What We Believe
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
🎮 Who We Are – The Brotherhood 🤝
We’re people who live and breathe video games. We work together so that we, our friends, and our families can keep enjoying what we love—now and always. We’re here to make gaming better for everyone. No matter where we come from, we’ve got one thing in common: we love this culture, and we’re here to rep and defend it.
Gaming isn’t just a hobby—it’s how we move!
🧍♂️ What We Stand For 🙌
What's F.A.I.R.:
Fun. Accountability. Innovation. Responsibility.
→ Players' Rights
→ Developer Duties & Protections
→ Consumer Responsibilities & Protections
→ Corporate & Market Oversight
We believe in the old-school system:
You get what you pay for when you pay for it! You own the products that you buy! You can expect to take delivery of purchases in reasonable amounts of time from when you order them! Not in five or ten years from now and after a dozen DLCs! Synchronistically, gaming industry workers deserve decent conditions. Their contribution to the bottom-line matters especially when they're working in the name of fun! We all share stakes in these ideas as members of the gaming ecosystem. We all benefit when they are true. We all lose when we let them slide.
We're passionate about gaming. We think gaming companies are best when they reflect that passion too! We care about gamers' experiences. We think the fate of the industry depends on that, too! We work to take responsibility as consumers to regulate our purchasing habits to ensure corporate conduct doesn't spoil our good time. Together, we can be more effective guiding the continued growth of the industry and shaping the development of our community!
📣 What type of organization is GBAMFS? 💪
Right now we're a lean, mean team of a few passionate gamers from professional backgrounds with a deep interest in making the most out of our gametime. You can read more about us here. We think it's super important to make sure gaming maintains to be all it can be, remembering our roots. Our setup is both a fraternal network and mutualist, artistic cooperative. We're looking to grow, so you can join up!
The Brotherhood is a charitable group (Not for Profit/Educational organization incorporation pending.) Memberships are available to those focused on advocacy as part of our federation. Our Society is a dues-based gamer art-social collective that holds events, observes games as art and contributes proceeds towards the Gaming Brethren Advocates Mutual-aid Foundation! 😁🥳
As part of our mission to inform and educate, we offer a Style Guide for those choosing to cover gaming topics in a journalistic fashion. Please feel free to share it! GBAMFS Style Guide.RTF
👨🏫 What do we do? 💰✊
Keep an eye out for quality games. Keep an eye on the industry. Listen to players. Hear out companies. Hear from employees. Point out and report on trends. Offer reviews, ratings, and offer warnings if necessary. Communicate to our members and the broader gaming community pertinent info. Educate the public on gaming, games, and what it's all about and why they should care. Interact with public and private institutional partners, including artistic, cultural and regulatory groups. Pool our resources, collect an internal sense of where we want gaming go, and how we want it to stay! Let industry know and work with partners in the dev and publishing scene to ensure our desires are clearly communicated, kept in mind, and being served in the marketplace. We let them know if they're not making it happen. Incentivize indies and creatives with our collective input and interest. Play games together, hang out, hold events, promote gaming & gaming culture!
Issue items: (Subject to regular review & revision)
🕹️ Are we platform-specific? (I.e. PC-only / only console) 🕊️
We're for gamers across the ecosystem! We support gamers' interests wherever gamers are found (including our tabletop and card-gaming friends!,) but our focus is dedicated to electronic forms of entertainment: PC, Console and Handheld.
💻 What is your stance on OSes? Are you Windows-only? 🐧
Windows [Microsoft] and Android [Google] are the dominant platforms for gaming today. There is no denying that. Just as certainly true is that the gaming community has greatly benefitted from the stability and versatility those platforms have afford us. Ease of Use is a top factor for many gamers! That said, we favor expanding, not limiting consumer choices. If we face issues in the form of OS environments that don't suit us, their adoption will be limited!
We take an active interest in encouraging major providers to broaden their OS-platform and driver support, and in games that are set up that way. We want to showcase Linux's readiness and ability to serve the gaming community. Steam OS is a proven winner–let's show 'em what it can do!
🗝️ What is your policy on Open Source? 🧰
In favor but pragmatically. We see that the incentive to get rich making a popular consumer good is a big factor in inspiring some of the greatest games we've ever played. That's cool. We want that to continue.
We also feel that while some projects may not normally make any practical financial sense there is clearly a strong latent desire on the part of fans and hobbyists, tinkerers and artists to give back to the gaming community. Sometimes it doesn't take being motivated by profit to do good work that people can benefit from and enjoy the products of! Some fine examples of this are featured in our Games area.
🛠️ What is your position on #RighttoRepair, #RighttoMod / Remix? 💿
We're definitely in support! -> Shoutout to Grayjay! https://grayjay.app/
📝 Is EULA / licensing reform part of our program? 🏠
Affirmative! You own your system and you own your games.
What is your policy on Censorship? 👉🙅♂️
Oppose on principle. Small companies that are hosts of proprietary platforms may avoid concern, notice, or potential regulatory oversight. Major platform providers, marketplaces, and Gaming as a Service (GaaS) providers must be responsible corporate citizens, responsive not only to market demands but public interest in providing these services. That includes reasonable accommodation and allowances for free, open and fair public expression. That includes some kinds some people might find offensive. Some limits on this may exist with respect to personal safety. (We always support and encourage the use of mute/block, for example!)
What about moderation? 🦺
Moderation for the comfort and safety of the online user environment is encouraged in that specific context. If and when it goes into the realm of squelching dissent overall or posing restrictions on public access to comment on the products and services, we take issue with that. We're also deeply skeptical of moves to remove trash-talk from 'teamspeak' in multiplayer contexts. Competitive language is a natural part of gaming culture, and there should be room for both polite and impolite forms of expression if players opt into it.
Do you support moving major online game content hosts, marketplaces, and service providers to different categories under law? I.e. Public Forum vs current ones as Publishers and/or Public Utilities? 🔀
Yes. 👌
Also requiring brick-and-mortar style return policies and product-fitness standards of accountability for products sold as all-digital? ↩️
That too! 💯
What is Payment Processor Neutrality and why do we support it? 💳💴
VISA, Mastercard, and similar providers have become de facto global standards for payments. Many businesses, including solo artists and freelancers, depend on them to get paid. These providers have at a times refused service to creators or distributors based on disagreement with their content or views—affecting authors, filmmakers, artists, and publishers. We believe it's not the role of payment processors to decide what kinds of games or art people can buy. Artists should be able to sell their work without unfair or harmful interference. We support reforms to ensure that.
Why do you support Artistic Freedom? Does it matter for games? 🎨🖌️
It matters to gamers since efforts to restrict, regulate, and ban games pop up regularly in legislatures around the world. If you love quality video games, you should support the principle of Artistic Freedom. It means that artists are free to create the kinds of art that speak to them, and we hope then speak to us. It protects artists who create those works and allows us the choice of the best of what the market has to offer. Like Free Speech, it is for the content you yourself may not see the value of, take an interest in, or prefer to buy personally. Because art is for everyone, even though we each have our own preferences as individuals.
When artists are forced to include content or messages, as they have been in wartime (for example,) it may be seen to corrupt the art they produce. There is a whole category of artwork this falls under actually – it is known as propaganda. Similarly, when artists are unfree to show sensate and explicit types of artwork outside of a martial/violent context, we find it to be a infringement on the rights of artists. At once, a restriction imposed on the human imagination. We reject this in favor of the freedom to choose for ourselves what artwork we will engage with or support the creation of. While this type of art will always be controversial, we believe keeping it openly available in the marketplace is the best way to scrutinize and appreciate it, and all kinds of art!
→ Artists should be free from mandates OR censorship to the greatest extent possible. Gamers should have the right to choose what games appeal to us, subject to reasonable restrictions on account of development/disability.
How should ratings be handled? Privately, ESRB-style? Government? 🌟
Continued service of bodies like ESRB, CERO and PEGI are meditated upon by us. Some may prefer a regulatory back-stop, but that should remain unnecessary. ESRB for example has served gamers reasonably well with some noteworthy exceptions. Online ID checks, previously supported by ESRB, are not something gamers are benefitted by, and that remains an issue where we disagree with their position. We support competing ratings bodies offering their services as well.
What is your position on Parental Controls? 👨👩👧👦🔑
Parental controls in-game have proven the most technically sound, effective and consistent way of providing the quality of goods gamers demand while offering the protections needed to safeguard minors and other sensitive parties from content that it may be inappropriate for them to engage with. We support companies implementing rating-appropriate restrictions in game settings without any kind of online database or identity verification step needed to access or play the games!
What about faster broadband? How and when is that going to happen? What is GBAMFS' take? 📶
The role of Broadband is certainly important. Many of us live in the US where broadband service typically lags behind that of other developed nations'. Whatever steps that can be taken to improve it should be. While some suggest subsidies, others of us prefer to look at Antitrust and anti-monopoly law and regulations. We want to ensure what infrastructure we have is not being mismanaged for short-term gains to private interests. Whatever route gets us to a lower ping and higher throughput is what we're going to take! 🏁
Do you support retail / physical? 🏪
Yes we do. We want both. The best of all worlds is where we have virtual and local/physical options with retail packaging, return options and the rest! We are promoters of #SupportRealPhysical – cartridges have got to come with a full game installed, not just be vouchers/tokens!
Do you care about retro, games preservation and media access? 🎞️🗄️♾️
Absolutely we do! It's one of the primary drives behind our efforts to secure reforms in policies & practices by companies, and of our own habits as consumers! There is a lot of work to do here, and a lot of it involves education & practical efforts to preserve the artifacts of gaming art. Making sure awareness of gaming's history and roots lives on for modern and future gamers, and that institutions maintain understandings of their importance is key!
Do you take a position on DRM and DAC controls? 🔒
Pretty much see them as OK within a certain context. If your game is online-only DAC may be a necessity. Should these be able to take over your whole system? Probably not. DRM is a complex and long-standing controversy in the gaming community. We tend to lean on the side of less is better. If your product is outstanding it may sell itself fine without resorting to that. We favor sunset timelines for all DRM, and insist that companies should offer non-DRM options whereever that's feasible.
Do you have a position on Piracy? ☠️
It's a service issue. Credit to Gabe Newell for that insight. More here. We neither condone or condemn the practice given the often widespread issues that usually lead up to it. Data demonstrates that it can be mitigated as an issue with industrial sense being appropriately applied in tackling it. We will not aid in the promotion of it, however.
How should Privacy be handled in games/platforms? 👁️
Policies that unduly burden or restrict user ability to set their preferences should be adjusted. Although much of these concerns have been addressed through Tort law, there is a component of them that broaches Civil Liberties-type areas. As a pro-Gamer pro-freedom group, we aren't against monetization strategies, but at the same time recognize that no private (or public) company has the right to sell you down the river under the terms of contract. Reasonable protections of you, your personal info, and metadata should be observed.
Do you have a stance on AI? AGI? CGI? Crypto? NFTs? Web 3.0? 🦾👨🎨
Whoa, whoa, whoa!! This doesn't have too much to do with gaming just yet! While many of us are tech enthusiasts and some of us may take interest in some of these things, none of these are part of our core mission. We do not accept donations or sponsorships from AI, Crypto or NFT firms or those with principal ownership of businesses operating in these areas. We will also not be extending endorsements or accepting partnership with groups promoting these for the time being. CGI is a meme; obviously everything made on computers art-wise is CGI to some extent. So unless you are against any art made with machine, that's an open door and we support artists who make modern art. Some will favor AI, and many others do not. We're not taking sides on that issue. We seek feedback from knowledgeable parties on all these subjects!
How does the Brotherhood view Intellectual Property law per se? 💡
This is an incredibly tough question to answer. It requires reaching back into history, and it telescopes out into the future as a topic to even begin to address! Jdawg, our Founder, is nominally in favor of its reform, and possibly partial abolition. There is a considerable body of evidence supporting the conclusion that it is, at the present, serving about as much purpose incentivizing innovation as it does a prohibitive one – a breakeven result for the public. Some creatives get sold short, while other IP holders accrue fortunes of tremendous magnitudes only to dither and wither in their maintenance of the properties. It's time for an honest look at how this system is, and is supposed to work!
What about so-called 'Dark Patterns' in games? 🧟♂️
Mental Health is an important issue. Some games are designed for purposes that show almost complete disregard for the long-term wellness of their customers. We're against that. Where, on the other hand, there are games can even serve a therapeutic purpose or have benefits along those lines (for some.) We're for that, and for gamers helping gamers to find a balance, and success in- and out of game! Sometimes that is knowing when to quit.
Do you have a policy on Harassment/Doxxing? 🤬☣️
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Our stance is that harassment is first off, a personal consideration. It's a conversation that the more sensitive people (or their adult caretakers) among us should have with themselves beforehand. There can be bright lights, loud noises, foul language used and the like in gamer spaces– and in gamer culture in general. Gaming can be a pretty rough and tumble environment to dive into. Like in sport, melee [MMA,] and harsh environments that may simulate intense real-life challenges, gamers are people who engage strongly with our virtual worlds. That IS the goal for many of us most of the time! From combat zones to crime scenes to undersea and aerospace puzzles, gamers can play hard at times! It's not for the faint-of-heart or light-of-interest. Those with very care-requiring dispositions may not always find themselves at home in gamer spaces where blowing off steam and carefree attitudes are generally seen as the way to go.
If you're persistently engaging with gamers, you probably either have a pretty good idea of what we're about or you may need someone to take the time to explain this to you. Since you're here reading this, please take this as instructive. At core, gaming comes from a place of love and focusing on the experience. If you're not feeling it, it may not be for you. The community has all types of people in it and we may not all get along all the time. There will be disagreements about games sometimes for example, and that's just par for the course! That's OK. Causing a scene is generally not OK. It kills vibes and interrupts play. Exercise discretion. Not every game/game space will be for every person. For the good of the community, if it can't be kept friendly, you might want to take that ish outside.
That said, publishers, devs, and some in the gaming reporter-sphere have from time to time seen fit to "wave the flag" in our spots and wag their proverbial tongues in gamers' faces. Sometimes this is seen to be in an effort to promote or protect a company, brand, or property. Other times, it would seem to be to virally engage with our community in order to exploit the publicity it generates. There are times when this conduct may come packaged alongside legislative proposals affecting us, too (we notice.) We are against the harassment of gamers and our community in general. We reject it principally and practically where necessary.
What to do? — If you feel harassed, taking a step back is the first right move. It is both the tactically wise and responsible thing to do. Things move fast in game spaces sometimes. Communication with peers or friends is essential! If games were stopped to avoid every potential misunderstanding or hurt feeling someone might have, no one would be playing them. An outcome that would represent the destruction of OUR safe space. Not to mention many gamers' traditional, commonplace - accepted and preferred play styles. What may even represent therapy to some of us! That is not acceptable to us. We won't stand for it.
On the outside, generally speaking, if gamers bring up IRL topics, you have the choice to participate or not. People's willingness to address real-life aspects about themselves and others, and real-world topics will vary from person to person. It is important to remember that gaming is an arena of imagination, fiction, and outright fantasy at times. Some people just want to keep it about that. We believe you should respect that choice when it is clearly expressed. Many gamers, do in fact like to 'keep it real' though, and we're all about that — with certain limitations. If it stops being about the game, about gaming, you've lost the plot. That's when it's time to go. That simple!
Our Stance: Nobody should be harassing anybody in or outside of the gaming space. In real terms, people consider harassment to mean different things and we take that with due consideration and seriousness. It's also largely something best addressed in terms of personal responsibility. Avoiding traps and hazards is like Gamer 101, right? Where this falls short we leave it to the appropriate authorities to handle stuff like this as it needs to be.
At the end of the day our focus is rightly on fun. Getting between gamers and our games is never a good look, and seldom a good time for anyone. IF you just come to harass us, we won't have it. If you're one of us and may be making a mistake, just stop it! Otherwise, these are matters for security, civil or criminal authorities to deal with. Keep in mind, too, that claims around harassment reflect poorly on the gamer community overall. If you care about gaming and gamers, think carefully before deciding that that is what an experience is to you. Our first, last and most important instinct in this is to enjoy ourselves, each others' company and our shared interest. Nobody wins from being poor a sport!
In summary: If you can't play nice OR can't deal with gamer rudeness, then you're going to want to think twice. Chasing after people in the gaming space or throwing real-life curveballs (like doxxing, SWATTING) meet with rejection by our members. Doxxing and SWATTING are against our policies. Drama that moves outside of gaming is no longer about gaming. Keep it about gaming!
Postscript: Gamer-on-gamer violence ["In Minecraft,"] all in good fun, we accept. That's part of the deal. If it's not for you, it's not for you. It's also not about you, accordingly. Don't make it about you if it isn't about you. (That works for life in general, too!) That said we take art criticism and feedback very seriously. We won't be silenced where it counts, after the game is done. We have opinions and that is something we will fight to protect and defend our interest in expressing, all in the time and place appropriate.
Our stance is that harassment is first off, a personal consideration. It's a conversation that the more sensitive people (or their adult caretakers) among us should have with themselves beforehand. There can be bright lights, loud noises, foul language used and the like in gamer spaces– and in gamer culture in ...
What is your position on Diversity in Gaming? 🌍🌈
Gamers are diverse! Always have been. Some of the first programmers were women both in and outside of games. In fact one of the most famous and successful devs of all time (and also one of the earliest!) is a woman. Our page on Diversity in Gaming is actually really important to our community's interests and educating everybody quite frankly on how People of Color, women, the differently-abled & disabled are all our playmates who share our pastime! Even though this is an important documentary effort, it's not like we haven't known it all along! ... There are those who are new to the gaming community who have serious doubts, questions about their and others' identit[ies] and we respect their struggle. However their struggle is not necessarily ours and vice-versa! Meantime it is worth noting that the media has consistently+dramatically mischaracterized gamers' views and preferences. This needs to be addressed, and GBAMFS is here to address it!
What are gamers views on DEI? 🧑⚖️
Those are going to vary. DEI is a policy, often a government and/or corporate one. Since this is a policy question, it will invite a range of viewpoints to approach it with realism and respect to all those concerned. Which may be everybody, depending on where that policy is being promoted or enacted from. Basically GBAMFS takes no position on it except to support the ability of artists to make work that speaks to them and we hope speaks to us. So in principle, "fine if it's done right." There are going to be those skeptical and that is true of ANY work of art or commercial product. What we don't support is abuse, harassment, and vilification campaigns pro- OR con-! Without respect, we reject!
What are games, who really and what are gamers, and who decides? 🤔⁉️
Wow, that's deep! Those kinds of questions are ones that humankind has struggled with since before written language existed! Gamers probably aren't going to solve them just now. What we can do is agree to sit or stand, lay and relax together enjoying video games. It's really that simple. IF you're making it more complicated than that, that's probably on you. That's fine, but that's not what gaming is about. We (basically, all of us,) have consensus on that! We're a community and a culture. We're not a costume or a conjectured constituency.
Existential questions and contemplation on fundamental categorical imperatives is in the realm of Philosophy, Social Science, sometimes Linguistics (often English, French, occasionally German.) Basically if that's what you're into that's fine. You're welcome to it. Don't expect to be indulged by the gamer community however. It's basically irrelevant to our culture and interests. Please respect our traditions, folktales, way of life and do not attempt to appropriate them for experimental/ideological purposes. If you do and elicit negative responses, feel free to be offended, but with the knowledge that we all (including you) probably would be best served by you choosing something else to take on as a cause. The cause of gaming,...that's like, playing and repping video games we love, that's enough for us!
What is GBAMFS official position on these matters? 🔮📋
Strongly agnostic. Who decides? Each gamer, when and where. Many of us believe games are art that should be protected, but not everybody. Anybody claiming to be ultimate authority on this is playing another game and it isn't video game-related. They're playing to be boss, whether they plead anti-boss standards or not. Gamers beat bosses, not follow them! "You can be whatever you want to be, so long as it's not the boss of me." — Or else you look like an enemy deserving to be overthrown in many gamers' eyes. We may not have all the power in the "real world," but in our spaces, we enjoy our recourse. Dare you attempt to take this from us, you'll be making a mistake... contentment is a real-world stat. We will enjoy our games, now.. that is all!
If you believe as we do, won't you join us? We can't complete this campaign without you!!!
This list is not complete, and official positions are based on consensus. You have the opportunity to help GBAMFS formulate our public planks, and decide where to take this org in the future! Join up now and let your voice be heard!