Yeah, but nah. I've seen enough of this saga to be able to suspect that Avellone is a true believer.

Yup, correct.

I'm not saying I agree with everything Nick says here - and he's not super familiar with Avellone's recent behavior - but I thought it was interesting nonetheless. And Nick's mostly right on the other points, and the story and response is still insane, and worth a listen/watch.

But, yeah, Avellone seems pretty progressive. He did a ton of good work, and how he got absolutely fucked was still wrong...but he was certainly right there with the cult for a lot of it.

When Rekieta says 'the videogame industry is broken and it hates you', there's no guarantee at all that Avellone himself isn't part of that hate.

Yup, he probably is a part of it. Not as obnoxiously opinionated or outspoken, but he certainly won't stand up against the people who are obnoxiously outspoken...and in fact platforms them, as I recall. He was involved (but then yeeted from) VtM Bloodlines 2, and that had some absolutely terrible people involved that he readily agreed with.

I'm not super familiar with him, but I don't think he's especially malicious. Like you described him, "feminist simp" seems to fit pretty well. He's a straight white male who bought into the narrative, and will just kowtow to the Diverse Coalition. I'm sure he feels just terrible for being a white man and, if he hasn't already apologized for his status, would likely do so if asked.