Sunday, December 01, 2019

Reconsidering the Blizzard Boycott

I miss my guild. I miss raiding. I'm beginning to wonder if I should just bow to the inevitable, and give up this boycott of Blizzard.

There was a kerfuffle last week in the Magic: the Gathering community. Their Creative department had always been reliably progressive in past. Two of the five "main" characters, Chandra and Nissa, were both women and attracted to each other.

That relationship was unceremoniously dispatched in the latest novel, with Chandra emphasizing she was attracted to men. Wizards of the Coast followed the Blizzard playbook exactly and "apologized", but confirmed the new direction. The apology was not accessible from China.

Maybe China dictating the practices of Western companies is just the new normal, and the only thing one can reasonably do is enjoy the decline. 

Nassim Taleb puts forth an interesting theory in a chapter from his book, Skin in the Game: The Most Intolerant Wins: The Dictatorship of the Small Minority. He suggests that in a tolerant society, the rules will be dictated by the most intransigent minority with skin in the game. In our new globalist era, that's basically China. 

It's a pretty interesting theory, actually, though Taleb doesn't really address what happens when there are multiple intransigent minorities holding opposite views. In this case, does the largest minority win? Does the market attempt to offer options, to placate each minority separately?

So that's what I'm contemplating. Should I reinstall WoW or not? I really would like to raid again. On the other hand, one cannot become an intransigent minority without actually being intransigent.

5 comments:

  1. I thought you raided in FF14? I get the guild part. People make it worthwhile.

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    Replies
    1. No, I do the duty finder (LFR) versions of the raids, but I don't go into EX or Savage content where you need a pre-made group.

      Truthfully, I don't really care for FFXIV's endgame.

      Delete
  2. While it would be easy to tell you what to do, this is one of those things you must decide on for yourself. Addiction is pretty tough to beat especially since you will win and lose regardless of your choice here. Guess it just comes down to what you can live with or live without?

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    Replies
    1. Maybe the original stance was just quixotic and unrealistic, and I'm denying myself a game that I enjoy for no particularly good reason.

      Delete
  3. https://blessingofkings.blogspot.com/2019/10/time-to-boycott-blizzard.html

    This post seemed to be a good reason. That said you are allowed to change your mind. :)

    ReplyDelete