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Hearthstone | Posted by | 4 years, 8 months ago
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Should Blizzard fans boycott Hearthstone?

This is a question I've been grappling with, and haven't really resolved yet. Particularly with a new expansion coming up, this seems like a moment where the fans can really make an impact and help support the cause of a just and equitable workplace for Blizzard employees.

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  • This is a question I've been grappling with, and haven't really resolved yet. Particularly with a new expansion coming up, this seems like a moment where the fans can really make an impact and help support the cause of a just and equitable workplace for Blizzard employees.

    • How would not playing the expansion (it is already pre-purchased) "help support the cause of a just and equitable workplace for Blizzard employees" ?

      • Quote From Alfi

        How would not playing the expansion (it is already pre-purchased) "help support the cause of a just and equitable workplace for Blizzard employees" ?

        I certainly can't speak for everyone, but I haven't yet pre-purchased the expansion (I typically wait until the final card drop before deciding whether buying is worth it). Obviously if you already have, the impact is financially negligible. But there can be PR impacts from public boycotts that extend beyond financial impacts.

    • Quote From meisterz39

      This is a question I've been grappling with, and haven't really resolved yet. Particularly with a new expansion coming up, this seems like a moment where the fans can really make an impact and help support the cause of a just and equitable workplace for Blizzard employees.

      Please, calm down. Even if things look very ugly, we are not sure yet if they are guilty or not.

      • Quote From Sherman1986
        Quote From meisterz39

        This is a question I've been grappling with, and haven't really resolved yet. Particularly with a new expansion coming up, this seems like a moment where the fans can really make an impact and help support the cause of a just and equitable workplace for Blizzard employees.

        Please, calm down. Even if things look very ugly, we are not sure yet if they are guilty or not.

        Haha, I'm perfectly calm. It's just something that's been on my mind, I was generally surprised that this discussion didn't seem to be happening already. It's fairly common for bad behavior from corporations to be met with boycotts, but perhaps it's fair to say that the legal ramifications of this will dwarf anything a boycott could do.

        You're right that nothing has been proven in a court of law, but the stories surfacing from former Blizzard employees about this stuff has convinced me regardless of what the court says. (That certainly means I'm unfit to be a juror, but I don't live in CA, so that's entirely moot.)

  • Do what you want. I will not boycott HS. 

  • I mean, realistically speaking, you're not gonna support the employees by sinking the game and having them laid off.

    I don't really think it's necessary for the average player to just straight up uninstall everything and never touch Blizzard games again. At the end of the day, how long would you keep it up? When will you know that things have changed for the better?

    If you don't feel like paying for the game anymore that's fine, but I don't think just quitting the game entirely is going to change anything. Blizzard is getting hit hard by this and I doubt they can just sit this one out so things will change (for better or worse). In the meantime, we can basically just do whatever and see how it goes.

    At the end of the day people should stick to their own set of ethics and not try to coerce others into following them (lest they turn out to be hypocrites).

    Friendly
    • Quote From YourPrivateNightmare

      I mean, realistically speaking, you're not gonna support the employees by sinking the game and having them laid off.

      I don't really think it's necessary for the average player to just straight up uninstall everything and never touch Blizzard games again. At the end of the day, how long would you keep it up? When will you know that things have changed for the better?

      If you don't feel like paying for the game anymore that's fine, but I don't think just quitting the game entirely is going to change anything. Blizzard is getting hit hard by this and I doubt they can just sit this one out so things will change (for better or worse). In the meantime, we can basically just do whatever and see how it goes.

      At the end of the day people should stick to their own set of ethics and not try to coerce others into following them (lest they turn out to be hypocrites).

      I certainly hope my question didn't read as an attempt at coercion. I'm just trying to start a conversation that I was surprised wasn't already happening on this forum.

      • Quote From meisterz39
        Quote From YourPrivateNightmare

        I mean, realistically speaking, you're not gonna support the employees by sinking the game and having them laid off.

        I don't really think it's necessary for the average player to just straight up uninstall everything and never touch Blizzard games again. At the end of the day, how long would you keep it up? When will you know that things have changed for the better?

        If you don't feel like paying for the game anymore that's fine, but I don't think just quitting the game entirely is going to change anything. Blizzard is getting hit hard by this and I doubt they can just sit this one out so things will change (for better or worse). In the meantime, we can basically just do whatever and see how it goes.

        At the end of the day people should stick to their own set of ethics and not try to coerce others into following them (lest they turn out to be hypocrites).

        I certainly hope my question didn't read as an attempt at coercion. I'm just trying to start a conversation that I was surprised wasn't already happening on this forum.

        Oh no not at all, I'M mostly talking generally since there are people who feel like everyone needs to adhere to their standards or else they're complicit.

        Friendly

  • You need to answer that question for yourself. If you are that appalled by the issue then go for it. Personally I will not boycott HS even though I strongly reject the alleged behavior and culture at Blizzard. I believe there are a lot of good people at Blizzard after all, public and legal pressure will weed out the bad guys I suppose. So hopefully this will be a cathartic moment for them.

  • Pre-purchase boycott una tantum is understandable, and arguably effective.

    Full-blown boycott is honestly superficial and silly.

    One is definitely entitled to whatever choice ofc, but one thing is keeping the limelight on important matters, including through some financial means, another is going for a crusade against something one liked till like two days ago.

     

    imo

  • Its never realistically going to do anything anyway. Especially since the lawsuit is currently on the way and will likely take up to a year before acitivision blizz gets anywhere near court.

    We can trust that there would be some internal shake ups to address this issue even if the lawsuit comes to naught. Unlike more pertinent and persistent issues that tends to divine opinion, like how CEOs get paid exorbitant amounts of cash over their staff, or the very unequal nature of work vs pay in general, any form of harassment, much less sexual harassment, is nearly universally frown upon by all walks of life regardless of their stature. So much like the women suffrage movement, or the civil rights movement, I have no doubt that change will happen autonomously without any need to appeal for militancy or full blown boycotts.

    Its entirely reasonable to withhold from blizz products until this stink ends. But it'll be entirely on our own conscience to do so.

     

    Friendly

  • No i wont. and there is no need to. There is a reason there is a court that excist to balance things out and put justice to what the company have done over the years. and it will for better and worse. as someone said, they cant ignore this something has to happen.

  • I mean, they already did that with the Blitzchung incident. You can see how that turned out.

  • I personally think that there's no corelation between ActiBlizz as a company and Hearthstone as a game. As long as the game not affected in anyway, (Poor performance, Lack of updates, Feature removal, etc), There's no reason to do anything (especially as far as boycotting), because you still can enjoy the game. Unless they rip me off as free player, then there's nothing left for it to be enjoyed, and I will leave the game personally.

    Just enjoy the game as a whole. If you don't, then that's your problem.

    Besides, we as player don't really have enough standing to affect the company itself. Let them sort their own mess. They have people for it. The devs and the game got nothing to do with it.

  • This isn't a yes or no question in my opinion and it has far more facettes than one can glimpse at first sight. I'll try to break it into pieces.

    1) This is not about blaming OP for poor choice of words nor responding people for misunderstanding the initial intention; it's about understanding each other. What I'm talking about is the word "boycott". Many of you took that literally as in "quit playing HS and other Blizzard games altogehter", while I think OP was aiming at the broader meaning as in "don't preorder United in Stormwind". That's a huge difference, as a few of you have already pointed out. Personally, I was on the brink of going f2p again anyway and this incident just gave me the last shove. This decision might be overthrown anytime which has much to do with my second point:

    2) Who are we hitting with a "boycott"? As much as I'm willing to go out of my way to support the cause of the victims in this ugly story, I can understand and am partly sharing the concerns of people who don't want to hurt the good people of Blizzard who provide us with our favorite game. Withdrawing from the game altogether would probably hurt the latter more than the big bosses we're aiming at, but I do think it might be a good idea to refrain from preordering Stormwind as a one time show of our mindset. [To each their own, but my personal stance has been to contribute some cash to stuff I enjoy on a regular basis if I can afford it. That goes for HS as well as OoC.]

    3) Because what it all comes down to is that I strongly disagree with people who claim that we as the players can't make a difference. I firmly believe it is our duty as a society to stand together in cases like this and support each other. One missing preorder might not trouble Blizzard's brass, but I think the GameStop incident has proven the truth of the "apes together strong" meme more than enough. If you are able to do so, speak up on the web, like and share the stories of the victims and consider refraining from preordering Stormwind as a one time warning blow. Together, we can make a difference.

  • Well i personaly not gonna boycott or stop playing Hearthstone.  (Or Overwatch - which i also play)

    There are enough honest and hardworking people that made the expansion and the game that surely did not even know what was going on inside blizzard. 

    Every company has good and bad employees - but as far as we know no one from Team5 was associated with any allegations and even if that would be the case, i think i would stll play and support them because like i said a lot of good and honest people also worked on that and i think they deserve support. 

    And also i'ts a game i wanna enjoy and so far i do not let politics or other stuff spoil my fun i have playing those games. I let the Court and Justice Systems decide about the allegations etc and while that is happening i will still enjoy playing the games - nonetheless which company made them.

  • I personally wont. Only buying tavern pass as always. Hearthstone Failling Will only leave to another direction Next expansion or people losing their Jobs.

  • Punishing Blizzard is the job of the courts, not the customers. It is the whole reason for the lawsuit.

    Trying to sink the whole company would be misguided. Blizzard continues to employ many innocent people who make a product I enjoy.

    • Quote From FortyDust

      Punishing Blizzard is the job of the courts, not the customers. It is the whole reason for the lawsuit.

      I agree that the job of the courts is to punish this sort of thing, but I don't think that means customers have no role to play. It's certainly true that court can have a much larger impact than any individual in terms of punishing Blizzard, but a large, unified group of consumers can exert a lot of power too. That's the basic premise of any free market economy - that businesses which are bad (produce bad products, abuse workers, etc.) will be punished by the market rejecting them.

      I'm sympathetic to the view that this premise puts too much burden on individuals to punish massive corporations, but I think you can find plenty of examples where corporate malfeasance is only punished with a slap on the wrist by courts, so it's not like that route is consistently effective. Moreover, there's no shortage of people online who regularly complain about Blizzard being strictly focused on profits above game quality (at least as far back as Activision's acquisition of them). The Warcraft 3 Reforged fiasco is a great recent example of this, and the tone deaf responses from corporate leaders in the wake of this scandal highlight how their priorities aren't really on fixing the company rather than saving face. Hitting them in their wallet via boycott sends a strong market signal that their consumers want to see change in their behavior.

      Trying to sink the whole company would be misguided. Blizzard continues to employ many innocent people who make a product I enjoy.

      I don't want to sink the whole company. I agree there are lots of innocent people (and even victims) at Blizzard who deserve a better workplace, not a bankrupt employer. I have enjoyed playing Hearthstone for years, and I don't want to see it gone because I really don't think other CCGs in the market can replace it (I have soured considerably on LoR, and as great as MTGA is, I think its complexity means it can't fill the same fast-paced space that Hearthstone occupies).

      But that doesn't mean I don't want to send Blizzard a message that makes clear that I want to see them make meaningful changes to their corporate culture. A boycott doesn't need to mean "destroy this company by taking away all their revenue." It can simply be a protest that shows Blizzard that their customers are willing to hit them where it hurts.

      After mulling it over for a while, I've decided to stop paying for anything in Hearthstone (and any Blizzard games writ large), and just going totally F2P. That leaves the door open to spending more on the game if Blizzard can show meaningful change, while not cutting out a product that I enjoy a lot.

      • Quote From meisterz39
        Quote From FortyDust
         

        Trying to sink the whole company would be misguided. Blizzard continues to employ many innocent people who make a product I enjoy.

        I don't want to sink the whole company. I agree there are lots of innocent people (and even victims) at Blizzard who deserve a better workplace, not a bankrupt employer. I have enjoyed playing Hearthstone for years, and I don't want to see it gone because I really don't think other CCGs in the market can replace it (I have soured considerably on LoR, and as great as MTGA is, I think its complexity means it can't fill the same fast-paced space that Hearthstone occupies).

        But that doesn't mean I don't want to send Blizzard a message that makes clear that I want to see them make meaningful changes to their corporate culture. A boycott doesn't need to mean "destroy this company by taking away all their revenue." It can simply be a protest that shows Blizzard that their customers are willing to hit them where it hurts.

        After mulling it over for a while, I've decided to stop paying for anything in Hearthstone (and any Blizzard games writ large), and just going totally F2P. That leaves the door open to spending more on the game if Blizzard can show meaningful change, while not cutting out a product that I enjoy a lot.

        I know it's hard to feel powerless and the desire to "send a message" is strong, but it's important to think about whether the message being received is the one you are trying to send.

        The flaw in your plan is that when a significant number of people boycott, Activision has no idea why sales dropped. They could easily blame the quality of the game and lay a bunch of people off. Even if they suspect the losses are due to boycotts, they could punish employees with layoffs and blame the product anyway. If history is any guide, I suspect that's exactly what they'd do.

        On the other hand, if the courts do the punishing, Activision knows exactly what it did wrong and can then take steps to correct course. If at that point you feel the punishment wasn't harsh enough or Blizzard's course correction was insufficient, THAT would be the time to boycott.

    • Quote From doingtheobvious

      This reminds me a lot of the video game crash of 1983. ATARI had become large enough that they got lazy and complacent. Because of that they engaged in anti-consumer practices and it ended up biting them in the butt three years later when 'Nintendo Entertainment System' had become a household name.

      Wasnt this entirely because of hubris? I mean, trying to make a game within 3 months, paying 20mil (a very very large sum back then) for the licensing and then massive salaries to the developer. Once that flopped (I mean look at it, its shit so far up the dark end you'd need a astronomer's telescope to view its astounding shittiness) ATARI's fall was only inevitable.

      It wasn't controversy or competition that doomed it, far as I know. Nintendo penetrated the western market after its fall.

      Friendly