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VR Devs Pull Support For Oculus Rift Until Palmer Luckey Steps Down (vice.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the not-so-secret-anymore dept.

After it was revealed that Oculus founder Palmer Luckey backed a pro-Trump political organization called Nimble America that is dedicated to "shitposting" and spreading inflammatory memes about Hillary Clinton, several developers of the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset have announced that they will stop supporting the headset until its founder steps down. One of the biggest developers for Oculus Rift, Insomniac Games, told Motherboard, "Insomniac Games condemns all forms of hate speech. While everyone has a right to express his or her political opinion, the behavior and sentiments reported do not reflect the values of our company. We are also confident that his behavior and sentiment does not reflect the values of the many Oculus employees we work with on a daily basis." Fez and Superhypercube developer Polytron also said in a statement, "In a political climate as fragile and horrifying as this one, we cannot tacitly endorse these actions by supporting Luckey or his platform." Motherboard reports: Motherboard has reached out to several other, more well-known VR developers who work with Oculus including Fantastic Contraption makers Northway Games and Job Simulator makers Owlchemy Labs. Northway Games couldn't be reached immediately for comment but tweeted the following: "What. The. Fuck. [accompanied with a link to the news via Kotaku]" and "Definitely using every fibre of my 'professionalism' to not tweet some tweets right now." Owlchemy Labs, which is currently developing for Job Simulator for the Oculus Touch controls, declined to comment either way. E McNeill, who has developed a couple of games for Oculus Rift and GearVR, suggested that like-minded VR developers raise money for Hillary Clinton's campaign to counter the money Luckey has raised for Trump. [E McNeill tweeted: "Idle Q: Would any Oculus devs join me in a donation drive for HIllary? We could aim to beat Nimble America's $11k. I'd start with $1k myself."] "This backlash is nonsense," said James Green, co-founder of VR developer Carbon Games. "I absolutely support him doing whatever he wants politically if it's legal. To take any other position is against American values."

33 of 657 comments (clear)

  1. So basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So basically these developers are intolerant of any type of political message other than their own.

    1. Re:So basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The "political message" was spamming social media via bots to upload and upvote images. It's not the contents so much as the delivery method that's a proble.m

    2. Re:So basically... by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, I made a note of these devs and I will never buy one of their products.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    3. Re:So basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sure they are, but since Soros is paying for that it's OK.

    4. Re:So basically... by HiThere · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That's fair. And it's also fair for the devs to refuse to work with Occulus...unless they have a contract that says otherwise. If they do, they'd be doing the same kind of unethical behavior that Trump has often been charged with.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    5. Re:So basically... by KiloByte · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Like, say, "Correct the Record" which shitposts pro-Hillary?

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    6. Re:So basically... by geoskd · · Score: 5, Informative

      And liberal groups are not attacking Trump with similar tactics?

      Thats too much like work, its far easier to just replay everything he actually says. It goes viral on its own...

      --
      I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
    7. Re:So basically... by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's unethical behavior all over the world, all the time. They are intentionally picking and choosing a political position. That is, as you say, their right to do so. But then they shouldn't complain when they exclude themselves from roughly half the market. Picking and choosing has a down-side too.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    8. Re:So basically... by hey! · · Score: 4, Interesting

      So basically these developers are intolerant of any type of political message other than their own.

      You have no evidence upon which you can draw such a broad inference.

      The only thing you can conclude with any certainty is that these developers are intolerant of some messages different from their own, delivered in certain ways. That probably describes everybody who cares about anything.

      Take me for example. I'm a nerd. That makes me intolerant of political messages based on sloppy logic.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  2. The party of tolerance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As long as you think EXACTLY the way they do.

    Of course if he was "shitposting" Trump, that would be A-OK, right?

    1. Re:The party of tolerance by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.

      When they, by which I assume you mean the Democrats, say they are tolerant, they mean of things that people have no choice over. Gender, sexuality, race etc. They don't mean that they will tolerate any and all political views without condemnation or shunning.

      Political ideas are not a protected class, they are something each person chooses and will be judged on.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  3. I just love it when somebody says... by Yosho · · Score: 5, Informative

    "While everyone has a right to express his or her political opinion", because the second part to that sentence always comes out being something like, "we don't think this person should be able to express theirs."

    Also apparently Luckey's girlfriend has been harassed off of Twitter, and you'll get banned from NeoGaf if you suggest that maybe she shouldn't be harassed. Stay classy, internet.

    --
    Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
    1. Re:I just love it when somebody says... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So what I've learned is that when the girlfriend of someone they don't like gets threatened on Twitter, SJWs are perfectly okay with it, because who cares about progressive principles when we're busy abusing people for supporting the wrong political party? Or are you going to claim she did something wrong merely by being his GF?

  4. Blacklisting again by Kohath · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And so, in the name of "tolerance", they consigned heterodox unbelievers to a blacklist.

    Palmer Lucky is Brendon Eich 2.0.

  5. Re:No one likes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Considering how much corporate money is flowing into Hillary's campaign... She's obviously not going to change that.

    Hillary... on paper, she's everything Democrats claim to hate.

    And for a party that claims to fight hate... There sure is a lot of violence, racisim and hate coming from the party that says they want to bring us together.

    Of course... they mean "we want to unite... as long as you vote Democrat and agree with everything we say". It's all about freedom of speech and freedom of expression until you say "Hillary is a POS".

  6. The new left is so violently opposed to dissent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Can they not even see what parodies of themselves they've become?

    TV tells them someone is hitler and they all try to out-tantrum one another.

    It's not even about supporting Trump anymore, it's about being ashamed to stand with or anywhere near these people. They don't have any liberal values. They run on feigned indignation and trying to publicly shame others.

    It's pathetic. Pull yourselves together, you numbnuts.

    1. Re:The new left is so violently opposed to dissent by Mashiki · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's been a rise in the term "regressive left" for a while. And for good reason, the left(especially progressives and the social justice clique) have been at the forefront of anti-democratic beliefs for quite a while(see the big push on free speech zones, safe spaces, no-platforming, violent protests against individuals, anti-individualist choices, etc). And unlike the right, that cast and purged their crazies out, the left is still embracing theirs and parroting their views. In many cases, I'm going to guess that it's because they're afraid of being labeled "racists/sexists/homophobes/misogynists/etc" that the regressive left has been using to attack anyone who doesn't share their insular worldview.

      Anyone who's been paying attention to tech culture or gaming culture will notice it. The regressive left is against free expression, they only want their view points, their ideals, and their versions of vidya. And are willing to throw hissyfits over any of this. They have no qualms about actually harassing people, they'll run ops to do it(see con leaks), and all the rest of the nasty shit that they claim those on the right do. Which some people have figured out is pure projection on their part.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
  7. Re:No one likes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Disagree with Hillary being what Democrats hate?

    Rich? White? Elite? Above the law? Votes for every war put before her? Is a LARGE part of what's responsible for the Middle East being the cluster fuck it is? Racist comments like "I'm late? I must be on CP time." because, you know, colored people are to lazy to be on time? Super Predators?

    What about Hillary doesn't scream "This is what Democrats hate"?

  8. Nonsense by sexconker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "This backlash is nonsense," said James Green, co-founder of VR developer Carbon Games. "I absolutely support him doing whatever he wants politically if it's legal. To take any other position is against American values."

    I have little to no interest in VR, and negative interest in Oculus. But I now know of Carbon Games and have a respectful view of them.

    Conversely, I also now know of Polytron and have a negative opinion of them. Insomniac was also a 2nd rate developer and now I have further reason to ignore them.

  9. "Shitposting" is fraud, not speech by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Shitposting" is fraud rather than speech for a few reasons.

    It is knowingly false. For example, "shitposters" distribute a purported photo of Hillary Clinton in blackface with Bill, which doesn't match her eye color or her and Bill's appearance at the time. But they keep distributing it.

    They then spoof the comment system by having robots upmod posts and downmod their detractors, thus fraudulently promoting their comments as highly regarded.

    They mis-state the first amendment of the constitution by telling people that reactions to their abuse are hypocritical and against the first amendment, when the first amendment does not protect anyone from the consequences of their speech, nor does it promise anyone the podium of their choice.

    Taking action to show your disapproval of such action is laudable.

    --
    Bruce Perens.
    1. Re:"Shitposting" is fraud, not speech by Kohath · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ok, well you really seem to support blacklisting people from employment based on their politics, but I understand why you don't want to say it outright.

      It's one thing to do a little evil for the team, or to look the other way for evil, or even to cheer for evil like you seem to be doing here. It's another thing to formally, publicly pledge allegiance to evil.

      Maybe when you're done fooling and you're sober you'll be able to make a clear choice. No need to tell us what it is. Someone who is against blacklisting people from employment has no problem saying so. Someone who is in favor of blacklisting might not want to tell anyone -- because of the whole evil thing.

    2. Re:"Shitposting" is fraud, not speech by Kohath · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, people like to call all kinds of things the other political team does "fraud" and such. It helps them justify whatever nasty behavior they want their team to engage in.

  10. Re: No one likes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Give Trump a chance, he'd probably invade the sun.

    The secret plan is to surprise them by going at night.

  11. That's not how it works by Daetrin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "This backlash is nonsense," said James Green, co-founder of VR developer Carbon Games. "I absolutely support him doing whatever he wants politically if it's legal. To take any other position is against American values."

    I think you meant to say you absolutely support other people doing what they want politically if it's legal, such as disagreeing with Luckey, or boycotting his product, or raising money for Clinton in response. Because taking any other position would be against American values _and_ hypocritical, right?

    And yes, he's perfectly within his rights to say what he said, and i'm within my rights to point out the contradiction, and other people are within their rights to respond to me with disagreements, and etc. Saying that one person gets to have their say and everyone else needs to shut up about it after that is not how political discourse works.

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    This Space Intentionally Left Blank
  12. Re: No one likes by johnsmithperson123 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Middle East has been a region of conflict since the dawn of time. The most recent bout started in the 1910s as the Ottoman Empire imploded, and basically has continued through the present day. And it was hardly peaceful before.

  13. It's OK to Not Tolerate Inteolerance by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's OK to refuse to tolerate intolerance. Indeed, it's something you need to do.

    --
    Bruce Perens.
    1. Re:It's OK to Not Tolerate Inteolerance by Kohath · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So simply label whatever you dislike "intolerance" and then anything you want to do, no matter how evil it would be otherwise, is instantly 100% justified. That's the lesson of the week for team blue! Go team!

  14. Re:Fire the management that pulled VR support by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I find that a reputation for ethics helps in business. One doesn't gain such a reputation by supporting bad action or standing by while it happens. Now in this case, a good deal of the message was outright lies, and the rest was subverting the comment system with robots. I certainly will do what I can to show my strong disapproval of such actions, and my refusing to do business with that sort of liar and cheat and advocating that others make the same refusal is one of the ways that society deals with liars and cheats.

    --
    Bruce Perens.
  15. Re:They didn't tolerate intolerance by Yosho · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No, I'm telling you they're hypocrites. If you don't like what somebody is saying and want to use your entire company's financial weight to silence them, good for you, but that is the opposite of supporting somebody's ability to espouse their opinions.

    --
    Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
  16. Re:They didn't tolerate intolerance by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well, I run a business. It's all that supports me, and it brings in the money reliably. The way I got there is by building a reputation for behaving ethically. Part of ethics is not standing up for it when people do the wrong thing. Ethics is not neutral, people with ethics have to be able to back it up with action. Maintaining that reputation means opposing garbage like "shitposting" with lawful action as well as words.

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    Bruce Perens.
  17. Free Speech by hduff · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is free speech working the way it should work.

      I refer you to the XKCD panels about the First Amendment.
    http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/fr...

    --
    "I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
  18. Re:They didn't tolerate intolerance by Yosho · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Aha, I figured it out. I've been trying to figure out what kind of point you were even trying to make, as it seems like you've been trying to argue that you're not a hypocrite if you're doing it for moral reasons, and you've been doing so by trying to trick me into saying the magical words "free speech" so that you can trot out the typical censorship-apologist line about how it's only illegal if the government does it, and then you can try to convince everybody that because it's not illegal for private entities to do it, it must be moral...

    But I didn't actually say "free speech," nor did I imply what the companies in question are doing was illegal at all, and you're going off on a tanget and putting lots of words into my mouth. Stop it.

    Let me try to clear up the cognitive dissonance you're going through right now. You've always been told that, as an American, free speech is paramount. On the other hand, you believe that when somebody says something you think is immoral, it's your job to stop them. You don't like being labeled a hypocrite; you internally associate that with being bad because you've been raised to believe that suppressing speech is bad, and you don't want to acknowledge that's what you're doing. Internally you realize that it's true, so rather than acknowledge the dissonance you're doing your best to convince everybody that it's not hypocrisy if you're doing it for moral reasons.

    What the companies in question (and you) are doing is perfectly legal, and possibly even morally correct, but I haven't commented on that at all. It's still hypocrisy. Stop trying to weasel out of it.

    --
    Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
  19. Re:No one likes by KeensMustard · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not the best choice? Neither candidate is trustworthy, but Trump hasn't gotten a good portion of the world mired in failed countries at war.

    Trump heads the political party that started those wars, and he is their elected candidate. He supported those wars.

    His plan at the moment is to kill millions of innocent people with trident missiles fired from submarines in the persian gulf.

    Unless he is lying?