Blizzard Response on World of StarCraft Mod

If any of you have skimmed the battle.net forums recently, you might have noticed a mod team made claims that Blizzard Entertainment was taking action against their project by asking to take down a YouTube video. These concerns have been a bit exaggerated as Bashiok made this post addressing why the video was removed:

Earlier this week, a player-made StarCraft II mod called World of StarCraft and described as a “StarCraft MMO” was featured on a number of prominent gaming news sites, catching the attention of gamers as well as our own. With the name so closely resembling that of World of Warcraft, we wanted to discuss the title of the mod with the developer, and as part of our routine procedure, we contacted YouTube to request the video be removed while that discussion took place. We were also curious about the project and wanted to discuss with the developer what the mod entailed.

It was never our intention to stop development on the mod or discourage the community from expressing their creativity through the StarCraft II editor. As always, we actively encourage development of custom maps and mods for StarCraft II, as we’ve done with our strategy games in the past. That's why we release an editor with our RTS games, and why we feature top player-created content in the custom game search. It's also why we held a contest to spotlight the best community-crafted StarCraft II mods at last year's BlizzCon, and why we’ll continue to improve Battle.net to better showcase player-created content.

Like many players in the community, we’re looking forward to seeing the continued development of this mod, and as part of our ongoing discussion, we've extended an offer to the developer to visit the Blizzard campus and meet with the StarCraft II development team. As always, we appreciate all of the efforts of the talented and enthusiastic mod-making community, and we look forward to seeing and playing what they create using the StarCraft II editor in the future.

Source:
http://pixelatedgeek.com/2011/01/wor...date-bad-news/
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/to...26?page=14#261

Smooth Blizzard, real smooth.

So much for your friendly neighborhood game developer.

like i belive that load of crap

At last (by the way, said video was posted here on our forums too) a response.

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We contacted YouTube to request the video be removed while that discussion took place. We were also curious about the project and wanted to discuss with the developer what the mod entailed.

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I think something is wrong with that paragraph.

I think what happened was some guy pulled the trigger too fast on yanking the video from YouTube, and now Blizzard has to do some PR tricks so their modder fanbase doesn't get scared off.

Or he was prematurely confirming there is a World of Starcraft coming up and Blizzard didn't want to seem as if they were copying a modder

There is no World Of StarCraft. Blizzard said that would only start on such a project after the StarCraft team was done with StarCraft 2, the MMO team was done with Titan, and, on top of that, it'd take about eight years (according Frank Pierce) for it to get close to release.

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Originally Posted by Arkalis

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Originally Posted by Genopath

we contacted YouTube to request the video be removed while that discussion took place. We were also curious about the project and wanted to discuss with the developer what the mod entailed.

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I think something is wrong with that paragraph.

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Yes...
The first underlined section is present tense, while the second and third are past tense. Clearly, somebody wasn't paying attention in his/her Business English courses.

I'm going to avoid jumping onto the "Blizzard are Evul Corporation" bandwagon for the moment, until we see how this turns out.

You guys are looking too deep into it. "We were also curious" as in, before they actually talked to the guy, they were curious about the project and wanted to discuss it with him.

You know, Blizzard didn't have to contact the guy. They could've done a blanket cease and desist, and that would have been the end of it, period.

The fact that they came out and are saying this is directly because of the media taking note of this recent event, and everyone else in the community jumping to conclusions instead of looking for answers. Blizzard is now controlling the situation by explaining their actions and intentions. I don't see why this could ever be a bad thing. Would it have been better if they just shut the guy down with no explanation? Or said something like 'We can't comment at this time'?

Sure, they didn't have to take the video off Youtube; but they're pretty much doing it to protect their IP. The mod's name is World of Starcraft, and I'm pretty sure it has more to do with the name of the mod than the actual content being produced.

Infoceptor's 'Warcraft 3' mod for Starcraft was given a cease and desist. Project Revolution did the same thing for War3, adding SC units into War3, yet despite Blizzard acknowledging the mod's existence, did nothing to stop it. They have to protect their IP, and when the name of the game is being used directly for an unofficial product, it becomes a legal issue.

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Originally Posted by Triceron

You know, Blizzard didn't have to contact the guy. They could've done a blanket cease and desist, and that would have been the end of it, period.

The fact that they came out and are saying this is directly because of the media taking note of this recent event, and everyone else in the community jumping to conclusions instead of looking for answers. Blizzard is now controlling the situation by explaining their actions and intentions. I don't see why this could ever be a bad thing. Would it have been better if they just shut the guy down with no explanation? Or said something like 'We can't comment at this time'?

Sure, they didn't have to take the video off Youtube; but they're pretty much doing it to protect their IP. The mod's name is World of Starcraft, and I'm pretty sure it has more to do with the name of the mod than the actual content being produced.

Infoceptor's 'Warcraft 3' mod for Starcraft was given a cease and desist. Project Revolution did the same thing for War3, adding SC units into War3, yet despite Blizzard acknowledging the mod's existence, did nothing to stop it. They have to protect their IP, and when the name of the game is being used directly for an unofficial product, it becomes a legal issue.

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What this guy said.

If you do not try to protect your trademark name, you will lose your trademark name.

Watchya gonna do when they come for you! Blizzard! Blizzard!

Though this a very positive instance of Blizz protecting its IP, it again shows how watchful they are for those untoward acts regarding their IP. I find it encouraging that Blizz is being both so responsible and open in this case. Requesting a name change on a mod is no biggie.

I'd actually prefer a mod name change. World of StarCraft sounds so lame and stupid. If you're trying to bring home the "MMOness" (as much as a map can have) then at least call it StarCraft Galaxy or Universe.

Worlds of StarCraft. The S makes all the difference.

Its now called Starcraft Universe. I've been following it from SC2Mapster. Creation has also been a job opportunity by Riot Games. From what I have heard, Blizzard thought the mod might have been another game being made outside the editor.

Actually, I'm surprised he'd even be allowed to use the name Starcraft Universe; unless Blizzard gave written consent. I'm no expert on legalities and so could be completely wrong but wouldn't Blizzard acknowledging and allowing something like this create a precedent for other parties/companies to use the Starcraft name and/or setting for their own games?

yeah i think there's too much overreaction to this, the name has potential IP and copright issues that can be presented down the line, and when you take into account how the media was blowing it out of proportion I dont blame Blizz at all. THey never said dont make the mod it was more like "hey this is gunna get people confused and already is, could you just please change the name?" chill out they aren't censoring anything.

+1 to Blizz for being awesome, open, and reasonable.

Let's keep this simple.

1. To be blunt, Blizzard is not working on "World of StarCraft". They've stated that multiple times.

2. There is a chance they may NEVER work on a "World of StarCraft".

3. That being said, this creates a chance they may work on a "World of StarCraft". For this reason, they will always want to keep an eye out for projects that could take the same name or cause limitations to this potential project in the future.

4. This isn't some big red flag, it's simply a company that is keeping the scope of their project potential on the far horizon, and identifying problems that could limit them in a "what if" scenario. They're just trying to be productive in finding pro-active solutions, much like how they approached the mod makers who changed the name of their own mod to "Left 2 die".

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Originally Posted by Triceron

You know, Blizzard didn't have to contact the guy. They could've done a blanket cease and desist, and that would have been the end of it, period.

The fact that they came out and are saying this is directly because of the media taking note of this recent event, and everyone else in the community jumping to conclusions instead of looking for answers. Blizzard is now controlling the situation by explaining their actions and intentions. I don't see why this could ever be a bad thing. Would it have been better if they just shut the guy down with no explanation? Or said something like 'We can't comment at this time'?

Sure, they didn't have to take the video off Youtube; but they're pretty much doing it to protect their IP. The mod's name is World of Starcraft, and I'm pretty sure it has more to do with the name of the mod than the actual content being produced.

Infoceptor's 'Warcraft 3' mod for Starcraft was given a cease and desist. Project Revolution did the same thing for War3, adding SC units into War3, yet despite Blizzard acknowledging the mod's existence, did nothing to stop it. They have to protect their IP, and when the name of the game is being used directly for an unofficial product, it becomes a legal issue.

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1) That's what they pretty much did with the youtube video. It's just a map editor mod. They can pull that too but then it's just going too far.
Stop being such a fanboy, you talk like Blizzard could have done so much worse and was giving this and the community "Grace". They're covering their FRAZZLEWAHes. Smell the coffee dude.
Do you know how bad they would look like in the eyes of the community if they "shut down" a (legit) SC2 editor created project? It's basically like saying "HEY COMMUNITY/MOD/MAPPERS, EAT FRAZZLEWAH!!! But please continue to make maps for us :)" and said nothing in the process? It would be enough for me to seriously rethink buying a Blizzard product without waiting for reviews.

2) Yeah they are controlling the situation, with poorly written PR statements to cover up their "bright" legal team who pulled the video for no reason.
3) Of course they have to comment, it's common business practice. It would be worse if they didn't comment, at least they are faking an apology/being Mr.Nice Company
4) Infoceptor's mod did not require a copy of WarCraft 2. It had proprietary models copy/pasted from WC2 into SC. Theft.

The WC3 SC Revolution mod had all their models created from scratch and required both CD keys to play it. This created legal protection as nothing was being "Stolen" and to play it, you had to own both games.
Get your damn facts straight.


Back to topic: This has been blown out of proportion. Basically (in my opinion) the Youtube/ActivisionBlizz Auto filter removed the video...or some "Genius" on their legal online team.
Then people who actually have a clue, working at Blizzard, realized this and forced a PR Statement. Or possibly their story is true, and they pulled it down and then wanted to talk to them.
The later sounds like a lie though, merely a ways to cover the corporate "blindness" of their legal team. This is to be expected of a publicly traded company.

Hyde,

While you bring an interesting opinion to the table, it's important to note that every single part of your argument is utter speculation without proof, source or even basis in many cases. I don't mean to shut you down... but insulting others for possibly being wrong won't make your point any more valid. It's still just as much speculation/opinion than the poster you replied to.

In fact, unfortunately, the only source that supports to disputes the point you bring up is simply a post from the company trying to explain their actions. If it's a coverup of some mistake, then it's nothing to get upset over. If it's honest from them, which I speculate is highly probable as it's pretty much a mirror of the "Left 2 Die" situation a while back, then it's still nothing to get upset about.

'Starcraft' is a trademarked name, and it was being used directly to promote something that was not an official Starcraft product. Blizzard has every right and reason to act upon it. It's not a mistake. They have done this in the past. These are facts, not my opinions of the matter.

I can see that you might think I'm being a fanboy for simply defending Blizzard on this situation, but I can tell you I remain fairly neutral to the matter. I just don't see the point in villainizing a company that is doing what they're supposed to be doing. The matter is that this wouldn't have gained as much attention as it did if the media was not focused on it. It's as simple as that. You would probably never have heard of this or cared otherwise.

The creator of Sentry Scramble was banned for hacking, despite never having played a ranked ladder match, or running any malicious programs in the background. Did you even know about this? Or cared that he got banned? Again, this sort of stuff happens.

Blizzard is a company, first and foremost. They don't owe us any favours, nor do they answer to the consumers. They don't HAVE to say or do anything.

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Originally Posted by Gifted

Hyde,

While you bring an interesting opinion to the table, it's important to note that every single part of your argument is utter speculation without proof, source or even basis in many cases. I don't mean to shut you down... but insulting others for possibly being wrong won't make your point any more valid. It's still just as much speculation/opinion than the poster you replied to.

In fact, unfortunately, the only source that supports to disputes the point you bring up is simply a post from the company trying to explain their actions. If it's a coverup of some mistake, then it's nothing to get upset over. If it's honest from them, which I speculate is highly probable as it's pretty much a mirror of the "Left 2 Die" situation a while back, then it's still nothing to get upset about.

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Yes all of my stuff is speculation, I realize that. But this is Activision Blizzard being headed by Bobby Kotick and Mike Morhaim. People really don't see the extent that most of the "evil stuff" Blizzard has been doing, as been A-OK'd by Mike (They are autonmous but Mike , like any CEO - wants to drive share prices UP. 25$ WoW mounts is one way)
Given Activision Blizzard's recent track record, I wouldn't expect them to be nice.

http://kotaku.com/5740389/starcraft-...ook-conclusion

This guy was not the only SC2 "WoW" modder, actually there are a few projects that are much more ahead of his project. Although his was the only one that had a video (and removed), thus the high profile.
He was then invited on an all expenses paid trip to Blizzard California.
Why weren't the other modders invited? Public Relations cover up no doubt.
Someone at Activision Blizzard screwed up, so then Blizzard has to have a tea party.

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Originally Posted by Triceron

'Starcraft' is a trademarked name, and it was being used directly to promote something that was not an official Starcraft product. Blizzard has every right and reason to act upon it. It's not a mistake. They have done this in the past. These are facts, not my opinions of the matter.

I can see that you might think I'm being a fanboy for simply defending Blizzard on this situation, but I can tell you I remain fairly neutral to the matter. I just don't see the point in villainizing a company that is doing what they're supposed to be doing. The matter is that this wouldn't have gained as much attention as it did if the media was not focused on it. It's as simple as that. You would probably never have heard of this or cared otherwise.

The creator of Sentry Scramble was banned for hacking, despite never having played a ranked ladder match, or running any malicious programs in the background. Did you even know about this? Or cared that he got banned? Again, this sort of stuff happens.

Blizzard is a company, first and foremost. They don't owe us any favours, nor do they answer to the consumers. They don't HAVE to say or do anything.

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Yes Starcraft is a trademarked name but it was being strictly used within the map editor. The article in Kotaku I linked above explicitly says the legal team was afraid he was creating something out of StarCraft 2.
Knee jerk reaction much on their legal team? The new name is StarCraft Universe.

Do you see VALVE Corporation sending "Cease and desist" orders to the DOTA team or to Blizzard to filter out the "DOTA" trademark? No, because that would make them look like assholes and would prove nothing.
(VALVE owns copyright to "DOTA" and IceFrog is now a VALVE employee for the record)
People knew from the start the mod was a mod, it's just their knee jerk legal team that pulled it without thinking - causing all this in the first place. An email or a letter to the guy asking to put in explicit notes saying "THIS IS A MOD, AND IS STRICTLY CONFINED WITHIN SC2" would have worked MUCH better. None of this media fiasco would have occurred.

No they don't owe us any favors, nor do they owe any answers to the consumers. But this is suicide as a Business. And this is not how Blizzard has been operating since their creation. They have always catered to their community and clientale. Changing from this would mean changing from Blizzard.

No, the matter of fact is that it would have not exploded if their legal team took some care in their work instead of blindly shooting. It's also what the mod maker says too.
I apologize for the insult of calling you a fanboy, but I am sick and tired of hearing this same defense for Blizzard over and over again
"They are Blizzard, they don't owe you anything or any favors"

Give me a break guys, they are not the government. They sure as hell damn owe us something, we're paying customers and community. Do you think WC3 would have lasted so long if not for the modders/DOTA? Why else did they pour in so much work into the map editor. If you think their best interest in managing the community is a "Cut throat" attitude...then please by all means believe in that.

Wow. <-- hope this post doesn't get removed by Blizzivision.

Scurred of modding now.

I find it amusing that you bring up points that are completely refuted by that very article you linked. You're too caught up in your conspiracy theories. This is not a David vs Goliath scenario that you believe it to be, it's something far simpler and basic.

What it boils down to is simple trademark infringement. The reason it's blown out of proportion is because people don't understand why things happened in the order that they did.

Did Blizzard make a huge mistake and get forced to fix it by giving the guy a tour of their offices? This is all a matter of opinion, one that I am remaining neutral on. I don't care to argue on speculation.


On the topic of believing what their best interest is- If I were to believe they are willing to bend over backwards to serve the community, we would already be playing on LAN and talking through Chat Channels 10 years ago when people first started asking for Starcraft 2. I don't believe that they work to our whims, nor are they a faceless corporation. They are both and neither of these. There is no black and white answer to this, and I'm not playing your game of picking a side.

What I'm saying is they were acting perfectly normally for the circumstances at hand. It's like hearing about a story of a cop using a tazer and jumping to conclusions that it's obviously police brutality. I'm simply saying that using a tazer is standard procedure. There is no opinion behind that. Everything I've stated was to back up the fact that there is no reason to jump to conclusions.

I'm not attacking your personal opinion. Frankly, I don't care about your opinion, I'm not looking to argue it. I pretty much said what I said because of the overly negative tone present in the first page.

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Originally Posted by hyde

Do you see VALVE Corporation sending "Cease and desist" orders to the DOTA team or to Blizzard to filter out the "DOTA" trademark? No, because that would make them look like assholes and would prove nothing.
(VALVE owns copyright to "DOTA" and IceFrog is now a VALVE employee for the record)

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Actually, Valve doesn't own the DotA trademark. More information on it can be found here. And if you want proof, look here. Go to the Tademark Electronic Search System, use Basic Word Mark Search and type 'dota'. Note, there are multiple registrants and Valve's doesn't have a registration number. Meaning, Valve can't send out cease and desist letters to anyone. At least, not yet.

What's interesting is that Blizzard themselves aren't filing for trademark; especially since they're the ones who technically own the map (if I'm not mistaken, since that would be what allows Blizzard to take down user-created maps containing inappropriate content).

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Originally Posted by hyde

People knew from the start the mod was a mod, it's just their knee jerk legal team that pulled it without thinking - causing all this in the first place. An email or a letter to the guy asking to put in explicit notes saying "THIS IS A MOD, AND IS STRICTLY CONFINED WITHIN SC2" would have worked MUCH better. None of this media fiasco would have occurred.

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Thing is, that was not an option. The people who requested Youtube to take it down was not the owner of Blizzard but an employee of the legal team. Therefore, they are not in a position to use their own discretion and must instead follow company guidelines and protocols if s/he values his/her job. As to why go straight to Youtube? Because Youtube was the one hosting the infringing video; and thus the one who is ultimately responsible.

It wasn't even a member of the Blizzard legal team that had the video pulled. Someone in the Activision legal team had it pulled. Then Blizzard were the ones who had to do damage control because of an idiot at Activision.

I would assume nothing like this is ever passed by Mike Morhaime or senior management before they pull a video.

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Originally Posted by Triceron

I find it amusing that you bring up points that are completely refuted by that very article you linked. You're too caught up in your conspiracy theories. This is not a David vs Goliath scenario that you believe it to be, it's something far simpler and basic.

What it boils down to is simple trademark infringement. The reason it's blown out of proportion is because people don't understand why things happened in the order that they did.

Did Blizzard make a huge mistake and get forced to fix it by giving the guy a tour of their offices? This is all a matter of opinion, one that I am remaining neutral on. I don't care to argue on speculation.


On the topic of believing what their best interest is- If I were to believe they are willing to bend over backwards to serve the community, we would already be playing on LAN and talking through Chat Channels 10 years ago when people first started asking for Starcraft 2. I don't believe that they work to our whims, nor are they a faceless corporation. They are both and neither of these. There is no black and white answer to this, and I'm not playing your game of picking a side.

What I'm saying is they were acting perfectly normally for the circumstances at hand. It's like hearing about a story of a cop using a tazer and jumping to conclusions that it's obviously police brutality. I'm simply saying that using a tazer is standard procedure. There is no opinion behind that. Everything I've stated was to back up the fact that there is no reason to jump to conclusions.

I'm not attacking your personal opinion. Frankly, I don't care about your opinion, I'm not looking to argue it. I pretty much said what I said because of the overly negative tone present in the first page.

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I never said this was a david and goliath situation. If I described out to be, then my communication skills suck.

To put it in plain english.
The Activision Blizzard Legal team pulled his video down and he was wondering why. Acti-Blizz Legal team made mistake on not actually seeing what this was. They pulled it down and they looked like bad guys. Obviously "Blizzard" has nothing to do with it. It was just some fool on their legal team.

but they made a mistake and all I am saying is that they had to play PR and release some "bull poop" laced PR statement - all due to Activision Blizzard's top notch legal team But now everybody loves Blizzard from reading the Kotaku statements :rolleyes: . Effective PR is effective. That's fine, but people should recognize (Like you said; it's both a friendly company and a faceless corporation) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD's mistake.

Yes this is a "huge" conspiracy theory I've caught up in :rolleyes:
Companies, organizations, and people do this all the time. A mistake is made, and a cheesy PR statement is made to cover their butts. In this case, a free tip was included.
I really don't think this is speculation. Can you give me one definitive reason why this particular man was given a free trip to Cali, all expenses paid - when there are several other "SC2 Editor MMO" projects out there, well advanced in progress than his?
But I find it disturbing that you would think this is a "Conspiracy" when all it is is basic Business Public Relations. But ok, you win. I'll admit defeat. I'm a crazed conspiracy theorist and I'll stop replying to this thread now because I'm just being deconstructive :).

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Originally Posted by mr. peasant

Actually, Valve doesn't own the DotA trademark. More information on it can be found here. And if you want proof, look here. Go to the Tademark Electronic Search System, use Basic Word Mark Search and type 'dota'. Note, there are multiple registrants and Valve's doesn't have a registration number. Meaning, Valve can't send out cease and desist letters to anyone. At least, not yet.

What's interesting is that Blizzard themselves aren't filing for trademark; especially since they're the ones who technically own the map (if I'm not mistaken, since that would be what allows Blizzard to take down user-created maps containing inappropriate content).


Thing is, that was not an option. The people who requested Youtube to take it down was not the owner of Blizzard but an employee of the legal team. Therefore, they are not in a position to use their own discretion and must instead follow company guidelines and protocols if s/he values his/her job. As to why go straight to Youtube? Because Youtube was the one hosting the infringing video; and thus the one who is ultimately responsible.

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Yes but it has been filed. Even Rob Pardo commented on it and said he was surprised they would file it.
You never read my post did you? I said Activision Blizzard Legal team made a mistake; therefore Blizzard had to make a PR stunt and fly this kid over.
:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Hav0x

It wasn't even a member of the Blizzard legal team that had the video pulled. Someone in the Activision legal team had it pulled. Then Blizzard were the ones who had to do damage control because of an idiot at Activision.

I would assume nothing like this is ever passed by Mike Morhaime or senior management before they pull a video.

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It's Activision Blizzard.



Now this thread is going no where and I won't bother replying anymore because I don't think I've added much to it.
But I'll add this last piece. Since many of you wish to drill me with "legal" facts and what not.
Take a look at this. There's not a single Native Blizzard employee on the Board of directors or in any Chief officer position
http://www.activisionblizzard.com/co...Directors.html
More than half the board of directors is from Vivendi Universal Games, with an Activision crook as CEO.
Legally, Activision Blizzard is represented and corporately governed by Ex-Vivendi Universal Game executives and the old Activision CEO.

Sure Blizzard is "Friendly" but when monetary or legal matters come into hand. Blizzard takes a step back and lets their "Big Brother" do the talking.
This is the same company that ruined Infinity Ward. It's confirmed that now three studios are working on Modern Warfare 3 due to the loss of staff at Infinity Ward.
Blizzard is just a tentacle or claw of this giant corporate beast now. People never thought of it as, because they were typically owned by larger corporations that didn't meddle with it's affairs. But now their legal team = Activision Blizzard legal team. Simple as that.
Maybe I did come off as a crazed lunatic ranting about "BIG BROTHER" and "CORPORATION THIS AND THAT" but I worked for one of the largest oil/energy companies (no not BP). I smelled and breathed delicious corporate culture everyday. This is how they run things, they make mistakes and try to fix it up. First thing first is a nice PR statement and a guided tour of the facilities.

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Originally Posted by hyde

Yes but it has been filed. Even Rob Pardo commented on it and said he was surprised they would file it. You never read my post did you? I said Activision Blizzard Legal team made a mistake; therefore Blizzard had to make a PR stunt and fly this kid over.
:rolleyes:

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Anyone can file a trademark application for anything. It doesn't mean it gets approved. And even if it did, it doesn't give the person the power to prevent others from using the name until it is actually approved. As I already mentioned in the post you quoted, there are multiple parties actively registering for the DotA name - specifically Valve and Dota-Allstars (who are owned by people in Riot). If anyone's not been reading before replying, I think it's you.

On a side note, it doesn't matter which level's legal team of the overall Activision-Blizzard corporate structure requested Blizzard to remove it. There was no mistake in the action and any PR smooth-overs (if this is at all what it is) is in response to the media backlash rather than any wrongdoing on the company's part (or even the original poster's).

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Basically (in my opinion) the Youtube/ActivisionBlizz Auto filter removed the video...or some "Genius" on their legal online team.
Then people who actually have a clue, working at Blizzard, realized this and forced a PR Statement. Or possibly their story is true, and they pulled it down and then wanted to talk to them. The later sounds like a lie though, merely a ways to cover the corporate "blindness" of their legal team. This is to be expected of a publicly traded company

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Yes all of my stuff is speculation, I realize that. But this is Activision Blizzard being headed by Bobby Kotick and Mike Morhaim. People really don't see the extent that most of the "evil stuff" Blizzard has been doing, as been A-OK'd by Mike (They are autonmous but Mike , like any CEO - wants to drive share prices UP. 25$ WoW mounts is one way)

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I really don't think this is speculation. Can you give me one definitive reason why this particular man was given a free trip to Cali, all expenses paid - when there are several other "SC2 Editor MMO" projects out there, well advanced in progress than his?

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For the record, I don't disagree with you that this became a mess, and Blizzard had to fix it up. We are relatively on terms with this. I maintain a neutral stance for the sake of discussion.


I'm going to bring this up because it bugs me. It's a major pet peeve of mine, and is an insult to my intelligence.

You can't give your opinion of what happened and later say that it is not speculation. Whether I agree with it or not, you can't ask for non-existent evidence to prove your opinion.

The Legal Team acted out and took the video down. The matter was explained to be Trademark Infringement. The modder and community were confused by this. A PR message comes out later explaining the situation and resolution. This is pretty much the order of events it happened in.

You believe that the legal team made a mistake. This is your opinion. It IS arguable whether what happened was a mistake or not. Ultimately, it did become a PR mess, but community confusion and media attention were also factors. Even if the Legal Team was 100% right on taking down the video and protecting their IP, the situation was so out-of-control that something had to be done to make Blizzard not look like the bad guys. You can not argue that it was a mistake because you think it was wrong. This isn't a fact.

Just to make things clear, I'm not arguing that what you're saying is wrong. I'm arguing that the way you are presenting your argument is going from opinion to 'opinion backed by unrefutable speculatory evidence'.

the company is called Activision Blizzard for marketing and public reasons. Blizzard was owned by Vivendi and then merged into the Vivendi/Activision conglomerate. They are still just a developer owned by the greater Corp. Mike Morhaime has no say in greater company policy the only thing he can do is threaten to pull the company away from them and fine someone else. and to go back to the first sentence, vivendi is not well known as Blizzard thanks to WoW and Activision was also well known hence you combine the 2 most known brands Activision and Blizzard into the new company name.

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Originally Posted by hyde

It's Activision Blizzard.

[...]
Take a look at this. There's not a single Native Blizzard employee on the Board of directors or in any Chief officer position
http://www.activisionblizzard.com/co...Directors.html
More than half the board of directors is from Vivendi Universal Games, with an Activision crook as CEO.
Legally, Activision Blizzard is represented and corporately governed by Ex-Vivendi Universal Game executives and the old Activision CEO.

Sure Blizzard is "Friendly" but when monetary or legal matters come into hand. Blizzard takes a step back and lets their "Big Brother" do the talking.
This is the same company that ruined Infinity Ward. It's confirmed that now three studios are working on Modern Warfare 3 due to the loss of staff at Infinity Ward.
Blizzard is just a tentacle or claw of this giant corporate beast now. People never thought of it as, because they were typically owned by larger corporations that didn't meddle with it's affairs. But now their legal team = Activision Blizzard legal team. Simple as that.
Maybe I did come off as a crazed lunatic ranting about "BIG BROTHER" and "CORPORATION THIS AND THAT" but I worked for one of the largest oil/energy companies (no not BP). I smelled and breathed delicious corporate culture everyday. This is how they run things, they make mistakes and try to fix it up. First thing first is a nice PR statement and a guided tour of the facilities.

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Alright, when I see this I think it's important to speak up on something directly.

I'm really getting tired of people like you or others trying to spread the Activision control scheme conspiracy theory. It's simply untrue. First when it happened, repeatedly Blizzard has stated publically by many blue posts and all over the announcement that this will not effect the day to day operations of the Blizzard Entertainment Branch. This can be found from the press release on Vivendi's Website, Blizzard's Activision FAQ, a plethora of blueposts, interviews with all levels of Activision and Blizzard representatives (including the CEOs of both Blizzard and Activision-Blizzard) and on.

While it's understandable that people simply want to not believe information given straight to them because they think it's an evil cover-up, when you look at the fact that they have said it directly to their investors as well, this is where you start seeing very solid consistency though. Seriously, let the false conspiracy theory die...

In short, you are being told directly what's happening by them and not wanting to listen. That's understandable, it's human nature to fear change, especially change that the average person will never directly view or experience. The vast majority of people who will post in these forums will probably not have direct access to an Activision or Blizzard employee for a long discussion.

I know quite a few people at the Activision branch here in Minneapolis. Many of which aren't small workers but actual producer level and higher. After many chats with them (outside of my own personal experience there) I can tell you that Blizzard is essentially nicknamed "The Fortress" by some of them. The reason is, NOTHING comes out of Blizzard and nothing goes into Blizzard from their Activision view of game design.

There are rare cases where Blizzard setup a meeting with individuals from Activision to gather information for a future project that they are branching out into. I only heard of one meeting where Blizzard asked individuals of Activision to come give advice on how to approach downloadable content. Since at the time they didn't truly proceed with it before, they wanted to know the mistakes that more experienced individuals made and learned from so that Blizzard could avoid those mistakes that could have been unforeseen. GRANTED, I will admit that I never heard of this meeting directly and heard of it shortly after the merger happened and it was second to third hand information.

Now I understand your argument about the Board of Directors not having any Blizzard representatives. I have some second to third hand information from that as well. According to this information, Even if they were offered a position, it sounds like Mike or anyone else didn't want to get distracted by the big picture crap with the company. They truly only care that they work on their games and have a position that they don't need to defend themselves. They got what they want, anonymous right to design, publish and release their own creative work. That's all that's needed to them. No big deal, I'm unaware that Blizzard had representatives on the Board of Directors before the merger as well. So all and all, no change there.

I'm sorry my direct interactions with people in both companies is not sourcable for you and for that if you want to call it "speculation", I don't mind that at all. But this is my own experience and I hope it might help you understand that what you're trying to spread is just... honestly... false.

Random note: I hate how much time it takes to write these walls sometimes... It makes me feel better to be a rep whore and say "If you like this post, rep me"

^ Rep'd!

That's cool Gifted, I trust your word on what you hear from producers and higher up's at Activision.
But what I do not find cool, is having my posts/opinions being undermined due to it being "speculative" in nature. Then evidence based information on the corporate governance being refuted by "Speculation". I'm sorry, that's a joke to say the least.

But I will make one thing clear. I have never supported, believed in, or even cared (I will just take my dollars else where as a consumer) about this... "Activision Control Scheme Conspiracy"
I have always known that Blizzard has kept it's design and corporate leadership autonomy. In these posts, I have just merely stated that Activision Blizzard (Yes you know, the publically traded LEGAL ENTITY...) messed up on some legal work.
That's all.

Now with the corporate governance, it's just a matter of fact. That's all.
Sorry to burst your bubble Gifted, but I'm not a shotgun hugging rabid ex-fan boy. Sure I speculated alot (According to you guys anyways) but I never even remotely said anything close to Bobby Kotick putting in Mind control serum into Mike Morhaime's coffee :rolleyes:

I just wanted to make it clear, that Blizzard is a legal subsidiary under it's parent company "ACTIVISION BLIZZARD". What is so hard to grasp here?
I know Mike Morhaime and friends call the shots at Blizzard Irvine. I never said once that Blizzard made a mistake in this entire thread.
I have always identified the [Insert Scary music] EVIL BAD GUY [/scarymusic] Activision Blizzard legal team (No they are not evil. They were just doing their jobs, poorly that is.)

Now if you excuse me, I will be making a trip to Washington DC to hold a sign
"BOBBY KOTICK CONTROLS THE US GOVERNMENT"
:)

Thanks for Clarifying on some of your side Hyde, I apologize if some of it was wrongly directed at you, but from what I perceived of what you wrote I felt it was a valid response. I'm sure that from this apology you can figure out what was rightfully intended and what was wrongfully intended and work it out in your mind. My beef was more for the "conspiracy" that keeps coming up off and on and you kinda hit the mark. I'm sure you know I hold no beef with you in particular. ^_^ I will say though, I find many of your posts the kind that I and others perceive differently than you intend... at least that's what I suspect. I don't know if it's a case of poor perception or poor communication. But trying to decide that won't get us anywhere. Better to just smile, nod and move on. Most important from the above words is my apology for the misunderstanding and any frustrations I may have caused.

*grins* But I think we see eye to eye regarding your recent comments. Instead of trying to elaborate on that, I think nodding at this screen a few moments will be more than enough between us.

*nod*

*nod*

*nod*

And there we move on to other subjects I suspect. :) *waves*

*nod*
It's all good. :)

....Back to topic.

I AM SO STOKED TO PLAY ANY OF THOSE MODS!!!!