I know, that doesn’t prove anything in particular. But:
1)Blizzard is an American company.
2)Heartstone is available in Russia.
So, I can guess that either laws are not involved, either Blizzard doesn’t care about laws. The latter is highly unprobable.
EDIT: Still, the REASON is not so relevant. What IS relevant in my opinion is the list of countries. And also, I’m still wondering about my future, of course.
So, i am not really connected with the community anymore and i barely play the game anymore, but tbh this shit is straightup ridiculous for the people that got scammed by it. ‘Legal issues’ that nobody can further specify. Yeah, sure. Thats as good as saying a dog ate your homework. And i’d say that most countries laws don’t allow draining people from goods they purchased beforehand, the only reason this is happening is internationality, which makes this whole shit immune to sues and other actions because it would be way too complicated and expensive to even try. So yeah, its not like ‘legal issues’ really seem to concern anybody.
Cheers.
You have to read it attentively:
Reasons because of why they might ban countries from accessing Duelyst:
Then the intended-to-be-comforting statement that they would never block countries unless country laws forced them in the future (as opposed to just 2 weeks ago).
Then the very clear observed fact that there are no new laws in Russia that prevent games just like this.
This means that whatever reasons they had were private contracts.
Add to that that country laws are very public and could be quoted legally without issue, and Stormshade saying it’s not legally possible for them to list the regions.
I imagine a lot of this is tied to individual countries’ censorship laws or views on internet freedom. Unfortunately, I don’t know enough of the subject matter as it pertains to online business (in this case, specifically gaming) or on a case by case basis for different countries to really make any significant comment about it.
It could be content related issues (think traditional censorship), it could be BN business policy issues (not because of BN’s choice, but their policy or partnerships may clash with existing law in particular nations), it could be some other reason that we don’t fully understand from a customer point of view. When it comes to big business and international affairs in combination with creative rights, things get very hazy very fast.
Furthermore, this is only trying to look at business law as it relates to government. It’s also entirely possible BN is being held to contracts that they cannot break lawfully.
It’s extremely unfortunate, but there is one thing I’m confident about: CPG and BN care about how this impacts their game. I am 100% certain that this issue has their attention and that they are going to (if not already) make an effort to circumvent it. I simply hope the red tape is not so thick or impervious as to prevent them from finding an acceptable answer. After all, even the coldest, least customer friendly businesses in the world care about their bottom line. In a free to play game such as Duelyst, players are their bottom line.
Ultimately, I’m saddened that we aren’t being given any answers. I’m upset that some of us are incapable of enjoying this game, in spite of having access to it before. I’m angry that any investments these players have made (including monetary support) is lost without gain. I am at least thankful, however, that we’ve finally received some form of communication about the problem. CPG, BN, I sincerely hope you’ll not let us down. Please continue to work on this problem and be transparent with us as best as possible.
I believe
should be spelled like “you’ll never know it cause nobody cares”.
No, actually, I function as your voice in Bandai Namco and CPG, as does all of the Community and Customer Service Team. We have passed your feedback along, and have explained, sometimes using less than polite words, what your feedback is. We have ensured that your voices have been heard in this situation. Which is what we are here to do. We are also here to ensure that the companies stance on this situation is made plain. We will continue to represent your interests, but we also need to let you know that at this time, we will be unable to fulfill your requests regarding this situation.
Another option that you may not be considering is that the number of players in blocked regions is small enough that I honestly didn’t expect this to be a major concern for the community. It may seem coarse, but we truly are talking about a small number of players.
Plus, due to the fact that I and @ThanatosNoa had a ton of other things to do leading up to the merger, I failed to communicate this before hand or as the merge was happening. So if you want to be mad at someone for not communicating this in advance, that should be focused on me.
I believe that we are already speaking to you in support tickets regarding this. We will not publicly address any account issue due to privacy concerns.
Thanks,
Stormshade
so BN can’t offer the game in some regions because they have a contract with another company to offer their games in that region. and whatever company that is apparently isn’t interested in offering duelyst in that region. and even though BN will lose money as well as player trust they aren’t interested in negotiating an arrangement to offer the game in all regions because as with any company those with the power to make this happen would consider the matter too insignificant to be worth their time?
Lmfao. So pretty much, “there aint a lot of them, lets just hope they stay silent and this doesnt get known”
Did I actually read this…? I must be wrong, I’m not a native speaker after all. Just wow
Regardless of everything going on and the consequences therein, there’s something I need to say because this irks me to no end.
Let’s cut it out with the assuming negative intent.
Yes, you can be upset. Yes, this whole thing freaking sucks. DON’T go misinterpreting words and contorting them to say what YOU want them to say. That’s crap. I wouldn’t put up with it if someone did it to me, and I wouldn’t expect any of you to want to deal with it either. So, let’s not, yeah?
@stormshade What you (BN) need to realize is that the community perceives are own community as small, and that despite all of our distaste and frustration we have among one another, we do all want to see each other succeed, and that includes CGP.
Albeit online, the willingness to take fault for you and BN makes me hold respect for you. It really does. Respect is different than trust, and this falter in trust resides in the entire entity of the business/companies, not just you.
While there is a lot of heat in many of these players’ words, myself very included, I hope that we can aim to discuss this as maturely as possible. Note that this does require participation though, as unwanted as this would be for anyone.
Considerately,
Reaper
It tickled me seeing who were to like this post first; @longshot405 and @akurane. I believe at least the 3 of us are coming from the same mindset. This is all just a sidenote, but I wanted to state that I hold much respect for you both and how you two carry yourselves among the forums.
This sounds really weird indeed.
He must know there have been multiple Russian grandmasters, streamers, etc.
Or he doesn’t and hasn’t prepared well.
In either case, yes, this shows us exactly how it is: principles and fairness DO NOT MATTER.
The only thing that matters is ‘damage to the profit’. If there’s just a small number of people that are duped the likelyhood of profit damage is small, so screw fairness, screw the principle of it, screw behaving properly: screw the minority.
EDIT: as to the posts that appeared in-between, I really do not think that I am attributing negatives where I want to see them, if so I apologize, please point me at it.
I just see no other alternative if the reasoning is “they’re few”, that necessarily means that the reasoning was not “this doesn’t seem fair”
While I appreciate that, I want to assure you and others that I understand what’s happening here, and accept it. It’s easier to believe that “the evil mega-corporation” is seeking to ruin their experience than that much of this is related to simple mistakes and legal issues.
Again, we (Bandai Namco) have to earn your trust, and at this point, we’re not doing a good job of that, for which I apologize. I assure you I’m working on it.
I actually do understand that. I will also say that I have worked on much smaller, and much larger games than Duelyst in size of community. I will also say that I share your goal of seeing the community and CPG succeed, and to continue to grow.
I appreciate the respect you have given me, and we will work to regain that trust, as a company.
Thanks,
Stormshade
Yes, I do know that there are and have been prominent Russian streamers, Grandmasters, and members of this community.
I also understand that you are quite upset regarding this situation. However, I would ask that you try and communicate with me in a calm and rational manner, as I am communicating with you.
Thanks,
Stormshade
Of course, I don’t think I have been communicating unrationally (I am not really calm, but that shouldn’t matter, I am also not impolite I feel).
If I came across as unrational then that’s not intended.
I hold many issues with this whole thing. Currently the one most prominent is in the continuation of commercializing into regions where Duelyst will be pulled from. I perceive this as a means to keep as many doors open to money as possible. While from a profit standpoint it makes sense, from a business standpoint it does not, and appears extremely dishonest when those players are not informed of their situation. By keeping the lines for purchasing open, but not informing the players in these regions that they soon no longer be able to play the game, regardless of perception, is taking their money and running.
Now you did claim that some form of this message was given to players. I don’t know who can prove or disprove that, but this doesn’t change the current situation, which is that there are people from those regions who clearly were unaware.
Something as big as, “Hey, you won’t be able to play our game come NNNN date” isn’t sufficient via one time message, email or whatnot. That needs to be blatant and clear information to these people.
That’s perfectly understandable, privacy concerns are important, of course. But the week has passed and I still don’t understand why I was still banned, when I was in Poland if I didn’t violate anything. I don’t know if I will be able to play in my trip to Ukraine. I asked these questions to the support team and didn’t get any informative answer. They insist that I used VPN to register, which is not the case, honestly.
I do understand that’s it easier to leave me banned, since, honestly, while I do travel much, more time I do spend in Russia still.
I can bear with the fact that the game is currently not available in Russia. Now, that it’s officially stated, it’s almost OK for me.
But I still do not understand why can’t I play the game while I’m in other countries.
And if you are not only BN employee, but also a person, a human being I believe you can understand my impatience in the face of this seemingly unjust act and informational void.
I’m just thinking if I didn’t get an answer in one place - I may get it in another one. And if I ask it here - everybody will know if BN team is ignoring me or not.
Or you may just say that I’m statistically irrelevant.
I want to go into this first by saying that I don’t like this situation. At the same time, I have to agree with @longshot405. Alpod is an important member of our community, and I hate that there is something that can make close members of our community leave. But I am sad to see such negativity from a response that everyone was petitioning for. If there is one thing that this world truly lacks, it is the lack of perspective, of being able to put yourself in the shoes of others.
What players know is that A.) Players are becoming unable to play this game and B.) That this started happening when Bandai Namco joined. Putting two and two together, they assumed that Bandai Namco is maliciously ruining Duelyst, and that this is all Bandai Namco’s fault. That’s the easy way out. But like how you must be able to take into account of all plays when making the best move, you must be able to look at all sides of a problem before making the best solution.
The first thing is to look at a business perspective, and ask why would Bandai Namco or CPG would willingly restrict players from playing their game, which would hurt their revenue.
Second, read and reread what was addressed in the answer given by Stormshade, and see how hard it could be for some of those to be the cause for this (especially if you are up-to-date with (American) politics).
Thirdly, look it into the eyes of the community members and moderators. They do care about this situation. @stormshade and @ThanatosNoa both took their time to look at the issue and address it with the community. I have tried to help with communication on this issue ever since it first popped up. If we didn’t care about this issue, then why even bother trying to reach out to the community? Even Stormshade is taking his time to take the heat of this issue, and address the concerns with everyone. Like @seraphicreaper and @longshot405 have said, I respect Stormshade. We are recieving a response, and they are taking responsibility, and that takes a lot of guts.
So please, look at the big picture, and take into account of everything regarding the situation. Stormshade cares about the situation and the community. Thanatos Noa cares about the situation and the community. I care about the situation and the community. I don’t want players to be restricted from playing games. I don’t want there to be legal (or other) reasons to enact such measures. At the same time, I don’t want this world to be stuck in a tunnel on one-perspective. And yea, I think this may just be an optimistic point of view. But who said a pessimistic point of view was right knowing that you don’t know everything about the situation?
Couldn’t have said it better myself akurane.
I agree that we don’t look at the positive sides enough sometimes, and we can get carried away by our emotions a lot of times. This whole situation sucks and no one in their right mind would want this to happen to anybody. Sometimes we all need to take a step back and try to look at the situation in a new perspective.
You have my respect as you time and time again have proven that you are an amazing member of this community.
I see no optimism in your post, I think you’re perfectly correct. I do also believe, you and Thanny did everything you could.
I do not also hold any personal grudge against @stormshade, but I believe my mental state is perfectly understandable. I have no right to disbelieve what @stormshade is telling us, but still it’s hard to hold myself together after all that happened to me.
And now, that I’m finally able to contact him, I want as much answers as possible, with as much information as possible. That’s why I may seem negative - it may seem I do not appreciate the existing answers. I actually do. But I just want some more.
EDIT. Still, only one left @stormshade. Please, explain one more thing:
We’ve committed genocide and enslavement of an entire peoples over our desire for sugar, coffee, and/or an addictive drug that we know is bad for us, but continue to use anyways.
We also still use Styrofoam cups for some reason. I think we’re that silly