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Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

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Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#121

Post by trianglem »

modeless wrote: post #90
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…

Frankly, I believe that following your advice would be completely counterproductive for them. If Trump and recent politics have proven anything to me it's that when you are the focus of media attention, admitting fault and apologizing is always the wrong thing to do from a PR point of view. Apologizing never wins anyone over, but it does alienate your supporters. It's unfortunate, and it's counterintuitive because it…

I don't disagree with you but it's a sad state of things.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#122

Post by hgoel »

KhalilK wrote: post #117
taneq wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

They were put in a lose-lose situation from the start.

Yep, however that way they'd atleast have a better chance of reducing the impact the drama is gonna have on blizzcon.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#123

Post by b0ner_t0ner »

PavlovsCat wrote: post #23

> One of our goals at Blizzard is to make sure that every player, everywhere in the world, regardless of political views, religious beliefs, race, gender, or any other consideration always feels safe [..] playing our games This HN comment from 6 years ago comes to mind: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6154475

Could that have been Grummz? https://twitter.com/Grummz/status/1181736075775004672

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#124

Post by chloerei »

dang wrote: post #116
chloerei wrote: post #105

I support Blizzard's decision, it kept the bottom line. I feel ridiculous, in order to support the riots in another country, some people were so passionate. I think this people are affected by anti-China sentiment. I write a post, tell everyone what happened in Hong Kong and try to persuade everyone not to make political opinions so easily, especially if a place is very far away from you. Stand with Hong Kong, but wh…

I agree with you that in the discussions of these issues on the Western internet sites, anti-China sentiment dominates and often blends with ignorance and prejudice. Unfortunately, if you post like you just did to HN, using inflammatory language like "I saw the hypocrisy of the Americans", you're guaranteed to take the thread further into nationalistic flamewar, and of course such language will be downvoted because i…

Thanks for reply, I have edited the comments to more gentle.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#125

Post by phlakaton »

modeless wrote: post #90
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…

Frankly, I believe that following your advice would be completely counterproductive for them. If Trump and recent politics have proven anything to me it's that when you are the focus of media attention, admitting fault and apologizing is always the wrong thing to do from a PR point of view. Apologizing never wins anyone over, but it does alienate your supporters. It's unfortunate, and it's counterintuitive because it…

Apologizing can, in fact, win people over _if_ authentic and followed up by appropriate action.

One recent incident I've been tracking jumps immediately to mind.

Recently, a D&D streamcast, Critical Role, decided to participate in a Wendy's promotion, to the horror of their fanbase which largely eschews big corporations and their _marginal_ (in all senses of the word ;-) ) food products. A vocal contingent of the community felt this promotion was not at all aligned with the progressive values of the streamcast and community, and they let the org have it!

Within 24 hours, the Chief Creative Officer (and general face of the stream) apologized, and the org announced it was donating all its profits to a charity supporting farm workers.

Sure, there were a couple of angry people who were still not satisfied, and there are probably unpleasant longer-term consequences with potential future advertisers that they will have to deal with. But, in large part because they pay careful and compassionate attention to their community, you could see that the bulk of the community immediately jumped back on board.

Do not let Trump erode your sense of what is right for your product, company, and community. The dark side, after all, is not more powerful – only easier and more seductive.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#126

Post by SN76477 »

KhalilK wrote: post #117
taneq wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

They were put in a lose-lose situation from the start.

I agree.

Something to remember is China was a much different place 10 years ago when Blizzard started being distributed there.

I don’t see this as being about the money as much as it is about really freaking complicated relationships. You can’t turn off a billion dollar business in an afternoon.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#127

Post by brynjolf »

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.

They dragged someone's name through the mud and didn't even try to apologise for that. They said they were sorry to the community but at same time gave the community no extra time to influence the decisions. It was a well crafted apology but insincere. I don't think we gain anythijg for applauding that.

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#128

Post by A2017U1 »

bertil wrote: post #72
anonimouse5t43w wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn’t she ban a lot of subreddits?

Reddit has to make a lot of decisions, some were soon after she joined. Not sure CEOs of social media company get involved in making that decision personally, rather than name people who would -- Pao might be an exception, though. From all the subreddits that were closed, I’d be hard-pressed to name one that I felt contributed to free speech.

> I’d be hard-pressed to name one that I felt contributed to free speech.

As in US Constitution free speech? I can think of dozens.

r/SanctionedSuicide

r/DarknetMarkets

r/shoplifting

r/gore

r/watchpeopledie

Re: Regarding Last Weekend’s Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournament

#130

Post by mirimir »

freeflight wrote: post #25
minimaxir wrote: post #2

> The specific views expressed by blitzchung were NOT a factor in the decision we made. I want to be clear: our relationships in China had no influence on our decision. Needless to say, this line has generated a very large amount of snark on social media.

I don't see any way they could have addressed that without the hysteria still spinning it negatively. Because it's not like they mention that out of nowhere: They are directly referring to accusations that they were pressured into shutting that particular player down by the Chinese government. There's a whole lot of people out there who will not be satisfied with any answer contradicting that narrative. Heck, even if…

> The reality is that nobody needed to pressure Blizzard because its competitive scene has already seen quite a number of bans, some controversial, many not, over players using the spotlight to share their particular political messages.

Please share some examples. I vaguely recall stuff over the years about the Olympics. But I don't follow gaming.

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