from the what-if-all-players-added-the-same-.sig? dept.
Bloomberg, Endadget and the rest of the digital news world are reporting on Blizzard suspending a Hearthstone Pro for adding a pro-Hong Kong message at the end of his stream.
From Bloomberg
A unit of Activision Blizzard Inc. has punished a player for expressing support for Hong Kong's protest movement, the latest example of a U.S. company attempting to rein in speech that might displease the Chinese communist party.
Blizzard's official release says that he violated competition rules, namely
Engaging in any act that, in Blizzard's sole discretion, brings you into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages Blizzard image will result in removal from Grandmasters and reduction of the player's prize total to $0 USD, in addition to other remedies which may be provided for under the Handbook and Blizzard's Website Terms.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by barbara hudson on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:04PM (5 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ikanreed on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:29PM
The power of an authoritarian government to control the behavior of a corporation by total regional ban is greater than any individualistic boycott for one's ideals. It's just math, there's going to be a fraction of people who will buy in spite of your collaboration, but there's never a fraction who buy when you can't sell.
(irrelevant aside, but Kotick is a Lolita Express flyer and a Little Saint James visitor)
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:31PM (2 children)
While it may seem to be an "own goal" from the players' perspective, from the management side of things allowing their top champions to openly criticize China jeopardizes their ability to do business in China - where do you think all the Gold farmers are? Comparing the relative populations of China and Hong Kong, HK is a super-minority.
Should people stand up for minorities' rights? Absolutely. As has been frequently pointed out: corporations are not people.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday October 10 2019, @04:09PM (1 child)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday October 10 2019, @05:57PM
Governments may be slow, and appear stupid, but they generally don't "fall for" shell games like that... they may turn a blind eye to shell games and claim they know nothing or can legally do nothing, but if it's something they really care about all the shell corporations in the world won't stop them from pressuring the actual decision makers any way they can, including penalizing associates.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Farkus888 on Wednesday October 09 2019, @03:05PM
To continue to sports connection, the NBA was just faced with the same dilemma and told China to pound sand.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:12PM
I guess they don't want to upset the Chinese (I guess bots could do it but they, Blizzard, frown upon that to), after all who is going to farm all the gold that needs to be sold to their western players so that they can enjoy their classic WOW experience -- without all the horrible farming that went into it or you could just consider gold buying part of the classic WOW experience since it was fairly common back in the day.
(Score: 1, Redundant) by aristarchus on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:12PM (14 children)
"Recends"? Surely the intended word was "resends". But that does not work, either. Good job, eds! On the Front Page, in the Headline!
(Score: 4, Informative) by barbara hudson on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:18PM (3 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 1, Redundant) by aristarchus on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:23PM (2 children)
+1 Obvious mod?
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @10:13PM
Not with TMB at the helm.
(Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Tuesday October 08 2019, @10:15PM
Based on the +Informative mod of the GP, it may be it wasn't obvious for somebody.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:20PM (1 child)
It means to revoke.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @11:11AM
its a fancy word for "no" amiright?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:20PM (1 child)
Seems more a mash up of Recede and/or Recind. Maybe your blame is misplaced, they avoided the grind and had a chinese render the headline on the eds behalf?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @10:26PM
Not to refudiate your claim, by going rouge, but seems more like a Republican mistake than Chinese.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:21PM (2 children)
I read it as rescinds [merriam-webster.com]
Which fits the topic.
Now, looking at the Bloomberg(Engadget TFA requires javascript) TFA (thanks for making me read TFA, you insensitive clod!), the headline reads:
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by aristarchus on Wednesday October 09 2019, @12:13AM (1 child)
Sorry about the whole "reading TFA" thing, but at least now it is fixed, so that SN will no longer appear to be at the literacy level of 4chan, gab, or Trump.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by aristarchus on Thursday October 10 2019, @08:08AM
If Soylents can't spell, then Soylents can't Fluence! If we are going to be illiterate, we will be left with Ethanol_Fulumoxxed and Runmyway1965, neither of which is a good place to be as an influencer blog! Bad enough we have the handicap of TMB, whom we have to explain every time strangers come to visit.
(He's like a Minotaur, really good at coding Perl, but not someone you would want to let out of the labyrinth. I really hope we can keep that new kid, Perseus, with his Rust, away from the TMinotaurBuzzard, else some bad things will happen.)
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @04:59AM
And it seems the alt-spelling crue is hard at work modding down the aristarchus, and after all his hard work? Ever wonder why SN has no friends?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @07:53PM (1 child)
And who the fuck is "Endadget"?
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday October 10 2019, @08:11AM
Opposite of "Beginadget"? I got nothing. My pedantic grammar mods for the day are all used up. Carry on, intrepic AC? Smite them illiterate Eds! You have my blessings, if not my permission.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Fishscene on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:19PM (26 children)
"...offends a portion or group of the public".
Don't say anything. A group of people *might* be offended and you'll lose all kinds of money. If other people hurl bricks through Blizzards window with your name on it, that literally damages their image and you won't reap promised rewards.
This policy is idiotic.
I know I am not God, because every time I pray to Him, it's because I'm not perfect and thankful for what He's done.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:29PM (16 children)
You have to remember that the only real stance any for-profit business has is "We want more money". Any indications to the contrary are simply matters of branding and public relations.
Businesses will gladly trade with the nastiest oppressive dictatorships imaginable if said dictators allow them to. And they will follow all the rules of said oppressive dictatorship, including doing their part to oppress.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Captival on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:35PM (15 children)
Except they're not, as evidenced by the NBA willing to throw money out the window by refusing to do business with North Carolina unless they enact the proper trannie bathroom laws. These companies are much harsher on Americans who disagree with their politics than they are foreign countries who are horrific human rights abusers.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:01PM
Are you sure there weren't a whole lot of other dollars (people) on the other side of the balance that they would have lost if they had done business with NC at that time? Or, IOW, that not doing business with NC was merely the less expensive of two costly options?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:17PM (12 children)
That was the NBA deciding that the money from pro-trans branding was greater than the money from North Carolina.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:37PM (11 children)
Regardless of your interpretation of whether it was right or wrong to boycott my shitty state for their shitty law, this is the only valid interpretation of the NBA's motives.
Corporations are not people and do not have morals.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:55PM (10 children)
Corporations might not be people, but they tend to be run by people who are very much on the "evil" side of the spectrum.
(Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Tuesday October 08 2019, @10:20PM (2 children)
There is no evil in doing business, there're only profits and bonuses.
Why do you hate capitalism?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @12:12AM (1 child)
Then there's no evil in anything, there's only profits and bonuses. You can frame any evil as merely 'amoral.' Yet, many seem to only want to do that with corporations, and I wonder why that is.
Because I'm a progressive and I don't trust mega-corporations to have ordinary people's best interests at heart, in any situation. Their actions can't be justified by just saying, 'Oh, they thought they could make money by doing that!' I mean, if you want to try to justify a corporation's action using another argument, then go ahead, but that one isn't it.
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Wednesday October 09 2019, @12:24AM
(note to myself: grin more often, many still don't get it)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @10:54PM (6 children)
That's juvenile. The justification for Nixon opening trade with China was the idea it would foster liberalization, instead we're seeing the inverse happening. If the cost of doing business with China is accepting CCP censorship, most private companies will stop trading. For publicly traded companies, the executives are putting themselves at legal risk from shareholders.
Unscrupulous, ruthless and malevolent people exist. The latter characteristic is more likely found in the CCP than Blizzard's executive team.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @12:02AM
That's reality.
They're likely to be found on both. They just have different levels of power and influence, and wield it in different ways. I have no doubt that, if given such a massive amount of power, most CEOs would commit atrocities in a heartbeat if it would benefit them.
If you can dismiss all of the evil actions of corporations as merely 'amoral,' then you can do the same with governments, or with anything, really.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by c0lo on Wednesday October 09 2019, @01:06AM (4 children)
LOL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @09:08AM (3 children)
For Realz [twitter.com]
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday October 09 2019, @10:37AM (1 child)
Yeah, well, I hope I'll live to see the flood of companies stopping from doing business with China because the CCP splashes them with cash in exchange for obedience.
But until that happens, the cruel reality that I see is: those "most private companies" is just one and a hypothetical one come to that (iff what the linked twitterer speaks the truth).
To be honest, I won't keep my breath until I see those "most private companies" even if I wish them all the luck they need.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @11:27AM
It's a common sentiment although the left have gone from "Free Tibet" to supporting chicom oppression of Pepe touting, pro-democracy (and pro-Western) HK protesters. They ignore Uyghurs in concentration camps and it'll take another Tienanmen for these folks to wake up.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 10 2019, @07:11AM
That guy, while a cool dude, is small potatoes compared to the behemoths.
This scandal may hurt Blizzard but it can be difficult to judge the impact so early. A lot of people do not pay attention to this stuff.
Plenty of developers are taking the Epic Tencent cash. They will do that because it has nice features like the ability to have no user reviews on your game. And if you can get guaranteed funds to cover the cost of 100% refunds of your game, it's hard to refuse.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday October 10 2019, @04:21PM
Why? Because all the hate is directed at trans women. None at trans men. Trans women are a soft target - trans men will beat the shit out of you.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:38PM (2 children)
You're just offended at what they said, that the winner isn't getting money, so really they should just ignore you can kowtow to Chang'an Avenue since that makes them more money, right?
I guess what I'm getting at so ham-handedly is that freedom needs to be understood with a framing of power and abuse thereof.
(Score: 3, Touché) by captain normal on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:20PM (1 child)
"..framing of power and abuse thereof."
I think that's spelled "$$$$$".
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:24PM
I mean... yeah?
It's not the only kind of power, and it doesn't necessarily include abuse, but "Money=power" isn't a controversial statement. The universal belief that that's true is what makes money power.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:43PM
This policy is idiotic.
No, they got an offer they can't refuse. It really is strictly business.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:35PM
Lawyers write in this type of boilerplate in all such agreements specifically to allow (or at least provide a basis for) the company to act freely in its own best interests whenever it becomes important.
The majority of Blizzard's online players are likely in violation of one or more such clauses in their respective agreements, but they don't piss off the Chinese government, so they get a pass.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Wednesday October 09 2019, @01:55AM (2 children)
What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.
Salman Rushdie
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday October 10 2019, @04:23PM (1 child)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Sunday October 13 2019, @05:32PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 10 2019, @07:05AM
I'm offended by your nested blockquoting.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:39PM (5 children)
You don't have much recourse against that, do ya?
Don't suppose one of those "boycott" things will make a difference. So, whadya do about it?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ikanreed on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:40PM
Love to have contracts that gives the counterparty power to render the contract unconscionable at their whim.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:55PM (2 children)
Do like I do, put Blizzard in your, do not buy list. They've shown blatant disregard for what their fans want.
This particular incident, I could possibly give them a pass as it's probably all there in the legal documents. Still, a part of me, really wants to root for the underdog here and Hong Kong fits that bill. Also, I'm sick and tired of people praising the merits of China. The merits of China is that they're not actively killing as many of their own people as North Korea.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/06/18/china-killing-prisoners-to-harvest-organs-for-transplant-tribunal-finds/#4ef30b4153d4 [forbes.com]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/china-is-creating-concentration-camps-in-xinjiang-heres-how-we-hold-it-accountable/2018/11/23/93dd8c34-e9d6-11e8-bbdb-72fdbf9d4fed_story.html [washingtonpost.com]
Okay, these aren't their people, but still not cool.
Also, not the same, yet quite horrifying.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-life-death-forbidden-city-longhua-suicide-apple-iphone-brian-merchant-one-device-extract [theguardian.com]
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2015/09/why-drivers-in-china-intentionally-kill-the-pedestrians-they-hit-chinas-laws-have-encouraged-the-hit-to-kill-phenomenon.html [slate.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:58PM
Here's the missing link for the comment "Okay, these arent' their people, but still not cool."
https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-china-fentanyl-20181019-story.html [latimes.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Interesting) by fustakrakich on Tuesday October 08 2019, @10:16PM
put Blizzard in your, do not buy list.
Well, they have been since like, forever. But they are spreading a disease that will infect the people we all buy from (and vote for!) eventually. So how do we vaccinate ourselves? They have a nice diverse stock portfolio making a boycott impractical.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @07:50PM
Wait till the cash hits your bank account before you open your mouth?
(Score: 4, Touché) by SemperOSS on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:48PM (4 children)
It must be prescience on my part, for when we start having at Blizzard I am the vanguard as I have already done a boycott — retroactively, even. I'm so good, actually, that I have never bought any of their games to date and now I certainly never will!
… That I am not a gamer has nothing to do with it, obviously.
I don't need a signature to draw attention to myself.
Maybe I should add a sarcasm warning now and again?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:55PM (1 child)
I have been boycotting them continuously since 1999, between Diablo and the LoD expansion coming out. I regretted that decision a little when WoW became so popular, but overall I have been happy with it, and this is just an example of why. Blizzard is now emulating Games Workshop's behavior in all things. That should financially punish both of those companies and yet they are both raving successes. The cult of personality is strong if you make it exclusive, or inclusive enough, or sometimes even both.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:27PM
Or most people enjoy the games and never hear much about these political stories, and the small % that do many don't care or are apathetic that boycotting will make a difference.
Not a cult of personality, just the same old large group stats at work.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:38PM (1 child)
I was a Starcraft junkie, played Diablo a few times, of course played Starcraft II, a little Warcraft 3, and a fair bit of Hearthstone.
However, I started my Blizzard boycott about a year and a half ago - for no other reason than I'm tired of them, this just cements the decision.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 10 2019, @09:14AM
Why don't they port their old games to linux and sell to new gamers through steam? Just Not Worth It?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @08:59PM (5 children)
how about some of your attention span to iraq, the USA imposed "democracy" is still killing hundreds because of oil... I mean democracy and everyone on the faposphere of politically correct sites whining about how poor babys can't get their fix of some stupid game. Just fuck off already dumb fucks
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @12:35AM
Hong Kong is much more important than browns in muslimstan.
(Score: 2) by EJ on Wednesday October 09 2019, @12:56AM (1 child)
What are you doing about any of those things? Posting on the Internet does about as much for them as cheering at your television does to help your team win the Super Bowl.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Wednesday October 09 2019, @01:08AM
So true. What was in the eds' mind when they posted this story on the front page? (grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday October 09 2019, @12:07PM (1 child)
Which let us note is not a large number. My view is that the fate of Hong Kong is a much bigger problem in the long run than a democracy with a little violence.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 10 2019, @08:57PM
Yeah, it's just a few people whose rights are being systematically destroyed.
No. The individual is the smallest minority, and individual rights are paramount. Any violation of individual rights is automatically important.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:22PM
He's out $10k. Can you do a Gofundme to get him $20k (punitive damages, as it were) or are Gofundme wimps too?
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @09:39PM (2 children)
Fuck China. Fuck xijin the poo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @10:24PM (1 child)
Yeah ! And free Tibet too !
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 10 2019, @09:20AM
Oh no! Now the hypocritical overbearing nazi-like fascistic state of modern communist china will block SN!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
(Score: 2) by EJ on Wednesday October 09 2019, @12:53AM (3 children)
Blizzard is not a private company. They do not get to make moral judgments. The individual employees of Blizzard are free to have their own opinions, but Blizzard is beholden to their stockholders.
They are not legally allowed to take actions that harm their stockholders. Getting the company banned from Asia is not an option. Blizzard is bound by very specific requirements to do business in China.
If you feel that what Blizzard did was wrong, then feel free to withhold your money from them. Then again, think about the consequences Blizzard would have faced had they not banned that one player.
When you live in a totalitarian country, you must consider not only how your actions affect you, but also how they affect other people around you. It is very easy for us to condemn Blizzard from the comfort of our "free" homes.
(Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Wednesday October 09 2019, @01:18AM
Depends on what "harm their stockholders" mean [nytimes.com]. There's no legal duty to maximize the profit and/or shareholders value, though.
Now, fear about how the share market will react if they make ethical choices? That's another story, not related to the law.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @02:57PM
I guarantee that is not the case. Once the PRC finds Blizzard employees supporting Hong Kong, they will be fired.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Wednesday October 09 2019, @04:28PM
No, Blizzard does not have a legal obligation to cede American values in service to China. They may, in fact, end up with the opposite legal obligation, depending on how serious Trump is about hurting China.
Blizzard, as an American company, has a moral and patriotic obligation to support American values like democracy, free speech, freedom of the press, and judicial due process.
If you think those obligations are completely overtaken by fiscal obligations, you're an arrogant fool. Making money is more complicated than the series of short-term transactions that shareholders respond to.
Many American companies have decided to abandon their American values to work with China. Their technology has been stolen and appropriated by state-backed Chinese companies. Outside of the American value system, this is what they should have expected.
The point at which you consider abandoning your values is the point at which you need to seriously deconstruct what you think you are receiving in return. When it comes to China, it's often a lot less than you might think.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 10 2019, @07:16AM
https://imgur.com/search?q=mei%20hong%20kong [imgur.com]