why should we, I already pre-ordered Starcraft II thanks to you

" Okay, so, let me just make sure I understand you.  You want me, to not buy and enjoy Diablo 3, because Activision treated a couple of game developer heads poorly? "

I know a lot of people on these boards are young, but FUCK!  
I'm starting to see why the world views gamers as idiot man-children.

I'm playing WoW RIGHT NOW.

Okay, I'm with you.
 
After SC2. And Diablo 3...

I tend not to play activision games because they don't have any franchises that interest me any more.

I would like to redirect you all to the article I referenced in my OP, which has Kotick deferring to Blizzard sales numbers to justify why the console numbers have slumped. 
 
The article is justification enough for people to continue to cease supporting the company financially, this article points to the fact that Kotick himself has to find reasons why the company is under performing. 
 
I don't believe this is an issue regarding Capitalism, I think it is an issue of Justice, and before you say that "all the other companies/people are doing it why shouldn't Activision-Blizzard". I will say to that person that the situation ends with them.
 
The only reason why they are getting away with it, is because people allow them to.

Listen, I'm gonna keep buying Activision and Blizzards games as long as they are quality products, products stink, then I wont buy it. If the workers feel like they are being treated poorly then maybe they should quit?

" Nah I'm good. I'll just avoid Activision products. No need to punish Blizzard, they churn out gold on a disc. "

Blizzard pretty much has full control over their projects, so I'll keep playing their titles. 
 
As for Activision, well, tell me if they release an interesting title. 
OTHER than GoldenEye, sorry, didn't play the original, so the nostalgia factor's not there.

okay!
 
I wasn't going to play them anyway, but!

" Listen, I'm gonna keep buying Activision and Blizzards games as long as they are quality products, products stink, then I wont buy it. If the workers feel like they are being treated poorly then maybe they should quit? "

As long as Activision puts out quality products, I'll buy them. Bobby Kotick is a dick, but it doesn't stop me from buying games on my own will. He's also a businessman, and his priority is to make money, regardless of ethics or public imaging.

I am not a fan of blizzard, so, done and done.

When you're side of the company is the one raking in 70% of the money, I doubt the other side has much leverage over what you do.

Yeah, I don't think so.

" I really don't give a shit about that kind of stuff; I care about the product.  I don't see it as spending money on the developers or publishers, most of the time, but spending money so I can actually play the game I'll enjoy.  So, no.  And we really never know what's going on behind the curtains, so we can't be sure that Bobby Kotick's employees are getting mistreated or whatever. "

done

So you wanna hurt some game company's profits so the developers get payed even less (and possibly lose their job)? Some ethical principal.

Naw dude, I'm gonna go out an buy Starcraft 2 tomorrow. 
 
You can make whatever point you like, but I'm gonna keep playing fun games.

What is 30% of a gagillion dollars? Even if we all did stop playing Blizzard games, its not like they would go bankrupt or something.

" I really don't give a shit about that kind of stuff; I care about the product.  I don't see it as spending money on the developers or publishers, most of the time, but spending money so I can actually play the game I'll enjoy.  So, no.  And we really never know what's going on behind the curtains, so we can't be sure that Bobby Kotick's employees are getting mistreated or whatever. "

 @misplacedcircus said:

"  and I am telling you here and now that I care, and I can make a difference.   "
 

It's not like I don't care at all about the IW situation, but none of those guys are calling for us to boycott products, so why are YOU? 
 
If they're being treated unfairly, they should get out, and find a better job.  If Respawn makes the Modern Warfare killer, I would be thrilled (Although I haven't played a CoD past 2) But hey, they don't need me to stop buying great games from Blizz to do that.

Hate to say it, but calling gamers to take action against any manipulation in the industry is a lost cause. Bobby Kotick is absolutely correct because the gaming community as a whole really just doesn't care. Gamers even love to support companies shamelessly overpricing their products; just look at the sales of the MW2 Stimulus Package: Over 2 mil on Xbox alone.
 
I think the flood of negative responses in this thread speak for themselves: the gaming community doesn't care about what happens in the industry, we just want to sit on our asses and play games.

I play Guitar Hero because I like it. My wife plays Warcraft because she likes it.
 
Neither of us give a shit about Kotick or company loyalty.

Oh boy, another one of these. Because the last boycott of something ridiculous totally worked. 
 
Have fun depriving yourself of great games.

Think about this.  All that hardware you buy?  The Wii?  360, and PS3?  You know where it's all made?  CHINA.  A country with HUGE Human rights violations.  You want to boycott something, why don't you punish companies for doing business with a regime that executes people for stepping out of line.  Who's cheap labor is based on horrible working and living conditions, poluted drinking water, and just generally poor standards of life.
 
Instead of trying to punish a company for withholding bonuses for a few programmers.

Diablo is my life. DIABLO IS MY EXISTENCE.
 
I mean, I buy the Diablo books and stuff, and really like the games.

" I really don't give a shit about that kind of stuff; I care about the product.  I don't see it as spending money on the developers or publishers, most of the time, but spending money so I can actually play the game I'll enjoy.  So, no.  And we really never know what's going on behind the curtains, so we can't be sure that Bobby Kotick's employees are getting mistreated or whatever. "

why would i want to hurt blizzard to hurt kotick 
must be a better way than that

Pass.

" Hate to say it, but calling gamers to take action against any manipulation in the industry is a lost cause. Bobby Kotick is absolutely correct because the gaming community as a whole really just doesn't care. Gamers even love to support companies shamelessly overpricing their products; just look at the sales of the MW2 Stimulus Package: Over 2 mil on Xbox alone.  I think the flood of negative responses in this thread speak for themselves: the gaming community doesn't care about what happens in the industry, we just want to sit on our asses and play games. "  

i'm good, i do kind of not want to get activion games. i just think after the next cod modern warfare 3 coming out i don't think it will be very good since a lot of employees left. they also like to milk their games, guitar hero. blizzard make good games, i use to play world of warcraft. i stopped playing it as it got boring.

Activision can suck it, but Blizzard? They piss liquid diamonds. So there's that.

I don't buy or play Blizzard games so I'm fine already.

" @SamDrugbringer:  It's true that the idea that he came up with is ridiculous, and I agree that this effort would do little to hurt Bobby Kotick and the people involved with firing Infinity Ward leads. A boycott of their games would probably just hurt the devs like many other posters have already said.  I essentially just posted to reaffirm the OP that there is no way that any petition or boycott is going to cause waves in the gaming industry. Sure, in a perfect world all developers would get paid fairly for their hard work, the gaming community wouldn't vouch to pay for overpriced DLC, and Diablo 3 would lose all it's color over an Internet petition. But none of these things are going to happen, because the gaming community doesn't give enough of a shit. Although it was probably a pointless post to make considering every other post here has probably already shattered his hopes and dreams. (PS: I'm writing this dramatic on purpose :) ) "

 
@SamDrugbringer

" @clarke0: Don't you think you're being overdramatic here?  I buy products that are priced correctly and that I want, and don't buy ones that are not.  There are DLC I buy, and ones I don't.   Don't act like this is some Virgina bus boycott, to end Segregation.  The OP wants us to stop buying games so some IW employees can get paid. If they're getting screwed, they should take Actiblizzard to court, or leave the company, not organize a boycott.  Which they are not. "

So we should stick it to Blizzard because they're the evil force in all of this or something? 
 
No thank you.

Good luck with that.

You'd also be hurting developers in the process.  How about you boycott Activision franchises that are run into the ground?  Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, whatever.  Reward developers and Activision for letting people be creative.  Blur for example.  If you buy those games as opposed to Call of Duty I think that sends a better message.  At least you'd hope.

 This should have been a blog post instead, as it does not ask for any direct  feedback. It would also allow you to go more in-depth about your view and reasoning behind your views and what you ask.

Remember - the IW guys agreed to these conditions beforehand and were silly enough to accept Kotick's conditions.  They used their brains properly now that they are with EA, and are likely to retain their next IP.  Also we do not know the whole story except for the one told to us via the online gaming media.  I would not be surprised if the ex-IW developers were in the wrong as well, and none of your whining can conclusively dispute that.  I buy good games no matter the developer, and move on without caring who made it.
 
You would need to convince me and at minimum of a few million other people conclusively that Activision is the sole culprit before you even think of encouraging a boycott.  Only with such numbers you can truly affect the company, otherwise it is time well wasted.  Your link is just one source and is not solid enough to effectively push your point.

"  This should have been a blog post instead, as it does not ask for any direct  feedback. It would also allow you to go more in-depth about your view and reasoning behind your views and what you ask. Remember - the IW guys agreed to these conditions beforehand and were silly enough to accept Kotick's conditions.  They used their brains properly now that they are with EA, and are likely to retain their next IP.  Also we do not know the whole story except for the one told to us via the online gaming media.  I would not be surprised if the ex-IW developers were in the wrong as well, and none of your whining can conclusively dispute that.  I buy good games no matter the developer, and move on without caring who made it.   You would need to convince me and at minimum of a few million other people conclusively that Activision is the sole culprit before you even think of encouraging a boycott.  Only with such numbers you can truly affect the company, otherwise it is time well wasted.  Your link is just one source and is not solid enough to effectively push your point. "

"I assumed there would be a sweetener to get us to stay," said Shiring, among the former Infinity Ward staffers suing Activision on allegations of unpaid royalties. "I was surprised when I found out they were going to withhold money. It felt like they didn't appreciate our talent."

An Activision spokesman said the company "retains the discretion to determine the amount and the schedule of bonus payments." Page Four.   

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.