8 ms·

It's a shame but I feel like the majority of gamers won't care. They'll either be ignorant of this or they'll just shrug and continue playing. I boycotted Activ

It's a shame but I feel like the majority of gamers won't care. They'll either be ignorant of this or they'll just shrug and continue playing. I boycotted Activision and by proxy Blizzard when Activision acquired them a long time ago but their continuing success shows I'm part of an extremely tiny minority.

ehnto 7y ago
What was it about Activision that caused you to boycott them?
- alimbada 7y ago
  It was the CEOs attitude towards gamers and his derogatory comments about them as well as the way Activision treats/treated its developers. There was a lot of controversy around these issues and after reading quite an in depth article about it around 10 years ago I've avoided buying anything developed or published by Acti-Blizzard.
- Fnoord 7y ago
  Isn't that the guy who hates gamers? It wasn't difficult to figure out why people dislike him [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Kotick#Business_strategy_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Kotick#Business_strategy...
propter_hoc 7y ago
Well, currently the Hearthstone and Blizzard discussion forums on Reddit are up in arms. [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/blizzard https://www.reddit.com/r/blizzard
- cooljacob204 7y ago
  Yup, I'm cancelling my wow sub over this and read about it first on Reddit.
  - Beltiras 7y ago
    Cancelled and just sad I only had 500 characters to rake them over the coals with.
    - cthalupa 7y ago
      Yep. It's not much, but I cancelled and was quite explicit on why.
- ahi 7y ago
  r/blizzard is now locked down.
  - hdfbdtbcdg 7y ago
    What? What is happening there?
    - flohofwoe 7y ago
      The last message I saw before it was switched to private was a message from the moderators along the lines that r/blizzard is not the right place to discuss politics, and that they'll ban people who post politics there.
      - shadowgovt 7y ago
        It's inconvenient for moderators of fora when the topic of the forum suddenly takes a political action, if they don't want politics discussed in their forum.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- twno1 7y ago
  /r/classicwow too. Just saw this post and let me start to cancel my account. https://www.reddit.com/r/classicwow/comments/dez4yc/breaking_blizzard_entertainment_bans_pro/f2zxdv0/ https://www.reddit.com/r/classicwow/comments/dez4yc/breaking...
abbadadda 7y ago
At this point it goes far beyond just gamers. From the NBA to Google, this effect is everywhere. To be explicit, the effect is U.S. firms letting China dictate what they do or do not care about on a global political scale.
- thedudeabides5 7y ago
  Seems like a modern kowtow. Relevant: https://amp.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1877753/kowtow-or-not-no-longer-question-when-britain-and-china-deal https://amp.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1877753...
- pimmen 7y ago
  If the Western governments could maybe grow a pair and call out how this is very unfair maybe something would happen. I work for one of the largest news publishers in the Nordics, and we were criticized for letting the CCP take out a full page ad in our largest newspaper that essentially said "no need for the Western governments to get involved, this is an internal issue that is best handled by us". Our editor in chief of that paper responded with this: "Now we have the moral high ground. Until the Swedish government can take out a full page ad in The Global Times criticizing the CCP we can use this as one of many examples of how China does not value freedom of speech, but we do."
  - boardwaalk 7y ago
    There is unfortunately a gaping hole where United States leadership should be and I don’t feel the companies or countries that used to be able to “follow the leader” have figured how to deal with it. Good on your paper for having the some fortitude.
    - peacelilly 7y ago
      > gaping hole where United States leadership should be I've seen this exact wording a lot recently. Is this the new propaganda line everyone parrots? I must have missed the previous administration's strong stance on ANYTHING AT ALL dealing with international relations, besides killing people from the sky. When did the previous administration lead on anything and not just bow down (literally bowing) to international leaders. Sorry, the gaping hole in leadership was filled with someone who cares about the USA.
JumpCrisscross 7y ago
> I feel like the majority of gamers won't care The simultaneity of the NBA and now Blizzard so publicly siding with Beijing may elevate this out of the realm of commercial issues (subject to boycotts) into a political one.
- vonmoltke 7y ago
  > the NBA ... so publicly siding with Beijing I must have missed something, because all the coverage I have seen is of Adam Silver publicly supporting Morey and Tsai. Additionally, the Nets cancelled a media event in Shanghai over this.
  - dependenttypes 7y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21184008 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21184008
    - vonmoltke 7y ago
      Silver says that is not an apology[1], and the message quoted reads more like a diplomatic version of "Sorry this upset you, but tough shit". I'm not sure where the author of that opinion column got the idea that the message was an apology. [1] https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/8/20904593/nba-china-commissioner-adam-silver-no-apology https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/8/20904593/nba-china-co...
    - danem 7y ago
      Doesn't look like he's siding with Beijing at all. https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1181497808563658752 https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1181497808563658752 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrY6bKFVD3Q&feature=youtu.be&t=1375 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrY6bKFVD3Q&feature=youtu.be... https://streamable.com/b7ifu https://streamable.com/b7ifu
- cabalamat 7y ago
  It should do. The West needs to decide whether it is going to stand for China being able to silence criticism of it in the West, or not.
EasyTiger_ 7y ago
Personally I've requested my account be deleted.
- hellcow 7y ago
  I have as well.
shadowgovt 7y ago
Nothing about the behavior of the average gamer, to date, should make any of us think they're going to lead the charge for much of any social change that involves distancing themselves from their favorite addic^Wgames.

ehnto 7y ago

What was it about Activision that caused you to boycott them?

alimbada 7y ago
It was the CEOs attitude towards gamers and his derogatory comments about them as well as the way Activision treats/treated its developers. There was a lot of controversy around these issues and after reading quite an in depth article about it around 10 years ago I've avoided buying anything developed or published by Acti-Blizzard.
Fnoord 7y ago
Isn't that the guy who hates gamers? It wasn't difficult to figure out why people dislike him [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Kotick#Business_strategy_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Kotick#Business_strategy...

propter_hoc 7y ago

Well, currently the Hearthstone and Blizzard discussion forums on Reddit are up in arms. [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/blizzard https://www.reddit.com/r/blizzard

cooljacob204 7y ago
Yup, I'm cancelling my wow sub over this and read about it first on Reddit.
- Beltiras 7y ago
  Cancelled and just sad I only had 500 characters to rake them over the coals with.
  - cthalupa 7y ago
    Yep. It's not much, but I cancelled and was quite explicit on why.
ahi 7y ago
r/blizzard is now locked down.
- hdfbdtbcdg 7y ago
  What? What is happening there?
  - flohofwoe 7y ago
    The last message I saw before it was switched to private was a message from the moderators along the lines that r/blizzard is not the right place to discuss politics, and that they'll ban people who post politics there.
    - shadowgovt 7y ago
      It's inconvenient for moderators of fora when the topic of the forum suddenly takes a political action, if they don't want politics discussed in their forum.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
twno1 7y ago
/r/classicwow too. Just saw this post and let me start to cancel my account. https://www.reddit.com/r/classicwow/comments/dez4yc/breaking_blizzard_entertainment_bans_pro/f2zxdv0/ https://www.reddit.com/r/classicwow/comments/dez4yc/breaking...

abbadadda 7y ago

At this point it goes far beyond just gamers. From the NBA to Google, this effect is everywhere. To be explicit, the effect is U.S. firms letting China dictate what they do or do not care about on a global political scale.

thedudeabides5 7y ago
Seems like a modern kowtow. Relevant: https://amp.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1877753/kowtow-or-not-no-longer-question-when-britain-and-china-deal https://amp.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1877753...
pimmen 7y ago
If the Western governments could maybe grow a pair and call out how this is very unfair maybe something would happen. I work for one of the largest news publishers in the Nordics, and we were criticized for letting the CCP take out a full page ad in our largest newspaper that essentially said "no need for the Western governments to get involved, this is an internal issue that is best handled by us". Our editor in chief of that paper responded with this: "Now we have the moral high ground. Until the Swedish government can take out a full page ad in The Global Times criticizing the CCP we can use this as one of many examples of how China does not value freedom of speech, but we do."
- boardwaalk 7y ago
  There is unfortunately a gaping hole where United States leadership should be and I don’t feel the companies or countries that used to be able to “follow the leader” have figured how to deal with it. Good on your paper for having the some fortitude.
  - peacelilly 7y ago
    > gaping hole where United States leadership should be I've seen this exact wording a lot recently. Is this the new propaganda line everyone parrots? I must have missed the previous administration's strong stance on ANYTHING AT ALL dealing with international relations, besides killing people from the sky. When did the previous administration lead on anything and not just bow down (literally bowing) to international leaders. Sorry, the gaping hole in leadership was filled with someone who cares about the USA.

JumpCrisscross 7y ago

> I feel like the majority of gamers won't care The simultaneity of the NBA and now Blizzard so publicly siding with Beijing may elevate this out of the realm of commercial issues (subject to boycotts) into a political one.

vonmoltke 7y ago
> the NBA ... so publicly siding with Beijing I must have missed something, because all the coverage I have seen is of Adam Silver publicly supporting Morey and Tsai. Additionally, the Nets cancelled a media event in Shanghai over this.
- dependenttypes 7y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21184008 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21184008
  - vonmoltke 7y ago
    Silver says that is not an apology[1], and the message quoted reads more like a diplomatic version of "Sorry this upset you, but tough shit". I'm not sure where the author of that opinion column got the idea that the message was an apology. [1] https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/8/20904593/nba-china-commissioner-adam-silver-no-apology https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/8/20904593/nba-china-co...
  - danem 7y ago
    Doesn't look like he's siding with Beijing at all. https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1181497808563658752 https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1181497808563658752 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrY6bKFVD3Q&feature=youtu.be&t=1375 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrY6bKFVD3Q&feature=youtu.be... https://streamable.com/b7ifu https://streamable.com/b7ifu
cabalamat 7y ago
It should do. The West needs to decide whether it is going to stand for China being able to silence criticism of it in the West, or not.

EasyTiger_ 7y ago

Personally I've requested my account be deleted.

hellcow 7y ago
I have as well.

shadowgovt 7y ago

Nothing about the behavior of the average gamer, to date, should make any of us think they're going to lead the charge for much of any social change that involves distancing themselves from their favorite addic^Wgames.