4 ms·

>Blizzard is not responsible for what players say in interviews. In our society, it still matters that people can tolerate other opinions. I think Blizzard has

by treis 7y ago

>Blizzard is not responsible for what players say in interviews. In our society, it still matters that people can tolerate other opinions. I think Blizzard has a legitimate "time and place" argument here. They shouldn't regulate competitors speech across the board but I think it's reasonable to mandate that interviews associated with official events focus on Hearthstone and stay away from controversial topics. Of course Blizzard really stepped into it by citing the "brings you into public disrepute" rule. That makes them look like their taking China's side. And this is a full on Streisand effect. The banning brought way more attention (at least in the West) than the initial interview did. Few of us would have even known it happened without hte banning.

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
If they had just kicked him out of the tournament, I'd definitely be on that side of things. I don't want a world where all competitions are full of people yelling about hot-button issues. But banning him for a year is so obviously disproportionate, it's hard to see how it could have happened if not for fear of China.
- __s 7y ago
  Also firing the interviewers
- hannasanarion 7y ago
  The tournament was already over, and he had won. They took back his prize money.
throwawaypolicy 7y ago
It more than "looks like" Blizzard is taking China's side. They have outright said that they are in their chinese language statement > We strongly condemn the player and the casters on what happened in the game last weekend ,and we firmly DISAPPROVE people to state their own political POV in any tournament. The player will be banned from the tournament,and the casters will never be granted the chance to cast any official tournament from now on. Besides,we will firmly PROTECT THE PRIDE OF THE COUNTRY just like what we always do. (translation taken from another comment on HN, google finds lots of sources with similar translations, including news articles from reputable papers)
EpicEng 7y ago
>I think Blizzard has a legitimate "time and place" argument here. Blizzard pushed Pride hard when it suited them to do so. What is the proper time and place exactly? It would seem that only certain political opinions are ok and those would be the type that won't hurt their bottom line.
the-pigeon 7y ago
According to arstechnica translated he shouted "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!" https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/blizzard-bans-pro-hearthstone-gamer-for-statement-supporting-hong-kong/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/blizzard-bans-pr... I'd agree with a slap on the wrist. Like $500 fine or something. But forfeiting all winners and 12 month ban is insane. Seems like Blizzard is pandering to China because they don't want locked out of the market. Shame on them for enjoying democracy in their own country (US) but assisting with suppressing it in other countries for their own profit.

by treis 7y ago

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago

If they had just kicked him out of the tournament, I'd definitely be on that side of things. I don't want a world where all competitions are full of people yelling about hot-button issues. But banning him for a year is so obviously disproportionate, it's hard to see how it could have happened if not for fear of China.

__s 7y ago
Also firing the interviewers
hannasanarion 7y ago
The tournament was already over, and he had won. They took back his prize money.

throwawaypolicy 7y ago

It more than "looks like" Blizzard is taking China's side. They have outright said that they are in their chinese language statement > We strongly condemn the player and the casters on what happened in the game last weekend ,and we firmly DISAPPROVE people to state their own political POV in any tournament. The player will be banned from the tournament,and the casters will never be granted the chance to cast any official tournament from now on. Besides,we will firmly PROTECT THE PRIDE OF THE COUNTRY just like what we always do. (translation taken from another comment on HN, google finds lots of sources with similar translations, including news articles from reputable papers)

EpicEng 7y ago

>I think Blizzard has a legitimate "time and place" argument here. Blizzard pushed Pride hard when it suited them to do so. What is the proper time and place exactly? It would seem that only certain political opinions are ok and those would be the type that won't hurt their bottom line.

the-pigeon 7y ago

According to arstechnica translated he shouted "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!" https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/blizzard-bans-pro-hearthstone-gamer-for-statement-supporting-hong-kong/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/blizzard-bans-pr... I'd agree with a slap on the wrist. Like $500 fine or something. But forfeiting all winners and 12 month ban is insane. Seems like Blizzard is pandering to China because they don't want locked out of the market. Shame on them for enjoying democracy in their own country (US) but assisting with suppressing it in other countries for their own profit.