World of Warcraft, A Gay Mans Pov

[Trassk]

I was thinking today, sitting around in orgrimmar waiting for the dungeon queue, looking at the trade chat on my server, just thinking about other guys and girls who play wow from there own unique perspective, and I thought for a moment about my own perception. As an opening gay man, usually I tell whatever guild I'm in at one point, and of course all my friends know. But I sometimes have days when I think about things, such as in the games community, with the story in warcraft, with the developers and such.

This isn't a thread where by I rip into anything about sexuality in wow or things related to that. This is more just me giving my own account of how I look at things, from my own.

Having played this game for 6 years now, I've both meet other gay players like me, some who are a lot of reserved about revealing themselves, others who speak it out. I've meet people who have no issues with knowing that I am, friends who are good with it, well often making a joke about it, but I just take that as light hearted banter. And of course theres others who take issues with it, such remarks aimmed at my sexuality to degrade, to which I tell them where to go, without coming down to that same level. Such is life really, as the same people you meet irl are here and far the same.

It is sometimes though a wish for me to be more expressive in it, I often see people, on rp realms, or even in normal realms, being expressive to each other man and women. But the few times I've done it back its sometimes is meet with the odd comment from onlookers (I have meet guys before who felt expressive as I did). Much like irl, it comes down to a level of confidense in regards to how I show it, and if people make something of it, I ignore it.

However, as a gay man, and a real lore nerd, looking at the story (yep lore here), I can't help feel that in the enviroment of warcraft, with its deeper story its carved out in the last several years and depth to characters, how this becomes less then accepting then the overall opinion of people I know. The game and its story doesn't register this well, which has often stuck me as an oddity, given the many more mature subjects thrown into the lore, why is such a thing as same partners never addressed. I honestly don't get the harm, as I'm not being offensive to people when talking about my own gender orientation.
I just have this feeling rather then doing something intresting along those lines, which to me is the norm in my world, blizzard backs down from it because it be considered a controversial issue. As I say, when I, for example, rp with people I know, some of us rp relationships and how one of my characters, an orc warrior, has a partner and they fight alongside each other in battles. It doesn't become anything more then way, and it makes for some intresting rp with other players. I'm not being offensive with them, its just a natural thing for me.

So in myself, the lore seems to fall short of something here, less then the community can. When I was younger and coming out, I read marvel comics, x-men, and there being some characters in these comics who were the same, and to be, that really inspired me to be more open and out about things. These characters (Northstar for example) really helped me come out of myself, as well as the whole theme of the x-men had some effect with that too. And it got me thinking, considering the aged playerbase of warcraft is very similar to the age range of comics, the themes matching in terms of how there protrayed, I've yet to understand why there isn't something more inspiring for such players of warcraft, given the vast number of other gay warcrafties out there, and much like how northstar was in my generation, why they don't make character (doesn't have to be a leading one) whos open and cool.

I mean if a comic book character can inspire thousends of readers into being more open about themselves, why can't blizzard adopt this, just once even, in there story. At least thats my thought on it. I makes me sad when I talk to some other gay guys I meet ingame and they say they haven't even told there guildmates about themselves because afraid of being kicked out or laughed at.


I please ask you, be open about what you say, but don't let this turn into a flame war thread, I just want to make this point I guess.

[Asmodejjj]

Never met any LGBT people in vent before, but I don't judge the person, just how well you play. I'll mock anyone who's slowing my team down, and praise the person who just saved us from losing.

[Buu]

I want "A BALD MAN POV" in WoW, because I think I'm going that way soon.

[Adjusting]

Would be nice to see a evolution.

[Potatowizard]

I don't think they excluded homosexual characters on purpose? Really though, I get what you're saying. But you don't want this to be forced. If you force it on them, then it's going to come out terribly. It either needs to be something created and flows well with the game, or it will come out as just being offensive.

Everyone is entitled to their rights, but this is a bit excessive. Do you see other people stirring up, "I want people like me in the game!"
I'm an Irish American, They don't have any of them in the game. Am I going to make a post about it? No. You don't see Black people saying, "Hey we need more brothers in the game."
Or Asians, or Canadians, etc.

It's a game designed by a bunch of straight white guys, so that's what you are going to get. Straight white guys.

[Darsithis]

I don't think this kind of thread will go far, but here we go:

As a gay man myself, I am very happy that Blizzard does not try to provide a sexuality for most characters beyond a very superficial heterosexual relationship with some. I don't want to see the stereotypes perpetuated, and I don't think that a focus on the sexuality of the NPC's is what WoW is all about.

I'm happy to be sexless when adventuring in Azeroth. I don't want to see people react differently to me. That kind of aspect of relationships should be kept private, in single-player games like Fable or Skyrim.

[Deleted]

Blood elf male dance. End.

[Deleted]

How about Asric & Jadaar?

[theredviola]

You do realize that even IF blizz intentionally puts in a homosexual character in game, just for the sake of having a homosexual in game (a whole problem in and of itself), you know they'll just make a mockery of it and they won't take it seriously.

Just for grins and giggles (and evidence) here's the original voice for Valiona and Theralion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek-iBZunEhU

[4KhazModan]

In our guild, we had an openly lesbian couple lead our second raid team. I've met them irl too.

But why does an npc need to be openly gay? Why do they need an orientation at all? There aren't many openly straight npc's either, because it doesn't matter.

[TheImmortalLordAtlas]

WoW is not real life.

[Tobedeleted123]

Blood elf male dance. End.

I lol'd.
@OP: I'm not sure if I understood you right. You want blizz to implement gays in wow just for the sake of political correctness or what? I don't get it, really.

[Emma]

I always thought of that one quest from Tirisfal with Bethor Iceshard and Gunther (Prodigal Lich) as two lovers who got separated during the plague and getting reunited during the quest line.

Maybe it's just me reading too much into the dialogue, but those two were knockin' bones together long before their corpses were reanimated.

[Chickat]

Its just not worth it on Blizzards part to include gay characters in WoW. Sure some people are gay WoW players and would love to have the same things that you want in WoW. But there are alot of People who are just ignorant, or just plain hate gay people out there that would unsubscribe if such a thing were put into WoW. All the haters would outweigh the gays subs that wow would gain. Im not saying that Something like that should be in WoW, but its to big a risk for Blizzard to do it.

[Mundayz]

I don't understand why there has to be something LGBT in everything,
even when sexual orientation isn't even important to the grand plot.

Sounds like an attention scheme.

[Deleted]

Shudder to think how this thread is going to go, but I'll drop in a few of my opinions here.

I don't want to see relationships in my games full stop. They're irrelevent. I'm not much of a lore nerd but even seeing the aggra/thrall relationship made me cringe. It just doesnt suit the way I see this game. I have a girlfriend, but I don't want to think about relationships while I'm playing.

What I think is your main problem is the community, not the game. Personally I hate RP, in everything I do, and this is coming from a 40k player, where I hear WAAAAGH every 5 minutes at any event I go to. You are well within your rights to express your sexuality through RP if you wish, but going into goldshire and trying to RP as a homosexual man will see the same kind of result as walking into a bar and trying to flirt with the guys there. You may find some homosexual players doing the same thing, but you will also find a lot of straight males too.

[Eazy]

Gays aren't normal. That's all what I wanted to say.

[TheImmortalLordAtlas]

Gays aren't normal. That's all what I wanted to say.

Technically, you're right.

[ThisWillNotStand]

Thank you for not posting this on the official forums, or the next expansion would probably be called World of Warcraft: Opening of the Closet.

Also, as it happens, there is a lesbian couple in Star's Rest(or whatever it's called) in Wrath of the Lich King, which continuously make suggestive emotes to each other implying their gay sexuality. What do you want more, a gay festival parade rewarding rainbow tabards to participants?

Is that the purpose of Warcraft now, to advance the causes discriminated groups in society? Isn't that what debates, marches, written articles, books and public speaking is for? Go vie for a political position in your government if you truly want to make a change, I hardly understand why you feel it's Warcraft's responsibility to veer ever farther off track of its RTS atmosphere towards a bearer for sociopolitical stances.

[Deleted]

How about Quae & Kinelory?