J. Allen Brack's Internal Email, Warcraft III: Reforged Production Backstory

[Al Gorefiend]

"oh no we didn't mean for this internal email delving deep into my feelings and moral conscious to be shared publically teehee"

[Biglog]

Here's the problem, actions speak far louder than words. A big f off to high-level managers who either knew it was going on and did nothing until now, or are so incompetent that they weren't aware that such a widespread and severe problem in the office was going on (which I don't believe for 1 second). Complete BS and 100% PR move. I find it inconceivable that they didn't know about the drunk cubicle crawls in their office just to name 1. Any one of these events should have already spurred major HR training ages ago, not we'll do nothing until it's so bad we're sued by the state and then act surprised.

New World looks great...

[Vinictus]

The real question is, will we get more content for WC:3 then?

[Ringthane]

If it really goes without saying, you don't need to say it. This is just somebody's lawyer saying "you really need to send out a CYA email so that we can point to it and show how on top of this we are".

[macphistofly]

This is almost as good a nonpology as the one for suspending a player for supporting free Hong Kong during a Hearthstone tournament because China didn't like it.

[FelPlague]

he's probably the one who leaked this btw.

there would be atleast 10,000 people who would have gotten this email... to think he leaked it himself is pretty sad mate, almost as sad as the email itself.

[ablib]

My god. I think I lost what respect I had for J after that Gloria Steinem BS.

What. The. Fuck....

[|Dexter|]

Why Ion? Was he named in anything or is it just a general dislike of him? Brack certainly, and Danuser I honestly wouldn't be surprised. But why Ion? Or is it just one of those don't him so want him to go things? I mean I don't like Danuser, but if he's not guilty of anything I don't want him to just get fired.



"But how can I make this about me?" That's what I think when I read posts like this. If you really feel like stopping playing games that you've already paid for is going to help, I mean go for it but I disagree. If you think canceling your WoW sub is going to help, go for it, but I don't think it sends the message that you want it to, and it's going to hurt the average employees who are the victims here more than it's going to hurt any of the people at the top. I'm not telling you how to direct your morals, if you feel like quitting is the best way to send your message then go for it, I'm just saying that I personally disagree. For me, I'm not doing that. I'm encouraging them to change, I'm encouraging them to fire the abusers and fix the glaring issues, and I'm personally hoping that they also get the shit fined out of them. For me, personally, I think that swapping them out for some other Dev is just swapping a company that got caught for one that hasn't gotten caught yet because this kind of thing is rampant in the gaming and other tech industries sadly.

I also disagree about Blizzard not being what it once was because as was pointed out some of these allegations are from more than a decade ago. This is what Blizzard always was, and the problem with Blizzard quality is that Blizzard didn't change. It's the same Blizzard that releases games that are broken and imbalanced and does hamfisted fixes that they were back in the WarCraft 3 days, or the Original WoW days, or StarCraft even. The only difference is that now they actually have decent competition in areas where they used to be dominant and so the sloppiness of Blizzard's approach to a lot of things is just glaring. PoE for example really shone a bright light on the flaws of D3, there have been a couple MMOs that have shown that WoW could definitely be better, Riot (and Valve I guess) outdid them in the MOBA market, and the RTS genre just kind of died.

Instead of just copying successful features from other games they should have copied better content release cycles. :P Hopefully what comes from this is new better management and a better healthier workplace and a metric fuckton of fines.

Ion Hazzikostas, alias "Watcher", is the Game Director of World of Warcraft seems part of his job would include the welfare and happiness of his warcraft teams, like history, show that all this impact development! This news is leadership fails on all levels, he most likely knew what was going on and didn't do anything about it... and not being named doesn't mean he was not part of it... also the 2nd part about promotions, he got one sit on the table on those, sure more details will come this is only the start it will get much worst for Blizzard after this! He likely will lose his job over this in the long term, depending on how the case goes for Blizzard they may have to kick out some people, I wouldn't want to be one of Blizzard's higher-ups right now!

Also that "the average employees who are the victims" is so true right now because they are the ones that got paid like crap and are treated badly and if their skin is not white or if they are not males... well don't count on any promotion anytime soon! This case is helping those average employees fight back and force Blizzard to do some real changes hey maybe even promote something that is not white or male that deserves it for years?!

And yes Quitting is one way to show Blizzard that you no longer support them, they are all about numbers they really do not care what you do in-game just that you are active

[Al Gorefiend]

This takes me back to all the BS about the April fool's joke for the new female draenei model being nothing but unappealing traits in a woman.

[GreenJesus]

Lol the reverand saint part.

So... is Blizzard ever going to fix Warcraft 3 reforged or are they just leaving their legacy game like this?

[McNeil]

I had a bad feeling about Brack the moment he went ''you think you do but you don't''. Nothing good has come out of him since he took over Blizzard.

All this behind the scenes stuff about WC3:R is not surprising in the slightest. I very much doubt that they will work on it now.

[Knight Meta]

I love the ignorance at display here. Not only do people make it sound like Jay should be able to keep over 9500 people on a single leash but with the speaks of Boycotting rising as well it's just going to add up to a massive blow for people who actually did nothing wrong. (And no that is not me saying anyone has done something wrong as Fran herself is clearly disapproving of this claim and so far it still mostly is that; Claims without hard-given-evidence)

ActiBlizz can't win this and will be forced to pay a sum; that added with people boycotting will just lead to good minded people working at ActiBlizz being negatively impacted as a result of the substantial amount of money which will go down the drain of compensation.

"Yes, we had justice happen for like 10 people" - Ignoring the potential hundreds if not more which will face negative backlash from it despite not being involved at all.

[Kralljin]

Ion Hazzikostas, alias "Watcher", is the Game Director of World of Warcraft seems part of his job would include the welfare and happiness of his warcraft teams, like history, show that all this impact development!

One can argue about whether Ion holds any responsibility, but also realize that there's one guy above him when it comes to WoW: John Hight, the Executive Producer.

If anything, the chain goes like
Brack - Hight - Ion

So unless Ion was directly implicated in any case of harassment / discrimination, it's unlikely that his head will roll without Brack or Hight losing theirs as well.

[Gadzooks]

it's entirely possible that activision blizzard will settle the case but i really hope california doesn't accept any settlement. a message needs to be sent to these companies. a settlement says "as long as you pay us for it, we don't care what you do to your employees".

Blizzard was given an opportunity to settle earlier this month, as stated in the filing. They failed to come to an agreement.

If you read the filing - which very few have - the state lays out what it wants at the end - reparations, statements of admission in court so injunctive relief can be sought if more activities like this are uncovered, etc. It's pretty far reaching, including paying out to women who claimed they were paid less or passed over for promotion, or laid off, and not only getting the missing salary, but pension money as well if the court determines it as a reward. (Those who claim the state is doing this to make money are clueless, the state isn't asking for penalties and fines, they're asking for money to be paid to Blizzard employees and ex-employees.)

Most likely ATVI will settle somewhere in the middle, cut some large checks, and attempt to move on.

This case, if it's not settled, will go on for years. Just discovery for a case this large could stretch into 2022, 2023. I would bet ATVI will look at a lawsuit costing millions upon millions, with a real chance of losing, and being drug through the mud for years when testimony actually starts, vs settling, taking the financial hit, allowing the State's nose into the tent further, and getting back to making money.

The issue to me is, the state is suing over Blizzard not doing enough, after the initial complaint being filed in 2018, and Blizzard saying they've done enough, since then. I do have concerns that the State included the woman who took her own life and Afrasiabi as salacious elements that would get press - which has happened - and might be a tactic to pressure ATVI to settle. Or, they honestly think Blizzard still has the environment they describe going on, and think a suit is justified. It might be true that Blizzard has shut down some of the behavior that's described in the suit, but comments by current and former employees making comments that they're not surprised by this suit are telling.

I'll be honest, J Allen's response was tepid, weak, and sounds more like "No, seriously, guys, stop talking about your coworkers boobs, I mean it this time!" - I've always felt J Allen was weak, and a lot of the company's failures are a result of his not being able to herd the teams effectively, and there may be a "hands off" informal policy over their bread and butter team, Team 2, who make all the money for the company. And I'm curious if drinking is still allowed in the office, because it sounds like Team 2 was living a Mad Men dream over there, getting drunk at work and sleeping with all of the secretaries. But that's speculation on my part.

Townsend's response was pure corporation speak, reviewed and approved by the legal team. This is Blizzard's stance - "Oh, that stuff might have happened in the past, but who cares, it's old news, we don't do that anymore." Yeah, but it did happen, Ms. Townsend, maybe not in every case, and those impacted deserve their day in court. Your response was very Hillary Clintonesque, "At this point, what does that even matter?" level of hand waving away an issue. It's filthy, to be honest.

I'm picking sides - both sides are acting in bad faith. I think there's truth on both sides, and lies, distortion and bullshit on each side as well. I already chose to not purchase Blizzard products long before this, over quality issues, so I won't be burdened with having to make moral and ethical decisions on wether to play a frigging video game or not.

[bloodykiller86]

considering it happened under his watch, he should totally have to face the fire

This happened more under morhimes watch than JABs, been going on since the beginning og WoW it seems like way before Activision

[muto]

You know when they say it's better to say nothing than say anything at all. Yeah this is one of those examples. I do understand it would look worse if he didn't say something as head of the company, but this was a huge yikes.

[GreenJesus]

You know incredibly unpopular and hated companies still make lots of money, right?

Blizzard wasn't even able to do a remaster of a 20 year old game properly without it being a complete and utter failure from management and dedication of resources. You really think they are going to be industry leaders in the future? I sold my 5 shares today and took my 1.7x. I'm out. I see no future for the company.

[Doffen]

The community doesn't like them

Bold statement.

[MoanaLisa]

One can argue about whether Ion holds any responsibility, but also realize that there's one guy above him when it comes to WoW: John Hight, the Executive Producer.

If anything, the chain goes like
Brack - Hight - Ion

So unless Ion was directly implicated in any case of harassment / discrimination, it's unlikely that his head will roll without Brack or Hight losing theirs as well.

You might as well add another level to that: Team supervisors who I'm quite sure were aware of what was going on with individual members of their teams. If any heads are to roll, it's likely to be at that level.

[crusadernero]

Why Ion? Was he named in anything or is it just a general dislike of him? Brack certainly, and Danuser I honestly wouldn't be surprised. But why Ion? Or is it just one of those don't him so want him to go things? I mean I don't like Danuser, but if he's not guilty of anything I don't want him to just get fired.



"But how can I make this about me?" That's what I think when I read posts like this. If you really feel like stopping playing games that you've already paid for is going to help, I mean go for it but I disagree. If you think canceling your WoW sub is going to help, go for it, but I don't think it sends the message that you want it to, and it's going to hurt the average employees who are the victims here more than it's going to hurt any of the people at the top. I'm not telling you how to direct your morals, if you feel like quitting is the best way to send your message then go for it, I'm just saying that I personally disagree. For me, I'm not doing that. I'm encouraging them to change, I'm encouraging them to fire the abusers and fix the glaring issues, and I'm personally hoping that they also get the shit fined out of them. For me, personally, I think that swapping them out for some other Dev is just swapping a company that got caught for one that hasn't gotten caught yet because this kind of thing is rampant in the gaming and other tech industries sadly.

I also disagree about Blizzard not being what it once was because as was pointed out some of these allegations are from more than a decade ago. This is what Blizzard always was, and the problem with Blizzard quality is that Blizzard didn't change. It's the same Blizzard that releases games that are broken and imbalanced and does hamfisted fixes that they were back in the WarCraft 3 days, or the Original WoW days, or StarCraft even. The only difference is that now they actually have decent competition in areas where they used to be dominant and so the sloppiness of Blizzard's approach to a lot of things is just glaring. PoE for example really shone a bright light on the flaws of D3, there have been a couple MMOs that have shown that WoW could definitely be better, Riot (and Valve I guess) outdid them in the MOBA market, and the RTS genre just kind of died.

Instead of just copying successful features from other games they should have copied better content release cycles. :P Hopefully what comes from this is new better management and a better healthier workplace and a metric fuckton of fines.

How can it not be about me? what can I do with this situation besides deciding enough is enough and stop playing the games they have in the launcher? What else can I do in this situation than decide not to spend money on Blizzard related products?

Yes of course all of this got nothing to do with me at all. My opinion and my actions means little in the overall picture here, but it matters to me on a personal level. I cant do anything about how Blizzard wants to operate as a company.

Your argument about staying subbed and/or use money on blizzard products cause you care about the employees is a cheap one. ActiBlizz has proved time and time again that they dont give a shit about the employees well being for several years, and instead focuses on maximum profits at the top. instead of actually putting money, time and effort into the employees, they take out record profits on a yearly basis while firing people and as it turns out, having a shit workplace while doing nothing about it. People have poured money into this company for years, while they treat the workers as shit. So us giving them money doesnt really matter at all.

If Blizzard actually does change it up and decides to clear up on all of this, while making great games, i'll return and spend my money. Thats a choice I get to do, even though this case got nothing to do at all with me.