It seems (at least anecdotally) that there are a lot of people in tech who may not game anymore, but nonetheless have a history steeped in Blizzard games like the author. And with the recent Blizzard news, a lot of people are trying to untangle the dissonance expressed by the memories of their adolescence and early adulthood with the recent legal and cultural scrutiny Blizzard is under. The public penance is I think the author's way of wrestling with this dissonance.