Blizzard opening with an apology

[Tabrotar]

They shouldn't had to. They simply listened to majority - that's what Western cherished democracy is all about. Except when it isn't because West suddenly don't like the outcome. And yes, my little Western readers, despite you calling yourself "the entire world" all the time, Chinese are majority over you.

Also pretty much every e-sport event have rules about not bringing politics into it, so they actually just did what every sensible establishment e-sports would do. It just, again, just so happened that this time West felt how it feels when their preferred message gets to be silenced - the stuff the West itself does to other all the time. I bet if it wasn't pro-Taiwan rioters guy but some pro-China guy instead, then the same people that demand apology now would be cumming nonstop from overflowing joy and squealing "go! go! blizz" instead.

Shure ofc they shouldnßt appologize, they just should lick chinas dick even more bcs why even have something like standarts or dignity...

But your whole post alone shows what kind of person you are so..

[Elegiac]

Did it ever occur to you that Blizzard have their own income from said market to look at. How exactly China can "massage" this number? It looks to me that you're simply inventing random conspiracy theories to excuse your bashing of China.

Pretty simple.

China's GDP targets and its methods of encouraging local governments to meet those targets creates a perverse incentive for said local governments to report inaccurate numbers which Beijing then has to reconcile with national economic statistics. We saw the same phenomenon going on in the Soviet Union - it's currently estimated that China's economy is about 12% smaller than reported and may actually have slipped into recession as some point.

Where this plays into Blizzard and other video game publishers is that they are dependent on China to report growth to their shareholders since Western markets have been entirely tapped out - but again, said growth is probably fake.

So, ok, let's go with your tune: PRC is bad. How they become good? Obviously, by doing something good. But you're pretty much said that whatever they do - is bad by definition because they're bad. Doesn't this reasoning seems anything but horribly broken?

They "become good" by instituting structural reform that curtails corruption and abuse of civil liberties and permits greater democratic representation in its government.

Which they will never do because, as said, those things would mean the Chinese Communist Party wouldn't be able to maintain a permanent grip on power.

When PRC does anything. You look at THAT deed and judge THAT deed as good or bad. Not go around crying "they're bad and whatever they do is always bad". So that brings us back to question. Do you know WHO they wanted to extradite?

Yes, and again; it's irrelevant. Because the point is not who is being extradited, it's the bill that permits the extradition itself.

[JohnBrown1917]

Shure ofc they shouldnßt appologize, they just should lick chinas dick even more bcs why even have something like standarts or dignity...

But your whole post alone shows what kind of person you are so..

They are going to keep sucking Chinese dick, and so will any company that can profit from China.

[Stormspellz]

Was in my opinion a great way. They didn't have to, they know they've did some fuck ups. We're all human.

I thought it was a nice from them, what did you guys think?

empty words and crocodile tears

[rowaasr13]

China's GDP targets and its methods of encouraging local governments to meet those targets creates a perverse incentive for said local governments to report inaccurate numbers

Wait... wait... What the fuck China GDP have with Blizzards income? Not shares, not any other stuff, plain and simple INCOME? I don't know where to find numbers on WoW right now and look into it later, but for example Warcraft movie earned 47.3m$ in USA and $225.5m$ in China. Now, please, don't go into GDPs and economical statistics or any other philosophic rambling. Tell me how China could've massaged THIS number. And this is exactly what Blizzard sees and no government in the world can change it.

Yes, and again; it's irrelevant. Because the point is not who is being extradited, it's the bill that permits the extradition itself.

Why? Is extradition of criminals bad? Please answer "yes" or "no". Because if you want to answer anything else, it is not against the bill itself after all, but once again about those "bad" Chinese.

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But your whole post alone shows what kind of person you are so..

I'm the kind that said that maybe those people that you're conditioned to hate are not that bad? What a monster I am!

[TEHPALLYTANK]

It seemed like a hollow gesture, nothing more.

[Muajin76]

Was in my opinion a great way. They didn't have to, they know they've did some fuck ups. We're all human.

I thought it was a nice from them, what did you guys think?

hehe even made it to CNN front page.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/02/t...y-2/index.html

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It seemed like a hollow gesture, nothing more.

was more for quelling the masses i'm sure.

[Very Tired]

Honestly don't know why anyone even bothers with these big public apologies. People who were already on your side don't need one, and people who are against you only take it as a admission of guilt.

[Miststraws]

I found the apologies pathetic at most. Mainly because there is nothing to apologize for. The moron knew the rules and went head-on with his political bs about his country. Blizzard was kind enough to go back on its sanction because the guy deserved his price nonetheless..I mean if i won first price in such competition and my speech was basically "Sup me bois, vote trump 2020 #imthebest #trustme #trump2020, kbai" i'd probably have the same faith. It's not about wtf is happening in hong kong...

I think boycotting blizzard, and the strike that happened outside blizzcon is very short-sighted and outright stupid. People should be ashamed of themselves. yet again.. It's america and they love to be seen as international douchebags. Foreign affairs and politics should be kept as far as possible from games..

[xanzul]

That's fine. To be honest i'm tired of hearing all the shit from the community.
If people don't like Blizzard and complain about their games, I dont understand why they are on this forum

I spent years on this forum defending Blizzard and their actions and tried to rationalize away all their bad decisions and the bullshit with Hong Kong/China was the straw that broke the camels back. These people are on these forums because they love what Blizzard games used to be and despite no longer playing them still want to be part of the community.

I quit Wow almost a year ago and I don't even really miss it and briefly thought about trying out wow classic but Blizzard's actions lately make me not want to give them one more cent for anything. I started reading the coverage for Blizzcon tonight and for the first time in a long time got excited about some new stuff but then I found this thread and this so called "apology". It wasn't an apology. "We will do better". At what? Serving China? Serving their own financial interests? There was no context at all for any of this and if anyone wasn't aware of the issue none of this would make sense to them. And this is by design. They placate the people they angered without causing other people to become rightfully upset with how they are conducting business as China as opposed to conducting business in China.

It is just bullshit. That is all there is to it.

Also to those of you bitching about politics in your video games, Blizzard has made every decision in regards to this in a political manner from start to finish including their fake apology likely all of which was directed behind the scenes by China.

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Blizz has admitted they fucked up many times. Nothing changes. I'm not going to hold my breath that this weak shit is anything more than an attempt to pander.

Not to mention this latest fuckup isn't about a video game but human rights and freedom of speech. Hence why they whitewashed the whole thing in the "apology". This was in no way an actual apology and it is sad people are eating it up the way they are.

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Seeing how he said the Heathstone event, Its clear what he was talking about.

There is not accepting a Apology and then there is just being ignorant just for the hell of it.

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This is the only time they have fucked up this bad.

There is a bit of a difference in fucking up cause they didn't listen to feedback from a PTR and this.

It is almost as if China is telling Blizzard Entertainment which is a company based in the United States what to do or something.

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Like?
I mean they openly joked about people already demonstrating about it and they clearly didn't shut them down or threw out Winnie the Poo cosplayers. Already sounds to me they are doing what they talked about supporting.

While silencing those speaking out about Hong Kong. Which is what is at issue. Come on folks this isn't really that complicated.

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Actually he did just that.

He literally said they messed up and acted way too fast.

That was obvious from the copy pasta sent direct from China that Blizzard Entertainment released as a statement after the initial tweet. Blizzard didn't even bother to try to edit it to make it seem legit.

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People being fine with the Apology given doesn't make them fanboy's. Don't like the Apology fine you have every right to not like it. Calling people fanboy's because they did accept it is childish.

I'm ok with the Apology and ill see how they act in the Future. The only way to know if this Apology has merit is to see how they handle themselves from this point on.

Sorry but China is pulling the strings now at Blizzard and this is obvious from how Blizzard has handled this whole mess including the statement in very awkward English almost as if no one at Blizzard Entertainment wrote it.

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The rules are fine. No politics in my games - thank you.

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The stock went nowhere but up.

The moment Blizzard Entertainment started operating as China as opposed to operating in China is when politics became part of your video games. Perhaps it is time to grow the fuck up and realize the real world is never going to go away.

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How would that help them?
China is very important for them for business. How would that help you if they did more than "YEA COOL!".

The financials for how a severed tie with China would affect Blizzard has been posted on these forums numerous times. Blizzard Entertainment would do just fine without China. China has a growing economic influence with a lot of companies and it isn't going to change until people stop doing business with China. Most companies don't have that luxury but Blizzard does and yet they are chasing dollars over human rights and freedom of speech. They are selling us out to profit from China. No one should be ok with this.

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Well said.

Not well said at all. Blizzard is in a unique position that they can actually NOT do business with China at all. They could tell China to fuck off and actually support their players in Hong Kong affected by China's tyranny. Blizzard is choosing not to. So people are choosing to not do business with Blizzard. Again this can't be repeated enough Blizzard is getting negative attention about this from outside the gaming community including members of Congress. This isn't about video games and whitewashing another Blizzard fuckup. Blizzard is betraying the United States and many in other countries with how they have handled this. It is no small thing and not something to shrug off and we will be seeing more of this behavior from other companies based in the States because it has been made clear consumers don't give a flying fuck about anything including human rights and that is really fucking sad.

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They shouldn't had to. They simply listened to majority - that's what Western cherished democracy is all about. Except when it isn't because West suddenly don't like the outcome. And yes, my little Western readers, despite you calling yourself "the entire world" all the time, Chinese are majority over you.

Also pretty much every e-sport event have rules about not bringing politics into it, so they actually just did what every sensible establishment e-sports would do. It just, again, just so happened that this time West felt how it feels when their preferred message gets to be silenced - the stuff the West itself does to other all the time. I bet if it wasn't pro-Taiwan rioters guy but some pro-China guy instead, then the same people that demand apology now would be cumming nonstop from overflowing joy and squealing "go! go! blizz" instead.

That is all well and good but Hong Kong wants to keep the freedoms they have had for decades. China is talking about "re-educating" Hong Kong citizens now. This is actual fucking peoples lives here. Lives being ruined by China and people in Hong Kong are crying out for help. Jesus christ some of you people need to crack open a history book. China has a very bloody history of murdering anyone who oppose them and they WILL NOT hesitate to do this in Hong Kong and they have been actually. Honest to god the russian trolls were bad but you chinese trolls are far far worse because you seem to actually be getting some traction.

[swiftowner]

Sadly this is not a real apology. It’s empty and lacks any real substance. He’s giving a speech to persuade people to forgive Blizzard without actually admitting what they did was wrong.

Saying “we acted too fast”, does not mean that they would have acted differently, and saying they responded to criticism too slow is well, meaningless, and again just trying to persuade people to forgive them.

This is what businesses do. They do this all the time and continue their practices since people believe their hollow words, forget and move on.

They did not state that they would reverse their actions. They did not state that they have changed policies to prevent it from happening in the future. The whole message is hollow.

I love blizzard games, I do not hate Blizzard, but until they give a real apology and do something other than spew hollow words, I won’t be buying or playing anymore of their games.

[xanzul]

This whole situation has just proved that people care more about other countries politics more than their own. What happens in China is has nothing to with me in America. If Blizzard suspended an American player in America for saying anything political related to America than I would've been mad. This just goes to show you people like to get way to involved in something that doesn't relate to them.

Trump asked China to help investigate Biden but sure China has nothing to do with what is going on in the US.

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That wasn't apology, he reiterated what he said in a blogpost few weeks ago.

That was given to him by China. Something a lot of folks here don't seem to understand or comprehend the enormity of.

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At least they tried although it's totally useless. First, because there is nothing to apologize for.

Second because it doesn't matter if they apologize or not. You can't calm down a rabid dog with apologies and nice words. He doesn't listen. He will keep trying to bite you unless he finds another bone to chew.

The internet mob has talked and there is no way back, guilty or not.

Blizzard is bending over for the Chinese government. Fuck the internet mob. I'm more worried about what other companies are selling us out to China. This is truly no small thing. Again this isn't about politics in your video games. This is about encroachment of Chinese government influence in companies based in the US. If you don't understand why this is an issue then sit down and shut the fuck up and let the adults speak.

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There was no way any words at the beginning of the opening ceremony would satisfy the ones who are angry. Whether it was sincere or not, people will see what they want to see.

Myself? I thought it was fine. I took it as a, "we're sorry, we'll do better." The next time something like this happens (which it undoubtedly will), I'll judge their actions accordingly.

How dare people be angry about a US company defending China given what they are doing in Hong Kong.

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This is getting tired. To hell with anyone that says "they didn't mean it", what else do you expect? Them running out of business due to whatever is in your mind? Please begone.
It's good that they addressed it, now all's good, we move on, they killed no one, and they only followed the rules that were in place.

Blizzard is supporting China and China absolutely 100% is killing people in Hong Kong. The amount of sociopathy in this thread is fucking disgusting.

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No but boycotting companies with significantly larger stakes in China and making real sacrifices like giving up your Apple products and Nike shoes would make a much bigger statement. Boycotting Blizzard is a no sacrifice, easy thing to do. I bet you send thoughts and prayers during bug tragedies too. Makes you feel good, you make a public showing of "doing" something by doing nothing.

I love all these older accounts with lower post counts are suddenly supporting China. It is almost like we went through this before with another country.

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To complain and spread toxicity, they can't leave, they thrive on disrupting the peace for millions over one of their personal problems.

Oh fuck right off with that bullshit. Fuck your "peace". And yes mods I'm being "uncivil" because it is called for. The people in Hong Kong would love peace. The peace they have enjoyed for decades and the freedom they have enjoyed much like many of us have. I'm sorry that their suffering is inconveniencing any of you. Actually I'm not. All of you can go fuck yourselves who post this stupid shit.

If Blizzard meant any of this they wouldn't have chosen to side with a communist regime over one of their players. Period. End of story. This was NOT a mistake. They got their marching orders from China and they are running with it. The messaging has not changed at all whatsoever. The apology was a slightly reworded statement that China also gave them to put out which was also bullshit. Stop buying into this. China is running the show now in regards to anything Blizzard says or does about Hong Kong.
[Infraction]

[Malacrass]

I wonder if the guy resigns after Blizzcon is over. He did say he is accountable, so that's the logical next step, no?

[xanzul]

Why not? Just because they're "Chinese" and that means they're not people but evil demons that must be opposed at every turn? Why law about extraditing criminals that fled to HK to avoid prosecution back to mainland is bad? Do you even know WHO they wanted to extradite when it started? I do.

I'll let you go and lookup yourself before I'll post links to BBC.

Look up Tiananmen Square. I'm old enough to have seen the coverage as a child as it happened live and it was fucking horrific and this is before I found out many years later that Chinese soldiers in those tanks talked about making "pie" out of the people they crushed. This is what you are defending. This is what Blizzard is defending. This is why people are angry and upset and rightfully concerned with what is happening in Hong Kong.

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More like he doesn't understand that different people thinks differently of what freedoms people should have in society. Societies in East Asia generally don't put much value in personal freedoms in the same sense western countries do. Seems to be a common trend that people from western countries likes something, therefore everyone should value it.

We are well aware of how you are unable to comprehend basic human rights.

[mvaliz]

I am of two opinions on this.

Opinion 1 is how I feel about the sencerity of the appology, and Opinion 2 is how I feel about the situaiton overall at this juncture.

Let me start in reverse order:

Opinion 2: As the song goes - "Show Me, Don't Tell Me"

Whether you take them for their word, see them doing no wrong, hate the corporate greed, think the rules and actions are just, atoned as best as they could, or you're just a hater or fanboy - I feel that Blizz has entered what I call "Show me, don't tell me" mode.

It doesn't really matter who or what they say. What matters now is what they will do going forward. Will they keep bending knee to appease China vs just making games like they used to? Will they just focus on making good games and stay out of the political spotlight? Will their games and practices now forever be in watchful eye of offending china?

The point is - they're now being watched by us now... VERY carefully watched!

I love to give two examples of how "Show me, Don't Tell Me" can be done right, and how you can fail miserably because of it. Examples are Hello Games (No Man's Sky) and Bethesda (Fallout 76)

When Hello Games brought out No Man's Sky - to say they caused an internet uproar was a gross understatement. But, since then they've been redeemed by most (NOT ALL! ;P) gamers today. And how they did it was to simply shut up and "Showed us, not tell us" how they were going to be different. They put NMS game improvements front and foremost. Added a tremendous level of gaming features, both promised and not promised, and they did it all for free.

That's an example of "Show me, Don't Tell me" done right.

Now... Bethesda and Fallout 76... and how you fail at "Show me, Don't tell me" =/

Bethesda also did a shitstorm job with the launch of F76. Problem after problem and showed how aweful they were handling things... but then, they went to E3 and Showed updates that brought the things people wanted back, NPCs, dialogue options, even a PVP dedicated game mode for those hating the PVP. Also they made strides to fix the game. The seas calmed... and, while not recovered, Bethesda seemingly pulled it at least out of the quagmire of stupid...

...until last week with Fallout 1st. >_<

That's an example of how to FAIL at "Show me, Don't tell me". They told us, but did NOT SHOW US that they learned their lessons. >_<

So, my stance on Blizz is right now - "Show me, Don't tell me". Show me by not repeating the same mistakes you've made. Show us you're not going to bend knee to anything petty that offends China. Show me you're not going to absurdly severely punish players because China might break a gasket. And, for goodness sakes, don't change your games to the point where it appeals only to China via Whalehunting tactics, or forcing PC gamer fans to see their next stage in a franchise turn into a dinky mobile game designed to milk money.

Now, having said that...

Opinion 1: "I'm sorry for what happened"

I'm going to start this with a woman I knew who was an absolute horrible person. She was a drunk that was horribly manipulative to her friends, family and lovers and would VERY often get into fights with them. Most of us caught on to a tactic though when she apologized. She would walk up to you and say "I'm Sorry for what happened". Sounds fine, right? No... there's actually mental legaleaze in what she said. It's the added part of "...for what happened" that's the difference.

You see, she REALLY was saying was "I'm not sorry for what I did. I'm simply sorry that a situation occurred." by simply adding, "...for what happened" after "I'm Sorry...". She was manipulative enough to know that her friends and family would think she meant "I'm Sorry" in general because they were nice, and really WANTED to make up as they loved the nice sides of her. This way, she literally gets away with being horrible, and never has to actually apologize for anything. Repeat pattern.

That's kinda how I felt about Blizz saying "We failed"... how did you fail? Give me specifics! What part of your failure are you going to "Do better in future?" about? Just like the woman I outlined above, you seem to be implying you "Failed to do the right thing and instead did the wrong thing" without saying it directly, so are you really simply saying to yourself secretly "We failed at communication" meaning "We can't give you a good reason without pissing off somebody"?

Because, right now, Blizz just kinda sounds like they're saying "We're sorry for what happened"... not "We're sorry we severely punished a good person for standing up to a vile regime out of fear for how it impacts our sales."

So, in conclusion - I revert back to "Show me, Don't Tell me". It really doesn't matter that I feel their "appology" is rather sneaky in how its worded... what really matters again, is will they repeat this shit in future.

[xanzul]

Ah, you say China has been eroding HK rights since handover?
Universal suffrage, you say? So they did had it under Brits? The answer is: FUCKING NO. So, is UK "authoritarian police state that has been encroaching and eroding the civil liberties of people living in Hong Kong" according to your logic or what? Try to say something non-hypocrite.

Just stop shilling already. We know how this game is played and while amusing at first now it is just fucking stupid and boring.

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Just basic PR, returning the winnings was the actuall important part.


But you will never get a genuine apology from such a large company, so its rather silly so many on the net are angry over this apology.

The issue is and always has been Blizzard throwing in with China over their own country not to mention over Blizzard's own beliefs ie "every voice matters". The anger is completely justified. Good job missing the point yet again.

[Spacewalrus2010]

How dare people be angry about a US company defending China given what they are doing in Hong Kong.

That's your take on what I said?

Reading comprehension is fantastic I see.

[Stormspark]

It wasn't an apology. It was a non-apology. Corporate double speak where they didn't admit to anything, and more importantly, didn't DO anything about it. It reminded me of the "we're sorry" guy from South Park. If they had actually done a PROPER apology and unbanned the guy, then maybe I would've thought a little better them. As is, I put Blizzard on boycott last November, and I didn't see anything at Blizzcon that would make me reconsider that. In fact, what I did see made me want to just double down on it. I haven't had any Blizzard products on any device I own in a year now, and it feels great.

[Easo]

What I disliked about it was how vague it was. As someone on this thread said - if you did not know about the streamer's ban, you would not understand about what the apology is. Nothing about Hong Kong, but... corporate, almost impossible to say something like that openly.
P.S.
Random shouting at Q&A event was expected. I did like how the guy asked the question, got the answer, and then said the words, when they were least expecting it.

[Zinstorm]

It wasn't an apology. It was a non-apology. Corporate double speak where they didn't admit to anything, and more importantly, didn't DO anything about it. It reminded me of the "we're sorry" guy from South Park. If they had actually done a PROPER apology and unbanned the guy, then maybe I would've thought a little better them. As is, I put Blizzard on boycott last November, and I didn't see anything at Blizzcon that would make me reconsider that. In fact, what I did see made me want to just double down on it. I haven't had any Blizzard products on any device I own in a year now, and it feels great.

I constantly hear about how blizzard didn't do something about this... when that isn't true at all... they halfed the ban time for all parties involved and they gave back the prize money to the champion. Don't get me wrong your allowed to believe what they have done in this situation wasn't enough to make up for what happened... but I for one am tiered of people saying "they haven't done anything" when they have.