Patch 9.1 Hotfixes - July 21, 2021, Activision Blizzard Sued By California

[Blizzard-ruined-DHs]

Incel gamers and defending sexual harassment, name a better combo.

Funniest of all are the people claiming it's "just rumors", like it isn't a 2 year long lawsuit. Oh well. I've always understood fanboys defending every bad game decision Blizzard has done the last 10 years or so, but making up a bunch of excuses for Blizzard shielding sexual harassers and predators is a new low I did not expect.

[justandulas]

The irony is they are probably one of the wokest companies in gaming

Meanwhile behind the scenes, all this is going on. Really ugly looking and digging into the lawsuit is really just sad on a few different levels

[uuuhname]

The irony is they are probably one of the wokest companies in gaming

woke in this case meaning slapping a gay pride flag on your merch and announcing a character is gay in order to deflect attention from their shitty behavior to something else. it's a marketing gimmick. nothing more.

[VanishO2]

I don't agree with witch hunts. People are going to point fingers all over the place because of this, it's just human nature.

One can certainly wonder if Morhaime and Metzen's departures were related to A) seeing Blizzard become a shell of its former self under Activision or B) getting out before they could be blamed for the garbage culture that took root and began to fester inside their company. Or both.

I want to believe it was purely A.

Was it Blizzard's rocket upward to hugenormity that did it? Hire scads of people to fill the ranks as your company so rapidly expands... suddenly you realize you hired a bunch of creeps, but now you're too dependent on them to let them go? Worse, they get good-boy points from higher ups installed by Activision, so they're doubly protected? Who knows. One can let speculation run rampant. Any way you slice it, there's been something rotten at Blizzard for a while now.

That a very good example of how witch hunts work. Now anyone that left the company before this will be considered guilty.

Even if everything points out at that person leaving the company because it's only a shell of it's former self (like them all founding companies exactly like the old Blizzard and working together again).

Should we say that Bungie left Activision before they were also mentioned on it?

[Geofferson]

I think this is the nail in the coffin for me. I cannot keep giving this company my sub money.

[VanishO2]

people on one hand saying fuck Blizz but also saying it's woke to treat women like human beings. gamers still wondering why people call them incels.

Because most think games are a waste of time and children's activity. Incel was the new trending word. Just like many other for comic fans, tv shows fans, sports fans, book fans, etc.

[Super Kami Dende]

The agency alleges male employees play video games during the workday while delegating responsibilities to female employees

Well I guess we found the reason why their games suck so much ass these days.

[VanishO2]

oh please,metzen was a walking talking frat boy stereotype

Why? His voice? His looks? His beard? Shades?

Way to go. Hope you don't get mad when people say "oh, she just looks like a <insert some derogatory term>".

[uuuhname]

Because most think games are a waste of time and children's activity. Incel was the new trending word. Just like many other for comic fans, tv shows fans, sports fans, book fans, etc.

no, pretty sure it has more to do with the way "gamers" themselves act more than the hobbies they choose to partake in. as I have seen across multiple threads on this exact subject.

[Shedaar]

"California Department of Fair Employment"

Government agencies often twist everything out of context to try and be as obnoxious as possible. Willing to bet most of the accusations are greatly exaggerated.

Even if most are exaggerated the issue still stands - would you like to be discriminated at work? In any way?

[justandulas]

woke in this case meaning slapping a gay pride flag on your merch and announcing a character is gay in order to deflect attention from their shitty behavior to something else. it's a marketing gimmick. nothing more.

i agree and have called them out on that before. I didn't dismiss the details of the case at all and called it pretty ugly because i kinda believe it's true.

[Super Kami Dende]

oh please,metzen was a walking talking frat boy stereotype

No he wasn't, he was the "Dude" stereotype. Laid back chill guy that People love. No one loves Frat boys.

[uuuhname]

i agree and have called them out on that before. I didn't dismiss the details of the case at all and called it pretty ugly because i kinda believe it's true.

yeaaaah... there have been rumblings of this for years now..

[Alicianna]

IF this proves to be true. They should get what they deserve… everybody!
But even for those people it innocent until proven otherwise. With all these claims of sexual harassment around, some dating back 10 years (e.g. Marilyn Mason). I‘m very careful what to believe. Remember: There have been at least 2 waves of Billzard employed getting fired. So, I guess there are quite a few miffed people out there… that could use some sort of compensation.
True: They have quite the list of wrongdoings there and if only a small part of that has really happend, it’s time for some punishment.
If all of that is true, the only way to save Blizzard is letting more heads roll that during the French Revolution.
But even with 30% Trumpsters around, the USA is still a country with a functional jurisdiction. So let them do the work and save the witch-hunt for later.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Color me shocked.

I have yet to work at a single male-dominated workplace that didn't have that sort of behaviour. And yes, it goes back to "the old guard", before people try to claim that it's a new thing at the company.

Puts Afrasiabis' sudden departure in a very different light, as well as how quick they were to fire Kael'thas' voice actor.

[MrLachyG]

Anyone know why the court filing speaks of "Crosby suite" and "Bill Crosby" instead of Cosby?

Also that teleporter thing and renown from Torghast are top tier QoL changes.

I wondered that too. maybe because they didn't want to use his actual name, I dunno?

[frebu]

Two things.

1. The Born Anew change exemplifies how Blizzard is ONLY focused on raiding/Mythic+, they destroyed a conduit because someone used it to get a numbers advantage they didn't want. Doesn't matter that the conduit is now not worth taking for anyone, they just had to make sure that people couldn't do new or interesting things with their skills.

2. Damn it Blizzard, if your going to push out garbage games and remakes the LEAST you could do is not have a toxic corporate culture that keeps reminding me why I shouldn't support you.....

[Kiivar86]

I wondered that too. maybe because they didn't want to use his actual name, I dunno?

It is either a typo or those they spoke to called it that and they're simply replicating it. However, I lean toward the former.

You'd be amazed at the amount of typos I've seen in legal documents. Even simple stuff like State.

[MrLachyG]

It is either a typo or those they spoke to called it that and they're simply replicating it. However, I lean toward the former.

You'd be amazed at the amount of typos I've seen in legal documents. Even simple stuff like State.

typo or not the inference is pretty bloody clear

[Clbull]

Well this would probably explain the serious decline in WoW game content. If the frat-boys within the Warcraft dev team were too busy playing CoD deathmatches, cube crawling around ladies' cubicles and engaging in all other kinds of degenerate behaviour instead of working on the game, it would easily explain why Blizz went from pushing out 8+ raids and 12+ dungeons during an expansion to a sliver of that in later releases.

They also probably ran out of women to delegate their work to because word gets around that workplaces become toxic.

Blizzard were once the games company that everybody looked up to and dreamed of working at. It's now a shell of what it once was and a mark of shame on everyone's resume.

This news just makes me livid.