Live data from Hacker News

Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments

playhearthstone.com

461–470 of 1001 posts

Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments

#461

It's really hard to tell the difference between what is genuinely offensive and what is not. No easy answers. In this case, maybe there is a relatively simple rule: Supporting democracy must not in itself be regarded as offensive...

I think perhaps the more important point is that one should not be prevented from voicing an offensive opinion. If you look very hard in an extremely boring place, e.g. a phone directory, you might just by chance perhaps find something that won't be offensive to anyone on this Earth. Outside of contrived scenarios, the moment we let "being offended" be the watermark of censoring ideas, we might as well pack up the id…

My mind wonders if you’re going to go to bat for American employees that have been fired by American companies in America for what they say on social media?

Or say do something real about kids in cages in America?

This forum is nothing but the same as the rest of America: whole lot of bragging about our exceptionalism, whole lot of half assing the real work of engaging the political machine.

Here you are: looking to boycott a game company from the comfort of your armchair. Not protesting the expropriation of others land for a wall and a pipeline, or kids in cages in your country.

I have no respect for any of the political positions on this forum cause in my view they’re emotional masturbation alone and lack any real will and ability.

As an American of 40 years, having built and sold companies, pretty experienced in seeing Americans talk a huge game, and act like spoiled, lazy, clueless rubes when it comes to actually doing the work.

Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments

#463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's really hard to tell the difference between what is genuinely offensive and what is not. You can't have both "Free Speech" and "You Can't Say Anything Offensive" at the same time, because there is too much overlap. So you have to choose. The US constitution is pretty clear that "Free Speech" is the higher principle.

> The US constitution is pretty clear that "Free Speech" is the higher principle. No, the US Constitution doesn't even purport to set out social priorities outside of the relations between the government of the US and it's people. You might believe that free speech is an important principle outside of that context, but (even if dead guys once wrote it in a document was a valid argument for a set of social priorities)…

> the Constitution of the United States doesn't make that claim > the US Constitution doesn't even purport to set out social priorities outside of the relations between the government of the US and it's people.

I disagree. The fact that the US Constitution deals with a specific relationship between government and individual is incidental to the implicit claim. The US society therein is governed (for whatever it's worth) by the "priorities" and principles within that constitution. This is what marks the confusion. I agree there is a legal distinction between the principles and law. The principles remain.

Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments

#464
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could but everybody uses version pinning in production, right?

If only npm's version pinning actually version pinned without idiotic subrules. package-lock.json is just one massive lie.

What do you mean?

Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments

#465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To that end, I've started a list on github https://github.com/caffeine-overload/bandinchina

Would "having links to the chinese government" make the cut for this list? because if so, you can add Tencent, and by extension Epic games, Reddit and Riot games.

Who can't you add to that list, though? According to the Financial Times, Tencent alone has board seats on more than 400 companies.

Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments

#467
What I find most interesting about this is their corporate mission: https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/mission.html

"Every voice MATTERS Great ideas can come from anywhere. Blizzard Entertainment is what it is today because of the voices of our players"

Maybe time for an update?

Edit: They have a statue in front of their office: https://i.imgur.com/5PJxrZr.jpg

Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments

#468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is hard to tell, that is true. And that reality is exploited to silence opposition and control others. That’s why language policing, hate speech laws, Twitter mobs, and bully-the-bully efforts are abominations. So really, the answer is easy: everyone has the right to offend, and has no right not to be offended. Your simple rule doesn’t go far enough.

Hate-speech laws exist because people are programmable. Try and tell me your opinions are your own and the books and media you consume do not own some portion of them. Hate-speech laws exist to prevent the programming of people to systematically hate and exterminate other people, a lesson that has been learned many times over in history.

If hate-speech laws exist to deal with people that are programmed, wouldn't it also follow that hate-speech laws might exist because programmed people want to control the speech of others?

It would go like this: hate speech is first yelling fire in a theater, then it's espousing bigotry, then it's holding the wrong opinions, until it's finally speaking ill of the Party. That's also a lesson that has been learned many times over in history.

Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments

#469
post #139

Then we have to boycott Hearthstone. While the current case is neither surprising nor substantially important, it is important because of principle. Blizzard is not responsible for what players say in interviews. In our society, it still matters that people can tolerate other opinions. The Chinese government tries to make it a new normal that entire people can have their "feelings hurt" (what?) by mere non-insulting…

So far I've noticed: 1> New Top Gun Movie removed a patch on Tom Cruises jacketdue to Chinese funding. 2> NBA issued an apology for an owner showing Hong Kong support and China stopped NBA broadcasts. 3> Blizzard 4> Apple Hides Taiwans Flag emoji Sounds trivial but they're the tip of the iceberg for censoring freedom of expression based on a DICTATOR's whim. Xi "Winnie The Poop" is an autocrat and once he sealed his…

CCTV just banned the NBA because Adam Silver defended Morey's free speech and refused to punish him.

Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments

#470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What factories? Everyone already has or currently is moving manufacturing operations from China to Viet Nam or India. 5 more years and the only factories China will have are going to be domestic.

If we're going to repeat the same cycle with Vietnam and India, we'd do well to encourage democracy this go-around. If we elevate authoritarian countries to our level, democracy may be in for a rough future. We should be learning a lot from the China situation. Modern China proves that authoritarian capitalism works and that you don't need freedom or liberty for your citizens. And that's incredibly scary. Imagine if…

India actually has a functioning democracy. Many Indian intellectuals are unhappy with their current PM, but plenty of American intellectuals are unhappy with their president, and America will still have an election next year (the point being, the system still works even if your favorite person doesn't get elected, which is stronger evidence of systemic health than the system working when your favorite person does get elected). I have a lot of hope for their future. Vietnam is controlled by a one-party system, but even they are not as bad as China. (They may become as bad as China, but at least it's another roll of the dice, or for the people who live there another chance to act.)
Post reply on HN