I guess now is the time of PR accountants who have to estimate the damage caused by the shitstorm in the west against the expected damage from the chinese wrath. They for sure have interesting meetings.
I guess now is the time of PR accountants who have to estimate the damage caused by the shitstorm in the west against the expected damage from the chinese wrath. They for sure have interesting meetings.
They've always censored their games for China. It's pretty much a requirement for any foreign game to get published over there. Not just video games, but movies, card games too. Gore, skeletons, or provocative content needs to get censored to get it through the approval process (though I've heard sufficient bribes can also work).
Example: MTG does alternate art for the Chinese version of the game whenever they have skeletons, gore, or provocatively dressed characters:
If you recall back to 2009, the reason The9 lost their licenses to operate WoW in China was because they failed to get Wrath of the Lich King through the approval process, which delayed the release of the expansion indefinitely. Wrath wasn't actually approved for publication in China until 2010, nearly two years after it came out in the rest of the world, when NetEase took over operations.
Every publisher does this to get their games released in China.
Anyway, point is, this is nothing new.
I can't do much, but I can stop spending.
No more store mounts, no more subscription (got enough gold to go for a couple years), no more blizzcon virtual tickets.
Removing blitzchung's prize money that he earned and suspending him is pretty scummy...but the announcers? How do you even begin to justify that?
Pros: Bunch of manchildren applaud you but it gets forgotten in 10 days and then everyone starts bitching about LFR again
Cons: Lose billions of dollars
Hmm...
They always told me I would miss my family... but I never miss from close range.
Reddit is a mess right now
https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/new/
complete chaos
I found I enjoyed the game significantly more when I stopped paying attention to all the people on the forums telling me how much I am supposed to hate itAll this complaining is simply further proof that Blizzard could send each and every player a real-life wish-granting flying unicorn carrying a solid gold plate of chocolate chip cookies wrapped in hundred dollar bills, and someone would whine that Blizzard sucks for not letting them choose oatmeal raisin.
Rules and money do not supersede human rights, you're right. The human right to free speech however does not give everyone a free pass at speaking about whatever they want whenever they want, off the backs of others without their knowledge and or consent.
If I gave you a lift in my car and you started shouting out of the window at pedestrians your opinions on whatever, I'd ask you to stop or you'd be walking. That is not me infringing on your 'rights' that is me not wanting to be an unwilling participant, getting coerced into appearing to take one side or another.
Blizzard are absolutely taking a side though. They are taking the position that the opinions of players and casters are less important than bowing to the whims of the Chinese governments.
There is also a significant difference between a company altering their game to meet local regulation and a government insisting that a company take action against anyone criticising their country.
3 people vs 1.5 BILLION.
Needs of many always outweigh needs of few or one. So if 3 people have to be pushed aside so 1.5 billion can still play then that's the thing that is needed. Or should chinese people be barred from Blizzard games until they all die in a revolution that will fail?
Actually in doing this they've maintained a neutral position, since they haven't made a Statement in support on China and distanced themselves from a Statement against China.
Distancing yourself from 1 thing doesn't mean you openly accept it's opposites. That's the problem with People today using that line of thinking.
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Probably, they probably just know better than to do it. That and Politics within said Companies own Country probably matter much less to them.
Aaaand this is why you don't pander to China for short-term gain.
I'd feel much better if China's government wasn't a literal tyranny. There are things that even big businesses should take a stand against, this is one of them.
No company is going to let an individual use their platform as a megaphone. If this guy did this from his own stream there wouldn't be an issue. The good news is this guy made a huge splash doing it this way. Of course how many of the super upset people will care or remember this in a week.
"Privilege is invisible to those who have it."