I don’t think we’re in buff nerf Kansas anymore, Toto.
And these discussions are infinitely more interesting that buffs and nerfs. And playing the game. And the games themselves 
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I have current level 90 and 80 characters in the current D2:Lod ladder and paragon 800 or so this season in D3, having finished guardian and the ethereal recollection.
The conversations about Blizzard are interesting; however, some comments may demonstrate depravity. Some topics should be discussed elsewhere.
Are you my dad and learned to to type with more than one finger? You sound exactly like my father, and you are not wrong. I mean that is reality. Cold hard terrible reality.
But it does not have to be the end of the story.
I can’t fix the world. I can’t fix Blizzard. For almost 20 years though I have been hanging out on Tech Support, Customer Support, General forums, even in game chat.
I problem solve. I answer questions, I get people playing again. I try to to do so in a friendly and open way. Why? I like helping and it makes me feel like I accomplished something when I resolve an issue. But it is more than that. It is my way to change the negative and unwelcoming atmosphere that is often found in gaming communities.
I CAN be a friendly face, I CAN answer a question without resorting to “google it”, I CAN ask others not to make fun of newbies on the forums. I CAN even offer food recipes or cat pictures which are a pleasant distraction to some.
I can’t make Blizzard or fellow gamers change their behavior overnight, but I can try to lead by example be a solution to the problem.
There are still good people at Blizzard. People who dream of what can be. People who still try. I am with them, even if it means little except to the few I have helped over the years.
Edit - FINALLY found the image version with the quote I wanted.
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Yes, I’ve come to the same conclusion. That doesn’t mean I’m not interested in hearing what you have to say.
Well no, not “social” problems, but specifically workplace problems that are specific to the context of Blizzard’s recent troubles.
So why interject such advice in a topic about workplace sexual harassment and discrimination, if the advice is wholly divorced from the topic?
Let’s hear your real feelings then. I mean, I doubt that there’s anything you can say that will upset or even surprise me. I’ve got a brother, who is very bright and whom I love dearly, who unironically uses the pejorative “SJW” as well.
Townsend’s twitter account went bye bye. We can only hope that actually means she’s about to follow. Because as long as she stays, there will never be support for anything ATVI is doing. There have been so many missteps here I can’t even wrap my brain around it all at once. Between this and WilmerHale (which raises a huge red flag given one of their former employees is at the head of the WoW dev team) I don’t see anything good happening anytime soon, except in the instances of Townsend and WilmerHale both getting axed.
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Gin.
Gin helps.
Gin and a claw hammer.
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I wish but it may just be the lawyers limiting liability and bad PR.
I know it is a big firm, but I did not know Ion worked there! I will be fair, that was long long ago so not sure he has connections that would help or influence anything.
Still, that is a union busting law firm. Staff want one that they feel will actually listen to them, not try to shut them up.
Blacksmith hammers are way cooler
Pretty sure he didn’t do any trial lawyer stuffs. Besides it doesn’t matter since there has not been any smoke regarding anything about him. I’m sure those connecting Ion to being anti union boss just because he worked there, would probably be appalled if they got lumped in with the crappy things their companies or bosses did or stood for. Sometimes you just need a job and often, law schools work with firms and you get placed upon graduation and passing the boards.
I really don’t do hard alcohol. Wine, wine helps. 
Yeah, it was so long ago I am not going to get wrapped up in the connection. It does not seem problematic.
I met Ion once. He was actually pretty darn nice and easy to talk to. He was also tuned into what was going on with the MVP summit (WoW) and such. It was a very brief chat, but it left a good impression.
Now, a lot of people don’t agree with his game direction and decisions, but that does not make him part of the bad work atmosphere.
Blizzard being caught red-handed doesn’t mean it is an unusual thing. It most likely is not.
Isn’t trying to change the world (or at least your own part of the world) exactly an attempt to control your own fate?
People have changed their world plenty of times. Surely not impossible. Even if it is really hard. Especially not in our weird world of internet sh*tstorms and what not, where even small actions can create a domino effect.
Also, “fix it” sounds like things are black and white. As has been the case with so many comments on this topic, dont let perfect be the enemy of good.
If we imagine harassment and discriminations got reduced by 5%, that is still an improvement.
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Martinelli’s here. I’m not even into wine. Unless it’s the linux variety. 
Oh I can keep that separated. I know he’s one of, if not the best raid encounter designer WoW has ever had. And while I know the following is precisely what lawyers exist for, it does have the very likely effect of being offputting at the very least, if not outright intimidating to anyone on any of the WoW dev teams:
The above was in reference to his at the time employment, but that last sentence should give serious pause. Couple it with the firm itself and you’d see why a lot of workers are likely to be exceptionally uneasy with the combination returning right in their midst.
Nope. I have not yet had the pleasure of becoming a father, and I’m certain he gives better advice than a random person on the internet, but I’ve lived long enough to have seen some reality. What you’re describing in the rest of that post is exactly what I recommend people should do. No one changes the world by themselves. I don’t care who’s writing the history. It just isn’t true. But, you can inspire others and lead by example. Again, the point is that you do what you can do (and in your case, there’s a lot you can do) and don’t stress what you can’t.
People seem to think this is a defeatist statement. That’s a gross misunderstanding. It’s a statement that you should be mature enough to manage your own expectations and don’t set an impossible standard for yourself which will only make you unhappy when you fail to achieve it.
You seem to have this figured out already, so the advice really wasn’t needed. I’m not trying to belittle you at all, and I don’t want to give that impression. I’ll leave it there for anyone else who might want to read it, mainly because I found it was helpful for me and some of my colleagues when certain individuals with power we worked with took out their frustrations on them. I think, that being said, I’ve explored this tangent enough. =)
It’s not divorced from the topic. If you have ever had to actually live in a hostile work environment, this is a real issue you’ll have to deal with. Cheetah said she had, so I offered the advice out of respect for her situation because I hoped it might help her as that advice has helped me.
I don’t think so. It’s off the topic of this thread and I’ve already taken one tangent. While I could do it here, an off-topic forum or DMs would be a better place for that discussion. And lastly, this kind of discussion requires a lot of time to do properly. We have to figure out each other’s underlying premises and try and find common ground. I suspect we would agree on defining different problems in the world. Where we would differ is in our approaches to solve them.
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Ive never understood why they gotta bring Journalism to game forums. Forums are fine without off-topic forums, but Journalism gotta go. Modern game industry even Politics is coming. Game forums should be for customers. If game industry wanna do each other thats fine, but do it elsewhere.
Blizzard isnt gonna die, even the worst happen, some big company is gonna continue it.
They should just sell WoW to someone, and continue their life. It would be fun to see what for example what Bioware would do to the series.
That would be interesting for real.
I think its awesome idea. I personally think all popular game series should be sent to different devs etc. Bioware would be much more beneficial to the series than any expansion.
Does the torture apologist still work for them?
Her Twitter was deleted but so far she does - at the ATVI stockholder level. She is not in any of the gaming dev companies under it. Thankfully.
She is a poor representative of the gaming companies under ATVI.
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Perhaps for different platforms? I don’t think AAA-companies are keen on sharing the profit or anything when they supposed to show themselves as the most capable company out there to their investors. I mean, Midway handled Doom 64 for the Nintendo 64 and it’s a classic now but what we have are only a wish.