Mike Morhaime replies to open letter over diversity in Blizzard games.

[Yarathir]

What the f... reaching much?

How is it reaching? Can you claim something and then provide proof, or are you just gonna claim something and then run off hoping that people will support you solely "because of teh social justice" and "muh (self-)righteous indignation"?

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Yea. It's a shame. She really was/is hardcore tho.

Yeah. I hate what happened to her. To her and Tyrande. Also, wasn't she sort of .. close with Naisha? Why did Blizzard have to kill her? : /

[Tastyfish]

Who told you that anyone's against gay characters? I've never seen anyone complain about those gay characters that already exist in WoW.

Which ones and how do you know?
Is this going to be a list of subtext? Lol I bet it is.

[pateuvasiliu]

I've never seen anyone complain about those gay characters that already exist in WoW.

Do share, because I've been saying homosexuality doesn't exist or fit WoW for 3 pages now.

[Frogguh]

WoW does not in any way need to reflect modern life. It has Orcs, Goblins, Night Elves, Blood Elves, werewolves, zombies, Ogres, dragons...in what fantasy land does it matter if any of these things like getting poked up the anus? It does not. At all. If you want more women in the game, create your own freaking female character. You want homosexuals to be highlighted? Go to an RP server and make one.

One of my favorite games of all time was Perfect Dark for N64. I didn't whine and bitch that I couldn't "relate to the game" because mean ol' Rare forced me to play as a female character. The game was perfectly fine without forcing diversity crap onto people. Create a good game that the player controls a female character, and I will play it. Different race other than white? I will play it. Homosexual? So long as I don't have to watch cinematics of two men or two women kissing, I will play it. Because video games are GAMES. They don't have to reflect real life. Go play the Sims if you want that.

[Wildtree]

I hear they are doing something about that with vignettes but i dont know how that will turn out

Tell me more. That kinda evaded me.

[Dreknar20]

In what world does equality equal fascism?

Saying what people can and cannot do or say..........kinda sounds like fascism. Hell it also sounds exactly like all this Political Correctness crap

[Wildtree]

Do share, because I've been saying homosexuality doesn't exist or fit WoW for 3 pages now.

With you there.. I dunno a gay npc either.

[bdew]

You're emotionally invested in their artistic fantasy. This in no way gives you the right to change their creation to your liking.

Of course not, that falls under copyright law.

We still have the right to complain on forums and write open letters, are you going to take that right away?

[yetgdhfgh]

Tell me more. That kinda evaded me.

http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/06/06/wa...te-encounters/

[Tastyfish]

Yeah. I hate what happened to her. To her and Tyrande. Also, wasn't she sort of .. close with Naisha? Why did Blizzard have to kill her? : /

Not sure but I am kind of convinced they have a serious issue with aggressive female Major lore characters. We all know Maive would of fucked Gar up, or tried, there would never of been sha infestation in org with her watching lol.
They should of wrote her story and racism against orcs into SOO, for sure. I rather see her get killed then Firepaw limping out of org, and zul limping around before that.. what is with pandas and critical injury anyhow?

[Deleted]

Who told you that anyone's against gay characters? I've never seen anyone complain about those gay characters that already exist in WoW. What people are against is being told to appease to your hurt feelings and emphasize things you want emphasized without doing anything to make the world want to emphasize them.

I don't ask you to empathise with me or to care about the same issues I do. I just ask expect that if you're a decent human being you'll let me care about those issues in peace and not oppose them.

The reason no one is complaining about the so called gay characters currently in WoW is because they are merely implied, and those uncomfortable with gay characters can ignore them. If Blizzard ever comes out and confirms any of those characters as gay, the homophobes will come out of their caves and start whining.

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Saying what people can and cannot do or say..........kinda sounds like fascism. Hell it also sounds exactly like all this Political Correctness crap

You can be a bigot if you want. And everyone else can make you face the consequences.

[Keile]

Errm...since when were most of the "Black" people in WoW Black Dragons AND/OR evil? Because there really weren't that many. In fact, a lot of the Black Dragons took on the appearances of Caucasians...not blacks.

As far as cultural diversity goes: WoW takes place in a fantasy world, a world that is not 100% like ours. Yes, they have humans. These humans are not like us. These humans are the descendants of Vykrul. They are only called "Human" because of how they look. So it is feasible that that various counterparts to our real-life races (Black, White, Asian, Native American, Indian...etc) are more rare than in our world.

Not only that, but this is a game with various playable species. Each one of these races has a lot of influence by various real life races. So just because the Humans in WoW are not culturally diverse, does not mean the game itself is not.

[Dispraise]

The only people talking about token characters are you people against gay characters.

You are talking about them adding token characters, you're just completely blind to the fact. You are the one saying that the existing gay characters aren't flashy or in-your-face enough. Having tasteful representation isn't good enough, we need goddamned neon signs, pointers, and marquees. You seem to have this notion that if you pester them to add X characters enough times they'll eventually cave and they'll be the bestest characters ever and won't be shitty and derivative and there won't ever be anymore inequality in the world of warcraft ever again. That's just plain bullshit.

I have no problem with their gay characters. I will continue to not have any problems with any gay characters they choose to add in the future of their own volition. Because it doesn't fucking matter to the story.

[Yarathir]

Not sure but I am kind of convinced they have a serious issue with aggressive female Major lore characters. We all know Maive would of fucked Gar up, or tried, there would never of been sha infestation in org with her watching lol.
They should of wrote her story and racism against orcs into SOO, for sure. I rather see her get killed then Firepaw limping out of org..

Again, a great example of convenience being the rule at Blizzard. They write something off if their existence is inconvenient, or downright nearly permanently incapacitate them. (Magni) Incompetent storytelling at best.

[Wildtree]

http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/06/06/wa...te-encounters/

Ah, thanks....
Sounds a lot like the TI and Pandaria rares.

[Mormolyce]

Do share, because I've been saying homosexuality doesn't exist or fit WoW for 3 pages now.

How do you know? There must be like 10,000 NPCs in the game and we know the relationship status of maybe 8 of them.

The herbalism trainer in Thunder Bluff might be a huge lesbian for all you know.

It's just not relevant because WoW isn't that kind of game.

[yetgdhfgh]

Ah, thanks....
Sounds a lot like the TI and Pandaria rares.

Prolly a bit more to it than that but i dont know until i see more info

[Granyala]

it was revealed that we first meet her while she’s imprisoned by orcs and rescue her. There was dialogue written that insinuates she may have been raped during that imprisonment. Maraad uses the word “defiled.” She contests the usage of the word, though not, specifically, the insinuations of what happened to her, and we are meant to accept he’s being wrongheaded and leave it at that.

If this starcunning is as familiar with the lore as she claims to be, this should not come as a surprise to her.
Orc-Draenei hybrids are well known to exist since TBC and it's pretty clear that no Draenei would ever rape an Orc woman.
Also there is the whole thing about the breeding experiments that resulted in Garona.

Considering the fact that Draenei are very religious people, the term "defiled" definitely applies from their perspective.

As far as the rest of the letter: I'm all for well written female protagonists, but the whole whine about how she stopped playing Blizzard games is pretty ... pathetic in my eyes. Warcraft always was a sausage fest with the occasional eye candy and fan service (Sylvanas / Jaina), so she knew what she was getting into.

[Yarathir]

How do you know? There must be like 10,000 NPCs in the game and we know the relationship status of maybe 8 of them.

The herbalism trainer in Thunder Bluff might be a huge lesbian for all you know.

It's just not relevant because WoW isn't that kind of game.

But there are straight relationships, and that means that if Blizzard doesn't make gay or bisexual ones, then that totally means they're making a statement.

[Deleted]

You are talking about them adding token characters, you're just completely blind to the fact. You have this notion that if you pester them to add X characters enough times they'll eventually cave and they'll be the bestest characters ever and won't be shitty and derivative and there won't ever be anymore equality in the world of warcraft ever again. That's just plain bullshit.

Of course I expect that Blizzard's first attempt likely isn't going to be that great. Which is why I would just like to start out with some minor quest characters who happen to be gay. They would be no more tokens than any other minor quest characters.