Dumb internet mob attacks woman over Mass Effect: Andromeda animations

And drama, duh!

Here is the right way to enjoy Mass Effect Andromeda‘s occasional madcap facial animations: write a fun post about them filled with gifs, videos, and laughs all around. What a blast! Remember when someone compared the funny walk to the Monty Python silly walk? Hah! Classic.

Here is the wrong way to enjoy Andromeda‘s facial animations: send threatening and rude messages online to someone who you think might be the “lead facial animator” on the game. One Allie Rose-Marie Leost was found on Twitter with a bio which read at the time, “Lead Facial Animator on Mass Effect: Andromeda, FX makeup arist, & cosplayer.” This revelation was tweeted out and published in The Puke Post, pointing hundreds of angry online people in her direction to send shit-headed messages, having found a convenient patsy for their unbridled rage towards the 800-person company.

BioWare then had to issue a statement noting that Leost, a former employee of EA Labs, “was misidentified as a lead member of the Mass Effect: Andromeda development team. These reports are false.” The statement continued with a condemnation of some peoples’ reaction, noting, “attacking individuals, regardless of their involvement of the project, is never acceptable.”

I figured Leost’s bio was a joke, given that the funny faces had gone viral, and that she very obviously is not “a lead member of the Mass Effect: Andromeda development team,” but it’s impossible to know what it read prior. Unfortunately this is not the first time insane BioWare fans (or simply the spiteful internet at large) decided to target one particular woman for crimes against gamers.