The Crisis of Drake

So, according to SimsVIP, SimGuruDrake sent an email asking for a screenshot to be removed, and something else added, and her attitude lately has been less than stellar.

Let me play devil’s advocate for a minute. Now, I am not totally disagreeing with Alexis over at SimsVIP, but I do want to make a point.

You’re not being censored. No, really. You’re not. Censorship would be forcing you to remove the post. It is merely a request. And you absolutely do not have to comply with it, and you know what? I applaud you for that. It’s your website, and your website draws in readers who are interested in the activities surrounding The Sims. I’d put my foot down too. But please don’t call it censorship. Call it what it really is. Backpedaling.

This is where I want to make a point to SimGuruDrake. You have a thankless job. You get yelled at and who knows what by a bunch of babies in the simming community. You are like a cashier at a grocery store. You get yelled at if you go too fast, too slow, or if something is not priced right. If you put in a pair of flip flops in the same bag as a box of crackers, you get called a cunt (personal experience. Yes, this actually happened to me. Two teenage girls, knowing full well they could say what they like and I could not respond how I would have liked to, chose to behave this way). I get it. I totally get it. Your job sucks in that aspect.

But that’s the nature of the beast. As big of babies as these people can get, they are still your customers. They are still fans of the game. The minute you let your emotion get the best of you (we all have a bad day, and dealing with screaming, crying, threats, name-calling absolutely doesn’t help your mood) you do nothing but bring down yourself, and the *ahem* “good name” *snort* of the company you represent.

That being said, I’ve seen some of your comments, replies, tweets, and the attitude in some of those have raised an eyebrow. If you cannot leave your personal emotion out of the equation and remain professional, then maybe you’re just not cut out for that job. And I say that with the utmost honesty and sincerity. Not to insult or demean you, or to suggest that your job is easy (because it most certainly isn’t. A lot of Sims fans….are assholes. Yes, a lot of you are. You act like babies, you pitch tantrums on the forums, you make threats on Twitter, and you behave like petulant children. Sorry, not sorry.), but to simply say it for what it is. You represent EA. Getting snarky with someone on the forum isn’t in good form. And you seem to want to “fix” your reputation. Alexis can’t help you fix it. You actually need to fix it yourself. The only one to blame for your attitude is you. The only one who can fix it is you.

I’m watching this pile of hot garbage of a situation from the sidelines, and I’m shaking my head. Seeing comments such as “yaaaasss, queen, drag her” (WTF does that even mean? Sorry, I’m not 12, so someone needs to update me on what seems to be a new bit of slang), along with Drake trying to backpedal (“please don’t post anything negative about me, I’m trying to repair my reputation with the community I get snarky with”) is like a circus atmosphere. Over what? A stupid leak for an upcoming expansion? Gurus not being able to talk about every piece of information? That’s what’s causing this damn train wreck? Good grief.

So in ending, I’d like to just say:

1. Alexis, you’re not being censored when someone politely asks you to change what you’re saying to make them look better. They are just backpedaling. There is no force involved. But as I said before, good on you for not backing down. But this whole “we will not be silenced” thing is a wee bit over dramatic, no? Nobody’s trying to silence you.
2. Get your emotion in check, Drake. We are human, but maybe take a breather before sitting in front of a keyboard to respond to some jerk who’s taking an attitude with you.
3. Who is even surprised about leaks these days? They happen all the time. As far as what EA can or can’t discuss is usually covered by NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreements) which can be brutal if you violate them. So take a chill pill, simmers. Stop turning the leaks and what can and can’t be discussed into some big travesty. The world will still turn, and the sun will still rise tomorrow. Go Netflix and chill (that’s slang, right?)
4. EA shutting down threads? Not surprising. Censorship? Nope. It’s their website. You agreed to ToS when you joined, and you agreed to certain rules. If they want to remove a thread, they absolutely can. Don’t like it? Don’t participate on the forums. If you come here to MY blog, and you ARGUE with me, and I DELETE your comment, that is not censorship. If I forcibly shut YOUR website down? THAT is censorship. When you are here, you abide by my rules, and if I decide that I don’t want to see your face around here, I don’t have to see your face around here. Plain and simple. Now, does it make EA shady? Absolutely. But it’s not censorship. EA are the owners of the forums, and do NOT have to allow free speech, and can delete posts and ban people as they like. This website, while owned by WordPress, is run by me. Now, I can speak freely to an extent, but if I step out of bounds, and I make threats, I use hate-speech, I say things that are against their ToS, then they have every right to give my blog the boot. I have every right to give your comment the boot. That’s not censorship. It’s moderation. You cannot “speak freely” on The Sims forums. If you could, you could swear, you could use hate speech, you could say anything you damn well please, and would not see any reprimand. So please for the love of everything holy, stop using the word “censorship.” What you mean to say is “EA are being dicks.” That’s all. When they delete a thread that was not in violation of any rules, they are being dicks. When they ban someone for no reason, they are being dicks. But censorship? Nah.

Play nice, y’all.

P.S. In other news, I’ve been in orientation and computer training and all other sorts of stuff at the new job. Finances still suck. The mood around the house has been depressing, but hopefully (and I remain hopeful, even as these dark clouds roll over our home and we continue to worry about our finances) we will be fine in a month. Hopefully. But hey, if the blog goes dark and I go MIA, that’ll probably be because we’ve hit rock bottom. And I’ll be damned if rock bottom is gonna be permanent. Love your faces. ❤