1 year 7 months ago
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"Stigma" is something of a dirty word in video gaming, seeing as the industry has gone decades now chaffing about the unfair stigma that has often clung to it as a corruptor of innocence, a purveyor of violence, or just a waste of time.
But stigma isn't always a bad thing. It can actually serve a very valuable purpose.
Recent years have shown us very clearly that there are limits to the systems we have in place, that rules apply differently to different people, and that sometimes social disapprobation is really the only tool we can rely on to punish bad behavior in any tangible way. (Exhibit A, although there are plenty more in games and beyond.)