marche45:

Evil Smurf:
And this is why rape jokes are not funny.

One bad joke does not make it unfunny.

If that was just a joke, then it was an incredibly dumb one to make, especially in a live session.
If that was serious, then it was an incredibly dumb admission to make in addition to being a perv.

Skeleon:
If that was just a joke, then it was an incredibly dumb one to make, especially in a live session.
If that was serious, then it was an incredibly dumb admission to make in addition to being a perv.

Also not in the screenshot in the article: Stephano saying something along the lines of, "Oh fuck, are you streaming right now?"

Ok, read all posts in here until now, plus the official statement from EGs site (which is pretty much up to date included in the article). I will try to include most, but won't realy quote much.
The headline is in fact and nothing more, nothing less, very correct. He got suspended, for what he said!
That's one thing. And i have to say, i think, this by itself is already rather reasonable. Sure, i make rude jokes myself, just a few days ago i made a discriminating and racist joke in one sentence, stating to a friend of mine, that last year he was the quota handicapped and this year we got the quota black female assigned to our institute. But, first, it was clearly intended as a joke, second, that's my free time and (except from taking it to this forum now) absolute private. And still, if the target of my joke would've been offended by that, it would have been my (private) responsibility to apologize. Taking a comedian as an argument of defense in this matter is completely missing the point, considering that it is part of a comedian's job to target delicate topics and criticise them in a homorous way. This is not the job of a pro-gamer, neither of most other professions and those who aren't expected to tackle topics like this, are likely to get bad feedback for doing so and the worse it's done, the worse the feedback is gonna be. Maybe this is a problem of our siciety, tabooing certain topics for most occasions and it certainly is something often discussed, maybe it'll change in the future for "the better", but the current "ruleset of society" has some taboos. "Stephano" broke a taboo in most unfortunate circumstances and that he is to take responsibility is just righteous and in my personal opinion, what his management did, was a rather smart move (fast damage control, further investigation and hopefully clearification, and still having the opportunity to set things right in the aftermath).

Now to get at what he said and what he may have ment. Maybe he just made a (realy bad) joke and most of the community is "overreacting" right now, but

Grey Carter:

Despite a public apology from Satouri, Evil Geniuses says that while the decision to suspend him is final, the team doesn't consider the matter closed just yet.

This includes, that they are reviewing the incident and what it may have actually ment. At best, he just made a verbal mistake and will be back next month. At worst, he basically made a confession to an actual and rather heavy crime. That children up to a certain age are in general protected by law has very good reasons. If an adult, what "Stephano" is by law, sexually approaches, or even abuses underaged children, let the border be 15 in france (don't know about that for certain, 15 is "already" rather young in modern western countries), this is in fact a crime and for good reasons for sure, because it is to protect those who are "innocent" and defenseless by themselfs. If a child is abused, you'll never hear an official complaint by the offended, because they're simply not able to. If i make a racist joke, the chance is rather high the offended are able to and will complain about that. Dead baby-jokes are very borderline, but as long as they're clearly jokes, have it your way. We'll possibly see the outcome of this matter in the near future.

Another point is, what it actually means to the community. Point made in the article is, that currently the gaming community is still growing, not only in numbers, but also in representation, including major events and public figures. In addition, within this representation, the quantity of "scandals" increases. They were already present before for sure, are in other communities as well, maybe the percentage hasn't even increased, but in quantity, the community is getting more and more bad representation (look at the other arguments, unsporstmanship in League of Legends, harassement in Street Fighter X Tekken). Now, in this matter the question is, how we, as a community, react to stuff like that?! Are we letting it slip and slip again, basicaly slowly destroying what we worked so hard for in the last years, or do we take action and further work to achieve our goals, to build a better and respected community and make "games" accepted by the majority of society? I, personally, will always stand for and defend better sporstmanship, proper representation and treatment of "gaming", because it is something i like very much, an important part of my life, which i don't want to be condemned for, but i want to share it with society and make it the best it can be.

1. Anyone who knows Stephano shouldn't be surprised

2. I love how the Escapist will only post E-sports stories if they're negative. The only two E-sports stories I have EVER seen on this site were this, and the agreement between the two LOL finals teams at MLG Raleigh 2012 to share the prize money and how they were both DQ'd. That's it. I'm starting to think the Escapist hates Competitive gaming.

chadachada123:

I feel as though the actual headline should be a mix between your own and the above. Your current headline seems pretty damn unfair, as if it's a 25-year old and not a 19-year old who had sex with a 14 year old

What?

As if that makes a difference. I'd call a 19 year old an adult and a 14 year old a child... I would say in your example both are pretty much equally reprehensible. 5 years is a lot of difference around that age.

I abused a 14 year old once.

My army of marines absolutely destroyed his base thanks to my strategic genius.

Problem?

Eh. Some people say shit. Who cares?

Bakhtanains later argued that "sexual harassment is a part of [the] culture," a statement he later retracted and apologized for.

I don't think it's so easy to retract, the problem is not what he says is misrepresentative, but how for so many members of the community that IS an accurate assessment.

Maybe he meant in dog years. :P

Shanicus:

Wait, when did we have a performance-enhancing drug scandal in gaming?

One is given right there in the article - the 30k fine for cheating.
I also remember a bit of a controversy around a korean pro gamer using maphacks or something like that...

Hacks equal drugs in esports i suppose.

JamesCG:
At no point does STEPHANO confirm what Bling (The other person involved in the convo) said about having sex with a 14 year old. He said he 'abused' a 14 year old, which depending on the context could mean he destroyed them on ladder or something. That was my stance pretty much before, and still is. It's hilarious, and I guess EG was right in suspending him, but some people completely overreact when they don't have complete info. Bling was the one who mentioned that Stephano 'fucked a 14 year old', and while he doesn't deny it, he certainly doesn't confirm it.

This seems to have gone over the heads of most people reading this.
So yeah, until someone does a proper look into what actually happened I'm not really going to care all that much about this.

I usually don't post captchas, but this one was nearly perfect;
I'm sorry

Maybe he just said some shocking shit to distract his opponent?
You know, trash talk. This was during a match after all.

How anyone here can even consider he has actually done it is beyond me.

I suppose by "abused" he meant "I owned the fuck out of him in SC".

If that's the case, I believe I've abused a few 14 year olds in my time too.

I'm so glad all the comments here are talking about how ridiculous it is. I wish the Escapist would take a higher ground here, this is one of the better writers but for a site that claims to take 'gaming as lifestyle' it's news is utter crud. I feel bad for giving page views sometimes. It's telling when they were explaining the stages of reporting here that they literally didn't actually have a 'check facts' stage.

I mean in broad terms this article was actually really good. But what it suffers from is the way the article exists along with the fact that the Escapist never reports on e-sports news. This is the same thing (although hopefully not deliberate) that Fox does, where they report the controversy on Global Warming, and although they cover their backs and the actual articles explain the complaints could be (is) crud, but the fact that they are only reporting controversy means that the controversy registers in peoples brains and gets given way more significance then it should be.

Denamic:
I don't really give a shit about the drama, but now I won't see Stephano play in tournaments for ages. That's pretty terrible news, as he's a fantastic player, easily one of the best in the world. Korea included.

Same. I don't really watch him all that much, but everytime I do watch him he's only winning. I never saw him lose a game. I remember he bought a new SC2 account and he was in top-masters in an evening.

I think his claims should be taken with a pinch of salt. I mean, a Starcraft player having sex? Ludicrous! :P

Is this not a good day for gaming?

The gaming community/area dealing with inappropriate 'jokes/claims' instead of waiting for it to get picked up by a major news outlet first.

The guy has his freedom of speech to make crap jokes but organisations have the right to suspend/ ban.

For the record it was clearly a joke, using 'rape', 'abuse' as a metaphor but they need to try to make the environment as non-threatening as possible. It's bad for business if their game space is littered with abusive language as innocent as the intention may of been.

The title should really say 'Gamer suspended for making a public rape joke'

or Gamer suspended for using slang.. cos that is slang now

All I'm getting out of this is a severe lack of context and someone projecting pretty hard.

Without more information that screenshot could just as easily be referring to the guy decimating someone in-game. The Engrish makes it difficult to decipher.

Why does the article say that this took place "during a live match"? It didn't. That's not what the battle.net interface looks like during any kind of match. That's what the battle.net 2.0 UI looks like when you aren't playing. Bling streaming the battle.net UI on twitch or wherever is not "a live match".

Fix it.

In Spain or Japan, this would be considered fine, maybe.
Besides like others are speculating it doesn't look like he even meant it in a sexual way. He could have meant it in saying that he destroyed the brat at SC2, or another game. Of course it's all just speculation. Plus isn't the french age of consent 15? 1 Year really doesn't seem worth all this news.

Here's the rest of the convo in a screenshot apparently taken right before the guy involved in recording this proceeded to delete the archive of this game session.

Stephano didn't know he was streaming.

Stephano says he will stick with MILFs and kids now, then he says I hope you're not showing anyone this.

I get the feeling the guy recording was thinking it was a joke too until Stephano said F*** I just noticed you were streaming. It doesn't sound like Stephano meant for the public to know about his sex life.

He probably didn't actually abuse/rape a 14yr old, but it certainly sounds like he was bragging about banging one. If it is legal wherever it may have taken place and the teenager was fully willing, then that's not the real problem. The problem is he was bragging with such language about sex with a 14yr old with viewers who may be in locations where it is illegal and they will be offended. If it took place where legal consent is 15+, then he's got a big problem besides offending viewers. It sounds like it's being investigated further, which leads me to believe he did something not so legal:

"The full extent of the ramifications for Stephano's comments is yet to be determined. The decision to suspend him, without pay, for the rest of October is final, but the situation is still being reviewed internally at EG, and we do not consider the matter closed as of yet."

I disagree with the fallacy that being a pro means he has to be any different from any other gamer.

He should be able to say everything amateur players say everyday without everyone making a big deal about this.

13thforswarn:
Poor guy? Wtf? How can you have any sympathy for him? I mean, what the bloody f*** was he thinking? How is that even a joke (assuming it's not true)? "I abused a child" is appalling and he rightful got suspended (though you did acknowledged this).

Not being his first language, for all we know he could have been talking about a game he played against a kid.

Evil Smurf:
And this is why rape jokes are not funny.

There's always a funny joke. You just haven't found it yet.

PirateRose:
He probably didn't actually abuse/rape a 14yr old, but it certainly sounds like he was bragging about banging one. If it is legal wherever it may have taken place and the teenager was fully willing, then that's not the real problem.

He just said "abused". The person that mentioned fucking first was not him. And expressions like "abusing/fucking" can have thousands of meanings on the internet. Like I said, it could all refer to a game.

Example: dominating an adversary in a videogame has been known as "rape" since I remember.

PirateRose:
The problem is he was bragging with such language about sex with a 14yr old with viewers who may be in locations where it is illegal and they will be offended.

God damn it, we don't want anyone to be offended. That's the worst thing that can happen. Let's all eat our meat under the table so that we don't offend the vegetarians. And homosexuals should act straight in public to avoid offending anyone.

GoaThief:
As if that makes a difference. I'd call a 19 year old an adult and a 14 year old a child... I would say in your example both are pretty much equally reprehensible. 5 years is a lot of difference around that age.

So what? That situation can possibly be legal/fall under the Romeo and Juliet Laws in many countries. Are those cultures reprehensible? It's a five year difference, not a 10 year difference.

So when do we start banning online console gamers for saying racial epithets and claiming to rape their opponents?

Kopikatsu:
Well, this clinches it. Sexual scandals? Esports can now join the big leagues of Baseball, Basketball, Hockey and the like.

Well, even among those so-called "big leagues" there's a world of difference around how they deal with this kind of thing. Sean Avery (NHL) was suspended for 5 games for making a comment about another player taking his "sloppy seconds". Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant (NBA) got away clean after raping a woman.

I for one am glad that esports is erring on the side of caution with this kind of situation. Even if no real wrong was done (i.e. he didn't actually assault a 14-year-old), he still needs to learn that as a public figure, people are looking up to him like it or not. And if he actually did what he said, he really should be banned for life. I hope esports never tolerates the kind of shit that happens in like lives of some "big league" sports players.

The bigger problem is: Why the fuck are people acting like "professional gaming" is a thing?

Professional. Gaming.
Dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Ilyes, this Bud's for you.

Evil Smurf:

ischmalud:
one question comes to mind....who cares?

Evil Smurf:
And this is why rape jokes are not funny.

and happy birthday :)

thanks man :)

marche45:

Evil Smurf:
And this is why rape jokes are not funny.

One bad joke does not make it unfunny.

they never were funny.

I don't know about you, but I've found some rape jokes hilarious.

Just like to point out that english isn't his native language, and even if he DID have sex with a 14 year old all the people on here calling it 'abuse' and 'rape' are sheltered fools who obviously never went to parties in high school or even understand basic human physiology.
No, you don't just suddenly 'like' sex on your 16/18th birthday and never want it before that. The human body is programmed to want it right from the onset of puberty - 12yo+. I have personally met early 15 year old girls who were completely DTF, who are illegal despite them acting and more importantly looking 17.
People who live in countries where the legal age is 15/16 understand this, and go by maturity, not a random age restriction. It's the people from countries with 18 or higher laws who get massively offended and start spewing around 'rape' like the fucking apostrophe sign as soon as anyone under the age of 16 is mentioned anywhere near the word sex.

NOW:
People are talking about how 'fuck are you streaming' is an admission of guilt. No it's bloody not. He might've started off quasi-serious, as in 'pwned this 14yo' but not realizing how it sounded until the other guys reaction because he's not a native english speaker - at which point he saw joke/distraction/self-jibe potential and added in a 'only milfs or young' afterward. He could've then realized what he said on a livestream where american viewers would start kicking up massive amounts of bullshit because 'OMG RAPE YOU GUYS' and was like 'fuck'.
He didn't admit shit in anything he said or did. It seems like he made a small joke after using english in a slightly weird way, which suddenly blew up once he realized what he said would be sent around the world instead of between people who could get that he was poking fun at his error and just laugh and get on with their lives.

If this is the direction professional gaming is going, as in the complete 'PC' way with massive fines for the wrong word, professional gaming can go fuck itself and be ignored by me just as hard as any other sport franchise where a player saying the wrong thing around the wrong crowd can lose millions. Don't like something someone says? Fine. Be offended. Just shut the fuck up about it and stop trying to have the world change to fit your pathetic little self. You can be offended without causing a massive shitstorm. Soon we'll be banning motherfucking colours on cars because black wagons remind peoples of hearses and that offends them.