> I wanted to delete my SC2 account then realize that boycotting a free to play game makes little sense.

I think it does make sense to boycott a F2P game: I'm sure active players is a metric they track closely.

Do they have any way to file support tickets? Maybe you could submit one (or several) expressing your dissatisfaction with their actions. Escalate it as high as you can. If enough people do that, I bet it'll get on their executives' radar due to the noise.

> Instead I changed my name for "FreedomForHK". I saw another player with a similar name on Asian servers (FreeHongKong). Received several praises for the name, even got someone give me a free victory because of it. Did not receive a single criticism.

This might feel good, but it's a win for Blizzard. They want you to play and you keep playing.

If you feel the way that you report, the only good reason I can think of for keeping an account around is to actively use it to encourage other players to take action, not just pat each other on the back. Say something like: "I'm going to delete my account in a week because of Blizzard's pro-authoritarian stance, but in the meantime I wanted to spread a message encouraging more players to do so."

Blizzard has support tickets but like almost all companies the people answering the tickets are totally disconnected from the people making the decisions and filing a ticket won't do anything more than get a empty "we're sorry" response

> Blizzard has support tickets but like almost all companies the people answering the tickets are totally disconnected from the people making the decisions and filing a ticket won't do anything more than get a empty "we're sorry" response

I know this, which is why any message you send to these people should be polite and empathize with their situation.

But I disagree that those people are "totally disconnected" from the decision makers. They are in fact weakly connected, and likely need to report up metrics and summaries to the decision makers. The goal is to 1) get them to report up boycott messages (e.g. we're seeing a spike in support tickets protesting the sanctions of the pro-HK player at the tournament) and 2) cost them some money by bogging down their support operations.

3) the people handing the tickets will see that it's an issue and maybe they'll pass the message on.

You move mountains one shovel at a time.

Not if you want to move it in a reasonable amount of time.

Either manpower (many tickets) or big bulldozer (high visibility opinions impossible to ignore by PR).

It is true: free players are a resource that makes the game better for players who are ready to pay for the cosmetic add-ons they give.

I DO like the game though. I feel it is becoming something like chess that is its own thing. I may end up totally boycotting it, but right now I was happy to see the sentiment in the community.

I'd like to see more names (you can change account names every season) and clan tags about it. I am not a high enough level for my game to gain any visibility through contests but I may enter some silly streamers challenges.

You're still contributing to their success by playing. By playing a free to play game you are increasing the enjoyment of the game by serving as a competitor to those who are paying. Which in turn encourages them to pay.

That said, I requested a refund for my War3 pre-purchase (they are updating/re-releasing it) and they refunded it with no questions asked. I think they know why people are asking for refunds and don't want to make a stink about it.

On the other hand, more players means more bandwidth and more server usage for Blizzard, which means higher costs. If everyone plays and doesn't buy anything, then they'll lose money on server costs.

If the cost of hosting a "non-purchasing" player was less than the expected revenue of hosting N non-purchasing players, they wouldn't make a freemium game.

There's no version of "I am gonna stick it to blizzard" that is concordant with "while continuing to enjoy their products." It's just rationalization because people want to minimize the cognitive dissonance that comes with maintaining their routines.

Yes, some don't stand for what they believe but rather try to rationalize why continuing playing Blizzard games isn't supporting Blizzard, or is even damaging Blizzard. Some go even so far as that they attack those that act on their believes and delete their accounts. It is surprising how far people go in their cognitive dissonance just to not do what they know is the right thing to do.

Blizzard does not have free-to-play titles because they are such kind people that want to help others out. They want a community that is engaged in the titles, that talk about it, watch videos, play it. Some of them will pay, and Blizzard wins. The thing that really hurts them is if you, yes, you, delete your account. Stop watching videos about their games, stop talking about them. Everything else is simply still supporting them, no matter how you twist it.

Blizzard loves engagement numbers and makes them feel they are robust against boycotts. You need to leave if you want to make a point.

Bandwidth costs dropped steeply around 10-15 years ago, making video streaming services much more viable. I would be astonished if game bandwidth was more than a drop in the bucket compared to that, or if a F2P gamer cost Activision Blizzard anything significant compared to what they make from the paying gamers who benefit from populated servers.

this is some insane mental gymnastics

I took a break from Overwatch because it didn't feel quite right but it I played a few days ago and found much the same. There was significant support in chat and Names for Hong Kong and much criticism of the Blizzard actions.

I am also a gamedev and find I have a complicated standpoint when it comes to boycotting games. In recent months numerous instances of abuse in the game industry have been publicized. This has resulted in some calling for boycotts of certain games, but in many cases, targets of abuse were working on the exact same games as the abusers. Few games are made by a single person. I wonder if boycotting games becomes a form of collective punishment.

At the same time there are businesses that I do boycott because of their behaviour or due to the positions they hold. I'm not sure if the difference in my attitude towards games is because of my proximity. Perhaps it is because games are a creative work, and I never really feel that they 'belong' to the business entity that owns the legal IP.

This. Really appreciate this view point because as a player boycotts are really double edged.

On the one hand, my money supports blizzard staff. You know, the ones that actually make the games I love. That includes the staff who share my opinion about this HK business. I don't want to starve them, I want to impact the company's behavior.

And the only means I have is my voice really. I think players continuing the play but changing their names to <insert name>HK is great. I think protesting is great, I think refusing Blizzcon attendance also great ...but my voice. Its really the most powerful thing I have.

Wallet power in today's world might be overrated ;)

There is no such thing as an SC2 account. There is a battle.net account, for all blizzard games.

I had most of their library. I had a month before bought the new hearthstone expansion, and was an almost daily hearthstone player.

I deleted my account. The statement is no more doing business with blizzard based on their behaviour, and not even allowing the possibility by deleting the account which costs me something to do.

I'm not really sure continuing to play their game with a different tag counts as anything other than you fooling yourself into continuing to deal with a reprehensible organization against your best interest, in exchange for a video game.

I think deleting your account is similar to removing your ability to vote or protest WITHIN the company’s scope. If they lose your sunk cost into their system, you’re no longer as important as the people teetering on the edge. Changing your name and talking to people in the community about this has a greater effect thuan if you basically disappeared.

I believe even Blizzard understand the immediate bottom line isn’t quite as important as their brand image. Which is why they banned that guy to begin with. One who stops paying for blizzard products is one thing. One person who convinces others that blizzard is not worth supporting is way more significant than the money of one man.

Being critical of Blizzard because of the HK shitshow while still having an active Blizzard account and playing their games makes no sense whatsoever to me.

Sounds like hypocrisy to me.

FreeTibet also works I guess.

I support the right to shout that but I have several problems with the way the Tibetan government in exile is set up and the place it gives to their spiritual leaders.

They are a bit evasive as to the democratic guarantees they would give their people. I'm ok to push back China's authoritarianism, but I don't think it is worth it doing so at the cost of making a new Iran.

You cannot be serios comparing the Dalai Lama, who praises peace and understanding, to Iran's supreme leader Khomeini, the mastermind behind the human bomb.

Most people are looking at this from a consumer perspective but just imagine someone involved in the games competitively or professionally in one way or another. Can't necessarily just stop playing or being involved in Blizzard games. Would be like if the NBA created/owned basketball and a player deciding never to play basketball again. Obviously not a perfect analogy but gives someone an idea of the situation some people find themselves in at the moment. With that in mind, hopefully Blizzard fixes their approach here.

> Instead I changed my name for "FreedomForHK".

Blizzard isn't regulating player's political speech using it's regular game servers, it was only in regards to a professional championship broadcast from which they (way) overreacted.

I get why you're doing it but I don't think they would have had a problem with that either way. Unless you're a pro-level player planning to go into championships with that call sign.

This seems to assume that the only goal here is to piss off Blizzard.

Doesn't it seem likely that GP is also trying to support the hong kong protestors...

Right, I assumed his point was to protest Blizzard, not just the Chinese gov. Which IMO is not the same thing.

Why not FreedomForHawaii? FreedomForPalestine?

Or do you only care about freedom when it furthers western dominance and colonialist interests?

Hawaii has a functioning democracy. If you get arrested, you're entitled to a trial by your peers. You can vote for the President, two Senators, and two Representatives. They have no extradition treaty with China and aren't planning to enact one.

It's a little different than the situation in Hong Kong right now. If the people of Hong Kong voted for Xi Jinping, that would be similar to where Hawaii is.

TL;DR: Hawaii doesn't need to be freed. They are free.