Gods Unchained is paying for the player's winnings that Blizzard took away. https://twitter.com/GodsUnchained/status/1181487505180258304
Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments
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Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments
#732What actually happened in the interview? Is there somewhere we can watch it?
https://twitter.com/InvenGlobal/status/1180954142396710912
It's honestly not much. Goes to show how fragile the PRC's ego is.
Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments
#733Then 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…
Would you oppose firing of James Damore as well? Look I understand that we need to have free expression and free speech. Absolutely. But a business wants to protect itself from negative political reputation. If the gamer was talking about say LGBT rights, and his opinions were considered against the current acceptable position on the matter, and then he was banned, I am sure everyone would have applauded blizzard. Le…
> Let us not put burden of being politically correct on free market corporations.
They seem to have picked up the torch themselves on this one.
Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments
#734China is clearly up to no good, but I can't shake the feeling that there would be something off about allowing political soapboxing in apolitical events like this. Should people have a set list of political ideas to propagate at the end of every interview? "My deck was not strong enough in the end-game. And also legalize assault rifles and support the Kurds". I dunno.
Not allowing the expression of political opinions is a political act inspired by political opinion with political consequences.
There is no such thing as "apolitical", it is code for "supporting the status quo and agreeing with those currently holding power".
Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments
#735Our government paid good money to organize those HK protestors. The media has an obligation to cover it now.
Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments
#736Then 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…
>Blizzard is not responsible for what players say in interviews. In our society, it still matters that people can tolerate other opinions. I think Blizzard has a legitimate "time and place" argument here. They shouldn't regulate competitors speech across the board but I think it's reasonable to mandate that interviews associated with official events focus on Hearthstone and stay away from controversial topics. Of cou…
>I think Blizzard has a legitimate "time and place" argument here.
Blizzard pushed Pride hard when it suited them to do so. What is the proper time and place exactly?
It would seem that only certain political opinions are ok and those would be the type that won't hurt their bottom line.
Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments
#737Then 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…
Give me a break. When companies censor speech HN likes , it's all about how we have to boycott companies to preserve our society. When it's speech HN doesn't like , it's all about how censorship is actually good and that companies are just "showing people the door" via their freedom of association. People around here need to make up their minds. If you want to object to censorship, great. But if you do, you need to d…
I agree with this sentiment in the general.
I think people are just trying and failing to voice their actual feelings on the matter.
You could respect Blizzard's right to suspend the player for his opinion. And fully acknowledge that it is them showing him the door and all that.
You could also believe that Blizzard is on the wrong side in this conflict and withdraw your support based on that.
So you wouldn't be boycotting Blizzard for censorship so much as for supporting something you find wrong.
People complaining about "free speech" and "censorship" are complaining about the wrong thing here.
Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments
#738A lot of comments here seem to take as a given that banning any offensive speech in any forum leads inexorably to situations like this, where the "offensive speech" is political speech offensive to an authoritarian government. But this implies that it's impossible to distinguish between different kinds of "offensive" speech based on any meaningful criteria whatsoever, and this just seems to be fundamentally incorrect…
>The commenter in the first case is supporting a marginalized group; the commenter in the second is attacking one.
It's remarkable that you apparently can't even conceive of how someone could not believe one or both of these statements.
You really can't see how someone could believe China is 'marginalized'?
You really can't see how someone could believe American blacks are either not marginal, or are marginal due to their own collective choices and thus not morally supreme?
Even going beyond these, you can't conceive of a morality or worldview where being 'marginalized' doesn't give one automatic, universal moral supremacy over everyone else. Try a worldview where loyalty to family and nation come first - ever heard of that? Or a achievement-oriented worldview, where doing great things is the goal instead of try to seek 'equity' for every group. Or even just a rationalist worldview, where differnet gender, race, national, ethnic, culture groups have characteristics that lead to their outcomes and it's not a giant moral equation you have to spend your life balancing because it's inevitable.
This is the problem with western discourse today. You're so deep in your left-bubble you can't even conceive of other viewpoints, so every conclusion of yours seems obvious and incontrovertible, so you must conclude anyone who disagrees is simply evil.
Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments
#739As I recall, Blizzard decided to remove skeletons and some other things from World of Warcraft years ago in order to enter the Chinese market.
Removing/changing artistic depictions because they have unintended meaning in a different cultural context is one thing.
Cutting LGBT characters and banning people who criticize the regime is entirely different.
Re: Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments
#740Earlier quoted context omitted.
American video games? What about American companies that have factories there or other presence there? Hello Apple! Hello Tesla! Hello Google. Blizzard has been bending over backwards for some time with regards to China but this is the first time I remember them taking action against someone who does not work for them. the simple matter is, you cannot pick and choose, all the companies must be shamed into not bending…
Google is blocked in China for refusing to censor what China wants. Bing works in China.
China will consider it a favor if you block your own "offensive" company from the Chinese market.