World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

EDITOR’S NOTE (7:42pm PT - May 13, 2022): There has been conversation online regarding the Diversity Space Tool, particularly concerning its intent and our commitment to diversity. We’ve edited this blog post to clarify that this prototype is not being used in active game development. We would like to add the following comment for additional context:

Started in 2016, the Diversity Space Tool–currently in beta–was designed as an optional supplement to the hard work and focus our teams already place on telling diverse stories with diverse characters, but decisions regarding in-game content have been and will always be driven by development teams. The tool was developed at King, and has been beta tested by several developers across the company, all of whom have provided valuable input.

The objective of using the tool is to uncover unconscious bias by identifying existing norms in representation and acknowledging opportunities for growth in inclusion. It is not a substitute for any other essential effort by our teams in this regard, nor will it alter our company’s diversity hiring goals. Over the past several years, the development of the tool was done with the support of all our employee DE&I networks, and we collaborated with external partners to create an even more robust tool.

The tool isn’t meant to be used in isolation; teams would sit down with company DE&I staff to identify existing norms and then discuss, educate, consult, and collaborate on how a character’s representation is expressed beyond those norms. This process is intended to create a conversation where our developers, assisted by the tool, challenge assumptions, assess choices, and find opportunities for authentic representation to be fostered in our games.

Activision Blizzard is committed to reflecting the diversity of its millions of players around the world through representation and inclusion in its games as well as its employees. Our intent with this blog entry was to share an in-progress piece of our journey in this endeavor. We recognize and respect that all people may be on their own, unique point in their journey with DE&I. The Diversity Space Tool is not a definitive evaluation of diversity in game content; rather, it is a bridge in opening previously unspoken conversations into how thoughtful inclusion can happen – and thrive - in games.

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We want to see ourselves represented in games, we want the barriers to access lowered, and we want games to be a welcoming environment for all. Just look at the 2019 International Game Developers Association (IGDA) “Developer Satisfaction Survey,” which asked developers what they considered to be the most important factor in the growth of the gaming industry. The most common response? “More diversity in content.” It’s not even a question anymore.

However, the question that does remain is this: How do we convert this feedback from collective desire into tangible reality? As expected, the people at King are already thinking a few moves ahead.

In 2016, King began developing a method for guarding against unconscious bias and exclusion when it came to the creation of their games and characters. At the time, this idea existed as an intangible philosophy, but the potential was obvious.

Enter the MIT Game Lab. Alongside King, the MIT techs helped turn a mission statement into tangible software that would create and monitor guidelines for character conception and creation, looking into all the ways basic elements such as gender, body type, roles (“heroes” vs. “villains”) and even such granular factors such as pose, or body movement, can suggest powerful things about a character one way or another. According to King Globalization Project Manager Jacqueline Chomatas, once MIT handed over the basic software, the team at King spent the last few years honing and developing it, mostly as a volunteer effort. People were spending their off-hours working on the tool, simply because they believed in its potential so much.

“An important principle for us at King is that all players should feel welcome,” says Chomatas. “The intention is to inspire game teams not just at King, but throughout the Activision Blizzard King network, to think outside the box and challenge pre-conceived notions around how characters should look and act. As a result, hopefully we will create more characters that break the mold, and better represent women, non-binaries and other under-represented minorities in the industry.”

How It Works

The idea of a “tool” to make characters more diverse and inclusive may seem a little hard to wrap your head around. In practice, it has to be more than just, say, a pop-up reminder that between 2017 and 2021 nearly 80% of the highest selling games in the world featured white, male protagonists (according to a study conducted by Diamond Lobby). It needs to become a part of the incubation process from the start, baked into the pipeline as an unmissable and consistent step - which is exactly what this tool was designed to be.

“The Diversity Space Tool is a measurement device, to help identify how diverse a set of character traits are and in turn how diverse that character and casts are when compared to the ‘norm’,” explains Chomatas. Once it establishes a baseline for typical character traits (which is done by the creative team working closely with DE&I experts), it can then weigh new character designs against it to measure their diversity. During this process, the tool can also uncover unconscious bias, such as why certain traits are seen as “male” vs. “female,” or why characters from certain ethnic backgrounds are given similar personalities or behaviors.

In this effort, the Diversity Space Tool can clearly delineate between token characters and true representation. “[The tool] identifies what stereotypical characters in different genres look like, which are not always the most conducive or representative of diversity,” says Chomatas. “It helps identify those stereotypes, while also helping creatives look closer at their designs, so they can dissect their own assumptions and presets. It also helps identify opportunities for more diverse character narratives, to ensure that we are not only creating diverse characters in appearance alone.”

By starting at the character conception stage, the tool allows King and others, to ask these important questions at the earliest possible moment, to promote more thoughtful creative choices from the ground up – which, in turn, leads to games that are more representative of their player base.

Sharing and Caring

Over the past few months, King has let developer teams at Activision and Blizzard “beta test” the Diversity Space Tool, and the results have been immediate and enthusiastic. The plan is to further test the tool internally for preliminary feedback across Activision Blizzard starting this summer. “We strongly believe in the tool’s potential to change the gaming landscape,” says Chomatas.

Beyond Gaming

While the Diversity Space Tool was designed for use in game character conception, Chomatas also sees it as having broader applications across all entertainment and media platforms. “The traits and measures are applicable to wider entertainment verticals including TV, film, and literature. The only change required if used in these verticals would be the baseline traits, which would need to be calibrated to be relevant to the genre and universe each character exists in.” Chomatas admits that the application is still evolving – and, in fact, is designed to continuously evolve as “norms” shift and platforms change. In the end, you get out of it what you put into it, and what you choose to take from it.

“Like anything, this is simply a tool that provides insights,” says Chomatas. “It’s up to the teams that create the characters and games to apply them.”

Raid & Dungeon Abilities

• 50,000 Volts Inflicts 14 Inflicts 17 Nature damage and stuns the target for 3 sec. 41 yd range. 2 sec cast.
• Acid Spit Inflicts 4 Inflicts 18 Nature damage to enemies within 6 yards. 300 yd range. Instant.
• Barbed Arrow Barrage Signals Grom'kar Archers to release a barrage of arrows that rain down from above inflicting 10 15 Physical damage. Unlimited range. Instant.
• Berserker Leap Koramar crashes down on enemy targets, inflicting 2 15 Nature damage to enemies within 8 yards of his landing. 10 yd range. Instant.
• Blackrock Bomb Lobs a bomb towards an enemy that inflicts 23 30 Fire damage to all targets within 4 yards of the impact. 150 yd range. Instant.
• Bladestorm Attacks in a whirl of steel, causing 5 13 Physical damage to each enemy within 5 yards. Melee range. Instant.
• Blood Bolt Ahri'ok Dugru conjures a black miasma and releases a bolt of blood, inflicting 8 18 Shadow damage. 45 yd range. 3 sec cast.
• Burning Arrows Signals Grom'kar Flameslingers to launch a continuous volley of flaming arrows, leaving a burning trail on the ground that inflict 3 12 Fire damage every 1 sec. Unlimited range. Instant.
• Cannon Barrage Barrages enemies with his cannons, inflicting 2 11 Fire damage to enemies within 9 yards of the blast. Unlimited range. Instant.
• Cannon Barrage Barrages enemies with his cannons, inflicting 2 11 Fire damage to enemies within 9 yards of the blast. Unlimited range. Instant.
• Cannon Barrage Barrages enemies with his cannons, inflicting 2 11 Fire damage to enemies within 9 yards of the blast. Unlimited range. Instant.
• Cannon Barrage Barrages enemies with his cannons, inflicting 2 11 Fire damage to enemies within 9 yards of the blast. Unlimited range. Instant.
• Cannon Barrage Barrages enemies with his cannons, inflicting 2 11 Fire damage to enemies within 9 yards of the blast. Unlimited range. Instant.
• Chain Drag Lashes out with a chain that inflicts 4 7 Physical damage and pulls an enemy to the caster. Limited to 1 target. 25 yd range. 1 sec cast.
• Charging Slash Charges to a nearby enemy slashing them savagely, inflicting 2 6 Physical damage every 1 sec for 6 sec. 25 yd range. Instant.
• Dash The caster surges forward trampling over anything in his path inflicting 10 14 Physical damage and knocking enemies back. 300 yd range. Instant.
• Double Slash Brings both axes down in an arc cleaving flesh and bone inflicting Physical damage and causing the target to bleed for 2 6 Physical damage every 2 sec. for 8 sec. 10 yd range. 1 sec cast.
• Fling Hammer Throws a hammer at a nearby enemy that inflicts 9 15 Physical damage. 25 yd range. 1.5 sec cast.
• Freezing Snare Throws a Frost Trap on the ground, which when tripped, inflicts 6 30 Frost damage and roots all enemies within 6 yards for 6 sec. Unlimited range. Instant.
• Gatecrasher Siegemaster throws Gatecrasher into the ground creating an earthquake that inflicts 7 16 Physical damage every 1 sec. 35 yd range. Instant.
• Gutshot Fires a slug inflicting 3 10 Physical damage. 50 yd range. 2.5 sec cast.
• High Explosive Grenade Inflicts 10 Inflicts 12 Fire damage to enemies within 5 yards. 35 yd range. Instant (Channeled).
• Incendiary Slug Fires an incendiary slug, inflicting 2 4 Fire damage every 2 secs. for 6 sec. 25 yd range. 2.5 sec cast.
• Iron Shot Fires an iron slug inflicting 4 8 Physical damage. 25 yd range. 2 sec cast.
• Lava Blast Ironwing Flamespitter rears back, blasting lava in front of him that inflict 4 20 Fire damage every 1 sec. 45 yd range. Instant.
• Lava Sweep Makogg slashes his burning blade with ferocity and conjures crashing waves of lava, inflicting 6 11 Fire damage. 100 yd range. Instant.
• Leg Shot Fires a slug through your knee, inflicting 4 18 Physical damage and reducing your movement speed by 65% for 5 sec. 25 yd range. 2.5 sec cast.
• Mad Dash Borka the Brute charges forward trampling over anything in his path inflicting 25 150 Physical damage and interrupting spell casts for 3 sec. 500 yd range. Instant.
• New Plan! Railmaster Rocketspark quickly devises a new plan when Borka the Brute is slain and begins launching missiles that inflict 3 5 Fire damage every 0.5 sec. In addition, Rocketspark starts Locking On!. Instant.
• New Plan! Fires a volley of missiles inflicting 3 5 Fire damage. 50 yd range. Instant.
• New Plan! Fires a volley of missiles inflicting 3 5 Fire damage. 50 yd range. Instant.
• Primal Assault Oshir charges towards his prey, brutally mauling enemies in his path for 14 25 Physical damage. 25 yd range. Instant.
• Protoform Barrier Empowers the caster, inflicting 1 Cosmic damage to all players every 3 sec. Upon removal this barrier manifests as one attackable enemy, casting a shared 1,400 1,250 absorb shield with all other enemies for 15 sec. A second unit manifests that also can be healed to reduce the shared shield. Upon expiration the barrier explodes, inflicting 50 Cosmic damage and an additional 5 Cosmic damage every 1 sec. to all players for 8 sec. If broken this effect backfires, inflicting all damage done to each enemy during the barrier as Cosmic damage, and additionally grants all players up to 25% increased damage done, 25% healing done, and 25% increased absorbs done for 40 sec. Unlimited range. Instant.
• Rapid Fire Zoggosh focuses on a single enemy, rapidly firing at them and all enemies standing in between for 1 6 Fire damage every half second. 300 yd range. Instant.
• Reckless Slash Charges a target, inflicting Physical damage to units within 7 yards of the impact location. Unlimited range. 1.5 sec cast. 2 sec cast.
• Rending Cleave A sweeping attack that cleaves enemies within 7 yards, inflicting 6 30 Physical damage. Melee range. 1 sec cast.
• Sanguine Sphere Ahri'ok summons an orb of blood to protect her most injured ally, absorbing 47 300 damage. The shield will trigger a groupwide heal if broken by damage. Limited to 1 target. 100 yd range. 2 sec cast.
• Savage Mauling Dreadfang snarls and leaps towards his prey mauling them savagely, reducing their movement speed by 45% and inflicting 3 11 Physical damage every 1 sec. for 6 sec. Limited to 1 target. 45 yd range. 6 sec cast (Channeled).
• Serrated Spear Throws a serrated spear at an enemy inflicting 1 4 Physical damage every 1 sec for 6 sec. Limited to 1 target. 25 yd range. 1.5 sec cast.
• Shattering Blade Koramar skims his blade across the ground, causing melee sparks that inflict 4 15 Fire damage to enemies within the area of effect. 40 yd range. 1.5 sec cast.
• Shrapnel Blast Blasts enemies in a 13 yard frontal cone, inflicting 3 8 Fire damage every half-second to enemies. 15 yd range. Instant.
• Shredded Tendons Ogre traps snap closed around your ankles, slowing your movement by 15% and inflicting 2 8 Physical damage every 1 sec for 7 sec. 50 yd range. Instant.
• Shredding Swipes Dreadfang lunges forward gnawing everyone caught in his path, inflicting 10 20 Physical damage. 10 yd range. Instant.
• Slam Inflicts 12 Inflicts 13 Physical damage to all players and interrupts casting for 1.5 sec. 1.5 sec cast.
• Spinning Spear Throws a spinning spear towards a target, penetrating armor and inflicting 17 45 Physical damage, knocking down the target for 2 sec. Unlimited range. Instant.
• Storm Shield Shrouds the caster in lightning, absorbing all damage and inflicting Nature damage, that chains, when attacked for 10 sec. 1 1.5 sec cast. 6 sec cooldown.
• Tactical Kick A well-placed kick catches you off guard, inflicting 6 20 Physical damage. Melee range. Instant.
• Throw Throws a spear at an enemy, inflicting 4 30 Physical damage. 25 yd range. 1.5 sec cast.
• Thundering Stomp Deals 6 Deals 22 Physical damage to enemies within 50 yards. 0.6 sec cast.
• Time to Feed Oshir pins his prey to the ground and rends them furiously, inflicting 4 8 Physical damage every 1 sec for 20 sec. 100 yd range. 20 sec cast (Channeled).
• Trampling Stampede Charge towards an enemy, knocking them back and inflicting 10 17 Physical damage. 25 yd range. Instant.
• VX18-B Target Eliminator Launches missiles at up to 2 enemy targets. Each missile inflicts 19 35 Fire damage to all targets within 3 yards of the impact. 300 yd range. Instant.
• VX18-B Target Eliminator Launches missiles at up to 2 enemy targets. Each missile inflicts 19 35 Fire damage to all targets within 3 yards of the impact. 3 sec cast.
• X21-01A Missile Barrage Fires volleys of missiles inflicting 2 6 Fire damage to two targets every 1 second for 20 sec. 100 yd range. Instant.
• X21-01A Missile Barrage Fires volleys of missiles inflicting 2 6 Fire damage to two targets every 1 second for 20 sec. 100 yd range. Instant.

Social Contract

Hail, traveler, and welcome to the World of Warcraft!

Azeroth is a living world full of people like you - other players with different backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and histories who have all come together to play World of Warcraft. Every player deserves to have a world that they feel safe in, so please take a minute to read our Social Contract.

While in Azeroth, do your best to:

• Connect with other players and make friends! Being courteous in group content can help you and your teammates have the best time possible. Sending a friendly hello message can help set your group up for success.
• Play as a team with your fellow players - whether in dungeons, raids, battlegrounds, arenas, or out questing in the world. Do your best to support your team through your communication and behaviors so that you can all celebrate your success together.
• Assist other players that you encounter in the world. Maybe they need some help defeating a tough monster, or maybe they could use a little healing!
• Help answer questions others have in chat channels like General or Trade. We were all newbies once - one person offering some help can go a long way!

We recognize that the Internet is not always a safe haven. With that in mind, please note that the following behaviors are not accepted in Azeroth:

• Hate speech, including negative comments that target another player's identity, including aspects like race, gender, or ability
• Harassment, threats, or abusive / derogatory language and behaviors
• Spamming, advertising, or other disruptive behaviors

If you harm your fellow adventurers with any of the above behaviors, you are subject to punishment up to and including suspension of your account.

It's a big world out there, with all sorts of people in it. So please try to be respectful of each other, and if you ever feel like somebody is acting against this code, please report those behaviors so that our team can look into it. Together, you can help us make the World of Warcraft a safe home away from home for everyone.

Accept / Exit Game