Recent events have brought about just how toxic the Internet can be (more than usual), and, in turn, has caused me to reflect on my own personality and behavior. The catalyst for this is, ostensibly, Phil Fish's cancellation of FEZ II. There's a lot of backstory as to how things played and speculation as to why; so much, that a Google search for Phil's name will bring up enough content, both in the past week and before, to smother a reasonable person in his own disgust.
Now, let's be clear - I consider myself to be fairly level-headed, and understanding enough in the ways of the Internet to generally take most hateful explosions as self-creating or -perpetuating in some manner; and indeed, this case is not all too different. But the extent to which it has ballooned is...terrifying? No, nothing is terrifying nowadays. Appaliing? Yes, that's the one - appalling.
I've never met Phil Fish, either in person or even more than a couple words exchanged online. He may truly be an asshole as others describe (almost all of which, I will confidently wager, also have not met him). I am aware of some of the controversial things he has said, the opinions he has expressed, and so on. But nothing so far has ever crossed the line that would, in my mind, deserve the backlash he has received for so many years.
FEZ, which I own and very thoroughly enjoy, is (in my opinion) a masterful work. I won't claim it's the best game I've ever played, because it isn't - for many reasons - but I believe it shows the care and artisanship of the dedicated team that put it together. Phil happens to be the designer, whose work is most on display here, and he also happens to be outspoken; so naturally, he will draw flak for anything even remotely negative towards FEZ. Somewhat ironically, probably the biggest negative, seemingly, is how successful the title has been. Huge props to him and the rest of Polytron for that. I don't begrudge them for their success; obviously many things were done very right.
So what's all the shit about, then? First, it was for FEZ' increasingly-lengthy development cycle. Five years is a lot of time, granted; and any major game dev sitting on a title for that long will be roundly criticized. Why, then, did so many think it was okay to absolutely blast Phil personally for it? And these were / are truly personal attacks, the sort that makes one shake his head (at best) or physically cringe (not-even-at-worst).
Maybe someone can help me understand just what makes those things okay. And no, 'it's the Internet' is not a valid reason, never was, never will be; somehow, I am on the Internet for a good portion every day and am not, inherently, an asshole. In fact, I put forth a good deal of effort to not be an asshole, simply because there are plenty of others (for reasons [un]told) who outstrip me in that regard without so much as trying. It's a mind-bending environment, really - where people who could probably be good, or at least much less asshole-ish, with so little effort.
(Yes, I understand there are also plenty of people who aren't assholes; being vocal about that will inevitably get you branded any number of things.)
Back on track, though: the Internet hate machine has run its course very thoroughly, and has caused Phil to give up on game development entirely. Why? Because the Internet is full of assholes, who, collectively, have some ungranted power to do those sorts of things. I don't blame him, because I don't know if my response would have been different, had the same thing happened to me. That is frightening, because I have yet to step into the ring entirely, and this sort of thing is happening. You need a thick skin in this life, but there's a limit to what that will protect.
One supposes that no matter the outlet, the loudest and most negative will always overshadow everything else. Unfortunate and hugely damning of our culture.
In retrospect, I controlled myself all the more tightly here, because I represent not just myself, personally and professionally, but also Zero Hour Productions. As much as it is an impersonal name and entity, it is one I am.
