6 ms·

Command + f "sorry": 0 results Command + f "mistake": 0 results Command + f "apologize": 0 results They still aren't listening to a PR expert, and this is on

Command + f "sorry": 0 results Command + f "mistake": 0 results Command + f "apologize": 0 results They still aren't listening to a PR expert, and this is only going to throw gasoline on the fire. This blog post [1] counseling Burning Man back in their dumpster fire of pain when they switched to a lottery system is very instructional, Blizzard should be following it to the letter if they intend to get out of this hole. [1] https://alyssaroyse.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/burning-the-man-burning-mans-ticket-pr-fiasco/ https://alyssaroyse.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/burning-the-man...

taneq 7y ago
> They still aren't listening to a PR expert, and this is only going to throw gasoline on the fire. Of course, if they had listened to a PR expert and written a first-rate apology letter, then we'd be calling them out as insincere and saying it was just PR fluff, a la the StackExchange letter recently.
- larkeith 7y ago
  Still, even an insincere apology has a far better taste than none at all.
- JeremyBanks 7y ago
  That's mistaken. Everybody called out the first Stack apology because it was like this -- not an apology. The second Stack apology was much better recieved because it was actually written as an apology, even through their actions didn't change at all.
- KhalilK 7y ago
  They were put in a lose-lose situation from the start.
  - hgoel 7y ago
    Yep, however that way they'd atleast have a better chance of reducing the impact the drama is gonna have on blizzcon.
  - SN76477 7y ago
    I agree. Something to remember is China was a much different place 10 years ago when Blizzard started being distributed there. I don’t see this as being about the money as much as it is about really freaking complicated relationships. You can’t turn off a billion dollar business in an afternoon.
  - JumpCrisscross 7y ago
    > They were put in a lose-lose situation from the start Sure, but it’s telling which lose they chose. If we don’t want this to keep happening, the consequences from losing us have to be greater.
- wpietri 7y ago
  It depends on the expert, I suppose. I know comms people who will very sincerely argue for actions to go with words. Just like they do in the real world, really. But for to work you need executives who aren't just trying to put lipstick on a pig.
- brynjolf 7y ago
  They dragged someone's name through the mud and didn't even try to apologise for that. They said they were sorry to the community but at same time gave the community no extra time to influence the decisions. It was a well crafted apology but insincere. I don't think we gain anythijg for applauding that.
anonimouse5t43w 7y ago
I think they are. Saying any of those words and they would have upset their Chinese fans, and then they would have two holes. I think Blizzard’s post is more than fair. Both the player and announcers knowingly broke the rules. I’ll continue to play their games.
- mullingitover 7y ago
  > I’ll continue to play their games. Literally the first time I've seen this sentiment since the start of this debacle. Telling that it's not from a real account.
  - thisisnotatest 7y ago
    I'm surprised that you're surprised. Even ignoring Blizzard game players who don't follow the news, and ignoring (presumably Chinese) players that actually support the Chinese government over the Hong Kong protest movement, some percent of players are going to react by saying, "I don't agree with what Blizzard did, but I still like playing Overwatch/Hearthstone/Warcraft."
    - cjbprime 7y ago
      FWIW: Am a Masters league Starcraft 2 player and haven't wanted to log in since this news. I'm sure there are people who "don't want politics in video games", but it seems like this kind of complete moral indifference is about the bar you have to hit to not be upset about this at the moment. (And I don't find tonight's explanation sufficient.)
  - FreezerburnV 7y ago
    Here's my real account saying: I'm continuing to play Overwatch. The Overwatch developers aren't responsible for this mess. And I'm trying to get good enough to make it to at least the semi-pro level, which means taking time off for all of this to blow over and people to forget means I'm severely hampering my efforts to achieve that goal. (even a week off is going to harm my gameplay disproportionately) I can't just play something else, other games aren't interesting enough to me to try and make it to a high level of play. I can only hope that Blizzard somehow unwedges the shoe from their mouth that they're madly chewing on and figure out some way to handle things better.
modeless 7y ago
Frankly, I believe that following your advice would be completely counterproductive for them. If Trump and recent politics have proven anything to me it's that when you are the focus of media attention, admitting fault and apologizing is always the wrong thing to do from a PR point of view. Apologizing never wins anyone over, but it does alienate your supporters. It's unfortunate, and it's counterintuitive because it's not what makes sense in everyday life. But a media circus is not everyday life.
- trianglem 7y ago
  I don't disagree with you but it's a sad state of things.
- phlakaton 7y ago
  Apologizing can, in fact, win people over _if_ authentic and followed up by appropriate action. One recent incident I've been tracking jumps immediately to mind. Recently, a D&D streamcast, Critical Role, decided to participate in a Wendy's promotion, to the horror of their fanbase which largely eschews big corporations and their _marginal_ (in all senses of the word ;-) ) food products. A vocal contingent of the community felt this promotion was not at all aligned with the progressive values of the streamcast and community, and they let the org have it! Within 24 hours, the Chief Creative Officer (and general face of the stream) apologized, and the org announced it was donating all its profits to a charity supporting farm workers. Sure, there were a couple of angry people who were still not satisfied, and there are probably unpleasant longer-term consequences with potential future advertisers that they will have to deal with. But, in large part because they pay careful and compassionate attention to their community, you could see that the bulk of the community immediately jumped back on board. Do not let Trump erode your sense of what is right for your product, company, and community. The dark side, after all, is not more powerful – only easier and more seductive.
twno1 7y ago
And I immediately check blizzard cn website. They don't even has this announcement. https://cn.news.blizzard.com/zh-cn https://cn.news.blizzard.com/zh-cn
- Tenoke 7y ago
  They have a statement in China. It just has the opposite message than here, with them implying it was the specific message they disagree with. https://twitter.com/Grummz/status/1182867411260698625?s=19 https://twitter.com/Grummz/status/1182867411260698625?s=19
bmarquez 7y ago
Perhaps their PR experts have decided not apologizing will cause them temporary pain in the short term, but people have short memories and a new generation of gamers with no recollection of the past will latch on to some future bright shiny thing from Blizzard. To use your example, Burning Man still sells out within minutes, and few current burners actually remember the ticket lottery of 2012. There have been numerous fiascos including the Ticketfly data breach, tickets getting lost in the mail and sent without signature confirmation, and cancellation scams. Volunteers being denied the staff tickets they were promised. Yet for every jaded burner who stops attending, a fresh virgin (first-year burner) takes their place.

taneq 7y ago

> They still aren't listening to a PR expert, and this is only going to throw gasoline on the fire. Of course, if they had listened to a PR expert and written a first-rate apology letter, then we'd be calling them out as insincere and saying it was just PR fluff, a la the StackExchange letter recently.

larkeith 7y ago
Still, even an insincere apology has a far better taste than none at all.
JeremyBanks 7y ago
That's mistaken. Everybody called out the first Stack apology because it was like this -- not an apology. The second Stack apology was much better recieved because it was actually written as an apology, even through their actions didn't change at all.
KhalilK 7y ago
They were put in a lose-lose situation from the start.
- hgoel 7y ago
  Yep, however that way they'd atleast have a better chance of reducing the impact the drama is gonna have on blizzcon.
- SN76477 7y ago
  I agree. Something to remember is China was a much different place 10 years ago when Blizzard started being distributed there. I don’t see this as being about the money as much as it is about really freaking complicated relationships. You can’t turn off a billion dollar business in an afternoon.
- JumpCrisscross 7y ago
  > They were put in a lose-lose situation from the start Sure, but it’s telling which lose they chose. If we don’t want this to keep happening, the consequences from losing us have to be greater.
wpietri 7y ago
It depends on the expert, I suppose. I know comms people who will very sincerely argue for actions to go with words. Just like they do in the real world, really. But for to work you need executives who aren't just trying to put lipstick on a pig.
brynjolf 7y ago
They dragged someone's name through the mud and didn't even try to apologise for that. They said they were sorry to the community but at same time gave the community no extra time to influence the decisions. It was a well crafted apology but insincere. I don't think we gain anythijg for applauding that.

anonimouse5t43w 7y ago

I think they are. Saying any of those words and they would have upset their Chinese fans, and then they would have two holes. I think Blizzard’s post is more than fair. Both the player and announcers knowingly broke the rules. I’ll continue to play their games.

mullingitover 7y ago
> I’ll continue to play their games. Literally the first time I've seen this sentiment since the start of this debacle. Telling that it's not from a real account.
- thisisnotatest 7y ago
  I'm surprised that you're surprised. Even ignoring Blizzard game players who don't follow the news, and ignoring (presumably Chinese) players that actually support the Chinese government over the Hong Kong protest movement, some percent of players are going to react by saying, "I don't agree with what Blizzard did, but I still like playing Overwatch/Hearthstone/Warcraft."
  - cjbprime 7y ago
    FWIW: Am a Masters league Starcraft 2 player and haven't wanted to log in since this news. I'm sure there are people who "don't want politics in video games", but it seems like this kind of complete moral indifference is about the bar you have to hit to not be upset about this at the moment. (And I don't find tonight's explanation sufficient.)
- FreezerburnV 7y ago
  Here's my real account saying: I'm continuing to play Overwatch. The Overwatch developers aren't responsible for this mess. And I'm trying to get good enough to make it to at least the semi-pro level, which means taking time off for all of this to blow over and people to forget means I'm severely hampering my efforts to achieve that goal. (even a week off is going to harm my gameplay disproportionately) I can't just play something else, other games aren't interesting enough to me to try and make it to a high level of play. I can only hope that Blizzard somehow unwedges the shoe from their mouth that they're madly chewing on and figure out some way to handle things better.

modeless 7y ago

Frankly, I believe that following your advice would be completely counterproductive for them. If Trump and recent politics have proven anything to me it's that when you are the focus of media attention, admitting fault and apologizing is always the wrong thing to do from a PR point of view. Apologizing never wins anyone over, but it does alienate your supporters. It's unfortunate, and it's counterintuitive because it's not what makes sense in everyday life. But a media circus is not everyday life.

trianglem 7y ago
I don't disagree with you but it's a sad state of things.
phlakaton 7y ago
Apologizing can, in fact, win people over _if_ authentic and followed up by appropriate action. One recent incident I've been tracking jumps immediately to mind. Recently, a D&D streamcast, Critical Role, decided to participate in a Wendy's promotion, to the horror of their fanbase which largely eschews big corporations and their _marginal_ (in all senses of the word ;-) ) food products. A vocal contingent of the community felt this promotion was not at all aligned with the progressive values of the streamcast and community, and they let the org have it! Within 24 hours, the Chief Creative Officer (and general face of the stream) apologized, and the org announced it was donating all its profits to a charity supporting farm workers. Sure, there were a couple of angry people who were still not satisfied, and there are probably unpleasant longer-term consequences with potential future advertisers that they will have to deal with. But, in large part because they pay careful and compassionate attention to their community, you could see that the bulk of the community immediately jumped back on board. Do not let Trump erode your sense of what is right for your product, company, and community. The dark side, after all, is not more powerful – only easier and more seductive.

twno1 7y ago

And I immediately check blizzard cn website. They don't even has this announcement. https://cn.news.blizzard.com/zh-cn https://cn.news.blizzard.com/zh-cn

Tenoke 7y ago
They have a statement in China. It just has the opposite message than here, with them implying it was the specific message they disagree with. https://twitter.com/Grummz/status/1182867411260698625?s=19 https://twitter.com/Grummz/status/1182867411260698625?s=19

bmarquez 7y ago

Perhaps their PR experts have decided not apologizing will cause them temporary pain in the short term, but people have short memories and a new generation of gamers with no recollection of the past will latch on to some future bright shiny thing from Blizzard. To use your example, Burning Man still sells out within minutes, and few current burners actually remember the ticket lottery of 2012. There have been numerous fiascos including the Ticketfly data breach, tickets getting lost in the mail and sent without signature confirmation, and cancellation scams. Volunteers being denied the staff tickets they were promised. Yet for every jaded burner who stops attending, a fresh virgin (first-year burner) takes their place.