Tips for any Gamergater who wants to debate the opposition I've recently had the pleasure of getting into discussions with several anti-Gamergaters on various Disqus comments and Medium.com, and their responses have been......vitriolic, despite how nice and polite I try to be. However, it has led me to several conclusions about the best practices for debating anyone opposed to Gamergaters; 1. Always be polite and civil, no matter what The sheer amount of abuse and hate I've gotten from the anti-GG/SJW crowd has been unreal. I have been called all sorts of vicious names, been accused of hideous lies, and treated like evil incarnate, but I have refused to return the favor. The reason is simple: Martin Luther King advocated resistance to oppression in ways that would show the world who the real bigots were, and the best way you can do that is by following the example the civil rights protesters under his charge set: NEVER SINK TO THEIR LEVEL. Let them spew whatever hate they want, but never return the favor. 2. Always argue from a position of fact The anti-GG crowd is a largely emotional bunch, and they tend to ignore facts or cherrypick what fits a narrative, and the only way to defeat that is to follow the first guideline and argue based on what has actually happened. Truth will defeat lies all the time, but only if you can keep a cool head and argue from the foundation of reason and evidence. 2.5. Get your facts ready beforehand, and keep potential counterarguments in mind. (submitted by FattyWhale) This is one of the disagreements I have with the OP. Despite aGG's tendency to argue from a position of emotion, they do rely on 'facts' from time to time. However, much of their information is either faulty or bad, and knowing what sources they're likely going to use beforehand can help give you the upper hand. Similarly, countering emotional arguments with facts is important as well. 3. Do NOT sink to their level That means do not troll (or violate the first guideline in any way), dox (as in, publish their SSN, home address, etc), or be aggressive in any way. This does not mean you cannot comment on any public fora, that is not harassment, despite what they say, just stay calm, polite and argue from evidence when you do so. 4. Do not rise to any bait The anti-GG/SJW crowd would love to watch us turn into shrieking douchebags who hurl insult and invective, do not, under any circumstances, rise to the bait. I know, some of the stuff they say makes this sort of self control very hard, but endure, nothing is gained by giving in except to give them a means to discredit what you say by claiming you're a histrionic troublemaker. 4.5. Don't touch the poop. This applies to outside of debates in general. (submitted by FattyWhale) Basically for the same reasons tip 4 exists. The day one succumbs to hatred is the day one loses their legitimacy as a voice on an issue from the view of the neutral bystander. Which brings me to 5. Remember that you're not trying to convince aGG. (submitted by FattyWhale) There was once a period where people who were against GG could be convinced to go neutral, and on rare occasions, pro. As the sides to this controversy have solidified, however, this is much less common (as is civil discussion between the two camps, sadly). In addition, there are less people involved in gaming or the game industry who are neutral to the issue due to ignorance, rather than not wanting to take sides for whatever reason. However, there are plenty of people outside of gaming who are still, for all intents and purposes, neutral on this whole thing. They're the people you're attempting to convince in debates. They're the ones who are more prone to being swayed by facts. This is why the other tips (ESPECIALLY 2) are important. 6. Don't presume that the person you're debating fits the aGG stereotype.(submitted by FattyWhale) This is probably one of the most common errors I've seen while lurking various social medias. While aGG has more or less shapen up to be a very homogeneous group, there are always outliers, and presuming things about the person based on their position regarding GG alone is not a good idea. Common presumptions I've seen include that all aGG are TiA-tier SJWs (while most, if not all fit the "SJW" label to some degree, not all of them are carbon copies of the Ghazi posters that everyone mocks), or that aGG doesn't play video games (while certain prominent individuals in the camp clearly lack knowledge, others have easily clocked hundreds, if not thousands of hours into games over their lifetimes). More than anything, don't presume that they're total morons. The "I won before the debate started" mentality can lead to the opposite result.