Jeff Kaplan is Unhappy With Blitzchung’s Punishment
During a recent interview with the Washington Post, Jeff Kaplan gave more details about blitchung’s punishment and gave his opinion on the matter. Kaplan explained that during season one, there were a number of Hearthstone players who were being political (similar to blitzchung) and they were dealt with on a case by case basis where a group of Blizzard management would decide the punishment. For blitzchung’s punishment, the company reacted too quickly to consult the usual group which created division within the company on the issue and shocked Jeff Kaplan.
“I’m obviously a huge supporter of free speech; it’s something that’s very important to me,” said Jeff Kaplan. “It got to me personally. I think the punishment was too harsh and I was greatly relieved when they gave his money back. I think that was extremely important.” Thankfully there are people within Blizzard advocating for such important freedoms. “I think as individuals, we all have very different feelings about what happened in regards to the Hearthstone tournament and blitzchung,” Kaplan said. “There is a lot of very different reaction among all of us.”
“We had to deal with a few of them in season one in particular, and that process usually takes about four or five days to make the decision,” continued Kaplan about the inner conflict. “There was always a group of us involved in deciding what the punishment should be, and we would heavily devil’s-advocate every part of the decision. So I was actually shocked that such a harsh penalty was levied.” While Blizzard has apologized for their actions officially at Blizzcon, blitzchung also believes he could have acted differently. So it seems to us like both parties should be able to reach some sort of agreement from here.
What do you think should happen with blitzchung from here? Do you think that Blizzard should reduce the punishment further or are you among those upset by political speech during Hearthstone tournaments? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Washington Post