Without some sort of statement of regret, I think BlizzCon is going to be a PR disaster for them.
High unemployment in China is not something I am looking forward to. It’s probably the first step to world war 3, especially if we all decide to give isolationism a go.
I doubt that, there’s a reason they decided to forcibly create a middle class with purchasing power, and they had the examples of Korean and Japanese (among other Asian countries) industrialization to know its long-term importance. Unless it happened to be a big overnight shock (that hurt the west just as much), there’s no reason they can’t adapt. And they also filled the investment void in several continents that were happy playing the austerity game and selling on discounts.
No, the economics are fine, the question is what rights will an educated population demand eventually.
Certainly no one can predict what will happen. Given that even in the west we have chronic underemployment due to the loss of traditional manufacturing–and the high-tech economy has not sucked in the former blue collar folks in anything resembling sufficient numbers–I suspect China will have similar issues. But I’m certainly no China expert.
This is a god question. I guess we’ll see whether the western view that all middle class people want the same type of rights is true, or whether cultural desires for stability, authority, and national pride will drive things in a different direction.
As someone who actually knows a thing or two about manufacturing and the capabilities of 3d printing, that’s, to put it politely, a flight of very wishful fantasy.
Maybe they can ask everyone if they have phones.
Or point out that they have rights, so who cares about people who don’t or something equally stupid.
Pretty sure Activision has decided to turtle up and hope it blows over in a week or so.
Also pretty sure that’s a bad idea and Blizzcon is going to be a shitshow for them.
Any thoughts about selling my old Battle.net beta CD on Kickstarter to raise money for Hong Kong? I’ve been so busy i’m not sure if raising money would help in any way.
Blizzard halves the suspensions to 6 months and gave the money back.
I think is still too harsh. Honestly, I’d have thought more for a 3 month ban and a fine. But it’s something. There has been a lot of insightful articles between BlizzardWatch andT&E’s latest video.
"The specific views expressed by Blitzchung were NOT a factor in the decision we made,” wrote Brack. “I want to be clear: our relationships in China had no influence on our decision.We have these rules to keep the focus on the game and on the tournament to the benefit of a global audience, and that was the only consideration in the actions we took. If this had been the opposing viewpoint delivered in the same divisive and deliberate way, we would have felt and acted the same.”
Liar.
Yes, that is a total lie. If someone got up and yelled TRUMP 2020 they would have gotten a wrist slap.
Yeah. He was going ok until that point.
I get the general sentiment and a desire not to use their platform for anything but the game. And, I want that too. Even if a local athlete promotes a cause I believe in, I just want their post-game podium interview to be about the game.
Quoth Blizzard’s president:
If this had been the opposing viewpoint delivered in the same divisive and deliberate way, we would have felt and acted the same.
How, from an American corporation’s point of view, is it ‘divisive’ to speak in favor of democracy and against an authoritarian Communist state? From China’s point of view it may indeed be ‘divisive,’ but isn’t that one of the issues here? Is Blizzard an American company or isn’t it?
Perhaps that sounds naive but I don’t think a company needs to carry water for a country’s political system in order to do business with that country.
Blizzard deserves to be completely shunned by everyone for its actions this week. I said no apology would be acceptable, and this is worse than no apology.
Well, sure, right now, or in the near future, I’ll certainly defer to your expertise on that. But robotics in general I think, and all the associated stuff, is very likely to revolutionize manufacturing in the medium term, and I still think over time places like China, which depend on lots of cheap labor, will no longer be very competitive. But yeah, if I really was sure, I’d be in the stock market I guess.
I agree 💯
Wow, they waited until 5:20PM PT, the very last minute. You can tell there was some intense… discussion going on.
This is basically what I expected to happen, but they waited far too long to do it and didn’t even rescind the bans. I don’t know that this will have the effect they desire.
Actually, I think it won’t.
Come on, the sensible thing for first time offender should just be a warning “don’t do it again, or else”. Anything else is an implicit acknowledgement of CCP’s bullying behaviour.
Winnie P won’t believe they’re serious enough without a large punishment.
Haha, I imagine the outcry will be for that someone to get banned.