Agreed, also, wasn’t it found out that the company allowed drinking on the job? I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I think we can all agree that this company is horribly managed.
We’ve heard of what, four people being fired/leaving? And three of them aren’t even apart of the Overwatch team or presiding above it? That leaves one person who had influence in authorizing or denying this move who has since been removed. That’s not enough to explain the changes we are seeing if the motivations are to be explained by leadership’s obligations to its employees.
Sure, that seems like a plausible motivation, but that just proves my point. This decision is about the money, not morality.
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Yes. Because the Overwatch team specifically fostered an inclusive environment during that hostile period, long before there was press. The employees cited Overwatch team as a good work environment. Why would someone being fired in a different team for wide spread harassment, and not at the team where there was not widespread harassment, mean the team that was not harassing people is actually just being forced to pretend they are anti-harassment.
Your problem is viewing Blizzard as a monolith. Rather than as different teams of different people.
The Overwatch team was already good. The person over them that had a say on that and fostered harassment was fired. And then they did a move that is in keeping with the values they had the entire time. They deserve their own consideration.
For Kotick probably, not the Overwatch team. Who would likely have their morale improved because it’s not about money for them but about supporting their coworkers. Employees are happy because of morality. The company is happy because it’s a low cost.
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Thank you for broadcasting to the world that you don’t give a crap about the working environment at Blizzard and only care about Blizzard being a machine that pumps out content for you to consume.
I feel this Blizzcon’s OW2 event gonna go like this:
"Alright guys we’ve been working on a LOOOOOT of stuff in the past year and have lots to share with you:
- McCree name change
- OW2 look for Roadhog
- Sojourn Ultimate reveal
Awesome stuff I know right? Ok, see you boys at the next Blizzcon in 2022 for the next big update!"
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It’s important to use the right words here.
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Corporate = execs, HR, and their direct subordinates.
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Company = Activision and Blizzard employees en masse that do all of the “boring work”. Paperwork, legal and intellectual property, paystubs, scheduling meetings, organizing events, hiring.
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Team = the developer teams, literally the creators of their games, subgroups that generate game content.
The hierarchy and pecking order is;
- Stakeholders > Executives > HR > Dev Teams & Company Employees
or, in a more literal way
- Investors > Presidents/VPs/Managers > People that protect the public image of the company (not individual employees) > The actual game developers & employees
The things that muddle up this pecking order are that legacy developers ARE the Presidents and VPs and Managers. They’re the ringleaders, and the lawsuit demonstrates they’ve forced their “frat-bro” culture onto everyone below them.
So when there’s these announcements that they’re making a change despite it costing company materials and time, you have to look at who is making the announcement.
When a dev team makes/announces a change like this, they’re doing it for morale.
When a company makes/announces a change like this, they’re doing it because they pressured corporate (whether by fan feedback, or from internal company feedback).
When corporate makes a change like this, it’s damage control.
No, it’s based on the fact that they have an entire lawsuit against them. The fact that there is even an investigation in the first place and people have been fired bc of it should be a huge red flag. And I’m not saying they’re suffering because of the name, I’m saying that the name reminds them of the suffering they already went through. There’s a big difference.
Lol and you can keep imagining that you’re some sort of tough guy on the internet. There’s a very fine line between being emotionally responsible and being straight-up apathetic. Nobody thinks you’re cool for not giving a s*** about the victims.
The best solution (maybe) is actually create a animated short or comic or something and have him tell his real name. Sombra did say he has a different name right?
If your gonna change lore then at least go all out or this will all look like a PR stunt.
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In that case, that’s more support to my point. The moral stakes the Overwatch Team has in this is close to zero, which once again raises questions as to who this change is meant for.
The motivation for the developers themselves to change the name of McCree would be pretty darn weak unless they had witnessed or experienced that harassment firsthand, in which case it becomes more of a PTSD prevention matter. Otherwise, the change would strike me as something to be scoffed at. We’re trying to help the victims over there, and this is the best we can do? Change the name of a character?
That certainly wouldn’t make me feel better about the situation if I were an Overwatch developer.
i was thinking it was made because they didnt want to honour someone that horrible and if that is the case then its a good change
Although I don’t agree the name change was necessary, even considering what the OP said, I agree with your stance completely. The majority is not always morally right, smart, or correct.
Well said.
The moral stakes aren’t close to zero. They want to support their coworkers and friends who have been harassed. How is that a close to zero? Some of their team may have been harassed when interacting with other teams as well. Just because their leadership wasn’t the problem, does not follow the did not experience any problems. It may have been your emotional reaction to not like it, but it was not their emotional reaction.
yeah but it’s not their decision
Are you “most trauma survivors”? Or are you one trauma survivor? Look I really am sorry for what you went through. I really am. Nobody should have to go through that. That being said, you don’t represent all survivors. It isn’t fair to disregard their feelings just because you personally can handle hearing your abuser’s name. I have an abuser too, my own mother. I had two co-workers with the same name as her. I always got a stab in my chest whenever someone said their name. My anxiety would rise.
Of course I didn’t expect them to change their names, or do anything for that matter. And I treated them the same as anyone else to the best of my ability. But you see in Blizzard’s case we’re talking about a videogame character, where it is entirely appropriate and doable to change his name. So why not, even if it only helps one person I don’t see why it shouldn’t be done. Because imo helping someone through their trauma is a bit more important to me than a 3D model’s name.
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How about you spend some time giving us new content and treat your female employees better?
Is that so damn hard?
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Changing McCrees’ name is stupid and serves no useful purpose. So right on par with every other decision Blizzard has made for like the last 2 plus years.
I do not agree with the heavy names that you attribute to my behaviors or my interests regarding having clarifications on the transparency of an activity that I liked, I could very well reply that blindly trusting the good faith of a multinational in 2021 could be the source of the same names that you used. same, but it is not my intention to have this kind of debate.
I deal with psychology and statistics: surgical censorship in overwatch (even with post-launch interventions) is suspect, as well as functional to safeguard the well-being of smurfs and inclusiveness activities that go well beyond 10 standard deviations (1000 sr, already a limit well above human reasonable possibilities for a competitive environment, see the elo that allows 1-2 standard deviations at most). To safeguard this great inclusiveness, the adoption of this patent would be the simplest (and least ethical) solution to adopt.
I did not file that patent, activision blizzard is signed, so yes, I ask for clarification that has not arrived.
I’d suggest changing your name. You could be hurting the victims of Joseph “Mad Dog” Taborsky. Please, do it for the hypothetical people that will be hurt from reading your name.
Correction: Three, “Don’t you guys have phones” was made back in 2018.