Jayne, a coach for Dallas Fuel, posted a message on his Twitter in support of Hong Kong, then the tweet was deleted like 20 minutes later.
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Blizzard has removed Hong Kong Hearthstone player blitzchung from Hearthstone Grand Masters and rescinded all his prize money
- Thread starter Lump
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So it seems the plan at the moment is to allow the live Q&A, wonder if they backtrack on that sometime soon...
There's no way a live Q&A happens in the traditional format. Zero chance. They'll cite a different reason (my money is on """safety concerns""") before BlizzCon will neuter the format or cancel the Q&As entirely.
As I keep saying, if they think they can just let this all blow over, they're sorely mistaken.
So long as there is a crisis in Hong Kong, and long after, Blizzard should be dragged for their stance. And I'm sure there are plenty of folks like myself that will refuse to EVER let them forget this.
Probably trying to figure out what the right steps are. From what I've heard they're also concerned about their employees in the Blizzard Shanghai office. From what I've heard they've been threatened by arrests before by the Chinese goverment.
So it seems the plan at the moment is to allow the live Q&A, wonder if they backtrack on that sometime soon...
This would be even worse if they change it
Blizzard's relative silence here is deafening. I have to imagine the only real hesitation here has nothing to do with what's right, but rather, what loses them the least amount of money.
They look so pathetic in all of this.
They look so pathetic in all of this.
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There's no response they can give that will be worth anything if it's not walking the decision back and risking those Chinese sacks of cash. Any double-down response would just pour gas on the fire.
Since Blizzard is unwilling to risk those Chinese bucks with a statement that even pretends to show empathy, their only play is to wait it out. They backed themselves into this corner.
BTW, do we know who it is that made the actual decision to do this? I know that 'blizzard' is to pay, but the public reps are gonna be the ones to take the brunt of the response, not the higher ups that actually made the decision and directed others below them.
Is there a way to know who it is that is actually accountable for this?
Is there a way to know who it is that is actually accountable for this?
Doubtful. Obviously by now the president and other higher ups are fully aware of the situation, but I doubt we'll ever have confirmation of who ultimately "pulled the trigger" on the initial ban/firings.
no idea, the whole thing is a super interesting clusterfuck. Much like their silence these last 2 days, like others have said, what exactly CAN they say? They either double down on it, which...well, would not be ideal (lol) or they backtrack, risking real consequences with China, thus real consequences with the stock market and shareholders.
This is NOT EXCUSING ANYTHING for the record, there is no "pls care for the billionaire company" here, they deserve all this shit. It's just a situation I have no idea how they can fix honestly.
Every company with heavy investment in the Chinese market be it selling or manufacturing are all wondering the same thing.
No direct source (just know people that work at Blizzard). And we don't know if it's happening now, but it's something they've made very clear in the past have happened.
That being said, even without inside sources it's not hard to make the connection of things getting more complicated when you have an office in Shanghai. I do think Blizzard fucked up royally in how they handled the situation. But things aren't being made easier with the heavy handedness of the Chinese government.
Your user name defines their situation accurately.
What are the odds of Blizzcon getting cancelled if this escalates for them?
It's pretty clear many Blizz-focused youtubers and twitch streamers will continue business as usual. They don't want their gravy train to stop either.
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It won't.
The biggest reason is that certain controversies surround individuals. Like a Randy Pitchford. Once people move on that he's a clown and just kind of focus on the project as a whole (Borderlands 3), people move on. Or other controversies that just end - because the situation itself ends. THQN for instance, 8chan no longer even exists.
This thing going on with the Communist State of China, all the atrocities their government is doing, Hong Kong's quest for freedom, and how Western business work with China and their censorship - this is going to last for years.
And each time something happens, people will call back to Apple, Hollywood, Activsion Blizzard, Nike, etc. etc.
pretty much. I still think Blizzcon has the potencial to be...interesting.
zero chance. Do people not understand these things are huge, prepared well in advance, will thousands of tickets sold and whatnot. You cant just cancel it willy nilly.
Ok. What I'm asking though is if we are boycotting Apple and Google for doing similar stuff to appease China censorship? There's several companies and I'm lost on why the focus has hit Activision Blizzard so hard
It's really sad and telling that the Assistant Coach of the Dallas Fuels was ordered to delete the tweet that he made condemning Acti-Blizz in their decision on Blitzzchung.
Also reading some articles, it seems like the idea is that while Blizzard definitely did something terrible, it probably has more to do with Activision themselves.
Also reading some articles, it seems like the idea is that while Blizzard definitely did something terrible, it probably has more to do with Activision themselves.
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The most they'll do is get ready with the censor button and have like a huge 10 minute delay on the stream to get in front of questions
I dont think they will have any delay. Cutting the Q&As is more of a possibility imo, those are like a 30min segment each time anyway.
They're not going to cut anything, they would just change it from Live Q&A to submitted questions or having moderators collect them from the audience.
or this yeah, can see moderators asking the questions to avoid the ol' last second switcharoo
This is a video game forum. So shit involving Activision Blizzard is going to have more resonance here.
Secondly, "we" aren't doing anything. Fuck the hive mind.
If you want to boycott. Then boycott. If you don't, then don't. It's up to you. Think for yourself.
You know their real answer already. This same situations has been happening with lots of companies for many years now and nobody seemed to care. It took the NBA and a videogame to make people to get interested.
If I was the CEO of blizzard, my only interest would be money, so I would probably play the waiting game as well. Seems like the wise thing to do here.
Basically. I think the takeaway from this is to be more informed about the Chinese government's crimes and the influence they hold on the world, and support the protestors in Hong Kong who are taking a stand in the name of liberal democracy. Spread ideas and influence, more than anything else. We won't bankrupt Blizzard (who are definitely just going to wait this out) or take down the CCP but we can make a stand and keep the fire from going out.
What can I do to help the people of Hong Kong? Is there an organization I can donate to? I'm in Los Angeles. Any protests planned?
Cancelled my subscription to WoW classic last night and it expires today in 3 hours.
Feels frustrating as hell but I have to do something.
Feels frustrating as hell but I have to do something.
It's likely, but a significant portion of the people outraged today won't ever forget. Like the people who canceled their subs and deleted their accounts, those won't ever forget why they did that and unless Blizzard makes a major restitution, most of them are never coming back.
I'm done with them forever after this. They were already a shell of their former selves anyway, but at least in my mind I could daydream about somehow, someway getting out from Activision even if I know that's basically impossible. Now I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire.
I'd like to say a time is coming where these companies are going to have to make a choice, and can't continue to do both. But the reality is only so many in the West will care long term while the Chinese government won't allow there to be any choice in the matter. I can't imagine there's as much money for most Western companies in China as there is in the US and Europe, but they're going to keep betting on complacency and probably come out better than otherwise. Hopefully not though. Looking at you too here NBA and others.
I'd like to say a time is coming where these companies are going to have to make a choice, and can't continue to do both. But the reality is only so many in the West will care long term while the Chinese government won't allow there to be any choice in the matter. I can't imagine there's as much money for most Western companies in China as there is in the US and Europe, but they're going to keep betting on complacency and probably come out better than otherwise. Hopefully not though. Looking at you too here NBA and others.
o boy the comments
This years' Blizzcon might turn out quite interesting to watch.
This years' Blizzcon might turn out quite interesting to watch.
You can almost sense the anxiety in the social media manager tasked with sending and monitoring this tweet.
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