Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament • Hacker News Board

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#61

Post by larkeith » Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 2:29 AM UTC

taneq wrote: post #49

mullingitover wrote: post #41

Command + f "sorry": 0 results Command + f "mistake": 0 results Command + f "apologize": 0 results They still aren't listening to a PR expert, and this is only going to throw gasoline on the fire. This blog post [1] counseling Burning Man back in their dumpster fire of pain when they switched to a lottery system is very instructional, Blizzard should be following it to the letter if they intend to get out of this hol…

> They still aren't listening to a PR expert, and this is only going to throw gasoline on the fire. Of course, if they had listened to a PR expert and written a first-rate apology letter, then we'd be calling them out as insincere and saying it was just PR fluff, a la the StackExchange letter recently.

Still, even an insincere apology has a far better taste than none at all.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#62

Post by dkural » Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 2:31 AM UTC

False equivalence. One group is oppressing the other group, and the oppressed are told to shut up because the oppressor's feelings will get hurt and will make the Blizzard's community feel less diverse and inclusive .. facepalm ..

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#63

Post by FeepingCreature » Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 2:34 AM UTC

cpeterso wrote: post #45

Ellen Pao (former Reddit CEO): "Tech companies: We tolerate harassment and hate so we can enable political dissent, public squares, free speech Also tech companies: Censor the Hong Kong protestors and kill all their communication channels" https://twitter.com/ekp/status/1182710608887611394?s=21

"Blizzard censored the wrong opinions."

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#64

Post by lisp-missionary » Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 2:38 AM UTC

aasasd wrote: post #47

aasasd wrote: post #35

> If this had been the opposing viewpoint delivered in the same divisive and deliberate way, we would have felt and acted the same. So now some Chinese player should make a statement praising China and condemning Hong Kong. (But I've already said it: with Blizzard controlling a huge money market in WoW and China being big on farming that gold all day every day, there's zero chance Blizzard would give that up.)

By the way, does anyone know what the estimates are for the size of the in-game economy in WoW: items, characters, currency/jewelry, etc? I've heard some claims that would sober me right up, but dunno if those were too fictional.

It's probably higher than whatever number you've seen. This is coming from someone that has been monetarily involved in this space.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#65

Post by lisp-missionary » Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 2:42 AM UTC

belltaco wrote: post #55

bipolar_lisper wrote: post #6

Blizzard: > If this had been the opposing viewpoint delivered in the same divisive and deliberate way, we would have felt and acted the same. Also Blizzard: > We will defend the pride of our nation (that nation being China) So when will they be terminating the people in their company that posted that announcement on behalf of the company? Oh wait, they won't be, because this company is completely and utterly full of…

>We will defend the pride of our nation That statement was made by NetEase, a Chinese company, not Blizzard.

It was made by a company that works for blizzard under blizzard's name as an official blizzard response to the event. Your failure to include this information makes it look like you are attempting to mislead people.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#66

Post by Pfhreak » Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 2:43 AM UTC

diminoten wrote: post #38

Pfhreak wrote: post #9

Not a great look. This line: > The actions that we took over the weekend are causing people to question if we are still committed to these values. We absolutely are and I will explain. Is basically saying, "What we did actually exemplifies our values", or maybe saying, "Well actually, our values..." Combined with the complete lack of acknowledgement of wrongdoing and not addressing their initial online response at al…

Lack of acknowledgement? They reduced the penalties, both for the casters and the player...

From 'far too severe' to 'too severe'? They basically doubled down and said they had done the right thing.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#67

Post by wpietri » Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 2:44 AM UTC

taneq wrote: post #49

mullingitover wrote: post #41

Command + f "sorry": 0 results Command + f "mistake": 0 results Command + f "apologize": 0 results They still aren't listening to a PR expert, and this is only going to throw gasoline on the fire. This blog post [1] counseling Burning Man back in their dumpster fire of pain when they switched to a lottery system is very instructional, Blizzard should be following it to the letter if they intend to get out of this hol…

> They still aren't listening to a PR expert, and this is only going to throw gasoline on the fire. Of course, if they had listened to a PR expert and written a first-rate apology letter, then we'd be calling them out as insincere and saying it was just PR fluff, a la the StackExchange letter recently.

It depends on the expert, I suppose. I know comms people who will very sincerely argue for actions to go with words. Just like they do in the real world, really. But for to work you need executives who aren't just trying to put lipstick on a pig.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#68

Post by bertil » Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 2:44 AM UTC

anonimouse5t43w wrote: post #56

ixtli wrote: post #36

It’s extremely irresponsible for blizzard to host a massive platform for speech and pretend that platform exists in a vacuum outside of current events. (Read: politics.) In the same way that public platforms are dangerous when used for hate speech, they’re also dangerous when those advocating for positive change are banned from them. Whatever Blizzard set out to do, it’s exceptionally naive not to acknowledge that de…

FIFA also bans politics from its platform.

I’m surprised to quote FIFA as an example but on that point, they have had fairly exemplary approach [0]. Players occasionally try to make political statements, and Fifa has a progressive take on infractions. An unexpected outburst after a victory is usually met with a stern conversation, possibly leaked to the press for good measure; repeated offence, something egregious acting after being explicitly warned not to lead to symbolic fines. You’d need to really cross a line to get near the sanction that Blizzard thought was appropriate for someone expressing a widespread sentiment in his home country.

[0] https://www.lawinsport.com/content/sports/item/politics-and-...

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#69

Post by ethbro » Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 2:47 AM UTC

aasasd wrote: post #47

aasasd wrote: post #35

> If this had been the opposing viewpoint delivered in the same divisive and deliberate way, we would have felt and acted the same. So now some Chinese player should make a statement praising China and condemning Hong Kong. (But I've already said it: with Blizzard controlling a huge money market in WoW and China being big on farming that gold all day every day, there's zero chance Blizzard would give that up.)

By the way, does anyone know what the estimates are for the size of the in-game economy in WoW: items, characters, currency/jewelry, etc? I've heard some claims that would sober me right up, but dunno if those were too fictional.

If you're talking in real-world currency, then the size of the ingame economy is the sum of the maximums each player would be willing to spend for things in the game.

Any other calculations are just cryptocurrency-esque market cap dreams.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#70

Post by ixtli » Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 2:48 AM UTC

anonimouse5t43w wrote: post #56

ixtli wrote: post #36

It’s extremely irresponsible for blizzard to host a massive platform for speech and pretend that platform exists in a vacuum outside of current events. (Read: politics.) In the same way that public platforms are dangerous when used for hate speech, they’re also dangerous when those advocating for positive change are banned from them. Whatever Blizzard set out to do, it’s exceptionally naive not to acknowledge that de…

FIFA also bans politics from its platform.

I didn't know that as I'm not up on soccer, but I'm not surprised. This is liberal ideology at its most pure, and it leads to a great many of the social problems we have today. Some know taking a moral position will disenfranchise some subset and reduce their income, and some know that society would recoil (usually rightly!) at their views if they were forced to spell them out.