The site's discourse surrounding Cyberpunk 2077 s a perfect example of why I'm bothered by how Resetera works as a place that's supposed to be about discussion, and why I still haven't made an account although there are times when I'd like to participate in certain threads.

Before I go on, let me be clear: I'm not saying the game doesn't have issues.

Like 99% of other people out there, I've only seen what has publicly been shown, and haven't gone hands-on with the game yet. I then have limited additional exposure being media.

What I DO know is that I've seen some—not all, some—arguments about why Cyberpunk 2077 is transphobic that I simply don't agree with. I don't discredit the arguments being made, but I also can't support the idea that those elements instantly make the game horrible.

But people on Resetera who express that kind of opinion get dogpiled by other members, warned by mods, or at times outright banned.

There's a huge divide between supporting bigoted opinions, and saying the bigotry being presented is not so cut and dry, that often gets lost.

Now look, you get into really iffy territory when you have people outside of the group being targeted saying that something isn't offensive to said group. No way would I ever deny that.

But all those things also happen to people inside that group as well.

You can be a member of X group, and say that you don't think Y game is harmful to X group in the way people are saying, and still be vilified.

Obviously, one voice cannot speak for an entire group—but that has to go both ways on some of this stuff.

The thing about Resetera is that there are, at times, select groups of members who completely dominate the conversation, to the point that their opinions can rise to the level of being at best the "popular opinion" on the site, or at worse, the absolute word of law.

Right now on the site, there are people pushing for Cyberpunk 2077 review threads to be completely banned from the site. What the hell.

And, at the moment I'm writing this, the review thread that did exist is locked so the mods can "re-evaluate" how to handle such threads.

This taps into one of my biggest complaints since day one: that a video game discussion forum bans the discussion of video games that are for sale legally in stores.

How the fuck does a message forum like Resetera have a list of games that are banned from being talked about?

(Oh, and it's awesome how the people in charge can't even be assed to put the list of banned games in the "terms and rules" section of the site. Want to know what games aren't allowed to be discussed? Go find the list yourself!)

I absolutely, positively think that Resetera should allow for threads calling out the bad side of video games and the industry, and I'm completely in support of the thread currently pinned that talks about the potential problems of Cyberpunk 2077 and CDPR as a whole.

What I DON'T support is a vocal minority of users being able to control the conversation for the entire site. That comes in people like we're seeing today, calling for Cyberpunk 2077 review threads to be banned.

It also comes in the constant shitting up of threads.

Even as a casual browser of Resetera, I see it over and over. With Cyberpunk, you can't have a thread without people coming in to decry the game and people excited for it as being transphobic. Why is derailing like that allowed, but port begging treated like a crime?

AGAIN, there's a scale here, and we have to use our brains for it. If the game was "Tranny Holocaust 3000," then absolutely, let's assume that promoting and discussing such a game maybe isn't what we want to do.

But we're talking about a game where an absolutely minor aspect of it (from what is known by the people making these arguments) may be questionable, and where that's not even any kind of fact depending on who in the community you talk to.

At the end of the day, I DO think Resetera's progressive slant is a positive. It's nice to have a place where discussions can be had without assholes being tolerated, and I will always be in support of there being some level of ground rules for how human beings should be treated.

I'm just frustrated by the times when that goal swings waaaay to far, and when certain voices—at times particularly radical ones—dominate the entire conversation. Unfortunately, that seems to happen far too often on Resetera.

There's a point where your push for inclusivity can completely stifle legitimate discussion, and where good people are branded villains because they don't toe the exact line that you do. And Resetera is rife with that.

Oh, and as someone who has run or owned numerous message forums, I also think it's BS when mods get to decided if a thread has "run its course" or not, and "new thread for new news" is a stupid rule that makes people lazy, but I'm not going to get into my other stupid nitpicks.

And this concludes today's episode of "let's discuss something you probably don't care about from a person who's opinion on the topic doesn't really matter."

Oh, one final thing: I've been part of numerous panels on trans issues in gaming, I've discussed the good/bad things they've done with numerous devs in person, I've been a consultant on trans characters, and more.

In case anyone wants to question my level of concern on the topic

In response to some of the things people have said: I don't know the full story/drama behind Cyberpunk 2077's threads on Resetera, and definitely not enough about whatever happened with a certain person to be able to comment on that at all.

So, let me be clear: I may have assumed some things were simple when they're more complicated, and I don't at all want anyone to think my tweets were trying to downplay or negate the conversations going on around that situation.

Part of what I tried to express is that I always support conversations happening, so long as they aren't used as weapons to derail other conversations or attack people who don't deserve it.

do want to say, on the other side, that the specific situation of Cyberpunk does not change my overall opinions on how things work on Resetera, nor does it negate my argument that no legally-sold game—including Cyberpunk—should have its review thread, or any thread, taken away.

Also: as was pointed out to me, there IS a thread that you can find that lists the games that are banned from discussion.

But seriously, put that list on the terms and rules page. That's a HUGE catch most people would never expect to exist until they find out the hard way.