Blizzard Suspends Hearthstone Player For Hong Kong Support, Pulls Prize Money

[rhorle]

More like hate towards totalitarian censorious murderous communist regimes and the companies who bow down to them.
But nice try.

So majority of the companies in the world that do international business? Blizzard was doing business with them and making concessions to their ideals long before this incident.

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there comes a time you have to take a stand, or your ideals will be lost. being open and welcoming of other ideas is fine, but you cannot be to ideals that go directly counter to your own.

So what American ideals are lost by Blizzard enforcing the rules as all parties agreed to? Because American routinely does that with protestors and the recent most notable one is Jane Fonda. Enforcing the rules has never been against Blizzard ideals.

[s_bushido]

"we irrevocably condem chinese censorship and stand with the american ideals our company was founded in"

i wanted nothing more than for them to get banned from china. it'd absolutely have been the best possible thing for blizzard gaming.

Ah, so what you wanted was 100% never going to happen. Got it. So long as we have reasonable expectations about these things, and aren't just being outraged for the sake of being outraged.

[Malacrass]

Ugh.

I don't envy J Allen's position here. No matter what it's a losing battle. Anything short of complete condemnation of China would fall short of the internet's collective hate boner. There was never any chance of that happening so any statement is going to look weak to most casual observers. Don't get me wrong, I found the official statement fairly underwhelming but fuck guys. How much of this is actually about the issue at hand and how much is just mob mentality bashing Blizzard?

I thought this was an alright response if it weren't for the obvious lie thrown in my face

The specific views expressed by blitzchung were NOT a factor in the decision we made. I want to be clear: our relationships in China had no influence on our decision.

I don't know, maybe Trump's presidency got everyone used to being lied to every few sentences, but I'm still calling bullshit when I see bullshit.

[derpkitteh]

So what American ideals are lost by Blizzard enforcing the rules as all parties agreed to? Because American routinely does that with protestors and the recent most notable one is Jane Fonda. Enforcing the rules has never been against Blizzard ideals.

chinese law dictated the punishment this guy received at first. i'd be surprised if he doesn't disappear in a couple months, when all the little slacktivists are back to confusing hong kong for taiwan or something.

there was no reason they couldn't have given him a warning for a single violation.

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Ah, so what you wanted was 100% never going to happen. Got it. So long as we have reasonable expectations about these things.

oh no, it's quite realistic.

hell, they might even see some trouble for giving him his money. but i'd say marco rubio running his mouth tipped off the chinese as to how to play this. let them dodge the heat, so china can continue the subversion of our culture through corporate america. they can disappear this guy without effort when it's all blown over, and everything will go back to normal.

[breadisfunny]

What sort of response would you have found to be full-assed?

what derp said. got a problem with it?

[Kaleredar]

You can't please everyone in a melting pot.

True as that might be, I'd be remiss in including "the government of China" in a list including "everyone," as "everyone" generally denotes... you know, people, instead of faceless government organizations. Or at least should.

It's like saying corporations are people and that money is free speech. The "free speech of an individual must be weighed against the censorship laws opinions of a government another person and our desire for them to express their money opinions."

[rhorle]

chinese law dictated the punishment this guy received at first. i'd be surprised if he doesn't disappear in a couple months, when all the little slacktivists are back to confusing hong kong for taiwan or something.

So it doesn't dictate it now? Are you trying to claim that the Chinese government wrote the Grandmasters rules? Rules that have existed like that for years.

there was no reason they couldn't have given him a warning for a single violation.

Yes there is. Because the rules did not have a penalty volcano.

[breadisfunny]

it staggers me how many people are just white knighting and defending blizzard on this obviously NOT AT ALL chinese influenced decision. people actually start showing an interest in a human rights subject and that gets your panties all in a twist because OH NOZ POOR BLIZZARD! whatever will their poor executives do? won't someone please think of activision?

[rhorle]

True as that might be, I'd be remiss in including "the government of China" in a list including "everyone," as "everyone" generally denotes... you know, people, instead of faceless government organizations. Or at least should.

I never included them. It was in the context of the United States and "American Ideals". But hey why let a little thing like context get in the way.

[breadisfunny]

Not encourage him to say the words in Mandarin?

yes how dare people take a stand against a regime that murders it own people! that's so horrible. they should just sit in their seats and be quiet like good little sheep.

[PACOX]

They should have never put out that press release. Now they just look like a bunch of robotic clowns who think some buzzwords can win people over.


They want people to 'feel sorry' for them like they're the first organization to ever hold an international competition where competitors showed support for a cause.

The IOC is nasty but they get it right...sometimes. Well, they've learned from a lot of mistakes. Maybe Blizzard should also learn from their mistakes if Blizzard wants to viewed as the big dog in e-sports.

[Matiketope]

Blizzard only plays by the book: "Their country, their rules". Would you (as a Western cowboy) like to have some huge game running around against your way of life and thinking? Not the first time I have to mention about cultural relativism. Still does not mean I like it, especially when it comes to this Orwellian type of setup.

If there was no Classic, I would totally ban Blizzard/Activision from my computer and make noise, but there it is. I'm a bad person now.

Great.

Edit: Oh, wait. PRIVATE SERVERS!

FUCK BLIZZARD!

[Kallisto]

"we irrevocably condem chinese censorship and stand with the american ideals our company was founded in"

i wanted nothing more than for them to get banned from china. it'd absolutely have been the best possible thing for blizzard gaming.

And what about Chinese gamers. Should they be told to die in the streets if they want to enjoy western products. Are you that fucked in the head?

Chinese citizens shouldn't be punished for acts of Chinese government. No citizen should for any government because they are not responsible for them.

[derpkitteh]

And what about Chinese gamers. Should they be told to die in the streets if they want to enjoy western products. Are you that fucked in the head?

Chinese citizens shouldn't be punished for acts of Chinese government. No citizen should for any government because they are not responsible for them.

let them win their freedom like americans did.

or, leave to another country.

i don't care really, i care about us, me, fellow americans. i don't even ultimately care about european consumers. i want what's best for us. if europe were ruining gaming like asia in general is, i'd want our companies out of europe too.

[breadisfunny]

And what about Chinese gamers. Should they be told to die in the streets if they want to enjoy western products. Are you that fucked in the head?

Chinese citizens shouldn't be punished for acts of Chinese government. No citizen should for any government because they are not responsible for them.

are you that messed up in the head that you think placating the chinese government is worth a stupid video game.
human rights>some video game.

[Kallisto]

let them win their freedom like americans did.

or, leave to another country.

i don't care really, i care about us, me, fellow americans. i don't even ultimately care about european consumers. i want what's best for us. if europe were ruining gaming like asia in general is, i'd want our companies out of europe too.

Ok you just admitted to being a backward sick fuck. People are people everywhere and borders should not dictate how we treat one another. So that just proves that like all nationalists you need to get your mind out of the 1800s

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are you that messed up in the head that you think placating the chinese government is worth a stupid video game.
human rights>some video game.

I hate the Chinese government but I refuse to put any blame or have any kind of more hardships on the Chinese people. Its funny how you can separate the two.

It's like hate Putin but not put more trouble o. Russians. Or hate Kim and not put more issues on North Koreans.

[Deja Thoris]

https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/bliz...ers-tournament

Blizz responded with a comment.

It's about as heartfelt as a comment can be when 500 highly paid lawyers have masturbated over it. They did agree to pay him his $$$. They didn't apologise.

It looks about as sincere as a politician expressing regret at the death of someone he thought was a complete cunt.

[s_bushido]

They didn't apologise.

Any particular reason they should? They claim he broke their rules. You don't exactly apologize to the person you're claiming wronged you...

Unless you think they should apologize for handing down too harsh a punishment in the first place. In which case I guess they can see that. But I don't believe for a second that the same people who aren't satisfied with this would actually be satisfied with anything they did.

[kail]

https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/bliz...ers-tournament

Blizz responded with a comment.

It's about as heartfelt as a comment can be when 500 highly paid lawyers have masturbated over it. They did agree to pay him his $$$. They didn't apologise.

It looks about as sincere as a politician expressing regret at the death of someone he thought was a complete cunt.

It was a very weak and elongated way to say "We were wrong".

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Any particular reason they should? They claim he broke their rules. You don't exactly apologize to the person you're claiming wronged you...

Unless you think they should apologize for handing down too harsh a punishment in the first place.

They admitted it was too quick and harsh, which is the center point of this whole debacle. I don't believe an esports stream should be a platform for protests/politics but it shouldn't be a swift axe for a first offense. Blizzard's actions looked politically motivated and their later statement almost proved it.

[Deja Thoris]

Any particular reason they should? They claim he broke their rules. You don't exactly apologize to the person you're claiming wronged you...

Unless you think they should apologize for handing down too harsh a punishment in the first place. In which case I guess they can see that. But I don't believe for a second that the same people who aren't satisfied with this would actually be satisfied with anything they did.

If you take away someones prize money in a kneejerk reaction then give it back you are admitting you were wrong, either that or you are being extremely gracious. I think most people will think it wasn't the latter...