Perhaps but if those 250,000 readers represent 0.01% significance to NCSoft, my question remains. What does a boycott matter unless it equates to measureable impact to the target. You bandy about threats like they have any merit when clearly they don't.
So are you saying we shouldn't even try? So we shouldn't even care? Give up, move on, accept whatever crap gets shovelled into our mouths and like it?
No. We're going to do everything in our power to fight this. Why? Because we have something we care about, and something worth fighting for. And I for one will not be accused of sitting idly by while some corporation walks all over me and thinks it can dictate what I can and cannot enjoy.
Sure, Starburst is advocating a boycott of NCsoft. It's fairly small, 250k readers. Some of 'em might not even go through with it. But it's only
one of several boycotts and other efforts to try and Save CoH.
Read the
Thank the Media thread some time. Take a real close look at the spreadsheet in the OP. Make sure to look at both tabs. We've gotten a lot of coverage already. Even if the boycott itself fails, it gets the word out. People get curious, and people look back here. Some of 'em start getting worried about NCsoft's business practices. Some of 'em might be investors.
What I'm saying is, this thing can snowball. We've already seen some evidence of it. Take a look at the
NCSoft Stockwatch thread. Particularly, look at the
Reuters Stock Graph based on data from Korea Stock Exchange. From Nov. 7th to today, NC's been in a steady decline, currently sitting at 174.5k won/share. They haven't been this low since early April of 2010. Sure, not
all of that is our doing, but I find it hard to believe we've had no effect at all.
Ultimately, it's customers that control whether a business thrives or dies. Customer faith makes a business a success, and breaks them just as easily. Our
best chance of making NCsoft reconsider its decision is to undermine the faith its customers have in it. If gamers playing NC's other products start worrying that they could be next, we've done our job. If investors start shying away from NCsoft on account of their mistreatment of us, then that's even better.
Raking NC's public image through the mud of it's own poor decisions via any responsible, respectable, legal means available to us is the best option we have. If you got a better suggestion, then let's hear it. If not, then would you kindly get the hell out of our way.
Criticizing those who are actually trying to get something done, through whatever options they have to do it, is even more useless than a failed protest or boycott. Don't complain at us for 'wasting' our time, when you're quite clearly willing to waste yours.