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BlizzCon 2019 Protest “Full-Steam Ahead,” Say Organizers

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Re: BlizzCon 2019 Protest “Full-Steam Ahead,” Say Organizers

#151

Post by bovermyer »

falcolas wrote: post #52
bovermyer wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read my last sentence? China needs to be dealt with. The world has ignored its crimes against humanity for too long. But that doesn't change my position on Blizzard's actions.

So long as US companies (like Blizzard) have strong financial and supply chain ties to China, the US has no incentive to move against China. If we want the US to move against China, those ties must be cut, not ignored or grown. As such, Blizzard’s actions only helps to prolong China’s dominance. If you really want China to be challenged, supporting Blizzard doesn’t further that goal.

But it doesn't hinder that goal either.

If you want China to play by the rules of a free society, it must be freed, not ignored. That requires force, and not symbolic protest of a relatively insignificant company.

Re: BlizzCon 2019 Protest “Full-Steam Ahead,” Say Organizers

#152

Post by filoleg »

nerfhammer wrote: post #133
hugey010 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a few decent case studies around this move, and I still find it fascinating. They can say they did it for their values, but immediate revenue loss for values doesn't happen all that often. If it were truly for values, I'd expect alcohol to be removed from shelves as well. In the early 2000's, CVS started treating patients at their MinuteClinics in the pharmacy. It became directly comparable to an actual doc…

they sell alcohol at CVS?

Most pharmacies in the US sell beer/wine. I don't think that is the case for hard liquor, though.

Re: BlizzCon 2019 Protest “Full-Steam Ahead,” Say Organizers

#153

Post by jdoliner »

CivBase wrote: post #50

IMO, Blizzards actions have been borderline incompetent. I completely understand them not wanting their platform to be used to make political statements. This isn't like the NBA situation where Morey used a private social media account to show support for his private political opiniona. This was a platform owned by Blizzard with a very specific content focus. But banning Blitzchung for any amount of time was just dum…

> "We encourage players and community members to express themselves. However, our tournament coverage is a platform for Blizzard e-sports content only. Any future use of the platform to express personal political opinions on sensitive subject matter without Blizzard's express conscent will be met with punative action."

> Follow that up with a description of what that punative action would look like.

Players already sign contracts stipulating that there will be punitive action for making political statements during tournament streams. I still agree with your broader point that they handled it badly, but I don't think they could have let him off with a warning and had any credibility left.

Re: BlizzCon 2019 Protest “Full-Steam Ahead,” Say Organizers

#154

Post by cyc116 »

cyc116 wrote: post #138
falcolas wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it a racial comment when the leader of a country uses that exact quote to describe how they will deal with anyone who threatens the harmony of China, including the situations that the grandparent was referring to? https://supchina.com/2019/10/15/well-grind-you-up-and-crush-...

Reply to comment from Falcolas: > Is it a racial comment when the leader of a country uses that exact quote to describe how they will deal with anyone who threatens the harmony of China, including the situations that the grandparent was referring to? It is, when your message is an explicit commented on "I think that's the Chinese way of thing:[...]". Please understand that Xi does not speak for all Chinese (hence the…

Thanks for following up @falcolas and fair point to both of you (falcolas and bsder). Unfortunate that it is indeed the case.

Re: BlizzCon 2019 Protest “Full-Steam Ahead,” Say Organizers

#155

Post by [deleted] »

ericol wrote: post #139
SkyMarshal wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chinese way or Communist Party way? They’re not necessarily the same.

Well, to be fair they stopped being "communist" a long time ago. But yes, you are conrrect: By "China" I didn't mean the whole of China acts that way. It's their current government.

[deleted]

Re: BlizzCon 2019 Protest “Full-Steam Ahead,” Say Organizers

#156

Post by filoleg »

burger_moon wrote: post #14

I haven't been following this Blizzard situation (debacle maybe?) too closely but does anyone know which has had a greater affect on American's humanitarian interests in Hong Kong, was it Blizzard or the NBA? It's hard to tell if I'm seeing Blizzard and gaming show up more because of tech overlap but both seemed to have a huge impact on increased discussion among people around me. It really brought a lot of exposure…

I am just glad that both incidents coincided to happen within the same week. If it was just one or the other, it wouldn't have been as impactful. But with both NBA and Blizzard being put in a tough spotlight at the same time, the message is significantly amplified.

Re: BlizzCon 2019 Protest “Full-Steam Ahead,” Say Organizers

#158

Post by dmix »

jdoliner wrote: post #153
CivBase wrote: post #50

IMO, Blizzards actions have been borderline incompetent. I completely understand them not wanting their platform to be used to make political statements. This isn't like the NBA situation where Morey used a private social media account to show support for his private political opiniona. This was a platform owned by Blizzard with a very specific content focus. But banning Blitzchung for any amount of time was just dum…

> "We encourage players and community members to express themselves. However, our tournament coverage is a platform for Blizzard e-sports content only. Any future use of the platform to express personal political opinions on sensitive subject matter without Blizzard's express conscent will be met with punative action." > Follow that up with a description of what that punative action would look like. Players already s…

> but I don't think they could have let him off with a warning and had any credibility left.

Credibility in terms of having a punitive response which demonstrates their authority or among players who would be outraged over Blizzard not being cool with political speech mixing with pro championship broadcasts?

Re: BlizzCon 2019 Protest “Full-Steam Ahead,” Say Organizers

#159

Post by _bxg1 »

Beltiras wrote: post #90

My son-in-law has lived in China and confronted me about my boycott. His position is that the content in Blizz games is kinda subversive to the authoritarianism practiced by the CCP. No other gaming company has the breadth of socially reformative messaging contained in WoW, Overwatch et.al. Should Blizz perform corporate harakiri by appeasing the angry SJW (not spoken derisively) in the West, the CCP would have no pr…

As a society we've been taking the "working with them is better than cutting them out" strategy for 20 years now, and it isn't working. That's how we've gotten to where we are in the first place. We are dealing with an actor that is a) working in bad faith, and b) smart. We aren't going to covertly sneak democratic values into Xi's country; he knows exactly how much is allowable before it starts to have an impact. By giving him the option, we're only helping his plans.

Re: BlizzCon 2019 Protest “Full-Steam Ahead,” Say Organizers

#160

Post by rosybox »

My 11 year old daughter has been looking forward to her first BlizzCon all year. She has been saving her allowance money so she can buy some d.va gear. She's been planning her cosplay, she's working with her mom to sew a d.va dress together based on a skin she likes. Everyday I walk her to school she's telling me her next Overwatch plan. I understand the protests, I'm angry myself at Blizzard's actions, but I'm not about to break her heart over my political opinions. Blizzard isn't going to be the only one hurt by what's happening.
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