Blizzard Employee Letter to Leadership, Other Responses to Lawsuit

[Ihavewaffles]

I think WoW is done. Previously they had tried to time the releases of WoW patches to coincide with and smother the patch and expansions releases of their rivals (during the past few years, namely FFXIV), but now they'll have nothing to counter 6.0 Endwalker with. Perhaps not even the first few patches of FFXIV 6.X. There is also no Wrath classic anywhere in sight too (like how WoW tried to line up BC classic's release with FFXIV 5.5). And once Endwalker 6.0 comes out, FFXIV will be back to releasing a patch once every 3.5 months.

Also doesn't help that Blizzard staff has be insulting their customers nonstop for the past few years, but this time they don't even have a product to show for it.

Blizzard was the WoW killer.

ok, here's one example of gamers actually being to blame for the lack of direction at blizzard.

You say blizz was the wow killer, really? All the hordes of gamers that instead of demanding new stuff, new games spent all their energy complaining for wow classic? wow classic tbc? You guys turned blizzard into a nostalgia company that don't have to innovate anymore. They were already not doing much, retro games was teh final nail in the coffin...


Honestly, blizzard is so bad right now, they should fire everyone who works there, except for Diablo 4 crew, those guys are like blizzard 2.0, they make content that seems in line with the old blizzard, re-hire a bunch of new people n hold the same high standards that were set for Diablo 4. It's clear they hired a bunch of fucking useless people.. mass layoffs!

FUCK WOW CLASSIC AND FUCK ALL REMAKES OF OLD GAMES!

[Femininity]

I'm just wondering, with seeing some of the most vehement boycotters/grandstanders on social media... How are they certain they are not supporting similar structures elsewhere?

Sure, the devil you know is one you can call out and stop visiting, but this shit (and worse) extends far in the gaming industry as well as outside it. Is there some sort of website that lists completely ethical companies producing goods and entertainment?

Just a small thought that popped into my head as I saw someone call WoW players keeping up their sub "Literal Nazis"...

Make an effort here and there to vet the companies, organizations, governments etc. that you support. It's pretty easy to avoid products that come from places where humanitarian atrocities are being committed. It's even easier to cull domestic products and services, like in the case of a US consumer boycotting/discontinuing support for a US business.

[Magnagarde]

The Hong Kong incident is arguably worse than this.

That's relative depending on who you ask. Many players don't want any politics in their games, the whole Hong Kong affair included and regardless wether it is coming from Blizzard or in that case blitzchung.

[dwarven]

GC keeps talking about how he always messes up responding to people in a respectful way. Why in the hell was he ever in the position he was in to begin with in that case? It sounds like executive management isn't his wheelhouse.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Make an effort here and there to vet the companies, organizations, governments etc. that you support. It's pretty easy to avoid products that come from places where humanitarian atrocities are being committed. It's even easier to cull domestic products and services, like in the case of a US consumer boycotting/discontinuing support for a US business.

What about the materials going into graphics cards, mobile phones etc...?

Food production?
Clothes production?

I'm pretty sure that if it's in my house, I've heard a scandal surrounding the companies producing materials/the item itself at some point in time. I rarely buy new stuff in general, but even Swedish, homegrown FOOD production is rife with shitty practices.

It never ends, so to speak. It was just a small thought, but the more I think about it, the more of a behemoth it seems to be.

Not even the damned sugar snap peas I ordered the other week have a clean history, I learnt yesterday.

[JoakimB]

"You can’t really see the people asking the questions well from the stage, and I feel terrible now seeing the look on her face. I have more experience now answering questions live"

The guy serious with that answer? He really cant see the problem, can he?

[Voidwielder]

Why ain’t anyone asking for Bobby Kotick and executives to resign or be fired or are they all too shit scared off their jobs?

That would require the board to move against him.

[Femininity]

What about the materials going into graphics cards, mobile phones etc...?

Food production?
Clothes production?

I'm pretty sure that if it's in my house, I've heard a scandal surrounding the companies producing materials/the item itself at some point in time. I rarely buy new stuff in general, but even Swedish, homegrown FOOD production is rife with shitty practices.

It never ends, so to speak.

Yeah, you can't avoid it everywhere. But there's no reason to not at least make a conscious effort here and there. If I didn't need a phone and workstation for my day job, I'd probably drop most of my tech.

[PenguinChan]

That's relative depending on who you ask. Many players don't want any politics in their games, the whole Hong Kong affair included and regardless wether it is coming from Blizzard or in that case blitzchung.

No I get the entire political standpoint. I understand the sentiment even if I don't wholly agree - but I respect it. I was talking about the incident as a whole was pretty bad, and look what happened to Blizzard. Nothing, really. Well - I'm sure they did lose customers but more keep coming in.

GC keeps talking about how he always messes up responding to people in a respectful way. Why in the hell was he ever in the position he was in to begin with in that case? It sounds like executive management isn't his wheelhouse.

I would have to venture to guess A) He's somewhat good at what he does to keep his position and get hired elsewhere and / or B) Has friends in the right places.

[Voidwielder]

And oh, FF14 preachers remind me of Jehovah Witness. You are annoying in the same way.

[Mojo03]

I'm 100% with the accusers. I hope this thing fucks over Blizzards upper management and forces them to get rid of people. Or better yet, forces Activision to sell them off. I feel like they've both been the plague ruining the company for years and years.

I really think that would do wonders for the people working there and the players.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

ok, here's one example of gamers actually being to blame for the lack of direction at blizzard.

You say blizz was the wow killer, really? All the hordes of gamers that instead of demanding new stuff, new games spent all their energy complaining for wow classic? wow classic tbc? You guys turned blizzard into a nostalgia company that don't have to innovate anymore. They were already not doing much, retro games was teh final nail in the coffin...


Honestly, blizzard is so bad right now, they should fire everyone who works there, except for Diablo 4 crew, those guys are like blizzard 2.0, they make content that seems in line with the old blizzard, re-hire a bunch of new people n hold the same high standards that were set for Diablo 4. It's clear they hired a bunch of fucking useless people.. mass layoffs!

FUCK WOW CLASSIC AND FUCK ALL REMAKES OF OLD GAMES!

I never asked for "remakes" or "remasters" of old Blizz games. And I did criticize the nonsensical revival of the Horde vs Alliance war in Legion, for no other purpose than to milk Horde vs Alliance iconography. I've been criticizing the direction of WoW since WoD, but that's out of my hands.

The stupidity of WoW's game design aside, it seems that there is a massive problem at Blizzard. They can't seem to manage to develop any games. Starcraft Ghosts was cancelled. Project Titan spun its wheels for years before Overwatch was salvaged from it. The rest of their projects died stillborn. Their current projects are stuck in development hell. And their remakes/remasters are being outsourced and aren't being given the time and attention they deserve. They're a multi-billion dollar games company, among the most prestigious in the world, and yet they can't make any games.

[Magnagarde]

No I get the entire political standpoint. I understand the sentiment even if I don't wholly agree - but I respect it. I was talking about the incident as a whole was pretty bad, and look what happened to Blizzard. Nothing, really. Well - I'm sure they did lose customers but more keep coming in.

Yeah, it is true that they got out of it seemingly unscathed, primarily because they keep reporting record profits year after year. They've lost plenty of players because of it though; it just seems that the playerbase that remains simply spends enough money to offset any player loss.

[PenguinChan]

Yeah, it is true that they got out of it seemingly unscathed, primarily because they keep reporting record profits year after year. They've lost plenty of players because of it though; it just seems that the playerbase that remains simply spends enough to offset any player loss.

Increasing prices, incentivizing spending, more customers coming in than leaving - ex-players coming back despite saying they wouldn't, etc. - I don't believe for a second that they've lost enough players that it is lower than the previous years. Stunted or reduced it overall? Sure, but not wholly.

There are probably, right now - a huge chunk of players who don't even know this went on (Either the hong kong incident, or the current one).

[lichbane]

SO STOP FUCKING GIVING THEM MONEY.

It's hard for an addict to stop.

[Archmage Alodi]

The letter was pretty well written, glad the employees are standing up against this shit.
And that Alex guy can go fuck himself.

[lichbane]

A sub is for game content, not policies n practices, you are shifting blame to the player.

And if the game isn't supplying you the content, unsub. It's not a difficult concept.

[ItsRainingMetal]

I have no idea why they keep talking about stuff like this in public, they should sort it out internally instead, seriously. The vast majority of their players don't give a shit and just want them to deliver a steady stream of fresh content, and not internal drama that noone cares about.

[PsychoSe7eN]

But devs trying to get laid is what got them into this mess in the first place!

Omg I can't stop laughing!

[qwerty123456]

So you value the products you buy more than the welfare of people at an organisation, even if they're being mistreated?



I 100% agree.

Hope you are Amish and make all your shit yourself cause I hate to break it to you but practically everything you own has someone being mistreated including all the food you eat. Either they are large enough to exploit illegal workers, or are small family run who work themselves nearly to death because the big factory farms out price em and need to use their kids as labor, or they are big factory farms who mistreat animals and often times the workers as well. Oh and nearly any vegetable you eat results in the death of thousands of animals each year.