This is also next level Streisand effect. I would have never heard of any of all this, if Blizzard had just ignorred the player. Now its on HN a bunch of times, on my twitter timeline etc.
My wife heard about it, and she doesn't follow any gaming at all. She said that writers and beauty bloggers she follows on twitter were talking about it. US politicians from both sides of the isle were criticizing Blizzard as well. Blizzard made it a big deal everywhere.
Right, but ostensibly Blizzard's main reason for this sanction was to protect its business interests in China. The parent commenter suggests that if Blizzard just "ignored" it, the issue would go away, as if Chinese censors and the mainland public hadn't already taken notice.