I will forgive trans people who play the game despite the harm the author does because the IP has a special place in their hearts. I will disagree with them, but as trans folk, we each have to navigate the transphobia in the world around us on our own terms, and that includes our relationship with this IP.

I won’t forgive anyone, cis or trans, who tries to downplay the transphobia of the author and the harm she does and there is zero space in blåhaj zone for folks inclined that way.

Truth be told? As a former fan of the books but a reluctant enjoyer of the universe, I would love to try the game.

But as a trans person, I cannot in good faith give additional attention to anything Harry Potter. Many of the fans may be good people, but the books are problematic, the author is a piece of shit, and anything that gives either of these things more exposure should be shunned. (Sadly, this means the movies are a no-go, even though Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson are gems; I can’t remember how Rupert Grint feels.)

Not censored, just shunned. I’m not going to be an asshole to someone who likes HP but is a nice person otherwise. If they ask me my opinion, I’ll tell them, but I’ll stay away personally from the official content, if not all content (fan content is on a somewhat case-by-case basis, but mostly that too if only just to make staying away easier).

Fuck JK Rowling and everything associated with her

Granted, I never cared for Harry Potter to begin with, and by the time I finally tried to watch it, it didn’t interest me in the slightest

Also have a bad taste in my mouth because my ex “friend”’s wife rubbed it in my face that she’d gotten Hogwarts Legacy to try to get a reaction after seeing the conflict over it online

I don’t really care if someone likes Harry Potter and plays the games or watches the movies, I care a lot more if they give Rowling money in the process. Thankfully, there are ways of enjoying books, movies, TV shows and games without giving shitty people money.

Yo ho ho me hearties.

I watched a single 2 hour YouTube video about JK Rowling (well, about Harry Potter, but focused on JK Rowling), so I obviously know everything about her (/s), and in my professional Rowling expert opinion I say:
I don’t like her, her books, the games affiliated with her books, or anything else she’s associated with.

Also I’m a “actual trans people with sense”™, so my opinion can’t be discarded.

Also if that counts I used to be active in a discord server with primarily “actual trans people with sense”™ and talking about the game was literally not allowed because one of the mods was tired of having to tell people why the game is bad.

I’m a cis man. I won’t buy anything from HP because of JK’s views. I don’t really think there’s a “stance.” You’re either ok with what she says or you aren’t. And the only way to affect change is with how you spend your money.

[Posted this in the defederation thread but someone advised me to post it here too]

Now that I’m looking and see that you are all from hexbear it makes way more fucking sense. The actual trans people with sense are on blahaj, fucking hexbear morons invading this thread makes everything make sense now. Go touch grass.

Ngl I’m starting to get annoyed with how transphobes on other Lemmy instances treat blahaj as like their trans best friend and use it to launder their shitty opinions just because hexbear users are more aggressive in calling out transphobia and then dogpiling whichever user said it

Huh. Surprising that the poster thinks this community would defend Joanne and the actions she has taken against our community.

Long and short of it, no. I do not support giving her money under really any circumstances. I used to be a die-hard fan of Harry Potter but I haven’t engaged with it in many years and probably never will again. I dont even want to give her intellectual properties my time and attention. I don’t begrudge anyone doing so, but if they asked me, “What do you think about me buying the HP game?” I’d tell them how they’re supporting someone openly aligned with trans hatred, fascists like Kelly Jay Keen, misogynists, anti-abortion organizations, and homophobic people and anti gay rights organizations. She appropriates the voice of lesbian and queer cis women as a weapon against trans people, despite being a categorically straight woman herself. She’s a fascist, not openly, but you’re not best friends with fascists supporting fascist causes if you yourself aren’t a fascist. She is a threat not just to the rights of trans people but also to gay people and women.

Support of her, her actions, or her statements in any capacity is categorically unacceptable in this community. I won’t ban someone for saying they bought the game, but attempting to suggest that she isn’t an active threat to the rights of trans people everywhere is unacceptable. This is a supportive community for transfeminine people, and debate/denial of the trans hate movement is bannable here.

Hogwarts Legacy? Wasn’t that the game with, like, the plot that was suspiciously similar to blood libel, especially considering how similar goblins are to certain stereotypes and caricatures to begin with? The game where early access players found a horn that looked suspiciously similar to a shofar being described as some sort of annoying goblin instrument? The game where, even setting Rowling aside, several of the staff behind it had some very gross political views? The one where they named the one transfem character “Sirona Ryan” and had her voiced by a cis woman with her voice pitched-down in post to sound more masculine?

I mean, I never played Hogwarts Legacy, so that could all be wrong, but that is nevertheless what I remember people talking about… People have a right to play games even if they have problematic content, sure, but I also have a right to hear “yeah I just had to play the Blood Libel Game because it’s just so nostalgic” and think “wtf”

So, as a question, do you agree with giving money in any way to JK Rowling?

Fuck that FART. 🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️

Do you agree with supporting Harry Potter as a franchise? 🤓

Oh, you mean her British Empire fan-fiction? The one where elves LIKE to be slaves? The one with anti-semite, racist, imperialist, transphobic and fatphobic subtext?

No, lol.

Yeah I boycott all TERFs and encourage my friends to do the same. Just like the chicken place, and the pillow guy, and anyone else who thinks making other people’s lives hell is a valid political stance. Don’t gove those people money if you don’t have to, please. Just pirate it

She explicitly said she considers it endorsement of her beliefs. I’m not going to say people can’t enjoy Harry Potter anymore, but I will say I can’t. I get that it’s part of a lot of people’s childhood. But it’s also absolutely a form of privilege because every time I’m reminded of it I’m reminded that something I loved as a child is funding my oppression very explicitly now. And I trust you less when I see you celebrating it.

But I’m also not one of the good ones. I respect myself and my sisters.

Apologies for chipping in here, because I’m cis, but I don’t feel at all comfortable with playing Hogwarts legacy — Rowling has literally said that she views any success the game may have as an endorsement of her views. My feelings here aren’t even necessarily due to a choice to condemn Rowling’s stance and behaviour, but also partly a visceral sense of disgust towards that world and the series. I used to love Harry Potter, but I can’t anymore. I’m sad about it because I was one of those lonely kids growing up who would fantasise about getting my Hogwarts letter.

My opposition to the game also isn’t limited to beef with Rowling’s transphobia - over the years I’ve come to realise how icky the world on the books is, like how Harry becoming a cop after years of suffering under systemic abuse,that’s peak neoliberalism. Plus there’s all the antisemitic tropes around the goblins. It’s just oof and another reason why I’d feel uncomfortable playing the games.

In my almost entirely queer friend group, that’s a common viewpoint and when it came out, it was definitely something that would be considered worthy of judgement. For the record, this friend group is approximately 30-40% trans

I expect my post will be controversial. I bought it and played it. I don’t regret getting it.

I accepted myself as trans and came out to my wife a couple months ago. Before coming out I was really deep in denial and didn’t let myself play as girls in games even though deep down I really wanted to.

Hogwarts Legacy was the first game I played as a female character by choice in a long time. The game was okay, it’s been a really long time since I played that genre. Role playing as a girl was really freeing. Sure, I could have chosen countless other games, but it was new enough and unique enough that I actually wanted to play it. I’m pretty picky about games I play now; I have two young kids and a pretty demanding job.

There’s trans representation in it. It’s very explicit, the barkeep at Hog’s Head mentions that most of her former-classmates don’t recognize her since she’s now a witch instead of a wizard.

It sucks that it supports JK Rowling a tiny bit. I definitely did not want to support her. But I was in a pretty bad mental state when I was playing it and it was a welcomed distraction. It even helped me come to terms with my trans-ness a little bit.

Yah, nah JK has gone right off the deep end like Kanye and musk. Fell for the same shit teenagers on tumbler, twitter and Reddit were falling for 7 years ago.

Honestly, don’t think anyone should be giving her money at this point, but the franchise is kind of bigger than her at this point. I won’t pay for anything that would end up giving a cent to her because I know what she’ll do with it. She’s a dead weight on the community at this point.

I can’t engage with the properties in good conscience anymore. I was never as in to it as some other people were, and if that’s a big part of your online identify and community it’d be hard to break from it. I get why people get defensive about it, but like, maybe they shouldn’t take it personally when people criticize giving money to one of the biggest names funding transphobic rhetoric?