First things first, i'd like to ask each of you a favor. Read through this entire entry without skipping before you chose to comment. What I say here is my opinion, not the cold, hard truth. I'm just a person, not someone to take hate out on. I'm trying to understand all this, not presenting you with some shining revelation. Keep that in mind as you proceed.
First, some context.
I'm a Canadian. Albertan, to be exact. Farmguy, bred and raised. I'm also a web serial author, and a supporter of the people in Hong Kong. My only experiences with anyone or anything chinese have been bad ones, with one or two exceptions. I've had my works, which i've poured hundreds of collective hours into, stolen and pirated by chinese websites. In short, I am anti-chinese and not afraid to say it.
With that said, I believe Blitz backed Blizzard into a corner. By using their platform to push his views, he forced the company into a corner. To make a decision. You aren't happy with it, and neither am I. But, that isn't all there is to it.
Ask some questions.
Doesn't Blizzard have an office in Taiwan, or in China, more specifically, Shanghai?
Doesn't it have people working there?
Doesn't it have lord knows how many chinese players on it's games?
Doesn't China own Blizzard stock?
And since when has the chinese government been known for half-measures?
What exactly would have happened if Blizzard had let Blitz's anti-china views (because the chinese government wouldn't interpretate it as anything else) on their site. Or, say supported him.
They've brought in people simply for posting twitter pictures of their right eye covered. They haul in people repeatedly, day after day of interrogations, for deniably supporting Hong Kong. What happens to people who work for a company that they see espouses anti-chinese views? Who play their games?
Blizzard losing money or the chinese market seems like the very least thing that could happen. I ask again, since when has China been known for half-measures?
Don't take this as a pro-china or pro-Blizzard post, because it isn't. But, I also disapprove of Blitzchung's actions. Yeah, he was right to show his support for Hong Kong, but at the same time, he backed Blizzard into a corner when he could have used literally any other platform. A corner where anything it said and did would have consequences. They chose the one where yes, they pissed off me and most of the internet. They didn't chose the one that put their own employees in very real danger from an authoritarian government with no moral compass.
I believe they chose the hard way. To anger all of the western fanbase. But also to keep it's Chinese employees safe. Blitzchung selfishly forced them to.
That said, I support Hong Kong, but I believe all those people there are already dead. With China's history of violence against protesters, and with the army moving into the city, I sit here with a sick knot in my stomach, waiting for the inevitable post that tells me the internet has gone out in Hong Kong. Because that's when they'll move out in force. And there will be blood, make no mistake. In China's fucked-up eyes, Hong Kong has been smearing it publicly for the past months. They will retaliate in the only way they know how: wholesale slaughter.
I believe every person walking those streets with a mask on has balls the size of my Ford pickup. But somewhere deep down, I try not to get to close, so when they stop posting on r/hong kong, it doesn't hurt as much.
I'm just trying to point something out, and ask some questions. If you chose to comment, I would kindly ask you to be civil with me. I may be the unpopular opinion, but I am only a person as well.
First, some context.
I'm a Canadian. Albertan, to be exact. Farmguy, bred and raised. I'm also a web serial author, and a supporter of the people in Hong Kong. My only experiences with anyone or anything chinese have been bad ones, with one or two exceptions. I've had my works, which i've poured hundreds of collective hours into, stolen and pirated by chinese websites. In short, I am anti-chinese and not afraid to say it.
With that said, I believe Blitz backed Blizzard into a corner. By using their platform to push his views, he forced the company into a corner. To make a decision. You aren't happy with it, and neither am I. But, that isn't all there is to it.
Ask some questions.
Doesn't Blizzard have an office in Taiwan, or in China, more specifically, Shanghai?
Doesn't it have people working there?
Doesn't it have lord knows how many chinese players on it's games?
Doesn't China own Blizzard stock?
And since when has the chinese government been known for half-measures?
What exactly would have happened if Blizzard had let Blitz's anti-china views (because the chinese government wouldn't interpretate it as anything else) on their site. Or, say supported him.
They've brought in people simply for posting twitter pictures of their right eye covered. They haul in people repeatedly, day after day of interrogations, for deniably supporting Hong Kong. What happens to people who work for a company that they see espouses anti-chinese views? Who play their games?
Blizzard losing money or the chinese market seems like the very least thing that could happen. I ask again, since when has China been known for half-measures?
Don't take this as a pro-china or pro-Blizzard post, because it isn't. But, I also disapprove of Blitzchung's actions. Yeah, he was right to show his support for Hong Kong, but at the same time, he backed Blizzard into a corner when he could have used literally any other platform. A corner where anything it said and did would have consequences. They chose the one where yes, they pissed off me and most of the internet. They didn't chose the one that put their own employees in very real danger from an authoritarian government with no moral compass.
I believe they chose the hard way. To anger all of the western fanbase. But also to keep it's Chinese employees safe. Blitzchung selfishly forced them to.
That said, I support Hong Kong, but I believe all those people there are already dead. With China's history of violence against protesters, and with the army moving into the city, I sit here with a sick knot in my stomach, waiting for the inevitable post that tells me the internet has gone out in Hong Kong. Because that's when they'll move out in force. And there will be blood, make no mistake. In China's fucked-up eyes, Hong Kong has been smearing it publicly for the past months. They will retaliate in the only way they know how: wholesale slaughter.
I believe every person walking those streets with a mask on has balls the size of my Ford pickup. But somewhere deep down, I try not to get to close, so when they stop posting on r/hong kong, it doesn't hurt as much.
I'm just trying to point something out, and ask some questions. If you chose to comment, I would kindly ask you to be civil with me. I may be the unpopular opinion, but I am only a person as well.
