My Activision Boycott/Starcraft II Dilemma

[Vigormortis]

I'm confused as to where all this weird hate is coming from. Sure, Activision is run by epic assholes, but the whole Activision/Blizzard merger happened after-the-fact. StarCraft 2, as a project, was started before the merger. So, beyond maybe advertising and server hosting, Activision likely has little to nothing to do with the game.

Anyway, I'm kind of in the same boat as crotalidian. I at least mildly desire to play the game. I liked the first and lanned it often, along side other (sometimes better) games back-in-the-day. However, I'm not an avid "fanboy" for the series and Blizzards decision to completely remove LAN support irks me to no end. I really don't like the idea of only being able to play multiplayer on Battle.net. Just the notion that, t'were I to gather a few friends together at a single location, we'd have to share a single connection to Battle.net (suffering all the ill effects of net lag, etc) when we could easily just LAN the game and bypass all of that hassle, bugs me greatly.

Not to mention I foresee quite a few tournaments ending badly because the participants have to compete on Battle.net instead of competing over a stable local network.

Regardless, I'll likely get it eventually, but not at $59.99.

Boycotts don't work. L4D2 and MW2 proved that. There, do what you want.

False. L4D2 boycott was successful, Valve paid attention and did something about it. MW2 however is true, but that game blows regardless.

And...how, exactly, was it successful? From what I recall, the only thing that Valve did was buy plane tickets for the idiots that started the boycott so they could fly out to Valve HQ and see that all of their complaints were unfounded. After they played the early build of the game, they went back to their boycott group and said, "We won! We got what we wanted! Mission accomplished!" Yet, Valve added nothing to the game they hadn't already implemented BEFORE the boycott started. All the boycott did was show that a few, self-entitled whiners could organize enough to make headlines on completely false allegations. And, that anyone can complain about anything.

 

[devildog1170]

stop being an annoying ***** and buy the game.

is it really necessary to boycott an entire company because of one asshole? (I'm guessing you just hate Bobby)

 

[Treeinthewoods]

OK I think it has been established that Starcraft II is a good (fantastic?) game. As such I want to play SCII.

My dilemma comes in the fact that I am currently refusing to purchase anything that Activision has a stake in as their practices are so anti-consumer.

I also refuse to pay premium game prices only to be forced to be online (or jump through asinine arbitrary hoops) in order to be able to play the content I have paid for. Obviously that is single player and mutli by definition is an online game.

I'm hoping the Escapist community can help me out with this so I can make a decision based on facts and opinions of educated gamers.

so convince me either way....NOW. I COMMAND IT!

I don't know man, I think your boycott has had some serious effects on their business. They are on the verge of going completely under if you continue to boycott them. Remember, don't compromise, it's people like you who made sure MW2 didn't sell well because it didn't have dedicated servers.

HA!

Just buy the game because it looks fun and you want it.

 

[LogicNProportion]

Simple solution to this actually.

Step 1: Smack yourself in the face for not already having Starcraft 2.

Step 2: There is none. I just wanted you to smack yourself in the face.

That's a bit extreme don't you think? SC2...wasn't that good. It was...the first one.

So that's my 2 cents, OP. Go for the original, buying the entire pack for 20 bucks at any local store, they ALL have copies. If you REALLY enjoy the first, get the second when the price lowers...possibly from a third party to keep your own morals and ethics in mind.

.................................................or wait for the ROM to appear...somewhere...

 

[Tom Phoenix]

OK I think it has been established that Starcraft II is a good (fantastic?) game. As such I want to play SCII.

My dilemma comes in the fact that I am currently refusing to purchase anything that Activision has a stake in as their practices are so anti-consumer.

I also refuse to pay premium game prices only to be forced to be online (or jump through asinine arbitrary hoops) in order to be able to play the content I have paid for. Obviously that is single player and mutli by definition is an online game.

I'm hoping the Escapist community can help me out with this so I can make a decision based on facts and opinions of educated gamers.

so convince me either way....NOW. I COMMAND IT!

First of all, Blizzard is relatively autonomous within the Activision-Blizzard company, just like it was in the days of Vivendi Games. They both develop and publish their games by themselves, meaning that any money made from a purchase goes entirely to them. For all intents and purposes, Activision has no say in what they do, nor do they enjoy any part of the profits. This autonomy is particulary enforced by the fact that WoW alone brings almost half of the profits of the holding company...you don't wield such a financial mallet and have no say in things.

And second, you don't need the internet to play singleplayer. You DO need the internet to install and authenticate the game for offline play, but once that is done, you can play offline singleplayer as a Guest. However, as a Guest, you cannot obtain any achievements.

So there, I explained the situation. Whether or not you choose to buy StarCraft II, however, I leave up to you. Good hunting!

 

[Blind0bserver]

My only suggestion is that, if you're really committed to the whole concept of boycotting Activision based on them being a fistful of assholes, you just buy Starcraft II and then throw a brick through one of the windows at Activision headquarters and hope that it all balances out.

 

[Neuromaster]

To me, this seems like boycotting Jell-O and Teddy Grahams because it supports Phillip Morris. Or cell phones because they contain conflict minerals from the Congo.

I eat Jell-O and carry a cell phone because I've believe that boycotting them is both inconvenient and impractical...

Really?? How did people ever survive until the last 15 years or so without a cell phone then... I can't imagine life without a cell... not

You might be surprised how useful the ability to make and receive telephone calls is.

You wouldn't believe how useful a dishwasher is. But that doesn't mean you NEED one.

Anyway, Activision's DRM and the conflict minerals from Congo are two very difference scenarious.

Not buying an Activision game isn't going to increase the problems of a war(not that I know of anyway).

Almost everything can be traced back to something that's evil. The soy you're eating as an environmentally-friendly substitute for meat protein is sourced from Brazil, where it's a leading cause of rainforest deforestation. The bank that owns your student loans routinely exploits the poor with sky-high interest rates on payday lending. The steel in your Prius came from a refinery that's poisoning the water of the poor widdle children in some poor widdle community.

When your argument revolves around living in a hippie commune without telephones or dishwashers, it might be time to rethink things.

Either move to said hippie commune, poop in buckets, and feel smugly superior to everyone else. Or support the good guys where you can find them. When you buy Starcraft II and leave Transformers: Revenge of the Subtitle on the shelf, you're sending a message to Activision. If you don't participate, they hear nothing at all.

 

[Flames66]

THNIPTH!.

ra3 was pretty awesome, I never played the empires series tho, I think the closest I got to it was age of mythology and I loved age of mythology

I enjoyed the RE3 campaign, but after that it ran out of fun or me. The reason I stopped playing is because you could not turn off super weapons. I hating the bloody super weapons, especially when that's all the AI did. I wanted to build a base and attack and defend but I got fed up when I built an army or whatever and a nuke would come straight in a cock it all up.

Another RTS that I enjoy is Supreme Commander (1 and 2).

 

[migo]

As stated, buy it used. Then only the person/store you bought it from gets the money. Yeah, it's a happy tick for their marketing department, but that's not a big deal.

Just don't be a jackass and pirate the game like someone else suggested. People who pirate games are idiots, and the reason why PC gaming is plagued with DRMs that make the game a hassle for the legitimate players. Don't be part of that problem.

Conversely though, DRM creates piracy as it's inconvenient. Services like Steam are really the only viable way to combat piracy.

 

[Shilkanni]

Decide for yourself exactly what you're boycotting.
Stick to your principles.

If you want to want sure the company Activision-Blizzard receives none of your $s don't buy it.
http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:ATVI
If you decide you're just against the Activision wing of Activion-Blizzard just want to make sure you're not paying for any games which Activision meddles with than probably buy it.

If you buy it, your money will go towards a company which does things you don't like, but it should be clear to everyone the success of Starcraft 2 is almost solely due to the way Blizzard is doing business, not an endorsement of Activision's meddling style.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

As stated, buy it used. Then only the person/store you bought it from gets the money. Yeah, it's a happy tick for their marketing department, but that's not a big deal.

Just don't be a jackass and pirate the game like someone else suggested. People who pirate games are idiots, and the reason why PC gaming is plagued with DRMs that make the game a hassle for the legitimate players. Don't be part of that problem.

Conversely though, DRM creates piracy as it's inconvenient. Services like Steam are really the only viable way to combat piracy.

While I agree services like Steam are incredible, there is no excuse for piracy. If it's too inconvenient, just don't play.

It's also inconvenient for me to wait in long lines at the grocery store. Doesn't mean I'm just going to take off with a cart full of groceries.

 

[migo]

As stated, buy it used. Then only the person/store you bought it from gets the money. Yeah, it's a happy tick for their marketing department, but that's not a big deal.

Just don't be a jackass and pirate the game like someone else suggested. People who pirate games are idiots, and the reason why PC gaming is plagued with DRMs that make the game a hassle for the legitimate players. Don't be part of that problem.

Conversely though, DRM creates piracy as it's inconvenient. Services like Steam are really the only viable way to combat piracy.

While I agree services like Steam are incredible, there is no excuse for piracy. If it's too inconvenient, just don't play.

It's also inconvenient for me to wait in long lines at the grocery store. Doesn't mean I'm just going to take off with a cart full of groceries.

I disagree, piracy is completely necessary.

It's what it takes to get rid of publishers. Musicians don't need record companies, they can self produce the music, or get a local producer to do the recording for less than the cost of their instruments, convert them to MP3 format and offer them for sale online - take out the middle man and the musician makes more money while the consumer pays less. That's the direction things are going and it's thanks to piracy.

Another result is the ransom model, which is great for the content creator and great for everyone else, and completely avoids the piracy problem. These are all changes that are happening as a direct result of piracy.

If there weren't piracy we'd still be dealing with record labels for music, and having to get albums through BMG or Columbia House.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

As stated, buy it used. Then only the person/store you bought it from gets the money. Yeah, it's a happy tick for their marketing department, but that's not a big deal.

Just don't be a jackass and pirate the game like someone else suggested. People who pirate games are idiots, and the reason why PC gaming is plagued with DRMs that make the game a hassle for the legitimate players. Don't be part of that problem.

Conversely though, DRM creates piracy as it's inconvenient. Services like Steam are really the only viable way to combat piracy.

While I agree services like Steam are incredible, there is no excuse for piracy. If it's too inconvenient, just don't play.

It's also inconvenient for me to wait in long lines at the grocery store. Doesn't mean I'm just going to take off with a cart full of groceries.

I disagree, piracy is completely necessary.

It's what it takes to get rid of publishers. Musicians don't need record companies, they can self produce the music, or get a local producer to do the recording for less than the cost of their instruments, convert them to MP3 format and offer them for sale online - take out the middle man and the musician makes more money while the consumer pays less. That's the direction things are going and it's thanks to piracy.

Another result is the ransom model, which is great for the content creator and great for everyone else, and completely avoids the piracy problem. These are all changes that are happening as a direct result of piracy.

If there weren't piracy we'd still be dealing with record labels for music, and having to get albums through BMG or Columbia House.

This is a load of bull. Stealing is not noble. You aren't Robin Hood. You're a common petty crook. Piracy hurts the companies, making it harder for them to pay for prime talent and make the games you love so much.

There are better, law-abiding, ways to do this. Like, just don't buy PC games with crazy DRMs. If you don't pay for it, whether it's through a publisher or not, you don't get to play it, plain and simple.

And you're ignoring what publisher's do, especially for smaller companies. They can bring better marketing to bear, have brand-recognition, and better selling contracts.

Yeah, you can publish games yourself. And you can hope you get noticed in the sea of games we have.

I've talked with people in the industry, and smaller companies are struggling. They can make enough to get by, but big publisher's are a huge bonus.

Your arguments against piracy are faulty, and fail to look at the whole picture. Piracy is stealing, no ifs, ands or buts. Stealing hurts the publishers you are trying to "liberate", and that in turn hurts the consumer.

People like you are the problem: those that don't fully understand the issues at hand before trying to play Robin Hood like an Errol Finn wannabe.

 

[Dfskelleton]

I don't buy any CoD games, considering that they think it's the best thing ever made, but games they're in part with, like Quake 4 and [PROTOTYPE], those are fine. If you want Starcraft 2, go get it.

How are they fine. explain pls so I can clear my concience and buy it!

Ish. You can have job integrity and personal (friend?) integrity. You work for a major bank which by your own reckoning is beneath contempt but your friends may know you as the guy that always pays back loans promptly or will always help with a move for example.

Sorry forgot the [/sarcasm] after my line

They're fine because Activision doesn't have a huge ego about it. If game franchises were pigs, CoD would be Farmer Activisions favorite blue ribbon pork while everything else is a small runt of the litter who are really good pigs but ol' Farmer Activision only cares about its one prize hog. It's fun to piss off the grumpy old fart by caring more about the runts and not their prize hog.

 

[TerranReaper]

Well, inevitably, your money is going to Activision either way. Although I do recommend buying Starcraft 2, if you feel that it's necessary to NOT buy it, I suggest finding an alternative.

 

[Winfrid]

Blizzard designed and created the game still, Activision are just chucking in some 'financial and production' decisions - I abhore Activision but if you like SC1, you gotta buy this one

 

[crotalidian]

OK Decision made....

I bought Starcraft 1 a while back (before I decided to boycott Activision), I have since had to format my PC. I am currently trying (and so far failing) to get in touch with Blizzard customer support as my CD Key isnt working for the game.

I am going to get this re-installed, re-play the original, and see if this whole SC2 craze blows over. if not I may eventually decide to get it from an ebay seller and hope that doesnt mess my conscience up too much.

I realised that the last Activision game I actually bought new around release was TH Project 8, so i'm not much of a supporter anyway!

[/thread]

Now I just need to decide what to use my £10 amazon voucher on as unti I thought about Blizz/Ac I was going to use it on that.....Suggestions?

 

[Yureina]

I am refusing to buy from Activision as well, but the difference is that I am not too interested in Starcraft II either.