A Formal Thread about Activision/Blizzard

[TheMysteriousGX]

Yes. By a vocal superminority of players who were quickly and generally mercilessly shut down, until the next available moment for them to pipe back up. While the rest of the community was busy griping about flavors of the month and the game's neverending supply of balance issues, server instability, dogshit itemization, bad boss encounters, tacit promotion of actually toxic community behavior like gearscores, and a dozen other problems with the game that actually impacted its substance opposed to its aesthetics.

Because that's precisely what that crap was about: aesthetics, not substance. Same as it's always been. Which is why and how those who were griping then, and continued griping, and still griped even after Blizzard started making obvious token aesthetic changes in transparently obvious ploys to distract from deep and endemic issues with the company and the products they squeezed into the toilet bowl, ignored canary after canary in the coal mine while attacking those calling foul on the plays for years.

Sorry, that game's up. What's come out now, is exactly what those "celebrating" Blizzard's brazen virtue signaling were defending by proxy. Because that's exactly the game Blizzard was playing as a corporation, and useful idiots gonna useful idiot.

But lest I fail to make myself clear, there are two sides in this "controversy": people who knew who and what Blizzard had been for years, and useful idiots. The people you're stanning for, are the useful idiots. There's not one fucking pixel of underboob, cleavage, or navel, nor any cheeky name, nor off-color pun in its dialog, in any game Blizzard published in its entire existence as a corporation, that can be censored to sweep what's "now" (only to those who obsessed over aesthetics and virtue signaling for years while ignoring substance) known under the rug.

Uhh, I'm not defending anything. The Blizzard forums being a toxic cesspit is well known.

This is what I mean when I said:

But that's reams of superfan forum arguments that are at least 14 years old. I don't even remember all of it, and I'm certainly not gonna relitigate the entirety of WoW drama to somebody who's got goalposts loaded to an ATV. I did that a decade and a half ago and spoiler alert: you don't have any new arguments

I don't remember most of this shit because it was a lifetime ago for me. Anything I fail to mention or fail to remember is then used as some sort weird attack or defense when my basic statement was "it's always been shit, the shit was professionally condoned, and anybody who wasn't shit could see it was shit"

 

[Eacaraxe]

...my basic statement was "it's always been shit, the shit was professionally condoned, and anybody who wasn't shit could see it was shit"

And here you are, changing the conversation away from people in the Blizzard "fandom" who defended the corporation and gleefully allowed themselves to be led by the nose by corporate kabuki theater. "Professionally" condoned?

The "professionals" in question were those like the cowardly, hypocritical jagoffs at certain outlets who were in the know about what happened at Blizzard, and proceeded to humblebrag about knowing once the story broke, took those corporate kabuki theater stories and ran with them to paint Blizzard's critics as "heh, gamers". And yeah I'm sorry if I might be toeing the line on forum rules, but for the love of me I can't think of any other, less invective, terms I might otherwise use for self-proclaimed social justice activists engaging in Blizzard apologetics for years knowing the score behind closed doors.

This is Harvey Weinstein bullshit all over again, where those who threw Weinstein under the bus hardest and fastest were those who enabled and protected him for twenty years, acting out of unmitigated self-interest and to perform damage control.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

And here you are, changing the conversation away from people in the Blizzard "fandom" who defended the corporation and gleefully allowed themselves to be led by the nose by corporate kabuki theater. "Professionally" condoned?

The "professionals" in question were those like the cowardly, hypocritical jagoffs at certain outlets who were in the know about what happened at Blizzard, and proceeded to humblebrag about knowing once the story broke, took those corporate kabuki theater stories and ran with them to paint Blizzard's critics as "heh, gamers". And yeah I'm sorry if I might be toeing the line on forum rules, but for the love of me I can't think of any other, less invective, terms I might otherwise use for self-proclaimed social justice activists engaging in Blizzard apologetics for years knowing the score behind closed doors.

This is Harvey Weinstein bullshit all over again, where those who threw Weinstein under the bus hardest and fastest were those who enabled and protected him for twenty years, acting out of unmitigated self-interest and to perform damage control.

Yeh the revisionism on things really is whiplash inducing.

It was sort of
"Hey they make Soldier 76 gay to cover up their latest controversy, it's cynical and obvious"
"Shut up bigot you just hate gay people you should be happy and celebrating them making him gay"
"But I don't really care, I don't think who he shags make him a better or worse character"
"See that proves you're a bigot cause you chose to talk about it now."
"But you accused me of being a bigot am I not allowed to defend myself now?"
"Cause you are a bigot, your actions prove it your words are meaningless compared to your actions and you chose to focus on him being gay"
"You LITERALLY CALLED ME A BIGOT for daring to suggest Solider 76 being made gay now was a PR move which it is"
"To even suggest it's a PR move shows how much of a bigot you are".

Now suddenly people are going "We knew all the time it was a PR move covering up their controversies" and I just want to yell back "Then what the fuck was with the whole attacking people and calling them bigots you were doing before if you knew people calling it out were right?"

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

And here you are, changing the conversation away from people in the Blizzard "fandom" who defended the corporation and gleefully allowed themselves to be led by the nose by corporate kabuki theater. "Professionally" condoned?

Yes, professionally condoned. Because they were fucking working there. Hence the fucking lawsuit! For some fucking reason I can more about the people fostering the toxic environment and/or performing the kabuki theater than the people who fell for it. I'm weird like that

The "professionals" in question were those like the cowardly, hypocritical jagoffs at certain outlets who were in the know about what happened at Blizzard, and proceeded to humblebrag about knowing once the story broke, took those corporate kabuki theater stories and ran with them to paint Blizzard's critics as "heh, gamers". And yeah I'm sorry if I might be toeing the line on forum rules, but for the love of me I can't think of any other, less invective, terms I might otherwise use for self-proclaimed social justice activists engaging in Blizzard apologetics for years knowing the score behind closed doors.

This is Harvey Weinstein bullshit all over again, where those who threw Weinstein under the bus hardest and fastest were those who enabled and protected him for twenty years, acting out of unmitigated self-interest and to perform damage control.

Fan-fucking-tastic. And you had a go at me because...? Or random forum people who had a slightly different priority than yours in what they were criticizing Blizzard about? If all these people, outside of the "virtue signaling super minority", knew the fuck what was up, then where the fuck were they? Why the fuck did they keep playing through all the toxic bullshit? Stayed playing through "the game's neverending supply of balance issues, server instability, dogshit itemization, bad boss encounters, tacit promotion of actually toxic community behavior like gearscores, and a dozen other problems with the game that actually impacted its substance opposed to its aesthetics."? This supposed much larger group of people? Did they actually give a shit about the toxic environment at and fostered by Blizzard or did they just ***** about Zarya's muscles?

Fucking hell man, guess what real actual issues they're bitching about in user reviews for Diablo 2 Resurrected. It ain't fucking toxic gear scores and corporate fuckery, it's over-crowded servers and SJWs.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Yes, professionally condoned. Because they were fucking working there. Hence the fucking lawsuit! For some fucking reason I can more about the people fostering the toxic environment and/or performing the kabuki theater than the people who fell for it.

I think Eacaraxe means as in the media and others being fine with it and nor reporting on it because Activision Blizzard was "One of the good guys" and they were "Helping fight the toxic evil monsters in gaming" and or "Leading the way to gaming's diverse new future that it needs to be."

Fan-fucking-tastic. And you had a go at me because...? Or random forum people who had a slightly different priority than yours in what they were criticizing Blizzard about? If all these people, outside of the "virtue signaling super minority", knew the fuck what was up, then where the fuck were they?

Sitting on their hands because access was more important to them at the time and pulling the trigger on such a story is risky as some outlets very much will jettison people seen as having damaged the brand or cause too much risk of losing access to companies.

Why the fuck did they keep playing through all the toxic bullshit? Stayed playing through "the game's neverending supply of balance issues, server instability, dogshit itemization, bad boss encounters, tacit promotion of actually toxic community behavior like gearscores, and a dozen other problems with the game that actually impacted its substance opposed to its aesthetics."? This supposed much larger group of people? Did they actually give a shit about the toxic environment at and fostered by Blizzard or did they just ***** about Zarya's muscles?

Why stay?
Because they hoped they were wrong?
Because they hoped things could change?
Because they didn't know where else to go?
Because their friends were also there still?

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Now suddenly people are going "We knew all the time it was a PR move covering up their controversies" and I just want to yell back "Then what the fuck was with the whole attacking people and calling them bigots you were doing before if you knew people calling it out were right?"

Because there's a difference between "lol, blizzard is just announcing Soldier 76 is gay to cover up a fiasco, I'm out" and "Blizzard is caving to liberal SJW cucks by making Soldier 76 gay, I'm out"

Like, if you ever got outside of your bubble, you'd see plenty of "SJWs" freely saying the former

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Because there's a difference between "lol, blizzard is just announcing Soldier 76 is gay to cover up a fiasco, I'm out" and "Blizzard is caving to liberal SJW cucks by making Soldier 76 gay, I'm out"

Like, if you ever got outside of your bubble, you'd see plenty of "SJWs" freely saying the former

Because that is what Blizzard was doing in part to appease certain groups too. It was seen said groups were mad so Blizzard threw them a bone knowing they'd turn on other people in quite a number of cases. Blizzard just looked at a list of demanded stuff by SJW types and picked one from that to make lol.

 

[SilentPony]

Okay can someone explain this to me? I listened to the video, and Im not quiet sure I get it. Some lawyers used to work at one agency and then moved to another, and that's apparently grounds to have everything thrown out?

Also I dunno which stunningly handsome and well-endowed user called that Activision-Blizzard would settle out of court for a hysterically small amount to undisclosed parties while not admitting any fault, but they should probably get way more props than they get.

 

[Eacaraxe]

So, Blizzard announced McCree's new name today. Cole Cassidy. And because of course it is, that happens to be the name of a porn star.

Link below to prove it, in spoiler tags and with additional warning because it's an NSFW link. There is nothing explicit on that page, but it is still an NSFW link.

Spoiler

This is a NSFW link.

Well done. Well fucking done.

 

[thebobmaster]

Here is footage of Blizzard's office at this moment.

 

[Eacaraxe]

Wait, new development. A second porn star going by the name has also been discovered. This one is apparently...a gay wrestling fetish actor.

No links this time because...well, I can't find an SFW one.

Equality!

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

So, Blizzard announced McCree's new name today. Cole Cassidy. And because of course it is, that happens to be the name of a porn star.

Link below to prove it, in spoiler tags and with additional warning because it's an NSFW link. There is nothing explicit on that page, but it is still an NSFW link.

Spoiler

This is a NSFW link.

Well done. Well fucking done.

Which changes the ship name "Mchanzo" to "Hole", to the delight of Twitter

(in fairness, that seems like kinda of a common name)

 

[BrawlMan]

You can afford that pay cut now.

Activision Blizzard's CEO looks to slash his pay by millions as the company's harassment scandal continues

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has asked the company's board to slash his pay to the "lowest amount California law will allow" until the gaming company fixes its issues with gender discrimination and harassment, he said in a letter to employees on Thursday.

amp.cnn.com

A Letter From CEO Bobby Kotick Regarding Progress and Commitments Made at Activision Blizzard

SANTA MONICA, Calif., October 28, 2021--Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) CEO Bobby Kotick today sent the following letter to all employees.

finance.yahoo.com

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

The only letter I want to read from Bobby Kotick is his resignation. Preferably written on prison stationery.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

So Blizzards latest move.

They've added a giant pussy into the game that is fine being ridden


and if me giving the least charitable most offensive framing of events for a company presently dealing with sexual harassment lawsuits isn't getting you fired up then here's the other thing. Blizzard staff claimed they were unable to work on WOW for a few weeks due to the stress of the Lawsuit and revelations about the company. But apparently they managed work managed to get done on a rideable cat premium mount. So regular subscribers yeh you get your patches delayed but the whale who throw money at the game get 1 more items to throw money at Blizzard to acquire.

 

[Eacaraxe]

So regular subscribers yeh you get your patches delayed but the whale who throw money at the game get 1 more items to throw money at Blizzard to acquire.

They gotta pay for naming Overwatch characters after gay wrestling fetish actors somehow. Triple-A talent costs triple-A bucks.

 

[Fallen Soldier]

You have to wonder when was the last time Activision has had positive press reception? Feels like every time their in the news it’s always negative and for a good reason to!

 

[Eacaraxe]

You have to wonder when was the last time Activision has had positive press reception? Feels like every time their in the news it’s always negative and for a good reason to!

Early 2000's, the era of the early CoD, good Marvel, early Total War, and early Guitar Hero games. That was right before the mid-2000's when Activision hopped aboard the DLC train in favor of ditching expansions, and never looked back. Opinion was already trending downhill by the time of the Activision-Blizzard merger, and the Infinity Ward fiasco sealed the deal on them being the game industry's Bond villains for all time.

 

[Gordon_4]

So Blizzards latest move.

They've added a giant pussy into the game that is fine being ridden


and if me giving the least charitable most offensive framing of events for a company presently dealing with sexual harassment lawsuits isn't getting you fired up then here's the other thing. Blizzard staff claimed they were unable to work on WOW for a few weeks due to the stress of the Lawsuit and revelations about the company. But apparently they managed work managed to get done on a rideable cat premium mount. So regular subscribers yeh you get your patches delayed but the whale who throw money at the game get 1 more items to throw money at Blizzard to acquire.

Based on the flying pose, its a reskin of the Vulpine Familiar mount that's been on the store for a year or two. So like, 90% of the work has been done because the rig and movements already exist. So I don't think this thing took more than two weeks to put together. If that. And that assumes they don't already have half a dozen of these things already premade and ready for release at pre-determined intervals.

Also WoW only has one kind of subscriber. There's no 'whale' tier unless you count being able to subscribe X months in advance.

 

[Agema]

You have to wonder when was the last time Activision has had positive press reception? Feels like every time their in the news it’s always negative and for a good reason to!

Well... in accordance with Earcaraxe above, I seem to recall it being about the mid-2000s when people started get pretty pissed at Activision, mostly for finding creative ways to gouge players.

That said, Activision and more so EA already had a reputation for lazy franchising rather than funding high quality by then. However, one might note EA and Activision are still going strong, where many of their contemporaries from that era are not.