Haven’t you heard? Online petitions seem to carry a stigma. For the most part, the Ivory Tower gaming enthusiasts had set forth this idea that those that produce and possibly sign such petitions are nothing more than basement dwelling, Anime porn lovers that do nothing all day but sniff vending machine panties from Japan. Yes, these people exist and yes there are some crazy-ass online petitions, especially when it comes to video games.

On the other hand, most gamers are like you and me. We play games and we have a fierce devotion to how the medium works and those developers and games that do “right” by a gamer. When something comes along that breaks that trust, we freak the heck out. Our only recourse? Mobilization.  How do we mobilize? Online petitions.

The question is though, do they work?

Online petitions work. Well, at least the sane ones work. When I say “work”, there’s definitely a broad spectrum as to what that word means in this context. Do online petition’s bring attention to issues affecting a certain segment of gamers? Do online petition’s spark a discussion among the people who can affect change for said segment of gamers? Do online petition’s fundamentally achieve their goals through grass roots organizing online? Well, let’s take a look at each one.

Lets take a look at three prominent Internet “protests” that have taken place over the last year or so. The three that immediately come to mind are the Left 4 Dead 2 petition on Steam, the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 dedicated server petition brought by PC gamers and our own call for a boycott of Battlefield: Bad Company for attempting to sell weapons to be used in Multiplayer matches.

At the time of this writing, the Left 4 Dead 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company boycotts have been lifted, with the interested parties in both declaring victory, while it appears that the petition against Modern Warfare 2′s exclusion of dedicated servers from the PC version appears to have lost. Or did it? What most do not seem to understand, including the TV and Internet journalist elites that pooh pooh most online petitions, including the ones discussed above, are that the petitions are usually not made to direct someone to act, but to force an  acknowledgment of the existence of the problem with the hope that said company will address it.

What the douchebags that deride online petitions fail to understand, is that the petitioners simply want to be heard. They want a Valve, or an EA to openly acknowledge the perceived problem. Whether or not they address it is also of importance, but usually by the time the issue is addressed, a solution is also found. Take the Left 4 Dead 2 petition. These protesters took exception to Valve’s perceived abandonment of the Left 4 Dead fan base, when L4D2 was abruptly announced at E3 2009. After gathering tens of thousands of signatures, the media elites that derided the petition while also promoting it on their blogs and TV shows, which inadvertently grew the protester’s user base. After numbers swelled that led to another round of media exposure, Valve responded to the protest and addressed their issues by promising more content and support for Left 4 Dead. Mission accomplished. Petition disbanded.

On the other hand, the online protest against Infinity Ward for dropping dedicated servers seems to be all but lost. IW recently told Game Informer that it is what it is and that all games would be hosted through their proprietary network.  There are a few good things that came out of the petition though. First, IW actually responded to consumers demands. Second, while there won’t be dedicated servers, IW has gone out of its way to assure that gaming demographic that many, if not most, of the options that these gamers seek will be available. But for the online petition, it is extremely likely that these issues wouldn’t be addressed, in my opinion.

Even with regard to our own attempted boycott of Battlefield: Bad Company, our protests were heard loud and clear by BF:BC producer Gordon Van Dyke, who admitted as much during our interview with him on Episode 56 of the Sarcastic Gamer Podcast. While Mr. Van Dyke labeled the issue a “misunderstanding,” he acknowledged that that they saw Sarcastic Gamer’s efforts and even the parody video that we produced. No matter how it was described, the push to sell multiplayer weapons never bloomed and I believe that Sarcastic Gamer’s push back was a big part of their decision despite what the ivory tower journos believe.

The basic principal here is sound. Gather up like minded people and pound on the door until someone either opens it, or acknowledges that you’re there. This is nothing new and it’s time that the “Big gaming media” acknowledge these petitions part. The better question is: why are such petition’s derided? Is it because big gaming media didn’t think of it first, or is it more likely that they’re just out of touch with the average gamer?

Here’s the best part, every time you hear some media elite douche bag make some sarcastic remark about “another online petition,” just sit back and smile, because while their busy taking pot shots, they’re too dumb to realize that they’ve moved the petition into the spotlight for all to see, which will only increase the support for the petition.

Thank you media elite douche bags. Now it’s time for me to go back into my basement, because I just got my UPS delivery from Japan…