Multiple Women Accuse Games Writer Chris Avellone Of Sexual Misconduct (Kotaku link) (Archive link)

First woman who shared her story on twitter gives out more information and, I think, it further proofs my previous posts about their evening. Couple days ago when she first shared her story, I had to read it multiple times to get accurate portrayal of their evening, because it was written with some much raw negative emotion. One thing was crystal clear from the beginning: She doesn't like Chris. That meant she has absolutely no reason to protect Chris in anyway shape or form. So, if the stuff she implied happened had happened, she would have just flat out said so. She is simply seeing Chris in the most negative way possible and that has colored her view of the events. But in the end the facts are what matter: She got drunk on free drinks. Ended up alone with Chris in a room. He thought this means sex. It didn't and she said so. That was it.

I am curious how many will see his actions as a sexual assault, because in this context I don't think they were. I mean, when woman keeps drinking drinks man buys for her and afterwards they end up alone at his or her apartment, it isn't wrong to expect sex. It is a thing that has happened countless times between numerous people. At the same time, there isn't anything wrong thinking such a chain of events doesn't mean sex and say no. I don't think either of them did anything wrong. It would definitely been better if Chris had asked instead of just going for it, but he did stop immediately when she asked him to.

The actual damning stuff comes from the other women in the article. Their stories show Chris as someone who doesn't respect his own or other people's relationships, and makes unprompted and unwanted advances. Both of their stories happened in 2014. Are they damning enough that Chris should lose his livelihood now?

I don't know. 

Edited June 24, 20205 yr by kirottu

So... ummm… where are we going with all this? Should all copies of Icewind Dale, Torment, Fallout 2, Fallout NV, PoE, NWN2 be removed from Steam? Or should we all delete our own copies too? How far down does this rabbit hole go? That seems to be the trend nowadays. 

In all seriousness, folks who do this kind of thing get fired. It sounds like that is what happened. I don't know about blacklisting but that might happen. For a little while at least. I agree with Kirottu, this does sound at least a little fishy. Nothing I've read sounds like sexual assault in the traditional sense of the word. However, in the hyper-vigilant, #me too, all men are sexual predators era that term might mean anything. At best he probably should have known better. 

There is a long standing rule most men find out early on: DO NOT sleep with (or try to) people you work with. Don't s--t where you eat. That should probably be extended to people in the industry you work in. Especially a small one like game development. 

Looking at twitter (I don't know why I looked at twitter) the consensus seems to be "guilty until proven innocent and we don't have time to prove things".

2 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

So... ummm… where are we going with all this?

I'm starting a fundraiser starting next month to erect (no pun intended) a statue of Chris that could be toppled and vandalized.

2 hours ago, Sarex said:

(I don't know why I looked at twitter)

Indeed.

It occurred to me that Twitter is the best argument that could be made to illustrate why no one should want the ability to read people's minds.

Per the original thread on this topic -

On 6/22/2020 at 1:10 AM, Fionavar said:

Thank you to the community for your ongoing care and commitment to Obsidian. I thank all who have contributed to the discussion thus far. The reality of harassment and inappropriate use of power is something we take seriously in our community. For the care of all involved, we will close this discussion for now. If you would like to raise concerns or questions, please PM me.