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Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Event

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Re: Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Event

#431

Post by cthalupa »

wpdev_63 wrote: post #429
echelon wrote: post #202

We need to impose an 80% repatriation tax on any profits earned in China in order to offset the damages done to our domestic freedom of speech. China should not be able to control society outside of its own walls, yet they have blatantly influenced the behavior of our biggest mass media companies for years. To be fair, they've done an outstanding job of it. They fund a huge number of film productions. They've bought…

> We need to impose an 80% repatriation tax on any profits earned in China in order to offset the damages done to our domestic freedom of speech. Well if you think we should antagonize china for offending our freedoms, then we should be culling the nsa, fbi, and other 3 letter agencies that violate our constitutional right to privacy. The US gov't and the chinese gov't are two faces on the same coin. The difference i…

The US government and agencies are hardly pure and innocent, but they're not disappearing people off the streets for speaking out against them, or harvesting the organs from religious dissenters while they are still alive and without anesthetic.

Horrific tragedies have occurred in the US, like Kent State. But we know the truth about Kent State. We know the number of victims. It and similar events are included in our history textbooks. I know they are - that's how I learned about them! Tiananmen Square, we don't know the truth about. We don't know how many victims there were. The estimates range from hundreds to tens of thousands. And it certainly isn't included in history textbooks in China. It's likely one of the most fatal protest crackdowns in human history, but it is censored completely in the country where it occurred.

We're just descending into whatabout-ism at this point. The US has done plenty of horrific stuff. It shouldn't. We should be upset that it has. But that doesn't absolve China, and I don't think it's clear that they're even actually on similar footing.

Re: Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Event

#432

Post by belltaco »

tareqak wrote: post #400
belltaco wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's just a blog couldn't you host it on a home internet connection using an ip address? I doubt ISPs would easily cut someone's home internet off. Is there precedent for that?

1. Some ISPs have provisions separating home use and business use and are priced accordingly. 2. Some ISPs (possibly overlapping 1. or not) explicitly disallow hosting of any service on their Internet plans that they categorize for home use in their Terms of Service.

I don't think hosting a personal blog would count as business use.

Re: Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Event

#433

Post by DoreenMichele »

cthalupa wrote: post #426
DoreenMichele wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took History of The Far East in college decades ago. The cultural friction between China and the West substantially precedes the current government of the country. Regardless of what is going on there politically currently, they are a growing economic power. That makes them the proverbial 800 pound gorilla that people are increasingly afraid of pissing off for fear of financial consequences. They have one seventh o…

>It's a huge market that simply cannot be ignored. True, if your motive is profit above all else. Otherwise, it is quite simple to ignore China's demands. Create the products, services, etc. that you want to create. If people in China buy them, fine. If China says they'll buy them if only you do Thing X, if you do not morally agree with Thing X, simply do not do it. There are near limitless numbers of businesses that…

Well, I don't know where communication went wrong, but I'm not talking about catering to China's demands. My original point was that this whole thing could have negatively impacted the company regardless of how they chose to act. I stated as clearly as I know how that it's probably a case of "caught in the crossfire" and blamed for being shot when the only way to escape the crossfire entirely would be "you shouldn't have been born in that time and place as it wasn't safe."

You can be a peacenik conscientious objector who refuses to take sides in the war and still get caught in the crossfire while minding your own business and trying your hardest to stay out of the fray.

Re: Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Event

#434

Post by colejohnson66 »

pseudalopex wrote: post #423
colejohnson66 wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The LDS church (Mormons) are much more accepting of LGBTQ+ members than other Christian sects from what I’ve seen. And that “tax” is called a tithe. And it’s optional.

The LDS church downgraded same sex marriage from apostasy to a serious transgression this year.[1] The Episcopal church ordained an openly gay bishop in 2003.[2] [1] https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presi... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Robinson

I didn’t say it was the best. I said it’s better than a lot of other churches.

Re: Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Event

#435

Post by cjbprime »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #381
belltaco wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When did they say that?

The first time was in 2016. Blizzard has released a series of comics delving into the backstories of the characters in the game. Feel free to play spot the difference with which comics got released in various locales: America: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/media/#comics-section Russia: https://playoverwatch.com/ru-ru/media#comics-section China: https://ow.blizzard.cn/media/ (there's some weird javascript stuff that…

> zh-tw

This is just the ISO language code for "Chinese as used in Taiwan".

Re: Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Event

#436

Post by EpicEng »

belltaco wrote: post #230
magashna wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> NetEase also partners with Blizzard Entertainment to operate local versions of Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, StarCraft II, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, Overwatch in China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetEase

They aren't owned by Blizzard.

I don't own the law firm I use to defend myself in court, but I do pay them to act on my behalf. Blizzard has also not done anything to backpedal on that statement. Honestly, how many mental hoops did you have to jump through to convince yourself that Blizzard doesn't endorse what NetEase said?

Re: Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Event

#437

Post by michaelmrose »

belltaco wrote: post #193
michaelmrose wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will never buy another product by blizzard regardless of future behavior. I will be reminding people of their feckless behavior in one star reviews a decade from now. I doubt I'm the only one. I support the corporate death penalty.

While still happily buying Chinese products. Boycotting Blizzard will not make a difference to China, well actually it helps by not transferring money from Chinese gamers to American companies and employees.

Most of my money goes to health care, food, and housing none of which is made in China. Many other things I buy second hand. I can't say that none of my money ends up enriching China given how pervasive Chinese made goods are especially on the low end of the market but it would be inaccurate to say I am still "happily buying Chinese products".

That is you imposing a preconceived narrative on me without bothering to find out or care if its accurate.

Re: Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Event

#438

Post by michaelmrose »

vkou wrote: post #27
michaelmrose wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will never buy another product by blizzard regardless of future behavior. I will be reminding people of their feckless behavior in one star reviews a decade from now. I doubt I'm the only one. I support the corporate death penalty.

Just a litmus test: Do you also boycott Chick-Fil-A, for their, far worse stance against basic human rights (Giving money to charities that are actively working on promoting anti-gay hate crimes)? And the NFL, for their unwillingness to have the playing field be a soapbox for political statements about the treatment of African Americans, by police? You must surely note that many people who have recently jumped on the…

The Chinese mow down protestors with tanks. They are well on their way to developing an Orwellian surveillance state where people are afraid to dissent. They are building modern day concentration camps for minorities. They are using political prisoners as living organ banks to be murdered and disassembled as soon as their parts are needed for a more desirable patient.

I don't think Chick-Fil-A is on the same level because some of their money goes to republicans but I don't give them my money either.

Furthermore sharing all of my morals isn't an apt requirement for concluding someone has morals. I and a republican can disagree on gay marriage while sharing contempt and horror or organleggers building concentration camps.

Re: Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Event

#439

Post by squarefoot »

belltaco wrote: post #238
squarefoot wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"too overt and the message gets quickly lost when security kicks you out" True, but also be prepared to be searched. If security can't legally search people, given the size of the event, they will very likely have police to patrol and do random checks "in case of terrorism", so hide your HK shirts, signs etc. because they would almost surely be confiscated for "inciting violence". If Blizzard fears any negative demon…

What? This reads like fantasy.

Yes, totally. But any company in a slippery situation like Blizzard is now would do anything to avoid negative backlash, both at home and away, since there are tons of customers and money at stake anyway. Let's say Chinese govt says "if we see a single sign of support towards HK protesters all your contracts end down the toilet"; what would they do? I'd never put limits to human creativity and destructivity when there's enough motivation just like in this case.

Re: Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Event

#440

Post by omegaworks »

apostacy wrote: post #253
omegaworks wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reporting on union organizing is not the same thing as issuing death threats. You're working really hard to blur the clear line between these two things, why?

Um, from the point of view of the telegraph/coal company, they probably would have said that they were protecting people from dangerous agitators and keeping the peace. But really, by your logic, they have no right to report on union organizing, because it's a private company and they should be allowed to cover up human rights abuses, because the first amendment does not protect it, or something.

>But really, by your logic, they have no right to report on union organizing, because it's a private company and they should be allowed to cover up human rights abuses, because the first amendment does not protect it, or something.

You're really getting the power dynamic wrong here, carelessly swapping between powerful institutional actors and individual actors as though they were interchangeable and pretending I made a value judgement about a strawman you constructed. My point is that the issue is complicated and deserves more care. The ideologues claiming to champion a distorted, unbounded "free speech" flatten every issue and refuse to engage with the complexities of harm.

They employ a technique that allows them to lazily wave away every piece of evidence we have about what is necessary to foster healthy, constructive, inclusive communities online and offline.

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