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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

#21

Post by Sysreq1 »

prepend wrote: post #2

Blizzard president Brack’s statement that their policy limiting player speech is to “ keep the focus on the game and on the tournament." This is curious in such an ad supported game and tournament coverage. Do twitch ads take focus away from the tournament? A five second statement by a player is nothing compared to all the non-game material within and around broadcasts. This seems to me to be some damage reduction st…

Honestly, I think this is going to be the end of Brack’s short tenure as top executive at Blizzard. I am reminded of the parable of the three letters. I think the company has backed itself into a corner, and the only way out is to let leadership fall on the sword.

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

#22

Post by falcolas »

chii wrote: post #10
me_me_me wrote: post #3

This will be truly interesting to see. I wonder what can Blizzard possibly do for this not to spiral out of control and please West and China at the same time. I do not envy their PR department right now. But then again its all their own doing, so ready up the popcorn...

they cannot please both. They will have to ride out the bad PR in the west, because they cannot afford to ride out the chinese market's dominance and profits.

With a profit margin of ~25%, and a mere 10% of revenue coming from China, Activision Blizzard is in no risk of going bankrupt should they lose the Chinese market.

They're only at risk of losing an opportunity to milk the Chinese market for all the money they can later.

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

#23

Post by [deleted] »

tyri_kai_psomi wrote: post #12
prepend wrote: post #2

Blizzard president Brack’s statement that their policy limiting player speech is to “ keep the focus on the game and on the tournament." This is curious in such an ad supported game and tournament coverage. Do twitch ads take focus away from the tournament? A five second statement by a player is nothing compared to all the non-game material within and around broadcasts. This seems to me to be some damage reduction st…

> “ keep the focus on the game and on the tournament." I just can't help myself but draw the parallels to the NBA and their current situation as well with China and the utter hypocrisy shown by everyone from GMs to Coaches all the way down to players and media staff. When it came to social issues and black incarceration and inequality in America they spoke up bravely, and stated they wouldn't just "shut up and dribbl…

[deleted]

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

#24

Post by falcolas »

romanovcode wrote: post #20
chii wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

blizzard, by drawing attention and banning the HS player, has inadvertently caused their own PR nightmare. If they just left it alone, there would've been less issues, and the media wouldn't be discussing it at all.

> and the media wouldn't be discussing it at all. But the Chinese government might. And that might be much worse for them.

Unless Activision Blizzard plans to move their HQ to China, having the US government talking about you in a very negative light is likely worse for them.

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

#25

Post by zamalek »

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'm not sure who will have the greatest effect, but gamers are historically good at not forgetting old but unresolved news. Blizzard is going to be dealing with this for as long as it takes for them to make amends.

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

#26

Post by chii »

sodosopa wrote: post #18
chii wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they cannot please both. They will have to ride out the bad PR in the west, because they cannot afford to ride out the chinese market's dominance and profits.

the Chinese are 14% of their business. They could cut in other areas to make up for that loss.

activision (blizzard's parent(?) company) is looking to expand in the chinese market.

I m using this as a source : https://youtu.be/L3E1feh30fE?t=59 , and i m certain they want to ensure that their mobile titles do well in the chinese market (like their up-coming COD titles, as well as existing titles like candy crush etc). This requires that the chinese gov't "approve" them. They don't want to jeopardize this relationship.

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

#28

Post by bytematic »

prepend wrote: post #2

Blizzard president Brack’s statement that their policy limiting player speech is to “ keep the focus on the game and on the tournament." This is curious in such an ad supported game and tournament coverage. Do twitch ads take focus away from the tournament? A five second statement by a player is nothing compared to all the non-game material within and around broadcasts. This seems to me to be some damage reduction st…

Probably those ads keep the tournament running, money wise, and thus result in focus on the game and on the tournament.

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

#29

Post by Shivetya »

prepend wrote: post #2

Blizzard president Brack’s statement that their policy limiting player speech is to “ keep the focus on the game and on the tournament." This is curious in such an ad supported game and tournament coverage. Do twitch ads take focus away from the tournament? A five second statement by a player is nothing compared to all the non-game material within and around broadcasts. This seems to me to be some damage reduction st…

They can eliminate the April Fools problem they had last blizzcon by simply lot allowing fans to ask questions direct to the panel but instead have them submitted and chosen.

April Fools problem was when a person asking a question chose to comment and ask something else, namely about mobile version of Diablo.

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

#30

Post by prepend »

bytematic wrote: post #28
prepend wrote: post #2

Blizzard president Brack’s statement that their policy limiting player speech is to “ keep the focus on the game and on the tournament." This is curious in such an ad supported game and tournament coverage. Do twitch ads take focus away from the tournament? A five second statement by a player is nothing compared to all the non-game material within and around broadcasts. This seems to me to be some damage reduction st…

Probably those ads keep the tournament running, money wise, and thus result in focus on the game and on the tournament.

And motivated players don’t? This kind of reductionist non-logic means that Blizzard can do whatever they want and never reveal their true intentions.

This ultimately reduces the experience for players because Blizzard acts non-predictably.

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