NYT: GAPP and Ministry of Culture clashing over Chinese WoW regulation
by Mike Schramm 
Nov 7th 2009 at 2:00PM
Which means that the silly game of World of Warcraft has fallen smack dab in between two government agencies lobbying for power. In the past, says the NYT, GAPP has approved games pre-release, and the Ministry of Culture has overseen games once they've started running online. But WoW is a weird exception (it has been online for a few years already, and only went offline when Blizzard switched providers), and it looks like both agencies are grabbing for power and the sizable fees that come along with regulation. If they continue to clash, it'll be up to the State Council, China's cabinet, to determine who's in charge. And the NYT says if that happens, the Ministry of Culture has the edge, with lots of friends in the cabinet already.
Meanwhile, Netease hasn't taken the game offline yet, apparently -- they still haven't been given official notice to do so. There's no word on how long this will take to shake out, but even China's players are tired of the fighting; they just want to get back into Azeroth and play.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Filed under: Realm Status, News items, Economy
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Phoenix Nov 7th 2009 2:04PM
Honestly, who gives a crap?
Blasterion Nov 7th 2009 2:06PM
well I kinda do but then again WoWChina kinda sucks.
/love WoWTaiwan
Ryan Nov 8th 2009 12:55AM
wowtaiwan is the best, i love going to computer cafes for only like 10nt an hour.
Blasterion Nov 8th 2009 9:02AM
I can sit there for an entire day lol they have food drinks there too xD
Perkins Nov 7th 2009 2:11PM
I would just like to know how a video game could cause the down fall of a goverment, because thats the way China is treating it.
Djbrill Nov 7th 2009 2:51PM
Not on it self, but it might change the way people think about how a state shoud be run.
Just imagine what would happen if the horde and the alliance would be run like a republic in the same way Athene was run in ancient greek.
Every Chinees player would learn something about democracy and western thinking. That on it self isn't too much of a problem, but what if besides WoW also other games, movies and television series would be informing citizens about the "corrupting" ways of the western world.
The Chinees government has to keep all those sources of information about democracy and free thinking in-check or their citizens might rise up against them.
Eternauta Nov 7th 2009 9:50PM
@Djbrill:
You say it as if the chinese didn't know they are on a dictatorship.
Wait, the didn't know? :O
Furlover Nov 8th 2009 12:38AM
I imagine this is more about power and garnering a bigger budget than it is about jitters over potential civil disrest! They see the boon that is becoming online gaming and it's only going to grow more on an explosive scale.
People can debate over the start of this boon but Blizzard are the ones that gave a glimpse of the sheer scale and money involved in it. I play WoW, Aion, CS and WC3 online and I can only imagine what is yet to come (SC2 will no doubt be on my list next year also), so it's sort of understandable that clued up politicians are swinging their respective balls to get a piece of the pie.
Arbitor Nov 7th 2009 2:17PM
I can't imagine what I'd do if the fate of WoW hung in the balance like that, It sounds strange to be that concerned over a game, but WoW is my primary hobby for entertainment, and cant imagine having to go back to buying a 360/wii/ds game, playing it for a week or so, and then selling it back once its completed.
For the record, I'm 15 and currently lacking a girlfriend so WoW helps to cushion the blow of having nothing to do. ^_^
Arbitor Nov 7th 2009 2:19PM
Gah, just proof-read that.
Too many commas!
PeeWee Nov 7th 2009 2:53PM
Over 9000!
Sorry, had to. And I use way too many commas as well. And misspell to/too all over the place. That's what you get for being swede. =(
Tyraki Nov 7th 2009 6:52PM
Seems like china's just trying to stop the influence of other cultures from entering the country, its been the same with alot of other non-chinese made games...
Did you know that blizzard had to change the undead skins so that they don't show any bones?
Blasterion Nov 7th 2009 2:50PM
This is also true for that when u rez ur corpse don't become skeletons they become tombstones
Adam Nov 7th 2009 5:25PM
That's exactly it. They've been extremely wary of it since the 1700's.
Commenter Nov 7th 2009 2:32PM
Trying to get WoW into China is really starting to become a pointless cause.
WoWTaiwan is updated to the latest patch, so I don't understand why Chinese people would wait for both the game to be made legal in China while knowing that it's not even up to date with WotLK? (Unless you're waiting to re-live your DK/Ret faceroll glory days, go ahead)
I expect Cataclysm to be released by the time this all gets sorted out.
As Blasterion mentioned above, /love WoWTaiwan
tom99k Nov 7th 2009 2:57PM
Kara run anyone?
Rostow Nov 7th 2009 2:42PM
I wonder what special attacks the New York Times' "journalistic bear" has?
Cedric Nov 7th 2009 2:44PM
"I wonder what special attacks the New York Times' "journalistic bear" has?"
Obviously inferior tanking ones! :D
Ringo Flinthammer Nov 7th 2009 2:59PM
Instead of Swipe, it attacks with a Freedom of Information Act request.
Sarg Nov 8th 2009 6:11AM
Only one:
Skinning a journalisctic bear should aggro every journalists in a 40 yard radius. It makes sense, you are actually skinning their best friend.