Blizzard's Account Deletion Mechanism Conveniently Breaks Down

[1d10t]

I already lost them since my battle.net dispute and their diablo april fool joke.

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

Oh come on, you already knew it... WoW Classic mobile announcement.

 

[Paganstomp]

... but I am sure as hell I can turn off my credit card and delete my email address that I used to create a Blizzard account with!

 

[erixx]

Never had a Blizzard game. Now got a free CoD MW key with the 2080 Super. What a hell of steps have to be taken to redeem a game code!! I still have not the game but I already have filled a couple of forms, logged into their battle.net and installed their very own app. Their portal is an ugly confusing marketplace. (Geforce Experience is also not great to guide you through.)

 

[phanbuey]

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.

It's not unjustified to think that money is the motivation here. Blizzard is extremely careful to protect it's Chinese assets, and by banning, and then stripping the player of his winnings , they took a political side (have they ever banned a pro-Chinese player? ever?). There were a plethora of other things they could have done; this wasn't some guy that was known for doing this/breaking their rules he didn't have any warnings -- they banned him and fired both the newscasters that interviewed him.

HK movement does have enough merit by itself. That's not the issue - the issue is that an American company is choosing to self-censor in a dramatic way and silence the players on its platform (which is acutely anti-American) to protect its financial standing with a foreign superpower. Which is fine, that's in their right. Just like it's in our rights to speak to them, in the language of money, by boycotting them for it.

But to frame it in a way that's "oh that's just them being apolitical, and if they allow this then they have to allow pro-Chinese propaganda, and therefore the boycott is wrong" is a bit naive. They already modify their games for China and all of their new releases are tailored specifically to meet Chinese censorship requirements (i.e. which is a form pro-Chinese propaganda).

 

[IceShroom]

Blizzard is doing good job by not deleting those idiot's accounts, as those idiots will open a new account the day Blizzard announces a new Call of Duty game or New "Hero" for Overwatch.

 

[phanbuey]

Blizzard is doing good job by not deleting those idiot's accounts, as those idiots will open a new account the day Blizzard announces a new Elder Scroll or Fallout game.

That's bethesda.

 

[Pheuno]

They should not use anything thats manufactured in China

 

[mouacyk]

diablo mobile was the last nail, they ain't coming back

 

[ZoneDymo]

They should not use anything thats manufactured in China

then you might as well go live in a cave in teh woods and get some stones and wood so you can hunt for food.

 

[Fabel]

It's not unjustified to think that money is the motivation here. Blizzard is extremely careful to protect it's Chinese assets, and by banning, and then stripping the player of his winnings , they took a political side (have they ever banned a pro-Chinese player? ever?). There were a plethora of other things they could have done; this wasn't some guy that was known for doing this/breaking their rules he didn't have any warnings -- they banned him and fired both the newscasters that interviewed him.

HK movement does have enough merit by itself. That's not the issue - the issue is that an American company is choosing to self-censor in a dramatic way and silence the players on its platform (which is acutely anti-American) to protect its financial standing with a foreign superpower. Which is fine, that's in their right. Just like it's in our rights to speak to them, in the language of money, by boycotting them for it.

But to frame it in a way that's "oh that's just them being apolitical, and if they allow this then they have to allow pro-Chinese propaganda, and therefore the boycott is wrong" is a bit naive. They already modify their games for China and all of their new releases are tailored specifically to meet Chinese censorship requirements (i.e. which is a form pro-Chinese propaganda).

It is not unjustified to think that money is the motivation, in fact it is their duty by law. What do you think that companies are for?

What they do to market their games in China has nothing to do with this. It is a requirement. Exactly the same as GDPR in EU. If you want to work in any country you have to follow their laws, period.

And from banning that guy does not follow that they took a political stance. Only If a pro-China guy does the same thing and gets away with it then we can start talking. But that did not happen, furthermore the rules are pretty clear and he knew in advance that doing what he did could get him in trouble. I respect that, he delivered his message, that is a win at a personal cost for him. The newscasters also knew the rules and didn't act as the company expected and they got fired, nothing to see here. Blizzard and most sports and e-sports organizations have a strong policy in this regard so this should come as no surprise to anyone.

And quite frankly I prefer Blizzard to act this way than them doing nothing because then every single e-sports event will become a platform where anyone can start making political discourses. And I am pretty sure that would go downhill pretty fast.

Anyways expecting a company, any company to be be the shield that protects freedom from whoever... well that is really naive. It is bad enough to see how big media conglomerates nowadays are simple tools for the political parties that control them. A company that says "no politics" is the best we can expect.

 

[Chrispy_]

Blizzard died in 2008 when Vivendi-Universal forced Activision and Blizzard together. It sounds like a merger but in reality all of the key Blizzard positions were vacated and filled by Activision corporate goons.

In 2013 Activision bought out Vivendi and became the parent company, wholly-responsible for the actions of Blizzard.

Whenever you've see the Blizzard logo in the last eleven years, it's simply Activision cashing in on Blizzard's pre-2008 good reputation.

 

[TheDeeGee]

So much triggering hahahaha. Yeah delete your accounts that’s gonna teach them.

Yeah, they got your money anyways and you're not getting it back.

Infact you're gonna have to buy everything again.

 

[xkm1948]

Yeah, they got your money anyways and you're not getting it back.

Infact you're gonna have to buy everything again.

Man you gotta handed it to the propaganda machine for being so powerful these days. You can figuratively track the social consensus on a matter of subject based on how government wants you to think. I am 100% sure the Chinese government are doing the exact same thing as well though since the trade war started: US bad bad.

 

[phanbuey]

It is not unjustified to think that money is the motivation, in fact it is their duty by law. What do you think that companies are for?

What they do to market their games in China has nothing to do with this. It is a requirement. Exactly the same as GDPR in EU. If you want to work in any country you have to follow their laws, period.

And from banning that guy does not follow that they took a political stance. Only If a pro-China guy does the same thing and gets away with it then we can start talking. But that did not happen, furthermore the rules are pretty clear and he knew in advance that doing what he did could get him in trouble. I respect that, he delivered his message, that is a win at a personal cost for him. The newscasters also knew the rules and didn't act as the company expected and they got fired, nothing to see here. Blizzard and most sports and e-sports organizations have a strong policy in this regard so this should come as no surprise to anyone.

And quite frankly I prefer Blizzard to act this way than them doing nothing because then every single e-sports event will become a platform where anyone can start making political discourses. And I am pretty sure that would go downhill pretty fast.

Anyways expecting a company, any company to be be the shield that protects freedom from whoever... well that is really naive. It is bad enough to see how big media conglomerates nowadays are simple tools for the political parties that control them. A company that says "no politics" is the best we can expect.

A company that says "no politics" is the best we can expect. - If this is what was happening sure, but it isn't. The fact that we are even talking about it means they mishandled it; their stock is down over 2% when everything else is up, and they're dealing with employee walkouts and protests. By doing what they did, they took a side against free speech; whether they intended to or not.

I see your point of view, but at the same time this was all a huge miscalculation on their part. Companies do have social obligations that they are held to, and when they fail those, it destroys shareholder value.

 

[HTC]

I broke my authenticator by "tapping it" very hard ... with a hammer. Also used a box-cutter to destroy every CD and DVD i had from Blizzard.

Reason: they banned me for playing @ all hours, which tends to happen when you work in rotating shifts, accusing me of using "automated programs". I tend to react rather badly when i'm accused of doing something i didn't do.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Don't worry. If you want Blizzard to delete your account, you'll need to provide proof of a government issued ID before they'll close out your account and delete out all your info.

I wonder if they still have my info back from the day when WoW released and I played for about the first 3 months.......?

 

[Fabel]

A company that says "no politics" is the best we can expect. - If this is what was happening sure, but it isn't. The fact that we are even talking about it means they mishandled it; their stock is down over 2% when everything else is up, and they're dealing with employee walkouts and protests. By doing what they did, they took a side against free speech; whether they intended to or not.

I see your point of view, but at the same time this was all a huge miscalculation on their part. Companies do have social obligations that are held to, and when they fail those, it destroys shareholder value.

We are talking of this because we are in the era of the SJW, were judgement is to be delivered without fact checking in the most knee jerk reaction possible. And stocks react to whatever is in the news and have no meaning, at all.

We are talking about this because there is a strong political movement weaponizing the news, exactly the same that is doing their rival. For the case in point doesn't even matter who is right or wrong, who is David or Goliath, Blizzard just got caught in between.

By doing what Blizzard did, they took a side against free speech, which is not their duty to protect. They did what they had to do, because even for free speech there is a place and it is not an e-sports event. They could have handled this way better tho, but in the end it was a foregone conclusion. So yeah, people is delusional if they think there was any other possible answer.

I applaud HK supporters for finding ways to get relevant to a world quite autistic however there is no point in demonizing a company that just did what had to do.
I am way more concerned about Apple banning apps for very dubious and one-sided reasons.

 

[ErnstInEarnest]

It is not unjustified to think that money is the motivation, in fact it is their duty by law. What do you think that companies are for?

What they do to market their games in China has nothing to do with this. It is a requirement. Exactly the same as GDPR in EU. If you want to work in any country you have to follow their laws, period.

And from banning that guy does not follow that they took a political stance. Only If a pro-China guy does the same thing and gets away with it then we can start talking. But that did not happen, furthermore the rules are pretty clear and he knew in advance that doing what he did could get him in trouble. I respect that, he delivered his message, that is a win at a personal cost for him. The newscasters also knew the rules and didn't act as the company expected and they got fired, nothing to see here. Blizzard and most sports and e-sports organizations have a strong policy in this regard so this should come as no surprise to anyone.

And quite frankly I prefer Blizzard to act this way than them doing nothing because then every single e-sports event will become a platform where anyone can start making political discourses. And I am pretty sure that would go downhill pretty fast.

Anyways expecting a company, any company to be be the shield that protects freedom from whoever... well that is really naive. It is bad enough to see how big media conglomerates nowadays are simple tools for the political parties that control them. A company that says "no politics" is the best we can expect.

Yes, games shall not mingle with politics.
Throw Blizzchung out of the tournament is fine, BUT 2 casters fired and prize money rescind is Overreacting!
They screw up big time.

 

[AsRock]

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.

Yeah Timcast just don't a video on that.

 

[ErnstInEarnest]

By doing what Blizzard did, they took a side against free speech, which is not their duty to protect.

Wrong. U go against Free Speech meaning u are against the principle/core value of which the whole society is built upon.
" Don't forget - EVERY VOICE MATTERS"

 

[Fabel]

Yes, games shall not mingle with politics.
Throw Blizzchung out of the tournament is fine, BUT 2 casters fired and prize money rescind is Overreacting!
They screw up big time.

Hmm it is hard to say what mas the minimum amount possible of punishment or what are the conditions on the contracts players sign.
From what I know the firing isn't due to what Blizzchung did but to how they handled it. Somehow I think they made things worse for everyone but I might be wrong.
I am sure Blizzard got a lot of pressure from China for this, so it is hard to know what their options really were.

Wrong. U go against Free Speech meaning u are against the principle/core value of which the whole society is built upon.
" Don't forget - EVERY VOICE MATTERS"

Which society? Surely not China right? And we are talking about China here, like it or not. Blizzard has to comply, there is not such thing as an option.
Follow the rules or close the doors, those are the only two options. What do you really expect Blizzard to do?

 

[phanbuey]

Tim nailed it. Lol.

 

[Space Lynx]

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.

That is fine, Blizzard will learn very fast Chinese markets change very fast, and competition changes very fast. They will miss their American loyal customers in due time, expect an apology from them in about two years

diablo mobile was the last nail, they ain't coming back

mobile is a saturated market and they already lost their brand loyalty now. i expect diablo 3 to not be profitable enough in China or USA.

 

[phanbuey]

We are very angered and disappointed at what happened at the event

“We are very angered and disappointed at what happened at the event and do not condone it in any way. We also highly object the spreading of personal political beliefs in this manner…We will always respect and defend the pride of our country.” Dear Blizzard, The statement quoted above is an...

us.forums.blizzard.com

-Blizzard-Activision China

Yep... just a company trying to keep politics out of e sports folks. No Chinese propaganda here. Just upholding the pride of our country.

Edit:
Update quote, posted before this whole thing blew up:

 

[ErnstInEarnest]

Hmm it is hard to say what mas the minimum amount possible of punishment or what are the conditions on the contracts players sign.
From what I know the firing isn't due to what Blizzchung did but to how they handled it. Somehow I think they made things worse for everyone but I might be wrong.
I am sure Blizzard got a lot of pressure from China for this, so it is hard to know what their options really were.

Which society? Surely not China right? And we are talking about China here, like it or not. Blizzard has to comply, there is not such thing as an option.
Follow the rules or close the doors, those are the only two options. What do you really expect Blizzard to do?

Exactly! When China (or any other huge market) gets involved u just bend yourselves over? Where are your principles?
What u said is EXACTLY why ppl are furious about!