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Lexingtongue

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Anyone following this shit storm regarding HK/China? I see they're demanding government ID to refund accounts as a method to stem cancellations? Isn't that tantamount to criminal activity? Interested to see how this one pans out...
 


The way it's exploded is pretty funny.

Afaik it's ID for account deletions, not cancellations. If that's the case it's a good thing imo, people sink time and money into these account, there should be checks to make sure there's nothing malicious occuring. It's nuts but people can get extreme in MMOs, when I played EVE I there was a weirdo in my corp that tried to pay people another country to cut the telephone line of a player's house at the time of an attack. Trying to delete someone's WoW account doesn't seem that extreme after that.

I actually have a *little* bit of sympathy for evil corporation Blizzard/Activision here, they can't really be expected to stand up against an authoritarian regime just because some guy who won a competition broke the rules he agreed to and got political.
 
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The way it's exploded is pretty funny.

Afaik it's ID for account deletions, not cancellations. If that's the case it's a good thing imo, people sink time and money into these account, there should be checks to make sure there's nothing malicious occuring. It's nuts but people can get extreme in MMOs, when I played EVE I there was a weirdo in my corp that tried to pay people another country to cut the telephone line of a player's house at the time of an attack. Trying to delete someone's WoW account doesn't seem that extreme after that.

I actually have a *little* bit of sympathy for evil corporation Blizzard/Activision here, they can't really be expected to stand up against an authoritarian regime just because some guy who won a competition broke the rules he agreed to and got political.
They're in a difficult spot for sure. By supporting the 'commies' they're going to alienate their US market who can't abide communism. Backtrack and they piss off China. I've got my popcorn out.

As for the online competitiveness/cheating it doesn't surprise me. It's why I avoid online play, bar some occasional Tetris if I have PS+.
 
They're in a difficult spot for sure. By supporting the 'commies' they're going to alienate their US market who can't abide communism. Backtrack and they piss off China. I've got my popcorn out.

As for the online competitiveness/cheating it doesn't surprise me. It's why I avoid online play, bar some occasional Tetris if I have PS+.

That telephone line thing is the most extreme one I've been in contact with.

If they're asking for ID to cancel a Wow subscription that's fucked up, if it's to delete an account I think its good practice and it wouldn't surprise me if it's been in place for a long while without issue.

I haven't played FF14 in well over a year, but if I get a hankering to play again I can just log into my account, resubscribe, and my character will be where I left him. I'd be livid if I found my account was just gone and there were no checks in place.

They aren't really supporting the commies, that's just the slant that the media have taken. Obviously pissing off the Chinese government and losing access to a huge market will be a consideration but we also need to remember that while e-sports are getting massive it's not mainstream yet, they don't want players causing controversy like that and pissing off a chunk of the audience.

I imagine there'd be hell on if a footy player banged on an out a hard Brexit or revoking article 50 in a post match interview. Look at what happened with McClean and the poppy or Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem.
 
That telephone line thing is the most extreme one I've been in contact with.

If they're asking for ID to cancel a Wow subscription that's fucked up, if it's to delete an account I think its good practice and it wouldn't surprise me if it's been in place for a long while without issue.

I haven't played FF14 in well over a year, but if I get a hankering to play again I can just log into my account, resubscribe, and my character will be where I left him. I'd be livid if I found my account was just gone and there were no checks in place.

They aren't really supporting the commies, that's just the slant that the media have taken. Obviously pissing off the Chinese government and losing access to a huge market will be a consideration but we also need to remember that while e-sports are getting massive it's not mainstream yet, they don't want players causing controversy like that and pissing off a chunk of the audience.

I imagine there'd be hell on if a footy player banged on an out a hard Brexit or revoking article 50 in a post match interview. Look at what happened with McClean and the poppy or Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem.
Their holding company is Chinese, I believe? Tencent? I've been reading a lot of the comments on Twitter and Destructoid from the Yanks. They're not happy and are cancelling subscriptions en masse. The anti-communist feeling in the US is really very strong and they seem to be taking Blizzard's stance on this pretty badly...
 
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