Blizzard Suspends Hearthstone Player For Hong Kong Support, Pulls Prize Money

[Visions of Khas]

https://kotaku.com/blizzard-suspends-hearthstone-player-for-hong-kong-supp-1838864961/amp

A Hearthstone player was disqualified from competitions upon voicing support for Hong Kong, and the two casters covering his match were fired.


Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai, a pro Hearthstone player from Hong Kong, ended a stream earlier this week with a statement of support for those engaged in months-long protests against local police and government. As a result of this, Blizzard has ruled that he violated competition rules, and have handed out a heavy punishment.

In the stream, part of the broadcast of the Asia-Pacific Grandmasters, Blitzchung wore a mask (similar to those worn by protesters) and said “Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our age!”

[...]

Blizzard also add that, despite them physically ducking from his comments on air and immediately cutting to a commercial, the company “will also immediately cease working with both casters” involved in airing Blitzchung’s statement.



Well, I'm pretty fucking angry.

Fuck you, Blizzard. Just, fuck you.

EDIT

The company behind Gods Unchained is stating they will cover Blizchung's lost winnings, and have invited him to future tournaments:

https://twitter.com/GodsUnchained/status/1181487505180258304?s=20

EDIT II

NPR Article (https://www.npr.org/2019/10/08/768245386/blizzard-entertainment-bans-esports-player-after-pro-hong-kong-comments?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=nprnews&utm_campaign=npr&fbclid=IwAR0LI-c-lUzmDvby4_Nk1hPlGl0mBPEkhvbQU2flWnVgIwOrbWSms92qQu 0).

[Mislagnissa]

Don't blame Blizzard. Blame capitalism.

[Visions of Khas]

I can and will do both, thank you very much. Good to know you're giving them a pass, though.

[Mislagnissa]

I can and will do both, thank you very much. Good to know you're giving them a pass, though.

There are plenty of things to blame Blizzard for. Like trying to get children addicted to gambling, considering the lives of Chinese people worthless except for how much money Blizzard can suck out of them, and being generally evil.

Throwing a guy under the bus for trying to stop their evil ways ranks pretty low on their list of sins.

Blaming capitalism is technically blaming Blizzard since the alternative is communist and those filthy Blizzard executives having their ill-gotten wealth redistributed to those who actually deserve it.

[sandwich_bird]

Ha, was gonna come post about the same thing. Fuck them indeed. South Park was spot on once more.


Blaming capitalism is technically blaming Blizzard since the alternative is communist and those filthy Blizzard executives having their ill-gotten wealth redistributed to those who actually deserve it.

Those discussions usually go in the realm of black and white oversimplifications. I just want to point out that the general idea of capitalism is nothing more than fair liberty and meritocracy which is something most people would support. The problem is not the idea, it's the implementation just as it has been with Communism. It's very much like a software. You have this great idea for a game, but then along the way you release a half-baked product riddled with bugs and the user experience is passable at best. What does a good developer do in that situation? He fixes those bugs, use the feedback to improve the experience, etc. This is where the analogy ends because political systems don't have this smooth feedback loop; they are not evidence/logic based but instead are an emotional shit show. The result is that the "bugs" are very slowly fixed (if at all) and improvement is pretty much stagnant. This leads people to emotionally respond by calling the idea shit. They make the false assumption that because the result that originated from the idea is crap the idea itself must be crap. In truth, all it would take would be for the bugs to be fixed and then we can logically make conclusions on the idea; if it really suits our context.

All this to say that if we really want to blame someone, we should, as always, blame those with the power to makes changes for not making them (and being so damn shortsighted). This also may or may not include yourself if there exist a possible reality in which your actions leads to the changes you want to see I guess.

Ranting about this always makes me think about the ending AI speech from Metal Gear Solid 2. If you guys haven't heard it before, go google it(big spoiler alert obviously if you never played the game). These are some of the best lines you'll hear in a video game in my opinion anyways.

[Visions of Khas]

Yong Yea responded to the controversy:

OdCNGszoP0U

EDIT Oh dear, NPR is getting in on the action too (https://www.npr.org/2019/10/08/768245386/blizzard-entertainment-bans-esports-player-after-pro-hong-kong-comments?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=nprnews&utm_campaign=npr&fbclid=IwAR0LI-c-lUzmDvby4_Nk1hPlGl0mBPEkhvbQU2flWnVgIwOrbWSms92qQu 0).

[The_Blade]

Holy shit Blizzard... fuck you. You spineless husk of a now worthless trademark. I uninstalled everything besides BW back when you tried to shove Diablo:Immortal down our throats. I think I'll just delete my whole account now, and play on the fish server or something.

Capitalism is not at blame here... It's just a shit company making decisions based on cash grabs. They only care about the investors, where Tensent owns 5% of Activision:Blizzard.

Let's show up the list of stupid crap they have pulled out of their asses to pander towards the green:
-No offline mode or LAN to prevent piracy in the piracy riddled markets of Korea and China.
-Giving the Chinese government server control of all the traffic going through battle.net in the SEA region.
-Firing the Austin office to open up the Chinese office.
-Slashing 401k for most of their employees.
-Killing the Heroes of the Storm eSports scene a DAY after BlizzCon.
-Lootboxes
-Kicking Metzen and Rob Pardo out of the company for creative differences.
-Virtue signaling and politics within their games and communities. What a bunch of hypocrites. Jeff Kaplan, I wish I could see your face when facing the execs tomorrow, cause I feel like that shit is so real for you.
-Diablo Immortal
-Starcraft 2 warchest insignificant contribution towards the price pool and time grinds.
-Censoring art and themes mostly due to China.
-Killing Heroes of the Storm
-Fire half of team 3 for the sake of profits just before a Quarter end.

-Ban a PROPLAYER and fire 2 CASTERS over free speech.

AND a special fuck you for anyone at Blizzard who has been "toying around" with sales on the iNcontroL and TotalBiscuit announcers lately... you can just rot in hell beforehand. I bet you never met either of them.

I'm too tired to write the rest of the list out... fuck you Blizzard. You've done plenty. Go move to China already.

So sorry this was what brought me here to rant Khas...

[Visions of Khas]

-No offline mode or LAN to prevent piracy in the piracy riddled markets of Korea and China.

Oh, is that what made their LAN decision for them? I never realized. I never realized so many of those things were due to the Chinese market. Jeez.

EDIT

There's some discontent within Blizzard (https://youtu.be/gfo3BE2qLLQ?t=136).

EDIT II It's a small, petty thing, but I posted to Gods Unchained's Twitter in appreciation of their decision to support Blizchung, and they followed me in return. ^-^

[The_Blade]

I forgot I had Blizzard Stock. Just sold it... should have done that earlier.

I fucking love the community. They are trying to get Overwatch as a whole banned in China.

A friend from the Overwatch art team just told me they have all ditched productivity for the day. Not everyone has walked out, but the moral has been the lowest and working is not possible. Managers are trying to keep the problem "compartmentalized" to Hearthstone, but friend says they are all visibly just trying to do their jobs while at degrees of anger themselves. Rumors so far say that a lead artist from Hearthstone did quit today and wrote "We have no values left" on his tablet, before heading out to HR.

[Visions of Khas]

I fucking love the community. They are trying to get Overwatch as a whole banned in China.

I love that Mei is becoming a symbol for opposition. Unfortunately, I read her voice actor is pro-CCP.

So I've spoken with a friend of mine who works for Blizzard. They are of the mind Blizzard did the right thing, as inaction on Blizchung's statements would have threatened several thousand China-based jobs. We all know how fast the CCP came down on the NBA, so I suspect there's a lot of heated meetings going on behind the scenes between Blizzard execs and CCP officials right now. They also mentioned legitimate fear of extraordinary renditions for employees, or "disappearings," as China is wont to do. But they also say that many employees are absolutely irate about what Blizzard did, confirming the low morale Blade hinted at.

EDIT Huh.

https://i.redd.it/qhcal56j3jr31.jpg

[sandwich_bird]

from: https://ca.ign.com/articles/2019/10/09/blizzard-is-assessing-how-to-proceed-following-hong-kong-controversy


In a short comment to Engadget a Blizzard spokesperson said that the company is, “assessing the situation for now,”

[Visions of Khas]

Apparently, another Blizzard-sanctioned event elicited Hong Kong statements (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1yUbXKbHGg). The player's camera feed was almost immediately cut before the coverage ended prematurely.

Moreover, various politicians are calling out Blizzard for their decision. Marco Rubio's Twitter reads: "Recognize what’s happening here. People who don’t live in #China must either self censor or face dismissal & suspensions. China using access to market as leverage to crush free speech globally. Implications of this will be felt long after everyone in U.S. politics today is gone (https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1181556058659135488)."

[ragnarok]

from: https://ca.ign.com/articles/2019/10/09/blizzard-is-assessing-how-to-proceed-following-hong-kong-controversy

That's it? It shows how unwilling they are to admit fault

[The_Blade]

Thing is that the situation is more of the "You made you bed, now lie in it" for Blizzard. At par with the whole influence of Activision:Blizzard as a profit based company, they have been slowly working to switch branding strategies and sacrificing other "things" in order to achieve these new goals. They strained all of their franchises fan bases to the point of rupture; and now, at the very pinnacle of that stress, they have realized that all of that hard work has lead to an alley with no exit, 5 meter high walls, and barbed wire on top.

China is not a demon country. They are a group of humans like the rest of us. However their political life has lead them to a "China first" mentality that created a sense of superiority and strong unity among its citizens and government. They have realized the strength in this, and constantly push towards a more Chinese way of life within and abroad. A fragmented west, a poor Latin America and Africa, and a threat of economic recession amplifies this sentiment of providing a better life for China, or sustaining the wealth they have.

This is the business partner Blizzard elected to have. In retrospective it might be easy to point out that mistake now, yet no one feared China when they were clearly underdeveloped as an economy ten years ago. Blizzard's actions on the past two days might have been the right call in order to make some better calls later. However, they can elect to keep pushing their luck with how dangerous China can be towards threats. Of course, doing this just to grab out some money. This, however, will risk employee lives and the welfare of many affiliated groups like casters, pro-players, etc.

I wish Blizzard would act out of common sense here and pull out their foreign employees from China and sell the office to Tensent. Yea, they might lose control over their own IPs, but they got everyone into this mess considering everything. They have no real control anyways, when the most you can do is an economical "damage" and they can kill off your employees or take your properties.

Valve and Riot apparently also had heavy rules against mentioning the Hong Kong conflict in their mayor tournaments. However, neither company has a fan base that feels rejected, humiliated, and abused as does the Blizzard communities. So, there was no issue. For Blizzard, on the other hand, this was just another nail in the coffin. Who knows which will be last.

[Visions of Khas]

Several Blizzard employees walked out and demonstrated at the Irvine campus yesterday (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2UoVgLhCY4). A friend also said they plan on demonstrating today, too.

[The_Blade]

Mark Kern (https://www.themix.net/2019/10/world-of-warcraft-vanilla-team-lead-mark-kern-explains-why-he-joined-boycottblizzard/) and Kripparian (https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sr1h75) have both made statements against Blizzard

[Visions of Khas]

"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize"

In the midst of Blizzard's ongoing silence, there are small tidbits here and there.

https://i.redd.it/bxdevfjzexr31.jpg

It seems Blizzard is willing to penalize China's subjects, but refrains -- so far! -- from attacking Americans' free speech.

Whenever financial trade between countries is conducted, cultural exchange inevitably follows. And with so many American-based companies capitulating to China's demands, I foresee an ongoing erosion of civil rights in our country.

[Visions of Khas]

Blizzard finally issued a statement on the matter (https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/blizzard/23185888/regarding-last-weekend-s-hearthstone-grandmasters-tournament). In my opinion, it's full of bullshit.


Hello Blizzard Community . . .

I want to take a few minutes to talk to all of you about the Hearthstone Grandmasters tournament this past weekend. On Monday, we made the decision to take action against a player named blitzchung and two shoutcasters after the player shared his views on what’s happening in Hong Kong on our official broadcast channel.

At Blizzard, our vision is “to bring the world together through epic entertainment.” And we have core values that apply here: Think Globally; Lead Responsibly; and importantly, Every Voice Matters, encouraging everybody to share their point of view. The actions that we took over the weekend are causing people to question if we are still committed to these values. We absolutely are and I will explain.

Our esports programs are an expression of our vision and our values. Esports exist to create opportunities for players from around the world, from different cultures, and from different backgrounds, to come together to compete and share their passion for gaming. It is extremely important to us to protect these channels and the purpose they serve: to bring the world together through epic entertainment, celebrate our players, and build diverse and inclusive communities.

As to how those values apply in this case:

First, our official esports tournament broadcast was used as a platform for a winner of this event to share his views with the world.

We interview competitors who are at the top of their craft to share how they feel. We want to experience that moment with them. Hearing their excitement is a powerful way to bring us together.

Over the weekend, blitzchung used his segment to make a statement about the situation in Hong Kong—in violation of rules he acknowledged and understood, and this is why we took action.

Every Voice Matters, and we strongly encourage everyone in our community to share their viewpoints in the many places available to express themselves. However, the official broadcast needs to be about the tournament and to be a place where all are welcome. In support of that, we want to keep the official channels focused on the game.

Second, what is the role of shoutcasters for these broadcasts?

We hire shoutcasters to amplify the excitement of the game. They elevate the watchability and help the esports viewing experience stay focused on the tournament and our amazing players.

Third, were our actions based on the content of the message?

Part of Thinking Globally, Leading Responsibly, and Every Voice Matters is recognizing that we have players and fans in almost every country in the world. Our goal is to help players connect in areas of commonality, like their passion for our games, and create a sense of shared community.

The specific views expressed by blitzchung were NOT a factor in the decision we made. I want to be clear: our relationships in China had no influence on our decision.

We have these rules to keep the focus on the game and on the tournament to the benefit of a global audience, and that was the only consideration in the actions we took.

If this had been the opposing viewpoint delivered in the same divisive and deliberate way, we would have felt and acted the same.

OK, what could Blizzard have done better, and where do we go from here?

Over the past few days, many players, casters, esports fans, and employees have expressed concerns about how we determined the penalties. We’ve had a chance to pause, to listen to our community, and to reflect on what we could have done better. In hindsight, our process wasn’t adequate, and we reacted too quickly.

We want to ensure that we maintain a safe and inclusive environment for all our players, and that our rules and processes are clear. All of this is in service of another important Blizzard value—Play Nice; Play Fair.

In the tournament itself blitzchung *played* fair. We now believe he should receive his prizing. We understand that for some this is not about the prize, and perhaps for others it is disrespectful to even discuss it. That is not our intention.

But playing fair also includes appropriate pre-and post-match conduct, especially when a player accepts recognition for winning in a broadcast. When we think about the suspension, six months for blitzchung is more appropriate, after which time he can compete in the Hearthstone pro circuit again if he so chooses. There is a consequence for taking the conversation away from the purpose of the event and disrupting or derailing the broadcast.

With regard to the casters, remember their purpose is to keep the event focused on the tournament. That didn’t happen here, and we are setting their suspension to six months as well.

Moving forward, we will continue to apply tournament rules to ensure our official broadcasts remain focused on the game and are not a platform for divisive social or political views.

One of our goals at Blizzard is to make sure that every player, everywhere in the world, regardless of political views, religious beliefs, race, gender, or any other consideration always feels safe and welcome both competing in and playing our games.

At Blizzard, we are always listening and finding ways to improve—it is part of our culture. Thank you for your patience with us as we continue to learn.

Sincerely,

J. Allen Brack
President of Blizzard Entertainment



In the words of Alarak:

"You lie with such conviction. It's almost admirable."

[The_Blade]

Yea. Reading through the full thing was painful.

IMO, a worse offense apart from the twisted logic used to justify the bans (which honetly I now understand as a way to kick politics out of a scene were they don't belong) is the double speak which this letter is full of. It just confirms everything we've known so far about the shit they have done. It's just badly written and it's a real shame if Mr. J. did actually write this. It contains little to no understanding on what the original meaning of these values was.

Think globally: As Mike said so many years ago, it's about creating a SINGLE, WORLD community with a core joy for games. That allowed you to play with people; and make friends from all around the world.
Leading Responsibly: Was about being aware of the power they held... so ironic. It was the cornerstore of Blizzard's role as leader in the video game industry. "Is this game fun? will this improve gameplay? should we do this?" were all questions you could find on the interviews with the execs.
Every Voice Matters: Was never about politics or respecting opinions/differences. It was meant to show their commitment towards hearing their whole fanbase, regardless of it's size. Creating games or content for everyone. Hell, there was a huge rule on the original forums about not creating massive petitions, ilmao.


A cute throwback (Probably only Samwise and Chris Sigaty work there still, RIP everyone else):
AHz2ky-jng8

[ragnarok]

That statement might as well have come from a naive blindman, where basically the entire statement can be summed up by saying "We stick by our decision, blizz fans. Suck it up or go to hell."

[The_Blade]

Something that got me thinking was the current polarization within the battle.net forums. There's a very large amount of user constantly posting negative comments and threads about Blizzard's decisions. However, there also a plague of "Blizz fans" defending Blizzard from the backlash. Half of the arguments in favor are related to the nature of "free markets" and "capitalism". However, I don't care about most of them as they are mostly armchair arguments from people who understand little about any of the concepts. On the other hand, the argument related to removing "politics" from an entertainment environment got me doing rounds against myself, as this is an argument I'm in favor of.

I don't like displays of politics in the Oscars/emmys, NFL, Soccer, SC2, Overwatch or any other competitive sport that I happen to watch. However, most of these displays have focused on democratic divisions and political opinions. Which, for me, is like shoving religion down someone else's throat.

However, if we start seeing voices of people fighting for basic human rights or even the right to live, I strongly believe that any entertainment outlet should allow for those kinds of discussions.

[sandwich_bird]

To me, the aim of interviewing someone is to present the person behind the entertainer. If you don't want to listen to what that person has to say(whatever that might be), maybe you shouldn't interview people but I understand that Blizzards wants their humans to be soulless promotion machines. Lets remember that it's not like the guy screamed free HK during a match, it was within the scope of an interview.

[Mislagnissa]

Whenever financial trade between countries is conducted, cultural exchange inevitably follows. And with so many American-based companies capitulating to China's demands, I foresee an ongoing erosion of civil rights in our country.

That isn't how the American legal system or capitalism works. The first amendment applies to the government, not private enterprises. In order for civil rights to be eroded in the way you claim, all USA companies would have to lobby for self-destructive fascist policies.

[The_Blade]

Sarcasm?

The USA abandoned it's manufacturing capacity years ago, and is mostly hurting due to this as the trade war witch China escalates. Even in Mexico, were labor is cheap we have a trade deficit with China in the order of 32 to 70 billion dollars in favor of China.

[Mislagnissa]

Sarcasm?

The USA abandoned it's manufacturing capacity years ago, and is mostly hurting due to this as the trade war witch China escalates. Even in Mexico, were labor is cheap we have a trade deficit with China in the order of 32 to 70 billion dollars in favor of China.

On the bright side, China's looming population crash should put a damper on their plans for world domination.

[The_Blade]

Considering how fast they switched to renewables, I doubt they will crash due to population. Heavy automation is next on their list of "to do".

Their real estate sector on the other hand... owning 5 apartments and renting 1 or none is never good. Just as in tech the government has been giving incentives to buy out properties outside of China, but the money is not moving at all.

[Visions of Khas]

That isn't how the American legal system or capitalism works. The first amendment applies to the government, not private enterprises. In order for civil rights to be eroded in the way you claim, all USA companies would have to lobby for self-destructive fascist policies.

Oooh, you're just adorable.

ESL and Riot are capitulating to China's demands with regard to HK (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPg4i6lz6AE), apparently.

EDIT Apparently an Overwatch for Switch launch event was also canceled. Whadya know.

[Nissa]

...I'm not real sure how this is a capitalism issue, but whatever.

I don't even know what to say about. On the one hand, I'm perfectly okay with Blizzard not being enthusiastic about other people using their platform for messages. On the other...the ban cannon is too much. Quite frankly the worst they should have done was warn the guy and tell him not to do it again. Their overreaction to a person supporting a reasonable cause is highly questionable.

[sandwich_bird]

Lets be honest, if Scarlet from the sc2 pro scene screamed "transgender rights!", she would not get banned. This isn't an attack on lgbt, just arguing that the ban is 100% about that Chinese $$$ and probably not about keeping their tournament free of messages. In fact, I hope someone test them on it. Would be interesting to see how Blizzard tries to get out of that one :rolleyes:

[Mislagnissa]

Lets be honest, if Scarlet from the sc2 pro scene screamed "transgender rights!", she would not get banned. This isn't an attack on lgbt, just arguing that the ban is 100% about that Chinese $$$ and probably not about keeping their tournament free of messages. In fact, I hope someone test them on it. Would be interesting to see how Blizzard tries to get out of that one :rolleyes:

This. Blizzard doesn’t care about Hong Kong either way, nor China, the company just wants that sweet yuan.

[ragnarok]

Oooh, you're just adorable.

ESL and Riot are capitulating to China's demands with regard to HK (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPg4i6lz6AE), apparently.

EDIT Apparently an Overwatch for Switch launch event was also canceled. Whadya know.

We all saw it coming, VoK. It only proves Blizzard's spinelessness, unwilling to face angry fans.

[Visions of Khas]

The members of the American University team that held up a "Free Hong Kong" sign during a match have all just been handed 6 month bans (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-10-16-us-hearthstone-players-banned-for-hong-kong-protest).

[Undeadprotoss]

The members of the American University team that held up a "Free Hong Kong" sign during a match have all just been handed 6 month bans (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-10-16-us-hearthstone-players-banned-for-hong-kong-protest).

Damn, that really sucks, and that's not helping Blizzard at all. I think they're doing that to try and appear consistent but they're of course consistent in the wrong direction!

I don't think you can believe in the stories of SC1, WC3, and early WoW and still act this way.

[ragnarok]

The members of the American University team that held up a "Free Hong Kong" sign during a match have all just been handed 6 month bans (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-10-16-us-hearthstone-players-banned-for-hong-kong-protest).

Now if only Blizzard would only be smart enough to realize all they did was create martyrs.

[The_Blade]

The members of the American University team that held up a "Free Hong Kong" sign during a match have all just been handed 6 month bans (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-10-16-us-hearthstone-players-banned-for-hong-kong-protest).

To be fair, this particular group mocked Blizzard for not punishing them with the same ban as Blitzcrunch and forfeited the tournament despite having a decent chance at winning.

Watching the original interview and reading through a proper transcript, it seems that Blitzcrunch made his intentions clear before the interview started. Both casters allowed his show to happen, so a ban on their actions can be explained.

I don't think they will be able to get out of this PR nightmare on the west anytime soon, but the stock market has settled that so far Act:Blizz are meeting their targets. If this year's BlizzCon fails as bad as last year, we might see a significant dip.

[KaiserStratosTygo]

"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize"

In the midst of Blizzard's ongoing silence, there are small tidbits here and there.

https://i.redd.it/bxdevfjzexr31.jpg

It seems Blizzard is willing to penalize China's subjects, but refrains -- so far! -- from attacking Americans' free speech.

Whenever financial trade between countries is conducted, cultural exchange inevitably follows. And with so many American-based companies capitulating to China's demands, I foresee an ongoing erosion of civil rights in our country.

And that's reason #5832185 we need to do away with oligarchy in this country.

[ragnarok]

Then you take the first step for to do that, Stratos.

[Nissa]

Lets be honest, if Scarlet from the sc2 pro scene screamed "transgender rights!", she would not get banned. This isn't an attack on lgbt, just arguing that the ban is 100% about that Chinese $$$ and probably not about keeping their tournament free of messages. In fact, I hope someone test them on it. Would be interesting to see how Blizzard tries to get out of that one :rolleyes:

Let's be fair, though. The consequences of pissing off that particular crowd are...well, probably exaggerated, but Blizzard is probably afraid of pissing them off.
Give Blizz some credit. It's probably more like only 80% China money. I'm willing to believe it's at least 20% no platforming. After all, a purpose of entertainment is there to help us take a break from political issues.

Edit: *sees new article*

....This kind of thing makes me wish the beer in my avatar was drinkable.

[Visions of Khas]

Congress sent a bipartisan letter to Blizzard condemning them for their actions (https://www.dexerto.com/hearthstone/congress-sends-letter-condemning-blizzard-blitzchung-scandal-1157946) and urging the ban on Blitzchung be reversed.

The letter in full can be found here (https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/101819%20Wyden%20Letter%20to%20Activision%20Blizza rd%20RE%20Hong%20Kong.pdf), signed by Rob Wyden, Marco Rubio, AOC, Mike Gallagher and Tom Malinowski.

Really, to get both the Rs and Ds to slap you down is a mean feat.

I, for one, am warmed by this bonfire started by ActiBlizz.

[Turalyon]

^ Haha, I remember the days when it was only a minority that hated on Blizz, now everyone's jumping on the bandwagon. How the times have changed.

[Visions of Khas]

People are apparently being banned for mentioning Hong Kong in a twitch stream (https://dotesports.com/news/twitch-viewers-receive-24-hour-chat-ban-for-typing-free-hong-kong-during-hearthstone-masters-tour) during a Hearthstone Masters Tour.

I never hated Blizzard. Hell, I was fine with the crappy story we got out of SC2, knowing that we had outgrown their target demographic. (Well, "fine" might be an overstatement, but you get my drift.) I am just really sensitive to matters like this, and their attempts at silencing people who speak out about tyranny utterly pisses me off.

[The_Blade]

I just had a conversation with a friend on this topic a few days ago. The situation is so complex that boycotting China is not possible as a regular person. However, you have every right to voice your opinion vs tyranny and cruelty. What really hurts about all these companies and celebrities bowing down to China is that they don't even need the money at some point. Moreover, they do have the possibility to make a statement and have impact.

Take Lebron. If he stands his ground and makes a statement, he would just lose the Nike money and probably get a tiny slap on the hand by the NBA. He would still stand as the player with the highest revenue overall. I don't hate the man, but I am heavily disappointed.

What truly makes me hate Blizzard is that they have been virtue signaling everything and claiming the moral high ground for the past 5 years. Now, that they face the real crossroads of "doing what's right or grabbing the money" they fucked up their whole identity and their fans.

[Turalyon]

What truly makes me hate Blizzard is that they have been virtue signaling everything and claiming the moral high ground for the past 5 years. Now, that they face the real crossroads of "doing what's right or grabbing the money" they fucked up their whole identity and their fans.

It's probably my cynicism/skepticism that's causing me some hindsight bias here, but I always consider companies who "virtue signal" and market themselves/ create PR around claiming the moral high ground, genuine though they may be from the outset, as a red flag. It's always about the moolah in the end.

[sandwich_bird]

People are apparently being banned for mentioning Hong Kong in a twitch stream (https://dotesports.com/news/twitch-viewers-receive-24-hour-chat-ban-for-typing-free-hong-kong-during-hearthstone-masters-tour) during a Hearthstone Masters Tour.

I never hated Blizzard. Hell, I was fine with the crappy story we got out of SC2, knowing that we had outgrown their target demographic. (Well, "fine" might be an overstatement, but you get my drift.) I am just really sensitive to matters like this, and their attempts at silencing people who speak out about tyranny utterly pisses me off.

According to some dude on reddit, Blizzard has also been banning pro-China comments on that stream. But, the statement on the subject is:


We are not banning people from Twitch chat for specifically using pro Hong Kong speech or any other political statements. Bans are being levied by an automated moderating system that’s triggered by viewers spamming any phrase repeatedly. We expect to have the issue corrected in the next few hours.

https://www.polygon.com/2019/10/18/20921452/free-hong-kong-hearthstone-twitch-chat-ban

So take that as you will.

Man, I'm getting excited for blizzcon this year but not for the games. The drama is going to be intense! Imagine if on top of all this political stuff, they don't announce Diablo 3 or D2 remaster. Ouch

[KaiserStratosTygo]

^ Haha, I remember the days when it was only a minority that hated on Blizz, now everyone's jumping on the bandwagon. How the times have changed.

Ah, it feels good, doesn't it? the vindication, puts a devilish smile on my face >:)

[ragnarok]

Ah, it feels good, doesn't it? the vindication, puts a devilish smile on my face >:)

It just shows how much things have changed. Not that I really felt any good things for Blizz back during the WoL days, I was merely neutral. Of course, to see them show their nature like this, well I can't say I was surprised.

[Nissa]

I really, really don't want to hate Blizzard. They seem like every effort must go into making sure nobody sympathizes with them at all.

At the same time, I'm not really in the camp of people who want to go, "hey, let's spam Blizzard with Hong Kong stuff!", because I generally feel that some things in life should serve to give us a break from the garbage in the world. As much as one would support Hong Kong, it would be fairly easy for the crowd to want to use Blizz for other platforms as well. I support Hong Kong, but not people acting like idiots, ie spamming twitch.

[The_Blade]

I really, really don't want to hate Blizzard. They seem like every effort must go into making sure nobody sympathizes with them at all.

At the same time, I'm not really in the camp of people who want to go, "hey, let's spam Blizzard with Hong Kong stuff!", because I generally feel that some things in life should serve to give us a break from the garbage in the world. As much as one would support Hong Kong, it would be fairly easy for the crowd to want to use Blizz for other platforms as well. I support Hong Kong, but not people acting like idiots, ie spamming twitch.

I agree with you, but many can't see the spectrum. This is why I don't like the "Reddit crowd" or anyone who acts with the same absolutist way of thinking.

Just as with Hong Kong, they act all crazy about other main stream issues like Climate Change and anti-liberal bigotry. However, there's heavy conflict in Yemen, Kashmir, Chile, Brazil, Congo, South Africa, Kurdistan, Lybia, Malaysia, Indonecia, Australia, and well put Mexico there too. On top of that there is a general lack of mental health in developed nations like USA, Japan, and the UK. Trying to bring awareness through the Hong Kong popularity is often heavily criticized, as right now it's "Hong Kong's time". This attitude will result in a lot of people just disliking the mainstream public "support" on sight for being fanatic and annoying.

[Visions of Khas]

However, there's heavy conflict in Yemen, Kashmir, Chile, Brazil, Congo, South Africa, Kurdistan, Lybia, Malaysia, Indonecia, Australia, and well put Mexico there too.
I'm familiar with several of those, but Australia? What's going on there?

[sandwich_bird]

Trying to bring awareness through the Hong Kong popularity is often heavily criticized, as right now it's "Hong Kong's time".

It's technically the same argument/logic that blizzard claim to use: "The main subject should be isolated to preserve focus and going outside of it results in consequences". I don't really see a problem with preventing topic hijacking unless you meant something else? For example, most would agree that it'd be in bad taste if PETA joined a gay pride parade with anti-animal abuse signs.

Considering the average attention span and such, it's a fair policy. It's how they usually define the bounds or the topic that I disagree with as is the case with Blizzard.


because I generally feel that some things in life should serve to give us a break from the garbage in the world.

And I can agree with that too. I don't want political ads inside my game if it's not smoothly made to be part of the universe nor do I want to deal with spammers. But, on the other hand, interviews are intrinsically about the real world.

[The_Blade]

It's technically the same argument/logic that blizzard claim to use: "The main subject should be isolated to preserve focus and going outside of it results in consequences". I don't really see a problem with preventing topic hijacking unless you meant something else? For example, most would agree that it'd be in bad taste if PETA joined a gay pride parade with anti-animal abuse signs.

Considering the average attention span and such, it's a fair policy. It's how they usually define the bounds or the topic that I disagree with as is the case with Blizzard.

Was talking mostly about the internet societies and the expected consequences of group tunnel vision. Sure preventing topic hijacking is often the best alternative on narrow communication. However, when the loud and repetitive audience takes over (even of whole discussion boards), they tend to police the topic discussed through the same moral virtue that they gain by discussing/raising-awareness on one specific thing. That's the problem and a part of group nature. They will shutdown any other discussion to remain relevant on open channels, real life, or school. It's not always malice. Most of the time it's just part of feeling like you belong or talking about the latest news/topic. It's also not a hard shutdown.

For example, this happened at my home university. A group of students has been raising awareness of Mexican Police salaries and poor way of life within the force as a way to improve their lives and prevent corruption. The group was quite successful at helped a local police squad increase their government funding. In Mexico this is huge. Then the Hong Kong protests started and as the attention seeped into my university a small group of Hong Kong voices rose up. This was the same group that would always preach other mainstream issues. A quick campaign from their part was enough to remove the attention from the "students for police" that had been built over the years and one of their projects could not be funded successfully. At their best they were acting like peaceful protests. At their worst they were smearing "students for police" as a fascist group.

These negative voices are often the loudest. As we can see clearly by the spammers.


I'm familiar with several of those, but Australia? What's going on there?

I grouped Australia with the wrong scale of conflict. However, they are facing the worst recession since 2008. The government sold out the manufacturing and mining industries to China about 10-5 years ago, as well as the fishing rights for several Australian coasts. The cost of living has skyrocketed due to, again, chinese influences in the property market. The general public is not happy; and is trying to fight back the government. This has sparked some very shady actions from the police against the public. These have lasted for the past year. Said incidents involve: shadow arrests for comments made online or through social media, bully raids at homes or work places, and police brutality in general versus regular civilians. The MSM recently joined the public against the government after journalists were starting to suffer from the same abuse, but due to an Afganistan related incident (not civilian discomfort). The general public have condemned this effort. "Now, YOU care" is the motto in the streets because the MSM never covered any of the stories of crisis beforehand. Crazy Australians have been stabbing and killing people out of this growing hate (the most famous one is the egg crate stabber at Australia and the Christchurch shooter in NZ). Several friends have gone back to Latin America due to the situation, and Australian friends remain jobless or at a high risk of being fired.

[Visions of Khas]

That's interesting, thanks for bringing that to my attention Blade. I know China also has some holdings in New Zealand and are dramatically investing in many African countries.

I look at politics and world events, and every day there's more evidence the world's going down the shitter due to greed and egomania. :(

EDIT

For what it's worth, China seems to have (for now) retracted the extradition bill, fulfilling one of Hong Kong's protesters' demands. (https://apnews.com/826369870a744bf8b6238463f8def252)

[The_Blade]

It's the beauty of how globalization changed the game for macroeconomics. At a past time, during the early industrialization period, economies only grew due to a delicate balance between agriculture efficiency, private firm's incentives and war/conflict. Now every country became a cluster of economy sectors that can be replaced on regular business theory as the "business". We have gone way past the safety of growth and now are at a stage of death/purge in most economies/markets (meaning competition became really hard and competitors close down). The only sector that's not there is the services, which is why every country has a ludicrous idea that any of their cities will become the next Silicon Valley. Tho, China is about to dominate the growth and we will all spiral down the drain. Oh no London you beautiful tech hub. Berlin, I thought you had more plans for apps. Sydney, we still love you even though every single one of your startups moved to the USA or China.

Ah, wish Eco was here to shut me down.

[The_Blade]

Well... another conflict were China is a common factor has exploded. Chile now on fire after inequality protests sparked by the privatization of public transportation in joint venture with a Chinese company... which hiked the public transportation fare globally across platforms.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/chile-protests-prompted-unrest-191022160029869.html

Honestly, I feel like WW3 has started, but we will see a new front of warfare. Psychology will be the 6th battlespace beyond ground, air, water, cyber, and space.


dramatically investing in many African countries

More like hostile takeover. At least 4 African countries have lost at least one seaport against Chinese loan shark tactics. Democratic Republic of Congo officially sold all of their rare earths to China a year ago, after a PR fiasco took down their exports of Cobalt and Lithium. China is currently settling "colonies" at DRC.

DRC's Blood Cobalt from a year ago (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2018/09/26/blood-batteries-cobalt-and-the-congo/#3da1a2c0cc6e)
Current Analysis on China and Congo (https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/china-cobalt-congo-batteries/)

[sandwich_bird]

The government sold out the manufacturing and mining industries to China about 10-5 years ago, as well as the fishing rights for several Australian coasts. The cost of living has skyrocketed due to, again, chinese influences in the property market.

That seems to be the case pretty much everywhere. It's not looking good here in Canada anyways. Apart from buying up real estate and anything that's for sale, they had anti Hong-Kong/pro-CCP protests in our streets for god sake. Also, thugs sending hate to a Tibetan women who became a university student president. That's without talking about how they basically made up Huawei by hacking our biggest tech company to death. Can't count on our prime minister to do much about anything though. After all, part of his electoral campaign is funded by China and he's investing millions into Chinese banks. You'd think he'd pull out after they openly bullied our country for the Meng Wanzhou affair but nah, that yuan crack is too good. They won't even need a war to accomplish global domination at this point, our magnificent leaders are just going to sell it to them. The funny thing is that, somehow, the only person who's actually doing "anything" of value against all this is one of the biggest crook of all time. That's some grade A writing ha!

[KaiserStratosTygo]

The fallout series is looking more and more realistic every day.

[Visions of Khas]

The fallout series is looking more and more realistic every day.


God I hope not (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFiNh1OU3K4).

[KaiserStratosTygo]

God I hope not (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFiNh1OU3K4).

Soon everyone's homes will suddenly delete their properties within them.

[The_Blade]

Soon everyone's homes will suddenly delete their properties within them.

Oh yes... Give me my rebel extinguisher system at every home. Pour a mix of gasoline and oxygen gas into any room where enemies of the state think of treacherous cooking recipes (or other related state condemned activities) and light them on fire instantly. [collateral damage may happen]

[Nissa]

*sigh* Great. Everyone brush up on your survival skills. Time to become shepherds in the wilderness.

And to think, I wanted to go to Australia to become free from PC culture here in the US.

[Turalyon]

^ Australia ain't too PC, Nissa. We still regularly take the piss out of each other and are casually racist most times, lol. Haven't seen/heard any of what Blade has referred to but maybe that's because I'm so disconnected from the outside world in general. :p

[The_Blade]

Well, I made it sound so bad by grouping it with the real "danger of death" seen elsewhere on that list. :P

Life in Australia is better than in most countries, it's just not as economically forthcoming as it was years ago (specially if you work on the Aerospace, Automotive, Mining or Electrical sectors). It's future is mostly secured due to the latest deals with China, ironically (related to services and banking). Telstra was allowed to control the south pacific network and enter mainland China in exchange for some infrastructure development for Chinese companies. Three key businesses are still Australian owned, Transit Systems (which is a private company with public transportation contracts), Telecom (Telstra limits it's foreign ownership to 35% of public stock) and the 4 big banks (public traded, but mostly scattered in ownership). These three things have been named constantly as something that is "too big to fail". All of these companies have heavy stakes in India and China. However, they are organically operating for a share of the market.

A lot of trade people have also been forced to adapt. Butchers, fish markets, and market stalls have been dominated by Chinese competition known as paddy markets. Aldi also broke some backs as it crashed Woolworth's and Cole's domination of the supermarket market (lulz).

[Nissa]

I've heard that Australia has worse self-defense laws than the US. Like, you can get in trouble for defending yourself, and you can get in serious trouble for just having a thing that can be construed as a weapon.

Edit: I still at least want to visit Australia, as my (late) favorite DJ lived there. He died before he could put out his first album, but...obsessions will obsess.

[sandwich_bird]

^ Australia ain't too PC, Nissa. We still regularly take the piss out of each other and are casually racist most times, lol. Haven't seen/heard any of what Blade has referred to but maybe that's because I'm so disconnected from the outside world in general. :p

Huh, for some reason, I always pictured you as a Brit Tura xD

[The_Blade]

I've heard that Australia has worse self-defense laws than the US. Like, you can get in trouble for defending yourself, and you can get in serious trouble for just having a thing that can be construed as a weapon.

Edit: I still at least want to visit Australia, as my (late) favorite DJ lived there. He died before he could put out his first album, but...obsessions will obsess.

Well, Australians can drink in public. Take that, America!

[Turalyon]

I've heard that Australia has worse self-defense laws than the US. Like, you can get in trouble for defending yourself, and you can get in serious trouble for just having a thing that can be construed as a weapon.

Nah, those things you mentioned are just BS lawyer chicanery if anything. If you really got in trouble for defending yourself, it'd be because there'd be a case for what you did not actually being construed as "self-defence".


Huh, for some reason, I always pictured you as a Brit Tura xD

Yeah, I suppose it's due to my command of the English language being a bit more rarified than the typical Aussie. I've even had a Brit comment on how well I speak... for an Australian. High praise indeed, hah!

[Visions of Khas]

According to GameIndustry.biz, Activision-Blizzard's sales continue to decline (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-11-07-activision-blizzard-sees-slumping-sales-sliding-engagement), though Activision still turned a minor profit. Some of that can probably be attributed to Bungie's split; but the mishandling of the StarCraft esports scene and Diablo III, coupled with Hearthstone (https://www.thegamer.com/activision-blizzards-sales-are-plummeting/), probably didn't help the numbers.

[The_Blade]

Now that the dust has settled... I have to conclude that the HK moment would have not been an issue had Blizzard not been on this sorry state. Quarter after quarter they keep pulling shit on the fans. Even after BlizzCon, the air is stale around "good" things going forward for any of the franchises. D4 doesnt get a break either with the timeline that's so long it's wrong.

WoW pro players are angry at this year's BlizzCon all-around performance. (https://massivelyop.com/2019/10/31/blizzard-stealthily-withdraws-500k-wow-esports-prize-pool-contribution/) Some other pros have also made comments on the lack of water and food backstage. Most WoW players were also denied accommodations for the event and exposure as half of the tournament was not streamed on the virtual ticket.

Not everything was negative tho... I've heard that floor activities were now as dynamic as they were in the past. There's just not as many prices.

[Nissa]

The question then becomes, what can Blizzard do to get out of this?

Y'know, besides the obvious impossibility of seceding from Activision.

[Visions of Khas]

Sadly enough, I don't think A-B's bottom line will be effected overly much in the long run, what with all the new content announced and people's generally short attention spans. And from what I've been seeing, I get the sense Blizz is gearing up for WoW 2, so that should offset the subscriber falloff they've been experiencing.

EDIT I keep seeing several hundred users online browsing the forum. How many of them are bots and spiders, I wonder, and how many are actual people. (Most, and few, respectively, I know. Just wondering specifics.)

[Nissa]

I kinda assumed at least a couple of them were Blizzard employees spying on us for the heck of it. Like, they weren't told to, but they do because why not.

[Visions of Khas]

I kinda assumed at least a couple of them were Blizzard employees spying on us for the heck of it. Like, they weren't told to, but they do because why not.

We know some Blizz staff frequented to SCL in its prime, referring to the manual and campaign transcripts. I think, several years ago, someone claiming to be from Blizzard made a thread here thanking the fan community for its dedication and support. As far as I remember, that account never made any other posts or threads.

It'd be nice to think they still visit.

[sandwich_bird]

I keep seeing several hundred users online browsing the forum. How many of them are bots and spiders, I wonder, and how many are actual people. (Most, and few, respectively, I know. Just wondering specifics.)

Something like 99.9999% bots. I have no indication that there's any real people other than the ~7 remaining posters. It's possible but very unlikely that Blizz would still lurk from time to time.