It is said that to not speak up in support of the oppressed is to tacitly assent to the oppression, so I suppose I had ought to say something about the recent news concerning Blizzard’s corporate culture and the experience of working for Blizzard. I didn’t read the lawsuit itself, but I’ve read most of the coverage from Wowhead and Blizzard Watch, the article about it in the New York Times, and various thoughtful posts by the small list of active bloggers I currently read. Like others, I am saddened and sickened, disgusted and disappointed that such acutely and chronically distressing things have happened at Blizzard — somehow I’d hoped that Blizzard would be better than that. I thought for a bit on whether I should cancel my sub, and stop playing World of Warcraft for awhile — I do have other games to play now, Horizon Zero Dawn where I still haven’t made it out of the starting area, and Bloons Monkey City which is mostly for my kids but in which I could get more involved if I wanted, and it might be fun to run through Portal again and see if I can get past that one level where I stalled out a decade ago… I decided to keep playing; I agree with the sentiments expressed by Gnomecore and Wrath of Kubla Khan about the value of continuing to support the “normal people” at the company — the 2500+ employees who signed on to the open letter rebuking their company leadership, the artists and animators and code writers, etc, who actually do the nitty gritty nuts and bolts work of making the game that I enjoy. Besides, at this time of year I always have to make myself take a break from playing WoW while I’m scrambling to get my courses prepared for the impending doom of the beginning of Fall semester, now only a month away. So for me to say that I was taking a break for ethical protest reasons seems like it would be kind of disingenuous.
Previously…
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When I was thinking about problems at Blizzard that might impact WoW, this sort of thing was definitely not what I was thinking of. I figured it was gradual encroachment of the Activision culture onto Blizz, job cuts, and other things. Kind of like what apparently went on with Warcraft III Reforged. But this….
Sigh. I still don’t know where to begin here, but I think your idea of supporting the employees who were innocent of this and are pushing for change is a good starting point. And that has been given new urgency as Activision-Blizzard hired a union busting law firm to counter the rise in unionizing sentiment.
Oh, and I have to say that I’m still impressed that you’re able to keep your eye for fashion going, even after having the baby. (The Promenade post didn’t have a comment option.)
Thanks! /blush
Hmm, I’ll have to check for comments being enabled on the next Sunday Mog Show post.
I don’t condone any of what’s been reported, and I have a gut feeling this is going to get worse with more “real” reports, and I won’t be surprised when the fake accusations start popping up from those looking to be included.
At its core, it’s basically a form of Rock Star behavior. Over the years all of those big names were elevated by millions of game fans to Rock Star status. They were our idols. I mentioned the other day that back in the 70’s and 80’s we would have thought nothing of it for a woman to have sex for back stage passes, or a chance to meet the band. I am sure to this day that it occurs regularly, be it Rock Stars, Rappers, Pro athlete’s, actors and actresses. You have this group of men that rode the wave of stardom, a convention with a lot of drinking and after parties, I’m sure a lot of bad judgment on all parties. If it was a limited thing where one developer made a Drunken mistake with a fan, it would have just been overlooked. That it was common knowledge, Blizzards own “casting couch” makes it a lot more damming.
The work place stuff should have been addressed long ago, but like most things, people will be given a pass because of their skill. Be it a tank for a Worlds first raid team, or a pro wide receiver getting his team into the super bowl. A lot gets brushed over due to the talent they bring to the table. It doesn’t excuse it, and it sounds like it has been an issue with the one person on several occasions. We saw what happened to Method once the curtains were pulled open. I fear that Activision is going to clean house, and the hundreds of employees that do the work every day are going to pay the price.
Yeah, I suspect this will still get worse before it starts to get better, too.
Good point about the rock star behavior.
I’m practically old enough that I didn’t have the vote so this stuff was pretty common coming up. I don’t know why I though Blizzard was above this. I am so sad mostly. I admit I wasn’t surprised when I read they had let Afrasiabi go over it. I remember thinking what an asshat he was watching Blizzcon and that had nothing to do with women, just a jerk.
I hope they figure it out, I don’t think they are helped by things like the Fran Townsend response.
As I’ve thought about it, I’ve realized that while I am disappointed, I wasn’t surprised either, when I think back on the types of things that are in Blizzard’s annual April Fool fake patch notes… or, for that matter, being greeted by Venthyr NPCs with “It has been SO LONG since I laid hands on living flesh… Are you in a rush?” *shudder*
You’re right. I think I thought of Blizzard like the bloggers I know. Nice mature people. I don’t know why I didn’t realize half of them are more like the jackasses that made me stop running LFG.
There are two documentaries I’ve seen over the past few years, the most relevant being Atari Game Over, that showed what the company was like in the 80’s, so these kind of accusations really don’t come as a surprise to me. The other was on Tower records back in the 80’s. Game from obscurity affects how people behave. The quiet nerdy guy in high school that was shy around girls who becomes a big name at a huge gaming company and finds himself with everyone wanting a picture or autograph. I can see how it can easily happen. But at my age, I can’t excuse the behavior.