Brian Kibler 聲明
http://bmkgaming.com/statement-on-blitzchung/
I certainly never expected that my position in the Hearthstone community
would lead to me making a statement on sensitive topics regarding
international relations, but I have always viewed my strange place as a
public figure in gaming as an opportunity to try to make the world a better
place in whatever way I can, so here we are.
Here are the facts as I understand them.
After finishing his final match of the second season of the Asia-Pacific
Hearthstone Grandmasters, Hong Kong player Ng “blitzchung” Wai Chung
appeared on the official Taiwanese Hearthstone stream for his post-game
interview wearing a gas mask. He lifted the mouthpiece and shouted, in
Chinese: “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!” – a rallying cry of
the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.
On Tuesday, Blizzard announced their ruling, claiming that Blitzchung
violated one of the Hearthstone Grandmasters rules against “engaging in any
act that, in Blizzard’s sole discretion, brings you into public disrepute,
offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages Blizzard image.
”
The penalty they imposed was expelling Blitzchung from the Grandmasters
league entirely, including retroactively revoking the prize money he had
earned throughout the season, and additionally banning him from competing in
events for a year. They also announced that they would no longer work with
the casters involved in the controversial interview.
I want to start by saying that I feel what Blitzchung did was very brave. He
knew that his actions would likely have serious consequences, not just for
his future in Hearthstone but possibly even for his personal safety, and I
commend him for the fortitude that takes.
Even so, I do think that Blizzard was correct in issuing him a penalty for
his actions. They do not want to set the precedent for their official
broadcasts being used as political tools. The players agreed to particular
rules for behavior, and he violated those rules.
I have seen many descriptions of the situation claim that Blizzard took
action against Blitzchung “for his support of the Hong Kong protests”, but
that’s not an entirely accurate description. They did not penalize him for
his political stance – they penalized him for breaking the rules by using
their official broadcast to promote that stance.
Anyone who pays attention to my social media feeds knows that I am not
someone who shies away from politics. I am frequently quite vocal about my
views about what’s going on in the United States. I have kept a deck titled
“Election 2016” in my collection for the past three years, full of cards
like Corruption, DOOM, and Validated Doomsayer. I would rather risk
alienating those who disagree with me rather than stay silent on matters I
consider important.
But when I am on the desk for an official Hearthstone broadcast, I leave
those views at home. Maybe I’ll make a subtle snide remark on occasion, but
I know that I am representing Blizzard in addition to myself. If I were to
close a show with speech about how I feel like Trump should be impeached, I
wouldn’t expect to be invited back for future events.
All that having been said, there are additional factors at play here. The
punishment meted out to Blitzchung is incredibly harsh. I could understand a
fine, or even a short suspension from competitive play, but removal from
Grandmasters, clawing back the prizes he already earned, and banning him for
a full year seems completely overboard to an extent that feels completely
unwarranted and unfair.
I won’t pretend to understand either the intricacies of the geopolitical
situation in China and Hong Kong or the full extent of Blizzard’s business
interests there, but to me this penalty feels like it is deeply rooted in
both. The heavy-handedness of it feels like someone insisted that Blizzard
make an example of Blitzchung, not only to discourage others from similar
acts in the future but also to appease those upset by the outburst itself.
That kind of appeasement is simply not something I can in good conscience be
associated with. When I learned about the ruling, I reached out to Blizzard
and informed them that I no longer feel comfortable casting the Grandmasters
finals at BlizzCon. I will not be a smiling face on camera that tacitly
endorses this decision. Unless something changes, I will have no involvement
in Grandmasters moving forward.
However, I want to make clear that not everyone involved in GM has this
luxury. Do not take your anger out on the other casters, or streamers, or
employees of Blizzard. This is not the kind of decision that comes from the
rank and file. Most likely they’re just as angry as you are. I know I am.
大概翻譯一下
第一段意思是他從來沒想過自己會因為自己在爐石的社群地位而需要對國際情勢的敏感話
題發表看法，但他既然身為爐石圈的公眾人物，就有責任發表意見
再來是Brian Kibler大概講一下Blitzchung事件經過，並說Blitzchung非常勇敢，他知道
自己的舉動會造成的後果，他讚賞他的堅毅態度
然後Brian Kibler認為暴雪對他懲處是正確的，暴雪不想被當做宣揚政治主張的平台。
暴雪不是因為"Blitzchung支持香港抗議活動而懲處"，而是因為他違反規則利用官方平台
宣傳他私人的政治主張
認識Brian Kibler的人都知道我不是一個迴避政治的人，我經常對美國發生的事發表看法
我寧願疏遠那些不同意我的人，也不願對我認為重要的事情沉默
但我認為暴雪對Blitzchung懲處過於嚴厲，你可以暫停他的比賽，甚至短暫停賽
但是剝奪他的大師賽資格，還要追回他獲得的獎金及禁賽一年就太過分了，這完全是沒有
根據且不公平的
我不會假裝說我知道香港跟中國的複雜地緣政治，假裝知道暴雪在中國的商業利益
更正：我翻錯了；意思搞反
對我而言，這麼重的懲罰只有兩個原因
1.殺雞儆猴給其他人，讓其他人看到Blitzchung這麼做後的下場
2.不僅要阻止今後其他人採取類似行動，還要安撫因為這個抗議而不滿的人
這種懲處不合我的良心，我知道判決後，就聯繫暴雪並告訴他們，我沒辦法在暴雪嘉年華
上參加大師賽決賽了，我做不到在攝影機前面笑著就像是我默認這件事是正確的一樣
除非未來有所改變，否則我不會再參與大師賽決賽
最後就是Brian Kibler懇求網友不要遷怒暴雪其他員工、主播或是其他參賽者
他們可能跟你一樣生氣，至少我知道我是這樣的
https://imgur.com/2p1EII0
但其實中國暴雪還是表達自己的政治態度了，所以Brain 說法說不通，至少是雙重標準