It's a statement written for Chinese Authorities. This twitter thread analyzes it pretty well.

https://twitter.com/Grummz/status/1183215204525412352

that's a really good and thorough analysis.

> Either Mark Kern is misleading on purpose or he's a complete moron.

Out of 33 tweets he makes a single mistake/overreach and you want to brand the whole thing as a "ridiculous conspiracy theory"? That seems to be a rather hasty generalization based on the 2nd of 33 tweets...

Mark Kern is a gamergater primarily known for his really bad takes, this is not a hasty generalization.

>brand the whole thing as a "ridiculous conspiracy theory"?

Oh no, I just stopped reading after I reached the ridiculous conspiracy theory. My comment is regarding the part I quoted.

Do yourself a favor and finish reading the chain

I have now done that, my opinion remains unchanged.

Thanks.

>It's as though someone just finished explaining why vaccines are believed not to cause autism, and you respond "actually, this particular study you cited surveyed 924 people, not a thousand like you said. Looks like the pro-vax cult can't seem to stop lying!"

That'd be a mistake, or just poor wording. It kind of sounds like you're accusing me of some kind of silly pedantry here?

There's simply no way one could mistakenly arrive at the conclusion that this post might have originated from China, Mark Kern absolutely knew what he was doing when he dropped that insinuation. There's simply does not exist a single shred of evidence to support the "possibly China" claim.

Had he just left it at "overseas" then you could absolutely dismiss this as a mere mistake, he did not.

It also could have been a date based on last edit. There are so many possibilities, that it is suspect. Fair point.

Unlike you, I don't think it's all that important a detail as its omission (mistake or not) does not detract from the analysis.

Not to get too meta, but if it was intentional, why would it necessarily be, since it's so incidental to the narrative?

>Not to get too meta, but if it was intentional, why would it necessarily be, since it's so incidental to the narrative?

The decision to add "possibly China" despite no evidence pointing towards that was certainly intentional and in bad faith.

>Unlike you, I don't think it's all that important a detail as its omission (mistake or not) does not detract from the analysis.

I think his choice to deliberately misinform is worth being called out whether or not it detracts from the rest of the analysis. It's clear that this thread wasn't written in good faith.

The rest of his analysis is uninteresting and not worthy of much criticism, he's mostly correct, but a HS student could come up with this stuff.

It isnt possibly India. There is circumstantial evidence that it could be due to Chinese influence. The blanket interpretation ignoring context is not compelling. GL

> It isnt possibly India.

It's just as much "possibly India" as it's "possibly China", there's literally zero evidence (circumstantial or not) suggesting that the post originated from either.

> could be due to Chinese influence

Completely different from the suggestion that the post was literally made in China.

I'm sure absolutely nobody doubts that this post was made due to Chinese influence, it is the claim that the post physically originated from China which I find fundamentally ridiculous.

Honestly, I think this is going to be the end of Brack’s short tenure as top executive at Blizzard. I am reminded of the parable of the three letters. I think the company has backed itself into a corner, and the only way out is to let leadership fall on the sword.

Can you link to said parable? I have not heard it and Google doesn't turn up useful results for "parable of the three letters".

Not the GP, but perhaps the 'Prepare three envelopes' story [0], which seems relevant...

> The story of three envelopes is a business classic for dysfunctional organizations. It starts with an incoming manager replacing a recently fired outgoing manager. On his way out, the outgoing manager hands the new manager three envelopes and remarks, "when things get tough, open these one at a time."

> About three months goes by and things start to get rough. The manager opens his drawer where he keeps the three envelopes and opens #1. It reads: "Blame your predecessor." So he does and it works like a charm.

> Another three months passes and things are growing difficult again so the manger figures to try #2. It reads, "reorganize." Again, his predecessor's advice works like magic.

> Finally, about nine months into the new job, things are getting really sticky. The manager figures it worked before, why not try again. So he opens the envelope drawer one last time and opens #3. It reads..."prepare three envelopes."

[0] http://wikibon.org/wiki/v/Prepare_three_envelopes

The story of three envelopes is a business classic for dysfunctional organizations. It starts with an incoming manager replacing a recently fired outgoing manager. On his way out, the outgoing manager hands the new manager three envelopes and remarks, "when things get tough, open these one at a time."

About three months goes by and things start to get rough. The manager opens his drawer where he keeps the three envelopes and opens #1. It reads: "Blame your predecessor." So he does and it works like a charm.

Another three months passes and things are growing difficult again so the manger figures to try #2. It reads, "reorganize." Again, his predecessor's advice works like magic.

Finally, about nine months into the new job, things are getting really sticky. The manager figures it worked before, why not try again. So he opens the envelope drawer one last time and opens #3. It reads..."prepare three envelopes."

http://wikibon.org/wiki/v/Prepare_three_envelopes

They can eliminate the April Fools problem they had last blizzcon by simply lot allowing fans to ask questions direct to the panel but instead have them submitted and chosen.

April Fools problem was when a person asking a question chose to comment and ask something else, namely about mobile version of Diablo.

That's what happened with this guy (the guy in red). He was pre-screened, he wasn't selected at random. He was well known in the community as well, Blizzard already went with a safe crowd member. Short of embedding their own "paid-crowd" in the audience.. they couldn't have done much more.

That would be a pretty big admit of defeat though. Blizzcon for the last 10 years has had real customers asking questions from microphones. I assume they won't do that this year because they would be worried about what people will say, but I think that act in and of itself is very telling.

Do they have to admit it though? Is there any way an observer of the event could actually tell that the questioners were all plants?

> “ keep the focus on the game and on the tournament."

I just can't help myself but draw the parallels to the NBA and their current situation as well with China and the utter hypocrisy shown by everyone from GMs to Coaches all the way down to players and media staff. When it came to social issues and black incarceration and inequality in America they spoke up bravely, and stated they wouldn't just "shut up and dribble" as LeBron famously stated.

Steve Kerr, a long outspoken critic of Donald Trump famously stated in 2017, "If you look at the history of the world, the biggest problems come when people don't speak."

Now this is Steve Kerr in 2019 after the China controversy, specifically on whether Morey shouldn't be fired: "I would hope that you appreciate my right to not answer that question because all it does is create a headline"

Sure sounds like the players and coaches are now saying "let us shut up and dribble" and "let us focus on the game"

> social issues and black incarceration and inequality in America they spoke up bravely

people reveal their true values when they have to actually make a sacrifice.

I was having a similar conversation about how interesting it is that celebrities are all for easy moral decisions like “you can pee next to me” but when it comes to moral decisions that might hit their pocket book, they are quiet and even suppressive.

Taleb’s Skin in the Game gets brought up a lot, but I think it’s safe for me to assume that unless someone can suffer a loss, they are just saying blargh.

I know there are a few people who might buy less because they really hate trans people (which is really terrible as people should not hate someone on how they express their gender), but it’s not the same hit as 400 million Chinese not buying my stuff.

If you want to see someone who has skin in the game in the NBA, look at Enes Kanter. The things he says about the Turkish government are putting his life and his family's lives in actual danger. Makes the "sacrifices" your Kaepernick and LeBron types have made seem pretty tame in comparison (aka not really sacrificing anything)

Another older parallel which popped in my mind is tommie smith et al. 'silent gesture' at '68 olympics.

Probably those ads keep the tournament running, money wise, and thus result in focus on the game and on the tournament.

And motivated players don’t? This kind of reductionist non-logic means that Blizzard can do whatever they want and never reveal their true intentions.

This ultimately reduces the experience for players because Blizzard acts non-predictably.

Implying the distraction from the game and the tournament is just the 5 seconds.

Having code-pink style protests aimed at disrupting (not raising awareness) is going to backfire on protestors and could end the internet's fascination w/ supporting HK vs China.

Lets not forget that big money interests are involved heavily in pushing the astroturfing online. Many global and HK national interests depend on HK not being consumed by China. The billionaire protesting in the streets w/ people is being held up as an idol, but the reality is that he will become an even bigger target if HK unifies with China and will likely have his empire dissolved.

I'm all for a free HK, but the fact is that's not going to happen. Barring a world war, they will be eventually incorporated as a part of China proper.