The only thing that will hurt is Dreamhack, not the Russian government, its not like they were involved. So you want to hurt DHboss and esport? Its DH Moscow not DH Putin.

Not saying I agree, but that's the point of these sort of boycotts. You're not directly putting pressure on the Russian government. Noone believes Putin will give 2 shits about e-sports, the point is to "pressure" Dreamhack in staying out of Russia by making it unfavorable for them to go there.

The larger picture being that you pressure foreign/international organisations into not investing, by doing that you hurt the local businesses, ie the people, by keeping foreign money out of the economy and hope that the pissed off people will put pressure on their government for change. Same thing with the Olympic boycott (such as it was), that was meant to pressure the Olympic Comittee, not Putin directly.

FueledUpAndReadyToGo

Netherlands30548 Posts

September 02 2014 01:29 GMT

#175

Snute, Targa and Socke the brave NATO representitives

But seriously why would you not watch this because of Putins actions... Dreamhack is about the pleasure of gaming. Through gaming you get into contact with people all over the world, and you notice we are all pretty much the same. Political games played by warmongering people in charge have nothing to do with our videogames played by normal gamers.

Pretty good Korean show up as well. Life going to take this! First vs Life rematch would be fun.

brickrd

United States4894 Posts

September 02 2014 02:02 GMT

#176

On September 02 2014 10:29 FueledUpAndReadyToGo wrote:
But seriously why would you not watch this because of Putins actions... Dreamhack is about the pleasure of gaming.

like the poster above you, im not making a direct statement of my personal beliefs on this particular issue, but here's why.

the #1 thing people in positions of political authority need to count on in order to get away with something is that the populace wants to keep the status quo and enjoy their pleasures and entertainments and comforts. being fans of SC2 is a comfort we take for granted as citizens of relatively free and prosperous nations. by denying ourselves that comfort to prove a point, we send the message that we care about events in other parts of the world happening to people we don't know, enough so that we will deprive ourselves and impact our own daily lives in a show of solidarity.

does this work? complicated question, who knows. are people right to protest? not really a question i'm trying to answer. but is it a valid course of action? of course it is. discarding as useless or out of touch the protests of those who are privileged and/or not direct victims of an issue is a way of marginalizing that issue. why would you ever reject a moral statement of any kind just because it's not singlehandedly going to solve an entire crisis? this reminds me of people criticizing TL for gay/lesbian pride banners and ice bucket challenges yet universally praising the TB top hat. so it's OK to support one person who's active in the community but it's not OK to support entire populations of people who are discriminated against?

the "right" opinions on the ukraine/russia debacle are above my level of geopolitical knowledge, but please don't malign the concept of peaceful protest and boycott just because you want to feel OK about your entertainment habits.

StarVe

Germany13591 Posts

September 02 2014 02:02 GMT

#177

On September 02 2014 07:33 Lorning wrote:

Show nested quote +

TRUE :o

Also Fraer, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time

don't worry, he'll dominate

I wish

kevva

Sweden85 Posts

September 02 2014 02:27 GMT

#178

On September 02 2014 08:02 Nebuchad wrote:

Show nested quote +

No it isn't

the wire yo.

Holloworb

Norway345 Posts

September 02 2014 03:11 GMT

#179

Looks alot better than initially feared. And Snute, cmon Blizzcon man! :D

EDIT:

My 2cents about any boicotts or the current sanctions against Russia: Did Russia put in place sanctions against the west for bombing Libya for no good reason? No, I am still pretty furious that the Norwegian air forces were active in that operation. That country went from pretty stable and safe to the complete chaos it is today in large part due to the actions of the west, time to get off our high horses.

PS: I am in no way supporting Putins politics, but the west is not the one to talk.

Sejanus

Lithuania550 Posts

September 02 2014 03:37 GMT

#180

but the west is not the one to talk.

Who's that "the west" guy? o.O