I would normally buy pre releases the moment they appeared in the shop. This time I had second thoughts as I was losing interest in the game so I hadn’t bought it yet - now I know that I am not going to give them a single cent again, ever.
yes there are hard working developers and designers working for blizzard and they have produced some amazing games - hearthstone included - but this is serious. It proves once again that they only care about the money, not their people and of course not their players.
This community is an embarrassment. I've read some of the most ignorant comments on this subject imaginable, it's what I've come to expect from y'all but this took it to another level. Card reveals > people's lives -Hearthpwn community.
Accusations are not proof, just because things are alleged to have happened does not mean they did. The fact that the state is taking the case and not some lawyer looking for a fat payout is weird, could very well mean the case is weak. But until the court has ruled on the matter, these actions are nonsensical. Not to mention they don't even accomplish their apparent goal.
If you want to deny the accusations in their totality, go for it. That's the kind of "logic" I expect from this morally bankrupt community. You're not paying attention to reality buds, just your own biases.
Innocent until proven guilty is the law. If you think trial by emotional knee jerk reactions is good I urge you to study puritan trials and let me know how fair you think those were. Spare me your moral high ground nonsense, this is the real world, and in the real world the presumption of innocence is what separates us from the people who burned "witches" at the stake.
Curious what folks that have left the company have to say about this? Chris Metzen, Ben Brode, Mike Morhaime....
This investigation started 2-3 years ago, before many of them left, and specifically singles out Alex Afrasiabi (a former lead on WoW going back to Classic) as a sex pest. Alex quietly left Blizzard last year, and frankly Jeff Kaplan left in a similar manner. It says that Brack issues verbal warnings, but nothing ever came of them, and that other leads/executives were aware of it. Apparently the stories about his "Cosby Suite" date back more than a decade, to the Blizzcon afterparties.
It would be basically impossible that those guys didn't know about and at least turn a blind eye to this behavior, if not encouraged/participated. Alex was part of that inner circle of leads and executives, along with Metzen, Samwise, Kaplan, Morhaime, Brack, and others. They were all the front and center faces of the company for years. This can't have been a recent development.
FWIW, all of the allegations concerning Blizzard specifically (as opposed to Activision or its other subsidiaries) are about the WoW and Battle.net teams. There's no mention of the OW, Diablo, or HS teams. But many on those teams were on the WoW team in the '00s and '10s.
Agreed. I'd respect these people more if they just straight quit Hearthstone just like they are so quick to destroy the careers of others for unsubstantiated allegations.
But they won't because Blizzard is a money source for them, and that shows how much moral clarity these imposters have.
"We value diversity and strive to foster a workplace that offers inclusivity for everyone. There is no place in our company or industry, or any industry, for sexual misconduct or harassment of any kind. We take every allegation seriously and investigate all claims. In cases related to misconduct, action was taken to address the issue.
The DFEH includes distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past. We have been extremely cooperative with the DFEH throughout their investigation, including providing them with extensive data and ample documentation, but they refused to inform us what issues they perceived. They were required by law to adequately investigate and to have good faith discussions with us to better understand and to resolve any claims or concerns before going to litigation, but they failed to do so. Instead, they rushed to file an inaccurate complaint, as we will demonstrate in court. We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the DFEH to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family. While we find this behavior to be disgraceful and unprofessional, it is unfortunately an example of how they have conducted themselves throughout the course of their investigation. It is this type of irresponsible behavior from unaccountable State bureaucrats that are driving many of the State’s best businesses out of California.
The picture the DFEH paints is not the Blizzard workplace of today. Over the past several years and continuing since the initial investigation started, we’ve made significant changes to address company culture and reflect more diversity within our leadership teams. We’ve updated our Code of Conduct to emphasize a strict non-retaliation focus, amplified internal programs and channels for employees to report violations, including the “ASK List” with a confidential integrity hotline, and introduced an Employee Relations team dedicated to investigating employee concerns. We have strengthened our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and combined our Employee Networks at a global level, to provide additional support. Employees must also undergo regular anti-harassment training and have done so for many years.
We put tremendous effort in creating fair and rewarding compensation packages and policies that reflect our culture and business, and we strive to pay all employees fairly for equal or substantially similar work. We take a variety of proactive steps to ensure that pay is driven by non-discriminatory factors. For example, we reward and compensate employees based on their performance, and we conduct extensive anti-discrimination trainings including for those who are part of the compensation process.
We are confident in our ability to demonstrate our practices as an equal opportunity employer that fosters a supportive, diverse, and inclusive workplace for our people, and we are committed to continuing this effort in the years to come. It is a shame that the DFEH did not want to engage with us on what they thought they were seeing in their investigation."
This community is an embarrassment. I've read some of the most ignorant comments on this subject imaginable, it's what I've come to expect from y'all but this took it to another level. Card reveals > people's lives -Hearthpwn community.
Accusations are not proof, just because things are alleged to have happened does not mean they did. The fact that the state is taking the case and not some lawyer looking for a fat payout is weird, could very well mean the case is weak. But until the court has ruled on the matter, these actions are nonsensical. Not to mention they don't even accomplish their apparent goal.
If you want to deny the accusations in their totality, go for it. That's the kind of "logic" I expect from this morally bankrupt community. You're not paying attention to reality buds, just your own biases.
Innocent until proven guilty is the law. If you think trial by emotional knee jerk reactions is good I urge you to study puritan trials and let me know how fair you think those were. Spare me your moral high ground nonsense, this is the real world, and in the real world the presumption of innocence is what separates us from the people who burned "witches" at the stake.
Hey Genius, the salem witch trials, and all trials of that nature, were UNFOUNDED IN ANY EVIDENCE! That's what defined him. Is that true for this. Did the State of California not undergo a 2 year investigation? So your comparison is completely wrong, I wasted my time reading it. If you think these are just allegations you're hopeless, much like what seems to be the majority of y'all commenting on this at Hearthpwn. I've been using this place since 2017, but the last year I just stopped cause of y'all, and now I feel so vindicated that was right, seeing all these incredibly moronic takes and lack of understand of reality. The look is reflective of the community y'all have cultivated.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you thought you knew what you think I know, then you'd know I knew you knew I know.
Video game giant Activision Blizzard Inc., maker of games including World of Warcraft and Diablo, fosters a “frat boy” culture in which female employees are subjected to constant sexual harassment, unequal pay, and retaliation, according to a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
A two-year investigation by the state agency found that the company discriminated against female employees in terms and conditions of employment, including compensation, assignment, promotion, and termination. Company leadership consistently failed to take steps to prevent discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, the agency said.
I agree and support Alliestrasza and Lt. Eddy. Your comments?
Good on them supporting this. However if they really mean it they will stop playing/streaming and making money off a blizzard game.
You should try more the data reaper community, more progressive and respectful of these stuff. Sadly many, many people who plays blizzard games are very sexist and painfully liberal in their behavior and belief. Given the fact that this situation probably nails blizzard even further it might be a bit late to join data reaper community, but still.
pretty amazing that these same people called for the end of zalae's career for unsubstantiated twitter allegations, but are quitting hearthstone for all of 24 hours for these. so when these people claim moral clarity let's all remember that.
Hey Genius, the Salem Witch trials had many years of evidence that the people burned were witches. If you're going to try to pretend your smarter than others, at least do so with a quick proof read and sanity check -- after all they were "trials". But much like Twitter mob allegations they were made by people with agendas against others. History isn't scared to repeat itself, which is why we created a justice system, but that doesn't matter to you apparently.
Hey Genius, the Salem Witch trials had many years of evidence that the people burned were witches. If you're going to try to pretend your smarter than others, at least do so with a quick proof read and sanity check -- after all they were "trials". But much like Twitter mob allegations they were made by people with agendas against others. History isn't scared to repeat itself, which is why we created a justice system, but that doesn't matter to you apparently.
Literally all evidence to prove witches were witches is false. This is objective. That was the point. You missed the point.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you thought you knew what you think I know, then you'd know I knew you knew I know.
I don't know enough about this to come to a final conclusion yet but I have to say, California claiming there was discrimination isn't credible. It actually is almost evidence against the claim these days. Maybe if some other state did, or if there was hard evidence that was ACTUALLY evidence (not piddly "so-and-so got more" stuff with no context).
Remember, California is the state that MANDATES sex discrimination in corporations -- while also outlawing it (their law is unconstitutional, per their state constitution, and will hopefully be struck down soon). Discriminating in favor of groups you (rightly or wrongly) think were or are still discriminated against is neither moral nor legal and doesn't help those you think it does in the long run. (There are many studies on the failure of college quotas proving that.)
Although it's hard to feel bad for Blizzard. Maybe there's an individual at Blizzard I'd feel bad for but the company as a whole has been asking for a bit of "getting eaten by their own."
Of course anything the government or any other aggrieved party says in a lawsuit is objective. Now I see the difference between this and the Salem witch trials which also had "objective" witnesses to the bad witch deeds.
I would normally buy pre releases the moment they appeared in the shop. This time I had second thoughts as I was losing interest in the game so I hadn’t bought it yet - now I know that I am not going to give them a single cent again, ever.
yes there are hard working developers and designers working for blizzard and they have produced some amazing games - hearthstone included - but this is serious. It proves once again that they only care about the money, not their people and of course not their players.
Referring to the title of this post, has the entire schedule been canceled? Or just the three we've seen (or not seen) so far?
Innocent until proven guilty is the law. If you think trial by emotional knee jerk reactions is good I urge you to study puritan trials and let me know how fair you think those were. Spare me your moral high ground nonsense, this is the real world, and in the real world the presumption of innocence is what separates us from the people who burned "witches" at the stake.
This investigation started 2-3 years ago, before many of them left, and specifically singles out Alex Afrasiabi (a former lead on WoW going back to Classic) as a sex pest. Alex quietly left Blizzard last year, and frankly Jeff Kaplan left in a similar manner. It says that Brack issues verbal warnings, but nothing ever came of them, and that other leads/executives were aware of it. Apparently the stories about his "Cosby Suite" date back more than a decade, to the Blizzcon afterparties.
It would be basically impossible that those guys didn't know about and at least turn a blind eye to this behavior, if not encouraged/participated. Alex was part of that inner circle of leads and executives, along with Metzen, Samwise, Kaplan, Morhaime, Brack, and others. They were all the front and center faces of the company for years. This can't have been a recent development.
FWIW, all of the allegations concerning Blizzard specifically (as opposed to Activision or its other subsidiaries) are about the WoW and Battle.net teams. There's no mention of the OW, Diablo, or HS teams. But many on those teams were on the WoW team in the '00s and '10s.
Agreed. I'd respect these people more if they just straight quit Hearthstone just like they are so quick to destroy the careers of others for unsubstantiated allegations.
But they won't because Blizzard is a money source for them, and that shows how much moral clarity these imposters have.
Did Blizzard make any announcement about the accusations? If are they collaborating to find the guilty or denying everything?
Yes, they did.
https://kotaku.com/activision-blizzard-sued-by-california-over-widespread-1847339746
"We value diversity and strive to foster a workplace that offers inclusivity for everyone. There is no place in our company or industry, or any industry, for sexual misconduct or harassment of any kind. We take every allegation seriously and investigate all claims. In cases related to misconduct, action was taken to address the issue.
The DFEH includes distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past. We have been extremely cooperative with the DFEH throughout their investigation, including providing them with extensive data and ample documentation, but they refused to inform us what issues they perceived. They were required by law to adequately investigate and to have good faith discussions with us to better understand and to resolve any claims or concerns before going to litigation, but they failed to do so. Instead, they rushed to file an inaccurate complaint, as we will demonstrate in court. We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the DFEH to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family. While we find this behavior to be disgraceful and unprofessional, it is unfortunately an example of how they have conducted themselves throughout the course of their investigation. It is this type of irresponsible behavior from unaccountable State bureaucrats that are driving many of the State’s best businesses out of California.
The picture the DFEH paints is not the Blizzard workplace of today. Over the past several years and continuing since the initial investigation started, we’ve made significant changes to address company culture and reflect more diversity within our leadership teams. We’ve updated our Code of Conduct to emphasize a strict non-retaliation focus, amplified internal programs and channels for employees to report violations, including the “ASK List” with a confidential integrity hotline, and introduced an Employee Relations team dedicated to investigating employee concerns. We have strengthened our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and combined our Employee Networks at a global level, to provide additional support. Employees must also undergo regular anti-harassment training and have done so for many years.
We put tremendous effort in creating fair and rewarding compensation packages and policies that reflect our culture and business, and we strive to pay all employees fairly for equal or substantially similar work. We take a variety of proactive steps to ensure that pay is driven by non-discriminatory factors. For example, we reward and compensate employees based on their performance, and we conduct extensive anti-discrimination trainings including for those who are part of the compensation process.
We are confident in our ability to demonstrate our practices as an equal opportunity employer that fosters a supportive, diverse, and inclusive workplace for our people, and we are committed to continuing this effort in the years to come. It is a shame that the DFEH did not want to engage with us on what they thought they were seeing in their investigation."
Hey Genius, the salem witch trials, and all trials of that nature, were UNFOUNDED IN ANY EVIDENCE! That's what defined him. Is that true for this. Did the State of California not undergo a 2 year investigation? So your comparison is completely wrong, I wasted my time reading it. If you think these are just allegations you're hopeless, much like what seems to be the majority of y'all commenting on this at Hearthpwn. I've been using this place since 2017, but the last year I just stopped cause of y'all, and now I feel so vindicated that was right, seeing all these incredibly moronic takes and lack of understand of reality. The look is reflective of the community y'all have cultivated.
If you thought you knew what you think I know, then you'd know I knew you knew I know.
Good on them supporting this. However if they really mean it they will stop playing/streaming and making money off a blizzard game.
You should try more the data reaper community, more progressive and respectful of these stuff. Sadly many, many people who plays blizzard games are very sexist and painfully liberal in their behavior and belief. Given the fact that this situation probably nails blizzard even further it might be a bit late to join data reaper community, but still.
pretty amazing that these same people called for the end of zalae's career for unsubstantiated twitter allegations, but are quitting hearthstone for all of 24 hours for these. so when these people claim moral clarity let's all remember that.
Hey Genius, the Salem Witch trials had many years of evidence that the people burned were witches. If you're going to try to pretend your smarter than others, at least do so with a quick proof read and sanity check -- after all they were "trials". But much like Twitter mob allegations they were made by people with agendas against others. History isn't scared to repeat itself, which is why we created a justice system, but that doesn't matter to you apparently.
Agreed. Don't give a rat's ass about any drama.
I'm with you. Don't give a crap about any drama.
Literally all evidence to prove witches were witches is false. This is objective. That was the point. You missed the point.
If you thought you knew what you think I know, then you'd know I knew you knew I know.
You don't seem to get it. The question is were they part of the problem.
I don't know enough about this to come to a final conclusion yet but I have to say, California claiming there was discrimination isn't credible. It actually is almost evidence against the claim these days. Maybe if some other state did, or if there was hard evidence that was ACTUALLY evidence (not piddly "so-and-so got more" stuff with no context).
Remember, California is the state that MANDATES sex discrimination in corporations -- while also outlawing it (their law is unconstitutional, per their state constitution, and will hopefully be struck down soon). Discriminating in favor of groups you (rightly or wrongly) think were or are still discriminated against is neither moral nor legal and doesn't help those you think it does in the long run. (There are many studies on the failure of college quotas proving that.)
Although it's hard to feel bad for Blizzard. Maybe there's an individual at Blizzard I'd feel bad for but the company as a whole has been asking for a bit of "getting eaten by their own."
Of course anything the government or any other aggrieved party says in a lawsuit is objective. Now I see the difference between this and the Salem witch trials which also had "objective" witnesses to the bad witch deeds.
Why are you still here if this community is so bad buddy...don't let the door hit you on your way out