Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale • Hacker News Board

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#231

Post by vlunkr » Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 7:43 PM UTC

runawaybottle wrote: post #183

csydas wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain why you chose «dystopian» here? Did you maybe mean to indicate a sick irony? I want to lead off with saying I don't want __anyone__ exploited, but this more or less is what US consumers have and continue to do world wide, and I'm not sure that dystopian is the most accurate word for it. I'm not fully convinced that the original comment that Blizzard wants to sell in China is entirely accurate (there i…

I can lend some color to that. Blizzard created a modestly successful MOBA to compete with League of Legends and it just couldn’t make a dent in LoL’s Asia numbers, so they slowly put the game into maintenance mode (effectively given up on it). Diablo Immortal is them outsourcing development of a flagship franchise to a Chinese company Netease to develop a mobile version. Netease mobile games are really big overseas.…

Still though, dystopian is not the right word for video game drama/economics.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#232

Post by manofmanysmiles » Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 7:43 PM UTC

user-the-name wrote: post #226

bakuninsbart wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the best fiction was written by people with absolutely despicable opinions like Francois Céline or Knut Hamsun. You can see it in their art, but their art isn't limited to it, and still holds a lot of value. Friedrich Nietzsche's opinions on women and politics are plain dumb, yet his other thought can be extremely compelling, and he is rightfully one of the most influential thinkers of modern times. Going bac…

Terrible people can say good things, but there are a million good people out there saying good things that you could listen to instead. Why spend the limited time you have in this world on consuming the works of terrible people? There is more out there than you could possibly experience in a lifetime. Why not dedicate that time to people who are not awful?

Learning from an “awful” person helps you grow as a person.

Also understanding the enemy.

Also not all “consuming” of work is for “entertainment”.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#233

Post by Aunche » Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 7:43 PM UTC

biryani_chicken wrote: post #58

runawaybottle wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don’t really care that much about the American market anymore really. Something like 90% of League of Legends players are in China. The mobile gaming market is massive over there, hence Diablo Immortal. China does not care about the West’s uproar over most things. Blizzard does not care if you buy Diablo 4, they care if the East buys Diablo 4 and Diablo Immortal.

It's dystopian to see Chinese people consume American products at the expense of American workers.

How are Chinese people benefiting from Blizzard hiding sexual harassment allegations? From a pure workload perspective, most Chinese people would probably consider Blizzard to be relatively lax.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#234

Post by mcguire » Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 7:45 PM UTC

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #178

ctrl-j wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your comment just anti-virtue signaling then? Sometimes people just want to share their opinions, and they actually feel those feelings. Sometimes those feelings are about ethical issues.

Claiming 'virtue signaling' always feels like a presumption of bad faith by the claimant.

That's because it is. The question to ask, of any argument, is "so what?": what do you want to do about it. The "so what" for an accusation of "virtue signalling" is to dismiss the original statement without any further consideration.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#235

Post by pirate787 » Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 7:45 PM UTC

beebmam wrote: post #146

cs702 wrote: post #81

Clickbait title for a highly opinonated piece that would never see the light of day in a respectable publication like the Washington Post, WSJ, NYT, Economist, etc. WilmerHale is a well-known top-100 law firm with a long history -- it's definitely not a "notorious union-busting firm." I'm flagging this story because it doesn't belong on the front page of HN, IMHO.

A quote from the article: '"Wilmerhale’s own site advertises its expertise as "union awareness and avoidance."' Therefore, yes, it is accurate to define them as a "union-busting firm". They fulfill other roles than just that, but they do act as union-busters, and they even describe themselves as such.

There's nothing "notorious" about a maintstream legal practice representing corporations against unions, and "busting" is pejorative. It's opinion click-bait.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#236

Post by falcolas » Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 7:47 PM UTC

bakuninsbart wrote: post #212

kelnos wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really understand this attitude, or line of reasoning, or whatever you want to call it. Sure, if a company does something that you find reprehensible, not giving them further money (or attention) is certainly a reasonable -- and honorable! -- thing to do. But if you've already purchased a standalone[0], non-subscription product from that company, and that company doesn't gain any benefit from your further use…

Some of the best fiction was written by people with absolutely despicable opinions like Francois Céline or Knut Hamsun. You can see it in their art, but their art isn't limited to it, and still holds a lot of value. Friedrich Nietzsche's opinions on women and politics are plain dumb, yet his other thought can be extremely compelling, and he is rightfully one of the most influential thinkers of modern times. Going bac…

One small difference between those specific artists and Activison-Blizzard - they're dead. But more importantly, their beliefs are also a product of their times.

ACTI doesn't have that excuse. They're all with us now, and their actions don't have the shield of being reasonable in the society they exist in.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#237

Post by YinLuck- » Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 7:47 PM UTC

kelnos wrote: post #142

brainfish wrote: post #26

I cut my teeth on Diablo, and played Diablo II for probably fifteen years after its release off and on as a way to stay connected with a friend who loved it similarly. More recently, I have consistently played Starcraft II since its release and enjoy a sense of mastery over that game unparalleled by my experience in any other. I haven't purchased new Blizzard products since the Hong Kong censorship debacle[1] and qui…

I don't really understand this attitude, or line of reasoning, or whatever you want to call it. Sure, if a company does something that you find reprehensible, not giving them further money (or attention) is certainly a reasonable -- and honorable! -- thing to do. But if you've already purchased a standalone[0], non-subscription product from that company, and that company doesn't gain any benefit from your further use…

The guy has been playing the same un-updated game for 15 years. He clearly has a mental addiction to it and is using current events as a trigger to finally snap that addiction. It is irrational, but so is a lot of anti-addiction stuff (like surrendering to a higher power in AA). If it works for him, that's all that matters. There's no rational reason to play Diablo 2 in 2021 so quitting Dialo 2 over an irrational reason is still rational

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#238

Post by bagacrap » Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 7:48 PM UTC

beebmam wrote: post #146

cs702 wrote: post #81

Clickbait title for a highly opinonated piece that would never see the light of day in a respectable publication like the Washington Post, WSJ, NYT, Economist, etc. WilmerHale is a well-known top-100 law firm with a long history -- it's definitely not a "notorious union-busting firm." I'm flagging this story because it doesn't belong on the front page of HN, IMHO.

A quote from the article: '"Wilmerhale’s own site advertises its expertise as "union awareness and avoidance."' Therefore, yes, it is accurate to define them as a "union-busting firm". They fulfill other roles than just that, but they do act as union-busters, and they even describe themselves as such.

But are they notorious for that? Are they notorious at all?

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#239

Post by sdwr » Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 7:50 PM UTC

meristohm wrote: post #208

brainfish wrote: post #26

I cut my teeth on Diablo, and played Diablo II for probably fifteen years after its release off and on as a way to stay connected with a friend who loved it similarly. More recently, I have consistently played Starcraft II since its release and enjoy a sense of mastery over that game unparalleled by my experience in any other. I haven't purchased new Blizzard products since the Hong Kong censorship debacle[1] and qui…

I got hooked on Diablo, and the memory of anticipating Diablo II (for which I built a computer) is almost tangible. WoW was the next drug/escape, and Hearthstone my last Blizzard slot-machine until I became a parent. I never thought I’d move away from games, and now I don’t miss them, turning instead to gardening and exploring with my kid. I still have a lot of emotion bound up in that game time, and perhaps they wer…

Don't know where the downvotes are coming from. People don't want to acknowledge life without gaming?

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#240

Post by acituan » Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 7:51 PM UTC

bakuninsbart wrote: post #212

kelnos wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really understand this attitude, or line of reasoning, or whatever you want to call it. Sure, if a company does something that you find reprehensible, not giving them further money (or attention) is certainly a reasonable -- and honorable! -- thing to do. But if you've already purchased a standalone[0], non-subscription product from that company, and that company doesn't gain any benefit from your further use…

Some of the best fiction was written by people with absolutely despicable opinions like Francois Céline or Knut Hamsun. You can see it in their art, but their art isn't limited to it, and still holds a lot of value. Friedrich Nietzsche's opinions on women and politics are plain dumb, yet his other thought can be extremely compelling, and he is rightfully one of the most influential thinkers of modern times. Going bac…

You missed Heidegger being an outright Nazi, and not even a rank-and-file one.

Not being able to relate to an other if they are not pure is a failure in having strong enough ego boundaries. High functioning requires complexification of our boundaries; a confidence in deciding what goes in and what doesn't on the fly without requiring rigid codification of rules, which ultimately requires a confidence in ourselves; what we are and what we are not.

All-or-nothing purity is a way of keeping things simple and reducing the complex calculus the reality demands. Not saying this in a demeaning manner, because we all do this in varying degrees. But if one can't tell if they are being a "bad" person or not for making use of a "bad" person's valid idea/product, that could as well be a shortcoming of their own self-conceptualization than the "badness" of the other.