BioWare’s Ray Muzyka Posts Statement Opposing Internet Bullying

BioWare's head honcho Dr. Ray Muzyka has posted an open statement regarding the recent internet attacks on Jennifer Hepler.

Jennifer is a valued, talented employee who has been with BioWare for many years and we hope will be with us for many more. It is awful that a few people have decided to make her a target for hate and threats, going so far as fabricating forum posts and attributing them to her, and singling her out for projects to which she has not contributed (i.e., Jennifer is not even a part of the Mass Effect writing team). All of us at BioWare support and will continue to support Jennifer fully, and are happy to see so many people out there are also supporting her during this difficult time.

– Dr. Ray Muzyka. Co-Founder of BioWare; General Manager, BioWare Label; Senior Vice President, Electronic Arts

Additionally, the company has pledged to donate $1000 in Jennifer Hepler's name to Bullying Canada.

The senior writer at the company faced a barrage of attacks on the internet, stemming from 4chan's /v/idyagames forum and made popular by a short-lived thread on Reddit's r/gaming subreddit.

The thread was promptly removed, but it wasn't before the outcry against Hepler's perceived indifference towards 'gameplay' (popularized by several of her quotes taken out of context) reached a crescendo and escalated onto the rest of the internet. The attacks remain on-going over Twitter, where Hepler shut down her newly created account after incessant complaints about the quality of her writing, and of her person, flooded her reply feed.