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Activision Blizzard Sued By California Over ‘Frat Boy’ Culture

CGiRanger

Banned
As others have mentioned, it is quite ironic to see Blizzard's woke and politically correct stance biting it back with a fury.
And as you can see from the Employees statement, they're only doubling down on the woke PC mentality in their "demands" to the management.
 

Coolwhhip

Neophyte
And as you can see from the Employees statement, they're only doubling down on the woke PC mentality in their "demands" to the management.

Good news for the competition. When Blizzard is focusing on going all woke on itself and hire for diversity, the competition will just crush them with talent hiring.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Good news for the competition. When Blizzard is focusing on going all woke on itself and hire for diversity, the competition will just crush them with talent hiring.

They can't though. See the big lie is that there are a sufficient number of worthwhile candidates they can hire at any one time, when the reality is that there isn't.

How many indie games can you think of with female coders leading them? Or are they all victims of the patriarchy too?
 

JumpMan1981

Banned
Devil's advocate here guys. Whats your opinion. I thought of this since I worked in a warehouse in the 90s.

One of the office workers was pretty good looking, been there a while and basically knew everyone on the shop floor (lots of long time workers there). Some of the workers and her would joke around in an innocent sexual way for kicks. Its not like they are making out or anything. Think of your work where you know people you can joke around and say dumb sex jokes or say youre looking hot. The people involved are fine and think it's fun kidding.

Someone standing 20 ft away not involved sees these childish antics between coworkers.

Does she have a valid complaint to HR or the government of sexual harassment culture?
In modern times I think people would know better.
My experience in late 90s and early 00s workplaces was similar. Xmas parties always ended with people fucking each other and all kinds of drama.

Fast forward to about 2017. One of the guys in our department was dating one of the ladies. They split up and the guy stared dating the receptionist from the other building across the road (same company but different departments in different buildings, its like a campus). Some OTHER employee from another team actually went to HR and complained about the "power dynamics" in this new relationship. Some jealous lad is suspected but we never found out 100%. My colleague and the receptionist actually had to go through some pretty extensive HR interviews before basically being told never to interact in the workplace because it creates a bad impression. She left the company soon after but they are still dating.

I don't know about the stuff with Activision so no comment. Some of the newbies in my work would never survive the 90s work environment. They are at the same time very very sensitive but also willing to completely blow up at any given thing and I think actively try to get people in trouble.

Christ, one of my first jobs had strippers at the Xmas party. Not sure if that's right or wrong. LOL.
 

Vaelka

Member
I totally agree that these are major problems and sympathize with the victims.

But holy fuck a whole lot of people are trying to turn this into some other shit like Gamergate or '' sexy women in games bad ''.

Just shut the fuck up and stop making it about you and your shitty opinions.
Same with people trying to turn this into some issue about race and '' white men bad '' which is hilarious considering that the worst offender was Iranian and was pretty proud of that fact.
Yeah sure maybe some minorities were mistreated.
But turning this into some '' white men bad '' is extremely alienating and dumbest shit you can possibly pull if you genuinely care about change.
And why zero in on and focus on a small part of the bigger problem.

I dunno wtf Americans problem is with racializing literally everything, it's not like ONLY minorities at Blizzard were targeted that'd be a different matter entirely.
 
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Shmunter

Member
I totally agree that these are major problems and sympathize with the victims.

But holy fuck a whole lot of people are trying to turn this into some other shit like Gamergate or '' sexy women in games bad ''.

Just shut the fuck up and stop making it about you and your shitty opinions.
Same with people trying to turn this into some issue about race and '' white men bad '' which is hilarious considering that the worst offender was Iranian and was pretty proud of that fact.
Yeah sure maybe some minorities were mistreated.
But turning this into some '' white men bad '' is extremely alienating and dumbest shit you can possibly pull if you genuinely care about change.
And why zero in on and focus on a small part of the bigger problem.

I dunno wtf Americans problem is with racializing literally everything, it's not like ONLY minorities at Blizzard were targeted that'd be a different matter entirely.
The suit right in its introduction is blaming White men. Literally.
 

Singular7

Member
He doesn't drink, smoke, or do recreational drugs. He has covered it before on stream.

Hey now.... I'm sipping on a St. Bernardus now.

I used to smoke a lot of pot in college (20 years ago)

I've done almost every drug imaginable (except the addictive stuff). I used to go to Phish concerts :messenger_tears_of_joy: (20 years ago)

-------------

Point? I know what I'm talking about.

Blizzard == USA, a byproduct of philosophy.

A man of culture, yes reading roman history and Plato should me mandatory if society survives this.

But its only gonna get worse. Society will sexualize kids and animals. Society is already doing the kids thing, wont be long before we get to animals. Give it 10 years.

Only thing that can save society is the tyrant. Only time will tell if he/she arises due to the propaganda that the governments and media spew.

I couldn't agree more! This is a well established pattern.

Blizzard is a symptom, and faux outrage about the obvious outcomes of our current choice-sets should surprise nobody.

Except the faux virtous.
 
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nush

Member
tenor.gif
 

Vaelka

Member
Here's a few of them working hard to destroy Blizzard from the inside. If I were in charge, they'd be catapulted into the Pacific:
WC9IYXZ.jpg
HjTYRwA.jpg


I am just tired...
The thing is that by Neogaf standards I am a '' SJW '', I have far more in common with the average Resetera user than Neogaf user when it comes to actual politics.
But I still look at this and cringe internally.

Just fucking stop.
This is just about not being a piece of shit, not about '' white men '' or men in general.
Women are pieces of shit too they just don't have the physical capacity in general to act on these things, it's more of a threat to themselves.
But when they have power over other people they abuse it too.

I mean for fuck sake a lot of the people in HR are women and they also cover this shit up all the time.
 
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Shmunter

Member
I am just tired...
The thing is that by Neogaf standards I am a '' SJW '', I have far more in common with the average Resetera user than Neogaf user when it comes to actual politics.
But I still look at this and cringe internally.

Just fucking stop.
This is just about not being a piece of shit, not about '' white men '' or men in general.
Women are pieces of shit too they just don't have the physical capacity in general to act on these things, it's more of a threat to themselves.
But when they have power over other people they abuse it too.

I mean for fuck sake a lot of the people in HR are women and they also cover this shit up all the time.
You’re no sjw displaying rational thought and self awareness
 
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CGiRanger

Banned
Same with people trying to turn this into some issue about race and '' white men bad '' which is hilarious considering that the worst offender was Iranian and was pretty proud of that fact.
Yeah sure maybe some minorities were mistreated.
But turning this into some '' white men bad '' is extremely alienating and dumbest shit you can possibly pull if you genuinely care about change.
And why zero in on and focus on a small part of the bigger problem.

I dunno wtf Americans problem is with racializing literally everything, it's not like ONLY minorities at Blizzard were targeted that'd be a different matter entirely.
Again the cognitive dissonance on display in terms of "Need Women and Minorities that are better than white men" when again the one person who has been identified as the most pervasive one so far is Iranian/Middle Eastern. Imagine how that would be if it ever comes out that one of the harassers is a woman too (or a trans), which I have zero doubt is the case.
 
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Shmunter

Member
Again the cognitive dissonance on display in terms of "Need Women and Minorities that are better than white men" when again the one person who has been identified as the most pervasive one so far is Iranian/Middle Eastern. Imagine how that would be if it ever comes out that one of the harassers is a woman too (or a trans), which I have zero doubt is the case.
Nah, man they’ve reached deep and got this covered too.

When you’re not white but do ‘white’ things it’s called ‘whitness’, upon which the individuals race becomes irrelevant. A woman doing anything will also be irrelevant because she’s a victim of the patriarchal system that forced her hand, etc.

Does it make sense? Nope, but then most religions don’t.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member

"We immediately conducted our own investigation and took corrective action. At the time of the report, we had already conducted a separate investigation of Alex Afrasiabi and terminated him for his misconduct in his treatment of other employees."

I bet he was furorous.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
When is Jeff Kaplan cancelled for his EQ name being Tigole Bitties?

Maybe that's why he bailed from Blizzard already.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Hypothetically, at this point has the reputational damage reached a point where any further revelations are basically irrelevant?

I mean the thing that occurs to me is that you can get an individual cancelled by embarrassing their employer into it, but can you get an employer to cancel themselves? What does that look like even?

At the end of the day most examples of internet shaming don't have any legal repercussions. This case has a legal dimension which isn't entirely predicated on the optics. It needs to be proven that Activision have not taken action to tackle a systemic issue, when noones disproving that they didn't. Firing Afrabasi being a prime example of them having already done so.

What I'm getting at is I can see them continuing to fight because the only way out is through being legally exonerated. Right now the PR battle is lost, so why continue to fight it in that dimension?

I mean, does anyone think any of these revelations are going to materially impact sales of this year's CoD? Or the next iteration of Diablo?
 

CGiRanger

Banned
When is Jeff Kaplan cancelled for his EQ name being Tigole Bitties?

Maybe that's why he bailed from Blizzard already.
Does anyone know where all the old guard at Blizzard who are no longer there ended up? I think some went to Riot, and a lot followed Morhaime to his new ventures (hence why he was so quick in getting out a statement).
Hypothetically, at this point has the reputational damage reached a point where any further revelations are basically irrelevant?

I mean the thing that occurs to me is that you can get an individual cancelled by embarrassing their employer into it, but can you get an employer to cancel themselves? What does that look like even?

At the end of the day most examples of internet shaming don't have any legal repercussions. This case has a legal dimension which isn't entirely predicated on the optics. It needs to be proven that Activision have not taken action to tackle a systemic issue, when noones disproving that they didn't. Firing Afrabasi being a prime example of them having already done so.

What I'm getting at is I can see them continuing to fight because the only way out is through being legally exonerated. Right now the PR battle is lost, so why continue to fight it in that dimension?

I mean, does anyone think any of these revelations are going to materially impact sales of this year's CoD? Or the next iteration of Diablo?
Yeah, I think at this point Activision Blizzard will just fight the legal battles just out of the spotlight until rulings come out. The company has suffered financial damage in the markets, though it remains to be seen if that's a permanent thing. The test will be Diablo 2's release in September, and seeing how well it sells and is received. I don't think that game will suffer any blowback from this because it was made mostly by an external team outside of Blizzard HQ (VicVis), and of course it's a huge legendary game for many people.

And yeah, the Call of Duty audience won't give a second thought to this. The next game will sell like hotcakes. The main issue for Blizzard on the game/financial front is WoW and how that fares, especially after a lot of long-term issues even before this scandal dropped (negatively received releases, and Asmongold stuff)
 
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Mossybrew

Banned
Meh. This whole debacle has been mainly just another excuse for a whole bunch of tools to virtue signal. IM CANCELLING MY WOW SUB yeah great, ok man, you go you crusader of justice. I'm all for like, not having women be harrassed by creepy losers at work, but I just don't have enough Care left in by broken old dusty heart to get all worked up about Other People's Problems these days. Got enough of my own.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Meh. This whole debacle has been mainly just another excuse for a whole bunch of tools to virtue signal. IM CANCELLING MY WOW SUB yeah great, ok man, you go you crusader of justice. I'm all for like, not having women be harrassed by creepy losers at work, but I just don't have enough Care left in by broken old dusty heart to get all worked up about Other People's Problems these days. Got enough of my own.
Totally.

A lot of people now think they are ethical gods.

Foxconn is basically shitloads of people working at ultra repetitive jobs for cheap. Such a big compound they got their own living quarters and shopping mall on campus to keep them entertained and close to work.

They got suicide nets because the work is so spirit breaking people jump out their dorm windows.

Yet Foxconn makes tons of electronics we all use including everyone's favourite shit.... Apple products.

Where's all the high almighty people saying they will boycott iPhones and Macs? Many of the losers complaining are probably using Apple gear now and playing consoles they make.


In 2010, there were 14 confirmed suicides at the flagship plant of Foxconn, a Chinese company that manufactures an estimated 40% of the world’s consumer electronics, including components for the iPhone, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
 
Look who signal boosts "GAMERGATE!" again and makes it all about "ME ME ME ME!"


Seriously fuck this self-serving garbage dump. Fuck any self-proclaimed "journalist" that tries to insert themselves into an ongoing investigation.


It also gives us an insight into the hard work that goes into getting his stories

Hey [redacted]
Got any news? plz stop ignoring my emails
JS
p.s. here is a link to my book on amazon
 
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The sjw fruitcake army are making their power move during the shakeup. If they succeed, the company will go from bad to worse (if you could imagine that).
Yep, we all know that rapists are the real talents in the gamming industry. If you take them away and put more woke people, gaming as we know will cease to exist and low Metacritic scores will dominate
/s
 
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"In 2018, a former Activision Blizzard IT worker installed cameras in the company's Minnesota office bathroom with the intent to spy on employees while they used the toilet, according to court records reviewed by Waypoint and local media reports from the time.
The employee, Tony Ray Nixon, pleaded guilty to "Interference with Privacy," a gross misdemeanor, and was given a suspended prison sentence; he later allegedly violated his parole requiring him to take "sex offender treatment as directed." Nixon worked for Activision Blizzard in Eden Prairie Minnesota, where the company maintains a building that focuses on quality assurance."



"In August 2015, Blizzard employees were at a major cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas, where the company was one of the sponsors and had a booth in the recruiting area. Emily Mitchell, a security researcher who at the time was looking for a job, approached the Blizzard booth to see what positions were open at the company. Mitchell told Waypoint that she loves PC games, and played Diablo, Blizzard's roleplaying game.

When she got to the table, she said she asked about the penetration testing position. Penetration testing, or pentesting, is the industry term for a security audit. Mitchell said she was wearing a t-shirt made by cybersecurity company SecureState, which had "Penetration Expert" on the front. One of the Blizzard employees first asked if she was lost, another one asked if she was at the conference with her boyfriend, and another one asked if she even knew what pentesting was.

"One of them asked me when was the last time I was personally penetrated, if I liked being penetrated, and how often I got penetrated," Mitchell told Waypoint. "I was furious and felt humiliated so I took the free swag and left.""

Reddit's already doing the "she wore a penetration joke shirt so she deserved it" crap but who the fuck are these cringe ball betas that talk like this?
 
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twerkouting

Banned
Devil's advocate here guys. Whats your opinion. I thought of this since I worked in a warehouse in the 90s.

One of the office workers was pretty good looking, been there a while and basically knew everyone on the shop floor (lots of long time workers there). Some of the workers and her would joke around in an innocent sexual way for kicks. Its not like they are making out or anything. Think of your work where you know people you can joke around and say dumb sex jokes or say youre looking hot. The people involved are fine and think it's fun kidding.

Someone standing 20 ft away not involved sees these childish antics between coworkers.

Does she have a valid complaint to HR or the government of sexual harassment culture?


Yes because legally, sexual harassment in a work place setting doesn't consider the intent of the offender; it only considers the accusation from the accuser.

Read the room before you and somebody you're "cool" with decide to "joke" around in private work place. Or even better, don't do that. It's a place of business.
 

kingfey

Banned

A source who has since departed Blizzard talked about how the room designated for breastfeeding didn’t have locks. “Men would walk into the breastfeeding room. There was no way to lock the door. They would just stare and I would have to scream at them to leave.” IGN understands that breastfeeding rooms have since been updated, with locks added to doors.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?
[
throw up comedy central GIF by Workaholics
/ISPOILER]
 

Umbasaborne

Banned

Apparently dudes would walk into the breast feeding room, which didnt have a lock, and just fucking stare?

good god fuck this company right into the sun. I cancelled my diablo 2 pre order on xbox, and unless they seriously change things, and get rid of every person responsible, im never buying anything from them ever again. I dont care if its spyro 4, or even a new tony hawk game.

edit: beaten, sorry, still doesnt change the fact that this company needs to change from the ground up, or go under completely
 
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rkofan87

Gold Member
I am just tired...
The thing is that by Neogaf standards I am a '' SJW '', I have far more in common with the average Resetera user than Neogaf user when it comes to actual politics.
But I still look at this and cringe internally.

Just fucking stop.
This is just about not being a piece of shit, not about '' white men '' or men in general.
Women are pieces of shit too they just don't have the physical capacity in general to act on these things, it's more of a threat to themselves.
But when they have power over other people they abuse it too.

I mean for fuck sake a lot of the people in HR are women and they also cover this shit up all the time.
by gaff standards i am sjw as well.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member

Jimmy Fallon Nod GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon


IGN actually has a good article on the whole last week:

This part is very true:
Feelings like these are common among women at Activision Blizzard right now. For some, it is dredging up past pain; others are finding themselves reexamining old interactions in a new light. Few seem particularly surprised, especially those in the service departments — QA, marketing, customer service. As IGN has previously reported, Blizzard has tended to treat developers as special while the various support services have suffered the brunt of cutbacks and layoffs. This has put additional pressure on everyone, but especially marginalized groups.

A Blizzard source points to the World of Warcraft team as an example of this dynamic at work. “WoW makes money, so the people at the top of WoW are untouchable, which means they get away with lots of shit. Also if you were there a long time, which most of the WoW team leadership was, you were ‘in the family’ and pretty much untouchable, which is the breeding ground for behavior like this.”

Before Blizzard moved to their big campus in Irvine, they were in a small two-story building (called the Theory building as that's the street it was on). In that building the devs were on the second floor and QA, CS, Tech, and IT were on the ground floor. The devs (and old guard) were always invincible gods. Basically you don't talk to one unless they spoke to you first.
 
I am just tired...
The thing is that by Neogaf standards I am a '' SJW '', I have far more in common with the average Resetera user than Neogaf user when it comes to actual politics.
But I still look at this and cringe internally.

Just fucking stop.
This is just about not being a piece of shit, not about '' white men '' or men in general.
Women are pieces of shit too they just don't have the physical capacity in general to act on these things, it's more of a threat to themselves.
But when they have power over other people they abuse it too.

I mean for fuck sake a lot of the people in HR are women and they also cover this shit up all the time.
Looks like someone watched "I'm not an easy man" and thought it was about real life events
 
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Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Before Blizzard moved to their big campus in Irvine, they were in a small two-story building (called the Theory building as that's the street it was on). In that building the devs were on the second floor and QA, CS, Tech, and IT were on the ground floor. The devs (and old guard) were always invincible gods. Basically you don't talk to one unless they spoke to you first.

That sounds like a bit of a blanket statement. I refuse to believe that everyone on the dev team was a dick like that, its simply implausible from a pure selection standpoint. Not to mention that there would be hierarchies of their own within that group of people, each with their own perspective and sense of value to the company.

The truth though is that the creative engine should always rightfully be treated as more important than their functionaries, because one group can be replaced or outsourced, the other simply cannot without fundamentally impacting the product. Trying to play this off as some sort of injustice is kinda disingenuous.

Lets be real: Who's more important your favourite band or their road crew?

None of this is an excuse for shitty behaviour, all I'm saying is that this whole shit-show is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to settle all kinds of old scores, and so people should be selective in deciding what are individual grievances and what are systemic issues. Because at the end of the day, any ruling on this case should be being decided on the latter.
 
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