I think gamer gaters have become so insecure that they spin and reach anything that mentions them as a joke into a scandal. It amazes me that people take something this far fetched seriously.

First how can people say that using a sock puppet is that same as calling someone a sock puppet? It's not, even if people have been saying that they are that just makes it topical.

However those that insist that it is calling #notyourshield sock puppet. That isn't racist, it isn't sexist it's saying you're being used. Used by gamergaters as a shield in fact.

Saying someone is being used isn't racist even if you say a group of people by any term to group them, black women lgbt. Being used isn't a derogatory statement.

It's like gamergaters found the one way to see the dress as white and gold. Even though it's blue and black such a narrow point of view to get easily offended over is disingenuous and losses many rational thinking allies from the cause.

That's not what it means. Sockpuppeting is using a second account in order to pretend to be another person. So if that was his intent, Tim would be saying that the #notyourshield people are actually straight white guys pretending to be black, gay, female, etc., because no minorities could actually think that way.

Thanks for clarifying the term. Though with that definition the joke makes even less sense. If the puppets were second accounts the math should never been off the other direction. With it adding up to more people than their are because the puppets are being counted when they shouldn't.

Even still people can say he's dismissive by saying that, but dismissing people because he thinsk they are fake is different than dismissing people because they are minorities. 

I don't really get the joke tbh, so I cant really call it racist...

I think people are reading way too deep into it. I think he just made a silly joke about the whole notion, which wasn't supposed to be a statement on the topic that these people fight for. Just commenting on how active this group is and maybe showing what he thinks about Internet fighters and how much they really change. Also, I think he tried to pull a play with words with "making armour" and saying "it's not your shield". The use of the puppet was also quite smart considering the double meaning.

Still, I think people attacking him are ridiculous and fail at noticing that he is pretty much doing a little stand-up comedy there. He was clearly in a role and this shouldn't be mistaken for the real opinion of Tim Shafer or considered as an attack on anyone. This may not be the joke of the year, but on the other hand there was a lot to it, which makes it quite good for a gaming dev. Calling this racist is beyond stupid.

Agreed

There's something about Tim lately which... I don't really like. He seems to be so full of himself these days.

Well, at least his team managed to deliver a decent remaster of his best game (and one of my all-time most favorites).

I think Tim should focus on finishing his 3,3 million dollar kickstarter game instead of doing terrible stand-up.

Yeah. I don't really think he thought it through, which makes me think he was just telling a silly throwaway joke that referenced a current event rather than trying to make a point. But he doesn't seem to be clarifying it, so who knows what he meant?

I must be a horrible person, I still find that angel and bat joke funny...