Considering how extreme the Chinese gamers have been about playing wow (gold farming notwithstanding), I think they might actually be doing the right thing, but for the wrong reasons.
WoW is a horribly addicting game - skeletons or not. WoW in china has been especially bad with gamers starving themselves and to the point where there have been "mmo rehab" centers all over the place. Granted, WoW isn't the only contributing cause, but I do think it's one of the biggest. #worldofwarcraft
@Jehuty: Right, so you're arguing the majority should suffer because an extremely small, arguable mentally ill, minority can't handle the game?
People should be allowed to do what they want, with their time. They can live or die with the consequences, at least they get to decide. #worldofwarcraft
@Jehuty: First, I would like to say I don't know what China is like. Never been there. I'm SOMEWHAT educated. I go to college, whatever that counts for. Maybe the reason people in China are so into WoW (I can't even give an estimate of how many are addicted, but I know half of all registered users for WoW are from that region right? I'll work with that) is that it just plain sucks to live there? Just a blind guess, no offense to anyone, I would LOVE to be terribly mistaken.
I mean, I hear kids are learning multiplication tables when they're like 4? I was still learning to wipe my own ass when I was 4 (sometimes still can't do it).
Isn't that the theory we got going on with Japan? Their social structure is so intense a lot of the men are somewhat.. despondent?
I don't know. But I'm thinkin' the issue goes beyond WoW. WoW is just the most attractive, easy, and cheap escape.
Again I swear to God if someone takes offense and calls me a racist uneducated bastard I hope you get mauled by a bear. A bear with swords. And lasers.
Also feel free to tell me what it's like in mainland China! #worldofwarcraft
@WhiteSkyRising: Haha. I can't give you any informed insight, but your whole bears with swords and lasers made me lol. Thanks for that. haha. #worldofwarcraft
@WhiteSkyRising: I'm with Blinkon--your awareness of the foaming-at-the-mouth weeaboos, the swiftness and ludicrousness of their pounces, and the demonstrated glee with which they have performed and will continue to perform said pounces here; coupled with, hell, your bears-wielding-lasers stance against them, makes this a win.
If I had any bears to spare, I would send them to join your army. I've been in Japan for a while now though and I need every blasted bear I can get my hands on to keep the Lucky Star lynch mobs from coming after me. #worldofwarcraft
Hey China. Maybe if your country didnt suck so much and your citizens were actually worth something and could make a life for themselves, they wouldn't need to have fulfilling virtual fake lives in online games. #worldofwarcraft
@ryno365: That's a little over the top, don't you think? Most of us don't like China's gov't because we think they're citizens *are* actually worth something. They're people.
And this issue here isn't that people are looking for life fulfillment in WoW. It's a game. Most people are aware of that. This is just the Chinese gov't wanting control, and more money (read: bribes) #worldofwarcraft
@Hey_Blinkon: Maybe your right. But I just think that these online games are more then games to some people. And if so, I think there are socio-economic reasons for that. #worldofwarcraft
@ryno365:
wow this is one of the most ignorant comments I've seen on kotaku in quite some time. What do you know about China besides what Fox news feeds you? #worldofwarcraft
What on earth is with the random "Fox News" reference? It's not like they deserve to be the scapegoat of all that is wrong with journalism. And what does Fox News have to do with China (never mind the World of Warcraft issue) ? #worldofwarcraft
@dracosummoner: Anytime anyone says anything non-leftist, someone always pulls the "what did you hear that on Fox News?" card. It's so stupid.
Truly narrow minded to think that anyone who disagrees with you has had their thoughts fed to them. It's like the old adage, "Think for yourself!" when they really mean "Think like me!".
But, to answer your question more directly, Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who owns the contracts to both Hu Jintao and Bobby Koticks' souls. #worldofwarcraft
@Hey_Blinkon: I'm sure that's a problem, but I honestly think that the majority of people are like that, which is why there's still so much bigotry on both sides of the ocean right now. :/ #worldofwarcraft
@Leyviur: You're right about the inherent bigotry, but in this case it really *is* about Fox News. It's the scapegoat for all news, because it has an obvious conservative bent. Other news organizations have obvious liberal bents, but they don't catch the flak like them.
Either way, I just hate when people decide to ignore the message for the messenger, even if the message is logical. You know? #worldofwarcraft
@Hey_Blinkon: Hey, I understand completely. And I myself argue with people who think The Daily Show is the 'only source of respectable news.'
Your statement about the message and the messenger is a good one, but I'd like to think the best way to go about things is to do proper research (i.e. read up from different sources, including slanted ones), because then you'll know fully what the long term repercussions or benefits are of the things you are crusading against (or for).
The fact is, no news outlet, no matter how biased, is inherently good or bad. What turns them good or bad (and thus causes the general perception) is that certain people take the information they're fed without considering the implications or the background. Similarly, people who are against these outlets respond in a similar way, which I find ignorant and unfortunate.
So much bigotry and misunderstanding can be dispelled if more people would think for themselves rather than be told what to think and 'go with the flow,' as it were. #worldofwarcraft
It's the most logical thing to do if you are to build up home grown video gaming force. Nothing can rise from the pummelling that WoW would dish to all competition. I bet this has nothing to do with skeletons or violence issues. China is not letting a foreign company drain it's gaming potential revenue. I bet a chinese rip off of WoW x Final Fantasy is being made right now to be released next year. Biggest smoking nation on Earth? Get ready for the biggest MMO community that Blizzard could only dream about. #worldofwarcraft
@FillionSmythe: seems like a pretty smart strategy. it might not be the best one. id prefer a world where everyone has access to information, not just the rich (as in my country) or people in other countries (as it may seem in china).
though while my country doesnt outright outlaw foreign films. we do our best to dissuade people from watching them. we even begin remaking some the year they are released and act like they are new films. we dont want to lose our film industry. and people in my country get mad when they think of losing their job to someone overseas. this seems similar to both of those aspects of my culture imo. #worldofwarcraft
@abort_user:
Yeah it's what Japan has been doing since the beginning of time.
Also back to home grown products China has absolute tons of RPGs. MMO and single player.
This is just until they cook up a totally castrated version of the game that shows absolutely nothing resembling violence or morbidity and kicks you off after 90 minutes of play with a cheery "Give thanks to the party for wisely regulating your time!" message, presumably. #worldofwarcraft
By doing this too, there is no pressure now for them to enforce any form of copyright, IP, or trademark infringment when their people rip-off Western Games because there will be no western companies using that legal enforcement as a bargaining chip.
Now the Chinese will be riding around in their new Hummers, with their kids in the back playing Chinese clone DSi and PSPGo, and ad hocing World of WarCraft clone!
(chinese are buying the hummer design brand - it was relevant promise!)
This isn't the first time a country has hastily moved to lock down rapidly growing online business segments to prevent the money going overseas. US online poker, anyone?
I'm not a defender of the Chinese government but compared to some of their other actions, this doesn't even register.
@Paradice: Wrong, this actually does register, just not with the general populace (not trying to mean or condensing here at all, just blunt).
Economic imbalances created by government interdiction can cause some very serious repercussions across the world.
The US dollar is being held down in part by the trade difference that favors China. We send money by the truckload over there, but they won't let us pull anywhere near the same amount back out. Things like software, where the US holds a competitive edge, would have been an excellent place to help address this imbalance.
China, though, thinks it can continually dictate the terms by which the rest of the world interacts with them. At some point this will backfire, and that backfire could be *very* bad news.
I'm not saying this incident will be the cause, but I'd bet the economists are raising holy hell with the State Department over this.
@Yossarian: China thrives in trade imbalances. Any action that supports those imbalances must be deemed acceptable by the Communist Party. Short sighted, with dire potential consequences not only for China but for the whole word, but it works for them now.
If anyone is interesting in some fiction that is grounded in reality, but deals with this very subject, Tom Clancy wrote a very good book called The Bear and the Dragon. It *is* fiction, but like all Clancy stuff, its basis is real, and it is more fun to read than an economist's dissertation.
Of course war is not the only outcome, the book goes to the extreme because war is what Clancy writes about. *But*, the chance that they suffer an economic meltdown due to a change in how money flows into the country is a very real threat.
@Yossarian: A couple of weeks or so ago the US imposed a 35% tariff on Chinese tires. This move seems like retribution more than anything. The US wants to close in the trade deficit, but the nation only exists because of a constant influx of foreign and mostly Chinese money thanks to soaring budget deficits.
lol @ you people spouting generic western views without knowing what you're talking about.
Underdeveloped countries more often than not NEED to use such tactics in order to make the internal market grow. That's NOT a reason to impose sanctions against a nation.
@knuckvice: Yes it is, because imbalances end up hurting both sides in the end.
Fair is fair. That is not a western view, that is an economic view.
China is getting away with imposing laws that rest of the world is not imposing back. Laws like this erode the buying power and cash flow of the more open countries, leading to increased unemployment, reduction in the value of their currency, and reduced market infrastructure. As those things progress towards zero values they reduce the amount of money going into the restrictive country.
China could very well end up hoisting themselves on their petard, and taking the economies of the western world with them. It is all well and good now, but a collapse (or even double digit percentage reduction) of this parasitic relationship could undo everything they've gained in short order.
@Johnny: They are under the impression that keeping all the money in the country (instead of letting some of it funnel to foreign companies) is good for the country.
@Johnny: Isolation is not what they want. They want the rest of the world to keep sending them money and build their infrastructure, and then they want to impose conditions that prevent any of the money that came in from ever going back out.
Kinda seems like they're shooting themselves in the foot by pushing away foreign investment - I mean, sure they have plenty of their own money, but you'd think that a Chinese government agency wouldn't shun the idea of taking more foreign capital into their own economy, even if it means that foreign companies would have a stake in their game development and therefore a certain degree of controlling rights...
I really don't understand the reasoning behind it - maybe someone with a better understanding than I about foreign economic policy could help shed some light on this?
11/03/09
WoW is a horribly addicting game - skeletons or not. WoW in china has been especially bad with gamers starving themselves and to the point where there have been "mmo rehab" centers all over the place. Granted, WoW isn't the only contributing cause, but I do think it's one of the biggest. #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
People should be allowed to do what they want, with their time. They can live or die with the consequences, at least they get to decide. #worldofwarcraft
11/04/09
I mean, I hear kids are learning multiplication tables when they're like 4? I was still learning to wipe my own ass when I was 4 (sometimes still can't do it).
Isn't that the theory we got going on with Japan? Their social structure is so intense a lot of the men are somewhat.. despondent?
I don't know. But I'm thinkin' the issue goes beyond WoW. WoW is just the most attractive, easy, and cheap escape.
Again I swear to God if someone takes offense and calls me a racist uneducated bastard I hope you get mauled by a bear. A bear with swords. And lasers.
Also feel free to tell me what it's like in mainland China! #worldofwarcraft
11/04/09
11/04/09
If I had any bears to spare, I would send them to join your army. I've been in Japan for a while now though and I need every blasted bear I can get my hands on to keep the Lucky Star lynch mobs from coming after me. #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
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11/03/09
And this issue here isn't that people are looking for life fulfillment in WoW. It's a game. Most people are aware of that. This is just the Chinese gov't wanting control, and more money (read: bribes) #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
11/03/09
wow this is one of the most ignorant comments I've seen on kotaku in quite some time. What do you know about China besides what Fox news feeds you? #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
What on earth is with the random "Fox News" reference? It's not like they deserve to be the scapegoat of all that is wrong with journalism. And what does Fox News have to do with China (never mind the World of Warcraft issue) ? #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
Truly narrow minded to think that anyone who disagrees with you has had their thoughts fed to them. It's like the old adage, "Think for yourself!" when they really mean "Think like me!".
But, to answer your question more directly, Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who owns the contracts to both Hu Jintao and Bobby Koticks' souls. #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
11/04/09
Either way, I just hate when people decide to ignore the message for the messenger, even if the message is logical. You know? #worldofwarcraft
11/04/09
Your statement about the message and the messenger is a good one, but I'd like to think the best way to go about things is to do proper research (i.e. read up from different sources, including slanted ones), because then you'll know fully what the long term repercussions or benefits are of the things you are crusading against (or for).
The fact is, no news outlet, no matter how biased, is inherently good or bad. What turns them good or bad (and thus causes the general perception) is that certain people take the information they're fed without considering the implications or the background. Similarly, people who are against these outlets respond in a similar way, which I find ignorant and unfortunate.
So much bigotry and misunderstanding can be dispelled if more people would think for themselves rather than be told what to think and 'go with the flow,' as it were. #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
11/03/09
though while my country doesnt outright outlaw foreign films. we do our best to dissuade people from watching them. we even begin remaking some the year they are released and act like they are new films. we dont want to lose our film industry. and people in my country get mad when they think of losing their job to someone overseas. this seems similar to both of those aspects of my culture imo. #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
11/03/09
Yeah it's what Japan has been doing since the beginning of time.
Also back to home grown products China has absolute tons of RPGs. MMO and single player.
What country are you from? #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
Now the Chinese will be riding around in their new Hummers, with their kids in the back playing Chinese clone DSi and PSPGo, and ad hocing World of WarCraft clone!
(chinese are buying the hummer design brand - it was relevant promise!)
10/14/09
I'm not a defender of the Chinese government but compared to some of their other actions, this doesn't even register.
10/14/09
Economic imbalances created by government interdiction can cause some very serious repercussions across the world.
The US dollar is being held down in part by the trade difference that favors China. We send money by the truckload over there, but they won't let us pull anywhere near the same amount back out. Things like software, where the US holds a competitive edge, would have been an excellent place to help address this imbalance.
China, though, thinks it can continually dictate the terms by which the rest of the world interacts with them. At some point this will backfire, and that backfire could be *very* bad news.
I'm not saying this incident will be the cause, but I'd bet the economists are raising holy hell with the State Department over this.
10/14/09
When it snaps, we better be on Mars.
10/14/09
If anyone is interesting in some fiction that is grounded in reality, but deals with this very subject, Tom Clancy wrote a very good book called The Bear and the Dragon. It *is* fiction, but like all Clancy stuff, its basis is real, and it is more fun to read than an economist's dissertation.
Of course war is not the only outcome, the book goes to the extreme because war is what Clancy writes about. *But*, the chance that they suffer an economic meltdown due to a change in how money flows into the country is a very real threat.
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
Underdeveloped countries more often than not NEED to use such tactics in order to make the internal market grow. That's NOT a reason to impose sanctions against a nation.
10/14/09
Fair is fair. That is not a western view, that is an economic view.
China is getting away with imposing laws that rest of the world is not imposing back. Laws like this erode the buying power and cash flow of the more open countries, leading to increased unemployment, reduction in the value of their currency, and reduced market infrastructure. As those things progress towards zero values they reduce the amount of money going into the restrictive country.
China could very well end up hoisting themselves on their petard, and taking the economies of the western world with them. It is all well and good now, but a collapse (or even double digit percentage reduction) of this parasitic relationship could undo everything they've gained in short order.
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10/14/09
Her head is like two times the normal size... Are elves supposed to look like that?
10/14/09
10/14/09
@Lyner: I'd say more but considering the very scale of phenomenon it's only a marginal difference anyway. And, yeah...
10/14/09
10/14/09
I really don't understand the reasoning behind it - maybe someone with a better understanding than I about foreign economic policy could help shed some light on this?
10/14/09
If Microsoft, for example, had a 49% in an online gaming company, then they would also be taking 49% of the profits back to the US.
China likes to have people send them money, but then tries to prevent anyone from ever taking any out.
This is obviously bad, since trade imbalances end up killing a trade relationship in the long run.