The annual Electronics Entertainment Expo has come and gone, but even with this year's stripped-down, overly subdued version, console fanboys battle over who "won" the event, and none harder than the beleaguered Sony camp. Note that prior to E3, the 60GB PS3 dropped in price, but the cut was done to phase out the machine while introducing a new 80GB PS3 with software-based (read: much weaker) emulation for PS1 and PS2 games.

Then, over at Wired's Game|Life, Chris Kohler writes a glowing post about one of the games exhibited, the PS3-exclusive LittleBigPlanet. Despite this positive bit of Sony-related blogging, the comments start off with a gripe:

Interesting -
... -- "On the whole, Sony didn't have a great E3. Their PlayStation 3 "price cut" came unraveled. Their PSP redesign was a flop.

Thank goodness, then, for LittleBigPlanet. It's no exaggeration to say that this creative, innovative game is the best thing PS3 has going right now, and having gotten my hands on the demo, I'm even more excited than I was when it was unveiled at GDC." --

====================================

It never ceases to amaze me that people can find a way to bash SNE when they are trying to bring the BEST of everything to everyone. I don't see what the other comapanies are doing that would deserve a GREAT showing at e3.

Did Wired not see the show where after SNE's conference Keighly (specifically) and Sessler stated that it was the best presentation by far? This is even more signifivcant when you consider how jaded Keighly had become after being "lied" to after the KZII trailer of '05.

Why people continue to disdain this comapany simply on name or the way the wind blows simply amazes me. There were a lot of good things that SNE showed at the Conference other than LBP -- hell, I can think of one in particular, but who cares about that right? Certainly not Wired. Wired also mentions the pricedrop unraveling?

As if you are going to wait until all of the 60GIGS are sold out and then complain? No! Go buy one now and save $100USD. I don't understand.

Maybe a free PS3 with 4 free games and 2 Monster Brand HDMI cables would suffice for you curmudgeons, but somehow I think you would find a way to complain about that too. Sometimes I wish SNE would just stop making electronics of all kinds just so people can see what life is like with average, bland, cheap products. Nope, that wouldn't help either, because then they would complain that they quit and abandoned all their customers.

In that case: Onward through the fog!

Posted by: Maddens_Raiders @ N4G | Jul 14, 2007 3:03:48 PM

Maddens_Raiders' comment did not go unnoticed. ( Of journalistic integrity and the REAL winner of E3 )

A bit stale, but there isn't a statute of limitations on wank, and I haven't found this here after a cursory google through journalfen, so I figured I'd write it up.

Also, much of the stuff is in print, but there's enough online to make it worth reporting, or at least, that's what I'm thinking. If I'm wrong about that, let me know.

So, a while back, some fans decided to get together and have a convention. Unfortunately, this did not please everyone in the fannish organization that was throwing the con. This group, who called themselves the Futurians, were very, very upset about the ruling clique, who called themselves The New Fandom.

( How things went down )

Anime Central is one of the bigger anime conventions in America (about 15,000 people) celebrating its 10th anniversary. One of the differences they started this year is that they had an option this year that they'll send the badges to you so you don't have to wait in line for 2 hours. The convention starts on May 11th and it's now it's May 1st and no one has received their badges yet even though they said the first batch went out on April 16th. After plenty of "OMG! Where's my badge?! I have to travel!" posts, administrator GrammatonCleric posted a thread (notice no one can reply to it) which I'll summarize:

"You'll get your badge, you guys still have a little over a week to go. It will show up! We totally planned this out! But if you don't get it before the con, all you have to do is have proof you paid, stand in line, and pay an extra $25 for a replacement badge. Tough titties!"

The staff and the forum mods are soon SHOCKED to find out PEOPLE ARE NOT HAPPY.

Edit: ONE PERSON GOT THEIR BADGE SO FAR! Out of probably thousands.

Edit the Second: palefire pointed out that B. Turner found out about the F_W post.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/animecons/message/25729

Edit the Ininityth: Stop confusing me, I read replies backwards via email.

onyxnoir: Seems ACen has been re-thinking their badge policy.

whimsy_chan:

New development. Acen staff has seen the light; all is well.

(Thanks to dejana for finding this.)

Last time, on fandom_wank...


This time, on fandom_wank:

an_aa_sucks's true identity is revealed! People are unimpressed. There are fish macros, giant sparkle text, multiple accusations of false identity, and sockpuppets of sockpuppets!

Another post is made by jocatscat, outing an_aa_sucks as rubber_boots. But wait! Is jocatscat s/h/itself a sockpuppet? And can anyone really take a sockpuppet of a sockpuppet's accusations of sockpuppetry seriously?

Finally, the truth comes out. Or does it? Is rubber_boot the same person as rubber_boots? Just how many socks are we dealing with here? And do the members of anime_north really give a shit any more?

Damn, I use far too many exclamation points.

ETA: Aaaaaand the mod has no clue what is going on. (Thanks monsley!)

ETA#2: an_aa_sucks and jocatscat have both been banned, so the posts are no longer there. D: Anyone have screencaps?

ETA#3: Screencaps of the first post can be found here- thanks blackhat!

ETA#4: jocatscat is not pleased.

Here, my friends, we have a classic example of convention wank!

It starts out when sockpuppet an_aa_sucks makes a lovely post to anime_north, wherein they state that it was SO UNFAIR that because Sockpuppet made a mistake, Sockpuppet was not allowed into the Artist Alley!

This would be completely run-of-the-mill idiocy, except that Sockpuppet says that they should be allowed in because:

1) Some people who got tables have crappy art and should be kicked out, because Sockpuppet NEEDS that space to make enough money to eat!!
2) AN should only sell half-tables to cram in as many bodies as possible. Full tables are UNFAIR!
3) AA should take over the Writer's Way section because THEY haven't sold out. Yet.


There is much in the way of smackdown in the comments, and even some wanky finger-pointing as to Sockpuppet's actual identity.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! Sockpuppet returns for pseuicide goodbye cruel fandom OMG YOU'RE ALL SO MEEN wank in a brand new post. More completely-without-proof finger pointing from jocatscat ensues, along with many cries of "GTFO TROLL."

Sockpuppet gets bonus points for this piece of wankery about the AA staff: "I bet they are just kids who do this to get a power trip by telling the rest of us what to draw." Excellent.

eta: Let's all wave hello, because an_aa_sucks has spotted us. If you have "Missing the point for $500, Alex" on your wank bingo card, be sure to mark it off! (Thanks, sunhawk, for spotting it first)

Thoughts on yaoi: I truly feel bad for whoever has to sit next to a splooge-filled sock at the AA. I especially feel bad for the staff, who so far has put up with the sock admirably.

First Chattanooga, TN brought us political wank last fall when former mayor Bob Corker was involved in a throughly nasty Senate race with Harold Ford. Now it's bringing convention wank to us!

( Con? What? Where?! )

And if this local wank fails to be of interest, I discovered this discussion of volunteerism at cons.

There is no way I can possibly do justice to this one in a single post. But it's a start.

There's a guy called Ric(k)(?) Olney. He runs conventions and owns something called Tightlip Entertainment, a comic book company. He has a bad habit of not paying people. Ever. People in the comics industry have been comparing notes and as best as anyone can tell, nobody who did any work for him has ever received what they were owed.

So Gail Simone, who went to one of his conventions and was never fully reimbursed, starts a thread on her message board on Comic Book Resources about Olney's various deceptions, and people who have been cheated or encountered the Rickster share their experiences. He's apparently a serial liar and prone to flameouts on message boards and in public. And Gail's thread proves no exception, as "orcafresh" shows up and proceeds to threaten talent for breaking imaginary NDAs, spew insults and vitriol and get dogpiled by an all-star cast of comic book professionals. Eventually Gail has to ban him- the first time she's banned anyone from her board EVER- just to keep him from going back and deleting all his posts.

Highlights include implying Gail slept her way into the industry, belittling the people who work in the industry he claims to work in, mocking people for their weight when he himself has been kindly described as "portly" (note also the homophobia), making obtuse threats, mangling pop culture references, and slowly degenerating into image posts and word salad.

On the bright side, you have pros like Mark Waid, Kurt Busiek, Scott Shaw!, Gail Simone herself and others stepping up to make the case against Olney, and to try and find ways to compensate the people who are still owed money by him.

Other places are reporting on this as well, and the increasingly awesome Mr. Waid has encouraged folks to get the word out.

Oh, and the reason he keeps putting Gail Simone's name in quotes is because it's a pen name. That's apparently somehow egregious.

(I posted on the original thread but won't anymore.)

ETA: To clarify, Simone hasn't really banned Olney, only "Orcafresh". He's free to come back with whatever alias he chooses, but he can't log on under his old SN because then he'd be able to delete his old posts. So she's still technically "banless".

ETA 2: "TLE is no longer in business. As of 1/11/07."

Flanvention 2 was supposed to be a pretty shiny shindig, offering Firefly fans a small number of attendees to the con a chance to spend some fairly close time with many of the stars of the show.

At hundreds of dollars per ticket (I looked up the price a couple of weeks ago, but can't remember what they were going for exactly) you'd expect to be able to sleep in the same bed as the guests, or at least, say, have the con actually happen.

And that's where you'd be wrong.

On November 28th, there were announcements that Booser Events was in some financial trouble, and that Flan2 might not happen, but people were quickly assured that of course everything was okay, they'd secured a loan, and Flan2 was a go.

One hour before the con was supposed to start, it poofed, and all wank broke out. There were circumstances beyond their control, so they had to cancel. People just aren't buying it, though. We're treated to a lecture on the evils of for-profit cons, while others are confused over whether Flan2 is fan run or not.

And some people are just lost and confused. Like everyone on planes right now, not knowing they're not attending a con this weekend. Or the hotel.

It's more horror-inspiring than wanky right now, since most of these people have legitimate concerns, but the wank is spreading as it sinks in...

edit: Here, have a friendly helping of context. If you dare.

Revenge of the edit: sidhaethe comes to the rescue with more info, including correct prices. "The total ticket price wasn't $500, no. There were items sold separately that added up, though; if you wanted a weekend pass, that was $225; a cocktail party ticket was $75, banquet ticket another $125, photo ops running $50-75, etc. etc."

I'd *still* want full body massages from the guests at those prices.

I really don't know why Brakus!wank fills me with pure, unadulterated glee. There's just something compelling about a 30-something guy living in his parents' basement and begging for his creative genius to finally be recognized so he can die a happy Otaku.

But anyway...

( On the long side, complete with highlights )

Still going as far as I can tell, though Brakus himself hasn't weighed back in yet. Will probably grow a little bit more before the mods take away the lube.

Oh, and special note to vafan (aka Brakus): you would do best to 1) not sockpuppet this post and try to defend yourself again, and 2) take Dokool's challenge. For the record, I had planned on attending AUSA this year despite not making the finals. Unfortunately, something called "money" became an issue, and I could not afford it unless I was keen on taking Greyhound and sleeping in a tent, which I wasn't. At least not in Virginia in the middle of November.

Ganked from clairvoyantwank!

ashleyvsdestiny makes an apparently innocent question in the yaoi comm at LJ: Like, people do you think REAL YAOI BOYS exist? I mean, I'm like an uke, with long blond bangs, yet only straight guys like me, like WTF...

People, naturally, aren't exactly kind to the OP. Like toxictatoo, who starts raising his doubts: Could this be because, gasp, real life gay men prefer manly partners? And because this is REAL LIFE, not yaoi manga? What do you mean with *yaoi lifestyle, BTW?

ashleyvsdestiny: Imagine boys who are somewhat feminin in apperance and could pass as girls under a lot of circumstances without looking out of place. Boys who are soft and harmless and cute looking. Boys, who to discribe them, you could only come up with the word 'Uke' even though you know 'yaoi words' should never actually apply anthing you've seen in the real world. (Yes, this is copy/paste from her reply to TT).

da_rosas: O RLY?! Yanno, yaoi only exists in FANTASY! But why don't you ask, like, some FtM transsexuals?

ashleyvsdestiny: NO, NO, NO, NO! Transsexuals? EWWWWWWW! NOT bishie enough!

tasukikou: STFU N00B!!!111 What have transsexuals ever done to you!?

It pretty much goes downhill from there.

BONUS TRACK! More transsexuals bashing in ashleyvsdestiny's LJ. OH, DON'T GO THERE, GIRLFRIEND.

ETA2: MORE transsexuals bashing. In a post very adequately named "Fucking Transsexuals".

ETA3: Look what happens when the OP posts some pics of... herself?! It's a GIRL?! WRYYYYY!? Bonus explanation about gay slang inserted here.

There is NO damn God.

From clairvoyantwank and wank_report:

heidi8 makes a post calling a group of fans "idiots," and mistakenly forgot to lock it. She's leaving it up, though it's edited now. Luckily, anon The Reddd Mousie managed to get a screencap of the original.

So what makes these people idiots? Apparently, they didn't submit a bid for a U.K. con with her organization, HPEF.

And why didn't they? Well, there is the fact that everyone thought Accio was going to have a 2007 con there, and so there wasn't any drive to plan another one until recently. Oh, and also, the beginning of the announcement sent out by HPEF specifically mentioned that they were accepting bids for the mainland United States.

Still, Heidi is convinced that the real problem is that fandom is too fractured these days, or, at the very least, she wants to talk about that fact, because that is totally the issue here, and not any rudeness perceived by people who just don't understand how frustrating it is that there are a lot of Harry Potter sites, and every single fan doesn't visit FAP all of them. Unlike the old days, where "everyone was, at the very least, on the announcements list" of HPfGU.

It's not the biggest wank ever, mostly because, though there are some comments calling her rude, everyone is being generally polite.

From Mousy on Wank_Report:

So, Anime News Network posts a piece of news titled "NEWS: Otakon Enforces Copyright at Artists' Alley"

On the forums, fans quickly jump to conclusions and voice their various opinions on the topic ("various" meaning "omfg how can they!" and "finally someone did the right thing to those suckers!"). As usual, suddenly everyone's a lawyer, quoting Wikipedia and various trusted and not-so-trusted sources, and of course it's complete with people with attitudes: "I've been in the fandom longer than you so I'm right and you're wrong" (Colonel Wolfe) and "I write for quasi-famous online magazines so I can look down on you" (Zac). People are accusing Otakon with selling out.

Even some real VIPs pipe in:

http://animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=240315#240315

http://animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=240322#240322

http://animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=240127#240127

And then, Colonel Wolfe posts a looong article titled 'Bloatacon' taken from another website which is apparently "incorrect in many ways".

The owner of the website the article is quoted from shows up who is apparently dedicated to spread the word about the great "injustice that is being committed against fanartists". Posts are being edited.

In the meanwhile, Otakon issues an official statement regarding the problem - it only stirs up more trouble, as it turns out, as people are now accusing Otakon with wishy-washying and trying to divert attention from the problem. In the end, Colonel Wolfe comes up with a shocking conspiration theory.

And it's still going. (Provided that the mods don't lock the thread or delete it.)

It seems this year's Ushicon went horribly. I keep finding wank on both sides, in Marzgurl's LJ especially this thread, and this from one of the con heads. I can't quite figure out what's going on, other than it won't be held next year.

ETA: I think I might have figured it out. Partially, anyway. Marzgurl had problems getting her press pass, wasn't allowed to film in the dealer's room, and thought everything basically sucked, so she said so. Calls of entitlement whore by driftpeasant, and lots of wanking between them and other random friends, gonsai and gaara_shinobi. The other entry in the journal of snaketao seems to sum up as UshiCon goers suck, a lot, and people were arrested, and they're sick and tired of this, so they're not doing the con anymore.

( choice TL;DR comments, with bolding at the fun parts )
Katamari Edit-cy:( Cons aren't about having fun? )

This wank is a few days old and a bit mild until you get to the capslock flamer, but it's still interesting to me.

Ah, the Man-Faye. The legends in cons across the states told of a man, equiped with a Cowboy Bebop costume, who attended Anime Expo and shook his hairy ass for all to see (and spank).

Animenewsnetwork.com puts up an interview with the Man-Faye himself, which ends with a link to the Man-Faye topic on ANN's
forum where anime fans can state their mind.

It turns out that the Man-Faye was banned and refused entry at the last Anime Expo he went to. It probably had something to do with his costume. *shrugs* That's not really my point.

Mild wank goes about with debates such as:

Man-Faye - Like or Dislike.
Anime Expo - Fair or Unfair.
Crossplayers - Interesting or Ew.
Crossplayers - Cosplaying Rights vs They Shouldn't Be At Cons At All.
Cosplayers - Wear What They Want vs Dayum, J00 So Fug! Get Outta Mah Con Biznitch!

All is well and calm until you get to page three, where Starwind Armada shows up with this message:

Any middle-aged man who dresses up in a skimpy female outfit has some serious problems to work out. And this man's obsession with keeping Bebop on the air is a joke. According to that site, he has seen it run over 12 times and he has the entire series on DVD. I don't even think he's a true anime fan; he's just some poor, lonely Bebop fanboy who deserves to be banned from EVERY single convention. Sailor Bubba, too. All these guys are doing is making anime fans look like a bunch of mindless losers who like to cross-dress in disgusting ways.

And then later comes back with this beauty:

And here's a message to Man-Faye: YOU'RE NOT A CELEBRITY. STOP THINKING SO HIGHLY OF YOURSELF. YOU ARE AN UGLY, ANNOYING BASTARD WHO IS JUST MAKING ANIME FANS LOOK BAD. AX WAS RIGHT IN BANNING YOU AND I HOPE ALL FUTURE CONS PREVENT YOU FROM ACCESSING THEM. YOU HAVE RUINED A GREAT ANIME CHARACTER AND FOR THAT YOU WILL ALWAYS BE HATED. I HOPE YOU DIE OF GONNORHIA AND ROT IN HELL.

I mean, God, is that shit disgusting or what? He mentioned he got picked on as a kid; probably because he pranced about in his mom's lingerie or something.

Needless to say, a few posters barked back at Starwind, but she (I believe this flamer is female) keeps coming back for more with her stubborn ways for several pages.

All in all, little wank, though it was amusing seeing how the forum posters reacted to the Man-Faye, then showing a bunch of pictures at the end of what really scary cosplaying is, showing that once and for all, there truely are worse things than a Man-Faye shaking his bootah.

Over on a Wolf's Rain board, a cosplayer named DJ Toboe said that a reliable source told him about a week-long Underground Wolf's Rain convention that will be hitting all the US state capitals. The convention has all the English Voice Actors and Japanese Voice Actors there!

A few pages of excitement ensue before Nocash shows up and points out how this is a fake, and how stupid this whole idea is. Wankage ensues and someone calls Nocash a WR [Wolf's Rain] hating dork.

Then Kibasmate shows up. And it hits the fan.

( Poorly spelled words, and insane fangirl? Sign me up! )

Discussion verges off into Kibasmate's broken capslock, exactly who can ban who and why, and proper usage of the word "kawaii". (Not mentioned, not using it at all).

Then someone points out that several of the voice actors couldn't be doing this "convention" because they're not in the area, or doing other things. Kibasmate has lots more lovely wisdom about that:

( Poorly mispelled pearls of wanky wisdom, now including the word pissant! )

Finally, someone posts a screenshot of an e-mail they received from Crispin Freeman, one of the English Wolf's Rain VA's. For the time being that seems to have shut up Kibasmate.

And, dear fandom wankers, we are left with only DJ Toboe's mournful plea:

*cries* Not only am I losing friends over this, but I'm probably going to lose the respect of this entire forum.

Special thanks to Chaos2 and the Fuku People for this little wank.

Haven't wanked in awhile. Boy does it feel good. Anyway, I figured this counted as a fandom since an anime convention basically is a collection of fans.

SakuraCon took place last weekend in Seattle. I went, and I had fun, but clearly not everyone who went was satisfied.

Over at the forums, Tamer Brad lets everyone know. And it dissolves into wank.

Arguments about "peacebonding" cosplay weapon props are relatively tame, though some people seem to be taking the "perfection" of their costume to extremes.

One of Tamer Brad's problems with the con was that a staff member randomly spoke to him in Japanese, but was probably only being a fanboy rather than actually speaking it natively. However, he didn't express this in the best manner ("WE SPEAK ENGLISH HERE." and "If you want to speak Japanese, move to Japan or talk to people who speak Japanese.") and got a number of people, especially UberBeth, quite upset. ("My suggestion that you not attend is only reference the fact that you apparently don't like the ideas and intentions the convention is based on, so it would seem you would not have a good time.")

Attempts to defuse the tension ("Wow...who gave the 3-year-olds keyboards? Seriously guys, all of you need to chill.") were too little too late.

Tamer Brad accused UberBeth of having "come after him", and she responded with "I said "ignorant" as a statement pertaining to the fact that you were unaware or uninformed that the language and culture is largely what the convention is about, and your dislike of having the japanese language at the con. It was not meant as an insult, and I'm sorry you decided that it was."

However, Brad's patience began to wear thin. "You realize these are MY OPINIONS and you are under no obligation to agree with them, nor do they affect you in any way, so what is your problem?"

AnimeFreak responded "As much as I do express my belief that any person is entitled to personal opinion as it is a right that both you and I share, responding in such a manner where you are somehow higher than the other individual is not always a good thing, and in this case, it is not."

Many people say that if Brad has such a problem with the con, he should volunteer or join the staff in order to improve it. That idea doesn't go over so well.

It goes on and on, including Brad's girlfriend joining in. It's not the best wank out there, but it is somewhat amusing.

I was going through the IMDB site because I wanted some info on a VA known as Crispin Freeman. He's the one who voiced the infamous Albel Nox from Star Ocean 3 and the nutjob Albedo in Xenosaga. According to his bio, he's a "lovely, humble person".


Seems that someone doesn't agree!

Basically, according to "Holidame", Crispin is an ass and she wanted to SPIT on him! GAH! She felt that way because Crispin allegedly talked shit about one of her favorite voice actors and he never showed up to a banquet when her friend paid SO MUCH $$$$$$$$ to sit by him. Oh, and he didn't show up for a panel either.

Obviously, people don't agree and try to explain to her the possible reasons why he didn't show up. She doesn't seem to consider that.

This wank actually started in 2003 and went on until 2004. What makes this great is that Crispin Freeman himself shows up and well, sets the record straight.

Good reading!

At Cosplay.com, lemoned wants to know why there are such restrictive rules about cutting and cosplay at Ani-Magic.

I'm not trying to start any drama.. ( Read more... )

People talk about it. The pro-cutters seem to feel that it's their right to show up and have open wounds along with their costumes. Because it's discrimination and against their rights, despite the con's right to refuse entry to anyone.

Sadly the thread's been closed, but dig the wanky response from the board mod at the very end.

It really gets fun when the Anime Jump! forum starts a-mockin'.

What's astonishing are these drama queens demanding the right to spray their infected-with-God-knows-what bodily fluids all over their fellow con attendees. Is it discrimination? Yes, I believe we SHOULD discriminate against getting bled on by strangers.

Now, more than ever, I believe mental health professionals should visit anime cons, to get a look at their future patients.

So Sakura Con was held last week in Seattle, and many people are displeased with how it was run compared to previous years.

The Assault and Flattery section of the message board is especially rife with wankery.

Highlights include:

Two threads proclaiming that people want their money back

Two MORE threads saying basically "You can't complain because you didn't volunteer" (disregarding the fact that many volunteers are among those complaining)

(note--I posted in some of the threads, but I don't think it was enough to merit placement in i_wank)

I don't have very good wankdar, but every so often something on friendsfriends makes me go WTF. And this is one of those times. I know no backstory, and YMMV.

Anime conventions. Lots of people wandering around spending loads of money on their beloved, insanely overpriced hobby. After the day's festivities are done, the crowd breaks up and everyone does their own thing until the next day, and this is where our stage is set.
( You suck because your fun is different from my fun, which is the One True Fun. )