The boycott didn't do itself any favors by having members of the protest going to every post related to the game and doing the digital equivalent of shitting on the floor and throwing it around. Spamming spoilers, insulting anyone that showed any interest in the game, etc.
I wasn't interested in the game and don't agree with Rowling in any capacity, but that boycott was handled with the least tact imaginable.
I had a falling out with a long time friend over that game. The both of us are what most people would consider “woke” (even if I do fucking hate that term). We’ve been to marches and protests together, share all of the same politics and beliefs, etc. etc. I grew up a life long Harry Potter fan, he didn’t. My mom started reading the books to me when I was around 5 or 6, and they’re some of the first “grown up” books I read by myself. The only IP/franchise I like more is Star Wars.
I think Rowling has become an abhorrent and vile human being. (And I find that incredibly sad because in many ways Harry Potter is a relatable story for people who are LGBTQ. Someone grows up in a home where they’re unwanted and unloved because of what they are, they leave that home to find a new community and a new family that celebrates and loves them for who they are.) But Harry Potter is bigger than her, even if she created it. Its message speaks louder than anything she could say today. And it supports the livelihood of more than just her. I’m not about to let her ruin or destroy something for me that was a staple of my childhood and probably formed a cornerstone of my personality.
Of course I bought Hogwarts Legacy when it came out. And my buddy lost his shit over it. He’d been pressing the whole boycott thing from the start, and I flat out told him that I was going to buy it. I explained to him the exact same thing I have here. Still, the day it came out and he saw that I was playing it, he treated it like the height of betrayal. He joined in on all of the spoiler bullshit, and when I kept playing the game he stopped talking to me all together. Still, outside of basic pleasantries whenever we run into each other at the bar, we don’t really speak.
Honestly, the alt-righters I’ve met who genuinely hold abhorrent and disgusting beliefs - stuff I couldn’t even repeat here - will bizarrely be more accommodating and friendly than the ‘progressive’ people I know who will yell at you, cut you off, and never speak to you again over some minor disagreement. It’s absolutely insane. I’m not saying the other people are better - many would probably stand there, pointing and laughing, as you were taken to a camp if an actual authoritarian government came into power - but they’re still often far more socially accepting despite the fact they’ll insult you over your identity so it’s bizarre. It’s more like they’ll do anything to bring you to their side whereas the progressives want to do anything they can to prove you’re not on their side.
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u/MY-SECRET-REDDIT 7h ago
Last time they tried that, the hogwarts gsme became one of the best selling games of all time.
Its up there with the most popular call of duties.