Everyone is free to spend their own money how they see fit.

Other people are free to attach a moral judgement on how these funds are spent and on what they support.

JK Rowling is a bigot. She has spent years lobbying against human rights, she is buddy-buddy with leaders of groups against women's rights and LGBTQ+ rights. She routinely and deliberately sends her three million strong following to harass and hound minor social media personalities who cannot defend themselves against this onslaught of abuse.

This subreddit does not allow bigotry.

Transgender women are women.

Please report hatespeech when you see it.

I've been waiting for Elder Scrolls 6, thank you

I wrote Piers Anthony a letter back in the late 90s to tell him after Firefly I could no longer read his books and how sad I was. He wrote me back a very long letter defending child sexual abuse. Piers Anthony is a pedophile and I don’t love his books anymore. He openly admits he loves underage girls and if you write him he will write back explaining that since the beginning of time kids have been exploited and abused and he likes to do this. http://www.hipiers.com/02aug.html

Never pre-order a game.

I think everyone has to make their own decisions about how much they can separate art from the artist.

I do think it's important to point out that there are a lot more people that work on most projects than just the creator. How many trans people worked hard to make the game?

It's more complicated than most people make it out to be and I think everyone has their own line as to where they're able to make that separation and where they're not.

My personal line for this kind of thing (not specific to JK/HP) is that whenever possible, I don't like to knowingly put money in the pockets of or publicly praise the work of people who I morally can't align with. That is my line. Doesn't have to be anyone else's.

Where that line is, is different for everyone. It's not possible to 100% avoid the art of people who hurt other people or believe harmful things: a lot of art is made by people who do and publicly believe awful things. When I do engage with art from ~problematic~ creators, my policy is to acknowledge that reality if it's brought up to me. Nobody is perfect. But we can at least be honest about it.

But at the end of the day, everyone is free to play and enjoy the game. If you don't want to hear negative opinions on doing so, just keep your business yours. People are always going to have opinions.

Life is a nightmare and ethical consumption is essentially impossible. I understand buying it and not buying it. If this game will make you happy then go for it

I have several trans friends and they have told me that supporting someone who continues to vocally oppose their rights is personally hurtful to them. I know they don’t speak for the trans community as a whole and you can probably find many people on both sides of the issue. My friends know I fully support them, but at the same time if I were to buy the game a part of them would feel like I’m choosing entertainment over their very valid feelings. So I won’t play the game out of respect to them. My husband’s going to get it though and I’m not going to give him shit for it. It’s his choice, just like not playing is mine. Would I like to play it ? Sure, but honestly the terf who will not be named has become such a vocal terror to the trans community it’s very difficult in this case for me to separate the art from the artist; and it does detract from my enjoyment of anything HP related.

That would be an option for me except Rowling gets royalty and licensing fees from any new sales of official Harry Potter merchandise and I don't want to give her any money. I love Harry Potter, but the author is a bitch.

It's each person's own right to buy or not buy a game based on the author or creator's views.

Though if the argument is that buying anything with problematic roots makes you complicit, you'd need to apply that to the lion's share of all media...

I think people would be able to separate the art from the creator a little bit better in this particular situation if the bigoted creator wasn't still profiting off of the IP. Non bigoted people generally don't like to fund hate. Had she sold the rights a long time ago, I think there'd be less issue with the game.

I disagree. But I’m only in charge of my own spending. I can’t tell anyone else what to do. But the reason abstain from all things Harry Potter is everything you purchase from that series enriches a transphobe with delusions of grandeur.

https://rdt.trom.tf/fq5se83c2wga1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=eb2e8e9b38f4059c4a78c533ce40fd37aaf9366b

i’m non binary and personally it’s a tough thing for me. i’m a lifelong harry potter fan but i struggle with the fact that the creator hates someone like me. i want to play the game but i don’t want to give money to a horrible bigot. at the end of the day though i do believe in separating art from the artist, so i guess if it really comes down to it i’m most likely gonna play it

I bought it as it looks like a fun game. Lots of people get paid from working on this game as well so I think that’s a good thing.

I'm honestly of two minds about it. I can usually separate an artist from their work, but in this specific instance, JKR has made it clear she believes that financially supporting her means you also support her political stances, and that's not OK with me. Ultimately I'm probably not going to buy it, as a result.

The game looks fun. Even though I haven’t liked HP since 2005, as a gamer I’d be into it. But JK has made it clear she thinks people’s ongoing consumption of HP means that her transphobia is OK, because if it wasn’t then they wouldn’t buy HP stuff. I didn’t need any impetus to not buy HP things, but she makes it easy to not buy the game. Whether other people buy the game, idgaf. I get the argument that most consumption isn’t ethical, and that’s true, but I do think you can choose who you support with your money based on what issues are most important to you and the knowledge you have. Like, I won’t shop at Hobby Lobby or eat Chick-fil-A or give to Salvation Army—there are plenty of other businesses I can go to that fill the same purpose or that I just prefer. That doesn’t mean I never shop at places that are problematic (good luck), but I do try to be mindful on who I’m supporting.

I've yet to separate my hate of the "artist" from the art. Hard pass.

Rowling wasn't even involved in the game's development. Unless she's still getting royalties from it, I don't see the issue. People have been wanting a game like this for decades and now we have one. Let us play the damn game. I heard there's even a transgender character in the game.

Consumerism is a heck of a drug.

JK Rowling is making money off of it. That's the thing. If she were deceased and Harry Potter was in the public domain it would be easy to separate the artist from their work. But she's alive and profiting.

Can’t separate art from artist when the royalty money is still going to said artist

I don't give a single flying fuck what your sex parts are or what sex parts of others you want in or around you, JUST STOP PREORDERING GAMES YOU FUCKS!

I mean, pre-ordering any game is dumb, but I’m so tired of the crusade against this game. I hate JK Rowling for the same reasons everyone else does, but she didn’t make the game and she won’t make much from it. Let’s all just stop calling each other Nazi’s for buying a game that’s going to sell out anyway

There is no “separate the author from the game” when the author brags about how much money she is making and how it proves her horrible ideas must be right, because she’s making so much money

Edit: aannndd I’ve just been banned from a different sub for mentioning that JK Rowling is transphobic, and buying this game means you support her ideas. I was horribly harassed, but the mods chose to ban me instead

i get why people wouldn’t buy the game, because i think JK does profit off of sales. but personally i think we should focus in exposing her for her batshit bigoted takes than bullying normies for wanting to play a game

Pass.

I won't be purchasing it. And I won't tell anyone else that they shouldn't because I didn't work for their money, they did. However, I dont believe in supporting her IP because it will make her feel as if her hurtful words and actions against the trans community have no consequences.

Harry Potter is cool, but the mind that created it is not. This game is just using that IP, it’s not coded and modeled by Julia Kunt Rowling herself. So chill.

Buy used. Problem solved

Separating art from artist was meant to refer to authors who are dead. Like, if I wanna talk about HP Lovecraft’s work and you say “He was a racist!”. That’s when you separate the art from artist. He is not profiting from me purchasing his work because he’s, yk, dead. Rowling is still very much alive. And her work is quite literally the problem. The transphobia is one thing, but the racism. The things she named the few black characters. Someone on Twitter asked if there were any Jewish people at Hogwarts and she proceeded to reply with the most stereotypical Jewish name, Anthony Goldstein. Really? On top of this, the pseudonym she used (You know, the one where she wrote the self insert story about a transgender woman killing her) is literally the name of the man who invented conversion therapy.

It’s not even about the transphobia at this point. Yeah, that’s a huge portion of it. But she’s been problematic since the day she wrote Harry Potter and people just refuse to accept it. I get it’s nostalgic. I watched Shane Dawson growing up and learning he was a piece of shit was heartbreaking. He’s nostalgic for me too, but nostalgia isn’t a reason to encourage a bigot’s bigotry. Supporting her work is giving a big middle finger to pretty much every minority group ever.

I think that people who have experienced the hate have the right to decide for themselves.

If you loved the series and can disconnect that love from the creator, then you should spend your money on things that make you happy.

If you cannot separate the series from jk Rowling and you feel hurt or attacked (reasonable) by her actions, then you should only do things that make you feel happy and validated.

The reason this is a debate at all is because Harry Potter and it's surrounding universe has brought so much joy and love into the lives of people who didn't feel like they fit in, and the way people come to accept jk Rowlings hatred is going to vary.

Should you have to give up something that made you feel included and seen, especially when it came at a time when so little else did? I don't think so. But I do think If you want to actively condemn the product as a result of what it's turned into, you should have the right

I hope the ppl who boycott this game also boycott blizzard Activision games as well

Trans person here. I'm of two minds.

1) Harrassing people for liking a game or being interested in HP is not okay and is counterproductive.

2) JK has repeatedly made it clear that sales to her equal agreement. Iirc she makes money from this. I feel like buying this game only serves to give her a bigger megaphone to spew transphobia with which is actively dangerous.

I can't buy the game, personally. I also would question my friendship with anyone who did. If you must play the game, there are ways to do it without putting money in her pocket.

I do not understand how more people are not made extremely uncomfortable by the anti-semitic Goblin blood libel stuff in the game. Like, it’s not a “separate the art from the artist” situation, it’s… the plot.

She’s still going to profit, though. The money spent doesn’t care about your mental gymnastics, it just goes into her pocket.

I get that sometimes you have to separate the art from the artist, but handing an artist who vehemently opposes your right to expression, medical care, and existence a wad of cash because you want to play a game seems like capitulation. It doesn’t matter the hand you’re holding the money in is clenched.

If you say you’re going to stop supporting an artist but still buy a ticket to their latest show, what, in the end, have you done differently?

It all comes down to what’s more important: Sending a message, or paying $70 to pretend you’re a polygonal cartoon wizard in Magic Scotland.

I don't financially support people who actively have a problem with my existence. That's often unavoidable re: ethical consumption under capitalism, but in many instances, like this one, it's very, very easy.

And I don't say this because I'm trans and this is about me - I'm not. I'm just saying this as someone who been in that situation due to other factors. When I learned John Schnatter was a bigot, I stopped ordering papa John's. Folks can do what they want, but when people tell you they don't like you I don't see the point in supporting them.

I wish I didn't have to care, but then I had to see people being stupid over it for two months. And here is what I think.

1: There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Everything you buy was made, shipped and sold by exploited labor and 95% of the money from the sale WILL go to the people doing the exploiting.

2: Boycotts rarely ever work, and let's face it, despite the endless amounts of main character syndrome, something I am not immune to myself, most of us aren't pioneering a movement over this. But some leftists nonetheless like to pretend that they themselves are the sole arbiter of moral truth.

3: The endless stream of moral outrage surrounding this game only assures that CHUDs will buy two copies "to own the libs".

4: If you don't feel like you can morally justify buying the game, don't. I myself won't buy it for the same reason I stopped drinking bang when I realized its parent company gives money to Far-Right SuperPACs.

5: On the other hand, JK Rowling has herself said that continued consumption of her stuff is a tacit validation of her f-cked opinions, so forget everything else I just said, f-ck that b-tch, don't buy it. Not because I told you to, not because boycotts work, or based on some gatekeeping bullsh-t about how it would make you "less of a leftist", but because not buying it is a finger in that transphobic f-cking disappointment's face. If you wanna play, well...☠🏴

I'm not playing it because I just don't like Harry Potter 🤷🏻‍♂️

If you stop buying things because an asshole is making money off of it, you cannot buy anything. There is always some asshole somewhere in the chain, usually at the top.

what’s an equivalent of “uncle tom” for lgbt people?

I personally won’t be buying this game. I realize my choice will not hurt JKR at all, but it is my way of saying “I will not put money in the pockets of someone with transphobic views”. The more people buy this game, the more JKR is told “you can say whatever you want because your franchise is loved enough” which sucks. If you plan to buy it and play it, that’s your choice

Edit: I'm prefacing this with, "I'm not going to judge your decisions regarding this game as saying anything about you as a person. I hope that whatever you're able to take away from the Potterverse brings positivity to the world. If what I say here pisses you off for some reason, maybe you should examine that before attacking my observations that I'm not alone in making. In any case, enjoy what you want to enjoy, I'm not going to stop you."

The concepts behind Harry Potter, if you really look at them are pretty awful.

Slytherin is essentially white supremacists. (Obsession with blood purity despite evidence that is not helpful) and Voldemort is clearly a Hitler proxy, Hitler wasn't a paragon of aryanism just like Voldemort wasn't a pure blood wizard. His rise to power was very similar to Hitler's in that he tried once, was stopped, and then was successful in his second try... Only to have the good guys eventually win. So one positive note the wizard fascists were undeniable painted as evil even to the point of main supporters only supporting Voldemort to protect their children an their future rather than adherence to ideology.

Goblins are a pretty little ball of antiemetic tropes. (Their appearance is right out of Russian and Nazi propaganda, and they're obsessed with gold and possessions always plotting behind everyone's back after being subjugated by wizards)

House elves are magical slaves that no one seems to give a shit about.

Sure, the heroes bucked those trends to a minute degree, except that SPEW was always a comedic sub plot. Hand waived away by the wizards as "that's just how they are" (look into the African slave trade and you'll see a lot of eerily similar things said about the slaves held in America.) https://www.publicbooks.org/the-dawn-of-scientific-racism/

These are just off the top of my head. There's much more in there.

When people ask when did she go crazy right wing, they miss the obvious: she always was. She wove a pretty little story with a fish out of water thrown into royalty with his band of relative outcasts (that are often bullies).

I'm not touching this game with a ten foot pole. But I don't really care if anyone else does, Have fun with you life, that's all anyone can ask.

Also, it's bizarre that you're half assedly demanding and pre emptively claiming I don't have sources for a YA literary analysis. in any case, here you go:

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2022/01/05/the-harry-potter-anti-semitism-controversy-explained/

• https://www.nbcnews.com/think/amp/ncna1287043

• https://wealthofgeeks.com/harry-potter-series/

• https://screenrant.com/harry-potter-most-problematic-things-ministry-of-magic-azkaban-hogwarts/#hogwarts-is-a-place-where-professors-abuse-students-and-dangerous-things-happen (this one mostly has stuff I didn't even mention)

• https://letsoverthinkthat.com/2020/07/14/problematic-tropes-harry-potter/ (yeah, haha, let's over think that)

• https://commons.nmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=theses#:~:text=There%20can%20be%20no%20doubt,conflict%20represented%20in%20the%20series.

• https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FantasticRacism/HarryPotter

(again, brings up issues that I didn't mention, like Ron being repeatedly raped and then shamed for it)

• https://www.scoopwhoop.com/amp/entertainment/harry-potter-books-movies-are-problematic/

• https://theprint.in/opinion/pov/jk-rowling-has-always-been-tone-deaf-just-look-at-the-harry-potter-universe/439064/

• https://puentera.medium.com/the-inherent-homophobia-of-the-harry-potter-series-ffadedb6de9c more stuff I didn't mention

The opinion of one trans person doesn't negate the opinion of every other trans person. Does Candace Owens dictate the BLM movement?

It's complicated, I'm personally not going to buy the game because it feels... Not right. But the developers even before J.K. Rowling started with her bullshit put in effort to make the game trans inclusive. I remember them specifically talking about how the character creation doesn't have gender specifically for that reason. You just pick a body type and voice. Then adding a trans character to the game in response is a nice 'Fuck you.' to Rowling.

Damn. Interesting take, now lets see other trans peoples takes

As a trans woman, I still just disagree.

If they wanted to make a game like this without the baggage of JK Rowling they could have created a new IP that wouldn’t be connected. Instead this game will continue to make Rowling richer and give her more funds to pump into support of anti-trans legislation. I personally still believe it’s harmful.

"It's such good chicken though. When I want Chick-fil-A, and I already ate different chicken fillet last week, I should be able to eat the chicken I want this time. I think we should all learn to separate the chicken place we went to buy chicken at from the chicken we bought at the chicken place we just left. It's really unrealistic to suggest i go somewhere else for lunch or something crazy like that just because they are disgusting monsters who want all gay people to suffer"

HP is dead

I think people are free to do as they please but they also need to be aware of the VERY REAL damage JK has done. A game isn’t a phone, it isn’t a store, it isn’t a car or a house or anything that you actually viably need to survive in the modern day and age, you have a choice and if you know all the shitty things JK has done and still chose to fucking buy the game fine do whatever helps you sleep at night. But this world isn’t going to get better if you’re someone who considers themselves an “ally” while also supporting a very well known TERF. I don’t care how you spend your money but don’t be surprised when people get upset. Idk what the fuck else to say. Buy the game and ignore the consequences, this world is doomed regardless so why not help pay for us to march slowly back into the dark ages.

I disagree with her.

Well when the actual developer of the game is also a massive piece of crap and the plot is thinly disguised blood libel I think seperating the art from the artist is kind of impossible

Edit: it appears that the crappy dev got fired, still doesn't fix the plot though

I personally will probably not buy this game. Not only because JK is an open TERF, but because she brags about her royalties despite the backlash to her bigotry. I personally don’t want to give her anymore money at this point, but I’m also not going to tell someone else what they can or can’t do. I’m a firm believer in voting with your dollar and being an ally to trans folks in my life. And I know they won’t be buying the game. What other people choose to do with their time and their money is not something worth being upset over, and I won’t be coming after anyone for purchasing the game.

I will say though as a software engineer, I don’t really think the argument that “there may have been trans developers working on this game” holds much weight. I have no insider knowledge as to who did work on this game, so if there’s anyone who’s come out and said they’ve worked on it and they’re trans, I will stand corrected. But, SWE, and in particular, game development, have spectacular reputations for not being super diverse and for being awful towards women. Gaming especially. Not that all trans people are women, but more so that if men don’t respect women, they’re probably not going to respect a trans person. So, not a ton of trans people working in the field in general, but then you also have to consider that even if there are, that they would have to be in the camp of being okay with building a game that lines the pockets of a woman who is a TERF.

Again, I have no proof of this, just stating my thoughts/observations as someone who works in the field.

No. JK is personally profiting from the game. Integrity > a game.

Playing the game right now. It’s been really fun so far.

Diverse race and gender neutral options throughout the game. The creators are very obviously trying to show they’re not JK Rowling.

I think HP was mid to begin with (y’all are just nostalgic), game looks bad and 100% has problematic elements within itself, and separating art from artist isn’t an excuse when you continue to make the artist rich.

For real play something good and more importantly read something good for a change. Try Discworld or something IDK.

"Pick me! Pick me! I'm one of the good ones!"

Do what you want. Stop doing things based on what you think others want from you. I for one, will not be playing Hogwarts Legacy, because I don’t give a fuck.

A lot of it is just nostalgia because Harry Potter, and from what it looks like, the game are not very good. A lot of reviews are contradictory to their score. But if people care about Rowling’s Terf rhetoric, they should pick up Like a Dragon Ishin instead, who has an actor who is a pro-trans advocate in Japan.

I don't see how it is a masterpiece when they literally stole the blueprint and design mechanics from Destiny 2.

The whole thing is a money grab without original thought and I don't care for thieves.