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

[derpkitteh]

You can have it both ways because one is a Blizzard approved message. They want to remain neutral on the subject of nation politics.

pride celebration isn't neutral, and mike morheim came out against trump's supposed "muslim ban" back when he was talking about it.

you cannot say you don't want politics in your events and then go and support politics, it IS hypocritical. it's in their right to be hypocrites i guess, but that's not something i'd be shameless over.

[Ausr]

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 it explained it like any rational person here was saying. Guy knowingly broke the rules and made it something other than the tournament. I feel a little sympathy for the casters. Only people mad are the ones that rule their arguments with emotions instead.

[Voidism]

pride celebration isn't neutral, and mike morheim came out against trump's supposed "muslim ban" back when he was talking about it.

you cannot say you don't want politics in your events and then go and support politics, it IS hypocritical. it's in their right to be hypocrites i guess, but that's not something i'd be shameless over.

Besides, their rule doesn't specifically say "politics". It's very vague and says pretty much anything Blizzard wants.

[Tech614]

Honestly it shouldn't be "political" to be against China taking control of Hong Kong. It shouldn't be "political" to be against a country committing genocide as we speak. It shouldn't be "political" to be for LGBT rights or to be inclusive to minorities either.

Honestly if you find yourself so far on some deep, dark part of the spectrum that you disagree with any of this your ethics are at best questionable and at worst down right evil so... And yes, the sad truth is those people not only exist some of them actually are politicians... or even worse like China in charge of entire countries.

[Kaleredar]

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?

What I find... poorly worded... is the "we want everyone to feel welcome" tinge to saying why they censored him. As if someone being pro-hong kong democracy was "exclusionary" to anyone but the Chinese Government.

It's basically a matter of "we don't want to ruffle any feathers, and we have to weigh the opinions of the people of Hong Kong versus the state-mandated position of a faceless government."

[mojojojo202]

Honestly it shouldn't be "political" to be against China taking control of Hong Kong. It shouldn't be "political" to be against a country committing genocide as we speak. It shouldn't be "political" to be for LGBT rights or to be inclusive to minorities either.

Honestly if you find yourself so far on some deep, dark part of the spectrum that you disagree with any of this your ethics are at best questionable and at worst down right evil so... And yes, the sad truth is those people not only exist some of them actually are politicians... or even worse like China in charge of entire countries.

I mean, all those things are political issues because politics encompasses all aspects of our lives. The thing is people treat 'political' as a lazy and juvenile excuse to dismiss some opinion they don't like. There is precisely nothing wrong with something being 'political'.


Blizzard have acted in the same ways many companies nowadays do. They want the credit for sticking with some idea or espousing some viewpoint or another when and only when it is convenient for them and they can do it on their terms. This is bullshit. If they want credit from their player base when they do something 'good' they need to be ready to accept the consequences when they do something 'bad'.

[Tech614]

I mean, all those things are political issues because politics encompasses all aspects of our lives. The thing is people treat 'political' as a lazy and juvenile excuse to dismiss some opinion they don't like. There is precisely nothing wrong with something being 'political'.


Blizzard have acted in the same ways many companies nowadays do. They want the credit for sticking with some idea or espousing some viewpoint or another when and only when it is convenient for them and they can do it on their terms. This is bullshit. If they want credit from their player base when they do something 'good' they need to be ready to accept the consequences when they do something 'bad'.

They're only political because evil exists in the world. I'm not saying they aren't political, I'm saying they shouldn't be. When human rights are on the line any sane person should always have their political alignment firmly on one side and I shouldn't have to say what that side is.

[rhorle]

Wait it’s dated Oct. 12. It’s the 12th in China. Hmmmm this gives me the big think.
“I want to be clear: our relationships in China had no influence on our decision.”

It was posted GMT+0 which includes more of the world then just China. Still weird but hardly any due any hint of conspiracy.

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pride celebration isn't neutral, and mike morheim came out against trump's supposed "muslim ban" back when he was talking about it. you cannot say you don't want politics in your events and then go and support politics, it IS hypocritical. it's in their right to be hypocrites i guess, but that's not something i'd be shameless over.

And yet you just LGBT characters are not political. You can't just ignore some politics while attacking others aspects of it. There is also a large difference between company endorsed views and a person doing so when they shouldn't.

[derpkitteh]

And yet you just LGBT characters are not political. You can't just ignore some politics while attacking others aspects of it. There is also a large difference between company endorsed views and a person doing so when they shouldn't.

they're not political because lgb people are people that exist. now, having transpeople in a game COULD be political, depending on the setting. in a game like wow? 100% political, because there's no need for a transperson to not just have their body permanently changed by magic(ESO already did this with summerset, they permanently changed their body with magic). but a world like cyberpunk? not political, it's basically real life already.

pride is specifically something political because it celebrates your orientation and calls it out. nobody cares about or feels pride for being straight, nobody should care about or feel pride for being gay or bi either. i don't feel pride about being bi, it's just a fact of my life.

[breadisfunny]

this seems like a half assed attempt to blunt outrage over this whole situation. sad thing is it will probably work.

[rhorle]

they're not political because lgb people are people that exist.

Pride celebrations are an official month in the United States. It isn't political then because it is a thing that exists. You also can't just decide to exclude transgender when you included it earlier. Odd isn't it. That now transgender are political by their very existence when before they were not. So politics has to do with magic being the changing factor? Lol. That is down right dumb.

[s_bushido]

having transpeople in a game COULD be political, depending on the setting. in a game like wow? 100% political, because there's no need for a transperson to not just have their body permanently changed by magic

lololol?

I don't know how you're going to argue one is political while the other isn't. Guess what, trans people "just exist" too. And it would be a lot easier to represent with the aforementioned magic than it is for actual trans people to transition.

[rhorle]

this seems like a half assed attempt to blunt outrage over this whole situation. sad thing is it will probably work.

Well there are already people claiming it was written by the Chinese with English major native Chinese "experts" saying it was not written in English first. So it won't stop most as those outraged the most seem willing to latch onto anything that will justify/further the hate towards Blizzard.

[derpkitteh]

lololol?

I don't know how you're going to argue one is political while the other isn't. Guess what, trans people "just exist" too. And it would be a lot easier to represent with the aforementioned magic than it is for actual trans people to transition.

there's no reason for them to make a deal of it though, or talk about their previous body. just go to the local mage and poof, you're the gender you want.

no need to even have a second thought about it, it's like popping a zit or something.

[Rozz]

Do not continue discussing forbidden topics, such as orientation.

[s_bushido]

this seems like a half assed attempt to blunt outrage over this whole situation. sad thing is it will probably work.

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

[derpkitteh]

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

"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.

[rhorle]

"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.

Some American ideals are rules are rules. After all don't do the crime if you can't do the time is a saying even if it may have its origins in a TV show. So you want them to match your ideals rather then American ones. You can't please everyone in a melting pot.

[Malaky]

Well there are already people claiming it was written by the Chinese with English major native Chinese "experts" saying it was not written in English first. So it won't stop most as those outraged the most seem willing to latch onto anything that will justify/further the hate towards Blizzard.

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

[derpkitteh]

Some American ideals are rules are rules. After all don't do the crime if you can't do the time is a saying even if it may have its origins in a TV show. So you want them to match your ideals rather then American ones. You can't please everyone in a melting pot.

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.