Pro Hearthstone Player Suspended by Blizzard for Voicing Support for Hong Kong Protests - MMORPG.com

lahnmir · October 2019

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Blizzard was right. It's a gaming environment, which is no place for any politics, religion and whatnot. The rules were clear, they were signed off on and he broke them.

And now the internet is up in arms over things like freedom of speech and Blizzard is suddenly on China's side? That alone just proves how much of a cesspit the internet has become.

There are a million other places better suited to bring awareness about the horrific situation in China, but the Internet targets the one platform that tries to deliver a gaming tournament.

Not to mention that this is basically the extent to what people will do to help: upvoting and downvoting topics.

Except the decision that Blizzard made was politically motivated. Morals are disposable when it comes to $$, its the Activision way apparently. How ironic that Blizzards motto being about all voices being important could be discarded so easily.
There is no way in which Activision/Blizzard comes out of this looking good, this will damage them for a long time and its highly likely that it will only get worse.
For me it annoys me no end that now i have to choose, and there is only one option i cannot support Activision/Blizzard, so even though i am really enjoying playing Classic, sub cancelled.

Why was it politically motivated from Blizzards side? The guy broke the rules whether his message was right or wrong and Blizzard acted. Is it because its about China and not another country? Is it ok to break the rules to shout down, say, the USA too, Israel, N-Korea? WE have decided that it is politcially motivated, no one ever said that afaik.

/Cheers,
Lahnmir

TiamatRoar · October 2019

DMKano said:

Arterius said:

Just got way more interesting @DMKano

https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/8/20905181/blizzard-hearthstone-player-ban-marco-rubio-ron-wyden-china-hong-kong-protests-blitzchung

Yep - I actually posted that link on the first page of this thread earlier today

I'm happy Blizzard is suffering the consequences of how they chose to enforce their rules.

Blizzard's rules are their rules, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't suffer the results because you chose to create and enforce rules in certain ways.

Phry · October 2019

lahnmir said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Blizzard was right. It's a gaming environment, which is no place for any politics, religion and whatnot. The rules were clear, they were signed off on and he broke them.

And now the internet is up in arms over things like freedom of speech and Blizzard is suddenly on China's side? That alone just proves how much of a cesspit the internet has become.

There are a million other places better suited to bring awareness about the horrific situation in China, but the Internet targets the one platform that tries to deliver a gaming tournament.

Not to mention that this is basically the extent to what people will do to help: upvoting and downvoting topics.

Except the decision that Blizzard made was politically motivated. Morals are disposable when it comes to $$, its the Activision way apparently. How ironic that Blizzards motto being about all voices being important could be discarded so easily.
There is no way in which Activision/Blizzard comes out of this looking good, this will damage them for a long time and its highly likely that it will only get worse.
For me it annoys me no end that now i have to choose, and there is only one option i cannot support Activision/Blizzard, so even though i am really enjoying playing Classic, sub cancelled.

Why was it politically motivated from Blizzards side? The guy broke the rules whether his message was right or wrong and Blizzard acted. Is it because its about China and not another country? Is it ok to break the rules to shout down, say, the USA too, Israel, N-Korea? WE have decided that it is politcially motivated, no one ever said that afaik.

/Cheers,
Lahnmir

Because they could have ignored it, the 'rules' that were supposed to have been broken are so vague and wide reaching that they can be used for literally anything.

Spiider · October 2019

Respect to gamer that voiced his opinion.

P.S. Blizzard has gone "google way" long time ago. I don't give my hard earned money to evil companies. Blizzard included. There is plenty of indie games our there to spend MY money on.

BizkitNL · October 2019

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Blizzard was right. It's a gaming environment, which is no place for any politics, religion and whatnot. The rules were clear, they were signed off on and he broke them.

And now the internet is up in arms over things like freedom of speech and Blizzard is suddenly on China's side? That alone just proves how much of a cesspit the internet has become.

There are a million other places better suited to bring awareness about the horrific situation in China, but the Internet targets the one platform that tries to deliver a gaming tournament.

Not to mention that this is basically the extent to what people will do to help: upvoting and downvoting topics.

Except the decision that Blizzard made was politically motivated. Morals are disposable when it comes to $$, its the Activision way apparently. How ironic that Blizzards motto being about all voices being important could be discarded so easily.
There is no way in which Activision/Blizzard comes out of this looking good, this will damage them for a long time and its highly likely that it will only get worse.
For me it annoys me no end that now i have to choose, and there is only one option i cannot support Activision/Blizzard, so even though i am really enjoying playing Classic, sub cancelled.

I don't understand. Politically motivated how? The rules were set way, WAY before any of this was happening.

I would understand political motivation if they made this decision with nothing to back it up up to that point. But it was already written down, set in stone. The rules wre set to prevent a gaming tournament from turning into political, religious (and whetever else) platforms. And rightfully so.

Anyone claiming any kind of political affiliation or motivation based on the market etc is basically just guessing. If a player would have been pro-china in the interview, would he have NOT been banned? I think he would have been, because the rules are there to keep it neutral.

And that's where this is all going to hell: "If you're not with us, you are against us", which is a trend that can be seen in all sorts of topics (I'm looking at you, genders), and it's getting out of hand.

Scot · October 2019

While I understand the anger with China and I have real concerns about the action of that country on the international stage; I think taking pot shots at their leader and his wife should be beneath us.

As to this issue we have laid out many of our concerns in DMKano's thread, to me as long as Blizzard has been applying the same rules to all politics they have a right to ban him. As yet I see no evidence Blizzard is letting of others but banned this guy. Even though it seemed the hosts knew what he was going to say some sort of suspension for them would have been more appropriate.

We need to keep politics out of gaming, conflating this with freedom of speech is an emotional response to the fact we all feel strongly about what China is doing to Hong Kong. I would hope our governments do more and don't leave corporations to stand up to China, a nigh impossible task for any business on its own.

Cygi · October 2019

IceAge said:

Siria regim

You've got to be kidding me.

If Siria is 'regim', then China is also regim, right?
Or USA government is a group of sadistic murderers in all of it's 'glory', right?

'Siria regim' < facepalm >

You sound like you are a victim of a media propaganda.

yonpachi · October 2019

Are people seriously going to cancel their subscription

Utinni · October 2019

Dim Sum opens in 1 hour guys.

Scalebane · October 2019

Hong Kong the real wow killer

Phry · October 2019

BizkitNL said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Blizzard was right. It's a gaming environment, which is no place for any politics, religion and whatnot. The rules were clear, they were signed off on and he broke them.

And now the internet is up in arms over things like freedom of speech and Blizzard is suddenly on China's side? That alone just proves how much of a cesspit the internet has become.

There are a million other places better suited to bring awareness about the horrific situation in China, but the Internet targets the one platform that tries to deliver a gaming tournament.

Not to mention that this is basically the extent to what people will do to help: upvoting and downvoting topics.

Except the decision that Blizzard made was politically motivated. Morals are disposable when it comes to $$, its the Activision way apparently. How ironic that Blizzards motto being about all voices being important could be discarded so easily.
There is no way in which Activision/Blizzard comes out of this looking good, this will damage them for a long time and its highly likely that it will only get worse.
For me it annoys me no end that now i have to choose, and there is only one option i cannot support Activision/Blizzard, so even though i am really enjoying playing Classic, sub cancelled.

I don't understand. Politically motivated how? The rules were set way, WAY before any of this was happening.

I would understand political motivation if they made this decision with nothing to back it up up to that point. But it was already written down, set in stone. The rules wre set to prevent a gaming tournament from turning into political, religious (and whetever else) platforms. And rightfully so.

Anyone claiming any kind of political affiliation or motivation based on the market etc is basically just guessing. If a player would have been pro-china in the interview, would he have NOT been banned? I think he would have been, because the rules are there to keep it neutral.

And that's where this is all going to hell: "If you're not with us, you are against us", which is a trend that can be seen in all sorts of topics (I'm looking at you, genders), and it's getting out of hand.

Of course it was political, do you think for one moment that if the guy had said instead 'Women are the equals of Men' that he would have been banned?
The rules are vague enough that Blizzard can interpret them in any way they want, have you read those 'rules' that he has supposed to have broken? the rules he broke were specifically the ones where 'in Blizzards opinion the Chinese government was offended' thats it, the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules. And no, i seriously doubt if the guy had made some kind of Pro-China statement he would have been banned, because you know what, that would have offended the Chinese Government, and thats a huge problem with Blizzard who constantly bend over backwards to appease them.

Utinni · October 2019

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Blizzard was right. It's a gaming environment, which is no place for any politics, religion and whatnot. The rules were clear, they were signed off on and he broke them.

And now the internet is up in arms over things like freedom of speech and Blizzard is suddenly on China's side? That alone just proves how much of a cesspit the internet has become.

There are a million other places better suited to bring awareness about the horrific situation in China, but the Internet targets the one platform that tries to deliver a gaming tournament.

Not to mention that this is basically the extent to what people will do to help: upvoting and downvoting topics.

Except the decision that Blizzard made was politically motivated. Morals are disposable when it comes to $$, its the Activision way apparently. How ironic that Blizzards motto being about all voices being important could be discarded so easily.
There is no way in which Activision/Blizzard comes out of this looking good, this will damage them for a long time and its highly likely that it will only get worse.
For me it annoys me no end that now i have to choose, and there is only one option i cannot support Activision/Blizzard, so even though i am really enjoying playing Classic, sub cancelled.

I don't understand. Politically motivated how? The rules were set way, WAY before any of this was happening.

I would understand political motivation if they made this decision with nothing to back it up up to that point. But it was already written down, set in stone. The rules wre set to prevent a gaming tournament from turning into political, religious (and whetever else) platforms. And rightfully so.

Anyone claiming any kind of political affiliation or motivation based on the market etc is basically just guessing. If a player would have been pro-china in the interview, would he have NOT been banned? I think he would have been, because the rules are there to keep it neutral.

And that's where this is all going to hell: "If you're not with us, you are against us", which is a trend that can be seen in all sorts of topics (I'm looking at you, genders), and it's getting out of hand.

Of course it was political, do you think for one moment that if the guy had said instead 'Women are the equals of Men' that he would have been banned?
The rules are vague enough that Blizzard can interpret them in any way they want, have you read those 'rules' that he has supposed to have broken? the rules he broke were specifically the ones where 'in Blizzards opinion the Chinese government was offended' thats it, the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules. And no, i seriously doubt if the guy had made some kind of Pro-China statement he would have been banned, because you know what, that would have offended the Chinese Government, and thats a huge problem with Blizzard who constantly bend over backwards to appease them.

You're still guessing though, as Bizkit said. The only situation you accept is "blizzard bad".

"the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules."

You said it yourself, they offended people so they broke the rules. Chinese people are allowed to disagree with you.

Phry · October 2019

Utinni said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Blizzard was right. It's a gaming environment, which is no place for any politics, religion and whatnot. The rules were clear, they were signed off on and he broke them.

And now the internet is up in arms over things like freedom of speech and Blizzard is suddenly on China's side? That alone just proves how much of a cesspit the internet has become.

There are a million other places better suited to bring awareness about the horrific situation in China, but the Internet targets the one platform that tries to deliver a gaming tournament.

Not to mention that this is basically the extent to what people will do to help: upvoting and downvoting topics.

Except the decision that Blizzard made was politically motivated. Morals are disposable when it comes to $$, its the Activision way apparently. How ironic that Blizzards motto being about all voices being important could be discarded so easily.
There is no way in which Activision/Blizzard comes out of this looking good, this will damage them for a long time and its highly likely that it will only get worse.
For me it annoys me no end that now i have to choose, and there is only one option i cannot support Activision/Blizzard, so even though i am really enjoying playing Classic, sub cancelled.

I don't understand. Politically motivated how? The rules were set way, WAY before any of this was happening.

I would understand political motivation if they made this decision with nothing to back it up up to that point. But it was already written down, set in stone. The rules wre set to prevent a gaming tournament from turning into political, religious (and whetever else) platforms. And rightfully so.

Anyone claiming any kind of political affiliation or motivation based on the market etc is basically just guessing. If a player would have been pro-china in the interview, would he have NOT been banned? I think he would have been, because the rules are there to keep it neutral.

And that's where this is all going to hell: "If you're not with us, you are against us", which is a trend that can be seen in all sorts of topics (I'm looking at you, genders), and it's getting out of hand.

Of course it was political, do you think for one moment that if the guy had said instead 'Women are the equals of Men' that he would have been banned?
The rules are vague enough that Blizzard can interpret them in any way they want, have you read those 'rules' that he has supposed to have broken? the rules he broke were specifically the ones where 'in Blizzards opinion the Chinese government was offended' thats it, the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules. And no, i seriously doubt if the guy had made some kind of Pro-China statement he would have been banned, because you know what, that would have offended the Chinese Government, and thats a huge problem with Blizzard who constantly bend over backwards to appease them.

You're still guessing though, as Bizkit said. The only situation you accept is "blizzard bad".

"the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules."

You said it yourself, they offended people so they broke the rules. Chinese people are allowed to disagree with you.

What Chinese people are allowed to disagree with is debateable, and it wasn't the Chinese people who were 'offended' it was the Chinese goverment, you know, the Chinese Communist Dictatorship, i am fairly sure that privately the Chinese people probably agree with the guys statement, though i doubt they would dare to state that openly.

synn · October 2019

The fact that this was at Blizzards sole discretion is what makes this entire controversy so concerning. On top of that, the one year ban from hearthstone esports on top of removal from grandmasters and reduction of prize money seems a bit harsh for saying ,“Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,”.
Although some people thinks he deserves punishment for breaking the rules. Can you honestly say that adding the one year ban from hearthstone esports was really necessary especially if he is a first time offender?

Phry · October 2019

synn said:

The fact that this was at Blizzards sole discretion is what makes this entire controversy so concerning. On top of that, the one year ban from hearthstone esports on top of removal from grandmasters and reduction of prize money seems a bit harsh for saying ,“Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,”.
Although some people thinks he deserves punishment for breaking the rules. Can you honestly say that adding the one year ban from hearthstone esports was really necessary especially if he is a first time offender?

He was being made an example of.
This will not end well for Activision/Blizzard.

synn · October 2019

Phry said:

synn said:

The fact that this was at Blizzards sole discretion is what makes this entire controversy so concerning. On top of that, the one year ban from hearthstone esports on top of removal from grandmasters and reduction of prize money seems a bit harsh for saying ,“Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,”.
Although some people thinks he deserves punishment for breaking the rules. Can you honestly say that adding the one year ban from hearthstone esports was really necessary especially if he is a first time offender?

He was being made an example of.
This will not end well for Activision/Blizzard.

I'm not a big fan of real life drama being mixed in with gaming, but I sympathize with those that don't have the same freedoms many of us take for granted. I personally hope it doesn't end well for them. China's influential power aka money is going to do more harm than good in the long run because it just shows them that even major businesses will bark on command if the price is right.

BizkitNL · October 2019

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Blizzard was right. It's a gaming environment, which is no place for any politics, religion and whatnot. The rules were clear, they were signed off on and he broke them.

And now the internet is up in arms over things like freedom of speech and Blizzard is suddenly on China's side? That alone just proves how much of a cesspit the internet has become.

There are a million other places better suited to bring awareness about the horrific situation in China, but the Internet targets the one platform that tries to deliver a gaming tournament.

Not to mention that this is basically the extent to what people will do to help: upvoting and downvoting topics.

Except the decision that Blizzard made was politically motivated. Morals are disposable when it comes to $$, its the Activision way apparently. How ironic that Blizzards motto being about all voices being important could be discarded so easily.
There is no way in which Activision/Blizzard comes out of this looking good, this will damage them for a long time and its highly likely that it will only get worse.
For me it annoys me no end that now i have to choose, and there is only one option i cannot support Activision/Blizzard, so even though i am really enjoying playing Classic, sub cancelled.

I don't understand. Politically motivated how? The rules were set way, WAY before any of this was happening.

I would understand political motivation if they made this decision with nothing to back it up up to that point. But it was already written down, set in stone. The rules wre set to prevent a gaming tournament from turning into political, religious (and whetever else) platforms. And rightfully so.

Anyone claiming any kind of political affiliation or motivation based on the market etc is basically just guessing. If a player would have been pro-china in the interview, would he have NOT been banned? I think he would have been, because the rules are there to keep it neutral.

And that's where this is all going to hell: "If you're not with us, you are against us", which is a trend that can be seen in all sorts of topics (I'm looking at you, genders), and it's getting out of hand.

Of course it was political, do you think for one moment that if the guy had said instead 'Women are the equals of Men' that he would have been banned?
The rules are vague enough that Blizzard can interpret them in any way they want, have you read those 'rules' that he has supposed to have broken? the rules he broke were specifically the ones where 'in Blizzards opinion the Chinese government was offended' thats it, the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules. And no, i seriously doubt if the guy had made some kind of Pro-China statement he would have been banned, because you know what, that would have offended the Chinese Government, and thats a huge problem with Blizzard who constantly bend over backwards to appease them.

Well, then, I guess there's no point debating this. You bring no facts to the table and base your opinion on best-guesses. You're obviously way past the point of common sense.

I'm sorry you see it that way.

Arskaaa · October 2019

Blizzard; every voice matter... as long its not china.

BizkitNL · October 2019

Phry said:

synn said:

The fact that this was at Blizzards sole discretion is what makes this entire controversy so concerning. On top of that, the one year ban from hearthstone esports on top of removal from grandmasters and reduction of prize money seems a bit harsh for saying ,“Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,”.
Although some people thinks he deserves punishment for breaking the rules. Can you honestly say that adding the one year ban from hearthstone esports was really necessary especially if he is a first time offender?

He was being made an example of.
This will not end well for Activision/Blizzard.

Oh, they're definitely taking a huge hit on this one. Although, I wonder what respect they can lose, considering they were already at the rock bottom (first Activision, then the diablo-mobile ordeal).

I am extremely interested in their response to all of this (Imean, their next response). I predict them giving the player his winnings with a slap on the wrist?

synn · October 2019

BizkitNL said:

Phry said:

synn said:

The fact that this was at Blizzards sole discretion is what makes this entire controversy so concerning. On top of that, the one year ban from hearthstone esports on top of removal from grandmasters and reduction of prize money seems a bit harsh for saying ,“Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,”.
Although some people thinks he deserves punishment for breaking the rules. Can you honestly say that adding the one year ban from hearthstone esports was really necessary especially if he is a first time offender?

He was being made an example of.
This will not end well for Activision/Blizzard.

Oh, they're definitely taking a huge hit on this one. Although, I wonder what respect they can lose, considering they were already at the rock bottom (first Activision, then the diablo-mobile ordeal).

I am extremely interested in their response to all of this (Imean, their next response). I predict them giving the player his winnings with a slap on the wrist?

I wonder the same thing as well. I wouldn't be surprised if they stay silent about this particular incident and hope the controversy dies down before blizzcon. I suppose the brightside to this is:

Gods Unchained‏ @GodsUnchained Oct 8

.@Blizzard_Ent just banned @blitzchungHS and stripped his Hearthstone winnings because they care about money more than freedom. We will pay for ALL his lost winnings and a ticket to our $500k tournament: no player should be punished for their beliefs. #freegaming

IceAge · October 2019

Phry said:

Utinni said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Blizzard was right. It's a gaming environment, which is no place for any politics, religion and whatnot. The rules were clear, they were signed off on and he broke them.

And now the internet is up in arms over things like freedom of speech and Blizzard is suddenly on China's side? That alone just proves how much of a cesspit the internet has become.

There are a million other places better suited to bring awareness about the horrific situation in China, but the Internet targets the one platform that tries to deliver a gaming tournament.

Not to mention that this is basically the extent to what people will do to help: upvoting and downvoting topics.

Except the decision that Blizzard made was politically motivated. Morals are disposable when it comes to $$, its the Activision way apparently. How ironic that Blizzards motto being about all voices being important could be discarded so easily.
There is no way in which Activision/Blizzard comes out of this looking good, this will damage them for a long time and its highly likely that it will only get worse.
For me it annoys me no end that now i have to choose, and there is only one option i cannot support Activision/Blizzard, so even though i am really enjoying playing Classic, sub cancelled.

I don't understand. Politically motivated how? The rules were set way, WAY before any of this was happening.

I would understand political motivation if they made this decision with nothing to back it up up to that point. But it was already written down, set in stone. The rules wre set to prevent a gaming tournament from turning into political, religious (and whetever else) platforms. And rightfully so.

Anyone claiming any kind of political affiliation or motivation based on the market etc is basically just guessing. If a player would have been pro-china in the interview, would he have NOT been banned? I think he would have been, because the rules are there to keep it neutral.

And that's where this is all going to hell: "If you're not with us, you are against us", which is a trend that can be seen in all sorts of topics (I'm looking at you, genders), and it's getting out of hand.

Of course it was political, do you think for one moment that if the guy had said instead 'Women are the equals of Men' that he would have been banned?
The rules are vague enough that Blizzard can interpret them in any way they want, have you read those 'rules' that he has supposed to have broken? the rules he broke were specifically the ones where 'in Blizzards opinion the Chinese government was offended' thats it, the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules. And no, i seriously doubt if the guy had made some kind of Pro-China statement he would have been banned, because you know what, that would have offended the Chinese Government, and thats a huge problem with Blizzard who constantly bend over backwards to appease them.

You're still guessing though, as Bizkit said. The only situation you accept is "blizzard bad".

"the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules."

You said it yourself, they offended people so they broke the rules. Chinese people are allowed to disagree with you.

What Chinese people are allowed to disagree with is debateable, and it wasn't the Chinese people who were 'offended' it was the Chinese goverment, you know, the Chinese Communist Dictatorship, i am fairly sure that privately the Chinese people probably agree with the guys statement, though i doubt they would dare to state that openly.

Wow. So now is debatable if Chinese people are allowed or not to disagree?! What's next? Chinese people are as bad as their leader?! How do you know it was not the Chinese people who were "offended"? The "it was the Chinese government" is simply put, conspiracy at this point.

Look at the NBA scandal where this guy said exactly the same thing on twitter. Next thing you know, he deleted the twit and apologised. But then comes the Democrats and Republicans saying "HOW COULD YOU?!?!". Then bum, suddenly the guy with the twit has grown some balls ( again ). That's .. pathetic, really. Keep your POV hard and strong, else shut up!

Point is, with the NBA scandal, Chinese people HAVE taken to the media to show their anger about that twit.

So yes, because of the Tournament Rules, the Hong Kong guy have offended the Chinese people.

I pretty much support their democracy protests, but again, ban well deserved. Keep politics out of games!

Phry · October 2019

IceAge said:

Phry said:

Utinni said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Blizzard was right. It's a gaming environment, which is no place for any politics, religion and whatnot. The rules were clear, they were signed off on and he broke them.

And now the internet is up in arms over things like freedom of speech and Blizzard is suddenly on China's side? That alone just proves how much of a cesspit the internet has become.

There are a million other places better suited to bring awareness about the horrific situation in China, but the Internet targets the one platform that tries to deliver a gaming tournament.

Not to mention that this is basically the extent to what people will do to help: upvoting and downvoting topics.

Except the decision that Blizzard made was politically motivated. Morals are disposable when it comes to $$, its the Activision way apparently. How ironic that Blizzards motto being about all voices being important could be discarded so easily.
There is no way in which Activision/Blizzard comes out of this looking good, this will damage them for a long time and its highly likely that it will only get worse.
For me it annoys me no end that now i have to choose, and there is only one option i cannot support Activision/Blizzard, so even though i am really enjoying playing Classic, sub cancelled.

I don't understand. Politically motivated how? The rules were set way, WAY before any of this was happening.

I would understand political motivation if they made this decision with nothing to back it up up to that point. But it was already written down, set in stone. The rules wre set to prevent a gaming tournament from turning into political, religious (and whetever else) platforms. And rightfully so.

Anyone claiming any kind of political affiliation or motivation based on the market etc is basically just guessing. If a player would have been pro-china in the interview, would he have NOT been banned? I think he would have been, because the rules are there to keep it neutral.

And that's where this is all going to hell: "If you're not with us, you are against us", which is a trend that can be seen in all sorts of topics (I'm looking at you, genders), and it's getting out of hand.

Of course it was political, do you think for one moment that if the guy had said instead 'Women are the equals of Men' that he would have been banned?
The rules are vague enough that Blizzard can interpret them in any way they want, have you read those 'rules' that he has supposed to have broken? the rules he broke were specifically the ones where 'in Blizzards opinion the Chinese government was offended' thats it, the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules. And no, i seriously doubt if the guy had made some kind of Pro-China statement he would have been banned, because you know what, that would have offended the Chinese Government, and thats a huge problem with Blizzard who constantly bend over backwards to appease them.

You're still guessing though, as Bizkit said. The only situation you accept is "blizzard bad".

"the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules."

You said it yourself, they offended people so they broke the rules. Chinese people are allowed to disagree with you.

What Chinese people are allowed to disagree with is debateable, and it wasn't the Chinese people who were 'offended' it was the Chinese goverment, you know, the Chinese Communist Dictatorship, i am fairly sure that privately the Chinese people probably agree with the guys statement, though i doubt they would dare to state that openly.

Wow. So now is debatable if Chinese people are allowed or not to disagree?! What's next? Chinese people are as bad as their leader?! How do you know it was not the Chinese people who were "offended"? The "it was the Chinese government" is simply put, conspiracy at this point.

Look at the NBA scandal where this guy said exactly the same thing on twitter. Next thing you know, he deleted the twit and apologised. But then comes the Democrats and Republicans saying "HOW COULD YOU?!?!". Then bum, suddenly the guy with the twit has grown some balls ( again ). That's .. pathetic, really. Keep your POV hard and strong, else shut up!

Point is, with the NBA scandal, Chinese people HAVE taken to the media to show their anger about that twit.

So yes, because of the Tournament Rules, the Hong Kong guy have offended the Chinese people.

I pretty much support their democracy protests, but again, ban well deserved. Keep politics out of games!

Oh really, so what exactly did Winnie the Pooh do wrong?

IceAge · October 2019

Phry said:

IceAge said:

Phry said:

Utinni said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Blizzard was right. It's a gaming environment, which is no place for any politics, religion and whatnot. The rules were clear, they were signed off on and he broke them.

And now the internet is up in arms over things like freedom of speech and Blizzard is suddenly on China's side? That alone just proves how much of a cesspit the internet has become.

There are a million other places better suited to bring awareness about the horrific situation in China, but the Internet targets the one platform that tries to deliver a gaming tournament.

Not to mention that this is basically the extent to what people will do to help: upvoting and downvoting topics.

Except the decision that Blizzard made was politically motivated. Morals are disposable when it comes to $$, its the Activision way apparently. How ironic that Blizzards motto being about all voices being important could be discarded so easily.
There is no way in which Activision/Blizzard comes out of this looking good, this will damage them for a long time and its highly likely that it will only get worse.
For me it annoys me no end that now i have to choose, and there is only one option i cannot support Activision/Blizzard, so even though i am really enjoying playing Classic, sub cancelled.

I don't understand. Politically motivated how? The rules were set way, WAY before any of this was happening.

I would understand political motivation if they made this decision with nothing to back it up up to that point. But it was already written down, set in stone. The rules wre set to prevent a gaming tournament from turning into political, religious (and whetever else) platforms. And rightfully so.

Anyone claiming any kind of political affiliation or motivation based on the market etc is basically just guessing. If a player would have been pro-china in the interview, would he have NOT been banned? I think he would have been, because the rules are there to keep it neutral.

And that's where this is all going to hell: "If you're not with us, you are against us", which is a trend that can be seen in all sorts of topics (I'm looking at you, genders), and it's getting out of hand.

Of course it was political, do you think for one moment that if the guy had said instead 'Women are the equals of Men' that he would have been banned?
The rules are vague enough that Blizzard can interpret them in any way they want, have you read those 'rules' that he has supposed to have broken? the rules he broke were specifically the ones where 'in Blizzards opinion the Chinese government was offended' thats it, the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules. And no, i seriously doubt if the guy had made some kind of Pro-China statement he would have been banned, because you know what, that would have offended the Chinese Government, and thats a huge problem with Blizzard who constantly bend over backwards to appease them.

You're still guessing though, as Bizkit said. The only situation you accept is "blizzard bad".

"the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules."

You said it yourself, they offended people so they broke the rules. Chinese people are allowed to disagree with you.

What Chinese people are allowed to disagree with is debateable, and it wasn't the Chinese people who were 'offended' it was the Chinese goverment, you know, the Chinese Communist Dictatorship, i am fairly sure that privately the Chinese people probably agree with the guys statement, though i doubt they would dare to state that openly.

Wow. So now is debatable if Chinese people are allowed or not to disagree?! What's next? Chinese people are as bad as their leader?! How do you know it was not the Chinese people who were "offended"? The "it was the Chinese government" is simply put, conspiracy at this point.

Look at the NBA scandal where this guy said exactly the same thing on twitter. Next thing you know, he deleted the twit and apologised. But then comes the Democrats and Republicans saying "HOW COULD YOU?!?!". Then bum, suddenly the guy with the twit has grown some balls ( again ). That's .. pathetic, really. Keep your POV hard and strong, else shut up!

Point is, with the NBA scandal, Chinese people HAVE taken to the media to show their anger about that twit.

So yes, because of the Tournament Rules, the Hong Kong guy have offended the Chinese people.

I pretty much support their democracy protests, but again, ban well deserved. Keep politics out of games!

Oh really, so what exactly did Winnie the Pooh do wrong?

Listen, if you are going to have a decent discussion, do so. Replying back to me with a line which has nothing to do with what we discuss, is pathetic.

All it has to do for US people who are against this, is the fact that we are talking about China here. The main subject is just another subject for which you now have a "right" to throw your frustration at them. No common sense, nothing. Breaking the rules? Doesn't matter !! We talk about China here right? So everything can be ..broken.

But if something similar happened in US, then you'll all be mad and angry and say "HOW COULD YOU BREAK THE RULES?!"

If a Chinese player, would show up in the said tournament, bashing US for their actions against China...I don't want to know how would you guys will react to that. But..we have an idea as how, right!?

synn · October 2019

IceAge said:

Listen, if you are going to have a decent discussion, do so. Replying back to me with a line which has nothing to do with what we discuss, is pathetic.

All it has to do for US people who are against this, is the fact that we are talking about China here. The main subject is just another subject for which you now have a "right" to throw your frustration at them. No common sense, nothing. Breaking the rules? Doesn't matter !! We talk about China here right? So everything can be ..broken.

But if something similar happened in US, then you'll all be mad and angry and say "HOW COULD YOU BREAK THE RULES?!"

If a Chinese player, would show up in the said tournament, bashing US for their actions against China...I don't want to know how would you guys will react to that. But..we have an idea as how, right!?

The rule that was broken is more opinion based. So the punishment happened at Blizzards discretion. On top of that, punishment based on the rule that Blizzard referenced was just being removed from grandmasters and having prize money taken away. It didn't mention anything about a 12 month ban from hearthstone competition even though that was added to the punishment handed to Blitzchun.

In regards to the whole Chinese bashing US...I think you give too much credit about how much people actually would care if a Chinese person in a gaming tournament bashed US for their actions against China. In fact if the accusations were true, there probably a good chance people would side with this person

Utinni · October 2019

Phry said:

Utinni said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Phry said:

BizkitNL said:

Blizzard was right. It's a gaming environment, which is no place for any politics, religion and whatnot. The rules were clear, they were signed off on and he broke them.

And now the internet is up in arms over things like freedom of speech and Blizzard is suddenly on China's side? That alone just proves how much of a cesspit the internet has become.

There are a million other places better suited to bring awareness about the horrific situation in China, but the Internet targets the one platform that tries to deliver a gaming tournament.

Not to mention that this is basically the extent to what people will do to help: upvoting and downvoting topics.

Except the decision that Blizzard made was politically motivated. Morals are disposable when it comes to $$, its the Activision way apparently. How ironic that Blizzards motto being about all voices being important could be discarded so easily.
There is no way in which Activision/Blizzard comes out of this looking good, this will damage them for a long time and its highly likely that it will only get worse.
For me it annoys me no end that now i have to choose, and there is only one option i cannot support Activision/Blizzard, so even though i am really enjoying playing Classic, sub cancelled.

I don't understand. Politically motivated how? The rules were set way, WAY before any of this was happening.

I would understand political motivation if they made this decision with nothing to back it up up to that point. But it was already written down, set in stone. The rules wre set to prevent a gaming tournament from turning into political, religious (and whetever else) platforms. And rightfully so.

Anyone claiming any kind of political affiliation or motivation based on the market etc is basically just guessing. If a player would have been pro-china in the interview, would he have NOT been banned? I think he would have been, because the rules are there to keep it neutral.

And that's where this is all going to hell: "If you're not with us, you are against us", which is a trend that can be seen in all sorts of topics (I'm looking at you, genders), and it's getting out of hand.

Of course it was political, do you think for one moment that if the guy had said instead 'Women are the equals of Men' that he would have been banned?
The rules are vague enough that Blizzard can interpret them in any way they want, have you read those 'rules' that he has supposed to have broken? the rules he broke were specifically the ones where 'in Blizzards opinion the Chinese government was offended' thats it, the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules. And no, i seriously doubt if the guy had made some kind of Pro-China statement he would have been banned, because you know what, that would have offended the Chinese Government, and thats a huge problem with Blizzard who constantly bend over backwards to appease them.

You're still guessing though, as Bizkit said. The only situation you accept is "blizzard bad".

"the rules specifically state that it is if in Blizzards opinion you caused people to be offended then you broke the rules."

You said it yourself, they offended people so they broke the rules. Chinese people are allowed to disagree with you.

What Chinese people are allowed to disagree with is debateable, and it wasn't the Chinese people who were 'offended' it was the Chinese goverment, you know, the Chinese Communist Dictatorship, i am fairly sure that privately the Chinese people probably agree with the guys statement, though i doubt they would dare to state that openly.

You're guessing again though. Not sure where your "fairly sure" info is from but you've probably never been to China. Stop pushing your facebook assumptions as fact.

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Pro Hearthstone Player Suspended by Blizzard for Voicing Support for Hong Kong Protests - MMORPG.com

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