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I would like to discuss this here, since this is a Blizzard related topic and probably lets emerge not only HearthStone specific questions.
Since there is no "general esports" forum on TL I post this here - Sorry if this belongs somewhere else.
The HearthStone pro and HongKong citizen Ng "blitzchung" Wai Chung stated his support for Hong Kong protests on the official HearthStone stream in an post-match interview:
https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/9242/hong-kong-player-blitzchung-calls-for-liberation-of-his-country-in-post-game-interview
He was therefore banned from GM and from competition for one year by Blizzard due to violating offical competition rules. The casters who did the interview were also fired (they were hiding behind their desks):
https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/9254/blizzard-has-removed-blitzchung-from-grandmasters-and-banned-him-from-competing-in-hearthstone-following-his-on-stream-hong-kong-protest
The rule they're referring to:
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.
Some employees of Blizz showed their protest by covering "Think Globally" and "Every Voice Matters" on the values compass at Blizz' outside campus:
Former Liquid's Jinro supports the appeal to boycott Blizzard until they withdraw from their decision.
So, what do you think of this?
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![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/3UJHFvU.png)
User was warned for this post.
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I am e-upset. To spite them, I will take up bandwidth space by playing Diablo 3 Immortals when it comes out but will not spend any money on it. Since this is so close to Blizzcon, this is an interesting time for the backlash and I am excited to see what the crowd will chant during announcements. As always, let's voice our concerns but don't resort to violence guys. Blizzard employees are still real people and while many of us may think Blizzard as a company sucks, most of the employees have no say in the matter and are just trying to work and support themselves and their family.
The winner for this are definitely the HK'ers, who are getting way more coverage now than they did for the past few months. Also, the meme game has been on point. Keep them coming lol.
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Blizzard's party, Blizzard's rules. And well deserved for him IMO, mixing up sports and politics is rightfully frowned upon. Just imagine a Boer player making some "free south africa" statement...
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Pretty spineless move, I look forward to the justification that it's totally okay because its their most profitable decision as though money is moral.
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United States33707 Posts
On October 09 2019 15:09 Nakwa wrote:
[meme]
Heyo, I know this is a sensitive topic that's burning up the gaming-internet at the moment, but TL's standards of posting still apply here. No meme-only posts, no 'low-content' posts, be civil when replying to fellow TL.net users, etc.
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I was wondering if this topic comes up. I am actually bothered by this. Not sure what can i do though other than not watching SC.
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On October 09 2019 15:13 Haukinger wrote:
Blizzard's party, Blizzard's rules. And well deserved for him IMO, mixing up sports and politics is rightfully frowned upon. Just imagine a Boer player making some "free south africa" statement...
Sure, but nobody's going to go to their parties anymore.
You say mixing up sports and politics is frowned upon, yet, Blizzard is allowed to be as political as they want.
Do you know that in the Overwatch league the Taiwanese team isn't called Taiwan but "Chinese Taipei" and the players are not allowed to even use their own country's flag because Blizzard want to kiss up to China to enter their market, and China thinks Taiwan is still their territory.
This shit has to stop.
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On October 09 2019 15:19 abuse wrote:
You say mixing up sports and politics is frowned upon, yet, Blizzard is allowed to be as political as they want.
Do you know that in the Overwatch league the Taiwanese team isn't called Taiwan but "Chinese Taipei" and the players are not allowed to even use their own country's flag because Blizzard doesn't want to kiss up to China to enter their market, and China thinks Taiwan is still their territory.
And south tirolean athletes are forced to compete under the italian flag, and there's the organizer's egalitarian ads in soccer matches and so on. Of course, sports are used for political agitation, but that doesn't make adding to it less bad.
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On October 09 2019 15:26 Haukinger wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2019 15:19 abuse wrote:
You say mixing up sports and politics is frowned upon, yet, Blizzard is allowed to be as political as they want.
Do you know that in the Overwatch league the Taiwanese team isn't called Taiwan but "Chinese Taipei" and the players are not allowed to even use their own country's flag because Blizzard doesn't want to kiss up to China to enter their market, and China thinks Taiwan is still their territory.
And south tirolean athletes are forced to compete under the italian flag, and there's the organizer's egalitarian ads in soccer matches and so on. Of course, sports are used for political agitation, but that doesn't make adding to it less bad.
First off, South Tyrol isn't a country(not recognized at least). Taiwan is.
Second, you're just proving my point here. Organizations can do whatever the fuck they want, both in my case and yours, and see no consequences.
It's time for the shit to stop and to give consequences.
Saying "Free Hongkong" after winning a tournament is not comparable to the shit that they've been doing and did now.
Even fired the casters who literally said nothing.
Frankly though, with this, Blizzard know what they're doing.
I doubt they give a single shit about the western market anymore.
They've been put between a rock and a hard place here, and they're literally killing their western image to try and get access to China, and if they do, they'll make billions.
Blizzard is, time and time again, choosing to abandon the people who used to love them and are still the ones supporting their scummy business, by literally not giving a shit about them anymore, and trying to move to China.
And that's their choice, but fuck them for that.
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I think tl.net is not a politic discussion website, and Blizzard is not a political party.
But anyway, freedom of speech does NOT mean freedom of consequences. Like you can have freedom of speech, but there may be consequences for what you say. That guy break the rules and deserve the ban.
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On October 09 2019 15:41 pzlama333 wrote:
I think tl.net is not a politic discussion website, and Blizzard is not a political party.
But anyway, freedom of speech does NOT mean freedom of consequences. Like you can have freedom of speech, but there may be consequences for what you say. That guy break the rules and deserve the ban.
More happened here than just him getting a ban.
TL.net is a community site, with a focus on gaming, and this situation arised from a gaming tournament, and actions were taken by a gamer and a gaming company.
Fair game, imo.
Also, TL.net literally has a politics thread.
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This is really harsh. They are maybe protecting chinese viewers but streaming on twitch and playing tournaments wasn't a place where people aren't homopoliticus.
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That's basicly what you get, if you fanboy any company.
Companies do not care about any moral values. They hire people, for money, who will release cheesy statements of moral values, to be more likeable to sell more of their product. It's all fake.
Gun manufacturers are not in the "Killing Business" but in the "Defense Economy". And Disney, NBA, Blizzard, Facebook would do anything to get a share of the possible 5-6 times as larger market in china (over US).
And it does not stop by removing outspoken people from competition in your tournaments, it reflects back on the product. Western audience hated on diablo mobile, guess who would love it according to market research, and why it was made ?
Only creating one product for the whole world - you'll have to take what the *Insert most promissing market here - right now its china" wants.
And if you have please chinese censor you will find Activision Blizzard managers to do it. Maybe they'll cry in the shower afterwards, but it's all for the shareholders value.
Mercedes is making infotainment screens bigger - to fit chinese alphabet letters. And content creators will feel the chinese censors breath on their neck when making a movie, or making a game.
And that is the saddest part of all, chinese communist dictate what stories we will get. Either watered down on any political statement, or even close to actual chinese propaganda.
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I understand the backlash and sympathize with it. But to my own surprise I do not fault Blizzard here.
I get annoyed when public figures in sports and entertainment get asked about their stance on political / related issues constantly. I really just want to watch Messi score goals and do not care what he thinks about racism or some political crisis.
In that sense, I respect the companies choice trying to separate politics and the broadcasting of their games. All that being said, I do not believe Blizzard does this for the right reasons. They probably just fear the consequences of not doing anything.
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Blizzard 2001 - the best company ever.
Blizzard 2019 - a laughing stock. (ok, not realy, still they are competent in making games, but they are pretty unremarkable as a game dev tbh.)
On October 09 2019 15:37 abuse wrote:
Taiwan is.
Did you mean the Republic of China?
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On October 09 2019 15:37 abuse wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2019 15:26 Haukinger wrote:On October 09 2019 15:19 abuse wrote:
You say mixing up sports and politics is frowned upon, yet, Blizzard is allowed to be as political as they want.
Do you know that in the Overwatch league the Taiwanese team isn't called Taiwan but "Chinese Taipei" and the players are not allowed to even use their own country's flag because Blizzard doesn't want to kiss up to China to enter their market, and China thinks Taiwan is still their territory.
And south tirolean athletes are forced to compete under the italian flag, and there's the organizer's egalitarian ads in soccer matches and so on. Of course, sports are used for political agitation, but that doesn't make adding to it less bad. First off, South Tyrol isn't a country(not recognized at least). Taiwan is. Second, you're just proving my point here. Organizations can do whatever the fuck they want, both in my case and .
First, Taiwan is not a country. United Nation does not recognize it. United States does not recognize it. Russia does not recognize it. United Kingdom, France, and all European Union countries do not recognize it. Most countries in the world do not recognize it. Even Taiwan's own "constitution", claim itself as part of China, under the name of "Republic of China". Technically, the mainland and the government in the island are still at full war state, and there is not even a cease fire.
Second, Blizzard has its rules and will follow it. Anyone who compete an official competition also must accept it. If someone break the rules, whatever it is cheating or insulting other people, Blizzard has and will use its power.
Not only Blizzard, most major sports organizations all have such rules. One example is FIFA, which bans all politics in any soccer event.
3. The riots and terrorists in Hong Kong do not seek freedom of speech. They seek freedom of making crimes and separation by force. They burn subway and banks, loot shops, block airport, and attack police, tourists and random people on street. If anyone want to support such actions, I assume that they are no difference with 9/11 attackers.
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In that sense, I respect the companies choice trying to separate politics and the broadcasting of their games.
I really think this is mainly done to continue smooth business operation and to avoid committing to either side. But if you want to make money from people having a personality, get attention from fans, you maybe once in a while have to commit to a general attitude.
Blizzard for me, made good games. Blizzard would not have made the games we love today in communist china. And they already have shown, that they are willing to stop making games for the western market, and they are willing to take down casters who speak up.
Imagine Artosis being banned from any blizzard partner for making a joke about Winnie-the-pooh at blizzcon.
3. The riots and terrorists in Hong Kong do not seek freedom of speech. They seek freedom of making crimes and separation by force. They burn subway and banks, loot shops, block airport, and attack police, tourists and random people on street. If anyone want to support such actions, I assume that they are no difference with 9/11 attackers.
I have not yet heard of the protesters seeking profit in "burn Subway and banks and loot shops" . I have seen people with umbrellas taking down posts with facial recognition cameras.
Perhaps happily living in a country that tracks your every move, that gives you "social credit" if you comply with communist party rules is now the modern idea of "not being a terrorist", and I missed out on the change..
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Rule is rule, Blizzard did according to their competition rule book. Blitzchung did offend viewers from mainland China by what he said. I don't think it is a bad move for blizzard to keep away from this.
Regarding of such rule, FIFA and Olympics do also have similar rules to keep them away from these political trouble.
I really don't think 'every voice matters' has anything to do with international politics, blizzard is only a gaming company after all.
BTW
I know it is stupid to show up in such thread with Chinese tag, considering the opinions on this topic in western community is super onesided. But I think people are overreacting nowadays.
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On October 09 2019 16:11 pzlama333 wrote:
If anyone want to support such actions, I assume that they are no difference with 9/11 attackers.
Are you Americans all like that?
No, it's not even REMOTELY comperable to 9/11. I do not question the rights of the chinese gouverment to the Hong Kong, but compering a rioters with clear political statement to a terrorists who did mass murder with primary intention to kill as many people they can just to send a message they want war is geting too far.
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EPT
