Blizzard's Account Deletion Mechanism Conveniently Breaks Down

[btarunr]

In the wake of the Blitzchung ban controversy, clamors for "#BoycottBlizzard" are growing in gaming boards and social networks, with some angry gamers even deleting their Blizzard Battle.net accounts. Under GDPR, any EU consumer is entitled to delete their accounts with an online service, and have their data scrubbed. On Wednesday evening, however, users found themselves being unable to do so. The user authentication system (which authenticates that a request to delete the account is legitimate), has conveniently broken down, preventing people from deleting their accounts. Some see this as a deliberate attempt by Blizzard to cauterize its userbase while the controversy dies down. Blizzard's customer support for the Americas tweeted that this is "an issue" with the account deletion mechanism and that Blizzard's engineers are "looking into it," with no ETA mentioned.



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[ZoneDymo]

drama intensifies!

 

[Tartaros]

Seems Blizzard has given up on places of earth that are not China. What happened to the PR department, did they get locked in the broom closet while their bosses are sucking Xi dry?

Now I understand why all the Blizzard founders jumped off the ship in so little time.

 

[sutyi]

drama intensifies!

There shouldn't even be drama in the first place. Blizzard is a gaming outlet, not a political stage. Involving politics against the very agreement and terms you had signed with Blizzard gives them every right to boot you for doing so.

Could they have issued a warning? Probably so. Would that be detrimental for possible cases? Probably not.

As for the snowflakes creating this drama, if you want to really support HK pack your bags and get over there...

 

[Tartaros]

There shouldn't even be drama in the first place. Blizzard is a gaming outlet, not a political stage. Involving politics against the very agreement and terms you had signed with Blizzard gives them every right to boot you for doing so.

Could they have issued a warning? Probably so. Would that be detrimental for possible cases? Probably not.

As for the snowflakes creating this drama, if you want to really support HK pack your bags and get over there...

And they are doing it the wrongest way possible by feeding the Streisand effect more and more. Now imagine getting fired because someone in your department did something wrong and you "didn't prevented it", not very justifiable don't you think?

 

[dj-electric]

There shouldn't even be drama in the first place. Blizzard is a gaming outlet, not a political stage. Involving politics against the very agreement and terms you had signed with Blizzard gives them every right to boot you for doing so.

Could they have issued a warning? Probably so. Would that be detrimental for possible cases? Probably not.

As for the snowflakes creating this drama, if you want to really support HK pack your bags and get over there...

Problem is, Blizz is knee-deep in China affairs.
The collab with NetEase and Tensent, the franchising of Chinese OWL teams. Blizzard wants that Chinese money hard.

 

[Patriot]

Per their very very vague ban anything that upsets anyone TOS sure they had the "right" to ban them. Take rightfully earned prize money? no fucking way.

It comes down to what they ban and why, do they ban evenly or only conveniently. It is a gaming platform, not a political one, they have the ability to say gamers do not represent blizzard and their statements are their own.
They don't have to take the violent authoritarian side but they have chosen to.

Tencent owning a stake is "normal?" China requires any gaming company that distributes in China to have a 5% stake owned by Tencent. So if you had any wishful thinking that Tencent wasn't state backed... sorry. They own a lot more of Epic and a large chunk of bluehole (pubg).

This is not a conspiracy theory they are the simple facts. Whether China is strong arming through Tencent or Blizzard is simply bowing to avoid sanctions no one knows, all of that is conjecture.
As for people having to jump on a plane and get stuck in a work camp to support HK I think that's a bit mistaken. I prefer the Economic sanctions route than the hard labor camp one...

 

[ShurikN]

Blizzcon is in a couple of weeks. Can't wait to see what happens

 

[Patriot]

Blizzcon is in a couple of weeks. Can't wait to see what happens

There isn't enough popcorn in the world for that dumpster fire.

 

[the54thvoid]

There shouldn't even be drama in the first place. Blizzard is a gaming outlet, not a political stage. Involving politics against the very agreement and terms you had signed with Blizzard gives them every right to boot you for doing so.

Could they have issued a warning? Probably so. Would that be detrimental for possible cases? Probably not.

As for the snowflakes creating this drama, if you want to really support HK pack your bags and get over there...

The news post is technically about account deletion. It's related to the politics but not the point. If Blizzard is intentionally denying users the right to erase account data, then that's a breach of, at least, EU GDPR. I don't imagine China cares but it could have ramifications for users in the EU.

 

[Tartaros]

The news post is technically about account deletion. It's related to the politics but not the point. If Blizzard is intentionally denying users the right to erase account data, then that's a breach of, at least, EU GDPR. I don't imagine China cares but it could have ramifications for users in the EU.

Exactly, it's bad optics. They are just burning bridges in the west and they don't seem to care at all.

 

[phanbuey]

They have the right to not support the first amendment, and we have the right to go tell them to stuff it.

Deleted my account.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

no wonder... I was going to deactivate mine & the only thing they can give me is some BS saying that the authenticator couldn't be reached. I'll wait till it dies down & then I deactivate my account.

 

[Chomiq]

I don't think it was intentional, I guess their system interpreted the situation as ddos attack or something. People on Twitter posted that deletion worked later in the evening hours US time.

 

[Crackong]

See all those juicy Fornite China Money.

 

[Fabel]

This is quite shady...

However the Blizzard boycott is wrong on this one.

if they allow one political view they are forced to allow others, so If you don't support the ban you are opening the doors to pro-China or whatever propaganda on e-sports.

 

[MazeFrame]

There shouldn't even be drama in the first place. Blizzard is a gaming outlet, not a political stage. Involving politics against the very agreement and terms you had signed with Blizzard gives them every right to boot you for doing so.

This is not how Blizzards TOS work, that is not how any TOS (or EULA) work!
This is like being kicked of Twitter for jaywalking.

 

[phanbuey]

This is quite shady...

However the Blizzard boycott is wrong on this one.

if they allow one political view they are forced to allow others, so If you don't support the ban you are opening the doors to pro-China or whatever propaganda on e-sports.

If he was spouting pro-China propaganda and wearing pro-Chinese gear absolutely nothing would have happened to him. Except maybe more interviews and a story on their front page.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

if they allow one political view they are forced to allow others, so If you don't support the ban you are opening the doors to pro-China or whatever propaganda on e-sports.

I think it's more of a human rights thing than politics. Do some research on the conditions in Hong Kong and how they've deteriorated since UK threw them to China in 1997.

 

[TheDeeGee]

Not to back up Blizzard or anyone here, but i believe they have a no politics policy for ages.

Soooo, i'm not sure why people are surprised.

 

[BorgOvermind]

Simplest way not to offer a feature: say it's broken and you need to fix it.

 

[Mistral]

Not to back up Blizzard or anyone here, but i believe they have a no politics policy for ages.

Soooo, i'm not sure why people are surprised.

At the same time, Blizzard is one of the most political gaming companies out there...

 

[Fabel]

If he was spouting pro-China propaganda and wearing pro-Chinese gear absolutely nothing would have happened to him. Except maybe more interviews and a story on their front page.

Let me guess, you can't provide any example of Blizzard allowing this...

This kind of rhetoric helps no one. From my point of view the HK movement have enough merit by itself, there is no need to make unjustified claims.

 

[Dexiefy]

Not to back up Blizzard or anyone here, but i believe they have a no politics policy for ages.

Soooo, i'm not sure why people are surprised.

People are not surprised. People are outraged. There is a difference.
Not only Blizzard punishment towards that player and the casters was way too severe, but by doing what they've done they essentially spoke against freedom. Afterall how else can you look at it if they silence and punish a guy who spoke for freedom.
If a company does something like that, they deserve all that they experience right now. Mass account closures, Blizzard games being burned down by former military, worker protests, former employees speaking against them and so on.

 

[sutyi]

Problem is, Blizz is knee-deep in China affairs.
The collab with NetEase and Tensent, the franchising of Chinese OWL teams. Blizzard wants that Chinese money hard.

Due to how the Chinese IT / Gaming market operates if you want in, you have to "get in bed" with these companies. China and India are big developing markets so there is money to be made... and lots of it, so don't act surprised when big companies push for them. How you view them afterwards is your own prerogative however.

The news post is technically about account deletion. It's related to the politics but not the point. If Blizzard is intentionally denying users the right to erase account data, then that's a breach of, at least, EU GDPR. I don't imagine China cares but it could have ramifications for users in the EU.

I doubt Blizzard would stoop that low, imo just HK sympathisants flooding the automated system bringing it to its knees in a DDoS manner. When business is usual probably there arent many resources dedicated to it. If Blizzard doesn't solve it in per se 48-72h then it's on them and we have the right for concern.

This is not how Blizzards TOS work, that is not how any TOS (or EULA) work!
This is like being kicked of Twitter for jaywalking.

Although I'm 98% sure there is a no politics clause in there, the Regular End-User TOS & EULA are not one and the same with the eSport League / Championship agreements these cyber atheletes have to sign when they enter a tournament or get into sponsorship with tech companies.