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Blizzard CEO denies culture of harassment and blames unions for company problems

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Re: Blizzard CEO denies culture of harassment and blames unions for company problems

#111

Post by alex_lav »

scruple wrote: post #101
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll probably be successful but not still-played-in-25-years successful.

Broodwar, SC:R, and D2R seems to be telling a different story. Hell, WoW is close to 20 years old at this point.

So their old games. What of OW(2), D3/D4, whatever mobile abomination they made for Diablo, Hearthstone or HoTS will be played for that long? Any? I would wager D2 is played more than D3 by a mile. OW1 was already killed. OW2 is dying. I'm not even sure the OW franchise will be around in four years, letalone 15.

Re: Blizzard CEO denies culture of harassment and blames unions for company problems

#112

Post by Macha »

surgical_fire wrote: post #110
Macha wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I'm sorry. People want to assume the people that made the games they like aren't responsible for the harrassment, and the people who made changes to the games they didn't like are responsible, but there's plenty of the classic blizzard people who have been involved in the abuse, yet at the same time I haven't heard anything bad about the behaviour of the likes of Ion, lead designer for BFA/Shadowlands, or the "Do…

The thing is that the vast majority people just don't care about the culture of harassment in the company. And honestly, I don't see why they should, as it does not affect them as consumers. Making shit products is something that affects consumers, and they will complain about that.

It's one thing if they don't care about the abuse, but they should be honest (including with themselves) on that. It's another to reassign the abuse to people they have different reasons to dislike.

Re: Blizzard CEO denies culture of harassment and blames unions for company problems

#113

Post by canadianfella »

fpesce wrote: post #13

Remarkable, isn't it? Blizzard's knack for consistently managing to misalign their PR strategy with big launch events like Diablo IV is almost as intricate as their game design. There's an unexpected plot twist even George R.R. Martin would be envious of. It's almost as if they've transposed their in-game narratives into their corporate affairs, with similar plot tension and dramatic arcs. One might argue that the co…

[dead]

Re: Blizzard CEO denies culture of harassment and blames unions for company problems

#114

Post by krustymeathead »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #103
falcolas wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And let's not forget the Cosby room - a room dedicated to rape and sexual assault of female employees by ActiBlizz leadership. You might argue that "those" folks are gone, yet apparently their culture has not really changed.

The height of naming irony, given this was Blizzcon 2013 and the Cosby allegations came out in 2014.

It looks like the naming was likely intentional, allegations about Cosby go back to 2004. Although Hannibal Buress didn't start talking about it in his routine until 2014.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/bill-cosby-trial-comple...

Re: Blizzard CEO denies culture of harassment and blames unions for company problems

#115

Post by surgical_fire »

Macha wrote: post #112
surgical_fire wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is that the vast majority people just don't care about the culture of harassment in the company. And honestly, I don't see why they should, as it does not affect them as consumers. Making shit products is something that affects consumers, and they will complain about that.

It's one thing if they don't care about the abuse, but they should be honest (including with themselves) on that. It's another to reassign the abuse to people they have different reasons to dislike.

That's a fair take.

A lot of things I love were made my people that I find personally despicable. If I have to weight how much I like the creators and companies behind everything I consume, that will be recipe for a very tiresome and frustrating life.

This is not to give a pass to Blizzard. The scandals there are pretty bad. But it's up to the employees (and perhaps to the judicial system) to do something about it.

Re: Blizzard CEO denies culture of harassment and blames unions for company problems

#116

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

krustymeathead wrote: post #114
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The height of naming irony, given this was Blizzcon 2013 and the Cosby allegations came out in 2014.

It looks like the naming was likely intentional, allegations about Cosby go back to 2004. Although Hannibal Buress didn't start talking about it in his routine until 2014. https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/bill-cosby-trial-comple...

I guess they were into knowing about celebrity sexual assault allegations before it was cool?

Re: Blizzard CEO denies culture of harassment and blames unions for company problems

#117

Post by polishdude20 »

fpesce wrote: post #13

Remarkable, isn't it? Blizzard's knack for consistently managing to misalign their PR strategy with big launch events like Diablo IV is almost as intricate as their game design. There's an unexpected plot twist even George R.R. Martin would be envious of. It's almost as if they've transposed their in-game narratives into their corporate affairs, with similar plot tension and dramatic arcs. One might argue that the co…

Isn't there some rule of thumb or "law" that the software an organization writes is a direct mirror of the structure of the organization?

Re: Blizzard CEO denies culture of harassment and blames unions for company problems

#118

Post by falcolas »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #116
krustymeathead wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It looks like the naming was likely intentional, allegations about Cosby go back to 2004. Although Hannibal Buress didn't start talking about it in his routine until 2014. https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/bill-cosby-trial-comple...

I guess they were into knowing about celebrity sexual assault allegations before it was cool?

Aspirational goal setting by Blizz execs?

Re: Blizzard CEO denies culture of harassment and blames unions for company problems

#119

Post by bitcharmer »

fpesce wrote: post #13

Remarkable, isn't it? Blizzard's knack for consistently managing to misalign their PR strategy with big launch events like Diablo IV is almost as intricate as their game design. There's an unexpected plot twist even George R.R. Martin would be envious of. It's almost as if they've transposed their in-game narratives into their corporate affairs, with similar plot tension and dramatic arcs. One might argue that the co…

I love how Blizzard became a prime example of the effect MBA-ification of a well functioning company has on everything.

I have nothing but disdain for these greedy, incompetent, useless assholes. Just feel bad for the talented, hard-working staff who generate real value.

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