{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "description": "I loved StarCraft, had a passing interest in WarCraft, spent a lot of time on Diablo II multiplayer with friends and that's where my interest in Blizzard ends. I spent a lot of time playing Diablo II. Remember that item duplication bug? I remember that one and I remember the fix being to delete the duplicated items when you left a game. My friends and I lured folks into a game, sold items for Stones of Jordan and let the items disappear when they logged out. Super shitty. Ah, high school. I'd heard about some of the controversies outlined in this book — the Cosby room, the attendant gender disparities, misogyny and other attendant behavior endemic to the gaming industry. Schreier lays this all out in detail, building forward from the company's origins. Play games, build games, profit from games. Rinse and repeat. Blizzard struck on a lot of compelling narratives, franchises and ideas that they're still profiting from today. The controversies are relatively unsurprising (though altogether shameful and — in some cases — reprehensible), the origins are interesting and the march towards commoditization and decline as investors and the usual McKinsey/MBA types got their hooks into the company was sadly predictable. Strike on an idea, treat the fans well and then in comes someone with deeper pockets to squeeze the life out of it. Will Blizzard climb up out of the doldrums it now finds itself in? Schreier doesn't speculate, but I doubt it. They had a stellar run, but now they're a subsidiary of a mega corp that will bleed intellectual property, engage in rent seeking and retire the brand when it's devoid of value and nostalgia.",
  "path": "/reading/books/1538725428/play-nice",
  "publishedAt": "2025-04-21T00:00:00Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:sttgf52vkk46f6yuknvqxvgh/site.standard.publication/self",
  "tags": [
    "tech",
    "nonfiction"
  ],
  "title": "Play Nice"
}