Our Response to the “PC Master Race” Name Controversy

Poggervania, 10 months ago

Because context is important here: the whole “PC master race” joke originally came from an old Zero Punctuation video on some PC-exclusive game (might have been either Crysis or The Witcher, can’t remember). It was quite literally a quick throwaway joke about “dirty console peasants” versus “the PC master race” because PC-exclusive games at the time were both trying to push the limits graphically and also had a tendency to have overly complicated mechanics just because they can. Plus, PC gamers were hella snobby back in the day, so it was kind of a jab at how the community would see themselves as being above console gamers - and of course, with Yahtzee being beloved back in the day, the community took to it.

It had absolutely no connection to being related to the Naziism because Yahtzee wasn’t trying to make the joke in that way. If you’re saying it has connection to Nazis because of that, you’re legitimately either just looking at it from a surface-level without doing more research into why it came to be in the first place, or you are looking too deep for a connection to Naziism.

BaroqueInMind, 10 months ago

It had absolutely no connection to being related to the Naziism because Yahtzee wasn’t trying to make the joke in that way.

Saying that there is a "master race" implies there is a "subordinate slave race", in this case the reference was to slower and weaker game console hardware being inferior to advanced modular PC hardware.

Yahtzee is also a rage bait tongue-in-cheek sarcastic snark-lord, so of course he would choose to use "Master Race" ironically to piss off the sensitive limp-wrist censor-happy losers out there.

Case-in-point, he says the N-word in a video to get a rise out of people watching his streams. He may be a racist, or likely not. Regardless, he is getting people to talk about him and watch his content by saying inflammatory things. Trump does the same thing.

snooggums, 10 months ago

Saying that there is a "master bath" implies there is a "subordinate slave bath".

Not everything is literal. In the context of the PC master race joke the punch line is computer gaming thinking it is superior when it is just another way to play games.

Wit, 10 months ago

Wait you don't have subordinate slave bathrooms? Or subordinate slave bedrooms? But then which rooms do you need the subordinate slave keys to get into? I don't use keys since I'm a master at lockpicking, but all my subordinate slave lockpickers use keys at home.

Poggervania, 10 months ago

Saying that there is a "master race" implies there is a "subordinate slave race", in this case the reference was to slower and weaker game console hardware being inferior to advanced modular PC hardware.

Which was also absolutely true at the time - PCs were strictly better than consoles around that time period. The “master race” bit was, at the end of a day, a jab at the PC community and how they stereotypically did (and still do) see themselves as a “holier-than-thou” kind of community.

As for the whole “slave race” bit… that literally does not apply to this at all because the people against the “master race” bit are against it due to a reference to Nazism, not slavery. Iirc, Nazism wasn’t about “let’s enslave all lesser races to the Aryans” - it was about fucking genociding all “lesser races” and having both Aryans and Germans as the Ubermensch. Also, we use “master x” in a lot of things, like “master bedroom” or “master copy” - should we also start labelling things as “slave bedroom” or “slave copy”?

Yahtzee is also a rage bait tongue-in-cheek sarcastic snark-lord, so of course he would choose to use "Master Race" ironically to piss off the sensitive limp-wrist censor-happy losers out there.

It didn’t come off to me that way - I think he was just being snarky at how entitled the PC community can be. I don’t think he was going in a similar train of thought as “lmao lemme say this inflammatory thing to own those special snowflakes”. If anything, it’s just aged poorly because edgelord humor was in at the time.

Case-in-point, he says the N-word in a video to get a rise out of people watching his streams. He may be a racist, or likely not. Regardless, he is getting people to talk about him and watch his content by saying inflammatory things. Trump does the same thing.

I’ll give you that bit - Yahztee’s a pretty snarky dude. I also haven’t watched him in almost a decade or so, so I’ll take your word on that. I will say, he’s not always super snarky, but it’s seldom - pretty sure his review for Spec Ops: The Line had like, no snark in it, but that’s the exception versus the rule.

AnonTwo, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago)

...what? it's like a 20 year old meme....

I'd argue moreso that moderation should just be heavy on people trying to associate it with nazi content. The original meme was never made in reference to that.

edit: i'm just realizing that this seems to be a bug, and Kbin can post in threads that shouldn't allow posting (though they don't show up on the lemmy site)

masterspace, 10 months ago

master was used as the default branch name for like a decade plus but now we use main, things change.

In this case it's especially egregious since the name is not just a referenced to Nazi race theory, but given that it concerns racial superiority it also engenders a toxic attitude in the gaming community. As much as the mods say that it's about machines, I've never interpreted it that way and always thought it was a joke referring to the gamers since the language itself inherently implies that.

Let's put it this way, would you feel comfortable using it in front of a jewish friend or family member? If not then it probably shouldn't be the name of the main pc gaming community.

AnonTwo, 10 months ago

...??? How does it concern racial superiority? There are no races!

Look at the icon of the PCMR. It's clearly meant to be a narcissist meme.

Let's put it this way, would you feel comfortable using it in front of a jewish friend or family member? If not then it probably shouldn't be the name of the main pc gaming community.

I...probably would, because I couldn't even associate it with nazi references unless someone tried to. This honestly seems more like a bad party trying to appropriate the term. Which is why i'd say moreso get the people slipping nazi/racial toned jokes out.

And while yes, master was changed to main, that was just a syntax. The meme is more or less the entire identity of the community, without that it's really just another PC community.

CatZoomies, 10 months ago

1. What happened?

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On the topic of the PC Master Race being a reference to the Nazi regime’s “master race”, two controversial posts (lemmy.world/post/1068192 and lemmy.world/post/1100953) were created within two days. Moderators locked down the first post due to the comments violating community rules. No further posts were created on this topic.

2. What is the current state?

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There is some division in the community because of these posts. I will briefly summarize the main points of both sides in favor of keeping the name and the side in favor of changing the name.

On keeping the name “Master Race”:

• The origin of the name “Glorious PC Master Race” comes from a video game review of “The Witcher” by Yahtzee in 2008. This was spun as a joke to highlight the superior PC platform as a better gaming device compared to its rival gaming platforms (typically dedicated video game consoles). Source: Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Master_Race
• It was meant to compare PC to console, and not compare PC gamers to console players (i.e., comparing machines rather than comparing humans).
• As the origin of the name is intended as a joke, it is important that people understand it has always been a joke and compares PC to consoles. It was never intended to compare people.

On changing the name to remove “Master Race”:

• “Master Race” (German: Herrenrasse), is a pseudoscientific concept in Nazi ideology in which the putative “Aryan race” is deemed the pinnacle of human racial hierarchy. Members were referred to as “Herrenmenschen” (“master humans”). Source: Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_race
• While the origin of the name “Glorious PC Gaming Master Race” was created as a joke, the intention was to emphasize the superiority of the PC platform compared to its rival gaming platforms (e.g., video game consoles). The PC gaming community caught on to this reference, adopted it, and it became viral.
• Representatives of the PCMR community could potentially be perceived as “believing they are superior humans” that are better than other gamers because they game on PC. Keeping this name as an identifier should not be used because of the extreme origin of “master race” and the associated systematic, bureaucratic genocide of ~6 million Jews by the Nazi regime.
• Removing a reference of “Master Race” is recommended to ensure that we do not alienate others or be perceived as a community that accepts sharing a name with a historical atrocity.

CatZoomies, 10 months ago

3. What are we doing to address this?

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We would like to democratize this decision. We as a community should come together to decide how we want to move forward. The moderators would like to invite you to partake in a brief survey that asks you only one question: Should the name of the community be changed?

4. What happens if the name of this community is changed?

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• If the survey results are in favor of changing the name, we will create a new survey so you can suggest the new name of the community.
• We will compile those results and combine similar names into a shortened list of options. For example, the Top 5 name suggestions.
• We will then create one final survey for the Top 5 to allow you to vote on the new name of the Community.

Once the new name is decided, we will:

• Create the new Community name in Lemmy.
• Lock this existing community and redirect users to the new one (this approach is similar to the Android community on Lemmy World).

Naturally if the community votes No on the name change, none of these actions will be taken.

CatZoomies, 10 months ago

5. Next Steps:

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Actions you should take:

• Take the survey and let us know if you are for or against changing the community name.

Actions the moderators will take:

• Once the survey end date is reached, we will create a new post to share what the community has decided.

6. Take the Survey:

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docs.google.com/forms/d/e/…/viewform

The survey will close on August 20.

AtomicPurple, 10 months ago

I don't really care either way, though the people who take the name too literally are definitely annoying. I've always enjoyed PCMR for it's focus on the PC platform as a whole, as opposed to most PC gaming communities which seem to mostly focus on gaming news and hyping the latest releases.

Kenraali, 10 months ago

Jesus, fucking, Christ

People really look for controversy when there is none

Rayspekt, 10 months ago

How will you prevent anyone from domain squatting on your possible new choices when you'll do a public survey? At least one dumbass will create all names in advance to be an ass, I'll guarantee it.

pancakesyrupyum, 10 months ago

Quick, someone grab pcmasterbait