J. Allen Brack: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

[Nefarious Tea]

Apart from gay/same-sex rights are a basic human right and aren't an opinion/political opinion. Of course China is lacking those, which is why I stand with Hong Kong, but there's a time and place. He knew what he was doing was breaking the rules, which he also acknowledged, but the punishment for his actions were too harsh. Blizzard were way too hasty in their response to the situation honestly, which they've acknowledged as well and reduced his ban. 6 months is still too long in my opinion, but it's just unfortunate that they set an example with him and with HK being the political issue behind it. They had to do it though because it's a question of where does it stop? People don't want to watch streams and games and be constantly bombarded with politcal messages, whether that's backing KH, standing for or against trump, for or against brexit, whatever it may be - people (at least i for one) watch game streams because they don't involve any of that. It would be like watching Blizzcon and the presenters or guests starting to talk about Brexit or any main political issue - there's enough of it from main news sources and that's where it should stay, which is why I agree with them taking action. However, Blizzard should just come forward and say they stand with Hong Kong honestly because I honestly think they do.

You know where it stops? By not sitting around like little bitches counting the money you can't take with you when you die.

You want to know where it stops?

Stop China. Stop pooh bear Jinping.

[DotEleven]

You know where it stops? By not sitting around like little bitches counting the money you can't take with you when you die.

You want to know where it stops?

Stop China. Stop pooh bear Jinping.

Great, so would you be hear saying they did nothing wrong of a player spoke out in support of China on the stream?

[THEORACLE64]

You know where it stops? By not sitting around like little bitches counting the money you can't take with you when you die.

You want to know where it stops?

Stop China. Stop pooh bear Jinping.

I guess we'll have to wait for the pro-china supports to start spouting up on stream and not be punished, right? seeing as that's what everyone wants here.

Stop being so dense and read more than 2 lines of what I posted.

[Kauko]

And he was supposed to do what? Deliver 10 hour speech with all honors?

If he was serious about this, then he should at least said the sentence seriously, not behind a mask and laughing... And, besides that, from one extreme to another? We see how this helps solving things in the world...

[Arrashi]

If he was serious about this, then he should at least said the sentence seriously, not behind a mask and laughing... And, besides that, from one extreme to another? We see how this helps solving things in the world...

Given the result he did more than most.

Also you are aware that he was wearing mask as a sign of solidarity with protesters right?

[Relapses]

The evidence is certainly circumstantial, but as a native English speaker, with a linguistics background who is a teacher, I can vouch for the likelihood of the analysis (considering most of my students aren't native English speakers). Either J. Allen Brack isn't a native English speaker, or he didn't write that letter.

Bro, your fucking source is 4chan. Are you fucking serious?

[Nefarious Tea]

Bro, your fucking source is 4chan. Are you fucking serious?

Are you stupid?

I provided a screenshot of several people pointing out what you can plainly see in the original letter. Go look at it. It was posted Friday, Octover 11th but the date on it says October 12th.

Here, I'll do you work for you since you're clearly unable to comprehend simple tasks.

https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/bliz...ers-tournament

Date: October 12, 2019. The only place it was Saturday when this was posted is east Asia, of which China is a part.

[Asrialol]

The player who was suspended, Blitz something has released a statement and thanked Blizzard. He was being humble. Clearly he isn't outraged like you guys are, thus there's no reason for you to be.

[Darkeon]

This is like the epitome of the reddit hype. People sitting at their computers waiting for something exciting to happen. Forgetting that there is real people in Hong Kong, but the show must go on, because people need their entertainment.

I mean, have you seen those facial projectors and shit? It's amazing!

Besides, I'd probably look even worse if I was to walk out here in Portugal in hopes it would make a difference, instead of virtually cheering for these people!

[Spellweaver]

Composite screenshot of people from 4chan pointing out how the posting date of the "apology" is Oct 12th, which is not possible because it showed up on the 11th... except by the time it was posted it was Oct 12 in China.

Posts on the Blizzard website always use the GMT+0000 time zone. The posting date says Oct 12, because it was posted at 00:18:58 GMT+0000. You can check the exact posting time by hovering over the date:


So that kinda throws the whole "It was posted in China!" thing out of the window.

[Relapses]

Are you stupid?

I provided a screenshot of several people pointing out what you can plainly see in the original letter. Go look at it. It was posted Friday, Octover 11th but the date on it says October 12th.

Here, I'll do you work for you since you're clearly unable to comprehend simple tasks.

https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/bliz...ers-tournament

Date: October 12, 2019. The only place it was Saturday when this was posted is east Asia, of which China is a part.

It's a fucking date. A date. Who fucking knows what happened there. Some lazy ass intern forgot to update the official statement date, or some automated fucking program updated the date automatically... but no, because of a date suddenly the entire fucking internet is accusing Blizzard of being in bed with China. The whole situation is so ridiculously stupid but yet we have internet justice warriors like yourself pretending like you're saving the fucking planet from the safety of your keyboard because you parrot some bullshit conspiracy theory from 4chan.

Don't get me wrong, what China is doing is fucked but this is all stemmed from Blizzard enforcing a rule that existed to prevent this kind of shitstorm from ever happening in the first place.

- - - Updated - - -

Posts on the Blizzard website always use the GMT+0000 time zone. The posting date says Oct 12, because it was posted at 00:18:58 GMT+0000. You can check the exact posting time by hovering over the date:


So that kinda throws the whole "It was posted in China!" thing out of the window.

Yikes. Good catch.

[Darkeon]

Don't get me wrong, what China is doing is fucked but this is all stemmed from Blizzard enforcing a rule that existed to prevent this kind of shitstorm from ever happening in the first place.

There are multiple ways of dealing with specific situations. Even more ways of dealing with situations that monetarely connect one's public image to an authoritarian regime.

Their PR people should been expecting something like this.

At least in my opinion, it's not as much to do with what happened, but how it happened.
You can shove a finger in China's butt and sneak a lick or two. They didn't have to seemingly bury their face in it and then proceed to try to convince us that they didn't do it for it's taste.

[Punks]

The player who was suspended, Blitz something has released a statement and thanked Blizzard. He was being humble. Clearly he isn't outraged like you guys are, thus there's no reason for you to be.

You do know he was forced to say that right?

[Corroc]

You do know he was forced to say that right?

Of course he was. Its not like he did say similar thing right after the incident in twitter. He even had Q/A in twitch where he answered stuff but dont let that get in front of your opinions.

[shadowmatrix]

You do know he was forced to say that right?

He wasn't forced, to end the interview all he had to do was leave as many reporters covering American sports can attest to.

[grexly75]

You do know he was forced to say that right?

The only one who can tell you that is Blitzchung himself..

[Corroc]

https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone...ement/f3ftvkb/

Blitzchung talked about several other things in the Q&A as part of his stream. I was on mobile when I took notes so I didn't have the exact timestamp. Below are questions asked in Mandarin and Cantonese; I didn't take note of the questions asked and answered in English, and I have left out questions not so related to the topic, already explained or I didn't find intresting, because that was a great amount of questions.

I would also like to point out that Cantonese (or at least Hong Kong Cantonese) have many words imported from English, and during his Cantonese replys he used several English words. These words, however, tend to have a slightly different meaning than their English relatives. I kept them the way they were but made them italic so that you know the words are Cantonese rather than English.

Q: How do you feel about Chinese money controling the gaming companies?

A: Honestly I don't believe I'm in any place to judge. I am a player, not a "gaming company", so I have no idea what's actually going on behind the scenes. It would be unfair to talk about it (without having full knowledge).

Q: How do you think about blizzard's statement that their decisions have nothing to do with Chinese influence?

A: Again it's not for me to say. Only the decision-makers know if they are influenced, and commenting on it without having full knowledge is not fair.

Q: Does your statement mean you accept Blizzard's arrangement and apology?

A: Technically speaking it's more of an arrangement than an apology. I accept what they plan to do with the money, which was already explained in the statements. Blizzard called me and explained their decision thoroughly. I still think the ban was too harsh, but I'm happy to stay in the Grandmasters.

Q: Did Blizzard Taiwan call you or Did Blizzard headquarter?

A: Taiwan, because it would be inconvinient to call me from the US.

Q: Do you feel that you let the casters down? Have you apologized to them?

A: Yes, my biggest regret is that my actions brought the casters down. I have talked about it with ToMi (not quite sure how to spell his name in English, sorry) and also apologized to Mr.Yi.

Q: How do you feel about Kibler and Admirable supporting you?

A: I'd really like to thank both Kibler and Admirable for their support. Admirable even reached out to me and said some encouraging/kind words.

Q: Do you accept that Blizzard DQ'ed you based on "non-political reasons"? Will you accept the returned prize money? (note that DQ in Cantonese sometimes refers to a ban like in this case)

A: I have to think about that. (seconds later) I will accept the prize money. I've already talked about it. About the DQ, althought I'm still having emotions about it... yeah to be fair I did signed a contract when I agreed to play in the Grandmasters, and I did break the rules, so the punishments are acceptable.

Q: How do you feel about the American University players raising a free HK banner but was not banned in the tournaments?

A: To be fair I did sign a contract with a rule saying not to do such things when I agreed to play in the Grandmasters. I don't think the AU players signed a same contract to play in the university tournaments, so you can't compare the two things.

Q: How do you feel about the people deleting their accounts/ leaving their jobs/ wanting to protest in Blizzcon in support of you? (It was several different questions asked sperately but Blitzchung's answer was mainly the same so I put them together)

A: Well, I thank them for the support, but it wasn't what I would encourage. We can enjoy the game all we want. I mean even if you don't do it it's totally fine, for some people it's their livelihood. Also I was definitely not trying to damage Blizzard by my actions.

A: Also I really want to say one thing. I'm seeing a lot of people pushing streamers, players, casters, Blizzard employees etc to make a statement (regarding me). I want to make it clear that whether you play Blizzard games or not and whether you make a statement or not are completely your personal freedom. I don't think we should push people into anything. I also hope those who stayed neutral or silent won't be targeted by the crowd. Not that I don't appreciate your support but it's their freedom. I am against this "pushing others to speak up" thing. Even if one disagrees with you we have to respect each other. This is the fundamantal line of democracy.

[Punks]

The only one who can tell you that is Blitzchung himself..

Which he did.

[Yarathir]

"Hate train".

Oh no the poor corporation, disliked for bending over threefold for Chinese money, being hated on because- yes, indeed, they are bending over threefold for Chinese money, but they are victims.

[Velshin]

Players: Blizzcon 2018 is the worst ever!

Blizzard: "Hold my beer" Blizzcon 2019


Hahaha

I expect nothing less from the greedy Activision/Blizzard really.

And why Chris Metzen went silent mode? He usually defend and comment in his twitter account when it comes to Blizzard why he isn't defending anymore eh? eh?