Chinese Upset Over WoW Ban; Google Leaving, OK
Chinese consumers were more upset over the termination of World of Warcraft than a possible Google exit.
The Associated Press reports that China consumers are unfazed by a possible Google exit. In fact, the search giant's threat to pull out of China over censorship has drawn virtually no reaction from the people. The AP even quoted one web surfer, saying that if Google actually does leave China, then the country will have only “lost one search engine.”
Unlike World of Warcraft, the Chinese consumer rights agency hasn't seen a flood of complaints in regards to the search engine giant. However, tens of thousands were received the day Blizzard's MMORPG was taken offline last year. Many believe that search engine Baidu is enough for locals, others say that another search engine will come in and fill the gap left behind by Google.
But even if Google refuses to bow down to censorship, Google-related sites will remain blocked by the Great Firewall of China. Many Chinese consumers won't care--others will seek ways to scale that wall and access Google's content much like they did when World of Warcraft was hosted by Taiwanese servers (although the game was sold by Chinese retailers).
Last month, Softpedia reported that World of Warcraft may actually come back to China. NetEase, the company that provided the servers and subscription-based service, was forced to discontinue the MMORPG based on a ruling by China's General Administration of Press and Publications and the Ministry of Culture. NetEase must pay China a "gigantic fine" in order to re-launch the online PC game.
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Now there's two great wall in China lol..
I never knew WoW wasn't in China anymore... Interesting, ill go read up on that.
I would be more upset if I couldn't play my favorite game then use a certain search engine too.
Hmmmm....it would appear some Chinese prefer having WOW instead of Google. Do you think the advertising gurus will try an make something of it?
Great Firewall of China
Can you see it from space? Is it made of stone and the bodies of the people that built it?
This also gives me the image of the actual Great Wall of China on fire.
Well, if their government doesn't allow their country to go freely, we won't have as much to worry about them overtaking the USA.
I meant to type "grow freely."
I played WoW in China as recently as August 2009 on a business trip. WoW being banned in China is news to me? btw, the great firewall of china is real but also has a lot of holes in it. Oh yeah, and facebook IS blocked in China... that was probably the biggest bummer.
It doesn't really surprise me. I don't play WoW, But if google disappeared I wouldn't be that upset either. There are plenty of other choices that "almost" as good.
Two Great Walls? MONGOLIANS!!! MOUjavascript: void(0);NT UP!
Two Great Walls? The Mongolians will find a way in.
Side note: tomshardware learn the delete/edit button....
who cares about WoW tho?
who cares about WoW tho?
Eh, it's more about stupid censorship, and trying to close down any means of free communication that the government can't regulate 24/7.
who cares about WoW tho?
Apparently the Chinese do.
^ wow sadly true
China is looking for a war !!!
" the search giant's threat to pull out of China over censorship has drawn virtually no reaction from the people"
yeah, no doubt because any news they got on the issue was censored...
Damn communists
I think they would be more upset if Google started removing chinese domains from their index.
WoW banned in China last year is actually news to me. Good job Kevin, double feature.
Of course the Chinese are upset about WoW being banned... Half of them lost their gold farming jobs!
Hu Jintao plays WoW with no ping,
Microsoft pays him to use its Bing.
Yeah, Ya feel me?
...I should be a rapper.
Honestly, even in the US, where Google has a much larger share of search engine market, I doubt most consumers would miss it if it went away. Bing, yahoo, ask.com, many others. Not like google is this super sometime that is integral to our lives. It's just a glorified ad agency.
WoW is that awesome its magic!!!
Now there's two great wall in China lol..
One can be seen from space, the other cyberspace!
No, Wow is not banned. where did tom's get those bs stories from?
http://www.warcraftchina.com/index.html
here is site if you want to start playing wow in chinese
ppl from the states playing on any server other than the chinese accounts can play no problemo. its just the chinese servers that are shut down (which are completely different, incompatible and unrealated to the ones we play on ) so if you happen to live and work overseas like me
then no prob, also, hotspotshiled works just fine through to blocked sites. Hooray !
who cares about WoW tho?
Ummm...Blizzard and the millions of people playing it.
Can you see it from space?
No. But I can see it from Google Earth though! Bazinga!
@asd23123: it is blocked IN CHINA; as in, the game's servers are blocked by Chinese ISPs. Moreover, the website has little to do with in-game experience.
Every time Tom's mentions anything remotely related to China, 100 idiots pop up to offer their 2 cents. I wonder what percentage of these people have even visited the country, or the Asian continent for that matter. Worried about censorship? When was the last time you had anything to say that was worthwhile hearing?