WhiteWolf Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 The senior writer on Dragon Age II has decided to leave developer BioWare after ‘graphic threats’ were made to kill her children. Jennifer Helper was working on sequel Dragon Age: Inquisition but is quitting BioWare this week to go freelance, in large part thanks to threats she and others of the team received in the wake of Dragon Age II’s release. The game was unpopular with many hardcore fans and although Hepler was able to ignore most of the threats and abuse on the BioWare forums and Twitter she also received emailed death threats and threats against her children, as well as abusive phone calls. Hepler revealed the threats in a wider article on the subject of fan abuse on website Polygon. The story is also reminiscent of an incident last month, when fans threatened to murder a Call Of Duty developer because of minute changes to some of Black Ops II’s weapons. The catalyst for Hepler’s abuse was a six-year-old interview in which she admitted she didn’t enjoy combat in games. This was enough for fans to blame her for unpopular changes in Dragon Age II, describing her as a ‘cancer’ that was destroying BioWare. ‘I was shown a sample of the forum posts by EA security,’ says Hepler ‘And it included graphic threats to kill my children on their way out of school to show them that they should have been aborted at birth rather than have to have me as a mother.’ The situation highlights both more general problems with cyberbullying and the targeting of women via Twitter, both of which are likely to see more strict legal sanctions in the future. Another part of the problem for Hepler though was BioWare’s sympathetic portrayal of homosexual characters, which has not only been the catalyst for some of the abuse but also much of the positive support from fans. ‘The outpouring of support I received — large amounts from female and gay fans — was incredibly heartening,’ said Hepler. ‘Without the negativity, I’m not sure that I would ever have heard from all of these people confirming that there is a need for characters that tackle touchy social issues, for characters who are untraditional or even unlikeable.’ http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/16/bioware-writer-quits-after-death-threats-to-family-3925970/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven Angel Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteWolf Posted August 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 what you serious? ....So you are happy that she is getting death threats?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abhinav Tuli Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 i don't understand people who go to such heights for games . Agreed people want the games to be better but threatening the developers (no matter how bad they are) is just plain dumb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Boss Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 The catalyst for Hepler’s abuse was a six-year-old interview in which she admitted she didn’t enjoy combat in games DAFUQ did I just read? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteWolf Posted August 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Threatening to kill children for a video game....Disgusting.... :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteWolf Posted August 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 DAFUQ did I read? She just gave her opinion that she prefers story driven games with no combat like Journey and Walking Dead...She is just a writer at Bioware not some gameplay designer or main head of the company.... :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kemosabe Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 curse of INTERNET ANONYMITY. People hiding behind login id/user id/alias can say anything without any repercussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HundredProofSam Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 It's funny that she got so much abuse for saying she didn't like combat, and last year's GOTYs were Journey and The Walking Dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadoken Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Death threats are very common , not just in gaming. Even writers in anime,tv shows..etc . Like sweet poison said , it is one of the negative aspects of internet anonymity. But sh*t like this shouldn't be taken srsly , I mean shes not the only one who gets these. I was shown a sample of the forum posts by EA security,’ says Hepler ‘And it included graphic threats to kill my children on their way out of school to show them that they should have been aborted at birth rather than have to have me as a mother.’ Damn , no wonder. Thats just disgusting. Still dont get why people just dont follow "Dont like it dont buy it" . But no , I must make the utmost effort to fix the game by cursing developers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven Angel Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 what you serious? ....So you are happy that she is getting death threats?... Good she is leaving BioWare. I don't care about her personal life...pfft! Quitting over internet death threats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HundredProofSam Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 I don't care about her personal life...pfft! Quitting over internet death threats. Either you're trying to get a reaction out of people by being insensitive or you're just dense. Either way, good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven Angel Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Well, if I send you death threats via PM, will you quit your 'real-life' work/job? That's just plain stupid thing to do. Those threats can be from anybody. Who knows it can be 13yo kid who wants to mess up with her as he/she didn't like Dragon Age. (same thing recently happened to CoD developer (I think). He changed some sort of gun/scope and some kid sent him death threat). ROFL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpearHea:D Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 She left because her children were involved not because of random threat . Moms are over protective for their children and she did that for their safety . After all her children are her most precious thing in the world not a job at bioware . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IshmaelIsBack Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 ‘I was shown a sample of the forum posts by EA security,’ says Hepler ‘And it included graphic threats to kill my children on their way out of school to show them that they should have been aborted at birth rather than have to have me as a mother.’ She should have filed a case against these kids suffering from videogame anal cancer , plain & simple. We're in 2013 where internet moderation is hotly debated in most countries. Would've been just days for capping'em and serving inside and being a prime example for future cases. Then again , it's her kids these wanks threatened with so would have to be in her shoes to understand. Still dont get why people just dont follow "Dont like it dont buy it" THIS. SO. MUCH. Hurt their wallet so much and make them give in to us, It also makes them act like they're looking for feedback before flipping switches. Prime examples would be the current hot favorites , M$ with their 180. In contention heavily are Capcom , Ninty etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Right Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 that was sick. feel sorry for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HundredProofSam Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Well, if I send you death threats via PM, will you quit your 'real-life' work/job? It's really easy to get someone's personal details just based on their names and where they work. That's the world we live in, and so when someone makes threats like these, there is a possiblity that they have the knowledge needed to carry them out. You say it was probably just a 13 year old. Maybe he was 30. You never know. Whether or not she should have quit her job is not the issue here. People have different levels of tolerance and ways of coping. The COD dev was clearly more tolerant. The point is, neither she nor the COD dev should ever have been put in that position. I don't understand how people who love games can be this way with the people who make them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sach4life Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 It's really easy to get someone's personal details just based on their names and where they work. That's the world we live in, and so when someone makes threats like these, there is a possiblity that they have the knowledge needed to carry them out. You say it was probably just a 13 year old. Maybe he was 30. You never know. Whether or not she should have quit her job is not the issue here. People have different levels of tolerance and ways of coping. The COD dev was clearly more tolerant. The point is, neither she nor the COD dev should ever have been put in that position. I don't understand how people who love games can be this way with the people who make them. Seriously. Its so f**king easy to say that " There are just online threats. Why did she quit and all". With her children involved, one would get scared.People making such threats make me sick. Losers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemo Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 Well, if I send you death threats via PM, will you quit your 'real-life' work/job? That's just plain stupid thing to do. Those threats can be from anybody. Who knows it can be 13yo kid who wants to mess up with her as he/she didn't like Dragon Age. (same thing recently happened to CoD developer (I think). He changed some sort of gun/scope and some kid sent him death threat). ROFL! Some one who is stupid enough to send such threats might very well be psychopathic enough to try and execute them. Also like Sam said, no way to determine the age of the culprit (yes such threats can be said to be a crime, imo). Sure the perpetrator could be a pimply 13 year old, but he could just as easily be a 33 year old with 13 yr old's understanding of world. Point is, one cant ever be too careful in such unfortunate scenarios. You have gamers who are more or less desensitized to shooting due to gratuitous violence from the games and then having the mental capacity to send such messages and threats, and you'd see individuals who blur the lines between reality and pixels. Good thing she wasnt living in America (guessing by dotUk in the url). The liberal access to guns there to anyone would have made the threats a lot more harrowing. _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadoken Posted August 16, 2013 Report Share Posted August 16, 2013 ^^ she probably was in the us, bioware is in the US. i think it's just the news site that's in the uk. so yes the kind of retards living here its no surprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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