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Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

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Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#241

Post by [deleted] »

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?

[deleted]

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#242

Post by akudha »

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…

I guess different people draw lines at different levels. And it is a personal decision. One extreme would be to just care about the art and not the artist at all (especially if the artist is long dead and lived in a completely different era) and the other extreme would be to only support artists who we think are nice people. I suppose most people would fall somewhere in between.

We still celebrate conquerers like Genghis Khan after hundreds of years, even though they brought a ton of misery (especially Genghis, who was known for his cruelty) to the people they conquered and often to their own people. The pyramids, great wall of China etc were all built on the death of tens of thousands of workers.

Sometimes the more we learn, the more depressing it gets (Ignorance is bliss? lol)

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#243

Post by bagacrap »

BeefWellington wrote: post #104
totony wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience Kotaku has not been a reliable source for much of anything, although I don't know the OP domain either

Is Bloomberg sufficient?[1] Perhaps straight from the horse's mouth?[2] Or is the issue more with the claim they're a union-busting law firm? Because they even basically claim that on their website.[3] That said they otherwise look like not a terrible choice though as with all things like this the optics to something like this are incredibly sensitive. [1]: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/activisi…

yes, Bloomberg is quite a bit better than some random fly by night website. Also its reporting paints a wildly different picture:

"Activision Blizzard Inc., a video game maker coping with an employee revolt over claims of sexual harassment and discrimination, has hired Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr to investigate its corporate culture"

Did you want AB to get through this without hiring any lawyers? Because that isn't how the business world works. Lawyers are in charge of this country and they have a way of making themselves necessary.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#244

Post by rapind »

acituan wrote: post #196
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.

Feelings alone do not make a rational standpoint. This ex-pressing (pressing outwards) of our feelings was the problem of romanticism, and it has to be balanced with what the reality tells back at us. In other words, people don't seem to be saying they shouldn't have shared their feelings, but when they did they should have been ready to receive the criticism especially on logical results of their reasoning. Not usin…

I feel like any debate over the term “virtual signaling“ is missing the meta game (along with people who virtue signal or accuse others of virtue signalling).

Like there’s an evil genius(es) with ulterior motives behind it all.

Could just be my cynicism though.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#245

Post by itsoktocry »

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.…

>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).

Are you talking about DOTA2? It was hugely successful, both from a gamer's perspective, as well as in the eSports world.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#246

Post by lnxg33k1 »

ggregoire wrote: post #123
lnxg33k1 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it something they need to be worried about? I mean Activision Blizzard has been shit all over the years, and kids still buy their games. On the other hand hiring a firm is not a proof of wrongdoing for the ongoing trial.

> kids still buy their games Any source on that? I always imagined the current Blizzard customer demographics in the 20-40 years old range. Kids definitely don't play WoW, Diablo or StarCraft/Warcraft. Not sure about Overwatch but I'd guess kids prefer Fortnite. So perhaps Hearthstone? You kinda need a credit card to enjoy the game tho. But you have a point, people still buy their games, expansions, loot boxes, skins…

I don't like Microsoft, but i enjoyed playing elders scrolls, had a char of 300+ lvl, but when Microsoft bought zenimax i just requested to delete my account and licenses/dlc, a friend told me it was not worth giving up entertainment for ideas, nothing can change etc

I refer as kids for those who in general aren't able to sacrifice anything in order to be empathetic to others or true to their ideas

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#247

Post by MikeTheGreat »

x3iv130f wrote: post #107
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…

A company is only just a shell. It is the creative people that work for a company that make the actual products. If you like a game, keep bookmarks on the people who made it and follow them around the industry.

This is a really awesome point, and one that I hadn't considered before.

This is how I normally find new books to read (by following authors) for some reason it just hadn't occurred to me to follow individuals in the gaming space. (Except for the Mode 7 Games, which put out Frozen Synapse, the awesome turn-based RTS [0] )

I'm curious how you follow people when so many games are made by teams of people - how do you find them, how do you decide which ones to follow, etc. I'd love to hear more

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_Synapse

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#248

Post by jmcgough »

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…

Same - I was a heavy Hearthstone player since beta, and was ranked within the top 500 for about six months towards the end when I was pushing to compete. But the Blitzchung incident left such a bad taste in my mouth that I quit the game and haven't returned to it. They didn't just penalize him for what he did, they BURIED him and effectively ended his career.

If he'd held up a sign for ending apartheid in another country he probably would have gotten some small penalty, it was clearly motivated by Blizzard's relationship with China. And it was so over the top and unprecedented that a ton of casters and pro players spoke out against it.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#249

Post by filereaper »

Funny that WilmerHale has diversity and inclusion as a "principle" while they actively undermine others and are paid to do so.

>"Our commitment to diversity and inclusion starts at the top and cascades throughout the firm. WilmerHale is one of very few AmLaw 100 firms with a woman co-managing partner, and part of an even smaller number of such firms that have had both a woman and a person of color as a co-managing partner. Our diversity and inclusion journey is one of continuous assessment, progress, and partnership with others committed to advancing these principles in the legal profession."

https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/about/diversity-and-inclusion

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#250

Post by nate_meurer »

CyanBird wrote: post #224
stale2002 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Collective bargaining takes away my right to bargain for certain agreements for myself. That is definitely a free market restriction on my rights as a worker, to have a mutual agreement with that specific company.

> Collective bargaining takes away my right to bargain for myself But it doesn't, you can choose to not be part of the union

In the US, unions fight hard to take that choice away from people. "Right to work" laws in many states allow people to opt out of union membership and fees. Unions hate these laws and fight relentlessly to get them overturned.
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