I have inside info on d4, it's getting announced at blizzcon. Mix of open world, and instanced dungeons, global events etc.

Basically, take the world system of WoW and apply it to diablo. Also going to be much gorier, M rating

Also, I can see why they suspended him as well. Political standpoints really have no place in a sporting arena. Would you guys be concerned if he or anyone had said, "Reunification of China, number 1!" or "America for Americans, one nation under God", or "thank you to everyone, praise Allah", or, "FUCK TRUMP" etc?

The point is, bringing politics, religion into a fairly large tele-casted event is a big no-no and most of the people who do it KNOW there is going to be backlash but they weigh the pros and cons and find themselves willing to bring attention to a topic at their own peril. Regardless of the topic at hand, these events cannot become soapboxes for tournament winners. I think a ban is not only the right call for the event but to send a message to future event winners that, yes while it's important to support the causes in the world, there is a time and a place for everything.

This is being treated like it's appeasement, but it's a business decision. Pro gaming is still in its infancy, when things like this happen it takes away the credibility of the platform. 

Great post and I agree. I went ahead and deleted my blizz account and uninstalled the games from my PC and PS4. Might not mean much to Blizz but it took very little effort from me.

As someone who has lived in a totalitarian, communist country, Activision/Blizzard can go fuck themselves. I'll never purchase anything from them again.

It's both, they're appeasing China for their money. Your examples are not remotely close to what Blitzchung said, and what is actually said is what matters, not that it can be labeled political. The rule they violated doesn't even say anything about political statements specifically, it was purely up to Blizzard's discretion to decide if what they said is offensive and what level of punishment to dole out. You're definitely right though that credibility has been lost... for Blizzard lul.

It 100% is a political statement. He called for a revolution bro. The key word in that is 'revolt'. 

I'm also 100% FOR an independent HK AND Tibet. However, if you use your spotlight to highlight a controversy there are going to be repurcussions. End of story. It doesn't matter who or what you support, china, trump, anti trump, gay rights, anti gay rights, etc it most certainly ALWAYS has a bad result. For sure I also support freedom of speech and beliefs, but it has to be understood that doing such IS A GAMBLE.

What is Blizzard supposed to do in this situation? Not do anything? I don't agree with what was done on a personal level, but just try and put yourself in Blizzard's shoes. wtf are the supposed to do? Let him say whatever he wants? Let ANYONE say whatever they want? There is a time and a place, and neither was here.

I think I'm still going to buy Overwatch. Their waifu game is too strong!

I didn't say it wasn't a political statement, I said that doesn't matter more than what is actually said. Revolt doesn't mean violence, it means rebelling against oppressive authority. That statement is not gonna cause controversy like your examples as who the hell would disagree with that, aside from the Chinese government of course.

No harm was done, so no action was needed. At most, like another user suggested, they should of just given him a warning and asked him not to make such statements. You keep wanting to frame it as just upholding the rules, except again, there was nothing in the rules against political statements. Even if there was, it's ultimately up to Blizzard to decide if what was said offends anyone. It's pretty obvious that the offended group here is China.

Would it be morally objectionable if it simply says "No Politics!". And it looks like the rules do exactly say that.

Had they suspended him for being politically active outside of any blizzard event, then there would be something very wrong.

Yeah, that's utter garbage. They've gotten my last dime. Shit goes against everything I stand for.

The bummer is I still want OW on Switch with one of those cool Reaper/D.va controllers, but I'll just buy used ha.

Except they don't, you can clearly see that in the video in the OP. Even if they did that still doesn't make this right, rules are not an excuse to forgo basic morality and common sense when looking at a situation. The damage done (none at all) vs. the punishment dealt (r.i.p. career and winnings) is not at all equivalent.