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Blizzard's Weibo Account Just Posted an Apology To China

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Re: Blizzard's Weibo Account Just Posted an Apology To China

#41

Post by WilTimSon »

Gaming companies have messed up and lost gamers' trust in so many different ways: predatory microtransactions, oodles of crappy DLC, half-finished products being shipped with huge Day 1 patches, etc. But all those were directly related to the industry and could at least be bounced back from if the company removed transactions/made meaningful DLC/improved the state of their games in the future.

How the hell do you bounce back from this? "Oh, sorry, player base, we didn't mean to support a totalitarian regime that slaughtered innocents and suppresses free speech. Have a cool skin!" ... That's exactly how they're going to bounce back, isn't it?

Re: Blizzard's Weibo Account Just Posted an Apology To China

#42

Post by ineedasername »

I'm trying to think of ways to stop this, but I can't think of any good way.

1) I simply don't think it's feasible to expect that companies themselves will band together and say "we won't accede to such demands."

2) Countries like the US that have better free speech protection could pass laws requiring US companies to comply with the freedom granted in the US. So a company could not impose punitive measures on a user, or self censor, for something legal within the US. But then I think of all of the varieties of harassment & hate speech that could get through.

Re: Blizzard's Weibo Account Just Posted an Apology To China

#43

Post by deogeo »

jonathanlydall wrote: post #39

When I did customer service at Blizzard Europe back around 2010 one of my immediate colleagues who could speak Chinese and English was involved in the re-launch of WoW in China. They explained that non-Chinese companies were not allowed to operate in China. What Blizzard had done was essentially a partnership, but legally they gave rights to a Chinese company to operate/use their IP in China. I suspect this is the sa…

> They explained that non-Chinese companies were not allowed to operate in China.

I still find it fascinating how no-one was screaming "trade war!" at such terms. Yet respond to them with a few tariffs..

Re: Blizzard's Weibo Account Just Posted an Apology To China

#44

Post by nordsieck »

opportune wrote: post #3
Someone1234 wrote: post #2

If that's real, that's a surprisingly bad PR move from Blizzard. I understand this was targeted at a Chinese audience (since Weibo) but they must have known this would get back to their English speaking audience almost immediately. There has to be a better balance then "We will always respect and defend the pride of our country" (even if that is a slight mistranslation).

There is a good chance it was not authorized by HQ and might be some China-specific PR division acting autonomously. I have a feeling blizzard just wants this problem to go away, otherwise people are going to turn blizzcon 2019 into a shitshow

> There is a good chance it was not authorized by HQ and might be some China-specific PR division acting autonomously.

I'm not sure why that should matter.

Either the company immediately disavows the "rogue" statement, or everyone (including employees) will see it as an official statement.

Re: Blizzard's Weibo Account Just Posted an Apology To China

#45

Post by _bxg1 »

loceng wrote: post #25
Someone1234 wrote: post #2

If that's real, that's a surprisingly bad PR move from Blizzard. I understand this was targeted at a Chinese audience (since Weibo) but they must have known this would get back to their English speaking audience almost immediately. There has to be a better balance then "We will always respect and defend the pride of our country" (even if that is a slight mistranslation).

Indeed - did Blizzard staff post this willingly or was this posted on Blizzard's Weibo account via Weibo staff or even someone else who followed an order? They certainly want to make the Blizzard game fans fall in line thinking Blizzard is aligning with China's tyrants' orders.

The motive wouldn't make any sense. Why would the CCP go out of its way to save face for an American company that offended it?

Re: Blizzard's Weibo Account Just Posted an Apology To China

#46

Post by secraetomani »

WilTimSon wrote: post #41

Gaming companies have messed up and lost gamers' trust in so many different ways: predatory microtransactions, oodles of crappy DLC, half-finished products being shipped with huge Day 1 patches, etc. But all those were directly related to the industry and could at least be bounced back from if the company removed transactions/made meaningful DLC/improved the state of their games in the future. How the hell do you bou…

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, can I get to pick the skin? Thank you so much...

Re: Blizzard's Weibo Account Just Posted an Apology To China

#47

Post by gmueckl »

ineedasername wrote: post #42

I'm trying to think of ways to stop this, but I can't think of any good way. 1) I simply don't think it's feasible to expect that companies themselves will band together and say "we won't accede to such demands." 2) Countries like the US that have better free speech protection could pass laws requiring US companies to comply with the freedom granted in the US. So a company could not impose punitive measures on a user…

If such a law would be made, US companies would be effectively required to isolate their US user base from the rest of the world. Things that can legally be said in the US can easily be illegal in other countries that value free speech. EU countries tend to take a fimer stance on personal attacks, for example.

Re: Blizzard's Weibo Account Just Posted an Apology To China

#48

Post by _bxg1 »

ineedasername wrote: post #42

I'm trying to think of ways to stop this, but I can't think of any good way. 1) I simply don't think it's feasible to expect that companies themselves will band together and say "we won't accede to such demands." 2) Countries like the US that have better free speech protection could pass laws requiring US companies to comply with the freedom granted in the US. So a company could not impose punitive measures on a user…

3) Continue to tarrif economic relations with China, or even cut them off entirely.

4) Individuals signal to companies, via their spending habits, what they won't put up with.

Re: Blizzard's Weibo Account Just Posted an Apology To China

#49

Post by apotheon »

rubinelli wrote: post #6
opportune wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a good chance it was not authorized by HQ and might be some China-specific PR division acting autonomously. I have a feeling blizzard just wants this problem to go away, otherwise people are going to turn blizzcon 2019 into a shitshow

Redditors are already talking about going in Rockets gear and Winnie the Pooh shirts.

It would probably be more meaningful to cancel registration, and maybe even picket the place wearing that stuff (or at least post photos of wearing that gear on social media announcing they cancelled their registrations for the convention).

Re: Blizzard's Weibo Account Just Posted an Apology To China

#50

Post by jonathanlydall »

stephc_int13 wrote: post #8

Big corporations doing big business in market too big to be ignored... Still, I think they should grow some balls. Acting like this now mean it will be worse in the future.

See my other comment, but my suspicion is that Blizzard itself is not making these decisions, but rather it’s the Chinese company that has licensed Blizzard’s IP for use in China.

However, even if my theory is correct, I suppose one could argue that Blizzard is complicit by choosing profits over terminating the business arrangement, but, maybe that’s legally challenging.

I don’t know the real story, but I think the situation is a lot more complicated than it appears.

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