Destructoid Scores Big with "Bully" Courtroom Coverage

Why is Jack so suprised about not getting an advance version of the game? Doesn't he realize he is a nobody? Doesn't he realize his say on whether the game is violent means just as much as any other schlub off the streets? When does this man think that he gets to decide just what I spend my hard earned money on. I'll not have my free speech be "Jack Approved".

I was admittedly critical of the robot head stunt with Doug Lowenstein (though it was funny) I just wanted to drop a line here and say how much the write-up is appreciated. It's good to have someone observing the process and letting everyone know what's happening.

This was an entertaining read, too, so good work, Niero.

@Father Time -- the thing is if Thomson could show that same type of maturity when he came on to sites like this and Joystiq, I would say MOST of the people here would have responded more positively to him and maybe we could have had an open debate on these topics. Instead he'd fly in here with insults, racism and tired rhetoric (i.e. a typical internet troll).

It just goes to show that the "anonymity" of the internet can lead people to write crazy things because the people you're aiming the insults at can't punch you through the computer screen. Jack won't use the same type of language in person because it's much more difficult to do so when the person you're aiming invectives at is standing right in front of you.

I was also struck by how civil JT was in Niero's piece, and also wondered why he never bothered to address us in an equally civil manner. Those of us here like myself who are in their 30's are insulted when he calls us "Junior." For the record, I'm a responsible, taxpaying citizen, so it raises my hackles when he thinks of us in this way. Like others have said, the level of hatred we feel towards him wouldn't exist if he came across as more polite and civil as he did there.

It could be that, like some people his age, he probably just doesn't "get" the internet, its discourse or what it's all about any more than he does games. It's human nature to abhor what we don't understand, and this could be another example.

That having been said, regardless of how he behaved there, it still does not excuse all of the other awful things he's said in the past. And the fact remains that he's still someone who insists forcing their moral views and religion down other people's throats.

So he's not so much against Bully's violence than he is against its theme of "getting even." I believe he also made a statement at some point in the recent past where he argued to the effect that if you're being bullied, it's better to take it than to fight back.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with fighting back at all. Sometimes getting even is the only option, and preferable to being bullied. It's better to stand and fight than to keep running all the time and live in fear. Even if you get your ass kicked, you'll still have shown that you weren't one to just sit there and take it. If it's because he subscribes to "turning the other cheek," well, I've always believed that was bull. I don't condone Satanism, but Anton LaVey had a point when he said if you do that, all that will end up happening is that you'll "run out of cheeks."

I summation, whether he comes across a a jerk or not, he's still an old man who just doesn't get it.

1) Who is this guy, and what has he done to the real Jack Thompson? Really, even considering the anonimity factor, it seems like a paradox becoming flesh and blood when Thompson is described like that. Something horrible is going to happen, brace for impact!
Speaking seriously now, one thing is a person that has a bad reputation because everyone says things about said person that might not be true. This is not the case with Jack at all, because we all know the insults he hurled at us, gamers. He just wore his sheep skin while he had to, but underneath, he's still the wolf. We don't have to buy this BS.

2) When it comes to bullying, if you don't fight back, they don't stop. The scars of bullying are permanent (or at least very dificult to get rid of). And that's not even considered. Protect the bullied students at all costs, not the bully. If it takes a few teeth out of him, so be it, he had it coming (and probably deserved worse, so he's lucky).