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

[s_bushido]

Brack was so vague that if you don't know the backstory, you wouldn't know why he apologized...

That's nice. I guess it's too bad that literally everyone knew what he was talking about.

[Danner]

There was an interview in PC gamer which I think touch on the core of the matter.

https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-pre.../#comment-jump

Q: There's been a suspicion that China and your Chinese business had an influence on the decision and the statement Blizzard made. Can you confirm for me on the record whether NetEase or any of your Chinese partners didn't have any sort of influence on your decision in this incident?

A: Okay, glad you asked that because I'd love to be very clear. The first thing that I want to talk about is that there is a massive amount of either confusion or non-understanding around what the regulations are in China. Blizzard is not legally allowed to operate or to publish games in China. You must have a partner. That is the regulation, that is law. NetEase is our partner. NetEase is not a government agency, NetEase is a company. They are the publisher. One of the things that has kind of come up around this is the Blizzard Weibo post and the text around that. We are not legally allowed to operate those channels. We are not legally allowed to contribute. That is a NetEase decision, they are the publisher in China.

Was NetEase in conversation around this issue? They were, certainly. As were the [Blizzard] Taiwan team, as was the Hearthstone leadership team, as was the esports team. All those various constituencies came together and one of the things that we said was we acted very rapidly and we acted very quickly. And that's certainly the failure of this story is those groups coming together and deciding in a very short amount of time what the right action to take forward was.

Q: So the Weibo post that talked about defending "the pride" of China was written by NetEase?

A: Correct. We did not authorize it. We did not approve it. We would not have approved it had they asked.

This is the kind of statement I at least have been waiting for.
Why did it take 3 weeks to say this?

[Yunru]

There was an interview in PC gamer which I think touch on the core of the matter.

https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-pre.../#comment-jump



This is the kind of statement I at least have been waiting for.
Why did it take 3 weeks to say this?

To little to late.

[Zinstorm]

Why did it take 3 weeks to say this?

I'm guessing at this point after all of this that has happened blizzard is being verrrrrrrry careful on anything they want to say pr wise. Even with what they have current said and done they are getting heavy criticism from the public.... most of them won't believe any form of denial and most (if not all) statements of denying anything relating to this will only confirm their believes (for example almost no one believes them when they said that their decision to ban that champion wasn't related to their relationship with china). They may have been on the fence whether or not to bother to deny that they had any say in what NetEase had said about this situation fearing that it may have just further fanned the flames rather then helped at all.

[TwistedSkull]

That's nice. I guess it's too bad that literally everyone knew what he was talking about.

Without directly mentioning Blitzchung, This is a very hollow gesture...

[Ronin2k]

To little to late.

Get over yourself lol

[Danner]

It was common sense that Blizzard had nothing to do with the Chinese statement. But people needed to create conspiracies over it.

"Conspiracy theories"?

Obviously the Blizzard board of Directors didn't wake up one day and say "How we can trample on human rights today". It's always been clear that this incident started as a panic-driven decision to not get on the wrong foot of the Chinese government, triggered by a protest they did not see coming. When we say "chinese overlords", the implication isn't that Xi Jinping called J Allen Brack directly. It's the implication that they are so afraid of being sanctioned that they will bend backwards to appease the regime without anyone actually requesting it.

The appearance of the results of their initial actions implied Blizzard took sides in a laden political situation. The Weibo post cemented that appearance. The post wasn't done by Blizzard, but it was done in their logo, and Blizzard did not in any way take measures to distance themselves from it. As they were at that point under the appearance of taking sides, they de-facto took sides through silent approval. Blizzard could, though carefully crafted and timed words defused the situation they had put themselves in. But doing so could risk the Chinese market. They picked the coward way out, and stuck their heads in the sand. When it didn't blow over, they released a stetement on a Friday evening, after all the journalists had gone home for the weekend. They knew exactly what they did by doing so. They wanted this to blow over. Obviously.

Could not taking the coward way out have cost them? Absolutely. One wrong word, and it would have had ramifications for Blizzard as a company in China. You can still tell they are holding back. That apology at Blizzcon did never touch upon the actual issue, being carefully crafted to not really say anything that could actually offend the chinese segment. It was all "we did wrong", not why, or how to improve it, as that could insult the "chinese overlords". And that is why the apology feels so hollow - the self-congratulatory parts in that apology didn't help either. The coward's path taken meant I ceased to be their customer, and by keeping to it I cannot return to the game I like. But they did it to themselves. I feel no pity for them as a company, I only feel pity for the employees working under such cowardly management.

I say the only way they can win me back at this point is to stop being cowards. A quicker response would have had less strong requirements from me. The way I see it, Blizzard strongly took sides. Obviously it wasn't the intented result, but that is the lasting appearance. They need to sever that appearance before that stigma disappears. It's up to them to figure out how.

The Blizzcon apology covered one important topic, though it is well hidden in a bunch of careful wording. The statement that they "acted too quickly" implies acknowledgement they acted with panic and will avoid that in the future. I welcome that statement very much. I do not appreciate the cowardice behind wrapping those words up as much as they did. It was very heavily crafted to not possibly offend the "chinese overlords". It implies they will still be cowards. In a world before they took sides, that would have been acceptable to me. But not after what they did.

The interview follows the same vein. It is the closest thing I have seen to self-reflection, and lays it bare what has already been discussed about the weibo situation - but it is still lacking that vital point of breaking the cowards' path. The analysis is there, but no word on how to change it. NetEase can do a post tomorrow praising the glorious leader's purge of the terrorist Uigurs with the heartstone logo embedded, and there is the appearance that there is nothing Blizzard would want to do about it. Nothing has intrinsically changed about the appearance of willingness to act as the Chinese government.

Obviously I know that isn't true. It is clear as day that Blizzard would like this event to never have happened. But that is their legacy I chose to retain in all of this. It is me being angry with them for their continuing cowardice. "We have informed NetEase that Blizzard does not want to be involved in Chinese politics. If they want to do that, they must do so in channels not tagged with our Logo" would have done it for me. They very likely have said just that to NetEase in private, followed up by a large amount of harsh swearing. But I am at this point requiring that statement to be public before I choose to recognize any change.

I do hope they fix it though. I really would like to return to Blizzard games.

[AeneasBK]

Get over yourself lol

Oh come on this thread wouldn't be nearly as hilarious without all 3 of the people who are upset at Blizzard over this constantly reposting and reposting.

[Ronin2k]

Oh come on this thread wouldn't be nearly as hilarious without all 3 of the people who are upset at Blizzard over this constantly reposting and reposting.

It's just not fair! I was personally devastated that Blizz banned Blitzcrank from playing Yu-Gi-Oh because of their Pooh bear overlords!

I demand that they personally come to my house and hand deliver me one of those giant PGA tour checks as a signed personal apology from Chris Metzen and they also have to feed my cat sparkles for a week!

Anything less is too little too late and I will not hesitate to spam YouTuber outrage videos on message boards and say really mean things until my demands are met!

Free HBK Shawn Michaels!

[Relapses]

It's just not fair! I was personally devastated that Blizz banned Blitzcrank from playing Yu-Gi-Oh because of their Pooh bear overlords!

I demand that they personally come to my house and hand deliver me one of those giant PGA tour checks as a signed personal apology from Chris Metzen and they also have to feed my cat sparkles for a week!

Anything less is too little too late and I will not hesitate to spam YouTuber outrage videos on message boards and say really mean things until my demands are met!

Free HBK Shawn Michaels!

Easily one of the most hilarious posts I've seen on here in awhile. Thank you.

OT: The PC Gamer interview confirms what everybody already knew. This is just a shitty situation happening at the shittiest possible time. Hopefully Blizzard has learned from this.

[Blade Wolf]

Easily one of the most hilarious posts I've seen on here in awhile. Thank you.

OT: The PC Gamer interview confirms what everybody already knew. This is just a shitty situation happening at the shittiest possible time. Hopefully Blizzard has learned from this.

https://www.vg247.com/2019/11/03/ove...ng-kong-tweet/

Not really, Brack said people are free to express their opinions on social media yet this overwatch coach was forced to delete his tweet supporting Blitzchung.

[Yunru]

Guys it happened:

[Popastique]

Guys it happened:

Using the child instead of doing it yourself, pretty horrible parenting if you ask me.

[Yunru]

Using the child instead of doing it yourself, pretty horrible parenting if you ask me.

Nah they are smart. They wont trow a kid out of blizzcon.

[Mayhem]

Nah they are smart. They wont trow a kid out of blizzcon.

Was anyone thrown out?

[Yunru]

Was anyone thrown out?

https://www.keengamer.com/articles/f...blizzcon-2019/

Its a wildcard, so no idea.
They arent breaking any of those rules.
If some1 was thrown out, we would know already.

[Erwarth]

Guys it happened:

So much smugginess in this guy. I bet he live in San Francisco.

And well played sending a kid say something he's too young to grasp.

[Lochton]

There was an interview in PC gamer which I think touch on the core of the matter.

https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-pre.../#comment-jump



This is the kind of statement I at least have been waiting for.
Why did it take 3 weeks to say this?

Come on, we know that the majority of this bullshit reaction was Netease as they are contracted to operate Blizzard in China. They were the ones who made it worse. Blitzchung got his, and accepted, the apology + winnings - from there, Netease kept on with 'the pride'/'the honor' bla bla bla..

- - - Updated - - -

To little to late.

If that is too late, better go smash any apple products you have, as well as uninstall Microsoft, and not a majority of the large websites -they haven't given any apology of being in connection with China.

- - - Updated - - -

Guys it happened:

First of all, disgusting parents to utilize your child to do the protesting for you. Secondly, points for Taliesin for literally swaying the subject away without causing further disruption.

[Molis]

To little to late.

HaHa

So much protest. So much rage!

I saw about 5 pooh costumes at Blizzcon. Maybe 5 white millennials that couldnt point out Hong Kong on a map wearing the "Im with Hong Kong T-shirt" maybe (maybe) 10 people at the main entrance with various signs etc.

If this was a protest it was a terrible one

[Yunru]

HaHa

So much protest. So much rage!

I saw about 5 pooh costumes at Blizzcon. Maybe 5 white millennials that couldnt point out Kong on a map wearing the "Im with Hong Kong T-shirt" maybe (maybe) 10 people at the main entrance with various signs etc.

If this was a protest it was a terrible one

It got a massive media attention and this matters.

- - - Updated - - -

Also new cenzorship:


So much for a social twitter.