gato

Oh, Tim is a slimy individual and I wouldn't put it past him to just be using this controversy to pat himself on the back and keep telling everyone how good of a person he is. But what he said can still be true. That said, I believe Epic themselves blocked access to Chinese players, so hypothetically they would never have to deal with this in the first place... Anyway, so Blizzard already backed down. Reduced the ban to a 6 months one (commentators also got banned for being accomplices), restored Blitzchung's winnings and explained their actions as trying to avoid "getting political". All clear, everyone go home, boycott's over, right? It depends. The initial overreaction still happened and it's very safe to assume they only backed down because of the massive backlash received, the argument it's still there about people being allowed or not to express "political statements" on video games (and what consists a political statement in the first place), Blizzard put a mark on themselves as a company that WILL bring down people who openly support a side of an actual event on our planet (any side, according to them), and while I can't say anything about Blitzchung's future (and his sponsorships) I wouldn't be surprised if the casters put a big dark mark on themselves for possible works at any events in the future from Blizz or any other company. This is the most recent (and maybe biggest) event of its kind, but it's not the only one. And ActiBlizz is not the only company trying to cater to these interests.

A tricky subject this one is. You could say even now that the Think Globally and Every Voice Matters slogans are being applied despite how disagreeable the situation looks from ones point of view. One of the problems we as a species might face when trying to apply those ideas is that some voices unfortunately are not compatible with others. And one of the voices in the argument is very loud and has very unkind things to say about the people protesting in Hong Kong. Going in favor of these people "offends them", these people are here to "cause harm", they want to bring down a nation that's standing strong (stronger than ever maybe). Maybe ActiBlizz, being North American companies, should stick to a moral code that it's more related to the one North Americans exercise? Probably. But that's not exactly "Thinking Globally". Unless you guys want to act like a certain region can be the world's arbiters, and that's a pretty tricky subject (one we ourselves can't seem to agree with, let alone including other cultures that are wildly different from ours). I feel like there would have been less of an uproar if Blizzard had just banned the player under the guise of bringing political, heated topics upon a livestream that had little to do with it. This is done ALL THE TIME on video game related events, how many times have you guys seen someone banned for "being political" and how the audience "is just here to have fun"? After all, Blizzard is Thinking Globally, considering even the sensibilities of those you don't agree with, and while they very much think Your Voice Matters, a card game tournament is not the right place for it. The tweet apologizing for the event says as much. Personally, I've grown tired of ActiBlizz' decisions across the years and this is just another one in the pile as far as I'm concerned (a very BIG one mind you, taking a BOLD stance on a HEAVY subject), so this doesn't feel like a betrayal but more like a follow up of something that was already there. They are Thinking Globally, even if such a thing means protecting the interests of those one doesn't agree with.

Well, yeah, for good or ill all bets are off all over again. We get yet another year of speculation and leaks. Also, I've been pointed out that Terry's stage is not Antonov's arena but a generic (american) football stadium repurposed. But it's neat to see Ryo standing in the background like he did in the older KOF games (not quite in the same pose so I'm not sure how much of an homage that is).

I'll take anything I can get. This is amazing. Also, kinda let down about Terry's stage not being the Transcontinental, but it being Antonov's Arena instead gives some credence to the supposition that he might be KOF Terry instead of his Fatal Fury self. So hopefully we get some Maxmode/HD shenanigans (as i said before, no idea how they'll make it work) to spice him up.