Maya Felix Kramer (aka @legobutts) Call Out

The following is a conversation I had with chupacabrazier, a former co-worker of Maya Felix Kramer’s (aka legobutts) who is Zoe Quinn’s PR rep and a major PR person in the indie scene. The original IMGUR can be found here: http://i.imgur.com/gLmUiW1.png

If you don’t want to read the full thing, read this TL;DR by chupacabrazier:

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Zoe Quinn's PR rep exhibits the exact same behaviour and unethical practices as Zoe. Maya is a pro at manipulating, obfuscating and lying through their teeth to get their way. They come off as loving and warm, but behind it all is a very dark person. While I truly do wish them well, I cannot help but make this observation. They have a history of misogyny, hypocrisy and unethical behaviour related to their line of work. The details are in the link.
Maya walking out unscathed is worse in my mind than Zoe walking away. Maya represents many devs and can do some mighty fine manipulative damage control for anyone they see fit. Even the most honest of people do not deserve that sort of power.

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[–]to chupacabrazier sent 2 days ago
Hi there!
I recently saw your post in Qrios's thread regarding your experience with some of the PR reps close to Zoe. I was wondering if you would feel comfortable talking about some of your experiences with Maya? They recently reached out to me and exchanged e-mail with me regarding [redacted], and I have major concerns with talking to Maya after doing some research and [redacted].
If you feel comfortable talking about MFK, I'd appreciate it. If not, no worries!
Best wishes,
[redacted]

[–]from chupacabrazier sent 2 days ago
Sure , I wouldn't mind. Though I hesitate to reveal my identity obviously based on the backlash. I'm not worried about some sort of reputation to uphold, just cautious. I guess I will if it made some important progress, but ideally not at my expense.
I have nothing to lose or gain from this, so I guess you could say I'm relatively objective. I'm just a chick who loves gaming and despises this whole mess- from both sides. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.
Ill preface by saying the last I worked with her was in [redacted] before she was heavily involved as an SJW, didn't identify as queer, or was some form of a dev PR rep. The only reason I'm aware of these things at this point is because of reading gaming sites and then researching this whole corruption 'crisis'.
She may have changed to some degree, but I know that she's highly manipulative and a fantastic personality/ social chameleon which is deeply rooted in who she is ( I think. Again, trying to be objective). And I would hate for her to perpetuate any unethical behaviour based on her particular set of skills. No 'Taken' quote intended Haha

[–]to chupacabrazier sent 2 days ago
Thanks so much! I've already [redacted]
In my case, Maya basically wants to talk to me about the [redacted], and how they can be [redacted]. They expressed an interest in [redacted]. But, because it's [redacted], I don't necessarily want to be used by Maya for ideas and then thrown out, etc. And because of a lot of the manipulation going on in the scene, I'm highly afraid of something like that happening - getting my ideas stolen to the point where anything I work for and want to slowly implement is taken out of my hands and manipulated for some kind of career gain.
Anyway, would you be able to tell me a little bit about the ways Maya is manipulative and a social chameleon? Were there any things in particular that stuck out to you, like something unethical they did? Are they the kind of person who would steal an idea from someone and claim it for their own?
Also, would you consider Maya someone unsafe to get on their bad side? i.e. do they take things personal, become vindictive, etc? I [redacted]. So I'm definitely concerned about giving Maya too much personal info.
But yeah, thank you so much if you could answer any of these. This saves me a lot of hardship and worry.

[–]from chupacabrazier sent 2 days ago
Warning: this is long haha. I drank a lot if coffee and have an insane amount of free time at work. Also I don't know how to space properly on reddit.
Okay I will try to be as fair as possible without leaving anything out. I'll basically just start with the beginning and end of my experience with them and let you discern what you feel about it. Firstly I'll ask what [redacted] are. Or at least, [redacted]. I ask both out of curiosity and to help me better understand what you'd be wanting from them.
Anyhow, I worked with maya from [redacted]. When I first met her she was friendly and warm. Actually beyond that- almost hyper happy and very fun. They had a magnetic personality, and although I'm particular about whom I befriend, I could see us becoming pals because of one shared interest: video games. At first they thought I was so great and told me and others so. We worked in a [redacted] and it was a very intimate environment. We'd talk about our families, our love life, hard times, good times, games, religion, and everything in between.
They mentioned [redacted] was a narcissist and lied chronically and that they were glad they were not (I feel terrible mentioning this but I'm doing so only because I think they have a lot of those traits... Actually including borderline personality disorder). So I got to know them very well, or so I thought.
They started to invite me to things like PAX, to come over and game, and go to parties. In doing so, their friends wanted to hang out with me too, with one of them being interested in me romantically. This didn't sit well with maya, and though I assured them that as their friend and coworker I wouldn't cross any line that made them uncomfortable. Bros before hos and what not. I consider myself fiercely loyal and a chicks' chick. I told them this. Still, I noticed their behaviour was changing towards me, but I thought maybe they just have a mean sense of humour. Our boss was very also starting to get close with me. We'd go for lunch and things here and there. It was becoming obvious that I was very well-liked with our boss, and this didn't sit well with maya. Maya was not just the favourite with our boss at our shop, they were also paid quite a bit more, took trips with our boss, and had more privileges than our manager even did. This didn't bug me at all- I was just enjoying the cheerful work environment. Anyhow, as it was becoming more and lore obvious our boss liked me a lot, our boss gave me a work project for the store that was all mine, and that other employees were going to help me with. It's success was going to be a direct reflection on me. Anyway, maya brutally sabotaged it. Made me look completely incapable, and very very stupid. Maya set it up so that I would fail, so they could swoop in and rescue the whole thing and 'save the day'. After all this building my trust and getting to know me well, I realized this was just to spot my weaknesses and areas they could hurt me and then use them against me.
So they did. Constantly. It didn't stop with work sabotage, but theyd lie about things I did wrong behind my back so they could make fun of me to my boss ( at this point my boss thought I was an idiot thanks to the handy work of maya). Theyd also lie about things I said, or how I felt about people. At one point they told me that one of their guy friends wanted me to stay away from him because he's not interested ( this is one of the guys who was interested romantically at me briefly, before maya convinced him I was a bunch of terrible things. Later I found out this guy had turned them down romantically and it didn't sit well with maya. I can sympathize the bitter sentiments towards the situation, but I did nothing wrong . I had already told maya I wasn't going to do anything that didn't sit well with them... Plus I wasn't even interested in this guy).
Maya did a fantastic job of turning other coworkers on me, including my own boss. Soon work became unpleasant. But by this point I was dating someone, had a set of cool friends, and life was great. Well, maya sure worked hard to make my life miserable. In fact, they bullied me pretty hard at work, even to the point where I cried a couple times. Then they would try to comfort me, and as soon as I stopped, they'd act like i was crazy and too sensitive and that nothing's wrong. Naturally they would tell everyone at the shop.
Maya also would make comments about how guys would have a crush on them because they were a ' cool gamer girl' (this was pre gender neutral days) and that it was so easy for them to get them to do what they want.
There were a few acquaintances that were brutally hurt by them because of this. Out of all of this mess this was the one thing that made me very angry. Maya could bully me til the cows come home but I have confidence and no mean manipulative girl was going to bring me down, especially because they didn't like that I was also a gamer girl and that I was a 'threat' ( I CRINGE typing that because it sounds so self-gratifying. This unfortunately was the actual situation. This isn't some petty attitude I adhere to) Maya also made comments about how they only liked having male friends and that they can't stand woman. At one point they commented that they didn't want to go to a stagette and wanted to go to the bachelor party because they despised woman. And I can actually quote because this disturbed me : they said " I hate woman. chuckles ... I'm such a misogynist". They said this to me... A girl. There were a lot of other comments made along these lines. I have old coworkers that can confirm (in fact can confirm this whole experience )

[–]from chupacabrazier sent 2 days ago
I later found out from a coworker [redacted]. I think this is bloody awful and felt terrible for maya. It made me angry they were treated this way. But no matter how much I wanted to support Maya, I knew I had to stay away because they'd only use it against me. There's no way I can say this without sounding like a jerk, but I can't help the way I look. And I was very good to them. Hell, I gave them my highschool grad dress because I thought they'd look great in it! And I wanted them to feel good about themself.
I could go on and on about petty little things like that, but at the end of the day this about you and your [redacted]. I've also written you an epic novel... My job offers me a lot of sitting and internet time haha. Anyways.
As far as whether maya would steal your ideas, truth is I do not know. It depends on the context. They may invite you into their life and introduce you to many many cool people which I would so HOPE they would do. But be prepared for them to not give you full credit and present it as a co-idea between the two of you. I'd like to believe that they would be better than that. My experience is my own, so there is a chance they'd be bloody fantastic to you.
But DEAR GOD DO NOT LET HER FIND OUT THERE WAS [redacted]. While this is speculative, I'm pretty sure they'd quietly malign others against you. They're very good at convincing people they've been wronged, and that their view is correct. Maya is very vindictive and is very good at secretly turning others on you. I think their morality is lost in this area. Very lost. I recommend extreme caution.
While I'm trying to be objective, obviously I am not because of my unsavoury experience. I'd honestly like to believe aligning with Maya would benefit you greatly. The problem is I can't. I also think they may be losing some credibility so that's something to consider. However, maya is team ZQ, so there's still that whole army to support you if others don't.
I think maya will be helpful if it helps her bottom line. No clue what that is. But I know they will say or do whatever it takes and work with whomever if it benefits them.
Wow. I can't believe I wrote all of that about Maya. I honestly hold no grudge against them, because I truly believe they have unresolved issues that may never be recognized. I wanted to help them when we were 'friends', but I soon realized some people don't want to face their issues. That's fine. I hope they did get help and that this whole thing makes me look like a pathetic jerk. But again, I'm not convinced of this.
What is not fine is hurting other people who don't have the tools to cope, or other people's CAREERS. Like holy crap have some heart person!
Regardless of how you feel about other women or a group like TFYC, slandering a group then acting like its because you are 'concerned for equal rights' and turning a mass of people against them is not okay. Unless women are being chained to their desks being forced to provide free ideas, then they would be free to leave at any time, and don't have to participate if they don't like it. I think it's such an exciting opportunity for people who are into the idea. I digress. This is why I brought up so much of my personal experience... If maya is willing to sabotage or hurt an individual (me and others I know) because we are "competition" or a "threat", I imagine that experience could translate to ideas and careers. I can't stand the thought of anyone hurting others for gain. And I'm just trying to call out the unethical patterns of anyone trying to do so.
Hope this helps, and I'm sorry if this is discouraging. I wish I could help. There is always a chance she had a life altering experience that forced her to make some big life changes. When I knew her she was straight and identified as female... Although she did refer to herself as a boy too so who knows. I would feel bad if they had become am entirely different person and that I'm now as bad as them by hurting them by offering my experience. That said, I wouldn't have said anything if I thought there was a strong chance of that.
If you do end up working with maya, I would prefer if you didn't share this with them... Although they'd just act like this was all a big lie (I can think of at least 6 people who can confirm this experience, I endeavour to assure you I'm telling the truth).
At the end of the day I just don't want to see other gamers/devs hurt, because I have nothing to Gain or lose.
Ugh enough of this epic. Haha. Now to go back to work. Which is... Browsing reddit and watching Starcraft strategy videos. Maybe a couple of kittens somewhere in there!

[–]from chupacabrazier sent 2 days ago
I'm embarrassed how long this ended up. Oh well I like DETAILS. I guess start from the bottom up!

[redacted questions, nothing important here!]

[–]from chupacabrazier sent 2 days ago
Glad I could help. I would definitely say proceed with extreme caution when engaging with maya. They even ended up screwing over our old boss in the long run haha. No one escapes unscathed. And you have such a fantastic idea. It IS valuable. I'd almost want to say find someone else in the SJW community or otherwise and implement ideas with them. You can definitely see the opportunist ways with the "cuties killing video games" campaign.
I'd almost say treat it like comic book plot: it's a top secret serum, and share it with those that you know and trust, because who knows what might happen if it gets in the wrong hands! If it is just chatting with maya about connections that could be beneficial. But another thing to consider- [redacted]. I am a huge fan of being above reproach. It's just something to consider as that may give them ammo.
I would be happy if [redacted], though I'm not too sure how much it would give meaning, or seem credible. Although [redacted]. Maya also does an INCREDIBLE job with selling the importance of being open in the community and being 'all about the love'. Like kudos to them. I genuinely mean that. I'm really impressed how amazingly they comes off as warm and loving. My whole story may be me dismissed as white cis thin privilege. But i am a woman... That's gotta be something. I'd prefer my name not involved, but I guess I'd cross that bridge if it comes to it, if someone [redacted] would be meaningful.