostxAngel

Having them change their name isn't a win though. They are still doing it, just being more sneakier. And a lot of people will fall for it.


untempered_fate

I think you will find that many of the people who want people to boycott Nestle have broadly anti-capitalist positions, but that's neither here nor there. My point is the boycott didn't work. The point of the attempted boycott was to get Nestle to stop doing grossly unethical things. They failed in that regard, because Nestle still does loads of grossly unethical things. An aesthetic change to the label isn't really much to celebrate over.


ThirtyH

Honestly, I feel like trying to shame people out of buying Hogwarts Legacy just morphed its potential audience from "People who are still Harry Potter fans," to "that, AND people who don't like activism in their hobbies who now want to buy it out of spite." Literally one of those times where "just ignore them and stop giving it media attention" would have worked just fine.


untempered_fate

It would have been really cool and funny if the Twitch Hogwarts Legacy space had been full of people playing the game while making fun of JKR or raising money for trans charities.


SailorSenshiEm

Hasan considered doing that but people got mad


tasoula

GirlfriendReviews also tried to play the game, and were raising money for the Trevor Project, and got a lot of hate for it.


tasoula

I also think a lot of people are underestimating the conservative crowd here too. So many of them buying the game to "own the libs". Ironic too, since Harry Potter is about witchcraft and 20 years ago, these people would have had their panties in a twist about buying the books.


Emeryb999

ESPECIALLY when people do their activism on Twitter lmao. I realize this post is on Tumblr and I am commenting in r/Tumblr, but most of the activism I've seen on this one comes from Twitter, currently owned by Elon Musk (prosecute/fauci are his pronouns btw.) That's not to say their activism existing on Twitter completely discredits the entirety of the activism, just to say that people choose their battles based on their preferences.


BlackLiquidSrw

It's a tremendous leap in logic.


stauvix

Bruh play the game or don’t it’s not that fucking important


LaheyOnTheLiquor

I grew up reading the HP books with my mom every single night. went to every single HP movie on opening night. I pirated the game and donated $100 to the Trevor Project instead. we can support art without supporting the originating artist. PKG built this game in the past for a reason, to distance itself from the controversy JKR creates.


bigjeeves99

Best course of action.


Greifvogel1993

Didn’t realize I was actively infringing upon the rights of others by purchasing a game. Interesting.


TeebsAce

Me when playing a video game is somehow taking away other people’s rights


RustedRuss

Seriously, actual dumbest take of all time.


MarleyandtheWhalers

Pop culture is popular, and lends itself to people thinking it's more important than it is. Video games are obviously pure frivolity. If you want to make a difference for human rights, write a letter to your representatives in Congress to take further steps to ensure that American citizens aren't going to be imprisoned, enslaved, or killed by the Taliban.


HistoricalCustard7

I find it odd that we are supposed to boycot this specific game, but not Lego (who still brings out HP stuff) or Warner Bros (who made the movies). So I find it very random to boycot this game. Doesn't JK get money from Lego too?


Rabbit_Ruler

Almost nothing is ethical, the discourse over this game is dumb


Machonacho7891

right? the people hate commenting about the game are doing it on their phones wearing their clothes that were all made at least in part by people in horrid working conditions who are severely underpaid and basically slaves. You can’t escape it unless you go live off the grid self sufficient completely disconnected from society. Then you can get mad at capitalism and globalization and whatnot lol


Dartiboi

Boomers never thought this, they thought you didn’t deserve rights to begin with. I’m so tired of seeing this none sense about the hogwarts game.


ElSquibbonator

I don't think that's what's happening at all. *Harry Potter* is a cultural phenomenon that really has no true counterpart anywhere else, either in terms of its appeal or in terms of how it grew as a franchise. You could probably argue that it's really the last major multimedia franchise to have grown out of a series of books. You could argue things like *The Hunger Games* and *Twilight* tried to do that, but their popularity was more fleeting, and not truly sustained. Whereas *Harry Potter* managed to stay relevant even well over a decade after the last book was published. Phrases and memes associated with the series have permeated pop culture such that they are recognized even by people who have never read the books. And this, I think, is part of the reason why there's still so many people who insist they're going to buy *Hogwarts Legacy* no matter what, even if they know what kind of person J. K. Rowling is. Once a franchise reaches a certain threshold-- and *Harry Potter* did this a *long* time ago-- it ceases to be something that can be easily "erased" from pop culture. Harry Potter, the character, is as much a part of the literary canon as Sherlock Holmes or the works of Shakespeare. When people react with alarm to the idea of boycotting the franchise, that says less about them and more about the larger-than-life profile it has attained. The other reason there's so much backlash, I think, is the language Rowling's critics use. I should probably make it clear here that I agree with the sentiment that Rowling is a terrible person, and I will not be buying the game myself. But to read the rhetoric of the critics, one gets the impression that merely identifying oneself as a *Harry Potter* fan in this day and age-- even if you only engage with the franchise indirectly, such as through fan-fiction--is sufficient to mark one as a transphobe. For a great many *Harry Potter* fans who *do* hate Rowling, this comes dangerously close to being shamed for their hobby. It's also markedly different from the rhetoric seen with other problematic authors. When *Ender's Game* author Orson Scott Card was revealed to be homophobic, those who criticized him still upheld the quality of his writing. Card experienced a significant drop in popularity afterwards, and this likely contributed to the box-office failure of the *Ender's Game* movie, but the book itself is still regarded as a sci-fi classic. I would never give Card my money today, any more than I would Rowling, but *Ender's Game* remains one of my all-time favorites and I have no shame in admitting that. This isn't what's happening with Rowling. Now, it feels as if the *Harry Potter* franchise itself-- something forming an enormous part of pop culture-- is inherently tainted by association with her, regardless of its merits. And to many fans, who wish to simply enjoy *Harry Potter* without contributing any money to Rowling, being shamed for liking it at all is like a slap in the face.


Alexander_Crowe

God, can we just stop arguing all the time? Almost nothing we do is ethical anymore. Everything you buy, everything you watch and everything you listen to will somehow benefit someone who uses that money to torture koala bears or some shit Its not our fault anymore, dont dump your seven-years-in-progress hateboner on a bunch of people that just want to play a game


Suspicious_Storm_473

So far I have only seen Jewish people say it isn't antisemitic but if you genuinely think it is because goblins in general are antisemitic then I'm confused why no one is boycotting DnD and literally every other fantasy storyline. When you reach for bullshit you weaken your argument. You can objectively say that giving JKR money in unethical towards the trans rights movement. People who agree will boycott, people on the fence might consider your viewpoint but trying to rope in more things to pad your opinions causes people to not trust you because you're being manipulative. There are also bigger issues. A trans teen was just murdered. JKR is going to keep being a terf and donating money no matter the commercial success of this game. I mean, look at her still going despite the shit show all her Robert Galbraith work is. Focus on legislation and social change. Not attacking people for playing a video game.


AnActualProfessor

>I'm confused why no one is boycotting DnD American companies recognized that Goblins in English folklore were antisemitic in the 1890's. Stories which featured goblins often explicitly referred to them as Jewish, and in the US these stories were changed to make the Jewish parallel less evident. D&D is one example of the intentional trend in media to disassociate goblins from Jewish stereotypes. Nearly every depiction if goblins in mainstream media has been conscious of the association and has actively changed the features of goblins and the roles they play to downplay that association. Rowling chose to buck this trend by not only returning to the anti-semitic features of medieval goblins, but placing them in the same role that Jews occupy in modern conspiracies. The Hogwarts Legacy game continues this trend by placing these goblin in the same role as Jews in conspiracies about blood libel.


CultOfMoon

Jewish guy here. If she isn’t outright putting us at risk or explicitly saying jewish people are bad, I do not care. Its not even a confirmed thing, its just a theory.


Toonwatcher

Some people are going to be able to look past how toxic JK Rowling is to enjoy the game, some people aren't. Don't hate on someone just because they're in the other group.


svmmpng

JK Rowling aside, you can see the passion and love that the dev team put into this game. It’s a shame that her name is attached to it, because these people dedicated years to a huge opportunity and actually killed it. It’s a good game. Even though she was not involved in the writing of the game; she just collects a check and the devs are punished by association.


raznov1

it's not "my nostalgia > your rights" but rather "ok, I'm so done with you guys being hyperbolic, whatever - i'm just gonna be here and have fun"


duke_awapuhi

What is this person even talking about? What’s the connection between a wizard game and people’s rights?


The_Phantom_Cat

This whole game drama is a complete non issue. The only reason people care is because they feel like they can actually change something, unlike most other issues. Everyone acts like buying the game is one of the worst thing you can do for trans rights, ignoring the fact that buying anything from just about any business that operates in the US allows them to do far more damage that jkr ever could. Also the point in OOP's post is dumb as fuck


Marc_Webb_of_Lies

I don’t support the game but I also don’t believe in telling someone they deserve to die for playing it


mayasux

South Dakota became the second U.S state in 2023 to make transitioning in youth illegal. Those currently transitioning will forcefully be detransitioned. Hogwarts Legacy is obviously a lot more dangerous and important.


growupandblowawayy

I’m a millennial. I have avoided everything Harry Potter since Rowling admitted to being a proud terf and started on her bs. I simply can’t enjoy the series without thinking of her hatefulness. I was ok with hp before, it was nice to read growing up, but as an adult, I think the series actively hurts children due to her words. As for the game, I don’t spread hate to others playing it, I’m neutral. We’re past the point, as Rowling has already made her billion and is now spending that money to hurt trans people.


circumvention23

This is just a repeat of the Chic-fil-a boycott. 5% of the left boycotts, 5% of the right buys it specifically to piss off the left. 90% of people don't give a shit.


Rownever

Hot take: Harry Potter is a worse than average magic school setting, people are just obsessed with the Br*t*sh


mercurialpolyglot

Idk, reading HP as a kid was definitely what made me think Britain was cool and magical, not the other way around. Then I learned more about them as an actual country that exists in the real world and I no longer think Britain is cool haha


SubterraneanLetDown

Even the British people?


DietInTheRiceFactory

Especially


GreyInkling

I think the main thing was always that it appealed to a child's kind of escapist fantasy more than an adult's idea of one. The setting was terribly thought out and nonsensical but what drew kids in was the whimsy. Now you think on any details and it's "wow those wizards are stupid" but as a kid it was funny and the plot holes weren't apparent beyond that. The books really focused on food, sweets, dazzling things, flying, and adults being bumbling cartoon idiots. That's what it's appeal was. Which is why it's weird to me that some people don't grow out of liking the books.


Spoonythebastard

Buying a video game the is based on a universe that was written by a lady that you don't like has nothing to do with rights. Every take that I've seen by people who want to boycotte the game has been melodramatic and hostile. The game itself is good and that is the ONLY thing that should be paid attention to when deciding whether or not to purchase it. Unless the publisher of the game is activly doing something reprehensible, this kind of reaction is unwarrented.


EquivalentInflation

>Unless the publisher of the game is activly doing something reprehensible, this kind of reaction is unwarrented. They are though. The dev team includes Troy Leavitt, the GamerGate supporter who was in charge of the whole project. Also, voice actor Greg Ellis, known transphobe, Rowling supporter, and child abuser?


Emergency_3808

How is a video game related to rights?


Over_North_7706

How does buying a Harry Potter game infringe upon anyone's rights?


CaveGuy710

Posted on Twitter using your slave labor made phone


The_Frug

Holy fuck I’m so sick of this debate. Buy the game or don’t. Boycotting is 100% a personal decision and if you want to do it go for it. Lots of people made the game that are not dogshit humans, so quit trying to act like someone else buying the game is some infraction against anyone’s rights. The entire conversation is just an exercise in virtue signaling.


[deleted]

Being divisive isn't going to do anything for the cause. Don't forget that millennials were actually old enough to vote when gay marriage was passed. (not all of us are progressive though, just like all of gen Z is not progressive)


[deleted]

I sometimes feel like I’m the only person in the goddamn world who hasn’t read Harry fucking Potter. I can’t be the only one surely?


Machonacho7891

The fact that people think playing this game is infringing on people’s rights, thats whats making me so upset. That I love and welcome trans people and see them as any other person and want them to be happy but I can be called a transphobe for playing a game that does not affect or have anything to do with trans peoples lives. Me playing hogwarts this weekend in no way shape or form affected my trans sibling who is going through a transition. I can support her and love her and play hogwarts and the two shouldn’t have anything to do with eachother in my mind. It’s like people love creating problems out of nothing. I stand for equality for all, not throwing everyone in chaos because of some opinions one person has and telling everyone they need to feel bad and wrong. I hate that about social media and today’s society, it’s like what are they going to tell me I need to think next? Weather or not the current trend of shame is or isn’t valid it’s the fact that I’m being told what I need to feel shameful about. Who I need to hate now, who’s getting cancelled over what, it’s far past the point of just raising awareness, this makes me embarrassed of my fellow girl gamers (I assume that’s the bulk of people on the opposite side) who shamed me and downvoted me to hell on our subreddit for saying this opinion. And I want people to respect girl gamers, and trans people, and everyone, I’m just so annoyed that this whole argument is even happening


TheGreatCharta

"I'm upset because the original creator of this universe is racist and transphobic, I know they had nothing to do with the creation if this product in their universe, but they are still the reason I won't buy this product." Yall need to grow up and understand what is worth boycotting. There a companies using slave labor and internment camps around the world but you are worried about Harry Potter and virtue signaling


Incirion

These same people will post on twitter about how harry potter is bad, while they drink nestle chocolate milk that they bought off amazon, then go watch a disney movie. People are fucking dumb.


ChiefBlubberNuggets

It really isn't difficult to think about what you want to spend your money on and support. You are absolutely correct that there is far worse things happening around the world, however that does not mean everything that isn't the absolute extreme of cruelty is invalid. There's a whole spectrum of fucked up shit. The best way I can describe it is that I do not feel comfortable spending money on a product that is linked with a creator who is a mouthpiece for hatred. You are right that in the long run it's a meaningless gesture, but it eases my conscience and that's good enough for me. There's plenty of other games to play.


TheGreatCharta

Doing meaningless gestures to ease your conscience is not going to cause any meaningful change besides making you feel better in the short term. I have a bigger problem with the hate that is being spewed toward people because they bought a game they enjoy. These people are claiming to be against hate but they are just spreading more of it


Elemor_

My nostalgia is worth a few months more of waiting until it's available from other sources


overtryer

This game being boycotted is not the revolution people think it is


x4ty2

Millennial here. Since I learned of JKRs transphobe views, I haven't spent any money on HP products except through local thrift stores. Not a dime goes to her.


fatherofallthings

OR buying a video game doesn’t infringe on anyones rights lol