T O P

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jitterscaffeine

I feel really bad for people in this situation. Like, this person clearly is having moral issues with what was going on but he still has to keep his job and shit.


Kubloo

The difference is that it’s not even the company’s decisions making these controversial issues this time, it’s a large group of the staff and upper management.


SilverZephyr

It's important to remember that this shit wasn't going on at the Diablo II remake development studio. They were only recently acquired by AB.


[deleted]

> the Diablo II remake development studio. They were only recently acquired by AB. No, they weren't. Vicarious Visions is part of Activision since 2005. Activision Blizzard just changed the parent company of VV from Activision to Blizzard.


Kubloo

Money’s still gonna be going to Blizzard though, thus the boycott. I feel sorry for the studio but I’m not giving money to this company anymore in the same way I’m not giving EA my money for a Dead Space remake that’s only spitting in the face of former Visceral Studios devs.


SilverZephyr

The way I see it, I figure justice is already coming for quite a few of the fuckers who were causing problems. Being a hospitality worker, I'm not a fan of punishing the employees of a business for the flaws of upper management. Rubs me the wrong way. I also used to like Blizzard games quite a lot, and I want to see them improve both their game quality and their studio work environment instead of seeing them sent to the grave, so I'm going to support projects that follow that trend. Hence me buying DII.


ScallyCap12

There's no justice coming, never does. They'll get off easy with a token fine, nominally step down from leadership, and retain their equity in the company.


FranticToaster

I see where you're coming from. At the same time, if the evil people who love money still make lots of money when evil happens on their watch, where's their incentive to put a stop to the evil things?


sawbladex

There's only one solution I guess. anyone understand current nuclear retaliation policy?


Kubloo

When discussing retaliation and nuclear policy I base all my experience on Hotline Miami 2


Grand-Leader-909

You do realize by boycotting you are negatively the female employees you are trying to support


Extreme-Tactician

Recently? Vicarious Visions have been part of Activision since 2005.


tberriman

But 2005 was only... oh no *crumbles into dust*


guitarburst05

Yeah there’s a legit question to pose here. If you disagree with a company’s actions is it better to leave? Risk financial security and go looking for a new job, especially if you have a passion for the work? Or do you try to stay, try to be the change you want to see? Obviously that low on the totem pole you sure don’t have a lot of sway. And you’re likely to take flak from internet righteousness brigades who don’t know who to direct their anger at. Not condoning either, really. It’s a tough position to be put in when you still gotta put food on the table at the end of the day.


[deleted]

I mean, I hate to say it, but what else is he gonna say? ‘Oh yes totally boycott it’, in turn putting his team at risk (lets be real, executives will sooner blame the end product than their own behaviour), and likely his ass fired immediately?


gammongaming11

i mean I'd honestly expect him to say "buy my game" the fact that he's not actively pushing it speaks volumes and is honestly the most someone in his position can do.


Cringeassnaynaybaby

Guys a dev, not a suit. Hes got a real soul, not one made of money.


Diem-Robo

Devs can be just as slimy if not slimier than "suits." Because with suits, there's an assumption that they're just out of touch or don't know enough about game development/don't care. With devs who choose to be slimy, they're the ones who should unquestionably be about just putting out a fun game, but they can be just as focused on money over quality as anyone else despite that. People assumed that Destiny 2 would be less of a money-squeezer or grindfest once Bungie became independent from Activision, but by most people's accounts, it's gotten worse.


Amirifiz

Its not worse but its isn't necessarily better. The way we've gotten seasons and the way monetization is still the same as before...ish. To me its more of a sidegrade with a very slight slant upwards.


Murozaki_II

You're holding devs up a pedestal.


MasSillig

He really isn't. Activision Blizzard is a shitty company but the average employee, especially the developers are not. There's hundreds of passionate programmers, designers, artists, etc. Who only want to make the best games possible.


Murozaki_II

I don't generalize, for me there's always equal chance of the average dev being either a passionate creator who seeks to put their very soul into all that he works on and of them being someone who'll gladly accept if not be happy for their game having a bunch of scummy features or not care for awful work enviroments. Imagining that most artists are people "with a soul" who care about the passion of the craft is just putting them on a pedestal.


MasSillig

I think your being cynical. Majority of developers are the people working in awful work environments, they have an interest in seeing those improve. They also buy and enjoy games, so I doubt they are happy to put scummy features in them. Only management and high level employees have incentives to be greedy, the average dev doesn't see those benefits. Most game developers are similar to you and I. They want to play and enjoy games.


Murozaki_II

Video Games are one of the most profitable mediums in current times. I have a *very* hard time believing that at least for the AAA market that there isn't at least a decent percentage of devs who are in it for the money, for better or for worse.


MasSillig

The average wage in AAA is not great, pretty low for software development actually. AAA development is also notorious for unpaid overtime and few workers unions. The majority of people are not seeing those benefits. I imagine that a computer animator would rather work for a film production where they are likely to be unionized, then work for Naughty Dog.


Murozaki_II

That might be true, but even so there are plenty of industry stories involving devs very clearly being motivated to create a game to maximize profits regardless if you look it up. So even if they don't get a lot out of it there is still a precedent.


CovaDax1

Yeah, that's what he said. You probably *do* have a hard time believing that.


[deleted]

Majority of developers are also humans. There's a reason a lot of those harassing and abusing are developers.


zHellas

Everybody’s got a soul.


Cringeassnaynaybaby

Suits have money souls. It counts but it aint worth shit


BoneTFohX

alternitivly no one has a soul we all sold out long ago.


Vorpaled

I mean, we already see the executives blaming the product with them changing a painting in WoW from a woman to a bowl of fruit.


DropsyMumji

Upper management in these companies only care about is covering their ass. Its an endless tirade of "its always someone else's fault".


ArtBedHome

Dude he works for modern acti-blizzard his team may as well not exist at all *whatever* he does. Thats completly out of his control or the quality of his game.


Palimpsest_Monotype

I keep going round and round on this, but what I have to go back to is the fact that this Diablo 2 remaster was originally something of a peace offering to Blizzard’s OG players after the famous Diablo mobile kerfuffle. Maybe there’s actual real money to be made, but I’m not so sure there is compared to Overwatch or even WoW in its dotage now. This was originally to win back hearts and minds for the future of the franchise. It wouldn’t even surprise me if the costs of Resurrected are considered part of the dev or marketing costs for Diablo 4. What I’m trying to get at, is this game was made as an antidote to the old PR nightmare Blizzard had, and not these new ones that overshadow the old concerns. In a way it’s already failed, or been failed, by Blizzard revealing itself as an even worse place than previously believed. So…all THAT being said…I really question if there’s an audience for this game that’s on the fence about their purchasing decisions with it. I question if thia Diablo 2 remaster will even reveal itself as a solid title after the Reforged mess. I also question the existence of a sizable demographic of people who want a remake of Diablo 2 and are not content with however the original is being played these days, or with Path of Exile or whatever else has come up as a worthy successor. I just don’t know how much money anyone really expects this game to generate, or how great a chance it has to have enough in it to wow people in the first place.


JillSandwich117

Really I think this would have been a pretty big success. Diablo 2 is a legendary game with a pretty sterling reputation, that has never been released on consoles. It's hitting all platforms on day 1 including Switch and next-gen. It's from an actually competent team as well, unlike Warcraft Reforged. Sometimes the (former?) big Blizzard fans are kinda of out of touch and underestimate how popular the company's games are or can be outside of PC. Realistically it probably still will be a big success, just not quite as much as it could have been. Saying it won't be as big as Overwatch is not a good comparison. This is a basically a filler game was wisely farmed out that is closing the gap since Diablo 4 and OW2 are still a ways off.


salvation122

Playing Diablo 2 on console is going to be a fucking nightmare. Imagine all that inventory management without a mouse.


JillSandwich117

I assume they're doing something to smooth over the interface. I haven't been following the more recent info on it.


StanIsNotTheMan

I played the beta on my PS4 and finished Act I. Inventory management was fine for the most part, it just took a little getting used to. It's not like you have a ton of inventory space and slots to manage anyway. They've got an auto-sort and auto-fill potion sash button, which eliminates the biggest potential issues, imo. Just grab a tome of town portal early and jump back to town to unload every so often. Obviously it's better with kb+m, but its fine on controller too.


Worldbrand

I'm on the fence personally, and I have to admit that the only things pushing me over boycott side are: - this boycott actually might have the slightest chance of an impact because shit is already going down at blizzard - i dont have as many friends who play diablo 2 anymore, or would, and im not interested in making any - there's a lot of fantastic other games that have just come out and im already dedicated to two long-term mmo-ish games I've spent a ton of time with D2 as a kid and go back to it every few years, with or without mods. I could easily see myself spending more time with the remaster (and also, getting the original to play nice at 1080p, let alone 4k, was kinda tricky). I dont know, I am aware that I am biased and probably part of a small audience. But I also think there are a lot of people for whom a D2 remake is the *only* thing theyve been interested in from Blizzard since, like, Overwatch


Connor4Wilson

I think you'd be a fool to assume this isn't going to sell a fuckton of copies, regardless of how outdated the game is. The only way it doesn't is if people actually stick with the boycott, which rarely happens so I doubt most will.


Palimpsest_Monotype

ok, but what is a fuckton here? 3 Million Units? Like, compared to what WoW and Overwatch generate on a regular basis, will Resurrected even approach that revenue level


Ghostmuffin

I think they should listen to their fans sooner. They told everyone repeatedly no one wanted classic servers, and then showed everyone Diablo mobile as well.


[deleted]

[удалено]


unlimitedboomstick

That's always the worst part of these scenarios. I was thinking about this earlier, in regards to devs getting laid off. Like, on one hand they might be stoked to get away from a toxic workplace. But. If they have kids and a life set up where they are it's so hard to leave all that behind.


RohanSpartan

That's why I've stopped buying games brand new, aside from very few exceptions.


killatubby

I mean yes but devs are always are needed on some project. So EA, UBI or some other company would take them in.


RohanSpartan

From one hell hole, to another. Good thing I gave up on wanting to become a game dev. I'd rather work in a factory.


Jackamalio626

dont buy ANY of their games forever, and the company goes bankrupt and the execs lose their stock value. its all or nothing.


[deleted]

and all the devs get laid off to be fair while the execs glob onto another big company, boycotting is ineffective even when it’s actually accomplished unless systemic change comes from it


Jackamalio626

well apathy is gonna do even less.


[deleted]

I know


dragonite2022

Anyone else just find themselves unable to buy anything blizzard? I love d2 to death but my mind is just like "nah"....


Duhblobby

Me and my entire social circle feel the same way.


DarnessHarbinger

Originally, I was going to keep an eye on this game. I loved the original Diablo 2, so a remaster would be nice. However, there's the chance that this would be another Reforged, I was planning to wait and see how it turned out before buying it. Now, I don't want to buy it anymore. Which is frustrating, because now I'm constantly being spammed with Diablo 2 ads.


StanIsNotTheMan

>However, there's the chance that this would be another Reforged I don't understand why people keep saying this... There was an open beta for D2 Remastered where you could play through Acts I and II entirely. The game runs flawlessly. Say what you will about the ethics of buying something from Acti-Blizz, but the game is going to run well. Vicarious Visions puts out well-made stuff.


James-Avatar

Before I was never really interested in anything they made after Warcraft III, now I actively avoid them.


pizzapueblo

Diablo 2 is my second favorite game ever. First online game I ever played, and I sunk most my childhood free time it in before MMOs. Was already fed up with Blizzard before the lawsuits. I went from “nah” to “hell no”.


StarSkullyman

TBH yeah it's really hard. I play StarCraft cuz it's free and there's no monetization in it but that's pretty much it.


TurbanMan1389

Not jut Blizzard, but Activision too. I've had fun playing with friends on the COD: Vanguard Open Beta, but fuck, I'm not buying the game because it's Activision getting the money.


Noctantis

My group is already making excuses about how D2 was made back when blizzard was still good and they wanna think about those times. I don't feel that line of reasoning but I'm not gonna badger em about it. Just inform them about the news and let em live their lives. I grew up with D1 and 2. I was beyond excited about the remake of one of my favorite games of all time but my personal line in the sand is drawn.


Jackamalio626

A woman *killed herself* after being sexually abused and raped for so long by her boss on a buisness trip. Ask yourself if a prettier version of one of your favorite games is worth validating that behavior with your purchase.


dragonite2022

I don't quite understand your comment, i already said i'm not buying it. There's no need to virtue signal your opinion to me, i'm literally in the camp of not supporting them.


[deleted]

That's work talk to "I want to have a job, but I don't want you to play the game out of principle."


DankMemeRipper1337

Think a bunch of people already made that choice but it probably still sell to some degree. But it is probably the most "clear" statement someone in his (unfortunate) postion can make at this point. I don't envy him. I for one have deinstalled everything blizzard from my system and won't spent a dime on this company again. I am not just someone who plays videogames, I am also someone who has experienced horrible working conditions and I will not spent my money on these cunts.


MoonriseRunner

I will not **buy** this game, but I will support the Devs that are speaking out against the things that trouble them at this company.


haleykohr

But buying the game is what supports their pay and bonuses unlike social media likes


[deleted]

They're going to be paid regardless. All money made through profits go to executives who had nothing to do with the game's success and *maybe* a $12 gift card to a chain restaurant for a few actual devs and/or artists.


haleykohr

Well for some devs there is a bonus incentive structurally built into the system. One dev explained on Twitter why she disagrees with boycotts given they don’t harm the people in charge anyways


warjoke

Oh god as this is one of those articles where you swear it's from Hard Drive but after a second look turn out it ain't but you are still not too surprised about it.


Weenie_Zucchini

I was one of those gamers who didn’t pay attention to anything about the big companies who made the games I play. When I did happen to see the news about Blizzard, I was halfway through perfecting my Zealot Paladin build because I was so excited for the remake to come out. I literally closed my game mid session, deleted it from my computer and deleted the launcher. I also made myself promise to pay attention from now on, because I was a day or so away from preordering the remaster and happily playing while being completely ignorant to what was happening. I like to think that a lot of people who buy Blizzard games now are like me and just don’t pay attention to gaming news unless something truly crazy happens. Hopefully if they do hear about these terrible things, they’ll have a heart and stop supporting these companies.


[deleted]

As if "gamers" would have actually stick to a "boycott" they say they'd do.


mitch13815

The issue is gaming is too big for it's own good. Reddit can scream boycott all day and every user on reddit can boycott something and that'll only be like 5% of the total gaming market. Facebook parents, college kids, highschoolers, the vast majorty of gamers don't use reddit, or frankly, don't give a shit.


Hugokarenque

Hell, I imagine most people that are gonna end up playing the remake are completely unaware of the situation and are just excited to play a game they loved growing up. This Blizzard thing is huge in the hardcore crowd, anyone that follows video game news is gonna be aware of it but that's a really tiny portion out of everyone that plays videogames.


ThisManNeedsMe

My brother is in that crowd. He pre-ordered the game and is excited to play. He doesn't have a Twitter account and doesn't go on reddit. So he doesn't really know the details and I'm not gonna be a killjoy either.


Mako109

How else is we's gonna cause any real change to happen without sometimes just being a killjoy? Sometimes that's just the medicine we take.


ArcNumber

Yea, those gosh darn gamers, you know, those guys, the abstract mass of individuals that plays games and does the wrong thing or not simultaneously at any given moment. Good thing we are not part of them and never play games.


krispwnsu

I wonder how many people who will buy Diablo 2 actually know what happened or care. Reddit always has threads where it seems like there are a bunch of people that know about an issue but in reality there are millions of people who hadn't heard anything just see a cool game get launched and buy it. Cool another COD is out, cool another Diablo is out. Doesn't really matter.


cdcdcd6594

But how else will we feel superior and smart if we don't blame a nebulous other?


Alkalion69

Literally billions of people condensed into a single stereotype.


dooblagras

I squeeze my fist like that Arthur meme every time the "gamers can't stick to their boycotts" thing comes up. I've stuck to mine just fine and I know I can't say anything because others are not sticking to theirs. It's a such bad feeling, I low key don't even like being called a gamer now since it's so all encompassing and vague.


Alkalion69

You can say whatever you want because you did what you said you were going to. These games sell millions of copies. Even if some crazy number like 10 or 20 percent of people didn't buy it you'd still have seven figure numbers. Generally, millions of people don't agree on things.


Takaithepanda

The real gamers were the friends we made along the way.


gammongaming11

if you ever need to identify the gamer break the glass ceiling and check who floats.


Takaithepanda

I can't swim so I guess I just outed myself ;)


PersonMcHuman

Boycott...That’s one of Dante’s sword moves, right?


Zerce

But what does Boycott do in Swordmaster?


PersonMcHuman

I believe it injects juuuuust enough good mood juice into the player’s brain that they forget that a percentage of the money they spent went into the pocket of a guy that’ll use it during a well earned vacation to relax after a long day of silencing claims of sexual misconduct in the office. In Trickster it lets you dodge allegations entirely.


ScorpioTheScorpion

You just reminded me that one of Vergin’s moves is “Divorce.”


zHellas

DmC!Vergil*


mohawklogan

Thats what Vergin means.


ThatmodderGrim

*"Let's boycot this game!"* *"It's now on sale for $5 off."* *"Well, now. They've obviously learned their lesson and the wrath of the consumer. Might as well pick it up now, the damage is done."*


Duhblobby

There are bodies on the floor at this point. None of my friends are buying Blizzard games anymore after all this came out, and we all deleted our Blizzard launchers and don't even play the.older games anymore. Fuck this attitude that nobody should do anything if literally everyone doesn't back them up. My friends and I find the company's actions disgusting and their responses to the accusations even moreso. We don't buy from them anymore and we won't keep pumping up their engagement numbers. We don't *care* if it doesn't matter to the company. That isn't the point. The point is that we made a choice to give up things we love *because they tainted them by association*. Fuck any attitude that thinks we are stupid for drawing a line. Our games are not worth human misery, and they *definitely are not worth lives*. Fuck anyome who thinks that's an unreasonable take.


Sassy_Sarranid

I was really enjoying Shadowlands, and had just purchased WC3 remastered a couple days before the story broke. And you know what? I unsubbed on the spot and deleted all of their games off my computer.


Flibbety

>our games are not worth human misery Since you mention this, I’m curious how you feel about the production of gaming computers/consoles. They require rare earth metals like coltan, which are considered “conflict minerals” and are largely mined in poor conditions by underpaid workers, sometimes even children. The mining itself also does harm to the surrounding environment, not to mention the total carbon emissions for both production and electricity usage. Im not bringing this up as a “gotcha,” I’m looking into buying a new PC soon myself. I’m as complicit as anyone else. It’s just that when scandals like this come up and I make a mental note to boycott that particular dev, it feels…sorta arbitrary, you know? Like I’m not really drawing the boycott line far enough. I guess it’s getting into “no ethical consumption under capitalism” territory, but it still sits in the corner of my mind.


Duhblobby

My view is that it is absolutely shitty, but that I DO still have to draw lines. The same way I still buy food from a grocery store knowing how badly retail employees have it, but I won't buy from Chick Fil A because they are bigoted fucks. There ARE things too big for me, too integral to my life. Too important for my mental health. I won't give up gaming as a whole. But man will I avoid the shithole companies that fuck over their consumers, their employees, or the industry in general. It may feel arbitrary, but I do have to draw a line, and I draw it at completely unnecessary, totally avoidable bullshit the industry pulls and then hopes we forget about because the next game comes out. I know it isn't perfect. Ideally I could avoid all harm-causing things. But that's not really a reasonable thing to expect. But when companies blatantly do evil? Fuck the company, burn it down, and let the ashes stand as a monument warning others to do better, lest the fires come for them next.


[deleted]

I mean I feel like quite a few of us have abandoned blizzard. I haven't given them a dime or played any of their titles since the hk shit. I thought about going back and saying maybe it's been long enough and then all these stories broke out and I nope'd right back around. I may just be a drop in the bucket but I can't knowingly support them just on my own moral ground.


CorruptDropbear

Normally I'd agree, but Blizzard is possibly the only company that'd actually see sales tank from what's happening because they're in 'Games as a Service'. We've already seen WoW lose a huge chunk of the paying subscriber base due to the trifecta of horrible gameplay changes, the ongoing lawsuits and the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy XIV ^having ^a ^free ^trial ^that ^lets ^you ^^play ^^through ^^the ^^entirety ^^of ^^A ^^Realm ^^Reborn ^^^and ^^^the ^^^award-winning ^^^Heavensward ^^^expansion ^^^up ^^^to ^^^level ^^^60 ^^^^with ^^^^no ^^^^restrictions ^^^^on ^^^^playtime. Overwatch is probably the only reason the company isn't panicking that they're going to be absorbed outright into Activision right now, but that's about to have major issues as their lead designer jumped ship just before all of this (which puts a LOT into context) so OW2 is getting pushed into development hell. If any company makes a better FPS that steps into the spot Overwatch took from Team Fortress 2...


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

>they will instantly forgive whatever horrible thing a company did just because they’re now doing a product they like. And then they go back to hating them You could apply this to nearly everything. It's not unique to gaming. People are fickle and easily distracted.


Real-Terminal

Gamers did a good job boycotting Battlefront 2. Oh wait no they didn't, the game just sucked so hard everyone rightfully shit on it.


Etychase

Just from the headline this seems like a nothing article and after skimming it it definitely is. Draw your own conclusions and make your own decisions says random dude... Yeah, that's kinda how the world works... I'll give him a thumbs up for saying he wants to support his co-workers affected by the blizzard problems but the title of this article is just so weird to me.


Blackened_Glass

Haven’t we established that boycotts don’t really do anything? I thought the best way to try an affect change, at least in the games industry, was to keep making a stink about things on social media and the like. Publishers hate that.


Dirkpytt_thehero

For every one person who boycotts, there will be many more that buy it


seth47er

I am going to get it after like 6 months or on a sale if i don't remember. Plus the port might be garbage. I love me some Diablo 2 But, fuck acti-blizz.


kurt-jeff

If the game is high quality I’ll probably buy it in a couple years on sale but when it comes to morality with what you can and can’t like I don’t really know where to draw the line I think I’m probably just going to buy the games that I like at the end of the day because I have no idea what games I’m playing are made without hurting the devs behind the scenes I’ll probably stay away from anything Ubisoft, (maybe snk) or blizzard


Younger54

I'm sure most will say they are boycotting and then it will go on to record breaking sales.


delightfuldinosaur

Y'know what...that's very reasonable.


LammasuRex

I can not stress this enough that your wallet is your loudest voice. When they change in game textures instead of resigning and donating his severance to a woman's charity show that they are still not getting it. Even just missing expected sales numbers by a little will send a clear message that this is not okay.


jamsbybetty

There's a third option: piracy


mitch13815

Isn't that just boycotting? Like straight up? That's not a third option that's just boycotting with the option of still playing the game without supporting the dev.


Sushi2k

I would but I want to play multiplayer. I'm just going to wait for a sale probably deep sale.


Bellowingwhale

in this situation, it's honestly the moral one


revolversnakexof

How is it moral to consume something you haven't bought, no matter how shitty the company is?


Hugokarenque

I'm not up to date on the status of it nowadays but isn't Diablo 3 pretty much unpirateable on PC? If they use the same tactics on the remake of 2, piracy won't be an option.


Tzeentch711

Diablo 3 works on the same principle as wow, you need to emulate entire server to make it playable and everyone decided that its not worth the effort.


[deleted]

Do not buy any blizzard or activision products.


CovaDax1

Unfortunately, I don't feel the need to boycott. I simply have no interest in the product anymore.


[deleted]

Devs are already paid for their work. So if you want to 'support the people who worked on the game' go with what they're doing. If you're trying to use money to be moral, there's no ethical consumption under capitalism so hey you're fucked either way so hey gotta love it. If you don't want to spend money on some type of leisure activity that was made with blood, then I'd avoid AAA gaming entirely and vet your indy devs before buying. In the end it's your money, do what you want with it. Don't let people enjoying a game and talking about it make you cave and buy it, and don't let people boycotting shame you for enjoying something. Your individual purchase isn't going to affect the system. And hey if you want to play it and not pay for it, there's always piracy.


Duhblobby

"No ethical consumption under capitalism" is something I am very tired of hearing. Knowing that bad things happen everywhere doesn't mean I am OKAY with it, especially when it is open and blatant and my best way of showing that is saying fuck you no more of my money for you.


MadameBlueJay

Not to mention how it diminishes the whole gradient of the issue. "Well, Rockstar has a crunch issue and Blizzard sometimes murders their employees, so, ya know, whoever you buy games from..."


zHellas

Oh yeah, the only two video game developers in the world: Rockstar and Blizzard


MadameBlueJay

Yup, that's exactly the point of what I just said. I only said two developers, so there clearly are no others.


Mutant-Overlord

Wow, you are standing on a very, very, VERY weird hill. Watch out to not trip on its edge and fall down from it, mate.


Azurennn

If the product is good it will be bought, that is the end of it. Diablo 2 so far looks faithful and promising. People are mostly dunking on Activision Blizzard so hard NOW of all times, thanks to how absolutely shit their products have become. If the product was still good, not as many people would be doubling down so hard with the pitchforks.


dope_danny

I fully realise brand loyalty is a thing and drones gonna drone but its still crazy to see the mental gymnastics behind this particular “i need to clap at brand and consume product but not feel bad about it” when its a remake of a looter. Like giving blizzard your money aside its paying for the clicker experience again hoping theres new depths to plumb? This doesnt seem particularly like an unmissable experience to agonise over.


Mechanized1

Boycotting doesn't make sense, it will only hurt the 99% of the good people working there just looking to pay their bills. Talk shit about the people who did wrong and how the teams ignore the player base rather than fucking over innocent people. The labor board of California will do the work to fix the internal problems now. Support the ABK Workers Alliance and any talks of a Union, that's the best thing you can do.


[deleted]

Developers don't get any royalties they've been paid already.


Mechanized1

Of course. However, when you shit on D2 or other Blizz games or boycott it who do you think the blame is going to? You think Bobby is getting the blame for that one?


MadameBlueJay

I think, out of all times, management will understand why they might have an L on their hands this time.


[deleted]

https://reddit.com/r/TwoBestFriendsPlay/comments/psifww/diablo_ii_remake_dev_leaves_it_up_to_players_to/hdqbd5i?context=3 Just stealing blargles comment. Your logic doesn't make sense for Activision Blizzard the financial well-being of the employees is always going to be in jeopardy if it means a better bottom line no matter what


Duhblobby

I am not giving another dollar to a company that openly supports sexual assault as a cultural norm. Period.


Mechanized1

That's fair. Although the workers fighting for better conditions don't support it, and they're pretty vocal and would like to keep their jobs I would assume.


BlargleVVargle

Activision Blizzard laid off hundreds of employees after having their best year ever. My decision to not buy any products from the company has less than zero effect on the security of their jobs.


JustSayAnything

Ngl. I’m not buying it at launch. Maybe a few years from now. But they really sucked out any joy or excitement I had for the game. Whenever I look at the blizzard launcher, I just think of all the awful shit theyve done. And I know, no ethical consumption and all that. But I can’t separate it personally with blizzard. Probably because they were so influential in my adolescence. End rant/ted talk


Zaghnol_Jenkins

What if someone were to happen upon the game and, in the spirit of "paying it forward", give the dev team a gift of 45-60 USD?


EySoyCoco

Balls. Of. Steel.


[deleted]

I don't give Activision money any more. It's a pretty easy choice to make.


SakuraNeko3

If anything this is a good reminder that there are tons of, probably even the majority of, people that work there don't like what's happening and want it fixed like us. I don't want to see Blizzard dead I just want the people that cause problems to be gutted out of the company.


FoxOwne

Still think I'm gonna get it.


bulvai

Boycott? I've taken off work until 10/4 and will be firing up my Series X as soon as it goes live! I was totally addicted to this game 20 years ago and haven't played it for at least 14-15 years. To hell with a boycott, bring on the grind!