Fallout from Blizzard Hong Kong Incident • Hacker News Board

Re: Fallout from Blizzard Hong Kong Incident

#311

Post by 556343throwaway » Wed, Oct 09, 2019, 6:23 PM UTC

heyyyouu wrote: post #35

What is really interesting about this is how completely and utterly horrible a job Blizzard did in anticipating and preparing this very obvious possibility, and thus is so poorly handling every single aspect of this.This so obviously was likely to happen that it easily could have been anticipated and planned for to be dealt with in a much, much more professional way, and yet clearly they didn't, and it's beyond inexc…

> How they've (mis)handled this will be studied by business and PR students for years to come.

It really depends on their goal. Reading the Chinese gaming forums, everyone is praising Blizzard for their “fair” stance and saying they will spend more on them.

So if this actually helps their bottom line, Blizzard’s actions could be studied as a master stoke on how to deal with geopolitical PR.

Re: Fallout from Blizzard Hong Kong Incident

#312

Post by Knove1 » Wed, Oct 09, 2019, 6:24 PM UTC

nkurz wrote: post #256

Knove wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe what I mean is not clear enough. I imagine that a star, just a few days after 9/11, openly declared that 9/11 was a great recovery movement.

I don't think people understand what you mean by "recovery moment". At least in American English, it's not a standard phrase. Personally, I've never heard it before. Maybe you could try an alternate phrasing?

Great National Renaissance Movement

Re: Fallout from Blizzard Hong Kong Incident

#313

Post by tptacek » Wed, Oct 09, 2019, 6:27 PM UTC

godot wrote: post #281

Knove wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe what I mean is not clear enough. I imagine that a star, just a few days after 9/11, openly declared that 9/11 was a great recovery movement.

You're being downvoted (and rightfully, I believe), but you do sound genuine (so far at least), so let me speak a little bit more and hope your mind might change even just a little bit. First, as pvg said, a massive protest is not analogous to 9/11. But, let's put even that aside for a moment, and pretend that they are analogous. The more proper analogy is this: Pretend that after 9/11, a Malaysian singer working for…

.

Re: Fallout from Blizzard Hong Kong Incident

#314

Post by Knove1 » Wed, Oct 09, 2019, 6:28 PM UTC

yongjik wrote: post #286

Knove wrote: post #177

First, I introduce myself. I am a Chinese, an ordinary citizen. I want to express my view rationally: the so-called repression of speech, freedom of speech, that also scores what freedom of speech, Hong Kong incident involves national dignity, just as the United States don't want 911 to be supported by some people (example: Imagine a well-known person, just days after 911, publicly declaring that 911 was a Great Nati…

I guess we're talking past each other, but 9/11 is a singularly bad example. It was an attack , on the US soil, by a foreign force. It was the one thing that made Americans united against "the enemy", whether real or perceived, and of course it was co-opted by American politicians to fuel nationalism. If some foreign terrorist blows up a building in Beijing, do you think China would want other nations to stop talking…

Normal talks are certainly okay, but if they are supportive of terrorists, then the state will surely protest.

Re: Fallout from Blizzard Hong Kong Incident

#315

Post by SolaceQuantum » Wed, Oct 09, 2019, 6:28 PM UTC

bilbo0s wrote: post #151

jessaustin wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does this "outrage machine" affect the actions of the Chinese government? If people get outraged enough, will they vote against the communist party?

No, because the government generally puts on a big show to satisfy the outrage machines if the machines red line on a given subject for too long. Nothing and no one is safe. The outrage machines demand blood, then just like in the US, those in power will give the outrage machines blood. They will jail, and have even been known to execute, any political or business leader if an "outrage machine" revs about the guy for…

"They will jail, and have even been known to execute, any political or business leader if an "outrage machine" revs about the guy for too long."

Wait, when did the US kill a political or business leader because of social media pressure?

Re: Fallout from Blizzard Hong Kong Incident

#316

Post by rapsey » Wed, Oct 09, 2019, 6:28 PM UTC

sushid wrote: post #297

rapsey wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How they've (mis)handled this will be studied by business and PR students for years to come. I doubt it. The internet has a very short attention span and online activism is pretty much useless.

Really? “Online activism” is how Trump got elected. It also raised millions for ALS many years ago despite all the naysayers claiming it’ll do nothing.

This kind of online backlash activism is useless.

Re: Fallout from Blizzard Hong Kong Incident

#317

Post by redisman » Wed, Oct 09, 2019, 6:29 PM UTC

benologist wrote: post #165

Dumblydorr wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blizzard has been on a downward spiral for years. They still have awesome teams releasing and maintaining awesome games, (thank you for custom colors in SC Remastered!), but by and large their direction has been towards EA and away from their true fans.

This is because their name is not Blizzard. Their legacy is Blizzard. Their name is Activision Blizzard. They are actively opposed to players' interests in many ways, like lootboxes which many countries seek to outlaw for teaching children to gamble, always-online DRM etc.

Metzen is out, Morhaime is out. Really the soul of the company has departed already. They still have some of the best talent in the industry but the products are not going to be what we used to love anymore. Makes me sad as I've supported them from Warcraft I and Diablo I until about last year (when they killed the competitive scene for HOTS with very little warning).

Re: Fallout from Blizzard Hong Kong Incident

#318

Post by dirtyid » Wed, Oct 09, 2019, 6:30 PM UTC

shkkmo wrote: post #301

dirtyid wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But how do they justify this when their personal economic well-being requires trampling the freedom of other people? There are 3 great evils in China: terrorism, separatism and extremism. HK/Tibet/XinJiang/Taiwan are not economic issues but security ones. People balance prosperity for security everywhere. The west sees HK as a large pro democracy movement, the Chinese see's this as fringe separatist violence by 0.00…

In what way does pretending Taiwan does not exist improve China's security?

The physical island is a huge geopolitical asset or security risk. See island chain strategy. Also look up elevation map of Taiwan + Taiwan straight. Chinese coast is very shallow and hard to hide Chinese subs, whereas east Taiwan drops straight into deep water which enables China to hide subs which is important in controlling regional waters against US Navy. Regardless, the Chinese military planning certainly doesn't pretend the land isn't there. The government (from both sides) just doesn't recognize each others sovereignty.

Re: Fallout from Blizzard Hong Kong Incident

#319

Post by dvt » Wed, Oct 09, 2019, 6:30 PM UTC

yellowapple wrote: post #309

dvt wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Side note: what's going on HN lately with all this pun/troll/meme nonsense? Please leave that stuff on reddit.

Side note: what's going on with people believing reddit has some monopoly on puns/trolls/memes and that hacker-types (like the folks who presumably frequent Hacker News) would never find them amusing?

I visit HN because it provides more or less serious and intellectually-stimulating conversation with a diverse group of people that have diverse (and sometimes opposing) viewpoints. It's not that funny stuff isn't amusing, it's that it's counter to what HN might be trying to achieve.

Re: Fallout from Blizzard Hong Kong Incident

#320

Post by jrockway » Wed, Oct 09, 2019, 6:32 PM UTC

rapsey wrote: post #260

heyyyouu wrote: post #35

What is really interesting about this is how completely and utterly horrible a job Blizzard did in anticipating and preparing this very obvious possibility, and thus is so poorly handling every single aspect of this.This so obviously was likely to happen that it easily could have been anticipated and planned for to be dealt with in a much, much more professional way, and yet clearly they didn't, and it's beyond inexc…

> How they've (mis)handled this will be studied by business and PR students for years to come. I doubt it. The internet has a very short attention span and online activism is pretty much useless.

That was my thought yesterday when I saw one post on Reddit. But I think things are different this time. Every post to every Blizzard-related subreddit is related to this event. One of the top posts on /r/all is about using an Overwatch character to represent the Hong Kong protests, and it's gaining traction. The NYT and WSJ have articles about the situation. Congresspeople are making statements about it. Streamers that normally play Blizzard games aren't. Designers of Blizzard games are deleting their accounts. Brian Kibler quit his job as a Grandmasters caster.

This has exploded from "a random employee in our China office posted to our blog and social media and the die-hards are mildly upset" to an existential threat. It's a disaster. (Oh what I would give to see those meetings and emails.)

Remember that only 12% of Activision Blizzard's revenue comes from Asia/Pacific, with South Korea a notable member of that group of countries. China isn't actually a big deal for them right now. Although there is huge growth potential there; 1.4 billion potential Blizzard gamers... now might be the best time to walk back, see what happens, and capture that market later. They can afford to.