I’m not that creepy guy from the internet

Arthur Chu writes to gamers who are supporters of #GamerGate. He wants to inform those gamers that he knows where they’re coming from, but that their violent reactions are unnecessary and cruel. Chu hopes that gamers will be able to create a more open and accepting community.

Chu describes Gamergate as a movement meant to make gamers feel entitled, as if they own gaming and someone on the outside is trying to take it away from them. However, he says he understands what has led them to feel that way.

Growing up, Chu was antisocial and intelligent, made few friends, and retreated into video games. They were his escape from many of the tough moments of his life.

Chu became a fan of Felicia Day, who created an web series of World of Warcraft parodies. The web series showed how “creepy” gamers felt vulnerable, and that there was someone who could manage to forgive them for their intrusive behavior.

When Chu got the change to see Day do a small improv show in L.A., he took it. There, he felt incredibly awkward in the audience of Day’s friends and family. Then, Day approached him and asked him to go to dinner with her and her friends. Chu was impressed that she took the chance with him, that she invited a random fan/potential stalker out to eat.

Someone trusted Chu to not cross boundaries, and that trust led him to never cross into stalker and obsessive territory. This was five years ago, when the gaming community was strong and trusting. Now, Day has said that when she sees gamers out on the street, she avoids them. Now, people who try interact with fans face death threats and stalking, causing them to not interact with their fans, leading to angry fans.

I was saddened to hear that a once strong community was now falling apart. Chu mentioned how he was able to get a group of people together to help him propose to his wife because they were all gamers. Now, death threats are sent and received for inconsequential happenings, such as bad reviews for a game.