Chinese human rights violations are something, that should not be acceptable. But let’s all take a step back.
It‘s not Blizzards responsability to fight this battle. It‘s certainly not the Hearthstone Grandmasters Tour that should be the Platform for this discussion.
Blizzard never wanted to be involved and that’s 100% normal. Blitzchung forces them to take sides. They can‘t ignore it. They most certainly can‘t publicly support his statement. Blizzard has rules to follow aswell, both with shareholders and the chinese government. It‘s not a single person taking this decision and its consequences.
If Blizzard in your eyes is unethical, so is every international company that is involved in China. Heck, every government that trades with this country!
What happened is unfortunate and it feels wrong to ignore it. But if you care about this subject, it‘s wrong and hippocrit to make Blizzard responsable for anything.
A couple things I want to mention that I have not seen brought up here (but I easily could have missed it/them) and some that have. Do I think Blitzchung is a hero and what he did was fantastic. I do - very much. But, he also has said he KNEW he was going to get banned. He knew it was against the rules (so the whole, it wasn't against the rules argument is invalid). The casters also knew what they were doing. That makes their action that much more noble.
Should Blizz have done what they did. Absolutely. E sports is not a forum for politics. As noble as their actions was, it is still politics. I don't play HS for politics. When streamers start bringing it up, I change. Blizz is also accountable to shareholders. Some of these shareholders are average people saving for their retirement. To punish them for someone else actions (while we happen to see is noble) would not be appropriate for Blizz.
And the big point I want to bring up. First, remember we get after Blizz all the time for their lack of communication and lack of explanation when they do communicate. However, this time, they communicated quickly AND loudly AND clearly. Did the we like what they said No. BUT the fact is, we are talking bout it. The WORLD is talking about it. The media is picking it up. The more mainstream media is picking it up. If Blizz just did what Blizz usually does would their be this much attention and talking about it? I don't think so.
I think that Blizz knows they are doing on the media front. I think Blizz what is hard place. I think they used their media power is such a way that China could not make repercussions about it. Yea, at the same time, they have exploded this story world wide. Sure, Reddit was all over this. But I don't think it would have been picked up and carried like it has.
Since Blizz has made their very public statement, China can't ignore it. They can't wipe it under the proverbial carpet. Anyone who follows Blizzard but not HS will now hear bout this.
This, I feel, was a very strategic move by Blizzard. This very forum is helping to prove that. Be as pissed as you want at Blizzard, but the fact is - their actions have done more for Hong Kong than doing nothing at all.
TL:DR;
I think Blizz's move was genius. I think Blizz coming out like this has done more to SUPPORT Hong Kong than if they had done their usual and just been quiet. This story is now world wide and would not have been if BLIZZ had remaind quiet on it. China can no longer ignore this story.
I think he knew this happening was a possibility and he did it anyway, so that is on him. That is pretty noble of him.
I really don't like political talk mixing into sports/esports but I do agree with his cause and think Blizzards punishment was grossly severe. They essentially ended his HS career over it.
This is math. Lose an entire country's revenue, or lose a handful of others who are angered enough to stop playing. Maybe this will cost blizzard some sales, but better than losing China. Activision Blizzard is a public company with a duty to its shareholders to pursue the companies goals. I'm guessing profits is at the top of the goal list, and promoting free speech is not on the goal list.
Don't like it? Be one of those who stops playing. But you can't really blame Blizzard for making a pure business decision. That's what public companies do.
You can definitely blame blizzard for supporting human rights violation to protect their bottom line. I definitely didn't expect any better but there is nothing wrong with trashing them for this. People don't have to just accept that corporations are pro-profit and anti-human. Nothing directed specifically at you, nothing you really said is wrong but it's just terrible that this kind of behavior is completely normalized and the status quo
I've been planning on taking a break from Hearthstone for awhile, and this seems like an opportune time. I'll still visit OoC each day to see the latest.
Activision Blizzard doesn’t want to lose their licensing privileges in China, especially as they’re trying to expand their market into that country (remember Diablo Immortal?), so of course they’d try to cover China’s rear end. If they didn’t take action, China would have levied some punishments against Activision Blizzard themselves.
Does anyone seriously think a company would care more about morality and standing up to human rights abuses than their own money? Because that’s what this was all about. They threw Blitzchung under the bus to protect their profit margins.
Is it morally wrong? Absolutely.
If people want to send a message to Activision Blizzard then they've to make them loss even more money, forcing them to act again to procted their investments by doing what people actually want. For that purpose, words are just not enough and beliving otherwise is utopistic at best.
It's totally horrible but that's how things go nowdays.
The fact that you equate "f*ck the President" with "free an oppressed population" shows what an intellecutally bankrupt argument this is. Additionally, they didn't cite a specific rule about making political statements -- they banned him under a rule that you can't "make Blizzard look bad." That's a totally subjective rule that forces people to make wild guesses about what falls under that umbrella. From where I'm sitting, it's BLIZZARD'S actions that are making them look bad today, not Blitzchung's.
Your suggestion that speaking out against Blizzard without boycotting them is "hypocritical" is really thin reasoning. People have different degrees of dismay with Blizzard's actions here. For some, it's worth boycotting them over. For others, it's worth publicly chastising them over. Neither feeling is more or less legitimate. We don't live in an "all or nothing" world.
If a soldier says "f*ck the President" under work hours, expecially if talking to a mic, he'll be punished heavily. During his shift the soldier is not talking as himself alone but he represents the Army as a whole. In that moment you shouldn't talking about politcs: it's a part of being a professional.
Blitzchung used the visibility given him by Blizzard to talk about politics during his work time and he recieved a sanction for that. Blitzchung was suspended for having an unprofessional behavior during an official event hosted by Blizzard, under the rules the company decided and that he agreed with by taking part in the Grandmaster Tournament.
Does Activision Blizzard bow down because of China's money? Yes, of course. Is it a shame? Yes, indeed. But Activision Blizzard just enforced the rules that have been established and agreed on since the start between Activision Blizzard itself and Blitzchung.
Blitzchung's message is 101% right, but he was aware of the consequences and he's to praise for his action anyway. Activision Blizzard is just a company (looking for profit) and Heartstone is just one of its products: the wave of indignation that is spreading against it seems a bit hypocrital, mostly because the majority of those supporting it will continue to play Activision Blizzard's games and pay for the entertainment provied by them.
I'm very curious to see how Blizzard addresses this. Their forums, reddit, everything is in total uproar over this to a degree that I don't think they can hope for it to just blow over.
It's completely backwards that Feno could be relegated, win the WC, and get his spot back (b/c the amount he would win would certainly put him at the top of the list to make it back into GM). I don't think they anticipated a situation where someone who qualifies for the WC is also relegated.
That situation alone makes me feel pretty confident they'll make some changes for Season 3.
As noted above, Firebat had some really salient comments about how weird/ineffective TB2's are. Also, the need for something more akin to a point system rather than earnings to put yourself in contention to make GM.
I imagine they are probably also going to go back to something more like a point system with their new refocus on ladder mattering a little. When they set up GM, ladder had been stripped of all meaning. They realized that was a mistake and are changing it. Those changes will probably carry into GM.
When there are a handful of examples of well functioning leagues, It is a bit annoying that Blizzard keeps trying to reinvent the wheel. Only to step back and say "Oh yeah, I guess the wheel really was better after all."
Honestly kinda troubled by the characterization of this as anti-China, its far closer to pro-Hong Kong. May just be personal biases here but anti-China sounds like exactly how the Chinese gov't is trying to cover the news out of Hong Kong, when in reality China is making anti-Hong Kong moves and Hong Kong is retaliating.
I think both actions are potentially effective. Obviously not all of us are going to BlizzCon, but it’s definitely a good idea for those who are attending.
Guys, even though I don't agree with Blizzard, all these messages about quitting Hearthstone or moving to complete f2p are just several drops of whole player base.
Nothing gonna change in their company politics.
The only move, in my opinion, that can have some impact is for people who will come to Blizzcon to wear HK support t-shirts or any other /freedom of speech/ titles (saw it in another reddit tred).
If you are going to Blizzcon. Then please wear pro Hong Kong shirts or picket with signs. Bring Winnie the Pooh or wear a mask like Bliztchung.
If Blizzard censors freedom of speech in the US it will be PR nightmare and do far more damage than quitting hearthstone.
If China scrubbed South Park and the Rockets from their servers after a week, imagine the fallout from people protesting at a major streaming event they support.
Doom in the Tomb Begins!
Please don't do that whole first! thing mate.
Doom in the Tomb Begins!
First!
Can't wait to see Rag and others tearing up Standard ladder!
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
Chinese human rights violations are something, that should not be acceptable. But let’s all take a step back.
It‘s not Blizzards responsability to fight this battle. It‘s certainly not the Hearthstone Grandmasters Tour that should be the Platform for this discussion.
Blizzard never wanted to be involved and that’s 100% normal. Blitzchung forces them to take sides. They can‘t ignore it. They most certainly can‘t publicly support his statement. Blizzard has rules to follow aswell, both with shareholders and the chinese government. It‘s not a single person taking this decision and its consequences.
If Blizzard in your eyes is unethical, so is every international company that is involved in China. Heck, every government that trades with this country!
What happened is unfortunate and it feels wrong to ignore it. But if you care about this subject, it‘s wrong and hippocrit to make Blizzard responsable for anything.
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
Greetings,
A couple things I want to mention that I have not seen brought up here (but I easily could have missed it/them) and some that have. Do I think Blitzchung is a hero and what he did was fantastic. I do - very much. But, he also has said he KNEW he was going to get banned. He knew it was against the rules (so the whole, it wasn't against the rules argument is invalid). The casters also knew what they were doing. That makes their action that much more noble.
Should Blizz have done what they did. Absolutely. E sports is not a forum for politics. As noble as their actions was, it is still politics. I don't play HS for politics. When streamers start bringing it up, I change. Blizz is also accountable to shareholders. Some of these shareholders are average people saving for their retirement. To punish them for someone else actions (while we happen to see is noble) would not be appropriate for Blizz.
And the big point I want to bring up. First, remember we get after Blizz all the time for their lack of communication and lack of explanation when they do communicate. However, this time, they communicated quickly AND loudly AND clearly. Did the we like what they said No. BUT the fact is, we are talking bout it. The WORLD is talking about it. The media is picking it up. The more mainstream media is picking it up. If Blizz just did what Blizz usually does would their be this much attention and talking about it? I don't think so.
I think that Blizz knows they are doing on the media front. I think Blizz what is hard place. I think they used their media power is such a way that China could not make repercussions about it. Yea, at the same time, they have exploded this story world wide. Sure, Reddit was all over this. But I don't think it would have been picked up and carried like it has.
Since Blizz has made their very public statement, China can't ignore it. They can't wipe it under the proverbial carpet. Anyone who follows Blizzard but not HS will now hear bout this.
This, I feel, was a very strategic move by Blizzard. This very forum is helping to prove that. Be as pissed as you want at Blizzard, but the fact is - their actions have done more for Hong Kong than doing nothing at all.
TL:DR;
I think Blizz's move was genius. I think Blizz coming out like this has done more to SUPPORT Hong Kong than if they had done their usual and just been quiet. This story is now world wide and would not have been if BLIZZ had remaind quiet on it. China can no longer ignore this story.
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
Uninstalled HS and canceled my WoW sub. I won't be spending any more money unless Blizzard properly addresses this.
Random
Best cardback ever. Sadly I never had it in game :D
Secret Level
One of my favourite card backs.
Regis will lose
This deck is just if I win Regis garbage deck raffle to give it to him. Don't try at home.
Blitchung kicked out of GM
I think he knew this happening was a possibility and he did it anyway, so that is on him. That is pretty noble of him.
I really don't like political talk mixing into sports/esports but I do agree with his cause and think Blizzards punishment was grossly severe. They essentially ended his HS career over it.
You can definitely blame blizzard for supporting human rights violation to protect their bottom line. I definitely didn't expect any better but there is nothing wrong with trashing them for this. People don't have to just accept that corporations are pro-profit and anti-human. Nothing directed specifically at you, nothing you really said is wrong but it's just terrible that this kind of behavior is completely normalized and the status quo
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
I've been planning on taking a break from Hearthstone for awhile, and this seems like an opportune time. I'll still visit OoC each day to see the latest.
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
Activision Blizzard doesn’t want to lose their licensing privileges in China, especially as they’re trying to expand their market into that country (remember Diablo Immortal?), so of course they’d try to cover China’s rear end. If they didn’t take action, China would have levied some punishments against Activision Blizzard themselves.
Does anyone seriously think a company would care more about morality and standing up to human rights abuses than their own money? Because that’s what this was all about. They threw Blitzchung under the bus to protect their profit margins.
Is it morally wrong? Absolutely.
If people want to send a message to Activision Blizzard then they've to make them loss even more money, forcing them to act again to procted their investments by doing what people actually want. For that purpose, words are just not enough and beliving otherwise is utopistic at best.
It's totally horrible but that's how things go nowdays.
Wich is your Favourite Adventure?
Funny, most people still agree upon the fact that it was way too easy compared to past adven
I'm bored. It's summer. Anyone has any ideas for games for me to play?
Try the Dota underlords beta. It's basically Valve's official dota autochess game and it's shaping up rather nicely.
Really enjoying the Six-Shooter brawl
hi.
Made another deck that rocks :-).
Deck ID Not Found
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
Is it true that Blizzard took 3 months to take actions against a dude that was caught cheating?
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
The fact that you equate "f*ck the President" with "free an oppressed population" shows what an intellecutally bankrupt argument this is. Additionally, they didn't cite a specific rule about making political statements -- they banned him under a rule that you can't "make Blizzard look bad." That's a totally subjective rule that forces people to make wild guesses about what falls under that umbrella. From where I'm sitting, it's BLIZZARD'S actions that are making them look bad today, not Blitzchung's.
Your suggestion that speaking out against Blizzard without boycotting them is "hypocritical" is really thin reasoning. People have different degrees of dismay with Blizzard's actions here. For some, it's worth boycotting them over. For others, it's worth publicly chastising them over. Neither feeling is more or less legitimate. We don't live in an "all or nothing" world.
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
If a soldier says "f*ck the President" under work hours, expecially if talking to a mic, he'll be punished heavily. During his shift the soldier is not talking as himself alone but he represents the Army as a whole. In that moment you shouldn't talking about politcs: it's a part of being a professional.
Blitzchung used the visibility given him by Blizzard to talk about politics during his work time and he recieved a sanction for that. Blitzchung was suspended for having an unprofessional behavior during an official event hosted by Blizzard, under the rules the company decided and that he agreed with by taking part in the Grandmaster Tournament.
Does Activision Blizzard bow down because of China's money? Yes, of course. Is it a shame? Yes, indeed. But Activision Blizzard just enforced the rules that have been established and agreed on since the start between Activision Blizzard itself and Blitzchung.
Blitzchung's message is 101% right, but he was aware of the consequences and he's to praise for his action anyway. Activision Blizzard is just a company (looking for profit) and Heartstone is just one of its products: the wave of indignation that is spreading against it seems a bit hypocrital, mostly because the majority of those supporting it will continue to play Activision Blizzard's games and pay for the entertainment provied by them.
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
Well we could all change our battletags to include like F.H.K (Free Honk Kong) or something in a show of support.
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
I'm very curious to see how Blizzard addresses this. Their forums, reddit, everything is in total uproar over this to a degree that I don't think they can hope for it to just blow over.
Hearthstone Grandmasters - The Lead-up to Relegations, Problems with the System
It's completely backwards that Feno could be relegated, win the WC, and get his spot back (b/c the amount he would win would certainly put him at the top of the list to make it back into GM). I don't think they anticipated a situation where someone who qualifies for the WC is also relegated.
That situation alone makes me feel pretty confident they'll make some changes for Season 3.
As noted above, Firebat had some really salient comments about how weird/ineffective TB2's are. Also, the need for something more akin to a point system rather than earnings to put yourself in contention to make GM.
I imagine they are probably also going to go back to something more like a point system with their new refocus on ladder mattering a little. When they set up GM, ladder had been stripped of all meaning. They realized that was a mistake and are changing it. Those changes will probably carry into GM.
When there are a handful of examples of well functioning leagues, It is a bit annoying that Blizzard keeps trying to reinvent the wheel. Only to step back and say "Oh yeah, I guess the wheel really was better after all."
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
Honestly kinda troubled by the characterization of this as anti-China, its far closer to pro-Hong Kong. May just be personal biases here but anti-China sounds like exactly how the Chinese gov't is trying to cover the news out of Hong Kong, when in reality China is making anti-Hong Kong moves and Hong Kong is retaliating.
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
I think both actions are potentially effective. Obviously not all of us are going to BlizzCon, but it’s definitely a good idea for those who are attending.
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
Yep, I was all set to buy at least one of the bundles, but pumping the brakes now.
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
Guys, even though I don't agree with Blizzard, all these messages about quitting Hearthstone or moving to complete f2p are just several drops of whole player base.
Nothing gonna change in their company politics.
The only move, in my opinion, that can have some impact is for people who will come to Blizzcon to wear HK support t-shirts or any other /freedom of speech/ titles (saw it in another reddit tred).
Blizzard Removes Blitzchung From Grandmasters, Prize Money Taken Away For Anti-China Comments
If you are going to Blizzcon. Then please wear pro Hong Kong shirts or picket with signs. Bring Winnie the Pooh or wear a mask like Bliztchung.
If Blizzard censors freedom of speech in the US it will be PR nightmare and do far more damage than quitting hearthstone.
If China scrubbed South Park and the Rockets from their servers after a week, imagine the fallout from people protesting at a major streaming event they support.