The people currently blackmailing Devs over cosmetics are a disgrace

[Optee]

You are indeed accusing people of an illegal action:

18 U.S. Code § 873. Blackmail
Whoever, under a threat of informing, or as a consideration for not informing, against any violation of any law of the United States, demands or receives any money or other valuable thing, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 740; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(I), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/873

[Saefinn]

Boycotting is one form of blackmail.

blackmail
verb [ T ] UK ​ /ˈblækmeɪl/ US ​
​
to make threats to harm a company or organization if they do not do something you want, such as give you money

Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/fr/...lais/blackmail

Who is ignorant now?

the act of getting money from people or forcing them to do something by threatening to tell a secret of theirs or to harm them

You may choose to interpret harm as financial harm of the company. Though there is argument customers ceasing to give business because they're disatisfied and providing criticism as to why hardly consitutes as "threatening harm". 'Harm' is a broad term and this is not uncommon of dictionaries to do, offer a broad definition, because they're only to give brief definitions, an encyclopaedia on the other hand would give a better definition because they can provide a lot more relevent information or even the law for a legal definition because blackmail is a crime.

But taking your interpretation of blackmail.

What people are saying: "I'm ceasing my subscription because you've done this or failed to do this."
What they are not saying: "Change this or I will unsub and so will all these people and you will lose lots of money, do as we say to avert financial harm".

What is important is:
Blackmail is a proactive action. So the intention is to do harm if you don't get your way.
Boycotting is a passive action. The intention is to not support, for whatever given reason. SE aren't entitled to anybody's money.

If this was blackmail, I could have turned around to any disatisfied customers at my last job when they've said "then I won't buy another one of your products again", "don't blackmail us, that's a punishable offense...so we'll take you to court".

[Imuka]

This is not blackmailing it is buisness. If someone does not want to pay for a Service anymore because they dislike it now, it is buisness.

People speak about their dislike for the decision and why should they pay, when they do not enjoy the Game anymore?
Should they pay, because SE demands it?

Going from that, SE could shut down the Server on 5 of 7 days and say "Everybody who leaves, because our Servers just run 48h a week is blackmailing us.".

[Serenno]

I can't believe the amount of bad faith right now, like I would call the police onto angry forumers...

I'm definitely not trying to insinuate that you would do that. It's just that likening people's disappointment and subsequent boycott to petty blackmail is minimizing their legitimate concerns, and suggests that we're all just doing it to be evil and whatnot. But that's not the case. People legitimately feel some type of way about the genderlock, the lack of healer (so far), and the whole BLU thing as well as recent decisions by the dev team. You might not agree but people have the right to speak with their wallet being that everyone here works for their money, so it's one way to send a message across when they're dissatisfied.

[Maedia]

I truly understand where the devs are coming from. Since FFXII, the lore has been they the males are super super rare, and it would be pretty silly to suddenly see them everywhere. I was kind of hoping they’d find a way to implement them

[Tempest222]

Blackmailing? Really? Someone saying they are really disappointed with a certain design choice and that thus makes them want to unsubscribe is blackmailing now? I’ve also seen people say that saying you want to unsubscribe is harassment. Is this real life right now? Not wanting to continue paying for a product that has become not fun for you is not blackmail or harassment. This world has gone mad. No one is obligated to keep supporting a product they are no longer interested in until the end of time. This is business, peopke come and go based on choices companies make all the time, that’s how it works. If the definition of blackmail were actually that broad then I guarantee every person on earth would fall into the category of law breaking evildoers because literally everyone has stopped buying a certain product, stopped going to a certain restaurant, or stopped playing a game etc because they were no longer interested in what was being offered, and yes, wished the company would have done something different.

I’m not personally unsubbing over this even though I feel it’s a really poor and disappointing decision, but to try to claim that anyone who has reached their limit on disappointment and no longer wants to play is some evildoer is a bit over the top.

[Duroy]

[QUOTE=Serenno;4919851]I understand that,


The end. the rest is bad faith sorry. You understand I didnt mean the strict meaning of black mail but the broad, but you are still reproaching me to accuse people of a criminal activity.

The conflict is between you and you, not between us. I hope the part of you with good faith wins the argument

[decoratibo]

Have the people who don't understand this backlash never felt what it's like to feel alienated or let down by a product they enjoy? Do people think that SE is subsisting off of maybe 100 subscribers to specifically only XIV and that this multi-million dollar company is in jeopardy because some people are deciding to stop playing? People unsubscribe every day for a variety of reasons. Why is it only now that it has a legitimate, wide-reaching reason it makes you upset? Money speaks louder than words sometimes. I am not unsubscribing but I fully support the people who are because ultimately the worst that can happen is we are stuck with gender-locked races (one of which nobody will even play) and the game will continue as normal. SE made and survived through things like Spirits Within and spent years worth of money and development time on XV. They aren't fragile.

[Anesteria]

If you click the link you will discover there are several definitions, some stricts, some broad, the one I'm using is the last one, which I quoted.

I can't believe the amount of bad faith right now, like I would call the police onto angry forumers...

No one is misconstruing you Duroy. People know exactly what you mean.

The problem is the public perception when you use "blackmail" and make it look like as if people unsubbing are threatening individual developers by extorting them or holding them at gunpoint, which is absolutely ridiculous.
When you use "blackmail" like that, that is what the public will perceive and it's why you got so much flak.

So your use of that word is utterly wrong and unnecessary.

[Transient_Shadow]

When did exercising consumer rights become blackmail?