La Ron S. Readus
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The REAL Problem With Overwatch 2 (VIDEO SCRIPT)
🕑 Added 2019-11-04 21:00:03 +0000 UTC
Readers, Blizzard Entertainment’s main convention Blizzcon was this past weekend. Which, considering what they had to deal with this past month, I know a LOT of individuals were anticipating
For those of you who don’t know what’s going on regarding the “controversy” regarding Blizzard right now, I suggest you check out my episode of “What I Miss??” where I talked about the subject and related ones damn near exclusively
And I wanna say that Blizzard deserves SOME credit for how they handled things...but they don’t.
Firstly, because of that non-ass apology the president of Blizzard -- J. Allen Brack -- gave during day one of Blizzcon
/He says, and I quote: “Blizzard had the opportunity to bring the world together in a tough Hearthstone eSports moment about a month ago, and we did not. We moved too quickly in our decision making, and then, to make matters worse, we were too slow to talk with all of you. When I think about what I'm most unhappy about, there's really two things: The first one is that we didn't live up to the high standards that we set for ourselves. And the second is that we failed in our purpose. And for that, I am sorry, and I accept accountability. (...) We are going to do better moving forward. But are actions are going to matter more than any of these words. As you walk around this weekend, I hope it's clear how committed we are to everyone's right to express themselves, in all kinds of ways and all kinds of places.” End quote/
(Stares at camera) Mmm...
Now I have a problem with this for multiple reasons.
1 being that it doesn’t mention Blitzchung, the Hearthstone player in question that was banned AT ALL, and doing so makes it sound like they’re detracting from the reason they had to do this in the first place.
And 2 being that they say that they’re going to do better moving forward and that actions speak louder than words.
Now it’s usually that part of the apology that’s supposed to mean something, because as I’ve explained in my “How to Apologize on the Internet” video, and just in life, the best apology is changed behavior.
And while some people are giving them the benefit of the doubt, saying things like:
“Well, they said they’re gonna change, so I’m gonna hold them to that.”
Or:
“Shit; it’s better than the last three apology videos I’ve seen this week. I’ll take it.”
Unfortunately, the proof of Blizzard actually making the change like they said they’re gonna make in Brack’s apology, isn’t really in the pudding regarding how much they SAY they respect free speech and everyone’s right to express themselves.
I say this because last month when the Blitzchung situation was at it’s freshest, Justin Conroy -- aka Jayne -- a very well known Overwatch league coach for the team Dallas Fuel and the GM of Team Canada, posted a tweet in solidarity of Blitzchung and Hong Kong while at the same time respecting Blizzard Entertainment’s rules and regulations.
/That tweet, which was posted on October 9th, was deleted the same day, with the only evidence of its existence being a tweet containing a screengrab of it from Ben Orlebeke the same day, 3 and a half hours later/ Overwatch - Jane Tweet
It was then revealed and confirmed thanks to The Dallas Morning News, even after the article was updated with new information
/That the reason why Jayne deleted the tweet was because Blizzard told him to./ Overwatch - Jane Tweet 2
Which is funny. Because the day after Brack made the “apology” during the Blizzcon opening ceremony, he had a phone interview with PC Gamer to help clear the air about the situation
And one of the main things he said regarding the repeal of Blitzchung’s ban along with the streamers who shared it
/is that not only is the company fine with their own employees participating in the protests, but they can also post whatever they wanted on their social media./
The fact that he said that following that “apology,” almost a month after THAT happened, tells me everything I need to know about them “doing better.”
And more importantly, what all Blizzard was willing to do in order to push this situation to the side as quickly as possible
Unfortunately, one of those situations in question, was the announcement of Overwatch 2
Which, surprisingly enough, ALSO had its fair share of controversy
/Because not even a week before the convention, pretty heavy leaks regarding Overwatch 2 started to hit the web. Including info on the PvE centered gameplay, the new gametype Push, Tracer’s unlockables, a possible sponsorship between Coca-Cola and the Overwatch League, and some concept art showcasing some of the new designs of the characters/ https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/10/overwatch-2-pc-ps4-xbox-one-leaks-blizzcon-2019/
Of course, hearing game director Jeff Kaplan talk about how the developers on the game were incredibly bummed out that the leak happened was pretty heartbreaking
Especially because everyone worked super hard on what they got done for the game so far and wanted things to be a genuine surprise for Blizzcon
So while seeing that, coupled with the fact that the announcement of Overwatch 2 caused some people to legitimately throw down their picket signs and head to steam to pre-order the shit
Yes, I know it’s not available for pre-order yet. You understand what I’m talking about, though; shut up
So along with me seeing that shit happen in real time and my eyes rolling as far back in my head as possible because of it
The other thing that made me feel sorry for the team that worked on Overwatch 2 and even the other games that were announced during the opening ceremony of Blizzcon, was that the games, the cinematics and the teams behind them took the bulk of the blows regarding Blizzard’s recent acts against free speech in order to cater to the demands of Netease -- the partner company responsible for legally allowing Blizzard to sell their games to the Chinese market
Well, at least Hearthstone. I don’t know how the others work...
Readers, there’s no doubt in my mind that Blizzard’s release of the Overwatch 2 cinematic was a form of damage control. Both in regards to the leak, and as a way for Blizzard to get people to forget about the Blitzchung situation and all of the ways they’ve been proving themselves to be hypocrites regarding their stance on freedom of speech.
/Because despite having over 2 hours of gameplay footage, a reveal of a new hero and a playable demo at the convention, the Vice President of Blizzard has gone on record to say that the video game is still in development and that he has no idea when it’s coming out./ https://www.dexerto.com/overwatch/overwatch-2-release-date-jeff-kaplan-explains-why-blizzard-has-no-idea-1210467
But the end-all-be-all is that while they did use the announcements of Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 to hopefully pacify the concerns of the company’s actions in order to keep its relationship with China in tact
Assuming that those who created the cinematic and the team of developers behind Overwatch 2 and the higher-ups that are ACTUALLY responsible with the way they’ve been handling the Hong Kong situation -- including the half-assed apology given beforehand -- are one in the same is absolutely irresponsible.
Especially when you take into consideration everything that’s happened since the Blitzchun ban, and the overall process of not only making a video game, but also making a cinematic like this.
Yes, Mei has been utilized in the protests to be a pro-Hong Kong symbol since Blitzchung was banned.
That does not mean that how Mei was used in the cinematic was a result of that decision, especially if you know how long it takes to make an animated scene like what we got in the cinematic.
And while I can definitely see the irony regarding the French Police Officer in said cinematic
To immediately assume that said officer was a deliberate metaphor of the company siding themselves with the same government that Hong Kong is protesting against is pretty asinine for the same reasons as the Mei situation.
So to scold the team behind Overwatch, knowing good and damn well that they are in fact Blizzard employees whose only job is to make these cinematics and to make these games
Have in fact walked out and protested the company -- the company that they work for -- for the same reasons everyone else has since the situation has presented itself
While constantly being in danger of being forced to censor themselves online when they speak out against certain topics, despite the company that they work for going on record saying that they don’t
And have little to nothing to do with the corporate decisions of the company, which ARE the individuals all of that outrage and vitriol should TRULY be aimed at, is both disappointing and disgusting
Like Diablo 4 and WoW: Shadowlands, Overwatch 2 and the people who are making it are not the problem. Blizzard’s use of Overwatch 2 to act as a misdirect and a distraction of our outrage and activism IS
