Jim Sterling (The Jimquisition)

To be clear, I am not accusing anyone at Blizzard, nor do I think it is proper to accuse anyone at Blizzard of being racist, sexist, a true believer in the Chinese government, or anything else like that. I mean, maybe some of them are, but that's irrelevant to the issue at hand.

Big companies make business decisions, not moral decisions, with a few exceptions. ^note Such as being owned by an ideologue, like Fox News, although it's not a coincidence that pandering to and inflaming right-wing hysteria is also great for business. Those business decisions may include adopting a policy of doing whatever the Chinese government demands in order to get and retain access to that marketplace. They may include offending some fans to placate others, as long as they get a net gain out of the deal. This is how it works, always has worked, and always will work.

Heck, Blizzard could lose the entire North American market — every single consumer of their products boycotts them — and still come out ahead in the long run if they capture the Chinese market, and so could many other companies. Targeting them with economic threats is simply not going to work. What we can do is make this into a public relations nightmare. The public images of thousands of fans deleting their accounts and otherwise protesting their actions accomplishes far more than the hit to their wallet.

Let me be doubly clear: I am not telling anyone not to protest. Absolutely, go do it, if you can and you care enough. While doing it, though, you need to have realistic expectations of what you're trying to accomplish.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 11th 2019 at 3:00:54 PM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Blizzcon is at November 1st, isn't it?

The fans better not disappoint. Free Hong Kong chanting, thematic Mei cosplays, signs everywhere, make it the loudest possible disaster and hopefully derail the shit out of the whole event.

Hell, I'd go just for that if I had the money for it.

Even if it just results in mass arrests, the image of Blizzard calling the cops on this is like the ultra-damning cherry on top of the already ultra-damning cake.

Blizzard has to know that Blizzcon is going to be an unholy shitstorm if they don't do something to address this issue beforehand. They have to. Nobody is that blind.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Blizzard employees are staging walkouts and covering their company motto that was flat out engraved in the floor on their offices... I think internal conflicts are going to cause indecision right up until the con.

Anaheim police and the convention center itself may put the kibosh on the whole event tbh.

"Nobody is that blind" is not a thing.

You're talking about a company that honestly expected people to accept Diablo Immortal as a hit and was completely caught off-guard by that backlash. I fully expect them to get caught with their pants down at Blizzcon.

Edited by Luminosity on Oct 11th 2019 at 10:34:01 PM

And all the disgruntled fans with Shove things up Blizzard's corrupt asshole as a result.

Watch Symphogear

There is a difference between being unaware of a problem and indecisive about how to handle it. My comment referred to the former. It is not credible to assert that Blizzard's management is not aware of their current PR crisis. Whether they are competent to handle it is an as-yet unanswered question.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

I half expect Blizzard to count that A) Gamers' naturally short memories means this will pass, and B) Hype of whatever they announce at Blizzcon (Overwatch 2 / Story Mode most likely) will bury anything that happens

If they go stonefaced and ignore it completely... that'll be interesting. I wonder what fans will do. The thing is that I'm excited about the WoW and Diablo reveals that will come there, but now those positive feelings are going to be irrevocably tainted by the knowledge of what lies beneath, and I think that's going to be true for many, many people. They have to address it somehow.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 11th 2019 at 3:48:51 PM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

im having difficulty thinking of a way they could address it, short of total backpedaling, that would quell the dissatisfaction.

Migrated to Chloe Jessica!

It has been suggested that they could reduce the penalties assessed against the casters and the player. This would allow them to maintain the idea that they do not permit political speech in their events, but not seem like they are being extra harsh just to please China.

It even fits with ways that Blizzard has behaved in the past. They'll issue a harsh ban to someone, then reduce it significantly after public outcry.

I don't think it's realistic to expect them to cut off their business relationship with China even in the most optimistic possible outcome.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 11th 2019 at 4:11:03 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Mei has reached the protests.

ROFL, they are trying very hard to make Mei a symbol and get it banned in china.

Edited by Memers on Oct 11th 2019 at 1:54:45 AM

See, that is how you do it. Not with half-assed boycotts, but by creating a public symbol and forcing a reaction.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Okay what would happen if China bans Mei?

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."

Blizzard either has to remove her from Overwatch, causing outrage among players, or face the game being banned in China, costing them large amounts of revenue.

Again, this is how you hit companies in the wallet: demonstrate how their stance leads to an irreconcilable contradiction.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 11th 2019 at 5:02:32 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

The real move is you start using characters that are more core to the game.

Get Tracer banned.

Exactly. Keep doing it. Adopt a character as a symbol, get the character banned, proceed until there's nothing left. It's the quintessential application of the debate principle of Reduction to Absurdity.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Hm. How feasible is the Mei thing?

I'm guessing the meme has to reach mainland China players for it to get the same knee-jerk response Winnie the Pooh did.

Honestly I think by now nothing can stop Blizzcon from imploding. Reducing penalties would quell some of the outrage, but people will still meme at the con. Nor will the HK-Mei trend stop.

That one would be tougher. Mei is Chinese and basically being used as a symbol of a Chinese person speaking out.

Tracer is British but also gay.... except in China where she is straight and apparently has a boyfriend.

Edited by Memers on Oct 11th 2019 at 2:11:42 AM

But she has skins where she's dressed like a protester. See her graffiti skin. Not hard to mimic. Also her costume is really easy. leather jacket, spandex pants. Running shoes. Ski Google. You got a passable tracer. And unlike Mei tracer is on all the promo material

Edited by Ghilz on Oct 11th 2019 at 5:20:57 AM

Huh straight with a boyfriend.

Now that’s not right.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."

...China added a boyfriend?

Even Russia just didn't publish the gay comic, but kept the references to Emily in voice lines.

Russia ain't 18% of the world population

Maybe Blizzard can get Dinofask to do their press release for them. (6 min mark for the controversy)

Edited by Ghilz on Oct 11th 2019 at 5:36:12 AM