I havn't bought an Activision game since Vigilante 8 on the PSone, because im boycotting? no, because they never release anything I want to play.
 
Diablo 3 may change my mind however.

you realize that gaming is about games not whether you like someone or not

well then everyone should stop playing wow. i'm amazed people still play anyway. once i got to 70 in the first expansion i realized it was just going to be a continuous cycle of expansions having you do basically the same thing and never reaching the finish line because there isn't one. glad i was smart enough to get out when i did.

" Diablo is one of my favorite franchises of all time. I'll be damned if I stop playing it just because there was some corporate drama. Everyone involved are adults and this probably will even lead to better things for the IW guys.  This post is dumb. "

" Last time we had a petition against Activision, Modern Warfare 2 broke records. "

I respect your opinion and dedication. Good luck being the only one in that camp.

" you realize that gaming is about games not whether you like someone or not "

" @misplacedcircus: All this constant outrage at companies that make games. It's such a waste of energy. I'm assuming you've actually read the contracts concerning the payment of bonuses, right? No? Of course not. You have no idea what's going on at the company, and no idea what you're talking about. "Ethical Principles." Give me a break. Let the employees worry about their benefits. It has nothing to do with the games. If a game is good, buy it. That's all that matters. Why get mired in internal company politics you're not even a part of and have no first-hand knowledge of? I don't get why so many even care about it. The employees are adults, perfectly capable of going out and getting lawyers to fight over money if they want. It has nothing to do with you. If it makes you feel good about yourself, fine. But there's no reason it should. "

Dumb thread is dumb.  Starcraft 2 is going to be awesome.

It's depressing to see threads like this where everyone says 'fuck principle I just want to play that game'.  It's such a fucking childish mentality.

" Dumb thread is dumb.  Starcraft 2 is going to be awesome. "

While I think it's admirable to take a stand, it's up to the current and former employees of activision (and their lawyers) to get what is coming to them.

" Last time we had a petition against Activision, Modern Warfare 2 broke records. "

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I understand where you're coming from, Misplacedcirucus.  I hate Activision as much as I hate EA.  I may actually hate Activision even more.  I face a real dillema within the current state of affairs of the video game industry: I'm forced to support two companies that I absolutely hate in order to play the games I want to play.  This especially holds true for Blizzard games.  I've been playing Blizzard games since Warcraft: Orcs vs Humans came out and I'm still playing that developer's games.  It was a sad day when I heard of the merge between Activision and Blizzard.  The company I love is joining with the company I mildly didn't like (at the time).  But now, I want Starcraft 2, I have it paid off already.  I know that money is going to Bobby, but I still want to support Blizzard's development team.
 
It is nice to know that Bobby is right when he said gamers don't care.  Really nice.  I enjoy hearing that we'll just take whatever they throw at is because it looks pretty or swears a lot.  I hope the industry collapses.  Start over.  Hit the reset button.  Have the companies keep throwing Bad Warfare and Guitar Band at us until the shelves are so over stocked that production ceases and no one is able to do anything anymore.  I like hearing that it's the attitude of "idc just gimmie" right as I'm trying to get into the industry as a new company.
 
I may only be only one person, but I care.  I'm not buying anymore Activision products outside of the Blizzard department.

This is stupid.

I despise kotick but if I like a game I'm going to play it.  That being said I don't play wow and haven't gotten an activision game in a while so he hasn't been getting my money. 

" I understand where you're coming from, Misplacedcirucus.  I hate Activision as much as I hate EA.  I may actually hate Activision even more.  I face a real dillema within the current state of affairs of the video game industry: I'm forced to support two companies that I absolutely hate in order to play the games I want to play.  This especially holds true for Blizzard games.  I've been playing Blizzard games since Warcraft: Orcs vs Humans came out and I'm still playing that developer's games.  It was a sad day when I heard of the merge between Activision and Blizzard.  The company I love is joining with the company I mildly didn't like (at the time).  But now, I want Starcraft 2, I have it paid off already.  I know that money is going to Bobby, but I still want to support Blizzard's development team.  It is nice to know that Bobby is right when he said gamers don't care.  Really nice.  I enjoy hearing that we'll just take whatever they throw at is because it looks pretty or swears a lot.  I hope the industry collapses.  Start over.  Hit the reset button.  Have the companies keep throwing Bad Warfare and Guitar Band at us until the shelves are so over stocked that production ceases and no one is able to do anything anymore.  I like hearing that it's the attitude of "idc just gimmie" right as I'm trying to get into the industry as a new company.  I may only be only one person, but I care.  I'm not buying anymore Activision products outside of the Blizzard department. "

No thanks. Unlike the other Activision properties - Blizzard makes good games and reaps the reward.
The way it should be.

Let's see if I can break this down. Correct me if I'm wrong here.
Hey everyone. I hate some corporate stooge so let's boycott one of the best developers he has so we can inadvertently give him more power and control over them so they stop making good games. 
To this I say SHAME. Your ignorance will destroy us all.

You can't really blame Activison for anything Blizzard related.  Before Activison, Blizzard was owned by  Vivendi, and they are the majority stockholders in the new company.  In the long run, Blizzard's boss didn't really change. 
 
As for the matter at hand, If you think a  company is making sub-par games, by all mean, don't buy thoes games.  I don't think there's any more effective way for the market to work then punish BAD games.  But the TC spesificly said Blizzard (Beacuse that's where their money comes from) and Blizzard makes GREAT games.  They and Valve are the standards of PC gaming.  I'm not going to try and punish a compony that dosen't treat some of their programers right by messing with the great programers they DO treat right. 
 
Also, again, see my previous comment about Chinese Hardware.  There are much more important things to be boycotting then a video game  company.  How about you go around and convince people to stop buying blood diamonds that get people KILLED, instead of games that make programmers earn less money then they should.

Support good game companies by buying their good games. It's perfectly logical to buy games from Blizzard. This is a behavior that is good for the game industry, advocating against this because you have a grudge is shortsighted and...well just not smart.

While I support the sentiment, this is a bit misguided.

Negatory.

Blizzard is my favorite company, right up there with Valve. So TC please enjoy missing all the awesome games that Blizzard makes just because you have stupid reasoning. Fucking idiot...

Ehrm... no. 
 
@misplacedcircus said: 

" - I encourage anyone and everyone to refuse playing/paying any of Activision-Blizzard games out of ethical principal "

Eh, I play whatever games that I enjoy, who the publisher is is not relevant to me. I'm a game player, not an activist.

I may have missed something, but are we supposed to get mad at Kotick / Activision because he made a smart business move by merging with Blizzard and thus making more money for his company? I mean, it is a business after all.
 
I'll still buy and play Blizzard's games because they are usually really, really, really good.

  @misplacedcircus:  There are two problems that I can see with your ideals. 
One is that instead of trying to boycott the whole of Activision, which would be impossible as they make almost all the titles we know, you only attack Blizzard. You attack them purely on the basis that they make quality games that sell huge amounts directly increasing Activision Blizzard's revenue. This developer has done nothing but make excellent games and attacking them might as well be trying to attack an orphanage.
Two is that you have absolutely no idea how business' work and how the market deals with perceived problems. For example, BP just single handedly destroyed the Gulf of Mexico. They have had to pay billions in restitution and PR and because of all this the stock has gone down more than fifty percent. Now, because the stock price is so low there has been rampant buying of said stock because they know that BP will come out of this no matter what. In the end, even though it looks to be collapsing,  they support this company because it will pay. When all is said and done trying to hurt Activision with anything short of bankruptcy will only make it a better investment, which will in turn make it more money.

I'd rather somebody just kicked Kotick in the balls.

okay

STARCRAFT 2 SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NO

I am personally refusing to pay to play any Blizzard games now and into the future, because of the truly dreadful mistreatment Infinity Ward employees are receiving

Sorry dude, but a good game is a good game no matter where it comes from. 
 
Have fun not playing Star Craft 2

" While I think it's admirable to take a stand, it's up to the current and former employees of activision (and their lawyers) to get what is coming to them. "

" No thanks. Unlike the other Activision properties - Blizzard makes good games and reaps the reward.The way it should be. "

Not for long. Do you not agree that the same thing could potentially happen to the talent at Blizzard? The whole issue is about Activision cutting talent out of profit, which is also in their company's business legacy. It's only a matter of when.

" @misplacedcircus said:

Not for long. Do you not agree that the same thing could potentially happen to the talent at Blizzard? The whole issue is about Activision cutting talent out of profit, which is also in their company's business legacy. It's only a matter of when.

Activision owned Infinity Ward and that's why they had the power to do that. They don't own Blizzard, they are business partners. That's why there s Activision-Blizzard and why there never was an Activision-Infinity Ward.  I hate Activision as much as the next guy but do you really think boycotting their games is going to hurt Bobby Kotick? No, it's going to hurt the people who makes the games because they will fire more studios long before they decide to take a hit to their paychecks. "

I'm pretty sure that West and Zampella going off to EA and trying to work out some kind of deal with them for publishing behind the backs of their owners...was what got their asses fired. 
 
I'm not saying that withholding bonuses from IW employees is right.  I'm just pointing out that the way West and Zampella acted beforehand was fucking stupid.

no thx. The second half of my summer is going to be devoted to SC2. Then, whenever it comes out, Diablo 3. Blizzard is one of my favourite companies, I'll never leave them.

" @mazik765 said:

" @misplacedcircus said:

Not for long. Do you not agree that the same thing could potentially happen to the talent at Blizzard? The whole issue is about Activision cutting talent out of profit, which is also in their company's business legacy. It's only a matter of when.

Activision owned Infinity Ward and that's why they had the power to do that. They don't own Blizzard, they are business partners. That's why there s Activision-Blizzard and why there never was an Activision-Infinity Ward.  I hate Activision as much as the next guy but do you really think boycotting their games is going to hurt Bobby Kotick? No, it's going to hurt the people who makes the games because they will fire more studios long before they decide to take a hit to their paychecks. "

Bobby Kotick is the public face of the company. EA partially changed their company's way in which they did business for a change, they might go back on that, but they did change. Kotick is what I represent with what is wrong with Activision, and since a great deal of companies change 'public' figures in their company to satisfy a new corporate culture (Microsoft, EA, all of them do it) Kotick would surely be on the losing end of the deal. There are so many examples of this that I cannot even begin to go into (Gamespot too).  Your position is perhaps the best to take on this topic, but then again it is the most fundamentally wrong one as well.  I can tell you as a person who would love a job as a developer, I would absolutely refuse to accept a job in an environment in which the company sells me short. No matter what. I think that Activision-Blizzard's corporate culture of disrespecting talent is absolutely inexcusable and unacceptable. Wouldn't that be a better fundamentally sound stand to take, than "they will never change in the face of a consumer whom demands it of them, so nothing changes"?  I for one will no longer tolerate the gross and obvious mistreatment of talent in the industry. Especially Activision-Blizzard because of just how obviously (remember the articles I listed) wrong they are in this situation. Since the gaming industry has failed to protect their own talent, I am taking it upon myself to see that I am not a part of the problem (I am not giving them money), and actively encouraging others to do the same. If another company follows in Activision-Blizzard's example, I will treat them the same. "

" @misplacedcircus said:

" @mazik765 said:

" @misplacedcircus said:

Not for long. Do you not agree that the same thing could potentially happen to the talent at Blizzard? The whole issue is about Activision cutting talent out of profit, which is also in their company's business legacy. It's only a matter of when.

Activision owned Infinity Ward and that's why they had the power to do that. They don't own Blizzard, they are business partners. That's why there s Activision-Blizzard and why there never was an Activision-Infinity Ward.  I hate Activision as much as the next guy but do you really think boycotting their games is going to hurt Bobby Kotick? No, it's going to hurt the people who makes the games because they will fire more studios long before they decide to take a hit to their paychecks. "

Bobby Kotick is the public face of the company. EA partially changed their company's way in which they did business for a change, they might go back on that, but they did change. Kotick is what I represent with what is wrong with Activision, and since a great deal of companies change 'public' figures in their company to satisfy a new corporate culture (Microsoft, EA, all of them do it) Kotick would surely be on the losing end of the deal. There are so many examples of this that I cannot even begin to go into (Gamespot too).  Your position is perhaps the best to take on this topic, but then again it is the most fundamentally wrong one as well.  I can tell you as a person who would love a job as a developer, I would absolutely refuse to accept a job in an environment in which the company sells me short. No matter what. I think that Activision-Blizzard's corporate culture of disrespecting talent is absolutely inexcusable and unacceptable. Wouldn't that be a better fundamentally sound stand to take, than "they will never change in the face of a consumer whom demands it of them, so nothing changes"?  I for one will no longer tolerate the gross and obvious mistreatment of talent in the industry. Especially Activision-Blizzard because of just how obviously (remember the articles I listed) wrong they are in this situation. Since the gaming industry has failed to protect their own talent, I am taking it upon myself to see that I am not a part of the problem (I am not giving them money), and actively encouraging others to do the same. If another company follows in Activision-Blizzard's example, I will treat them the same. "

Not buying games will hurt the developers, not Kotick.  You may feel like you're doing the noble thing, but if you even succeeded at something no one else has (rallying a community to not purchase a game), you're only hurting the studio's who made those games.  If you want to stick it to Kotick, buy hell out of what Respawn Entertainment puts out. "

" @misplacedcircus: So you're saying, in your world, you see this:
 
Board: Gamers aren't buying are games because you mouthed off Kotick!  We knew this day would come, and you'll never work in the business again.  By the way, we're personally calling up those IW guys and giving them their hard earned bonuses, out of our OWN pockets, because your completely independent actions to fire them.
 
Kotick: *sobs* I now see the err of my ways.
 
--When I see:
Kotick: It would appear that Black Ops wasn't the financial success we expected it to be, which to be honest is a damn shame.  All hands for firing half of Treyarch?
 
Board: Aye. "

" @misplacedcircus: So you're saying, in your world, you see this:
 
Board: Gamers aren't buying are games because you mouthed off Kotick!  We knew this day would come, and you'll never work in the business again.  By the way, we're personally calling up those IW guys and giving them their hard earned bonuses, out of our OWN pockets, because your completely independent actions to fire them.
 
Kotick: *sobs* I now see the err of my ways.
 
--When I see:
Kotick: It would appear that Black Ops wasn't the financial success we expected it to be, which to be honest is a damn shame.  All hands for firing half of Treyarch?
 
Board: Aye. "

" I'm pretty sure that West and Zampella going off to EA and trying to work out some kind of deal with them for publishing behind the backs of their owners...was what got their asses fired.  I'm not saying that withholding bonuses from IW employees is right.  I'm just pointing out that the way West and Zampella acted beforehand was fucking stupid. "