Blizzard CEO Calls Out Those "Tarnishing Our Reputation as Gamers"

[John Keefer]

Blizzard CEO Calls Out Those "Tarnishing Our Reputation as Gamers"

Blizzard president and CEO Mike Morhaime kicked off BlizzCon 2014 with a call to gamers to "redouble our efforts to be kind and respectful to one another."

The opening ceremony for BlizzCon always has Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime addressing the audience about what the company has in store for the show. But this year, in the first few minutes of his time on stage, Morhaime wanted to address GamerGate and the "small group of people ... doing really awful things and making some people's lives miserable."

Morhaime did not mention the hashtag movement by name, or decry either side of the movement, but chose to stay focused on the harassment and behavior that was "tarnishing our reputation as gamers." He finished with a call to Blizzard fans:

"Let's take a stand to reject hate and harassment, and let's redouble our efforts to be kind and respectful to one another," he said. "And let's remind the world what the gaming community is really all about."


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[Leonardo Huizar]

You know when somebody has to point out their own neutrality it really speaks volumes about how 1 side is clearly no better than the other side its villified.

 

[VaporWare]

This is another one of those moments where I agree with someone in basic principle while being fairly dubious about how seriously I can take them.

Blizzard's entire business model right now runs on promoting pathologically hyper-competitive cultures revolving around psychological addiction machines that promote /exactly/ the kind of dick behavior we see spewing out of the most toxic corners of the gaming industry. And that's /regardless/ of anything to do with #GamerGate, Feminism, or any other social issue one cares to name.

So, y'know, good effort and maybe work on that /in your games/, Blizz?

 

[ElMinotoro]

Brave stance from Blizzard.

 

[Guffe]

So, y'know, good effort and maybe work on that /in your games/, Blizz?

Aren't they?
I mean if someone harrasses someone online (WoW for example) you can report it, take a screenshot of what's being said in the chat and send it to them = ban!
That's a statement from them right there that they don't tolerate this kind of behaviour.

The problem is not everyone reports it and the amount of, again; WoW players, players is so big that monetoring it all live is practically impossible.

But as you said in the start of your post. He is talking for a good cause and let's hope people can be "kind and respectful". Not only in games, but IRL as well!

Be well and have a good evening everyone on the Escapist!

 

[VaporWare]

The problem is not everyone reports it and the amount of, again; WoW players, players is so big that monetoring it all live is practically impossible.

But as you said in the start of your post. He is talking for a good cause and let's hope people can be "kind and respectful". Not only in games, but IRL as well!

Be well and have a good evening everyone on the Escapist!

I think the problem is more underlying than that. I think that WoW promotes, at a fundamental and mechanical level, a very low regard for other players /as people/ that makes such misbehavior inevitable beyond the background noise of basic human jackassery.

Now, it's probable that they've hit the point where they're so written into a corner they can't fix that without throwing the whole thing out and starting over, and that's something they can't /do/ for fiscal reasons. We may not be able to see real change until that whole hot mess finally falls over on itself.

The point is, they build things that are more or less designed in ways that /ensure/ pathological behavior on the part of players and then 'fight' the resulting problems with token social efforts. This, to me, is like designing your boat with holes and then adding in a system of buckets to help keep it afloat. Which is about apt the way money flows through that system like so much water.

That's what I mean by working on it /in their games/...not just in their communities, which is what you describe, but in how they design their games to manipulate and capitalize on human behavior in the first place.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I think the problem is more underlying than that. I think that WoW promotes, at a fundamental and mechanical level, a very low regard for other players /as people/ that makes such misbehavior inevitable beyond the background noise of basic human jackassery.

....how so?

I could see MAYBE making this argument about a MOBA, although blame still lies squarely with the players. How is WoW, which is predominantly a cooperative game, "fundamentally and at a mechanical level" an enticement for harassment?

 

[Karadalis]

The problem is not everyone reports it and the amount of, again; WoW players, players is so big that monetoring it all live is practically impossible.

But as you said in the start of your post. He is talking for a good cause and let's hope people can be "kind and respectful". Not only in games, but IRL as well!

Be well and have a good evening everyone on the Escapist!

I think the problem is more underlying than that. I think that WoW promotes, at a fundamental and mechanical level, a very low regard for other players /as people/ that makes such misbehavior inevitable beyond the background noise of basic human jackassery.

Now, it's probable that they've hit the point where they're so written into a corner they can't fix that without throwing the whole thing out and starting over, and that's something they can't /do/ for fiscal reasons. We may not be able to see real change until that whole hot mess finally falls over on itself.

The point is, they build things that are more or less designed in ways that /ensure/ pathological behavior on the part of players and then 'fight' the resulting problems with token social efforts. This, to me, is like designing your boat with holes and then adding in a system of buckets to help keep it afloat. Which is about apt the way money flows through that system like so much water.

That's what I mean by working on it /in their games/...not just in their communities, which is what you describe, but in how they design their games to manipulate and capitalize on human behavior in the first place.

Oh you know nothing about the scum and villainy that goes on in WoW ^^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ6cCwsgGO4&list=PL0j3zibAlFDtNME8VT19rzylnYndxx71G (seriously this is comedy gold... take your time and listen to some of these stories)

However WoW as a whole has a rather friendly ingame community compared to lets say Call of duty or battlefield or even LoL, if you take the time to actually talk to people. Ofcourse with over 6 million people playing world wide, the chances of running into assholes is also not that rare.

And yes people do often forget that there are other human beings behind those other characters.

HOWEVER:

The ingame community is hardly as bad as you make them sound. 6 million people worldwide dont play this game to yell at each other you know.

I have been part of some great and fun guilds with great people in them and in my entire WoW career that has lasted me from the very first day of Vanilla WoW to the upcomming Warlords of draenor (with some large pauses here and there when things got boring) my ignore list had a total of TWO entries.

TWO times in over what now? 10 years? Did i had the feeling to put someone on there for being total douchebags. So thats for my personal experience.

 

[Bryan Nolen]

I think the problem is more underlying than that. I think that WoW promotes, at a fundamental and mechanical level, a very low regard for other players /as people/ that makes such misbehavior inevitable beyond the background noise of basic human jackassery.

Citation Needed - I have been playing WoW contiguously for 7 years now, not once did I feel that WoW, though mechanics, chat, gameplay, structure, company activities, or community engagement, do ANY of the things you claim it to have done so.

Are people idiots in large groups - sure are, but look ANYWHERE for that. As others have said, there is a strong positive feedback mechanism built into the game - if you are the victim of harassment, observe someone cheating or harassing others, or breaking the (comprehensive) rules of conduct, it is very easy to report them in game. These reports are investigated by actual staff and acted upon quickly.

Name one other online gaming community that is more inclusive and fosters this community spirit.

 

[VaporWare]

....how so?

I could see MAYBE making this argument about a MOBA, although blame still lies squarely with the players. How is WoW, which is predominantly a cooperative game, "fundamentally and at a mechanical level" an enticement for harassment?

Oh you know nothing about the scum and villainy that goes on in WoW ^^

I think the problem is more underlying than that. I think that WoW promotes, at a fundamental and mechanical level, a very low regard for other players /as people/ that makes such misbehavior inevitable beyond the background noise of basic human jackassery.

Citation Needed - I have been playing WoW contiguously for 7 years now, not once did I feel that WoW, though mechanics, chat, gameplay, structure, company activities, or community engagement, do ANY of the things you claim it to have done so.

Name one other online gaming community that is more inclusive and fosters this community spirit.

From the bottom up, I had much more positive experiences with City of Heroes while it was running, and some good fortune with Guild Wars 2, though both of those games have/had other issues to contend with.

Guppy's remark about MOBAs is apt here, because a significant portion of WoW's pathology revolves around it's PvP. The fact that you are explicitly disallowed from communicating with opposing faction players discourages people from regarding each other as anything other than 'the enemy'. In my experience, this leads to treating players as little more than mobs...you generally have good experiences with people /in your faction/ because they /aren't/ living enemy NPCs whose only purpose in your playtime is to kill or be killed by you if you have any interaction with them at all.

Beyond that, there are incentives for people in the achievement system to actively disrupt the game for other players. I'm not going to try to present an exhaustive list here, but start with rewards for Capitol Raids and the WotLK launch events for an idea of how Blizzard has historically fostered a less than healthy competitive spirit and work your way out from there.

Now, that doesn't necessarily impact everyone to the same degree. The game is big enough to have plenty of corners where those issues may never touch you. But my point is that Blizzard, at least the Blizzard that built the thing up through the last several years, seems to have /really wanted it to/.

As to ignoring and reporting folks, that's a nice system to have, but there are just as many examples of people slipping the noose indefinitely and I'd rather not get into an argument over anecdotes about trollslaying. I know people get banned, but I also know people come back from being banned. It's better than nothing, certainly, but it's not exactly the end of the problem is it?

 

[Ickorus]

I agree with Morheime, any decent person would, and I particularly respect that he isn't pretending to take a moral high ground whilst simultaneously launching a massive and hypocritical campaign of slander and hate against a large and diverse group of people.

It's the small things, y'know.

 

[iller3]

Blizzard's entire business model right now runs on promoting pathologically hyper-competitive cultures revolving around psychological addiction machines that promote /exactly/ the kind of dick behavior we see spewing out of the most toxic corners of the gaming industry. And that's /regardless/ of anything to do with #GamerGate, Feminism, or any other social issue one cares to name.

So, y'know, good effort and maybe work on that /in your games/, Blizz?

Fun fact: One of their best "competitive" Warcraft players, named Hafu, is a woman.

I used to play TF2 against her and I HATED her. She'd spawn camp us, never log on without a pocket Medic, and run up 20-1 KDR's. And then only laugh at our bitching, never really respond. She was the epitome of all untouchable Tryhards. But it raises a point that "Competitive" or even "Hyper Competitive", and Misogyny are completely different. The vocal minorities especially tend to be anything but actually competitive themselves and usually are only using it as a shield. Blizzard can pander to the Competitive mechanics of gaming without being responsible for the bitter xenophobia of the types of people who often insult casual gamers.

Those misanthropes participate in echo-chambers specifically because they're not gifted enough to tackle a wide scope of skill sets or make convincing statements on their own. That also applies to both sides of this stupid gender war that keeps masquerading behind Game Criticisms. And The ONLY person I can see taking on the broader issues so far, is TotalBiscuit and I'll be honest, I wasn't ever a fan of his. I always thought he was a bloaty overprivileged Ponce. But on this, more people definitely need to take a cue from him and get involved in actual discussions instead of doing this same Echo-chamber crap the 2 American political parties keep doing.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I think the problem is more underlying than that. I think that WoW promotes, at a fundamental and mechanical level, a very low regard for other players /as people/ that makes such misbehavior inevitable beyond the background noise of basic human jackassery.

10 years of WoW (minus time off between Xpacs and decompression for real life) and I've not turned into a jackass. Nor have I seen any evidence to this at all. There are jackass players, but they already existed as jackasses before they played, and those type of people are part of every damn internet community ever. WoW doesn't promote this behavior, it just exists because a percentage of the human population of the world are in fact assholes to their very core.
The game itself doesn't bring out the worst in people who play it, nor does it encourage such behavior. If you're talking about the way people act on a PVP server, the whole cross-faction ganking... well thats the price of playing on a server where one is not protected from the opposing faction whilst out in the wild. Its part of the game mechanic to kill opposing players, though there is no reward for ganking low-levels aside from personal satisfaction. But one does not get anything tangible in game for acting like an ass, which puts your view of "mechanical" promotion of misbehavior in a poor light indeed.

Seems though its inevitable when a multiplayer game developer/publisher of any sort says they'd prefer if people were civil to each other and want to promote good sportsmanship that people are going to instantly bash said developer/publisher because its just the "cool" thing to do. They're all a bunch of money grubbing greedy assholes who care little about their players anyway, so lets spin wild theories about how they secretly promote the very behavior they're asking folks to drop... right?
*sigh*

 

[rofltehcat]

It should be said that it was a 100% neutral statement against those perpetrating harassment etc. and not a statement pro-/anti-GG.

So what many sites reported about the statement is WRONG.
It was only brought up in the after-show:
Video outtake by TotalBiscuit [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj4ghK3mFrk&feature=youtu.be&channel=TotalHalibut]
It was brought up by the interviewer (Geoff). Watch Mike Morhaime's face before and after that guy mentions GG.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Snip

I'm not going to say there is zero potential for griefing in WoW, but the game scarcely is designed in such a way as to promote it. There is very little in the way of tangible rewards for griefing, and it's against the game's TOS to boot. WoW is probably one of the friendliest/least hostile MMO communities in history, due to the low barrier to entry and reams of casual content. Your personal experiences with it notwithstanding...sounds like you just had some bad luck.

My comment about MOBAs is directed at the fact that a single bad play can bury the game for your entire team, so censure of poor play is at an unusual high, and the game play style almost encourages blaming and dogpiling the weakest link. That said, plenty of people manage to play MOBAs whilst being completely civil human beings. There is no game that encourages bad behavior to such a degree that the people behaving badly don't bear complete responsibility for their odious behavior.

 

[The Lunatic]

Well, I agree with him entirely.

However, he doesn't mention Gamergame specifically, and as the video by Total Biscuit shows, it's not him that's attributing anything he said towards Gamergate.

So, to report that is incorrect.

Speaking broadly, I absolutely agree with his statement.

Regrettable, there are those who seem not to do so and hate anyone for holding a certain opinion.

 

[VaporWare]

There is no game that encourages bad behavior to such a degree that the people behaving badly don't bear complete responsibility for their odious behavior.

That, at least, we can agree on.

I will be interested to see where Blizzard proceeds from this statement, if nothing else. Whatever my perspective on WoW or their propensity for pathologically competitive design, it's always nicer to live in a world where people can be respectful of one another and I do applaud efforts made in that direction.

I'm just very, very cynical about their sincerity and ability to deliver as, I stress, an organization.

 

[UberPubert]

Brave stance from Blizzard.

I sincerely can't tell if this is dry sarcasm or not...



OT: Morhaine's right, I wish people would stop slandering the gaming community as toxic bigots.