Hogwarts Legacy gets great reviews

Interesting replies:

twitter.com/WIRED/status/1624047313382506502

"review" from Wired. Has gone down well with gamers on Twitter. Or maybe not?
www.wired.com/review/hogwarts-legacy-review/

Oh dear, banned from another games site for stating that it was bizarre that a games website was trying to pretend that the game doesn't exist.

I'm playing it and really enjoying it so far!

The 1800s were apparently much more permissive, though. You can choose which dorm (M or F) to sleep in, which is rather creepy. I wonder what happened in the intervening years for girls to be given their own dorm away from boys, and with the added protection of a staircase that becomes a slide should a boy decide to violate their privacy?

Since the transphobia bullying isn’t quite working, now they’ve moved onto “the series is founded in anti Semitism” and is “literally” Aryan philosophies, and “Rowling supports slavery.” Also, did you know that Rowling uses the money she makes to literally fund Trans conversion camps?

Ever the optimist but I’m starting to hope that the game, despite JK’s lack of direct involvement, is going to result in lots of new spring sunlight.

People aren’t just nodding along and accepting the ‘transphobia’ accusations anymore because the positive trans representation and the real life trans actor are completely incongruent with the ever-escalating, totally bonkers, ‘JK wants a trans genocide’ narrative.

TBH I don't know why developers bother with trans characters because they are always the most complained about characters because they never meet the high expectations of activists.

But they do have a point because some of them that I've come across are clearly written by people who have no idea. Someone referenced Cyberpunk and that featured a woman, who was clearly retconned to be trans, with recordings saying how her clothes won't fit after the operation.

Other games then have to go out of their way to get activist groups involved to change the depiction of a character post-release, and this can happen at the expense of immediate game-breaking bugs.

This HP character has been voiced by a trans actor, so shouldn't run into these problems, but seems like a lot of non-trans trans activists think they know best.

Oh the purity spiral strikes again!

I get the feeling lots of people who until now would have sided with the TRA gamers are now experiencing the bullying from the other end.

Rowling has received criticism in the past for giving minority characters names such as Cho Chang

Well, the name is crap, but I was entertained by one of my kids telling me she should have googled it. I suspect that in 1998(?) she'd have been more likely to grab a range of names from the phone book or the Yellow Pages. Her publisher should have picked up on it, really.

I can say, as I am playing it right now and actually on one of Sirona’s quests, that this character is involved in a few different quest chains - probably as many as some of the teachers. Marg might want to actually give it a go first.

I’d also say too that Sirona is a perfectly likeable character. I’d be interested to know how else they could have been implemented too - I mean if she was more obviously trans that would have been transphobic, and if she was less obviously trans and more passing the developers wouldn’t have tried hard enough and that would be transphobic. What should they have done?

Meanwhile over on Radio 2 Jeremy Vine had two guests to discuss it and, like Evan Davis on PM had decided that two transwomen, in agreement on JKR's 'transphobia' but at odds over whether to boycott the game or not, would provide the necessary BBC balance.

Fucksake.

In fairness, he did press the 'team boycott' TW on whether JKR challenging Isla Bryson's right to be in a women's prison is transphobic, but caved when the TW made the ridiculous counter-argument that gay rapists are incarcerated in male prisons. (Fucksake again.)

Several female™ callers displayed their #bekind credentials and distanced themselves from JKR while calling out the bullying, without any apparent awareness that bullying in transactivism is a feature not a bug.

The views that are getting more and more mainstream every single day?

The BBC News at One on BBC1 just headlined it - the quote was something like 'JK Rowlings controversial views on Trans people.' I am now waiting with bated breath to hear those controversial views. Suspect I'll still be waiting when the Ten o'clock news goes out tonight. Get ready with those complaint forms.

Hope I'm wrong.

The BBC are still looking to finding their position on this. On The World at One on Radio 4, the summary of the controversy referred to JKR's statement about "policies related to transgender people".

Ha ha the copium!

The idea that the sales of a game that was always going to be a major global success (because it's Harry Potter) somehow demonstrates support in either direction, for or against trans rights, is delusional.

Nobody is saying that though. We're just pleased that TRAS' bullying tactics are being ignored for once.

I reckon JKR is pretty fed up with the wizarding world and is probably happy to have minimal involvement in it because a large portion of the fanbase are fucking lunatics.

I’ve yet to see any of the same level of crazy fandom with regards to the Strike books, despite the fact they are also very successful. Probably because fans of detective fiction are grown ups.

Jeremy Vine on BBC radio 2 will be discussing young people boycotting this game because of JKR's comments about trans people. Or phrased something like that.

Programme is on now until 2pm.

If you can bear to listen.

No, of course not.

I haven't played it yet but I know there are a few names that come from the books. Phineas Nigellus, ancestor of Sirius Black and bit part in the books, is the headmaster. One of the professors is a Weasley, obviously supposed to be an ancestor of the book Weasleys, and I think there's a Rookwood as well (Death Eater surname). There might well be more surnames used that originally came from the books.

But most of the characters are completely made up by the game developers and the story itself is not by JKR at all, though I suppose it probably extrapolates from mentions of goblin rebellions in the books. I think Phineas Nigellus is the only actual character from the books that appears. Could be wrong there as I haven't had a go yet!

Anyway, it's a spin-off, not a JKR creation. I'm sure she's got better things to do than naming NPCs.

Transphobic poster MargharitaPIE said:

“I still stand by my views this non-playable character (who barely appears) could have been implemented better.”

1. How do you know the character “barely appears”? Have you played the game?

2. Do enlighten us as to how this NPC could have been implemented better. I’d love to hear it.

The game is top of the charts and these sites are looking a bit stupid trying to appease a very vocal small group.

The hilarious thing is that the tiny vocal group is actually impossible to appease. The game developers obviously DID try pretty hard to appease them. A trans character cameo voiced by and modelled on a genuine trans actor. And the character creation allows you to make your character trans, freely mixing and matching body types, voice types and witch/wizard identities.

Didn't work did it?

Did JKR even name the characters?

A good article in the Telegraph too: web.archive.org/web/20230210103030/www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/hogwarts-legacy-boycott-harry-potter-video-game-controversy/

There was a very positive review on the bbc 2 news earlier which referenced the controversy between some trans peoples views and JKR. They attempted to give both sides and actually said JKR supports trans people but thinks that women should be allowed single sex spaces when necessary. The online report by their gaming correspondent actually used JKRs words. Actual quotes! Not fully balanced but a positive move I felt.

I think now that we're seeing what publications are refusing to review the game how out-of-touch they are with the readership. I predict a push to get the game to be reader's game of the year.

Eurogamer, for instance has their very own OJ, a white male who has taken it upon himself to be a spokesman for minority groups (whilst making sure that he maintains his own privilege) and has probably had a big say in banning talk of the game. The site is now deleting comments that reference the boycott.

The game is top of the charts and these sites are looking a bit stupid trying to appease a very vocal small group.