China's decision on World of Warcraft imminent

2009 wasn't exactly a bad year for World of Warcraft players -- they had an expansion with plenty of content to play around in, one that was outselling, well, pretty much everything else on the planet. Of course, if you were a Chinese World of Warcraft player, the picture looks a little different, with the expansion being delayed, then stalled as the companies in charge changed hands, then banned again shortly after it was finally released. So while it's nice to hear that there should be a decision on the game's status in the near future, most gamers probably aren't holding out a lot of hope.

It gets worse -- the brief news item announces that the two squabbling agencies, the GAPP (General Administration of Press and Publications) and the Ministry of Culture, have reached a consensus and will announce the punishment in mid-January. "Punishment" obviously doesn't bring to mind a heartfelt apology and a pat on the back for NetEase, who at best might find themselves even further negatively impacted by the whole debacle. At worst, they might wind up being forced to stop operations altogether, which would be bad news for the popular MMO. Nothing's certain, but it looks like there are still a few downturns ahead.

Reader Comments (23)

i wonder if blizzard has been pinging the WTO about this.

It'd be nice to wipe the american debt market clean from chinese blizzard customers overtaking the government just so they can play world of warcraft :P

Without China, WoW can't say "11 Million Players" they have to say "4.5 Million Players"

Let's go Blizzard bring them back.

That's still a number most other MMO developers would (and in some cases have, Hello Mythic) sell their firstborn son to achieve.

I would say that this really brings the horrors of communism to a level understandable by the average video game player but then Australia isn't too far behind this pattern of behavior.

Thank God I live in the United States.

Heh, yeah. It's the damned commies doing this. I know that one of the key pillars of communism is that the people shall not have the right to play any MMORPG made by Blizzard. Stalin swore by it, as does Castro.

I mean, when I think of the "horrors" of communism, this ranks right up there at the top.

Do you not have any clue as to how the world works? Or have you been drinking?

Don't answer that. I'm just going to assume you've been drinking.

I have been drinking!

Well we know one big reason WoW has been blocked in China is all the undead and skeletons and death imagery. If not the Communism, then it's the Chinese attitudes towards death. No other countries have these kinds of problems though, so it'd be easy to blame Communism.

Actually it's just plain old corruption. You'll see plenty of that in so called 'democracies' too.

As I said Wjowski, Australia is going down this road too. Even in the United States, our government has tried to ban online poker and has taken out gambling in Second Life.

China seems to be an extreme though.

Long live the People's proletariat workers revolution! Death to the corporate capitalist bourgeois scum!

and seriously...I know in the ranks of the horrors of communism, there are a lot worse things (i.e "the Killing Fields") but my point is, I'm glad I live in a country where I'm free to play whatever video games I want to play.

Whether if it is running around making woopies with furries while wearing a ballgag on Second Life, or fighting skeletons in World of Warcraft...I'm free to do either...i.e. Freedom.

While it's not perfect, we are light years ahead of Australia and China.

Your post almost looks like a defense of the actions of the Communist party actions regarding WoW. Am I wrong?

But seriously...I am drinking. Arrogant Bastard Ale to be precise.

There are many games banned in the U.S. So you really aren't free to play any game you want.

But you really aren't free to "play whatever video game you want". GTA 4 was pulls from the shelves because it had sex in it and that scene was removed from the game. Kakuto Chojin was pulled from the shelves because one of the characters chanted the Koran.

That is just two examples of two games that came out in the States that were promptly removed from shelves because our government did not like their content. Think of all the games that could never come out in America (games most people probably would never play such as RapeLay).

In addition, to the comment above:

"If not the Communism, then it's the Chinese attitudes towards death. No other countries have these kinds of problems though, so it'd be easy to blame Communism."

China is not the only country that has problems with symbolism in games. Germany will not allow a game to have a Swastika in it.

The problem here is not with communism, but bureaucracy and corruption, which can and has happened in any government system.

Communism benefits those in charge, but then again capitalism benefits the small percentage of rich CEOs in charge. Different systems, same bullshit. Hoewever, at least in non-communist states, people have more civil liberties and enjoy a higher quality of life, without having the government making every single decision for them. Unless you live in Germany and Australia, ofc. :p

I kind of want them to ban WoW in China. My reasoning is that its MMO gaming is having a major impact on the youth over there.

It does not stop the people in china from playing on a USA server so its all good :)

I never heard of the Rapelay game until you mentioned it. How ironic that murder is accepted by society and video game players but a game based on rape received a total ban and condemnation.

Also, games like Second Life have whole sims based on rape yet somehow escapes the massive political attention that rapelay got.

Fair arguments though. I don't want the government telling what games I can buy or not buy. At least in the united states you can at least talk to your represenative and if you are lucky, have some sort of influence on the laws that are passed.

Barney Frank was one of the sole representatives trying to keep government out of online poker. I disagree with a majority of the things he stands for but I give him credit for that.

You guys are wrong. No game has ever been banned in the U.S. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games Certain retailers refuse to shelf games that have an AO rating but the U.S. Government has not and legally can not ban a game for it's content. Any game can be pruchased here as long as you find a retailer who will sell it.

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China's decision on World of Warcraft imminent

Reader Comments (23)

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 8:20PM karnisov said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 8:53PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 9:01PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 6th 2010 2:24PM wjowski said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 9:28PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 11:05PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2010 12:28AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2010 2:33AM RogueJedi86 said

Posted: Jan 5th 2010 3:59AM wjowski said

Posted: Jan 5th 2010 3:31PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 10:19PM Saker said

Posted: Jan 5th 2010 12:33AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2010 9:46AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2010 10:01AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2010 2:27AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2010 5:33AM Dranaerys said

Posted: Jan 6th 2010 7:12AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2010 8:19AM TheJackman said

Posted: Jan 5th 2010 3:50PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 6th 2010 2:30PM (Unverified) said

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