My Activision Boycott/Starcraft II Dilemma

[Callate]

In fairness, the L4D2 boycott was at least not without effect. Valve was at some pains to reassure the boycott's presumptive leadership that Valve was not, in fact, taking advantage of their loyal fanbase (or Valve spent a tiny amount of a development budget on flying some easily bought off cretins to their HQ for inexpensive PR without actually changing anything about the game or how they were rolling it out, depending on how you want to interpret the situation.) Still, it is at least possible to make a company that gives a shit about its customers respond.

That said, Activision? Heh heh. Not so much that company. Blizzard, yes, at least to some degree. The RealID debacle, however unfortunate, at least is some proof of that.

I'm sorry to say there's no easy answer that allows you to walk away with a completely clear conscience and play Starcraft 2. However independent Blizzard may be with regard to games design or even management, that little "/" mark is a pretty solid indicator that the groups on each side share the same coffers. You can still post on an Activision forum about your intent to not purchase future Activision titles, including some specifics. You don't have to mention that you're about to plunk down your money for SC2. But if this really is a matter of principle to you, you're not going to feel entirely good about it.

It's also worth noting that the plan to release SC2 in three installments likely means that the price of the first will take a dip when the second comes out if you can assuage your conscience by putting less money in Kotick's Hand Of Doom(tm). Though I understand waiting may not be easy.

Or... You can just listen to any of the several voices here just advising you to buy the thing and ignore this. I won't hold it against you.

 

[Mechalemmiwinks]

Why boycott a company anyway? I mean, if they do something you don't like, don't buy their product. Trust that other individuals will have the sense to do the same on their own accord.

This whole idea is just meaningless posturing.

 

[astrav1]

I say don't buy it. It may hurt but the more boycotting there is the sooner Activision will stop destroying the industry. I'm doing the same thing right now. I say pirate their games if at all possible.

 

[antidonkey]

If you want other reasons, consider that they also did things like increase the price $10 over what PC software normally retails for. You buy this it proves that people will buy a "AAA" title for the extra $10 and encourage a coordinated price raise.

On top of this, consider that the game also seems to have been deceptively marketed. From what I'm reading a lot of people didn't realize that there was only one "Campaign" included in the game and it doesn't tell the full story. Perhaps this was on the internet and game sites somewhere, but a lot of people were irritated about this when they actually purchused the product. People could have been enforced of this en-masse but probably weren't for a reason. So what this means is that your ultimatly paying $10 more than normal for part of a product. Sort of like taking a three hour movie, and cutting it into 90 minute chunks so you can sell two admission tickets and make twice as much money off of it, though in this case they seem to be slicing it into three parts. Buy into this, it encourages similar behavior.

What's more Starcraft 2 was also being presented as having this epic budget, that's part of a marketing gimmick nowadays because people figure "if they are spending that much money, it must be good", it wasn't until after release that we were hearing that the game didn't actually take all *that* much money to produce, and while what is there is impressive it's also not the full package people were expecting, and had that belief reinforced by the amount of money being spent.

Yea. No movies would ever be split into multiple parts. Certainly not the Kill Bill ones or the Lord of the Rings films. That'd never happen.

Also, I don't recall SC2's budget ever being part of the marketing. What I do recall is the gaming media pulling random large numbers out of their ass.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Yea, and if anyone was actually following through with it, then it might matter. But the thing is, every game has some small group of discontents saying they aren't going to buy it for one reason or another. It rarely amounts to anything more than nerdrage, though. What, are they going to go stand on a soapbox on the street corner yelling, "don't buy Starcraft 2!?"

I mean FFS, look at Fable. So many promised features that never made their way into the game. People still bought it. And even Fable 2 sold fairly well, despite more promises being broken. And I'm guessing Fable 3 will sell well too.

Aye..the sad truth is that the market demographic for these contested titles is largely impulsive and immature (teenager-young adult males). However, I do believe that as long as publishers continue to employ more and more restrictive policies with their games (and hike prices to "compensate") then I do believe more people will become privy to what these publishers are doing.

 

[L4hlborg]

I myself am boycotting Guitar Hero and CoD. They are Activision's two largest franchises and they are clearly tied to Activision. And their quality has been going down at an exponential rate, GH just ripping of Rock band and CoD just not working. Starcraft 2 hasn't been touched by Activision's tainted hands, so it is something I can play without feeling too bad about it.

 

[MongoBaer]

Integrity? I work as an IT consultant at a major investment bank integrity is something you sign away with the contract!

Off Topic: I have to call Bravo Sierra on this comment. If you are willing to sign away your intergity you had none to begin with.

On topic: I think you need to man up and accept the results of your decision. If you feel that a boycot of Activision is approprate then dont buy any of their products. Activision and Blizzard may be seperate business operations but their are still one corporate identiy (ActivisonBlizard). Show the courage of your convictions or STFU.

 

[rsvp42]

Didn't feel like reading all the other comments, so I'm sure I'm just echoing others' suggestions.

Just buy it. You'll love it. As for your principles? Well obviously you want to buy it. So either you want to buy it enough to break your own rule this once, or your pride won't let you, but that's entirely your deal. Let us know when you decide

 

[Worgen]

ehh really the only problem with avoiding sc2 is that it launched in the summer instead of near xmas so there arnt many other games around right now, but if you like rts games at all then just go buy dawn of war 1/2 or company of heroes, or world in conflict or something from steam, I dont think any of thoes are over 20 bucks and they will solve the problem of wanting to play sc2

There's plenty of games around, they just aren't brand new. The last new game I bought was GTA 4 when it was released last month.

they arnt new but that doesnt mean they arnt good, it means they will cost less and personally I think dow 2 graphically is better looking then sc2, same with world in conflict

I haven't played either so I can't really comment on that. Personally if I want to play an RTS I go back to the Age of Empires or Command and Conquer series.

ra3 was pretty awesome, I never played the empires series tho, I think the closest I got to it was age of mythology and I loved age of mythology

 

[crotalidian]

Why boycott a company anyway? I mean, if they do something you don't like, don't buy their product. Trust that other individuals will have the sense to do the same on their own accord.

This whole idea is just meaningless posturing.

boycotting IS not buying the game. I am not a very vocal boycotter but its a personal stance

I say don't buy it. It may hurt but the more boycotting there is the sooner Activision will stop destroying the industry. I'm doing the same thing right now. I say pirate their games if at all possible.

I refuse to be a pirate as much as I refuse to support Kotick.

So far these thereads have been split between convicing level headed arguments of why I shouldnt buy the game if I value my stance, people who have little opinion either way or think that the 2 companies are separate enough for it not to matter and 'you are fighting a losing battle the game r awesome buy now and give up!' which is all pushing me to not buy the game.

If I could even see one reasoned argument as to why I should buy this game beyond 'it's good' I may reconsider and shut my flaky consumer cakehole about the whole affair.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Go the way of the Left 4 Dead 2 boycotters and play the damn game anyway.

...

Seriously, go play the game... What the fuck are you waiting for?! Just play the damn game already!

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Problem is simple. You either want the game or not, if you want it then buy it, if you don't then leave it. Your principles and pride should never get in the way of your enjoyment, you can complain about Activison's stupid ass anti-consumer practises, play SC2 and still be on the moral high ground. You have nothing to prove to anyone but yourself.

 

[Mukil]

Hit em where it hurts. Download and play SC2..the demo ofcourse =)

 

[teebeeohh]

i think you can buy it, this would be the same as with CoD games, millions of people will buy it anyway, it will be success and it doen't matter wether you buy it or not. Boycott some smaller Activision game, there your "vote" might have more influence

oh and activision has shit to do with with the development process of blizz games, maybe they a say in things like the design of the bnet but they won't fuck up blizz like they fucked up infinity ward.

 

[Chal]

Why boycott a company anyway? I mean, if they do something you don't like, don't buy their product. Trust that other individuals will have the sense to do the same on their own accord.

This whole idea is just meaningless posturing.

boycotting IS not buying the game. I am not a very vocal boycotter but its a personal stance

I say don't buy it. It may hurt but the more boycotting there is the sooner Activision will stop destroying the industry. I'm doing the same thing right now. I say pirate their games if at all possible.

I refuse to be a pirate as much as I refuse to support Kotick.

So far these thereads have been split between convicing level headed arguments of why I shouldnt buy the game if I value my stance, people who have little opinion either way or think that the 2 companies are separate enough for it not to matter and 'you are fighting a losing battle the game r awesome buy now and give up!' which is all pushing me to not buy the game.

If I could even see one reasoned argument as to why I should buy this game beyond 'it's good' I may reconsider and shut my flaky consumer cakehole about the whole affair.

There isn't really a reason to buy a game other than its quality. Obviously, they exist solely for entertainment. I'm a fan of Starcraft myself, but if you really have such qualms about supporting business practices you are personally opposed to, don't try and make others convince you regardless.

There are plenty of other excellent titles out there. Even as a fan, I'll agree with the 'stick to your guns' philosophy on this one.

 

[JRShield]

The question is simple: Do you like the game enough to stop your boycott?

If you don't like the way AB (Activision-Blizzard) does buisness, you can still buy the game and let yourself get heard in the community. I personally think they would listen to the buyers sooner than to the boycotters. Rise up from within and if you gather enough support, they will have to listen. Else they would betray their community and that can be lethal to a game publisher.

This might go against your principles, but it is worth considering.

 

[martin's a madman]

I don't really restrict buying based on some moral principle, I have none.

If I like a game, I'll buy it, if I don't, I won't.

I ignore who is publishing it and a lot of the time even who made it, I just want to play games because they are fun.

 

[Neuromaster]

To me, this seems like boycotting Jell-O and Teddy Grahams because it supports Phillip Morris. Or cell phones because they contain conflict minerals from the Congo.

I eat Jell-O and carry a cell phone because I've believe that boycotting them is both inconvenient and impractical. Almost everything can be traced upwards to an entity that is in some way evil. I think that there are better ways of influencing corporate behavior.

Refusing to buy Activision products gives them no data. Their analysts have no idea why you didn't buy the game, or which practices you consider anti-consumer. You're a non-entity.

Consider this hypothetical situation where developers A, B, C, and D are all owned by EvilCorp(TM). B represents Blizzard, a developer that has a reputation of delivering high-quality games and supporting their community. A, C, and D are tossers.

I buy games from B(lizzard), knowing that it will financially benefit EvilCorp(TM). I can't boycott everything that traces to them without missing out on a sizeable fraction of AAA titles. But maybe the marketing geniuses at EvilCorp(TM) will notice that B is outselling their other studios. Maybe they'll wonder why. Maybe they'll conclude that B is doing something right (or at least profitable), and, in the pursuit of profit, direct A, C, and D to be more like B.

My opinion? If you want to vote with your wallet, vote for the games you like, not against the holding corporation that happens to own that particular studio. Don't just refuse to participate.

 

[Doctor Panda]

How good is your internet connection? Cause mine dies every time the phone rings (seriously, what is up with that?) and it's been a bit of a hell trying to play online. But most people don't have that problem, and i have had very good pings while playing when i DO have a connection.

Seriously dick move though.

Aside from the crushingly invasive DRM though, great game.