RegisKillbin & Kripparrian Withdraw From Inn-vitational This Week - Blizzard Announces Plans and Replacements
Blizzard announced 2 new contestants for the Inn-vitational event this week and RegisKillbin announced on Twitter why he is voluntarily withdrawing from the event and gives his long-view thoughts on the situation. Kripparrian too tweeted out that he has withdrawn and "saw a chance to speak through actions."
We have two new participants for the Crossroads Inn-vitational! Welcome @lunaloveee8 and @AvellineHS to the roster, and a huge thanks to Kripp and RegisKillbin for graciously offering their slots.
— Hearthstone (@PlayHearthstone) April 20, 2021
Why we’re doing this: representation and inclusion matter, and we’re committing ourselves to being better. It’s vital that our events represent the reality of the Hearthstone community made up of numerous talented and deserving women who dedicate themselves to the game every day.
— Hearthstone (@PlayHearthstone) April 20, 2021
In order to commit ourselves to doing better in the future, every community event’s invitees will have a greater representation of women moving forward. This is only one piece of our future plans around diversity and inclusion.
— Hearthstone (@PlayHearthstone) April 20, 2021
To the women of the Hearthstone community: thank you, and know that we will live up to this through our actions.
— Hearthstone (@PlayHearthstone) April 20, 2021
.@underflowR and I saw a chance to speak through actions, good luck to everyone https://t.co/4zrkW8g5vK
— Kripparrian (@Kripparrian) April 20, 2021
Regis' Message, in full:
Quote from RegisKillbinTo get right into it: I want more creators to get a spotlight in Hearthstone, so I volunteered to withdraw from the upcoming Inn-vitational event, and will be reducing my involvement in future events that have more competitive elements.
Now for the context: I want gaming to be a joyful experience that brings us all together, yet so many in our community use it as a weapon to tear people down and tear people apart. I’ve been appalled by the comments I see from people playing our game. Some seem to think the tavern is only big enough for them, using bigotry and malice to turn people away. I want to help open the tavern doors even wider and encourage more people to come have a drink and play a game of cards.
So this week when all the conversations about representation started, I realized I had already taken too long to act. There are a diverse array of creators working to grow their communities and establish stable careers, and I don’t want to get in their way, especially for events that have prize pools based on performance in the game.
For a while now, I’ve been feeling guilty about being involved in seemingly everything in Hearthstone. When you’re growing your audience and still finding a footing financially as a creator, it feels impossible to turn down opportunities, so of course I welcomed all the cool stuff I got to do at first. I’m super thankful to have had those chances to grow. But after the career side of it begins to stabilize, suddenly it feels like you’re taking opportunities from others when you don’t really need them.
So there are a few reasons I’m giving up my spot:There are some people saying I and others “deserve” to be invited to these events due to our marketing value and audiences we bring. I certainly acknowledge I have one of the larger YouTube viewer counts in our game, and sure, those numbers do probably warrant invitations based on promotional value alone. So perhaps it is understandable, but I’m not sure it is ideal. If we spread the love and get more people involved, won’t that help the game find fresh and bigger audiences? Won’t I benefit if the game grows? In other words, it’s not much of a sacrifice to make if the game and community are better for it.
- I want more people to get opportunities and spotlights.
- I am not trying to showcase my skills or build my audience off being great at the game. These events are a great springboard for people who are trying to do that.
- I am lucky enough to have super supportive viewers and a stable financial situation. Prize pools in these events are enormous and can provide smaller creators with tons of time and resources to reinvest into their content.
- I’m not that good at the game and worry I will embarrass myself on the biggest stages. (this is only sort of a joke)
All of that said, please don't put any pressure on other creators who are not able to do the same, nor send any hate to those taking my place. I'm no hero here, just stupidly lucky enough to have such a supportive community that I can afford to do this, both financially and from a growth and content standpoint. So please don't celebrate this gesture, instead celebrate the creators getting their time.
Thanks much for reading, and I look forward to seeing you in the tavern!
-Regis
A few follow-up thoughts I couldn't squeeze into a single page.
Originally I just wanted other people to be involved, I can't claim that I had the foresight to think about it as a representation issue. That conversation this week just made me think about it in new ways and kick-started this decision.
I will still do events, but I will aim to limit myself to those that are less competitive and more promotional (tournaments vs theorycrafting, for instance) because that's where I think I best serve the game and my audience.
For how this worked, I made an offer to Blizzard to withdraw last week on April 15th. I didn't want to force their hand, as I had made an agreement to participate. After some discussion on their end, they decided to accept the offer.
I don't want people to celebrate this action. I always get nervous for these events anyway, in some ways it's a relief. Sure there's a financial downside, but I recognize there's also a social upside. This is a case where the right thing and a self-serving thing aligned perfectly.
There may be those who wonder why I'd ever give an advantage to "competition" when I'm running a business. It has crossed my mind. But at the end of the day, I think a rising tide raises all ships. And I welcome the challenge to float.
Why can't you say the same about inviting people based on popularity then?
Because popularity is based on performance and achievement; its not handed down to you like gender.
Are you stupid? That's literally their point, they are offering their spots to female players who are just as good as they are but didnt get invites because they're not as popular due to their gender
Are you 100% sure they are not as popular due to ther gender? Do you have proof?
Popularity is mostly achieved through exposure, and guess what these women are now finally getting with these invites...
That's right, exposure to a bigger audience.
There's a reason why some streamers go out of their way to raid other streamers with their viewers. It is significantly impactful for the streamers getting an influx of viewers that may not normally come to their channel.
And that same method applies here and is why Blizz is (finally!) going to put a more diverse talent pool on these events.
And what of those who gained popularity solely based on their skill or how talented streamers they are without relying on things like invites? I am sorry, but I will never agree to any sort of bias like this, gaining advantages because of their gender. It does not help against inequality. It actually deepens it.
This thinking is very wrong - so we have to feel empathy for the girl streamers and the BLM afro-american, while those events get biews from people interested in a streamer, not in the whole venue for at least 75% of the viewer base.
Going on that stupid logic I have to be invited as I am from a poor country and access to funds will make my live bearable, well where is my invite than?!
Live is not fair and never will be! I am ok with a girl that earns her place, but we saw already how much weaker Pathra and Aliestrasza are compared to even other top streamers and before that Hafu got obliterated as well.
Those sorts of players have to be invited in an appopriate tournament like growing legends, sympathy tour or etc. theme, not in a major tournament watched by most people.
me feeling emphaty to female streamers and people with a diferent skin color or not doesnt change that this just a cookie from blizzard taking adventage of Kripp and Regis's goodwill.
You "will never agree to any sort of bias"? But there is already bias in the opposite direction. Men get treated as the default -- look at the ratio of men to women in the original roster for this invitational. Professional female Hearthstone players are more than just 10% of the population. They're even more than the 20% this puts it at.
We men already get a ton of advantages because of our gender. If you truly do not want any bias, you should be applauding this move, not denigrating it.
Attempting to correct inequality does not "deepen" inequality -- the very notion is utterly absurd.
"Withdraw" riiiiggghhhtttt.
I am not a hearthstone historian but is this the first invitational that krip will not be attending ?
Come on ppl :D what are you crying about. It's pure marketing. If you are not interesing to watch or if you don't have enough followers it's not good for bussiness. I don't think there is something deeper behind scenes. It doesn't matter if You are girl a a man. If you can't take attention on stream by playing the game the profit Blizzard gets from you is very low so They want somebody who has fame and talent to entertain people. It's not 10years ago when everything You need to success online was just let everybody knows You are a girl and We all were like " oooo a girl between us !!! Let's give her everything what we 've got ! "
That strategy still works for women actually. Works for men nowadays too
I am actually laughting that my post was hidden :D still don't understand what are these ppl crying about. That two guys decided not to participate ? What does it have in common with women in esport ? What I did write is true :D if You are boring nobody will invite you to take more attention whats so incomprehensible :D
I dont undestand why Pathra obtained that GM spot, her performance was quite poor. Now we have a new lady in the scene like Bloddy... sorry Luna
I bet Kripp just didn't want to play constructed.
From 7 years of watching HS stuff I can remember exactly one female content creator and that's Alliestraza.
I'm very much down for more inclusion wherever it's necessary but stuff like this is just a counter-argument for anyone who already thinks "feminism" is a curse word imo...
Yeah I wonder why we remember her.
Not a clue what you're talking about, I just know her for being a pretty good Hearthstone player and streamer
Superb gesture from Regis, and really nice words.
A good example as a person to everyone!