Agree with you. Blizzard did the right thing. In the so-called e-sports scene, there should be no place for such political phrases. If bliztchung protests on the HK street and says those slogans, it is totally fine. But here, the interview is about gaming, not politics.
Fair enough. Put your money where your mouth is. My DMs are opened, I'll create a battlenet account and post it here. Send me your battlenet tag and we'll see how long will this ''I'll uninstall and never play Blizz games or support them ever again'' last. Fuck me sideways if this lasts any longer than the last outrage, the firings outrage, lasted.
Fuck, at least that one guy on reddit had actual balls and DEd his entire collection on livestream.
Why do you believe it would be hard for most of us to get rid of Blizzard games forever??? Blizzard is not the only video game company out there, you know...
Personally, I'm here because I love the community, not because of Hearthstone. And when someone I love is really threatened, I'm always there to defend her/him with everything in my reach and even more.
What would be life be like without the people we love? The answer is simple: it wouldn't manke any f...king sense!!!
Fair enough. Put your money where your mouth is. My DMs are opened, I'll create a battlenet account and post it here. Send me your battlenet tag and we'll see how long will this ''I'll uninstall and never play Blizz games or support them ever again'' last. Fuck me sideways if this lasts any longer than the last outrage, the firings outrage, lasted.
Fuck, at least that one guy on reddit had actual balls and DEd his entire collection on livestream.
Why do you believe it would be hard for most of us to get rid of Blizzard games forever??? Blizzard is not the only video game company out there, you know...
Personally, I'm here because I love the community, not because of Hearthstone. And when someone I love is really threatened, I'm always there to defend her/him with everything in my reach and even more.
What would be life be like without the people we love? The answer is simple: it wouldn't manke any f...king sense!!!
Fair enough. Put your money where your mouth is. My DMs are opened, I'll create a battlenet account and post it here. Send me your battlenet tag and we'll see how long will this ''I'll uninstall and never play Blizz games or support them ever again'' last. Fuck me sideways if this lasts any longer than the last outrage, the firings outrage, lasted.
Fuck, at least that one guy on reddit had actual balls and DEd his entire collection on livestream.
Why do you believe it would be hard for most of us to get rid of Blizzard games forever??? Blizzard is not the only video game company out there, you know...
Personally, I'm here because I love the community, not because of Hearthstone. And when someone I love is really threatened, I'm always there to defend her/him with everything in my reach and even more.
What would be life be like without the people we love? The answer is simple: it wouldn't manke any f...king sense!!!
Then what I've asked for shouldn't be a problem.
Here is my battletag: Sherman#1797, but I already uninstalled Hearthstone and the Battle.net launcher. :P
Also, as someone who is studying at University and preparing himself to be in the business of video games, I don't wanna know anything with a company who doesn't care about the most basic human rights. Money is not everything in life, but I guess Blizzard thinks differently...
All this people saying they will boycott Blizzard, but they will continue to use their phones, laptops, desktops and every other electronic device, shoes, etc. ALL of which were built in China or use Chinese parts and puts money directly in the pockets of the Chinese government shows people don't really care what China does as long as they get their stuff for cheap and everything else is just flavor of the month fake outrage.
Lulchina stayed out of it long enough for me to become the antiChrist of the thread for daring to point out a hole or two in the story, and now what are you supposed to call him? No truer evil has been seen in this world, I'm sure.
I agree with whoever called out the "fake outrage" comment. There's no particular reason to believe most of these guys are being disingenuous, nor is that required for the argument I'm trying to make.
I will say one thing by way of slight apology: I would never have believed that the amount of publicity towards this story would ever have been generated thru a Hearthstone tournament. Nevertheless, it is clear those of you who set out to make some noise have clearly succeeded. I don't know yet if there's anything material to come out of it, but you got farther (further?) than I expected you could.
It's going to be interesting to see if any of the other Asia-Pacific players feel the need to say or do something in protest of Blitzchung's treatment this weekend for the GM series. I hope no one else loses their career over it, but everyone has to decide how best to fight the bullshit of the world.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Helpful Clarification on Forbidden Topics for Hearthstone Forums:
Enjoying Americans winning in the Olympics is forbidden because it is political. A 14 plus page discussion of state-sponsored lawsuits against a multi-national corporation based on harassment, discrimination, and wrongful death allegations is apparently not political enough to raise an issue.
I normally don't post and even after being tired of Hearthstone after playing for years I still like to come here and check news and how the meta is doing. Of course, out of curiosity I wanted to know what the community is saying about this whole issue. I have to say I have mixed feelings about the whole situation and people's responses, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so here are my thoughts:
Blizzard had their own terms of service and the guy broke the rules, sure. But like others pointed out, the way his punishment was executed was just too harsh and it shows a lack of sympathy from Blizzard. For people saying about following rules, it's just like others said: sometimes rules are not ethical or the right thing to do. How many of you actually read the ToS of anything you purchase or sign up to? Or how many employees are forced to do something that goes against their morals? Things are not black or white in reality, and the most important thing when it comes to these things is having critical thinking.
To everyone saying this will be forgotten in a month and people will resume to their games, sadly that's possible. But does that mean we're not supposed to do anything in the first place? This is not about feeling heroic or a sense of justice, it's simply because a certain something has made you disagree with what you originally liked and you're right to think maybe it's not best to give them money anymore.
China is not going to be easily stopped in the market, and to the people saying "oh are you gonna stop buying everything from China then?" that's not the point. The key here is awareness because before this whole thing, less people cared or knew about what was going on in HK and Blitzchung successfully made more people aware, and people looked more into the matter and are doing what they can as minuscule as that effort is. You people don't realize that saying "things are not going to change" is what makes them not change in the first place. If you don't care, fair enough, no one is forcing you to, as there are many more issues around the world and many people die everyday, but you don't have to call other people out for feeling what they feel or thinking what they think. Whoever has deleted their account or stopped playing feel they did the right thing and so do you by keeping on playing, the world keeps on moving.
And at the end of the day is all about money, yes, but you can see that even Blizzard employees are not happy about it. To the people that have known all the bad practices Blizzard has had in the last years, they are the ones that know Blizzard is not what it used to be, and they way they have been handling people's boycott (by censoring reasonable posts in their official forums, making it harder or simply disabling the ability to delete your account, Blizzard's subreddit was private for a while, a complete lack or tact when it came to handling the issue or even being more vocal or transparent to the community) makes us think they really are simply obeying China.
I personally loved Warcraft 3 since 2003 and it's what made me LOVE Blizzard and I played it for about 10 years. After so many years Hearthstone was a nostalgia trip and I loved it too, but as years passed I learned the company is not the Blizzard I loved so much back then. Things change over time, it's sad and a shame but it's not the only videogame company out there.
Bottom line is there are a lot of products and services owned by China, it does not mean we have to be complacent about their practices. Some people will forget, so be it, but others will definitely remember and will stick to their actions. Every little action counts. Blizzard WAS in their right to apply their rules and even Blitzchung expected it, it doesn't make the way they handled it any less scummy.
Lulchina stayed out of it long enough for me to become the antiChrist of the thread for daring to point out a hole or two in the story, and now what are you supposed to call him? No truer evil has been seen in this world, I'm sure.
I agree with whoever called out the "fake outrage" comment. There's no particular reason to believe most of these guys are being disingenuous, nor is that required for the argument I'm trying to make.
I will say one thing by way of slight apology: I would never have believed that the amount of publicity towards this story would ever have been generated thru a Hearthstone tournament. Nevertheless, it is clear those of you who set out to make some noise have clearly succeeded. I don't know yet if there's anything material to come out of it, but you got farther (further?) than I expected you could.
It's going to be interesting to see if any of the other Asia-Pacific players feel the need to say or do something in protest of Blitzchung's treatment this weekend for the GM series. I hope no one else loses their career over it, but everyone has to decide how best to fight the bullshit of the world.
All this years, some have been calling me a troll all the time just because of always expressing my love towards most of the community and defend them in almost every ocassion (ok, ok, also for other reasons, but that is another story... :P), when the truth is that I could see (just like others too) the beauty behind their not so "conventional" and "childish" acts, because in the end, no one is perfect, no matter what we do about it...
Best community in the f...king world!!! Yeahhh!!! :D :D :D
I normally don't post and even after being tired of Hearthstone after playing for years I still like to come here and check news and how the meta is doing. Of course, out of curiosity I wanted to know what the community is saying about this whole issue. I have to say I have mixed feelings about the whole situation and people's responses, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so here are my thoughts:
Blizzard had their own terms of service and the guy broke the rules, sure. But like others pointed out, the way his punishment was executed was just too harsh and it shows a lack of sympathy from Blizzard. For people saying about following rules, it's just like others said: sometimes rules are not ethical or the right thing to do. How many of you actually read the ToS of anything you purchase or sign up to? Or how many employees are forced to do something that goes against their morals? Things are not black or white in reality, and the most important thing when it comes to these things is having critical thinking.
To everyone saying this will be forgotten in a month and people will resume to their games, sadly that's possible. But does that mean we're not supposed to do anything in the first place? This is not about feeling heroic or a sense of justice, it's simply because a certain something has made you disagree with what you originally liked and you're right to think maybe it's not best to give them money anymore.
China is not going to be easily stopped in the market, and to the people saying "oh are you gonna stop buying everything from China then?" that's not the point. The key here is awareness because before this whole thing, less people cared or knew about what was going on in HK and Blitzchung successfully made more people aware, and people looked more into the matter and are doing what they can as minuscule as that effort is. You people don't realize that saying "things are not going to change" is what makes them not change in the first place. If you don't care, fair enough, no one is forcing you to, as there are many more issues around the world and many people die everyday, but you don't have to call other people out for feeling what they feel or thinking what they think. Whoever has deleted their account or stopped playing feel they did the right thing and so do you by keeping on playing, the world keeps on moving.
And at the end of the day is all about money, yes, but you can see that even Blizzard employees are not happy about it. To the people that have known all the bad practices Blizzard has had in the last years, they are the ones that know Blizzard is not what it used to be, and they way they have been handling people's boycott (by censoring reasonable posts in their official forums, making it harder or simply disabling the ability to delete your account, Blizzard's subreddit was private for a while, a complete lack or tact when it came to handling the issue or even being more vocal or transparent to the community) makes us think they really are simply obeying China.
I personally loved Warcraft 3 since 2003 and it's what made me LOVE Blizzard and I played it for about 10 years. After so many years Hearthstone was a nostalgia trip and I loved it too, but as years passed I learned the company is not the Blizzard I loved so much back then. Things change over time, it's sad and a shame but it's not the only videogame company out there.
Bottom line is there are a lot of products and services owned by China, it does not mean we have to be complacent about their practices. Some people will forget, so be it, but others will definitely remember and will stick to their actions. Every little action counts. Blizzard WAS in their right to apply their rules and even Blitzchung expected it, it doesn't make the way they handled it any less scummy.
At least you had the courage to speak your mind so articulately, it's what we need most.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you thought you knew what you think I know, then you'd know I knew you knew I know.
Lulchina stayed out of it long enough for me to become the antiChrist of the thread for daring to point out a hole or two in the story, and now what are you supposed to call him? No truer evil has been seen in this world, I'm sure.
I agree with whoever called out the "fake outrage" comment. There's no particular reason to believe most of these guys are being disingenuous, nor is that required for the argument I'm trying to make.
I will say one thing by way of slight apology: I would never have believed that the amount of publicity towards this story would ever have been generated thru a Hearthstone tournament. Nevertheless, it is clear those of you who set out to make some noise have clearly succeeded. I don't know yet if there's anything material to come out of it, but you got farther (further?) than I expected you could.
It's going to be interesting to see if any of the other Asia-Pacific players feel the need to say or do something in protest of Blitzchung's treatment this weekend for the GM series. I hope no one else loses their career over it, but everyone has to decide how best to fight the bullshit of the world.
C'mon Trump, true evil is a bit harsh :P
My main point still stands: the rules were broken and the punishment was given, all is right. Was the punishment harsh? Personally, I would still ban him but I wouldn't take away his winnings. He earned that money fair and square. Fair is fair. If getting punished for breaking the rules is fair then keeping your earned money is fair too. No need to be a hypocrite.
There is a misunderstanding among children that I support China. Let me be clear on this: I couldn't care less about China. I don't agree with their politics and that is where involvement of any kind with it ends. I care about this situation that we have here and nothing beyond that.
I fully support Blizzard's decision and right to execute a punishment although I agree that it is too severe. This has nothing to do with being ''a blind fanboy'' or something, if it were any other video game company, literally any other, in the exact same situation I'd support them in it. It is easy to look at the situation from an emotional stance but look at it from another point of view: IF Blizzard didn't ban him then what would the consequences for it be? First off, nobody would talk about Blizzard supporting HK because there wouldn't be as much attention to it if they just didn't do anything. Second, butthurt China lashes out and now you need to ask yourself the following question: what about Blizzard's employees in China? Worse, what about Chinese Blizzard's employees in China? Did you stop for a second to ask yourself what happens to them if their country sees them as taking the side of HK? Next, China bans all Blizzard games. Do you think that we're the only ones finding enjoyment in them? What about all other Chinese casters and pro players? What about other normal people who just play these games? Did you stop for a second to ask yourself that? Blizzard not doing anything will look as if they stand with ''the enemy'' and millions of people would get ''caught in the crossfire'' with some, chinese employees, probably facing some really fucked up consequences and all for what, for one kid saying something somewhere where he KNEW that he shouldn't do so and that it will have consequences for other people besides him?
Lulchina stayed out of it long enough for me to become the antiChrist of the thread for daring to point out a hole or two in the story, and now what are you supposed to call him? No truer evil has been seen in this world, I'm sure.
I agree with whoever called out the "fake outrage" comment. There's no particular reason to believe most of these guys are being disingenuous, nor is that required for the argument I'm trying to make.
I will say one thing by way of slight apology: I would never have believed that the amount of publicity towards this story would ever have been generated thru a Hearthstone tournament. Nevertheless, it is clear those of you who set out to make some noise have clearly succeeded. I don't know yet if there's anything material to come out of it, but you got farther (further?) than I expected you could.
It's going to be interesting to see if any of the other Asia-Pacific players feel the need to say or do something in protest of Blitzchung's treatment this weekend for the GM series. I hope no one else loses their career over it, but everyone has to decide how best to fight the bullshit of the world.
C'mon Trump, true evil is a bit harsh :P
My main point still stands: the rules were broken and the punishment was given, all is right. Was the punishment harsh? Personally, I would still ban him but I wouldn't take away his winnings. He earned that money fair and square. Fair is fair. If getting punished for breaking the rules is fair then keeping your earned money is fair too. No need to be a hypocrite.
There is a misunderstanding among children that I support China. Let me be clear on this: I couldn't care less about China. I don't agree with their politics and that is where involvement of any kind with it ends. I care about this situation that we have here and nothing beyond that.
I fully support Blizzard's decision and right to execute a punishment although I agree that it is too severe. This has nothing to do with being ''a blind fanboy'' or something, if it were any other video game company, literally any other, in the exact same situation I'd support them in it. It is easy to look at the situation from an emotional stance but look at it from another point of view: IF Blizzard didn't ban him then what would the consequences for it be? First off, nobody would talk about Blizzard supporting HK because there wouldn't be as much attention to it if they just didn't do anything. Second, butthurt China lashes out and now you need to ask yourself the following question: what about Blizzard's employees in China? Worse, what about Chinese Blizzard's employees in China? Did you stop for a second to ask yourself what happens to them if their country sees them as taking the side of HK? Next, China bans all Blizzard games. Do you think that we're the only ones finding enjoyment in them? What about all other Chinese casters and pro players? What about other normal people who just play these games? Did you stop for a second to ask yourself that? Blizzard not doing anything will look as if they stand with ''the enemy'' and millions of people would get ''caught in the crossfire'' with some, chinese employees, probably facing some really fucked up consequences and all for what, for one kid saying something somewhere where he KNEW that he shouldn't do so and that it will have consequences for other people besides him?
The market in China is 5.2% of Blizzard revenue. Blizzard stock is down roughly 4% this week. They have consequences regardless of how they dealt with the situation. The NBA is actually sticking to their values by supporting free speech. Adam Silver is dedicated to freedom of expression, more so than money. The NBA under Silver is making more money than ever. Blizzard bungled this up badly. They don't want to be in the Wall Street Journal as the opposite of the NBA right now.
Its true that the Chinese Company holds 5% of Activision/Blizzard, but the market is way bigger there.
In Hearthstones case streamers tryed roughly a year ago to go down to the bottom of Legend and collect the most Legend points (queing and insta conceding etc.rougly a week before reset ). In NA a guy went down to 6k, EU was 10.3 k, and China was almost 33k. (dont compare it to asia pacific wich is the smalest server). Obviously numbers might have chaged meanwhile.
Additional someone posted this:
"On Destiny's - not that one - Twitch channel a WoW dev that was a guest on the stream let it slip that WoW would almost always be in Steam's most concurrent game if it was on steam - He also let it slip that roughly 70% of WoW players are from China. China is well known for delisting and baning any game/devs/publishers that even remotely seems to speak out against them.
What Blizzard has done is abhorrent and just downright ethically wrong - but I can see why they felt like they had to do that... Still keeping that shit uninstalled though. F..K Blizzard. The original video is behind a Subscriber paywall - so here's a reaction to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSAlh9l-c7Q "
Feel free to figure out the numbers by yourself , but i guess China has far more influence than just 5%.
Its true that the Chinese Company holds 5% of Activision/Blizzard, but the market is way bigger there.
In Hearthstones case streamers tryed roughly a year ago to go down to the bottom of Legend and collect the most Legend points (queing and insta conceding etc.rougly a week before reset ). In NA a guy went down to 6k, EU was 10.3 k, and China was almost 33k. (dont compare it to asia pacific wich is the smalest server). Obviously numbers might have chaged meanwhile.
Additional someone posted this:
"On Destiny's - not that one - Twitch channel a WoW dev that was a guest on the stream let it slip that WoW would almost always be in Steam's most concurrent game if it was on steam - He also let it slip that roughly 70% of WoW players are from China. China is well known for delisting and baning any game/devs/publishers that even remotely seems to speak out against them.
What Blizzard has done is abhorrent and just downright ethically wrong - but I can see why they felt like they had to do that... Still keeping that shit uninstalled though. F..K Blizzard. The original video is behind a Subscriber paywall - so here's a reaction to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSAlh9l-c7Q "
Feel free to figure out the numbers by yourself , but i guess China has far more influence than just 5%.
You are correct that it's not just about the 5.2%, which is the actual total revenue. It's about growth in revenue from China, which doubled last year. The only place Blizzard revenue grew last year was China. Blizzard stock is down 27% this year. That's catastrophically bad.
Yeah, LulChina, I was making a joke, there's nothing objectionable about what you said at all, but if people are going to jump on me, then they better take you behind the woodshed for days.
Someone asked, "if we are going to forget it in a month, does that mean we shouldn't say anything in the first place?" The answer is simple. No, you can say whatever you like. HOWEVER, stop acting as if those who aren't as rabidly incensed are somehow morally deficient.
As far as the business side goes, the Chinese company owns 5% of Blizzard. That says nothing about what percentage of Blizzard's revenue comes from China. And while I don't know the number, I know the number is growing rapidly.
See, if anyone actually wanted to hash this out with a rational discussion, what you'd really be arguing is an evaluation of short term sacrifices vs long term gains in Chinese culture. That place is brutally repressive. And the only way things change over there is for people within China to realize that things can be different. So, who knows? Maybe by playing by the rules and getting an American endeavor into the Chinese markets and past their censors, in the long run Blizzard will contribute to the downfall of one of the last major league players in the old Communist power structure.
Or maybe that's all complete bullshit, and China will be successful in bending everything American influence has to offer to its own benefit with absolutely no progress being made. But if you find yourself reading this and even a little bit at a loss as to which side you think is going to play out, then maybe take a moment and consider whether you should be the one pontificating on moral clarity over political speech in a gaming tournament.
And yes, Sherman, I agree it's still a fun place to be. That's why I would never claim to be uninstalling all of Blizzard over any one incident. But I seriously doubt most of these folks will, either. "I'm quitting this shit game" is the most played out of played out memes on all gaming forums, and I doubt this time will be any different.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Helpful Clarification on Forbidden Topics for Hearthstone Forums:
Enjoying Americans winning in the Olympics is forbidden because it is political. A 14 plus page discussion of state-sponsored lawsuits against a multi-national corporation based on harassment, discrimination, and wrongful death allegations is apparently not political enough to raise an issue.
And yes, Sherman, I agree it's still a fun place to be. That's why I would never claim to be uninstalling all of Blizzard over any one incident. But I seriously doubt most of these folks will, either. "I'm quitting this shit game" is the most played out of played out memes on all gaming forums, and I doubt this time will be any different.
As much as I love this forum, the people here (hey, I even appreciate you, even when we think very differently...) and playing Blizzard games, just like many others, I can't let this company to get away with it. Yeah, there is a very high possiblity this forum would cease to exist if Hearthstone stops being supported on this side of the world, but sometimes one must make huge personal sacrifices (in this case, saying goodbye to my beloved community forever) in order to do what one believes is right. I prefer stop posting here than supporting a company that wants to benefit at all cost a country who represents a huge threat for all of you and the people close to me, and you should consider the possibility of doing the same just for your own safety... (that's just an advice, I'm not trying to tell you what to do or not)
And yes, Sherman, I agree it's still a fun place to be. That's why I would never claim to be uninstalling all of Blizzard over any one incident. But I seriously doubt most of these folks will, either. "I'm quitting this shit game" is the most played out of played out memes on all gaming forums, and I doubt this time will be any different.
As much as I love this forum, the people here (hey, I even appreciate you, even when we think very differently...) and playing Blizzard games, just like many others, I can't let this company to get away with it. Yeah, there is a very high possiblity this forum would cease to exist if Hearthstone stops being supported on this side of the world, but sometimes one must make huge personal sacrifices (in this case, saying goodbye to my beloved community forever) in order to do what one believes is right. I prefer stop posting here than supporting a company that wants to benefit at all cost a country who represents a huge threat for all of you and the people close to me, and you should consider the possibility of doing the same just for your own safety... (that's just an advice, I'm not trying to tell you what to do or not)
It is people with poor ethical upbringing, lack of moral reasoning, underdeveloped skills regarding what is right and what is wrong that defend Blizzards decision to ban the guy.
And here's the thing. These people who talk about 'fake outrage' are fundamentally the reason why Blizzard can be that harsh. These people are morally responsible for what Blizzard was able to do. Like Donald Trump can do what is doing....because his base supports him. He can be repulsive, because his base is repulsive.
Looking at people's posts and you see why Blizzard can be that repulsive. As I consequently call for fairness on this forum on the topic of card design, you see for instance the relationship between a card like Zephrys, which represents a fundamentally unfair concept and a real live bigger issue as the excommunication of a tournament player. Blizzards T5 shows all the finger who disagree with this card. And so is Blizzard on other issues. A reprehensible company apparently attracts the morally underdeveloped.
Calling out is a moral obligation. Supporting authoritarianism signifies the lesser men.
And here's the thing. These people who talk about 'fake outrage' are fundamentally the reason why Blizzard can be that harsh. These people are morally responsible for what Blizzard was able to do. Like Donald Trump can do what is doing....because his base supports him. He can be repulsive, because his base is repulsive.
I guess I'm a repulsive person then... XD XD XD
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
^ CCP shill account?
All this "Lawful Evil" people suddenly popping up make me sick... XD XD XD
Why do you believe it would be hard for most of us to get rid of Blizzard games forever??? Blizzard is not the only video game company out there, you know...
Personally, I'm here because I love the community, not because of Hearthstone. And when someone I love is really threatened, I'm always there to defend her/him with everything in my reach and even more.
What would be life be like without the people we love? The answer is simple: it wouldn't manke any f...king sense!!!
when you say slander, do you mean tell the truth?
Then what I've asked for shouldn't be a problem.
Here is my battletag: Sherman#1797, but I already uninstalled Hearthstone and the Battle.net launcher. :P
Also, as someone who is studying at University and preparing himself to be in the business of video games, I don't wanna know anything with a company who doesn't care about the most basic human rights. Money is not everything in life, but I guess Blizzard thinks differently...
yes, they will start.
Lulchina stayed out of it long enough for me to become the antiChrist of the thread for daring to point out a hole or two in the story, and now what are you supposed to call him? No truer evil has been seen in this world, I'm sure.
I agree with whoever called out the "fake outrage" comment. There's no particular reason to believe most of these guys are being disingenuous, nor is that required for the argument I'm trying to make.
I will say one thing by way of slight apology: I would never have believed that the amount of publicity towards this story would ever have been generated thru a Hearthstone tournament. Nevertheless, it is clear those of you who set out to make some noise have clearly succeeded. I don't know yet if there's anything material to come out of it, but you got farther (further?) than I expected you could.
It's going to be interesting to see if any of the other Asia-Pacific players feel the need to say or do something in protest of Blitzchung's treatment this weekend for the GM series. I hope no one else loses their career over it, but everyone has to decide how best to fight the bullshit of the world.
Helpful Clarification on Forbidden Topics for Hearthstone Forums:
Enjoying Americans winning in the Olympics is forbidden because it is political. A 14 plus page discussion of state-sponsored lawsuits against a multi-national corporation based on harassment, discrimination, and wrongful death allegations is apparently not political enough to raise an issue.
I normally don't post and even after being tired of Hearthstone after playing for years I still like to come here and check news and how the meta is doing. Of course, out of curiosity I wanted to know what the community is saying about this whole issue. I have to say I have mixed feelings about the whole situation and people's responses, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so here are my thoughts:
Blizzard had their own terms of service and the guy broke the rules, sure. But like others pointed out, the way his punishment was executed was just too harsh and it shows a lack of sympathy from Blizzard. For people saying about following rules, it's just like others said: sometimes rules are not ethical or the right thing to do. How many of you actually read the ToS of anything you purchase or sign up to? Or how many employees are forced to do something that goes against their morals? Things are not black or white in reality, and the most important thing when it comes to these things is having critical thinking.
To everyone saying this will be forgotten in a month and people will resume to their games, sadly that's possible. But does that mean we're not supposed to do anything in the first place? This is not about feeling heroic or a sense of justice, it's simply because a certain something has made you disagree with what you originally liked and you're right to think maybe it's not best to give them money anymore.
China is not going to be easily stopped in the market, and to the people saying "oh are you gonna stop buying everything from China then?" that's not the point. The key here is awareness because before this whole thing, less people cared or knew about what was going on in HK and Blitzchung successfully made more people aware, and people looked more into the matter and are doing what they can as minuscule as that effort is. You people don't realize that saying "things are not going to change" is what makes them not change in the first place. If you don't care, fair enough, no one is forcing you to, as there are many more issues around the world and many people die everyday, but you don't have to call other people out for feeling what they feel or thinking what they think. Whoever has deleted their account or stopped playing feel they did the right thing and so do you by keeping on playing, the world keeps on moving.
And at the end of the day is all about money, yes, but you can see that even Blizzard employees are not happy about it. To the people that have known all the bad practices Blizzard has had in the last years, they are the ones that know Blizzard is not what it used to be, and they way they have been handling people's boycott (by censoring reasonable posts in their official forums, making it harder or simply disabling the ability to delete your account, Blizzard's subreddit was private for a while, a complete lack or tact when it came to handling the issue or even being more vocal or transparent to the community) makes us think they really are simply obeying China.
I personally loved Warcraft 3 since 2003 and it's what made me LOVE Blizzard and I played it for about 10 years. After so many years Hearthstone was a nostalgia trip and I loved it too, but as years passed I learned the company is not the Blizzard I loved so much back then. Things change over time, it's sad and a shame but it's not the only videogame company out there.
Bottom line is there are a lot of products and services owned by China, it does not mean we have to be complacent about their practices. Some people will forget, so be it, but others will definitely remember and will stick to their actions. Every little action counts. Blizzard WAS in their right to apply their rules and even Blitzchung expected it, it doesn't make the way they handled it any less scummy.
I'm proud of most of my beloved community!!! Yeah, they are jerks, but jerks with a heart of gold!!! (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JerkWithAHeartOfGold ) Which makes me love you people even more!!! :D :D :D
All this years, some have been calling me a troll all the time just because of always expressing my love towards most of the community and defend them in almost every ocassion (ok, ok, also for other reasons, but that is another story... :P), when the truth is that I could see (just like others too) the beauty behind their not so "conventional" and "childish" acts, because in the end, no one is perfect, no matter what we do about it...
Best community in the f...king world!!! Yeahhh!!! :D :D :D
At least you had the courage to speak your mind so articulately, it's what we need most.
If you thought you knew what you think I know, then you'd know I knew you knew I know.
C'mon Trump, true evil is a bit harsh :P
My main point still stands: the rules were broken and the punishment was given, all is right. Was the punishment harsh? Personally, I would still ban him but I wouldn't take away his winnings. He earned that money fair and square. Fair is fair. If getting punished for breaking the rules is fair then keeping your earned money is fair too. No need to be a hypocrite.
There is a misunderstanding among children that I support China. Let me be clear on this: I couldn't care less about China. I don't agree with their politics and that is where involvement of any kind with it ends. I care about this situation that we have here and nothing beyond that.
I fully support Blizzard's decision and right to execute a punishment although I agree that it is too severe. This has nothing to do with being ''a blind fanboy'' or something, if it were any other video game company, literally any other, in the exact same situation I'd support them in it. It is easy to look at the situation from an emotional stance but look at it from another point of view: IF Blizzard didn't ban him then what would the consequences for it be? First off, nobody would talk about Blizzard supporting HK because there wouldn't be as much attention to it if they just didn't do anything. Second, butthurt China lashes out and now you need to ask yourself the following question: what about Blizzard's employees in China? Worse, what about Chinese Blizzard's employees in China? Did you stop for a second to ask yourself what happens to them if their country sees them as taking the side of HK? Next, China bans all Blizzard games. Do you think that we're the only ones finding enjoyment in them? What about all other Chinese casters and pro players? What about other normal people who just play these games? Did you stop for a second to ask yourself that? Blizzard not doing anything will look as if they stand with ''the enemy'' and millions of people would get ''caught in the crossfire'' with some, chinese employees, probably facing some really fucked up consequences and all for what, for one kid saying something somewhere where he KNEW that he shouldn't do so and that it will have consequences for other people besides him?
considering strongly a boycott
The market in China is 5.2% of Blizzard revenue. Blizzard stock is down roughly 4% this week. They have consequences regardless of how they dealt with the situation. The NBA is actually sticking to their values by supporting free speech. Adam Silver is dedicated to freedom of expression, more so than money. The NBA under Silver is making more money than ever. Blizzard bungled this up badly. They don't want to be in the Wall Street Journal as the opposite of the NBA right now.
Not sure if this 100% correct .
Its true that the Chinese Company holds 5% of Activision/Blizzard, but the market is way bigger there.
In Hearthstones case streamers tryed roughly a year ago to go down to the bottom of Legend and collect the most Legend points (queing and insta conceding etc.rougly a week before reset ). In NA a guy went down to 6k, EU was 10.3 k, and China was almost 33k. (dont compare it to asia pacific wich is the smalest server). Obviously numbers might have chaged meanwhile.
Additional someone posted this:
"On Destiny's - not that one - Twitch channel a WoW dev that was a guest on the stream let it slip that WoW would almost always be in Steam's most concurrent game if it was on steam - He also let it slip that roughly 70% of WoW players are from China. China is well known for delisting and baning any game/devs/publishers that even remotely seems to speak out against them.
What Blizzard has done is abhorrent and just downright ethically wrong - but I can see why they felt like they had to do that... Still keeping that shit uninstalled though. F..K Blizzard.
The original video is behind a Subscriber paywall - so here's a reaction to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSAlh9l-c7Q "
Feel free to figure out the numbers by yourself , but i guess China has far more influence than just 5%.
You are correct that it's not just about the 5.2%, which is the actual total revenue. It's about growth in revenue from China, which doubled last year. The only place Blizzard revenue grew last year was China. Blizzard stock is down 27% this year. That's catastrophically bad.
Yeah, LulChina, I was making a joke, there's nothing objectionable about what you said at all, but if people are going to jump on me, then they better take you behind the woodshed for days.
Someone asked, "if we are going to forget it in a month, does that mean we shouldn't say anything in the first place?" The answer is simple. No, you can say whatever you like. HOWEVER, stop acting as if those who aren't as rabidly incensed are somehow morally deficient.
As far as the business side goes, the Chinese company owns 5% of Blizzard. That says nothing about what percentage of Blizzard's revenue comes from China. And while I don't know the number, I know the number is growing rapidly.
See, if anyone actually wanted to hash this out with a rational discussion, what you'd really be arguing is an evaluation of short term sacrifices vs long term gains in Chinese culture. That place is brutally repressive. And the only way things change over there is for people within China to realize that things can be different. So, who knows? Maybe by playing by the rules and getting an American endeavor into the Chinese markets and past their censors, in the long run Blizzard will contribute to the downfall of one of the last major league players in the old Communist power structure.
Or maybe that's all complete bullshit, and China will be successful in bending everything American influence has to offer to its own benefit with absolutely no progress being made. But if you find yourself reading this and even a little bit at a loss as to which side you think is going to play out, then maybe take a moment and consider whether you should be the one pontificating on moral clarity over political speech in a gaming tournament.
And yes, Sherman, I agree it's still a fun place to be. That's why I would never claim to be uninstalling all of Blizzard over any one incident. But I seriously doubt most of these folks will, either. "I'm quitting this shit game" is the most played out of played out memes on all gaming forums, and I doubt this time will be any different.
Helpful Clarification on Forbidden Topics for Hearthstone Forums:
Enjoying Americans winning in the Olympics is forbidden because it is political. A 14 plus page discussion of state-sponsored lawsuits against a multi-national corporation based on harassment, discrimination, and wrongful death allegations is apparently not political enough to raise an issue.
As much as I love this forum, the people here (hey, I even appreciate you, even when we think very differently...) and playing Blizzard games, just like many others, I can't let this company to get away with it. Yeah, there is a very high possiblity this forum would cease to exist if Hearthstone stops being supported on this side of the world, but sometimes one must make huge personal sacrifices (in this case, saying goodbye to my beloved community forever) in order to do what one believes is right. I prefer stop posting here than supporting a company that wants to benefit at all cost a country who represents a huge threat for all of you and the people close to me, and you should consider the possibility of doing the same just for your own safety... (that's just an advice, I'm not trying to tell you what to do or not)
It is people with poor ethical upbringing, lack of moral reasoning, underdeveloped skills regarding what is right and what is wrong that defend Blizzards decision to ban the guy.
And here's the thing. These people who talk about 'fake outrage' are fundamentally the reason why Blizzard can be that harsh. These people are morally responsible for what Blizzard was able to do. Like Donald Trump can do what is doing....because his base supports him. He can be repulsive, because his base is repulsive.
Looking at people's posts and you see why Blizzard can be that repulsive. As I consequently call for fairness on this forum on the topic of card design, you see for instance the relationship between a card like Zephrys, which represents a fundamentally unfair concept and a real live bigger issue as the excommunication of a tournament player. Blizzards T5 shows all the finger who disagree with this card. And so is Blizzard on other issues. A reprehensible company apparently attracts the morally underdeveloped.
Calling out is a moral obligation. Supporting authoritarianism signifies the lesser men.
We make our world significant through the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers.
I guess I'm a repulsive person then... XD XD XD