Well I still don't get why you feel it doesn't make sense to not but the game because of something you genuinely dislike about it, even tho you know it'd be a good game in the end. I can't even say it's a good game now... but let's just say, it's not the game that has reached its full potential.
Another thing is, if I've bought a product, but I found that it sucked.. then there's a reason for me to complain. That's what the complaint department's for. This is especially true because the product can still be changed for the better. Tho this topic makes it quite clear that they won't be making it any better.

@Hercanic..
I really didn't read all of that, you lost me with your example.
I found this interesting tho:

Also, I'd love to be an advocate.. but B.net forums are moderated by control freaks. But you're right, I should be doing smth else other than arguing.

---

Update


This proves one thing is that they have an automatic banning device. Unless someone actually opened to map to find the text... which is plausible but unlikely.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Oct 13 2010, 5:07 am by UnholyUrine.

Upon review, I agree. I have since edited for clarity. I hope it helps.


Generally, I can agree with this procedure ("omfg y i baned for using map hax thos n00bs desurve it" does not warrant a thread), but if Blizzard is fundamentally in the wrong, being forced to settle the matter privately with Blizzard on their terms is a recipe for abuse. Social pressure is a powerful force, and companies want nothing more than to avoid negative exposure and discord. Everything is great and happy in Company X's world!


Okay, I just have to join in on the bad analogy bandwagon: The food is the game. The chef, the one who makes the food, is Blizzard. The waiter, the one who brings you the food, is more akin to Battle.net. Custom maps are like adding ketchup or tabasco sauce to said food, allowing you to customize your experience. Although syrup might be disgusting on broccoli, there are circumstances where it would be acceptable, like pancakes. The word dyke might be offensive when used as a disparaging insult, but it also has acceptable uses, like describing a wall that blocks water. It all depends on the context. The blanket censorship is like the restaurant kicking you out because you added some unapproved seasonings to your food that some people don't like, even when it was syrup used on pancakes (and not broccoli).

Would you go to a restaurant that forbid you from pouring syrup on your pancakes?

Sorry, this annoyed me too much so I have to reply.

While some lesbian relationships may take on more heterosexual norms, by no means is this a standard feature of lesbian relationships.

It is better to say that 'dyke' is typically used to refer to more masculine lesbians, similar to the term "butch".

It's not like somebody is going to cry over seeing the oh-so-offensive word "dyke" in a game where most pubbies think words are randomly generated.

To cut a long story short. This is a very bad move on Blizzards part. While I understand the implications (both legal and economic), and why they have implemented these sort of 'blanket-censorships'... It is a very very bad move on their part.

Hell... in school aged about 14 or 15... I had a geography lesson all about Groynes and Dykes... Of course Blizzard know that the word has 'offensive' connotations... Maybe their Censorship Team is headed by a lesbian... who knows!?

It seems that they want to create animosity and stir up shit. They know how popular Nexus Word Wars is, and they have attacked it. They have made it into a singular example and as such emphasised their position of authority. It is their way of saying: "All your custom maps are belong to us."

And, since our custom maps are the sole property of Activision-Blizzard.... they cannot contain anything that would infringe or cause harm to their Company/Empire. Hence, the Blanket-Censorship.

My reply is going on longer than I had wanted but oh well... To continue with this idea of a boycott, it is futile. The gross-profits that Blizzard make annually is enough (in fact, more than enough) for them to not care about the minority of diehard fans and map makers who feel let down and betrayed by a company they once held in such high regard. And to make matters worse, 90% of these fans and map makers (ie. us and others) have already paid the £30 to $100 for the game....

The most sensible thing I can think of has already been mentioned in this forum. Advertise your maps on various forms and proclaim that you refuse, downright and absolutely refuse to publish the map. Cite some moral or ethical reason, and blame Blizzard's policy for this reason. Then wait 12 months or any undetermined period of time until there becomes 100's of shit-hot, fuckin' awesome maps piled up.

Only thing is, you'll need to get every map-maker on board with this idea. And map-makers are a proud and egotistical breed to say the least... You spend weeks working on a masterpiece, you want others to play it... simple as...

Anyways. rant rant rant.

Hell... in school aged about 14 or 15... I had a social studies lesson about penis and vagina. Of course, it was the mandatory sex-ed class... Maybe their Censorship Team flunked outta high school... who knows!?

I also learned what they do to you if your bladder explodes in an accident. It is not pretty and will haunt me for life.


say wut? XD (couldn't find a :mindexplode: smiley )
PANCAKES!!!!

More anecdotal evidence for the win! Just because you learned about that stuff when you were 14 doesn't mean other people did. I'm not defending what Blizzard is doing, but to assume that everyone knows what terms are offensive and what is not is pretty ignorant: it's better to be safe than sorry, because I'm sure more people are willing to get pissed by the abundance of offensive words rather than the lack of offensive words.

People are not getting pissed because of lack of offensive words, dude. Maps are getting banned with no real reason because they seem to content something that is not really offensive to anyone. People are getting pissed because Blizzard is not being reasonable.

Sorry if you misunderstood what I said, but I meant to say that Blizzard is more likely to go the route where they ban a map that has possibly offensive words because it's more likely to upset less people in comparison to not doing anything at all about it. Parents and news outlets almost always find some reason to rail on video games and something like this could be a venue for bad slander on Blizzard. Also, you realize a word being offensive to someone is purely subjective? Just because you're okay with using certain language doesn't mean others are open to it.

This statement is blatantly ignorant at best.

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/56889/Starcraft-2-Sold-Over-3-Million-Copies-In-First-Month
If that isn't a success, I don't know what is.

Who disputed that StarCraft 2 was a success? Read the quote in its entirety.

Oh, I see. Blizzard can take a 100million dollar loss because they're raking in that much each MONTH from WoW alone.

The fact you think that's how a business operates is sad and naive. I guess this is what you think happens at Blizzard:

"Oh hey guys, thanks for coming to this week's meeting. Just reminding everyone not to worry about profits, because we're already making enough. That's right, we don't need to worry about making more money. I mean, we already have a lot."

At least you don't ever have to worry about being in charge of a successful business. That must be a huge relief.

I'm not saying it wouldn't be a bad thing for them if SC2 was a flop, I'm saying they could take the hit and carry on.

The fact is, they care about their bottom line. Suggesting a business wouldn't be bothered by a loss of net income because they "already make enough money" is, as stated earlier, blatantly ignorant at best.

I never said they wouldn't be BOTHERED by it. I said they could TAKE it.

My comment, which you replied to directly, was responding to a claim that SC2 being a failure wouldn't hurt Blizzard. I didn't say it would bankrupt them, I said it would bother them. They are a business, their goal is to consistently make more money. Again, to think that Blizzard and their shareholders would be satisfied with just making X amount of money, where X is where they stop caring about additional net income, is blatantly ignorant at best.

This is my point, yet you quoted my original response and were clearly attempting to disagree with me.

I don't think either of you is getting it, so allow me to put it in analogy form:

Say Blizzard is the head of police departments in a tri-city area, and StarCraft II is one of their police officers. Now, StarCraft II has a drinking problem, gambles on every Tuesday night, and has some domestic issues, but other than that, he's a great cop. Sure, StarCraft II may go home and hit his wife, and the neighbors don't like him very much, but they aren't going to do anything because he's in a position of power. Now, Blizzard would say "Well, we can't fire the guy; he's the Sheriff's (StarCraft's) son!" Blizzard will just allow StarCraft II to be StarCraft II because he's good at his job.

I'm not really sure if that was relevant to your conversation, but it sounded good in my head.

Back to the topic, I don't believe the map should have been banned. I have a hard time imagining that people were engaged in intense play and then one of them saw the word "dyke" and did any one of the following because of it:
- cried
- got angry
- stopped playing
- bothered to repeat the word
- had a midlife crisis
- rage quitted
- looked around nervously
- laughed
- noticed it was potentially offensive
- smiled and then regretted smiling
- swore revenge on the creator of the map
- removed a key from their keyboard that spelled the word so they couldn't type it themselves
- thought of a female
- saw potential to ban the game
- wondered what the word meant (if they didn't know)
- could no longer focus on the game
- wished they had played the campaign instead
- thought of Sexy Pics from StarCraft I
- called a lawyer
- decided to stop playing and read a book instead
- lost respect for Blizzard
- became scarred for life
- take the word into any form of consideration

Although, to be fair, "dyke" isn't recognized in my spell checker, so it must be evil on some level.

People need to learn reading comprehension. (Haha just kidding guys!)

But seriously, stop talking about the word "dyke," for all intensive purposes blizzard dismissed it as not being the sole cause, and therefore should not be shown the attention that it is. Stop talking about it.

Just because you've never heard of a slang, doesn't mean other people have. I knew of this slang term.


You two need to stop bickering, you both have already agreed on your original points and are now fighting a war of semantics. It's totally pointless.