7 ms·

Gaming companies have messed up and lost gamers' trust in so many different ways: predatory microtransactions, oodles of crappy DLC, half-finished products bein

Gaming companies have messed up and lost gamers' trust in so many different ways: predatory microtransactions, oodles of crappy DLC, half-finished products being shipped with huge Day 1 patches, etc. But all those were directly related to the industry and could at least be bounced back from if the company removed transactions/made meaningful DLC/improved the state of their games in the future. How the hell do you bounce back from this? "Oh, sorry, player base, we didn't mean to support a totalitarian regime that slaughtered innocents and suppresses free speech. Have a cool skin!" ... That's exactly how they're going to bounce back, isn't it?

secraetomani 7y ago
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, can I get to pick the skin? Thank you so much...
LudwigNagasena 7y ago
>"Oh, sorry, player base, we didn't mean to support a totalitarian regime that slaughtered innocents and suppresses free speech. Have a cool skin!" But what can they do if they are headquartered there?
- apotheon 7y ago
  I'm pretty sure Blizzard is still headquartered in California. Some people have mistaken California for China, but I assure you it's a different place.
- WilTimSon 7y ago
  I mean, it's not like there are plenty of other countries where they can put a headquarters? Countries with lower rent prices, more lenient taxes, less horrible governments, etc. I know it's not that simple to move a company elsewhere but if you're in an oppressive state and your business is suffering because you have to bow the overlords, maybe it's time to run.
OedipusRex 7y ago
This is in the same vein as some other complaints around China's involvement in the gaming industry. There are calls to separate Chinese players from the rest of a game's population because of rampant cheating and unsportman like conduct. PUBG is the poster child for these calls for separation. The Chinese company TenCent has invested VERY heavily in the games industry (https://www.pcgamer.com/every-game-company-that-tencent-has-invested-in/ https://www.pcgamer.com/every-game-company-that-tencent-has-...) and continues to bank roll games. Due to the nature of business between Chinese companies and the Chinese government, I don't see this problem going away.
ineedasername 7y ago
>How the hell do you bounce back from this? I'm depressingly pessimistic about there being any long or even short-term consequences for this. 5 Years ago? Maybe it would have been harder to ride out. But these days you need not wait long, sometime no longer than a few days, before the next outrage of the moment rears its head. Society has become inured to it, which in turn means organizations like the NBA or Blizzard have become inoculated from the consequences.
jdoliner 7y ago
That's exactly how they're going to bounce back from it, it's going to be easy for the game companies, and it's going to work great. Or, more likely, they won't have to bounce back from it at all. The people cancelling their accounts will be back within a month. Gamers will tolerate anything, unless there's a better game that they'd rather play they're not going anywhere.
- slenk 7y ago
  Disagree - we hurt the sales of Battlefront 2. And I think there are gamers, like me, who haven't paid money to Blizzard in a while because I don't subscribe to anything Blizzard, but I already own a bunch of games. What should I do?
  - hnick 7y ago
    I guess you could vote with your wallet by buying from a leading competitor instead. It won't hurt them directly, but market position matters to them. They will probably notice it about as much as one lost sale :(
    - joelx 7y ago
      Boycott Blizzard and tell all your friends to do the same.
      - hnick 7y ago
        I think we both have been, for a while, simply because their games were not for us anymore. The post I responded to was asking what to do when we already don't buy, a boycott won't be felt. Though anyone planning to boycott would best keep in mind not to forget about anything labelled Activision too.
- not_a_cop75 7y ago
  "Gamers will tolerate anything, unless there's a better game that they'd rather play they're not going anywhere." How about any reasonable replacement game? I'd say the game industry is pretty well saturated. It's not like there's only one great game per genre, or only one great gaming system.
oh_sigh 7y ago
I don't play modern video games, but I constantly see forum posts where gamers lament that other gamers are doing preorders for game X, because of some fault of the publisher. But these Lamentations are never heard by anyone but the minority that already cares about those things. So the answer is there is nothing to bounce back from. A bunch of people making a stink about something on message boards is still going to only be a tiny fraction of the overall base. Most gamers just want to play fun games, and will pay their money unless there is direct evidence of the company doing something beyond the pale for all of society. It's the same reason you don't see more bicycle riding vegans, even though ostensibly many people don't like to see animals mistreated and understand that global warming is happening.
duxup 7y ago
I'm not the gamer I once was but I find sticking to Nintendo for family friendly stuff, and know good independent devs has worked for me.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

secraetomani 7y ago

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, can I get to pick the skin? Thank you so much...

LudwigNagasena 7y ago

>"Oh, sorry, player base, we didn't mean to support a totalitarian regime that slaughtered innocents and suppresses free speech. Have a cool skin!" But what can they do if they are headquartered there?

apotheon 7y ago
I'm pretty sure Blizzard is still headquartered in California. Some people have mistaken California for China, but I assure you it's a different place.
WilTimSon 7y ago
I mean, it's not like there are plenty of other countries where they can put a headquarters? Countries with lower rent prices, more lenient taxes, less horrible governments, etc. I know it's not that simple to move a company elsewhere but if you're in an oppressive state and your business is suffering because you have to bow the overlords, maybe it's time to run.

OedipusRex 7y ago

This is in the same vein as some other complaints around China's involvement in the gaming industry. There are calls to separate Chinese players from the rest of a game's population because of rampant cheating and unsportman like conduct. PUBG is the poster child for these calls for separation. The Chinese company TenCent has invested VERY heavily in the games industry (https://www.pcgamer.com/every-game-company-that-tencent-has-invested-in/ https://www.pcgamer.com/every-game-company-that-tencent-has-...) and continues to bank roll games. Due to the nature of business between Chinese companies and the Chinese government, I don't see this problem going away.

ineedasername 7y ago

>How the hell do you bounce back from this? I'm depressingly pessimistic about there being any long or even short-term consequences for this. 5 Years ago? Maybe it would have been harder to ride out. But these days you need not wait long, sometime no longer than a few days, before the next outrage of the moment rears its head. Society has become inured to it, which in turn means organizations like the NBA or Blizzard have become inoculated from the consequences.

jdoliner 7y ago

That's exactly how they're going to bounce back from it, it's going to be easy for the game companies, and it's going to work great. Or, more likely, they won't have to bounce back from it at all. The people cancelling their accounts will be back within a month. Gamers will tolerate anything, unless there's a better game that they'd rather play they're not going anywhere.

slenk 7y ago
Disagree - we hurt the sales of Battlefront 2. And I think there are gamers, like me, who haven't paid money to Blizzard in a while because I don't subscribe to anything Blizzard, but I already own a bunch of games. What should I do?
- hnick 7y ago
  I guess you could vote with your wallet by buying from a leading competitor instead. It won't hurt them directly, but market position matters to them. They will probably notice it about as much as one lost sale :(
  - joelx 7y ago
    Boycott Blizzard and tell all your friends to do the same.
    - hnick 7y ago
      I think we both have been, for a while, simply because their games were not for us anymore. The post I responded to was asking what to do when we already don't buy, a boycott won't be felt. Though anyone planning to boycott would best keep in mind not to forget about anything labelled Activision too.
not_a_cop75 7y ago
"Gamers will tolerate anything, unless there's a better game that they'd rather play they're not going anywhere." How about any reasonable replacement game? I'd say the game industry is pretty well saturated. It's not like there's only one great game per genre, or only one great gaming system.

oh_sigh 7y ago

I don't play modern video games, but I constantly see forum posts where gamers lament that other gamers are doing preorders for game X, because of some fault of the publisher. But these Lamentations are never heard by anyone but the minority that already cares about those things. So the answer is there is nothing to bounce back from. A bunch of people making a stink about something on message boards is still going to only be a tiny fraction of the overall base. Most gamers just want to play fun games, and will pay their money unless there is direct evidence of the company doing something beyond the pale for all of society. It's the same reason you don't see more bicycle riding vegans, even though ostensibly many people don't like to see animals mistreated and understand that global warming is happening.

duxup 7y ago

I'm not the gamer I once was but I find sticking to Nintendo for family friendly stuff, and know good independent devs has worked for me.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]