WORDS Eoin Moore

It’s difficult to feel anything but sheer embarrassment about this whole ridiculous sequence of events. The Dickwolves controversy stopped being about free speech and rape culture almost immediately after it started, and has since been a childish mud-slinging contest between Mike Krahulik, one half of the duo who run popular gaing site Penny Arcade, and his detractors.

For the uninitiated, it began three years ago when Penny Arcade posted a comic entitled The Sixth Slave. The comic’s subject was about the (understandably) questionable morality and arbitrary nature of standard fetch-quests in video games. A detail of this gag was a slave character being raped by a “Dickwolf”, a monster later confirmed by the creators to be “a mythological creature whose every limb was an erect phallus.” The inclusion of this humorous reference to rape is not that surprising considering the general tone of Penny Arcade strips, but could be considered a step too far and extremely hurtful to victims of rape.

The snowball began to tumble when an article from Shakesville was posted condemning the creators, and Penny Arcade responded with a questionable and snarky response.

It was during the backlash to the second comic that Krahulik began to stir things up considerably. After a few heated comment exchanges in which he grew increasingly venomous towards his critics, he began to actively fight them, going as far as creating and selling “Dickwolf”-themed t-shirts through the website and at Penny Arcade’s E3 rivalling Expo, PAX. Things only escalated from that point on, with Krahulik on one side, a host of feminist blogs and websites on the other, and – as with any blown out of proportion internet controversy – a whole host of onlookers making anonymous death threats to both sides. Eventually, the shirts were taken down. However, Krahulik remained stubbornly unapologetic about any of the various stupid things he had said and done during the controversy, even going so far as promising to wear one of the infamous t-shirts to PAX 2011 following their removal from the store.

At this stage the hysteria finally began to die down on the Dickwolves fiasco. That is, until it was subsequently reignited most recently at the beginning of September, when Krahulik stated in an interview at PAX 2013 that he still regrets removing the Dickwolves merchandise from the Penny Arcade store. In a follow-up clarification of the statement, Krahulik explained his stance more cohesively, but by then the outrage had already re-entered full swing.

The thing is, none of the initial sparks of this inherently ludicrous controversy actually matter anymore; what matters is the sheer magnitude of their fallout.

It’s no longer worthwhile debating whether it was the fault of Krahulik who pushed things too far, or if it was the fault of the bloggers who took things too seriously to begin with. At this stage, the fault lies with everyone who has touched this pointless screaming match and who has, in doing so, further perpetuated it. The only thing that’s left to hope for is that now it may finally be forgotten, never to be dug up again.

The thing that annoys me most of all about this whole situation is the fact that the issues brought up in this “debate” – such as misogyny, rape culture, homophobia and transphobia – are very real and prominent issues in the gaming community which should be addressed, and these legitimate problems have been devalued by their association with this stupid, overblown controversy.

These are issues which should be addressed more by video game journalism, but taking a small-scale internet feud and adding more fuel to it is unlikely to bring about the changes that are needed. The initial frenzies and subsequent re-surfacing of controversies like these do nothing to further debate, and only serve to detract attention from things that actually matter in the gaming world, and cause people to lose sight of what actually matters.

Furthermore, this continued controversy serves as yet another example of the tabloid-esque, reactionary nature of video game journalism today. Right now, around the world, articles are being written detailing different perspectives, opinions, and reactions regarding this latest chapter of the Dickwolves controversy. The process is universal: even this complaint of mine is only adding to the global shouting match. Above all else, this regrettable affair stands testament to the overwhelming immaturity of gaming journalism and the gaming community. It’s about time that both grew up.