Diary

Bloodthirsty Gamer vs. Ignorance: An Open Letter

Posted on January 25, 2013 by B.C. Johnson

Update:

On his Twitter, Senator Yee backpedaled so furiously he actually reversed time. When he was back in time, he stepped on a butterfly, which altered the timeline and actually ensured he was still a douchebag. He’s his own time-travel douchebag father!

Said Yee:

“Gamers, I admittedly didn’t use best words to SFchron. Meant video game industry has inherent conflict of interest in the gun violence debate. I have a lot of respect for many gamers. Many are on my staff and in my family—but the industry has profited at the expense of children.”

So, not really an apology. He’s still under the opinion that people directly affected by legislation have no say in said legislation, but he’s just shifted his mouthwords so he’s talking about companies instead of people. He’s still essentially a fascist, but at least he’s a fascist to someone else, right?

So he made a point to distance himself from the shitty things he said about 2/3 of the populace of the US, but not from his still, actually quite stupid, opinion. Considering my letter below was reminding him why calling gamers bloodthirsty lunatics might have poor political and electoral consequences, I’m going to take credit for at least the shift in blame. It’s a small step, but it’s a step. I’ll be more clear next time that censorship is wrong for everybody.

Granted, thousands probably filled his inbox with similar sentiments of bloodthirsty aggression (as is our purview), but I’m still saying it was me.

You’re welcome, planet Earth. Anyway, continue on to hear the smarmy crap I whipped his way last week.

Original Article

I am twenty-seven years old. I am a professional author. I am also a gamer.

Today, I took a break from eating babies and burning down society to send a letter to a Senator. I figured if I could keep my bloodstained fingers away from a shrieking throat for a few minutes longer (resist, Bobby, resiiiiiissssst) I thought I’d share that letter with you today.

But first, some back story.

On Tuesday, State Senator Leland Yee from San Francisco found himself being interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle, about a violent video game bill he drafted awhile back. The bill was summarily struck down as unconstitutional, and actually ended up paving the way for games being legally defined as art / free expression. So, Senator Yee is no stranger to petard-hoisting.

He must have had a really good time with it, because he’s back again, greasing up his shoe to see just how far he can put it down his own throat this time. Sometimes, guys, you have to mix a metaphor. Just go with it.

Anyway, he’s back at it again, determined to rescue you from your Constitutional rights. When asked in the interview about his current crusade, he dropped this little bon mot:

I was going to continue being snarky, but I figure that’s all the back story you’ll need. If you care to contact the good state senator yourself, go here.

I feel like I had something to say about credibility. Here’s the letter I sent to Yee a few hours ago:

An Open Letter

Senator Yee,

I recently read your interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, and your words on the violent video game law you drafted.

I just wanted to inform you of why telling video-game players to “quiet down” is a remarkably inappropriate thing to say. Would you ask movie goers to “quiet down” about movie censorship legislation? Would you ask book readers to “quiet down” about book censorship? I’m just curious how the very people who are the most knowledgeable and also the most affected by a law should have no say in the matter.

I’d like to present some information you may find useful for the future, and certainly for any potential upcoming elections.

There are over 211 million gamers currently in the United States. I may remind you, there are only a little over 300 million people in the entire country.

The average gamer’s age is 37 (53% of the gaming population being from 18-49). The next largest group is 29%, who are over 50 years of age. The smallest group (what we might call “non-voters,” for example) is the 18% of gamers under 18.

If you consider yourself a proponent of women, I submit the following interesting demographics:

42% of gamers are female. In fact, women over the age of 18 (what we might call “voters,” for example) make up a larger segment of the gaming population at 37%, OVER the segment of boys under the age of 18, who only make up a scant 13% of the gaming market.

I point all this out to let you know that these gamers who have “no credibility” and should “quiet down” are nearly 65% of the entire voting population. These people hold jobs, raise children, and are productive members of society. These are the gamers you are telling to shut up.

These are the voters.

Your ideas are old-fashioned and out of sync with reality. Reality is going to catch up with you, and you may find yourself without a Senate seat to warm.

Some friendly advice,

Bobby Johnson

Age 27
Professional Author
Gamer

Sources

Some of the above stats are from the NPD Group’s recent Video Game study, available here: https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/home/

Other stats are from the ESA’s 2011 Report, available here: http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2011.pdf

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All Day, Every Day

Posted on June 5, 2012 by B.C. Johnson

I’ve taken the plunge. I’ve leaped off a cliff with the intention of designing and eventually constructing a parachute on the way down. Wisdom? No. Charisma? Maybe. Dexterity . . .

Wait now I’m just naming D&D attributes. Sorry, I’m back.

I quit my job to become a full-time writer, is what I’m saying. It’s funny, what I’ve learned about saying that particular sentence back there. It’s an easy way to gauge someone’s personality, and its utterance reveals a bucketload about the person that responds. It’s actually pretty funny. I’ve said it in a room full of people and gotten everything from anger to excitement to pity.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not surprised by this. I knew when I made that fateful decision that it was a risky one, both financially and socially. I mean, the economy isn’t exactly wearing its Sunday best, and quitting a stable job is a terrifically, excitingly bad idea, most especially to pursue a career with the stability of a professional Blackjack player.

I am lucky, and that’s made the decision easier. I’m lucky to have a fiancee who’s not only willing to support me while I try this noble experiment, but in fact actually suggested it. I’m lucky that as a relatively young man I have a retirement fund I can plunder to pay for a wedding. I’m most especially lucky that I live in a time where I can stay at home and write all day and get paid for it. In a time before the internet, the only way to do that was to be one of the top percent of successful, popular novelists. Now, in this time, being able to apply to literally every freelance writing job posting on planet Earth makes things easier. Not easy, Heaven forfend and Hell no, but easier. Possible, anyway.

Not having kids or mortgage helps too.

The decision was necessary. More than necessary, if there’s a word for that. You think a writer would have one of those.

Working a job that fluctuated every week, without warning, between fifty hours and eighty makes writing impossible. Impossible. I say it a third time to appease the Old Gods: Impossible. Did I write? Yes. Did I even publish a book? Why yes sir I sure did. In nine years, I produced one book fit to print. An accomplishment to be sure, but no career. No possibility of career.

So I begin the noble experiment. I began it yesterday, as a matter of fact. If things don’t work out over a significant period of time, than I’ll be happy to grab another day job and write on the side. After all, my complaint for nine years has been thus: If only I had more time. More time and I’d be Stephen King, more time and I’d be a proper scotch-drinking, bathrobe-wearing, writer. Time!

Now I have the time. If I can’t put my typewriter where my mouth is, than I’ve been full of shit for nine years. If I can’t do it, than I know that I was just using time as an excuse to not write. And if that happens, then I got another day job and write on my off hours, knowing once and for all that I didn’t need time, I just needed to have my ass kicked a little.

Ah, gentle readers, but if it does work.

If it does . . .

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V-Day

Posted on February 17, 2012 by B.C. Johnson

I spent Valentine’s in Temecula, doing wine-stuff. Tasting, drinking, spilling in moving vehicles.

Wait, before you get mad at the last one: it involved a parking lot, a bathrobe, and a poor attempt at juggling. I won’t go into it, but just know that it was wild.

A few things I learned about myself, about vacationing, and about wine:

1. Even after having had it explained to me, I have no idea what “tannins” are. I suspect tiny elves.

2. Women are to werewolves as sangria is to silver bullets. Yeah, I went SAT Prep on that one.

3. Jacuzzi’s are more fun when you have to snap caution tape to get to them.

4. A hint that you are lying to yourself: “If I bring my laptop, I can do some work. Just in the morning, before we go anywhere.”

5. Room service is the key to World Peace. I haven’t quite figured out the specifics, but give me time.

Have a great post-Valentine’s Day. And remember: if you give your gal flowers a week after a successful Valentine’s Day, it’s worth about a billion points.

– B.C.