Yeah, you’re right. At least TLoU2 is coming soon and it has a lesbian protagonist and visible lesbian affection, and that can’t be silenced by China. It’s easy to fall into a ‘’ everything is doomed ‘’ think but there’s always a ray of light shining. But I still am completely distraught at what’s happening in Hong Kong regardless, all the while rest of the worlds powers turn their backs. I mean of course they will, but what the heck man…
I hope the whole ‘’ Mei becoming the face of Hong Kong liberation ‘’ thing gets off, because then Overwatch would be BANNED in China. Even if Blizzard doesn’t turn their backs on China (ofc they won’t) I just hope it comes with a freaking PRICE.
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I honestly wish I could say more, but I have terrible luck on these forums when discussing controversy, but by the look of it, everyone is unified, even blizzard employees. it’s just a tricky situation for a lot of people. and somehow certain people are finding a way to blame and drag lgbt into this whole nightmare scenario, like we want this.
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Well if I get banned for 1000 years (like that one guy that posted about Hong Kong liberation) then it was extremely lovely talking to all of you! Really, so much fun!
I’m thinking of finally redeeming my Indivisible code at some point, donated to the kickstarter yeaaaarssss ago and it was finally released. I’ve been busy watching streamers play it though lol. Not sure if it has any LGBT representation, but since it’s quite diverse, I’d expect so.
Also been playing Noita a lot. Hooray for indie games!
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Would you guys say that it was wrong for the pro player to openly express help for HK? Like it put Blizzard in a very tough lose-lose situation because the situation escalated? It’s not that I support it but it’s very tough to fight against a whole country that has an immense control over media/resources/etc
I know there are clearly rules that competitors have to abide by when representing a company and this is a delicate political issue, but the severity of the punishment is too high and it also tells us what the company values more.
No matter how delicate this is politically, it boils down to money. If the opposing side finds Blizzard too lenient, they will ban the game. That’s the biggest issue people have, I think, especially with how progressive Blizzard presents themselves as. It feels like a lie. Which is why even their employees reacted negatively because this isn’t what they thought their company stands for.
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Perhaps the best/moral thing to do is Blizzard to break ties with China; even if it means losing money/losing a lot of support. Wouldn’t want their influence to keep spreading.
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I think most people tend to think like “why should I care about other people if it doesn’t affect my life” so that must be why Blizzard values the money more if it brings them that comfort/financial security. It’s really sad humans are vulnerable to this.
The only sympathy I have for Blizzard is the employees that will have to continue working for a company whose morals and values are rotten to the core. And I also feel sympathy for the potential employees who’ll be laid off if Blizzard does the right thing (LMAO, AS IF!!!) and cut ties to China. But anything else? Blizzard screwed up THEMSELVES. They knew what they were getting into, and they thought it would never bite them in the butt, or that people wouldn’t care. But jokes on them, here we are.
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Oh well lol. I’m already kind of thinking of selling my merch because I have a hard time trying to not associate them with recent events.
I’ll still play OW a little bit every now and then for events but hmm.
No, you don’t really have to go that far. Your merchandise probably have a lot of value for you, and you should keep them as a reminder of the good times you had with Blizzard games. In the end, there are tons of great people working in Blizzard, and the people who are truly completely rotten probably have been nowhere near developing your favorite characters and games.
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I’m also wondering how much of this is Activision alone and how much influence does Blizzard even have. Not that we will ever know. I doubt anyone on the Overwatch team, for example, has any say in what happens at the top, so how much good are we doing if we boycott Overwatch? We could do more harm than good, despite our best intentions, if our boycott doesn’t hit where it matters.
But yes, I’m mostly in sympathy to the employees who love these games and their work on them, all the devs and artists and writers who love the games, but are now conflicted on whether they should keep doing it if it clashes with their moral beliefs. Because if you work there, it is assumed that you support your company’s practices.
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We’ll see what happens to Overwatch, with Hong Kong using Mei as a symbol for their liberation.
In the end, the only boycott that matters is that you don’t continue financially supporting the company. Selling your merchs, stop playing the game you’ve already purchased, that won’t do anything.
I will say that in a few weeks as Blizzcon starts, Blizzard will throw all kinds of ‘’ juicy ‘’ things at you, new hero (probably a black woman for extra brownie points), evidently some sort of comic book/novel and potentially a teaser for Overwatch 2. What I fear is all of that will drown out the criticism, so I hope nobody gets too excited about whatever is to come.
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The key issue here was that he chose to be extremely political during a post-match interview, where he’s supposed to be talking about the game. Players who supported the same viewpoint while they were in the crowd (i.e. not a de facto representative of Blizzard) have faced no consequences. There is a time and a place for the behavior Blitzchung and the casters exhibited, and a post-match interview on an official Blizzard stream is neither. While I fully support Hong Kong and agree with Blitzchung, I also agree with Blizzard that his behavior was extremely unprofessional, completely out of line, and wholly deserving of punishment.
When people point out other political content on Blizzard streams, such as OWL Pride Day, they ignore the fact that it is an official event that has been pre-approved by Blizzard. If an OWL player burst out in a post-match interview and said “Gay rights! Screw Trump! Bernie 2020!” I’d fully expect them to receive a similarly harsh punishment. People also point out that certain OWL players have said very controversial things on their personal media accounts and been given only a slap on the wrist, but those are their personal media accounts, not an official Blizzard broadcast. There is an important distinction there. And to be clear, I fully believe that Blizzard’s interests in China played a role in this punishment, but that doesn’t bother me too much because I feel that their response was completely reasonable regardless, especially now that the punishments have been reduced.
‘’ If an OWL player burst out in a post-match interview and said “Gay rights! Screw Trump! Bernie 2020!” I’d fully expect them to receive a similarly harsh punishment ‘’
But they won’t? OWL has largely marketed Pride during their OFFICIAL broadcasts. The fact of the matter is Blizzard would be 1000000000% on board with pro-Hong Kong statements if it made them money.
And regardless, the casters who said NOTHING ARE ALSO BEING PUNISHED. What kind of stupid logic is that???
And since this is the LGBT thread, I wonder how you feel about Chinese censorship getting more prevalent and LGBT content being censored in western entertainment.
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I honestly think they would and should be punished similarly, because it’s still completely inappropriate behavior given the time and place. The only reason they might not be punished would be because of the potential backlash. As I mentioned, the players who expressed the same pro-Hong Kong sentiment in the crowd received no punishment whatsoever, because they chose a reasonable time and place. Even though I am part of the LGBT community myself, and despise everything Trump stands for, I wouldn’t support such an outburst.
As for the casters, they encouraged Blitzchung to make the outburst, when they should have known it was inappropriate. They’re hardly blameless. Their behavior was also inappropriate, and they arguably should be held to an even higher standard of professionalism than the players.
And lastly, I don’t approve of the LGBT censorship in China, or Russia, or anywhere else. But again, there’s a time and place where protesting is appropriate, and a time and place where it’s unprofessional. Blitzchung absolutely had the right to protest when he did, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t face consequences from his employer for acting out in an unprofessional manner. I work as a cashier, and it’d be perfectly fine for me to go around waving a giant pride flag and shouting “f*ck fascism” while I’m off the clock, but if I went into work doing the same thing, I’d fully expect to be fired on the spot,
Yeah I can’t agree with this level of corporate shoe shining. And I’m pretty sure most Blizzard employees from now on are absolutely going to be required to shut up about Hong Kong on any social media, even if they are ‘’ off the clock. ‘’
It’s not corporate shoe shining. Employees have always been expected to uphold certain degrees of professionalism when they’re representing a company. If Blitzchung had gone on camera with a “free Hong Kong” pin and been punished this way, or punished at all for that matter, that would be one thing. But the manner of his outburst was unreasonable and out of line. The content of his message aside, it was the way he chose to deliver it on an official broadcast that is the issue here.
What countries are the most LGBT friendly? First that comes to mind is UK and Australia perhaps?