I had a discussion in another thread about what exactly we expect Blizzard to do from here: that is, if there are any concessions we can get out of them at this stage that are (a) practical and possible, given their Chinese interests, and (b) believable and acceptable to the player community.
Here's what I said:
I think this might be a conversation worth having here. What can we press them to do in the short term? They're not just going to pull out of China or take action that would blow up their Chinese partnerships overnight; we've already heard one thing from the top and it's clear Brack doesn't have the guts or the leverage of an Adam Silver. So what now? This isn't just about Blitzchung anymore; he and Blizzard have arrived at terms and he is willing to move forward. Which doesn't make Blizzard's response acceptable to the rest of us.
Quick summary of what I consider to be proportionate and reasonable demands:
- A proper apology
- An acknowledgement that they failed their values, not a clumsy spin that argues those values were met
- An explicit acknowledgement/retraction of what Blizzard is telling Chinese players about defending their national interest
- Removal of newly introduced restrictions on pro-Hong Kong messages in usernames, chat, and official forums; amnesty for related bans
- No action against pro-Hong Kong speech and symbols at BlizzCon (notwithstanding anything so disruptive it would have been penalized regardless, within existing convention policy)
Ideally I'd like to see a far stronger show of independence from Chinese interests than that, like the lifting of the policy that misrepresents Overwatch's Taiwan team as "Chinese Taipei" (explicitly a political stance on Blizzard's part to comply with state interests)—but again, let's think of small and concrete steps that are achievable in the short term.
What else should we be asking for?
Here's what I said:
I think this might be a conversation worth having here. What can we press them to do in the short term? They're not just going to pull out of China or take action that would blow up their Chinese partnerships overnight; we've already heard one thing from the top and it's clear Brack doesn't have the guts or the leverage of an Adam Silver. So what now? This isn't just about Blitzchung anymore; he and Blizzard have arrived at terms and he is willing to move forward. Which doesn't make Blizzard's response acceptable to the rest of us.
Quick summary of what I consider to be proportionate and reasonable demands:
- A proper apology
- An acknowledgement that they failed their values, not a clumsy spin that argues those values were met
- An explicit acknowledgement/retraction of what Blizzard is telling Chinese players about defending their national interest
- Removal of newly introduced restrictions on pro-Hong Kong messages in usernames, chat, and official forums; amnesty for related bans
- No action against pro-Hong Kong speech and symbols at BlizzCon (notwithstanding anything so disruptive it would have been penalized regardless, within existing convention policy)
Ideally I'd like to see a far stronger show of independence from Chinese interests than that, like the lifting of the policy that misrepresents Overwatch's Taiwan team as "Chinese Taipei" (explicitly a political stance on Blizzard's part to comply with state interests)—but again, let's think of small and concrete steps that are achievable in the short term.
What else should we be asking for?
